For the letter 'S', I was given 'systematic'.
Rating: T
Characters: (OCs) Mercedes, Baena, Fhalz and Oliver.
Genre: Humor, 'Backstory'
Systematic
adjective \ˌsis-tə-ˈma-tik\
: using a careful system or method : done according to a system
The morning's sweep of the Titans harrying the Trost gate repairmen had gone badly. Though she had been confident in her selections for the squad and they'd seen gradual but consistent improvement over the past few months, Mercedes had been surprised to see how unconcerted they were. It was as though they'd only just met; it even showed now in the way their hands bumped into one another as they gathered breakfast onto their plates in the Trost Garrison HQ mess hall.
No one spoke, and they barely looked at one another. Mercedes caught glimpses of their expressions – embarrassment, frustration, anxiety, uncertainty – and remembered Squad Leader Brzenska's face when they'd been helped out and then ascended back up the Wall. She had looked disappointed, snapped that they should go back to the trainee camp. Though it was hard, Mercedes tried to do the mature thing and look back to see what she'd done wrong – she was supposed to be their eventual, formal Squad Leader, and so this was her responsibility.
As she slowly tore into her warm loaf, watching every individual fiber of the pale breadflesh be ripped asunder, she thought of the way Oliver and Fhalz's lines had tangled, and how that distraction had led to Baena being grabbed. She thought of the poor strike angles, the dissolution of their practiced attack and defense patterns because of their squabbling and lack of cohesion. They could have all died if the other squad hadn't intervened, and for what? Silliness. She'd thought they were all of one mind but apparently not yet – on the field they'd faltered and followed their own individual instincts to recover, and it'd nearly ruined them. Would a fifth squad member have helped after all? Should she have followed the training advice she'd been given rather than trusting her own methods? Should she have said or done something else to get them back on track?
Their quiet isolated them from the rest of the voices in the hall. Mercedes felt the rest of her senses feel numb, too – she barely smelled or tasted her food and really she didn't even want to eat. Another glance up told her that the others weren't really eating, either. She looked into her cup as she took a swig of water instead.
"I have an idea."
Mercedes looked up at Baena's unusually quiet voice, across from her. Her hands were in her lap and though her face was less cheery than normal, she had a hesitant smile on her face. Fhalz and Oliver looked at her, too.
"I think I know something that will help," she added, and her smile grew stronger, her confidence seeming to return. She jerked her head behind her to indicate the door. "Come on, let's follow Rico's advice and go to the training yard."
Despite their confusion and doubt, one by one they got up and followed her. That was the thing about Baena – the thing Mercedes had caught onto not long into her trial period – everything she suggested they went along with, because it always seemed to end up being to their benefit. Mercedes doubted their mixture of personalities and abilities would have gone together half as well if Baena hadn't been involved. She was their glue.
The air outside was crisp and autumnal, and the few trees that Mercedes could see between the buildings were changing colors until they matched the red dirt of the training yard. She could smell the change of the seasons on the air – a nostalgic smell that, since it didn't match with her memories of her home in Klorva, must stretch back even further to their ranch outside the Walls and the forest that'd surrounded it. The training yard by contrast was relatively small, flat, and empty. She'd started to see a pattern in its use, and Wednesday mornings around this time seemed to be fairly empty for some reason. They rounded a low wall and Baena took them into the center.
"So what's this big idea of yours?" Fhalz asked somewhat irritably. His collar-length auburn hair was briefly completely down before he re-tied the upper portion back from his face.
"I never said it was a big one," Baena corrected. "Let's stand in a circle," she instructed and hesitantly, they obeyed. She took a quick, deep breath and briefly closed her eyes, smiling as if appreciating the weather. "Okay!" she said happily. "Let's take off our clothes!"
"What?" Fhalz exclaimed, recoiling a little.
"We need to take off our clothes. Here, I'll start," she repeated and began to remove her uniform jacket.
"Baena, I don't –" Mercedes began.
"Come on, trust me!"
Though looking around nervously, Oliver began to copy her.
Fhalz clenched his fists as she dropped her jacket to the ground and tugged on her boots. "You can't seriously expect us to –"
"It can't be any worse than what happened this morning, so strip!" Baena said.
Frowning and begrudgingly, Mercedes pulled off her boots and socks. Baena had already rid herself of her gear harness and was working at the buttons on her white pants, pushing them down to her ankles and stepping out of them without hesitation. She heard Fhalz scoff as he tore off his jacket.
Oliver gingerly pulled up his gray shirt and slowly tugged it off.
"It's worse when you go slow like that!" Fhalz yelled and hit Oliver's arm. "Let's hurry up and get this over with – whatever the fuck it is." He finished unbuttoning his blue shirt and shed it too.
Piece by piece, they systematically removed each item of their clothes and dropped them in a pile between them, the chill in the air causing goosebumps to ripple up every limb. Luckily, Mercedes didn't see anyone else walk by.
After another couple of minutes they stood facing each other in various states of embarrassment, with Baena at the least embarrassed end of the scale and Fhalz at the opposite end. Hands and arms awkwardly attempted to cover their genitalia.
"Don't bother trying to cover up. Defeats the point," Baena demanded.
Gingerly, arms relaxed and rested at their sides, even though shoulders hunched and heads were lowered, gazes averting.
"There, see?" Baena said and put her hands on her hips. "If we can stand here like this for five minutes, then we'll never have anything to be ashamed about in front of each other again. No secrets, nothing to hold us back, nothing to make us feel above or separate from the other. We won't screw up ever again – at least not because we didn't trust each other."
Mercedes was surprised. As much credit as she'd given to Baena's bonding abilities, her quirkiness had stopped her from thinking of her as capable of any intuitive thought. She was happy to be wrong.
As the minutes ticked by, though they shivered no one gave in or left the circle. Faces and body language relaxed. It was like she could physically see their confidence and trust improving with every moment. They were even eventually able to make eye contact. By the end of the five minutes, they were even smiling a little.
"All better?" Baena said triumphantly.
The others grumbled in agreement.
"So from now on every time we have a disagreement, or something goes wrong, or we think about hiding something, we should remember this. We win." Her wide grin dropped and she bent over to retrieve her clothes out of the pile, "And I'm fucking cold so let's get dressed now."