I'm starting to get wayyyyy too into this story. I have 4 side paring stories planned out and have most of the plot of this story figured out.


Levi POV

I wanted to see Eren again. I wanted to know that he was okay. I knew I was going against Erwin and the rest of the Scouting Legion Hunters, which was new for me. I didn't dwell on the fact that I was turning my back on my fellow hunters for long, though. Otherwise, I would feel guilty. I did truly care for my fellow Hunters, and I thought of them dearly as comrades. They were innocent in Erwin's war on the nymphs; they still believed that the nymphs were a threat to us, and as such, it was just to hunt them. It was different for me, though. Due to my relationship with Erwin, I had become disillusioned to this hunt. This wasn't about protecting the human race at all: it was about Erwin desire to live up to his family name and hang a pair of wings on his wall.

I lay in Erwin's bed listening to the sound of him getting dressed and wondered how I got here. I was in this awful man's bed after fucking him last night, daydreaming about a nymph brat, and wondering how I could weasel my way into seeing Eren again. I had been a lot of shitty situations underground, but this one was the shittiest situation I had been in here, in the rich lands.

I sighed, thinking about Eren and Erwin and debating the two paths that were stretched in front of me. I could be loyal to Erwin, track down Eren and bring him in. I could help Erwin chain him up and wait while Hanje, the nymph scientist and researcher, healed him. (Or would he heal himself? Even though he was healing nymph, he would know that as soon as he was healed, Erwin would kill him, so he would probably refuse.) I could help hold him down while Erwin grabbed the base of his fluffy, chocolate wings and sawed right through the delicate bones. I could ignore his screams and his hot blood that would spill everywhere.

Erwin would certainly be so delighted to have the wings of the nymph he murdered in cold blood up on his mantle. It disgusted me to think of all the claps on the back and cheers of "Good job!" and "Way to get 'em!" he would receive. He would be so proud of himself, and he would celebrate with my body, I was sure of that. I wondered if I could block out what he had done while he fucked me. Would I be able to take it like I always had after seeing him kill Eren? He would coo to me how I was a good boy and how I had helped him find Eren and kill him. He would tell me he was so proud of me and thank me for helping him kill Eren while touching me and kissing me and playing with me.

On the other hand, there was Eren. The gentle little brat with the big green eyes and the fluffy wings. He was the opposite of Erwin with his huge stature, pale skin, blond hair, and icy blue eyes. He couldn't help it that he was born with wings, why should he be killed for them? I thought they were a positive thing. I would be lying if I said I didn't think they were gorgeous. I could walk that path, and chose him over Erwin. I could turn my back on my whole life and follow Eren. If I chose that, what would it lead to? It wasn't like I could join him in his nymph band.

I just couldn't stand the thought of killing him, though. He was so unique and beautiful. The way he had looked up at me and told me that I'd "have to try harder than that" to kill him gave me a start. There was fire in this little brat, and I wanted to see more of it. I wanted to know his gentle side, too. I wanted to touch his soft wings and stroke his sweet skin. I wasn't going to lie to myself. I was sexually attracted to the nymph brat Eren.

I didn't think anything would come of it. I didn't know if he would ever even consider mating with a human. Hell, I didn't even know if he was gay. For all I knew he had a nymph girlfriend. I didn't think he had a nymph family, (he looked a little too young for that), but who knows, maybe he did. The only thing I really knew what that his name was Eren, he was a nymph, and I was curious about him.

I slid my eyes over to the Commander getting dressed. He was a handsome man, but he wasn't really my type. It was true that we had dated before, and that we were currently fucking, but I still maintained that he wasn't my type. I like smaller, gentler men. Like that nymph. I wanted to pin him down and dominate him and stroke his pretty wings afterward. I was getting more and more tired of my relationship with Erwin by the day, but I just didn't know how to go about breaking it off permanently without suffering some sort of consequence from the commander. I didn't think he would punish me, per say, but he definitely would question my loyalty and examine my every move very closely. If I wanted to keep that nymph safe, and still see him, I couldn't have that happen.

Erwin was just tightening his bolo tie when he noticed me staring.

"We have to search the forest again today." He said, looking down at me still naked in his bed. I sat up, ignoring the pain that came with the movement.

