Cracking The Commander (DJ x Commander)

DJ hovered by the commander's office with bated breath. His hands twitched as he hesitated to touch the door handle, every time he thought he gained enough confidence, it would immediately wipe away the second he attempted. His eyes glanced over to the clock hitched up on the wall, gulping nervously. Commander was definitely going to notice him stalling and he'd certainly face the consequences for that...

Swallowing his fear, DJ gripped onto the cool door handle tightly and pushed it open. Sitting in a swivel chair right in front of him was his leader, scowling and hands folded tightly together on top of his desk. That could not be a good sign. He gingerly closed the heavy door behind him.

He scanned his surroundings as he slowly walked in, noticing the abundance of paperwork and pens littered around the place. A lone chair was placed in front of Commander's desk, which led DJ to assume that's where he'd need to sit. Apparently, he was looking around longer than Commander was pleased with, as he was interrupted by a gruff sounding, "Sit." from the man. His voice practically echoed in the office room, sending a chill down DJ's spine.

Being close to Commander during training was one thing, but being alone with him was another. DJ quickly obliged and sat down on the creaky wooden chair. He sat there in silence for a moment, simply gazing at Commander with a questioning, seemingly nonchalant look.

"So. Uh. What's up?" DJ broke the silence, shooting some finger guns in his direction. He didn't earn much of a response other than Commander leaning back in his chair, said chair groaning in complaint at the action.

"I've seen your performance this battle."

DJ cocked a brow. Did he really? 'I don't recall ever seeing him turn around towards me the whole round...?' DJ thought to himself. "How?" He suddenly blurted out the question before he could actually stop himself.

Commander looked a little displeased at his outburst, but DJ easily brushed it off. He began to realize his leader's resting face was one of displeasure. His expression at the moment might not mean anything. "You were awful focused on your little setup, you barely even noticed me looking at you."

"Oh." He paused. "Well was my performance... bad? Was that why you pulled me in? You're firin' me?"

"What? No." Commander pressed his palms on the table, lifting himself from his chair. "I wanted to congratulate you on how well you held up."

DJ had to be the luckiest man alive at this point. "Are you kidding?"

"Would you like me to be?" Commander growled. DJ took that as a sign to let him speak without any interruption. He shook his head and kept his mouth shut. "Thank you. As I was saying, I think you have value to this team, a lot, in fact. The way you..." Commander gestured with his hands, trying to find the right words. "You boosted everyone. I'm impressed." The tone of his voice didn't match what he was saying. Commander sounded pretty monotone for being 'impressed'.

Commander walked away from his desk, now circling around the DJ like a shark would with its prey. He'd hate to admit it, but it was genuinely intimidating to be in the middle of Commander's pacing.

"I must say, I didn't expect you of all my troops to be as helpful as you were. And this is your first battle, yes?"

"Yes, sir. It was."

"Interesting. From all my years being a commander, you are one of the few cases where someone excelled in their first match." DJ was tempted to grab Commander by the shoulders and thank him personally. He hadn't been complimented like this in a while, so he was understandably flattered. "Needless to say, I think you will be trailing along in future battles. This team needs another support."