A/N: I love Springles so much, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of fics about them. Here is some with a lot more coming after SnK 105...
Note: SnK 105 spoilers.
The trainee wages aren't much, but Sasha always manages to come home with half the market every time they visit the village on their days off. Most people only come home with a basket of goods (and that's usually given to them by their own families). Sasha, however, claims she buys these things all on her own. Her secret? Bartering.
"I once haggled a butcher for a chicken leg with just a loose button off my shirt," Sasha brags, her chest puffed out with pride. "You need to know how to bargain with them. It's actually pretty complicated. You've got to pay attention to their mood, what's selling well, and the price the goods are selling at in other shops. And then you have to think about yourself too. Don't dress too nicely like you have a lot of money, and don't act too interested either."
Connie wrinkles his nose. He used to think shopping was simple, but Sasha's tips are making his head hurt. "Can't I just pay what's on the sign?" he asks.
"Of course not," Sasha snorts. "You're not rich enough for that and you can buy so much more food if you work a little for it. You should try it, Connie. It's a useful life skill!"
He doesn't mind paying full price for his food. After all, the farmers and shopkeepers work hard too and need to earn money just like everybody else does. He also doesn't feel the need to have a feast at every meal like Sasha does, but she seems to enjoy bargaining with the shopkeepers and stall workers, so he figures he should give it a try. When she enjoys something, there's a good chance he'll find it fun too.
"Any place you think I should start in particular?" he asks.
Sasha gives him a wide grin and links her arm through his, already tugging him excitedly to a food stall. "There's a lady who runs a fruit stand over there," Sasha says, pointing. "She's pretty nice and you can usually get a few more oranges and apples out of her if you look poor enough."
Connie feels the few coins that are left in his pocket. He had spent them earlier on snacks. Had he known this is what he'd be doing lately, he would have saved them instead of eating all those donuts.
"I'm sure I'm poor enough," he mutters. He turns to look at Sasha. "What if I have nothing to bargain with?"
She smirks. "Then don't go after something you know you can't afford," Sasha laughs. Digging around in the pocket of her skirt, she pulls out a handful of coins and drops them in his hand. Despite having already bought quite a few goods already, she still had enough of her wages to spare. "Here, this'll help you out."
"Thanks," Connie mumbles, pocketing the money. He fusses with his clothes, hoping to rumple them up a bit to make him look even worse off than he already was. "Wish me luck."
In the end he was able to buy a basket of oranges, a leg of beef, a head of lettuce, and still had coins left over for Sasha to buy ingredients for the rest of the feast they were planning on having once they returned to the training ground.
She's surprised to see Connie in the stalls, just lazing around in one the haystacks and not minding that the horses are beginning to nibble at his clothing instead of the hay.
"Hey, Sasha," Connie says, grunting as he sits up. He pats the head of one of the horses that is biting the bottom of his shirt. "Is it your turn to feed the horses?"
"Yeah…," Sasha says, frowning. She looks at the bucket of feed dangling from her hand and then at the disinterested horses that are ignoring her. Maybe she should have waited a bit longer before coming in. But then… "Shouldn't you be doing your own chores?"
Connie grins. "I convinced Jean to do my chores today. I told him he could have my dinner," he says. He looks oddly smug despite the fact that he won't be eating tonight. "I used those bartering skills you taught me the other day!"
"Yeah, but I don't think you made that great of a deal if you're losing your dinner," Sasha says. She sighs and puts the bucket of feed down, walking over to take a seat next to Connie on the haystack. She pats him on the back. "It's okay. We'll work on improving your skills next time."
"Nah. Tonight's dinner is meatloaf," Connie reminds her.
"Oh. Oh."
The meatloaf that they serve the trainees is terrible. It tastes nothing like meat and Sasha suspects that they use some sort of substitute, which is ridiculous because nothing can ever replace the savory taste of meat. And they don't cook it – they burn it until the texture is as tough as a boot. You can't cut it up no matter how hard you try, so don't even think about trying to eat it.
Sasha grins at Connie and pinches his cheek affectionately. "I take it back then. You're doing well, my young scholar."
They like to share their few moments of peace with each other. Sometimes they go hunting because Sasha finds it therapeutic. Her enemies back then were so much simpler: pheasant, deer, wild boar. And this is only a temporary escape, but they'll take it together because that's all they have.
He enjoys laying in the grassy pastures with her after a hunt. Most of the time they don't return with any game. It's because of the Titans, Sasha explained once. Even though they've been removed, it will take a long time for the ecosystem to reset itself. But they'll all return eventually. It will just take time.
Sasha's surprisingly patient. She says it's just enough to ride through the forest again, to just think about something besides the unknown future that awaited them on the other side of the ocean, to be here with him in a place where they can rest even if it's only for a little while.
They talk about the things that are happening now and the things that have happened in the past, but they never talk about the future. How can they when it's so uncertain? They distract themselves with things that have happened – all the good times, all the bad times, everything in between - because it's somehow proof that they can make it until the end.
