winter in greenland

2017, end of June.

For some countries in the northern part of the planet, this time has entered the late autumn.

Professor Field's funeral was scheduled for the last Friday of September. Because of the unhappiness at the airport and the guilt deep in his heart, August didn't make much eye contact with Mia along the way.Arthur originally wanted to fly over from the base, but the debugging of their new software happened to be at a critical point, and he couldn't leave the base.

It's cold and rainy this Friday, and the whole suburb has been shrouded in a layer of gray fog since early morning.

August was one of the pallbearers, and Mia was at the head of the procession holding their father's portrait.

When they came to the door of the church, the line stopped, and Mia looked at the person standing in front of her in disbelief: "Grandpa...?"

General Field, who was originally stationed overseas, rushed back to attend the funeral after hearing the news of his son's death. Looking at the grandchildren he hadn't seen in front of him for many years, his usually serious face was a little loose. He didn't say anything. After he silently joined the coffin funeral procession.

After the burial, as usual, there was a short tea party to comfort the family members. Due to the particularity of the event itself, most of the people who came to attend were the old general’s subordinates and August’s superiors in the military department. The deceased’s own colleagues and friends were in the minority. .

The entire room was full of people wearing camouflage or regular uniforms, no one spoke loudly, and the inaudible buzzing added to the depressing atmosphere.

August stood neatly next to his grandfather, and after exchanging greetings with several high-level military officials, his absent-minded eyes fell on Mia who was outside the crowd.

He lowered his head and said something in the old general's ear, and the old man's gaze fell on his granddaughter not far away, and he nodded towards August.

"Hey, Mia." August went around the crowd and walked to his sister.

Mia's eye circles were still a little red and swollen, and she held a wine glass loosely in her hand. Seeing August approaching, she didn't say anything.

"Are you okay?" August clumsily touched the wine glass in her hand.

Mia gave a short laugh: "Do you really care?"

……

At the same time, 1000 kilometers away, Denmark, Odense military base.

Having just finished a 25-kilometer weight-carried run, Dan followed a group of sweaty team members toward the bathroom after the playground disbanded.

Some of the cramped communal bathhouses were filled for a moment with loud, indecent jokes, discussions about what dinner was going to be, and speculation about whether there would be an emergency meeting tonight.

Dan took off his dirty T-shirt and trousers together with the people around him, stuffed them randomly into his personal locker, took out towels and soap, and was just about to enter the bathroom when someone patted his shoulder.

He turned his head, and it was Ralph in the same dormitory.

"Hey, have you heard that there was an accident with the Sirius Special Forces recently?"

"Accident?" He raised his eyebrows, not very interested.

"I heard that it seems to be related to spies or something. Anyway, one person died." Ralph approached his ear mysteriously and lowered his voice.

"Is there a battle damage ratio when you go on a mission in the special forces? As long as the value is within an acceptable range." Dan didn't care too much.

"I heard it's different this time. It's not our people who died." Ralph looked around, making sure no one was paying attention to them before continuing: "I have a classmate over there, I heard him say Yes, the dead are ordinary people, and they seem to be relatives of high-ranking members of Sirius."

Hot water splashed down from the overhead nozzle, interrupting Ralph's remaining words. Dan felt a little irritable for no reason. He closed his eyes and let the water rush down from the top of his head.

……

August didn't react a little: "What did you say?"

The smile on Mia's face became a little sad: "I said, you and grandpa, do you really care?"

August subconsciously looked back at the direction of the old general: he was still surrounded by a group of subordinates, and only a corner of his epaulette could be seen.

"I know that you have been unwilling to forgive Dad because of your mother, so you didn't listen to him at all when he objected to your going to the military academy. Now? Are you satisfied with the result? You and grandpa ended up on the same road. road."

"Look, Mia, I don't want this to happen either—"

"Of course I know you don't want it!" Mia's tone became a little fierce, "But the result is like this, Dad died because of you and your damn job!" After she finished speaking, she raised her head and drank the glass Wine, turn around and leave.

August grabbed her arm: "Wait, Mia—"

"Let me go!" Her voice was warning, and her gray-blue eyes, like his, were full of pain: "Look at this place, August, this place is almost occupied by you. I see Not a single point... any trace of what Dad ever left behind. I literally feel out of breath, let me go."

August opened his mouth, and finally let go.

Mia walked out of the gate without looking back.

August said goodbye to the general at the airport that night. The general was going back to his African base, and he got on the plane back to the base in Greenland.

It was past midnight when the plane landed at the base. After sending everyone else away, August did not go back to the dormitory, but sat down in the corner of the playground.

The night was dark, the weather was not very clear, the night sky was covered with thick clouds, and there was no trace of starlight.

August lit a cigarette, took a puff close to his mouth, and slowly exhaled a white circle around his eyes. For the first time, he felt the exhaustion deep into the bone marrow.

There was a sound of light footsteps behind him.

"Who?" He turned around alertly.

"It's me." Arthur's voice.

He groped and walked to August and sat down: "I heard they said you're back, but I didn't see you back in the dormitory. I guess you'll be here, so I'll come over." As he sat down, almost There was a "clang" sound of glass bottles colliding.

"What are you holding?"

"Beer, I just went out to buy it."

"You know that alcohol is not allowed in the base." August's voice was very weak.

Arthur smiled awkwardly: "I know, it's a special period, but you are the captain, if you want to care about me, I have to accept the punishment."

August didn't speak. After a while, he reached out to take a bottle, pried off the bottle cap with his thumb, and poured it down with his head raised.

The sound of his swallowing was very clear in the dark.

Arthur didn't speak.

……

More than 3500 kilometers away.Odense military base, dormitory.

Dan lay on the bed, staring silently at the ceiling in the darkness.

"Ralph, tell me...if I apply to be a hunter, what are the chances of success?" He said abruptly.

"Ah... what?" Ralph's voice was a little confused, he was obviously fast asleep.

Dan didn't answer. After a long time, a smile slowly appeared on the corner of his mouth, and his voice was lowered, more like talking to himself: "Special forces... sounds pretty good too."

……

After an unknown amount of time, August was already lying on his back on the ground, breathing softly and evenly. There were 5 or 6 beer bottles poured around him in a mess.

Arthur sat next to him, eyes clear, not sleepy at all.

A ray of moonlight leaked from the gap in the clouds, and it was falling on August's face. His high nose was like a Greek sculpture, with an indescribable coldness and temptation.

Bewitched by the light and shadow, Arthur slowly bent down and moved closer to August's face little by little until his lips were only a few millimeters away from the tip of his nose.

His breathing trembled slightly, and the expression on his face was almost pious, and finally touched the tip of August's nose lightly.

The cold touch of his skin seemed to wake him up from a dream, he sat up straight suddenly, stood up and left the training ground as if fleeing.

The author says:

There should be another update tonight~