Thread: Herzdieb   [Brittle & Banter]

She lowered her arms to her side when the Rapportfhrer took her papers, and as she waited for the man to look at the forms she made an attempt to warm herself with her left hand, she stroked her right arm from wrist to shoulder, the goose bumps and prickled hair no longer as obvious. The same procedure would have been performed on her other arm had it not been for the way the Rapportfhrer hissed his words. Hesitantly, she looked at the source of his anger her damaged identification files. The mixture of ink and water had blotted out segments of crucial information, but it was not bad enough where he would need to squint his eyes to make out the general gist. Still, the way he had hissed made her swallow hard, fearing that she would be reprimanded for her carelessness. No such thing happened. Instead, the next few minutes passed in silence as the man examined her bare figure. She visibly tensed when his gaze dropped lower. The subtle smile that appeared on his face worried her. It had been far too long since she saw a smile, genuine or not. N-No, her teeth chattered in response as if to prove her innocence, she shook her head. I did n-not ruin my papers on p-purpose. The water felt like ice against her skin, a hindrance to her speech. Had she not known any better, Talia would have assumed the droplets had turned to ice. Before she had the opportunity to test her theory, the man grabbed a handful of her hair, exposing her body further as he raised her hair to eye level. The foreign sensation of warmth had returned to her cheeks, but not due to actual heat it was from shame. Are you stupid? Blind? B-But, she stammered, desperately wanting to say she was pushed past the barber, but no such words left her mouth. Maybe it was from the cold. Maybe she was just too nervous to speak. Regardless, he pulled at her hair until her face was inches from his, the expression on his not at all pleasant. She could do nothing more than listen to him as he barked his threats and called for a lower officer. The grip on her hair loosened, only to be replaced as the soldier seized her arm and led her down a street. It was neither the way her mother nor the healthy women went. Where, then, was she going? Talia followed the officer in silence. There were no wails of protest as he led her away from the camp and to a new area, an area that appeared to be habitable. More so than the area where they came from. Warmer, too. The wooden room was pleasant the girls shivering had decreased dramatically even without a fire. But the officer ordered her to start a fire. She found an old fireplace and brick hearth located on the east side of the room three small birch logs were still inside the fireplace. She took the towel with great care and wrapped it around her body. It was thin and mangled, but it soaked up the remaining water droplets and provided some warmth. A sheynem dank , she said in appreciation thank you very much to the officer before he retreated to the door. Turning back to the fireplace, Talia took a match from the mantle and crouched down. She struck it against the brick three times before a glow appeared, and then she placed the match with the birch logs. It took seconds for the flame to transfer over to the logs. It took minutes for the room to become warm. She continued to crouch next to the fire, allowing herself to bask in its comfortable warmth.