Hello, all. :) I hope you enjoy this. AN at the bottom.

All standard disclaimers apply.

It was a Saturday afternoon, and the hot, velvety air enveloped the cadets. Most were sighing as lethargy overtook them; however, two were acting as they usually did (albeit a bit slower than usual). Connie and Sasha weren't the type to let heat drag them down, and were enjoying being able to entertain their friends. But when their friends succumbed to the heat, the duo decided to take a walk.

"Hey, Sasha, I know a way to sneak out. We could go to the lake and stick our feet in to try and cool down."

Sasha, always up for something that remotely resembled an adventure, replied "Yeah! Let's go!"

The two snuck out through a hole in the fence, Sasha mirroring Connie's every move. He had told Sasha that he had discovered it during the stomach flu outbreak, when he was trying to avoid getting sick.

When they reached the lake, they saw no one. Walking to the end of the dock, they began to remove their shoes. Sasha hitched her skirt up to her knees and Connie rolled up his pants legs. In sync, they sat and plopped their feet into the water. They joked around for a bit longer, and then settled into a comfortable silence.

After just a few minutes, thought, Connie broke it. "This isn't working as well as I thought it would."

"Well, there are ways we could get cooler."

"And how's that?" Connie asked.

Sasha kicked water into the air. "We could splash each other. Or…" she trailed off, looking slightly embarrassed.

"'Or' what?"

"We could just jump in," Sasha answered.

Connie rolled his eyes. "Sasha. We don't want to get caught. Wet clothes would be a dead giveaway."

"Who said we had to wear clothes?"

"Wet underwear would lead to wet clothes, you dipshit."

"Connie, you blockhead, Ah'm talkin' about skinny dippin'," Sasha huffed, turning a bit pink from her suggestion and from her accent slipping out, even though it was just around Connie. He was the only one she'd allow that to happen with; she would generally become silent around other people if she was angry or irritated.

Connie's went bright red. "Wha… What makes you say that?"

"What the fuck do you think makes me say that? It can't be the weather, could it?" Sasha retorted.

Still red-faced, Connie hesitated, the replied, "Um. Sure. I guess I'm up for it. Should we move away from the dock?"

She pointed to their left. "Just a little. There ain't any houses over there."

"O-okay." They walked the short distance, with a slightly awkward silence between them.

"Let's stop here," Sasha blushed.

"Uhh… Sounds good." They both stood there, neither wanting to be the first to shed their clothes. After a minute, Sasha sighed, and began to unbutton her shirt. Connie looked down, but after he heard her shirt hitting the ground, he couldn't help but look up at her through his lashes. She began unwrapping the light binding from her chest. Suddenly, she stopped, and began to blush.

"What the hell are you lookin' at?"

Connie, blushing as he turned his back to her and began undressing himself, retorted "What the fuck do you think I was looking at? God, Sasha, I'm going to see them anyway, just like you're going to wind up seeing my dick."

He heard a splash that signaled she was in the water. "Yeah… Well… That doesn't mean I wanted you to watch me undress," she replied.

"Sorry," he huffed, being genuine with the apology.

"… It's okay. I did suggest this, after all." Connie, head still ducked down, walked into the water. They both stood, not facing each other. Connie walked out until the water met his chin. He was surprised to notice that the water around his calves was cold.

"Hey, Sasha, the water out here is actually cold when it gets deeper."

She had her back to him, squatting in the water that was just deep enough to lap over her shoulders. "Really?" She turned her head towards him. "This must be near an underground spring. Huh. Never knew that." She turned fully around, waddling deeper, and began to doggie paddle once she had enough room. Connie wondered what exactly had turned her so shy as fast as it did, and wanted to know why she was still in here if she was uncomfortable. She swam past him, and he watched as she went further out. He wasn't gonna lie; he enjoyed the view. But he turned his head as she slowed.

"I felt you starin'. You were lookin' at mah ass, weren'tcha?" She turned around, glaring at him.

That irritated him, and he snapped. "Tch. Yes, I was. And you know what? I don't regret it. You're beautiful, and I just can't help but look at you sometimes. Silence greeted this statement.

"You think I'm beautiful?" Sasha finally replied.

Connie turned around, smiling. Her stance was still tensed up, arems crossed, but there was a softness in her eyes. "Yes. On the first day, I thought you were pretty, but once I got to know you, you became the most beautiful girl I've ever known." That made her blush.

"You ain't just sayin' that because you think it's what I wanna heard, right?"

"Why would I have any reason to lie?"

She smiled. "You know, I thought the same about you. Out of everyone we're close to, I feel that I'm closest to you." She relaxed, uncrossing her arms.

Connie's face was hot from all the blushing he'd done in the past five minutes. "Pshaw. Let's swim, Potato Girl."

"Ah should smack you sideways for that, shorty."

