"You... you... degenerates!" Frank said, coffe and iodine dripping from his brow. He stormed out of the mess.
"Don't worry, Francis, it'll come out in the wash!" Hawkeye called.
The two pranksters looked at each other. "We are good."
"Yes, we are," Hawkeye replied.
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
Trapper walked down the dirt roads of the four-o-double-natural, towards the Swamp. It was quiet in the compound; everyone was at the post-prank party in the Officer's Club. Everyone except Frank and Hot Lips, that was. Margaret was in Post-Op and Frank was probably off reading the Army Rule Book somewhere.
Out of the silence, Trap heard a noice-- yes, a whimper. In curiousity, he ducked his head into a position where he could see the whimperor. John gasped. It was Frank.
The captain knew that Frank was capable of showing human traits: greed, anger stupidity, but sadness? Sadness was way too human for a ferret.
"Frank?" he called.
"McIntre!" Frank stood up from his squatting position and wiped the tears from his eyes. "Shouldn't you be off swilling gin somwhere?"
"Shouldn't you be off swilling Hot Lips somewhere?"
"Her name is-" Frank was cut off by Trapper's intense stare at his red eyes. "What are doing?"
"Frank, were you crying?"
The Major gave John a disgusted twice-over. "No one cries in This Man's Army; except, for, maybe, the women."
"I saw you!"
"You saw no such thing!"
"What are you afraid of? What, that I'm going to spread around camp that Major Francis Marion Burns MD has feelings?"
Yes, very much so. They had played all the cruel pranks possible, what else could they do than spread rumors?
"Yes... no... do you even know why I was crying?"
Trapper was going to say, "Aha, you admit it!" but simply decided on, "No."
Frank uncharacteristically explained that he was weeping because of all the jokes and pranks were directed at him by "you and Captain Pierce". Also, that he was "stuck in this a country I've never been to, all alone, missing my kids".
Burns talked for about twenty minutes and, to Trapper's surprise, he listened the whole way through and added his own tidbits of experience into the conversation.
When the vent ended, John asked, "Why did you tell me all that?"
Frank looked up at him. "I don't know. Why did you listen?"
"I dunno, either."
They sat there in silence, both trying to sort out what just happened. Had they just... have, God help me, an intimate conversation, complete with feelings?
"You should be getting back to the party, Pierce is waiting."
Trapper laughed at the thought; Hawkeye was making eyes at Lt. Dish earlier and was probably making eyes with her again in the supply tent. "I don't think he is."
Frank looked at him queerly. "Really?"
"Yeah. If he is L. T. Dish will give him something to do in the mean time."
Frank's eyes' grew wide. He thought that... wait... but....
"And I think I'd rather stay with you."
The two surgeons' eyes met and something unbelievable happened; they kissed. Not for very long and nothing too spectacular but it did happen.
Frank cleared his throat, Trapper became enamored with his shoelaces. Yup, this was awkward.
Trapper looked over at Frank. He knew that if he wanted something to happen, he would had to do it himself. "Come on." He grabbed Franks arm and dragged him towards their tent.
"Huh?"
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
Lying in Trapper's peacefully in a post-coital (was that coitus?) was Frank and, of course, Trapper.
"What were you looking at me strange about before?"
"Oh, yes. I always thought that you and Hawkeye were doing... what we did."
Trapper laughed. Trapper John Francis Xavier McIntre and Hawkeye Benjamin Franklin Piece, lovers?
It continued to amuse him as he drifted of to sleep.