Once outside, they settled down at one of the tables, the one farthest from the entrance to the barracks. Knight lit up a smoke and, after seeing him futilely patting several pockets, offered Leo a cigarette from his own pack.
“Thanks”, Leo said with a grin and produced a lighter that he flicked on with a toss of his head. In the darkness around them, the light of the flame illuminated his face in a reddish-orange glow. Suddenly Knight noticed Leo was looking at him over the flame of the lighter, the flickering of the orange light reflecting in his eyes. It made his mouth suddenly go dry. Fool, he told himself.
“So.” Leo took a deep breath and exhaled a slow cloud. “Where were we.”
“You were asking me if I hadn’t joined the production process yet”, Knight gave back.
The other man chuckled. “Right. So?”
Knight took his time answering, inhaling deeply and blowing a long bluish cloud before he spoke. “No. And I’m not going to, either.”
“Oh?” Leo leaned back and crossed his arms, the cigarette between the second and third finger of his right hand. “Why’s that?”
Knight debated with himself how much he dared to tell this stranger, then shrugged. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
“I don’t... particularly fancy myself a married man”, he said.
Leo, in turn, slowly raised his right hand, clamped his lips around the cigarette and crossed his arms again while he puffed his cheeks. “Yeah... I suppose being in the military wouldn’t make that easy.”
Knight watched a cloud over his head disappear. “Being in the military has little to do with it.”

A long pause followed these words, and when Knight finally dared to look at Leo again, he found the other man watching him with a strange sort of interest.
“I could imagine, with your family and all, that your folks are expecting as much of you, though. Been pestering you into getting married, I s’ppose.”
“Yeah, quite.” Knight extinguished the butt end in the ashtray before him. “With a clan like that, expectations are pretty high in that department. Not much tolerance for someone being... out of the usual.”
“Ah.” Leo tapped the ash of his cigarette and looked at him while he took another puff of smoke. “See, I don’t have much of a family anymore... apart from George.” And here he grinned. “Be that as it may, I feel kinda lonely sometimes. I kind of envy you your large family... it must be great to have a lot of close kin. However, I don’t fancy myself a married man that much either.”
Their eyes met, and the air between them suddenly seemed so charged that Knight wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d produce sparks with snapping his fingers. Leo’s gaze grew more intense and Knight, unable to look away, slowly uncrossed his arms and folded his hands on the table.
Leo in turn dropped his head back and blew a cloud of smoke upward, leaving Knight to stare at his throat. “I guess it would break your poor old mother’s heart if you told her you’re gay.”
For some reason this simple statement, as true as it was, hit Knight like a fist in the stomach. Obviously, Leo was done with beating about the bushes, but where exactly did he mean to go? “I guess so, too”, he replied as calmly as he could. “That’s why she doesn’t know yet. And if I may ask... how did you know I’m gay? Was I being that indiscreet?”
Leo looked at him again with a soft chuckle and a twinkle in his eye. Knight realised he liked that twinkle. A lot. “Well”, Leo said in a slow drawl, his voice deeper as usual which made shivers creep down Knight’s spine. Then he looked straight at Knight, eyes still sparkling. “Takes one to know one, I guess.”