Erlöse mich

Till watched as the scene unfolded. It was always the same. It might not always start the same but it would always end the same.

---

Earlier that day Paul had suggested they go out for some drinks after they were done in the studio and everyone had wholeheartedly agreed because it had been a difficult couple of days. There had been a power cut which meant everything in the studio was rendered useless. Not even a coffee to be had. Worse still was that the rooms attached to the studio had no functional heating system so everyone was forced to congregate in the recording room to sleep. It was warm enough but with six band members and two sound producers crowding the room, it wasn't nearly big enough.

Once the power went back on, things didn't get much better. The computers had crashed just seconds before the power outage and when they were booting back up they crashed again, erasing all that had been recorded in the past couple of weeks of production. Both of the producers had apologised profusely to every member of the band and the younger of the two had looked on terrified as Till's eyes filled with sheer fury.
In the aftermath, he had gone back and apologised to both producers. Taking extra care with the younger one to explain that his anger was not aimed at them. He didn't bother to apologise to his band mates, they knew him well enough that he didn't have to but he hated the idea of having scared the young producer since she seemed to be hardly 21 years old.

So after near enough forty-eight straight hours of working to re-record what had been lost, a drink seemed well deserved. Paul had invited the producers too but they had politely declined as they had a lot of work to be doing in the studio.

Thus, here he was. Watching an all too familiar scene. They had sat in a corner booth in a relatively quiet bar and enjoyed the drinks and easy conversation.

---

Later that night it got busier in the bar but no one bothered them. Richard, Schneider and Paul had gone off to talk to some locals, while Ollie had decided to go back to the studio and see how the producers were getting on. Leaving Till and Flake. Flake had gone up to the bar to get another drink, although he was already pretty smashed.

From his corner seat in that booth, Till saw it coming. A man had bumped into Flake at the bar and apologised but in the state he was in Flake took no notice of the apology. Instead he decided to pick a fight.

Of course fate deemed it appropriate to make sure the man was at least three times the size of Flake. Till ran a hand through his hair and prepared himself, it hadn't attracted any attention yet but it wouldn't be long knowing Flake.

Squaring up to the man Flake looked absolutely ridiculous.

"Really little man, over one spilt drink? I won't fight one so much smaller than me." The man told Flake.

Till respected the man's values but he knew that those words were just fuel on a fire to Flake.

Now Till was well known for his affinity with fire but this was a flame that he really wished would just be snuffed out as soon as possible. Alas, no such luck. Flake threw a punch and the larger man caught his fist with ease.

Flake grunted and by now others began to take notice. Richard was busy watching in drunken amusement but Paul and Schneider looked back at Till with a mixture of worry and knowing painted across their face.

The worry soon dissipated though because the man let go of Flake's fist and left the bar without another word.

Till's hands found their way to his face into which he sighed with relief.

---

Sometime later, the man returned. This time with a couple of friends and that made Till tense up. The man from earlier simply sat at a table and let the other two men head up to the bar where Flake was currently discussing politics, rather drunkenly, with the barmaid.

It all happened in slow motion but Till could do nothing to stop it.

One of the men made a fist and let it connect with Flake's cheekbone and nose with immense force. In an instant, Flake was down. Not one to give up though Flake got back on his feet and dodged the second swing. He landed a hit or two of his own due to pure luck and his small size being something of an advantage. Clearly the second man decided that just wouldn't do because he grabbed Flake by the shoulders and placed him in a headlock, allowing the other to ceaselessly punch Flake in the gut.

The whole bar had been shocked into silence and looked as if someone had hit pause on the other patrons until Till vaguely heard Paul call out to him but he was more focused on the pleading look Flake threw in his direction.

The table went over with a clatter as Till shot to his feet and he thundered over in the direction of the man punching Flake. His buddy didn't have the time to warn him before Till had his head colliding with the table.

The man holding Flake released his grip and Flake got out of the way just in time to miss the fist Till sent towards the second assailants stomach, winding him. At this point the man who had been throwing the punches at Flake dived towards Till and caught him around the waist, but Till wrenched his body around in the man's grip enough that he could raise his booted foot and stamp on the back of the man's leg. With a scream of agony, the man let go of Till and put the other man on the ground too.

He turned to the barmaid and laid some money on the bar.

"Sorry about the mess." He said with a look of complete sincerity.

He helped Flake up from where he had decided it would be easier to sit and gather his breath and wrapped an arm around his waist, placing Flake's arm across his shoulder to help him walk out of the bar.

Till stopped for a moment at the table the man from earlier was currently sitting at wearing a shit eating grin. Not a man who really enjoyed conflict Till could think of nothing to say that wouldn't result in another fight and so settled for a low and dangerous growl coming from deep in his chest.

The other three members hurriedly said their goodbyes to the people they had been sitting with and opened the door for Till and Flake.
No one said anything during the walk back to the studio.

---

Once they had returned Till took Flake through to the room they shared, leaving it to Paul to explain the situation to the two producers and Ollie.

Till gathered a bowl of warm water and a hand towel to clean the dried blood that had come from Flake's nose after the first strike.

"Ich bin überrascht, dass es nicht kaputt ist." Flake chuckled weakly.

"Flake, müssen Sie nicht so unvorsichtig sein." Till scolded his friend gently, "Es kann ein Tag kommen, an dem ich dich nicht von einem Kampf zu retten."

"Irgendwie bezweifle ich das."

*

Translations

Erlöse mich - Redeem Me

"Ich bin überrascht, dass es nicht kaputt ist." - I'm surprised it's not broken.

"Flake, müssen Sie nicht so unvorsichtig sein." - Flake, you mustn't be so careless.

"Es kann ein Tag kommen, an dem ich dich nicht von einem Kampf zu retten." - There may come a day when I cannot save you from a fight.

"Irgendwie bezweifle ich das." - Somehow I doubt this.