Chapter Three
Aer's P.O.V.
"Rivaille-huff- I –huff- am so going to-huff- make you-huff- pay for this." I bent down, leaning on the desk for support.
He looked at me with disgust. "You're getting the floor dirty." The sun was slowly sinking down over the horizon. "Get ready to practice the 3D Maneuver Gear." His face was merciless, and slightly sadistic.
"Are you-huff- trying to-huff- kill me?" Sweat rolled down my forehead. My throat constricted every time I tried to breathe in, getting narrower and narrower with each painful breath.
He glanced at me. "You shouldn't be this tired. That just proves how physically unfit you are." I glared at him, ditching the option of speaking. A hint of sympathy flashed in his eyes, but I might've been imagining it. "Go back to your cabin and take a shower. You stink."
I shakily drew myself up and walked outside. No one had actually warned me about the circumference of the damned camp. And if an average person could run that much, I would just love to see Rivaille try without getting tired.
My vision started to blur, and I stopped, wiping the sweat on my forehead against my sleeve. It was the last thing I did before I blacked out into the darkness.
Rivaille's P.O.V.
I finished up the paperwork and headed outside. I saw Aer leaning against a cabin wall, her breathing short and shallow. I frowned. The run wasn't that long enough for her to be falling asleep out of exhaustion.
I took a closer look and saw blood dribbling down her chin, from her mouth. I picked her up, wincing when her head leaned against mine, staining my just-washed shirt. "Next morning, your first chore is to re-wash my shirt," I muttered.
Ackerman wouldn't be pleased to see me walk into her cabin so I took Aer to the hospital. The stench of blood and dying people almost made me gag. I never went here during the day. It was too smelly and dirty for my taste. I dropped her on an abandoned cot. Literally. Dropped her.
A nurse came in, and upon seeing me, she smiled. "Corporal Rivaille, feel free to stay here, and watch over her."
"What's her problem?"
She put a hand against Aer's forehead. "Did she exercise or something?"
"Yeah."
The nurse straightened up. "This is my theory, but I think she has very bad asthma. If the rumors are true, and she spent more than half an hour in a Titan's stomach, the oxygen level in there would be very low. Her lungs would be severely damaged. I'm surprised she's even alive at all."
I sighed. I finally found a decent person to tease, and she can't do anything that makes her tired. Great.
Aer's P.O.V.
I woke up and saw Rivaille sleeping in a chair. He almost looked peaceful and harmless. Almost. Even when he was sleeping, there was still that trademark scowl of him. I quietly giggled to myself.
A small blackbird flew in through the open window. He landed on my outstretched pinkie and started chirping furiously, directing most of them to the sleeping corporal. "He is not that mean!"I quietly protested. Over the years, the bird and I had made up a system of communication. It helped that he understood what I was speaking. "Okay, so you think he's a bitter, little man full of hate. You don't even know him!"
"Who's a bitter, little man full of hate?" I heard Rivaille's voice behind me, and I slowly turned around, dreading to see his face. He was still scowling and he looked pissed. Really pissed off.
"Go!" I made a fluttering motion at the bird, and he took the hint, flying away. "Be free of the shorty full of hatred!" I looked back at my 'superior' and saw he was glaring at me. "What?"
"Nothing. Do your chores with Ackerman today. You're off training." He left the room and I was left to deal with the confusion. First of all, what was I doing in the hospital?
"Mikasa!" I ran up to her, in uniform. "I'm supposed to help you finish the tasks today." I noticed she had a dark shadow under her eyes, and everyone was moving slowly with jerky movements, almost robotically.
"One of the squads didn't come back," She said in a monotone. "It was completely wiped out."
I froze. It was only one day. And our squad and many others were going on a mission tomorrow. The negative emotions swirling around death right now would probably ensure panic in people before the mission even started.
Ignoring Mikasa, I marched to Rivaille's office. "Rivaille!"
