The Archives of the Greedy

~Mourning Words~ General Verlice & Alexander Stuyvesant Part 1

Alexander and David are not my characters! They both belong to Mastermindxoxo!

Part 2 will be coming out very soon

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July 20th, 1775

Hugo dropped his quill and put his face in his hands. He was so tired. So so tired. After the Battle of Bunker Hill... he's been utterly exhausted since then. He lost half of his men and only has about 100 of his men left. Ever since Hugo came along in April, he made sure to avoid any conflict while travelling through New York and Boston - mostly throughout May. Well, he tried at least. When he wasn't able to complete his task of attempting to find anyone related to the stolen luggage and general, Hugo since then resided in Boston - before that he resided in New York for a few days. Well, no, Hugo was able to find who was responsible for it. Their name was Louis Lawless, Captain Lawless to be exact. But.. Boston was now their permanent place.. for now at least. In the middle of nowhere in a field. At least they were near a farmhouse.

And yet, Hugo felt so old already ever since his birthday had passed. July 7th, 1745 he was born. It felt so crazy to him. He was now thirty years old. But a week after his birthday, him and his men were ambushed. He obviously wasn't expecting it and neither were the others. It still made him shudder when he remembered almost getting a bayonet to the face and when he saw one of his men, Alexander, just going crazy on a Rebel with a tomahawk. It's something he would never forget.

He perked up when the sound of footsteps walked past his office tent. He placed his tricorn hat back on his head and made his way over to the entrance of his tent. When he stepped out, he took a sigh of relief when he spotted one of his men leaning against the poorly built fence. Almost instantly, Hugo recognized the soldier. Alexander Stuyvesant. A rifleman... right? Hugo didn't really remember. He doesn't know much about Alexander, but he sees him all the time. Maybe getting to know him might be a benefit on his part. Without a second thought, Hugo started walking over to Alexander - while also adjusting the cuffs of his sleeves in the process.

"Hi there. It's just me. Mind if I am by your side?" Alexander didn't answer. An emotionless look stuck on his face. He seemed to be deep in thought and most likely didn't even hear Hugo's approach. Or he's just ignoring Hugo all together. Hugo took this as a type of 'yes' and slowly stood beside Alexander - also leaning against the fence with one leg crossed over the other. There was silence shared upon the two. Hugo took a deep breath and glanced at Alexander at the corner of his eye. "I've seen what David's death has done to you.. and war in general. So I'm here in case you want to talk about it." Hugo could've sworn he saw Alexander's expression soften, but that could've just been his imagination. Hugo instantly knew this wasn't working. The General looked out towards the treeline up ahead and narrowed his eyes in thought. He needed to get Alexander to trust him. He knew that keeping feelings like that bottled up for so long can cause some serious mental damage. He needed to get this man to open up. In some way!

"When I was close to your age- possibly younger. I lost a childhood friend of mine. I watched his death happen. He was trampled by a horse in the street." Hugo looked down at his hands. "And when I went to his funeral, I wasn't really the same after that. After bottling up my feelings for so damn long I practically lost control of who I was. I never ever talked about his death to anyone. And then I started getting closer to this girl who I met when I was a child." Finally, Alexander turned to look at Hugo. But his expression now held confusion. Hugo started smiling at the semi-good memory. "She helped me a lot and kept me distracted from all the bad things that happened in my life." Alexander turned away from Hugo, continuing to look out at the treeline. The General sighed. "Look, I know what it's like to lose a friend, that's my point. But I also know that one person can change everything and you just have to open up to them. It can be a trusted friend, or a parent, a sibling. Even a girl."

It was quiet again. Hugo was trying to think of how he can finish his 'preach'. Alexander then cleared his throat, causing Hugo to turn his head his way. "How did you know you could trust the people you opened up to?" Alexander questioned, his eyebrows furrowing at his own thought. Hugo gave Alexander a nod. "I didn't. Sometimes I got hurt when I talked about it." Alexander looked down at his shoes, fully listening in on Hugo's words. "And it took a long time, but I finally found someone that I could trust." Alexander looked up again, making eye contact with Hugo. His dark brown eyes staring into Hugo's own different coloured eyes. "What did you do then?" Alexander raised a brow, standing up straight. Hugo smirked. "I married her." He simply answered.

At that answer, Alexander took notice of the gold band on Hugo's left hand on his ring finger. His eyes went back up to the General's face. He turned away and leaned against the fence again. He felt his head droop down, his eyes staring wide eyed at the grass. His lips trembled slightly. "I'm just so tired." Hugo tilted his head, his eyebrows furrowed in concern but also confusion. "I-I can't sleep here. Ever since David... I'm just so worn out. I've got no one, no one to trust, no one to stand beside. No place I can go to for safety... it makes me feel sick to my stomach sometimes-" Alexander stopped when he felt a tear run down his cheek. No. Not here, not now. Not in front of his General. No way in Hell-

"You know, whatever sick bastard out there thinks that this war is fixing everything by killing those you love and care for wants you to feel this way." Hugo hesitantly placed his hands on Alexander's shoulders. Alexander shook his head. "But why?" Another tear ran down his cheek. "Because that's what makes them happy. And that's why you sometimes have to act like some things don't hurt your guts because that's what makes whatever hurt you stronger." Hugo gave Alexander a pat on the shoulder as he heard Henry's footsteps approaching.

"Sir, we found the location of Captain Lawless. When do you suggest we strike?"
"Perhaps later on. We still have other matters on our hands."

Hugo gave Alexander one last look. "You said you have no one to trust, am I right or wrong?" Alexander slowly nodded. "You're right.." Hugo glanced at Henry to make sure he wasn't looking before turning back to Alexander. "If you ever need to trust someone, come to me, yeah?"