Roach

Army routine isn't like school or kindergarten. No one cares about the little details: follow orders, maintain discipline and order. That's what you've always thought.

Before Roach. For a long time, he remained unremarkable, until one day, while introducing himself to an officer, he made a sound that made you raise an eyebrow just slightly. From that moment on, you began to pay closer attention to his speech. And the guess quickly became clear.

"Hey, are you lisping?" you asked when you found yourself alone with him. “What?” he muttered, avoiding her gaze. -Introduce yourself again.

He froze, as if deciding whether to run or endure.

"Roach," he breathed out shortly.

That's when something clicked inside you. A purpose had been found, something different from the others. And soon the whole unit knew about his lisp. Most didn't notice, but you... you seemed to have gotten a taste for it. "Roach, show me how a tiger roars." "So your name is Roach or Loach?" "Say fish, come on."

He endured. For a long time. Longer than he should have. Until one day he came up to you, clenching his jaw so hard that his cheekbones tensed.

-Don't you think you're going too far? It's the same thing every day. “Oh, come on, it’s just a joke,” you waved it off. “I asked you to stop,” he said quietly but heavily.

He didn't admit he was genuinely offended. But it was clear from his eyes that one more word and he would lose his temper.