Whiskey and Wine

[Keller]

Keller was by all means a stereotypical representation of being a hard nosed and no nonsense soldier by this point in his life. He had seen and done enough to be turned cynical and disgruntled several times over. The biggest failures that he simply could not forget often fuelled his allegedly volatile temper. Nonetheless he seemed quite patient with her if not outright compassionate. He took a moment to stare daggers into the crowd before turning around to meet her with what seemed like his default stoic countenance. He was close enough to her to more or less block out the view of the hangar and uniformed people behind them.

"I'll confess. I technically don't have much choice in the matter. But you are still under my protection, and I will intervene, violently, if necessary to uphold that responsibility. If you truly want to leave, I'll respect that. And I'll take you straight back to Exeter and endure whatever consequence occurs thereafter." Initially he seemed apprehensive of making physical contact given the potential for onlookers. Yet he would still take hold of one of her hands and make decisive eye contact to try and show solidarity.

"Ich stehe hinter dir - I have your back, if you choose to go through with this nothing will happen to you." He seemed confident in saying that, but in truth he had little faith in his abilities to protect anyone, he had failed in every instance of trying to do so. It was what made him try so hard, but it was also likely the foundation of his grief and trauma, carefully locked behind his expressionless green eyes, but there nonetheless.