[2/2] Echoes from the past [COMPLETE]

Joakim shot Grim a look when he heard the younger man mumble, "Hvad?" he asked, unable to catch most of what Grim said. He only saw a lingering hesitating look on the German boy's face. There was another short silence between them before Grim asked his next question. Joakim found this a lot easier to answer as he turned to look at the wall on the other end of the room, "No."

He let out a low, humorless chuckle as a memory resurfaced, "Just between you and me, I was a suicidal idiot a few hundred years into my Apprenticeship. Had to be put under Inkidortes' care so I don't start lashing out at people while I'm busy trying to off myself. ...I wanted to bring some people down with me, and I didn't care who." he stopped there though, sighing as he ran a hand through his hair, "That's ancient history though, I'll bore you to death with the details. But yeah, I'm not afraid. I'm already dead. The next one is for good, sure, but can't get more dead than I already am."

Joakim shrugged and reached out to clap a hand on Grim's shoulder. He gripped that shoulder, shaking him lightly, "Are you?"

Oh, he was interested? That was new. Not many people were interested in what he had to say. They'd rather he keep his mouth shut, in fact. Scoffing, Joakim shook his head, "I've been around a really long time but I didn't take German lessons." The implication that he didnt understand Grim couldn't be clearer.

He hasn't been around long enough to understand German, but he sure as hell was around long enough to pick up on Latin and Welsh.

He raised a brow when Grim asked him for a quick favor, though and pushed himself off the bed slowly. Sighing, he pulled out the drawer Grim indicated and put his hands on his hips, "Alright, what am I looking for here?" He asked, tilting his head to look at Grim.

The frown on his face may have worked its magic at last when Grim finally gave him clearer instructions as he reached into the drawer and pulled out the items that Grim asked for. He drops them on the bed next to Grim's feet, the bottle of antiseptic being the last item he dropped before he closed the drawer and sat back down at the edge of the bed, "Your glasses are on the table, by the way." he said simply, motioning to the wheely table that was by the side of the bed.

He grabbed his neglected sandwich, putting it back in his food drawer before leaning back on his hands, "Hey Grim, I'm not sure if you remember, but back when we were down there, you mentioned someone named Victor. Who's that?" Joakim looked over his shoulder at the younger man as he waited for an answer.

Watching the younger man tend to his own wounds got increasingly annoying. Growling at the hissing sounds that Grim was making, Joakim reached out towards Grim and snatched the handkerchief out of his hand when he next pulled the damp cloth away from his face, "Gimme that..." he snarled before turning in his seat so he could look at Grim. Taking the bottle of water, Joakim dampened the handkerchief a little more before reaching over with his free hand and pulling Grim towards him by the hand, "Should've asked if Ams had a mirror handy..." he grumbled as he tilted Grim's chin up to look at him when the younger man sat up properly, "Hold still." came the simple instruction as Joakim began to wipe Grim's face clean.

Cleaning wounds was something simple enough for him to do. He's done it to himself more times than he cared to count when he wasn't busy evading 'capture' or getting dragged to the infirmary. Seriously, he had no time to lay down and rest when they could be treating someone else who needed it. The viking made several noises of disapproval when Grim tried to pull away, maybe he was being too rough? "Suck it up, I'm almost done. Just hold still or it'll hurt more."

Sighing, Joakim instructed Grim to close his eyes, dabbing the dried blood off of the young man's eyelids as he addressed Grim's last question, "You didn't say much. Nothing that made too much sense, I guess. All I know is you said 'Victor', then something that sounded like ' no guns'. An unarmed soldier you knew or something?" he didn't mean to pry, he was just curious. Plus, talking about a person shouldn't trigger anything, right? Unless this Victor person was the one who shot him, then.... welp.

Oops?

Putting the handkerchief away, Joakim turned Grim's face this way and that lightly, making a small sound of approval now that the blood was cleaned off, "Alright, do I do the same with the antiseptic now or something?" he let go of Grim's face, reaching out for the bottle of antiseptic and popped the cap, waiting for further instructions. He'd rather be walked through this than let Grim flounder around and put antiseptic on his face like he's putting on make-up, really.

Joakim only huffed when Grim told him that he didn't have to tend to his wounds. At least he was sitting still, which was making his job a little easier. With Grim's instructions, Joakim got the handkerchief wet with antiseptic, capped the bottle and set it aside before holding Grim's chin once more and dabbing the wounds with them as carefully as he could. It might still sting, but he was trying to be gentler with the smaller man, "No need, I got this." he murmured, brows furrowed in concentration.

He did take a moment to process what Grim had just said, tilting his head slightly, "...Victor? ...Is that your middle name or something? Didn't think you'd refer to yourself in third person when you're half-asleep. In my time, people having two names wasn't really common at all, and people with two names are usually either related to important people, like a Chief's son or your parents just wanted you to sound cooler than you look. It's a hit-and-miss sometimes. Some live up to their names and the others not so much." Joakim chuckled as he dabbed at Grim's wounds a bit more before letting him go, finally done with the amateurish treatment, "Done." he announced, putting the hanky aside, "Go get some rest while I clean this shit up," he motioned vaguely to the handkerchief and the bottle of antiseptic beside him.

The older man put the things away, listening to Grim talk as he did so. He waited for Grim to finish, watching the medic climb the ladder to get to his bunk before replying,

"I don't know about that. The only thing left behind on that battlefield is an empty shell of a body," the drawer closed with a dull thud as Joakim put the antiseptic away, "Victor may not be alive, but he exists. Just under a different name for his own reasons." Once Grim settled down, Joakim stood on his tip-toes slightly, reaching over to ruffle Grim's hair, "We'll talk again after you've rested if you want, just get some sleep for now, kid." He gave Grim a cheeky grin before pulling away to make sure he didn't leave anything on his bed.

And there was Grim's phone.

Joakim was about to tell Grim about the phone until he read part of the message flashing on the screen. They were asking him to take the midnight shift. Sitting at the edge of his bed, Joakim picked up the german young man's phone and opened the message.

Yep, they wanted him on midnight duty.

Working the phone shouldn't be that tough... after fiddling with the phone a little, Joakim managed to find the 'reply' function and typed a message in response to Grim's colleague;

[This is Grim's teammate. He's in severe need of rest atm and we're not letting him work late till he's fully rested. He'll report back to work the day after tomorrow so you'll have to find someone else to cover for him till then.]

With that done, he sent the message and plopped the phone next to his pillow. Grim would be able to survive without his phone for a whole day, right? Picking up his own phone, Joakim lay in his bed and decided he'd kick back for now, too. The report could wait.