"If that's what you order, Commander." I said, not looking away from his eyes. His jaw tightened.

"My orders are to bring it back." He said coldly. He narrowed his eyes at me. "You'll do that for me, right, Levi?"

"Yes, Commander." I said smoothly. I knew what he wanted to hear, and I would say it. I slipped off of the bed and grabbed my discarded pants.

"I want its wings…" Erwin said, more speaking to himself than to me, while I was pulling on my pants.

"And you shall have them." I said to him, walking over to him and stroking his chest. I didn't look in his eyes.

"You will bring it to me?" He asked once more.

"Yes, Commander." I said, and I felt his hands slip into my hair to tilt my head up for a kiss. I allowed him to kiss me, not really feeling any love or lust or anything at all, really, as I had done so many times before. It was a dangerous game I was playing.

I pulled back.

"I should get ready." I said, bushing out of the room.

I walked quickly back to my room, thinking about how the hell I was going to handle this situation. If Eren were still where I had left him, and there was a good possibility that he was considering his injuries, then I needed to warn him and, if necessary, help move him. I couldn't head straight there, though, because I was sure Erwin would be watching me like a hawk. I would have to "hunt" him in the forest and move the team away from him. I was quicker and moved silently on my feet. I was sure once they were sufficiently lost in the woods that I could sneak out and find Eren.

I just had to make sure that he was okay.

I took my place outside of my room, standing at attention in the line-up. It was the usual morning routine. Erwin soon moved up and down us, giving us our morning orders.

"We will depart immediately after breakfast for the woods where it was last seen. We will hunt it until we find it. We can not let it get away. This is the first time we have seen a nymph in a decade. Who knows when we will have another one fly in?" He paused. "Understood?"

"Yes, Commander." We said in unison, as we always did.

"Dismissed for breakfast."

"Yes, Commander." We said again. We all shuffled into the dining hall and grabbed our food. It was a decent breakfast of bacon and eggs with a berry muffin, and everyone else was eating theirs quickly and complimenting the food. One of the young hunters, Sasha, moaned loudly when she started chewing on the bacon.

I slipped a handkerchief out from my pocket and wrapped up my muffin. I tucked in into my folded up cape beside me and ate the rest of my breakfast. I left before anyone else, hurriedly throwing my dishes into the stack to be washed and then rushing to my horse. I petted her silky black hair gently for a few moments, then slipped the muffin into the saddle bag. I put on my cloak as I saw the rest of the hunters begin to file out and mount their horses.

Soon, Erwin had gathered everyone outside and we were ready to leave.

"Stay beside me." He said to me. I nodded.

"Onward!" He called, and we departed.

The look in Erwin's eyes was scary when he was hunting. He would sacrifice anything to get at his target, and I knew it. He smiled creepily while we rode to the forest, occasionally glancing back at me. I thought about Eren the whole ride there. I thought about what he would look like when I saw him again, if he was even still there. Would he be all healed up? I sure hoped so; I wanted to see what he looked like when he wasn't covered in blood. I hoped he would like the muffin I brought him. I knew he needed food. I wished I could bring him more.

In the daylight, it was easy to see the crashed trees. I bit my tongue against a growl. I would have a hell of a time convincing Erwin that the nymph was not, in fact, exactly where he was. I started to think of things to say while Erwin dismounted and drew his sword from its place at his hip.

Everyone followed his lead and dismounted. I took the opportunity and transferred the muffin into my coat pocket. I was having a hell of a time trying not to squish it. It would be worth it, though, to make sure he ate, even if it was just a muffin.

"Ymir." Erwin said as we gathered around him.

"Yes, Commander?" She stepped forward.

"Follow Levi. Stay right on his heels." Erwin said, narrowing his eyes at me.

"Yes, Commander." She replied, walking over to me.

I screamed internally. Ymir was the third hunter, and she was fast. We were arranged by our abilities. I was first hunter, with Mike as second and Ymir as third. I knew Erwin was doing this so that someone would watch me. He didn't send Mike to baby sit me because Mike always worked with Erwin.

