This is another story to improve my writing skills. And since there's hardly any stories of these couple, I thought I'd write about them~

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A replacement.

Joining the military was his choice, yes, but becoming a replacement of someone he never knew, was not.

Joseph Allen, was the dead guy's name. He heard Sgt. Foley speak of him, and how he died in an undercover mission. That could happen, a lot, but he never heard of someone being replaced because they died. Especially in a large army like The Rangers.

Private Ramirez, that's what everyone started calling him now. He must admit, if only for himself, that he missed being called with his first name. Missed his old group of roommates, and missed being a normal soldier.

He was trained for the past few months with no mercy, but he was still not ready for real action, especially of how urgent they had brought him over to the Rangers' base, and of how little information they had told him, and now, he accompanied Sgt. Foley and Cpl. Dunn in every mission.

James sat down on his makeshift bed. A few soldiers sleeping here and there, some of them wounded and unable to rest, some of them too lost in their worries over who shall win in this war. He held his journal and pen, started sketching some new wars strategies, some of his comrades faces and finally, his family. He wasn't a professional at drawing, but it felt good to memorize some faces and care enough to draw them. And mostly drawing one specific Corporal…

Once he heard footsteps, he quickly hid his journal below his pillow and pretended to tie his boots instead, and when the figure finally showed up, it was Foley.

"Private. Its going to be dinner time soon. Inform the rest." With that being said, the Sergeant disappeared again, leaving an irritated private behind him.

Man, why does he have to do all the work!? Ever since he joined this army he have been doing so much work, and hardly anytime to rest. And thanks to Foley's rank, he cant say no, only moan over it behind the man's back.

With a groan, he stood up, travelling around the base with a bored look as he kept informing the soldiers. Why couldn't they just fix up some alarm and stop sending people instead? Okay, okay, he was whining a lot. He needed to sit down and calm his nerves, maybe even talk with a few guys to cheer up his mood.

As he reached the dining hall, seats were already flooded with people, as if they already knew and he had no need to tell the entire base… With a sigh, he sat down on a random table, eyes scanning the people around him until his vision was caught by the Corporal he was thinking about a while ago. Dunn was sitting across of him, whining about the lack of rest and equipment and how they needed a break from the so many missions they had.

In all honesty, Ramirez had little to no problems listening to Dunn's complaining, no matter how annoying it can get sometimes. He actually agreed on most of it, silently, so it doesn't seem as if he cared so much. Sometimes, Foley would loose his patience and yell at Dunn to shut up, and every time he did, James would frown and fight the urge to punch the Sergeant for shutting the man up.

It wasn't wrong to share an opinion, even if it was in an annoying way. And James would secretly admit that half of the time he listened to Dunn, he didn't focus on what he's saying. Watching his lips move and hearing his voice was good enough for him, making him content.

A nudge to his shoulder brought him back to reality, and as he looked beside him, it was no other than his friend, Jacob, the first guy he got to meet when he came here. He had dark hair, dark eyes and a light skin, unlike the rest of the Rangers who has spent so much time under the sun, causing them to either redden or becoming tanned. "Dude, you're staring a lot." He said, giving a side smirk at James. The said person merely smiled and returned his gaze back at Dunn who had a mouthful of food, and still managed to talk. "…I cant help it."

A light chuckle left Jacob, rubbing his friend's back and began eating from his bowl. He was the only person who knew about James feelings toward Dunn, and what makes it more interesting, he figured it out all by himself. He knew from the first meeting that Ramirez was the quiet kind of a guy, always secretive. However, when he figured it out, James never denied or disagree or made a whole ordeal of the thing like so many guys does. He simply smiled and looked away, causing Jacob to investigate further into this.

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After the dinner was done, James made his way back to the sleeping quarters, snatching his journal and heading back to the tanks and vehicles. There were already some soldiers there, fixing some cars or changing tires or whatever they were doing… it didn't really matter for James. He sat down behind one of the tanks, opened his journal and doodled the one man he drew in every inch of the journal. Most of the book was covered in sketches of Dunn, some of them are quotes the Corporal had said too.

His only fear was someone to find this. He knew what kind of trouble he'd be in for falling for a higher ranked man that probably had no feels toward him. Hell, he was so scared of Dunn's reaction, fearing it more than death. As much as how painful it was, he had to keep it a secret, and Jacob was trustworthy to not tell anyone about it… he was safe.

Being too drowned in thinking had made him stare unblinkingly at the sky, never hearing the reaching footsteps or the voice that spoke, well, until he was kicked on the side.

"Yo, Ramirez! You okay?!"

Once his eyes focused again, he quickly closed the damned journal and straightened up, eyes never leaving the newcomer and heart beating fast. Holy FUCK. What If he saw the sketches?!

"I said… you okay?"

With a deep exhale, James hesitantly nodded and looked back down, a small blush showing on his face from this encounter. "S-Sorry I was… thinking." He said, trying hard to meet the Corporal eyes, but ending up looking away in a blush. He was glad it was night time, preventing Dunn from seeing his reddened cheeks.

"Then what are you doing out here? Obviously not the best time to meditate." The Corporal smirked, sitting down beside James and leaning heavily on the tank behind them. A small sigh leaving him.

"I was just bored of the quarters, in need of fresh air too, so…" he looked straight forward, body stiffening when the older male sat beside him, however, he tried his best not show how nervous he was.

"Yeah, guess that happens. Oh you got a notebook?"

He asked once his eyes landed on the book in Ramirez's hands, and the said person's eyes widened before he tapped the thing on his legs. "Yeah I… I like to spend my free time improving my drawing skills." He nodded to his lie, accepting it himself, even though he never even thought of improving it. Just wasting time.

A 'huh' was heard from the man beside him, and soon enough, he reached out his hand to grab it, his body leaning over Ramirez's as he did so. And upon realizing this, James quickly pulled the journal away and shoved it below his feet, giving the man beside him an apologetic smile. "Y-Yeah I don't think you want to see what's in it, it's a little… personal."

If he would punch anything right now, he'd punch Dunn's suddenly mischievous expression that formed on his face. And god, he never wanted to know what's going through the man's head. "Personal, huh? You mean like, porn?" The smirk on the older man's face only widened when he said that word, making James groan and look away, shaking his head. "No! That'd be really weird to draw."

Taking his hand back to his side, only then he realized how close he was to Ramirez, but even as his hand dropped down on his lap, he was still practically leaning over the younger male, not ready to straighten up yet.

"I know you wont confess, but hey, we're men! We got needs. And since we cant really watch porn here, the least we could do is draw it, right?"

Yes, he seriously wanted to punch the Corporal's face. But if sketching him all across his journal was porn, he was more than willing to accept this.

"Anyway, I'm heading back to sleep, we got training tomorrow, so you might as well do the same." When the corporal didn't receive an answer from the private, he said those words and stood up slowly, leaving as quietly as he came.

With a long, heavy sigh, he sunk down further, relieved the other was finally off of him. He must admit this too, that feeling the other so closely pressed to him, his scent filling his nose and that god damn sexy look on his face was too much to ignore. And somewhere deep within him, he hoped the other never got up.

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If there are any suggestions or ideas about where this story goes, feel free to message me, either as a review or a private message. Thank you for reading. :D