He stuck his tongue out at her, then began swimming past her, fast as he could. "You'll have to catch me, first!"

They spent the rest of their time swimming, splashing, and laughing. The late afternoon sunlight melted into the evening sunset. Once it started to soften into dusk, Connie said "We need to leave, curfew is coming up soon."

"Yeah. But first, come over here."

He swam over. The water was at shoulder level for her, so he stood on a small, flat rock that was near her. He wondered what this was about.

"Close your eyes."

"No way! You're gonna duck me as soon as I do that!"

"No, Ah won't! Now shut up an do what Ah say!"

Connie closed his eyes and smiled, listening to her accent. He'd loved it since the first time he'd heard it, even though it had embarrassed her at first. Just as he was wondering how it would taste on his lips, she kissed him. Surprised, he kissed her back, arms automatically wrapping around her. She did the same, pulling herself closer to him. The kiss continued, seeming to last for a sweet eternity. He pulled away and cupped her face. His skin was so hot, he was surprised he wasn't steaming or surrounded by boiling water.

Looking into her eyes, he said "I want you so, so much right now. I can't lie to you about that. However, I'm not really ready for anything more intense, so I apologize if it was what you wanted. If not, I hope I didn't just sound like a pushy asshole."

She smiled, her eyes warm. "It's not. And no, you didn't sound like an asshole. I actually figured you'd say somethin' like that."

"Let's go, then. I wish we could stay here; sadly, we can't. we need to get ready now if we wanna make it back by curfew."

"Agreed," Sasha replied. He was saddened that she was beginning to conceal her accent again, and hoped that, with time, she wouldn't be ashamed of it. They swam back to shore and got dressed. They had just finished putting their shoes back on when they heard a scream.

"What the fuck was that?"

Sasha listened, and then shook her head. "It's not anyone in trouble. I still hear shouting, but it doesn't sound like it's a person afraid of something. Whoever it is, they're someone who can take care of themselves." They finally reached the whole in the fence, and after crawling through, Sasha asked if Connie wanted to keep it a secret.

"For now, yes." He grabbed her hand, squeezed it, and gave it a light kiss. She hugged him, and they split up, heading towards their respective dorms.

"So, Connie, where did you and Sasha disappear to?"

"We were just walking, Jean."

"Like hell you were. Both of you were missing at supper time, and I know Sasha wouldn't skip a meal."

"Mind your own fucking business, Jean."

"Ohh, you face is red. Seems I've touched a nerve. And why are your clothes damp? You showed her your stupidass dog paddle? Or did the two of you jump in naked?"

Connie knew his face had to be burgundy red by now. "NO. Now shut the fuck up."

Jean smirked. "You two DID go skinny dipping, didn't you?" Connie started sweating. "You're sweating from all this lying you're doing, Connie."

And with that, everyone began teasing Connie. He started to fight with them all. After hearing a knock on their door, they all scrambled into their beds.

"What was that noise I heard?"

"We were all practicing for our hand-to-hand combat test tomorrow, sir," Armin said, relieved that there actually was one tomorrow.

"…Alright. NOW GO TO SLEEP AND DON'T LET ME HEAR ANYMORE NOISE OUT OF HERE."

"Yes, sir!" chorused the boys.

Once the door closed, collective sighs of relief rang throughout the room.

"Thanks for saving our asses, Armin," Connie said.

Before Armin could reply, Jean chimed in, saying "I bet Sasha said thanks after you got finished skinny dipping."

"Shut the fuck up, Jean," Connie huffed, turning his back to Jean, falling asleep soon afterwards.

Sasha reached her dorm, and when she got through the door, she was greeted by Krista, asking where she'd been.

"It's obvious. Her hair's wet. Both her and Connie were gone for hours. They were skinny dipping."

"Go to hell, Ymir," Sasha replied, flipping the bird.

"That just confirms it." Before Krista could tell them to calm down, Sasha grabbed the closest pillow and whacked Ymir across the face. When Ymir came to get revenge, Sasha managed to fling her onto someone's bed. Then, everyone was fighting, scratching and clawing and kicking.

"Really? I expect this from the boys, imbeciles that they are, but you girls? ALL of you? I would only expect that from a select few. Get to bed."

The door closed, and everyone crawled into bed. Sasha stuck her tongue out at Ymir, who returned the favor by flipping the bird before she rolled over. Sasha snorted, and after getting comfortable, fell into a deep sleep herself.

AN: So, as you see, I added Sasha's accent. from the way it was portrayed in the manga, I felt like it was similar to the Southern accent I have. I did my best to represent it, but it's somewhat difficult to write everything in dialect. Some words would be pronounced differently, but I couldn't really figure out how to do it without totally butchering the spelling and confusing people. If you have any other questions, ask me in a review or PM me.

I'd also like to know whether or not you think I kept them in character or not.