"What? Didn't I tell you to help Ackerman?"
"Let's have a sleepover!" It was not the phrase he was expecting. His face was scrunched up in confusion. "Oh come on. My ideas aren't that bad that you forget how to close your mouth."
"Why do you want a sleepover?" Rivaille recovered quickly, and I cursed myself for not taking the opportunity to take a picture of the surprised corporal. "We're going on an expedition tomorrow. We'll need everyone in top shape."
I thought about it. "Fine we won't have any alcohol. But I still want my sleepover." I was stubborn, but it was a contest between Rivaille and me to see who would win this glaring contest. "Everyone's depressed over the loss of that last squad. At this rate, people would be scared of Titans even before the damn thing starts. Then the casualty rate will definitely be over thirty percent. Maybe even half of the soldiers will die. You see, if someone is afraid of something, they are not going to try their best. They will scream, and eventually die and be eaten."
He sighed. "Do whatever you want."
I smiled. Now for phase two of this operation. "Matt!" I saw my fellow squad member walk past me. "Can you do me a favor?"
"Sure."
"Go to Rivaille's main cabin wearing your sleep clothes; bring your pillow, and anything else." He looked confused at the request. "If he punishes you, I'll take it."
I told the same to Armin, Eren, and Mikasa. They suggested I invite others as well, so I was doing more socializing than actual work. So far, I had managed to get Hanji, Connie, Jean, and Sasha to come. I decided that would be enough. Sasha and Connie even mentioned bringing in food.
Rivaille probably wasn't going to be happy that more than a few people were camping out in his own cabin, but admittedly, his was the largest. Being an 'important person' he got his own cabin even. Of course, he was probably going to berate me for this the next day, but I had caught his words on tape.
I snuck off when the sun set. The sleepover was planned to take place an hour after sunset. The blackbird flew back and I petted its soft head with a finger. "No, I didn't break the rules!" He chirped and I sighed. "Stay safe. I'll be late tomorrow."
I quickly went to the market, busily finding decent pillows. "Miss, would you care for some rare flutes?" A store vendor offered me a long, pretty flute. "Rare, and carved out of the now-expensive elephant ivory! I also have some other instruments, if you're interested!"
I heard Eren and Mikasa knew how to play some stuff, so I bought a selection of instruments, getting one white flute painted with blue flowers around it for myself. It had been a long time since I practiced playing flute, but with some luck, I wouldn't sound like the dying cat, which Onyx and Lilli described my amateur flute playing as once.
Mikasa was waiting for me at our cabin. I changed into sleepwear and grabbed my pillow, as well as a blanket. She took a blanket and pillow too, and we headed off toward Rivaille's cabin. "Mikasa," I whispered. She looked at me. I had a feeling that she was basically coming because of Eren, but I needed some excitement. "When Rivaille comes in, you can have your revenge by smacking him with the pillow." I played the recording of Rivaille saying 'Do whatever you want.'
The group was ready. Hanji was smiling like the devil as we came in through the window. We all chose decent hiding places, and after Hanji mentioned Rivaille was completely a clean freak when it came to furniture, Jean, Connie, and Sasha took the opportunity to mess up his room.
Crouched in a cramped hiding space, was not fun, it appeared. Hanji started talking. Loudly. "Ri-chan has a lot of deskwork!" She crowed. "Ne, Aer, what do you think of Ri-chan?! You guys should so start dating! I mean look at the happy couple!"
I made up my mind about Hanji. That girl was insane. "Matt, how do you like the squad so far?" Armin suddenly asked. Matt looked at the blonde boy.
"Honestly?"
We all nodded eager to hear his response.
"I'm just hoping I survive and get back home to my girlfriend. Oh, and Aer, it would be really nice of you to start dating Rivaille. I'm with Hanji on this one." I groaned and threw my hands up. "What? If he starts dating someone, he won't be that cold anymore!"