"Best deal you ever made," Sasha says. She's flat on her back, basking in the sunlight with her eyes closed. "I'm sure you've come a long way since what I first taught you. You can probably buy a whole dinner on just a gold coin if you're careful enough. And that's not even using your connections to Queen Historia."
He laughs. "I'm sure whatever bargaining story I tell will pale in comparison to yours," Connie says. He picks at the grass, collecting the blades in the palm of his hand. "You are the expert after all."
Sasha grins widely. "It's true. You know a while ago I went from this tiny little pebble I found in the square and just began trading and trading it until I came home with two horses," she says, recalling the memory fondly.
He does remember that time. She came home with two horses that she didn't need and everyone had wondered how she had enough money to buy the animals in the first place. While the government had increased funds for the Scouting Legion, there wasn't enough in the budget for more horses. She had jokingly said that she could probably get the Scouting Legion twice as many horses as they needed. They'd just need to get her a lot more rocks first.
"I'd never be able to top that," Connie chuckles. He twists the blades of grass together until they form a small ring that's big enough to fit a finger through it. He holds it out to Sasha, holding it delicately between his fingers. "I bet I could come close though. Spend the rest life with me in exchange for this ring?"
She smirks at the little grass ring, taking it carefully from him. "You think my life is only worth a grass ring?" she asks, but she slips it onto her finger anyway.
He brings her hand to his lips, pressing a light kiss on the finger where her hand is. The grass band is missing, but it had gone brown only a few days he had given it to her. She typically wears it though, forcing him to make him a new one every time the one she's wearing begins to fade in color.
"You're not wearing your ring," he says, rubbing a thumb where the band should be.
"I was afraid I'd lose it," Sasha replies, smiling when he raises her hand to his lips again. "Although maybe if you got me a real ring I'd wear it more often."
"You didn't like the ring I made you? I worked hard on that!"
"You make those things in like two minutes," Sasha scoffs, but she looks affectionately at the place where her ring should be. "When you get me a real ring, get one of those really big fancy ones that Historia is always getting from those snobby nobles. The ones with the diamonds all around the band!"
"The ones that she's always selling off behind their backs to get more money for the orphanages?" Connie snickers. Ah, but he really should get her a ring, a real ring, a proper ring. He sits beside her, holding out her hand and imagining the ring that he'll place on her finger someday soon. "I don't think a diamond band is in my budget, but how about one diamond? A big one with so many facets…"
"Hmm. A medium-sized diamond with two smaller ones on the side," Sasha says. "That'd be pretty, don't you think?"
He'd get her the moon to put on her finger if he could. Diamonds, pearls, sapphires. Any one of those jewels would look perfect on her finger. "Well, if you want three, then they might be a little smaller than you're thinking but…"
"And a gold band," Sasha says, snuggling up even closer to him. She slips her hand easily into his, their fingers interlocked.
"A gold band, huh. I guess I could make it happen," he says, but then he realizes what she's doing. "Are you…you're haggling me over your engagement ring, aren't you?"
"Maybe…" Sasha says in a sing-song voice. She laughs when she sees him frowning and gives him a quick peck on the cheek. "I'm just kidding, but I'd be delighted if you actually got it for me."
He takes a glance out the window, seeing the foreign land. The land beyond the ocean. They shouldn't be talking about something like this when they'll soon be attacking their enemy with no certainty of coming out alive.
"Let's think about it when we get back," Connie tells her, squeezing her hand.
They celebrate too early. It's only when he hears the gunshot, sees her lying on the floor with the light fading from her eyes, that he remembers that it's never really over until they've returned home. Only this time she wouldn't be coming back with them.
While the others capture the young girl and boy responsible for their fallen comrade, he rushes to her side, hoping to somehow revive her.
He reaches for her face, touching her cheek so tenderly, but her eyes are closing. "Oi, Sasha!" he cries, his voice breaking. How could this happen when they were so close? "Wake up! We're going home, so please wake up!"
She mumbles something, whispering that they should be quiet so she can sleep, but it only makes them screaming them louder. Their cries are desperate, hoping that if they're loud enough they'll be able to call her back, but she doesn't respond. She simply fades from them, slipping away from them and leaving them alone without her.
"Hey, Sasha, if you don't wake up, you won't be able to enjoy the supper you were looking forward to when we get home," he says, voice trembling. His tears overflow, falling from his cheeks and onto her uniform. Gently he cradles her in his arms, whispering words to her that he knows she can't hear. "We could hunt boar like we did when we were trainees and cook it the way you cooked it for Pixis. I'll even let you have a leg. Two legs. That's your favorite part, isn't it? And we haven't decided on the ring yet…You said three…but I can find one with diamonds all around the band if that's what you really want…if you wake up, Sasha…you have to wake up…"
He pleads with her lifeless body, prays to the uncaring gods, and begs the cruel world for her life back, but he knows it's useless. He can propose any deal he wants, but he knows he has nothing to bargain with.
Word Count: 2199