"Tough luck," I muttered. Then I raised my voice. "Matt, you have a girlfriend?! How positively adorable," I said, smirking in the darkness. It wasn't like anyone could see me. "Any other couples?!"
"Eren and Mikasa!" Hanji yelled, laughing. "Sorry Jean!"
Even in the murky blackness, I could see Jean's blush. "Why are you mentioning me?!"
I heard some chewing and sighed. Apparently, Armin could hear it too. "Who's eating?"
We all spoke at the same time. "Sasha."
"What? I'm hungry!" She protested.
"Ri-chan's gonna get you for spilling crumbs over his cabin!" Connor laughed. "I bet he has a strict no food policy in here!"
The lights suddenly turned on and we all turned and saw Rivaille standing in the doorway. Now that I could actually see, I saw a trail of crumbs leading up to the bed, where Sasha was sitting, munching on a piece of bread. There was a bag next to her, which I presume, held more food. "What the hell are you damn kids doing in my cabin?" The corporal growled.
Mikasa sprang at him, pillow in hand. With well-practiced moves, she smacked him with the pillow. Rivaille stood still, then grabbed for his own pillow on his bed, throwing it at Mikasa.
She ducked, and the pillow collided into Eren, who threw it back, hitting Jean. Jean, who held a grudge against Eren for stealing away Mikasa's attention, grabbed his own pillow and tried to hit Eren, only to hit…me.
It sprang into a full on pillow war, with Hanji laughing crazily in between fights. Pillows went flying, and I thought I even saw Connie do a weird ninja pose. Everyone was smiling, including Rivaille, which was very surprisingly. Extremely surprising. Even the bird thought the day Mr. Grumpy Pants smiled was the day pigs started flying and killing Titans by themselves.
Then all hell exploded when Rivaille noticed the trail of crumbs that Sasha made. I could almost see fire in his eyes. "Who the fuck made that fricken shitty-ass trail of crumbs!?" Sasha immediately dove under the bed, making a squeak. We all found good defensive places as well as Rivaille started going on his clean-freak mode and pelted anyone in sight with pillows.
It made me wonder where he got all of those pillows. "Aer!" Hanji screamed. "Calm down your boyfriend!"
"I. Am. Not. His. Girlfriend." I yelled back through gritted teeth. I joined Rivaille in the pillow-pelting. Oddly enough, the pillow stash never ran out, making it a very fun night. Eventually, we all grew tired and just lay on the floor, staring up at the ceiling.
"Aer." Mikasa spoke for the first time that night. "Can you play the flute for us?"
"You know how to play the flute?" This time it was Rivaille who spoke.
I blushed. "Yes. Can you guys help me? I brought some instruments so we can all play." In the end, Connie was on percussion, Sasha was on triangle, Eren was on pipe, Hanji was, strangely, on violin. Rivaille refused to play, Mikasa took the second flute. It seemed we all had musical instruction, though Hanji's violin was a bit scratchy. Okay, more than a bit. She was holding the bow like it was a sword, and grating it against the violin strings.
"Hanji, you suck at this," Rivaille spoke bluntly. "Have you ever even played before?" He grabbed the violin and bow from the squad leader and played a perfect note. "There. Your sound was killing my ears."
"Let's start." Hanji just clapped along, and we practiced our horrible music skills. It was all well, until Commander Erwin opened the door to Rivaille's cabin.
"Rivaille, I don't know what you're doing to make such noise, but you better…" He trailed off when he saw all of us, sitting cross-legged in a circle, with instruments. "I'm sorry for interrupting." Was all he said as he shut the door.
"Aer…" I heard Rivaille growl. "First of all why are you guys in my room? Second, whomever made that dirty trail of crumbs better clean it all up, or someone's going to be headless tomorrow! Third, Aer, when I said you can have the sleepover, I didn't mean in my damn fucking cabin!"
I sighed, reached behind me, and played the recording. "It's obviously your voice saying 'Do whatever you want.'"
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