"Find him!" Erwin barked. We spread out in groups of two and three and charged into the forest. Ymir was hot on my tail as we sped through the forest. I increased my speed and headed toward where I heard other crashing around. Sasha and Connie ran through some bushes and into our path. They apologized and ran off in the opposite direction, away from Eren. I smiled. Good.

I traveled to where I heard others coming closer to where Eren was and met with Petra and Olou.

"You're going the wrong way. He's that way." I pointed away from Eren.

"Oh! Thanks for telling us!" Petra saluted with the hand that wasn't holding her dagger and they went on their way.

"So you know where he is?" Ymir said from behind me.

"I know the general direction." I said coldly. I looked over my shoulder at her and found her scowling. She opened her mouth to say something more and I shot her a death glare. She closed it.

I started off in the direction of the group that was next closest to Eren. I was in luck, it was Erd and Gunter and Gunter looked hurt.

"He tripped." Erd explained. Gunter groaned in pain and clutched at a pant leg covered in blood. Ymir scoffed behind me.

"Of fucking course he did." She sneered.

"Take him out of the woods to Hanje." I said. Hanje was our field medic. They traveled with us and waited on the edge of the forest to assist with injuries and help with the nymph when we brought him in. They were the most brilliant nymph scientist around, so Erwin recruited them. They could be a hunter if they wanted to be, (They were certainly skilled enough with a weapon), but they chose to focus on science instead.

"Yes, sir!" Erd said, rolling Gunter onto his back.

I watched them go and was very pleased. I didn't like that one of my comrades was hurt, but I did like that two of the people hunting Eren would be out of commission.

I paused and listened for the next group.

"Are you protecting the nymph?" Ymir asked, placing a freckled hand on my shoulder. I jerked out of her touch.

"Don't touch me." I warned. "No, I'm not protecting him."

"You said earlier you knew where he was. Why are you chasing down our men?" She questioned. I could see the hardness in her dark eyes even in the low light that filtered down from the trees.

"Don't question me. Who's first and who's third here?" I glared up at her, hating how much taller she was than me.

"Why don't we go to where he is instead of chasing down the others? You're a master hunter, Levi, it's obvious you didn't just 'run into' the others; you're seeking them out. Why?"

I glared at her, not saying a word. She threw her hands up.

"Look, man, I don't give a fuck if you're protecting the nymph. I just don't like running around in the woods not knowing what's going on."

"You don't give a fuck if I protect the nymph or not?" I asked. Ymir had always been the most like me of the group. She worked for herself more than for anyone else, and it reminded me of myself when I was younger in the underground. I made sure to watch her closely. That line of behavior could end up helping her realize her dreams or it could be her downfall like so many in the underground.

"Nope. I don't care about the fucking nymph. I honestly don't. I don't see what the big deal is. He's just a fucker with wings. That's all nymphs are. Big fucking deal." She said, crossing her arms.

I thought about how much she was like younger me and asked myself what I would do to younger me to manipulate the situation to my benefit and protect Eren.

"What do you want?" I asked. Ymir cocked an eyebrow.

"What?"

"I'm protecting the nymph. What do you want in return for your silence?" I asked.

"How do you know I'll keep quiet?" She asked.

"Because you work only for yourself. You're not loyal to the country or to Erwin; you are loyal to your own self, and as a self-serving bitch, your silence can be bought." I stared at her hard. She threw her head back and laughed, an ugly, barking noise.

"I like you." She said.

"I don't care if you like me or not. What do you want?" I asked again. "Money?"

"You think I'm that simple?" She eyed me. "You're first hunter."

"Yeah?" I said, irritated.

"I'm third hunter."

"Is there a fucking point in the shit you're spewing?"

"I want you to teach me to become a better hunter." She looked at me with a mischievous smile. My face twisted up in confusion.

"You are already third, why would you want lessons? You want to be, what, second?" I asked. She laughed, then it hit me.

"You want to be first hunter." I hissed.

"Yup. You, first hunter, are going to train me on how to beat you."

"No," I growled. I was number one because I was the best. All of the blood and sweat and dirt and shit I had to wade through underground gave me the skills to be first hunter and I was not so ready to give it up. The title of first hunter was the only positive thing that I had from my time underground.

"That is the price of my silence." She said, smirking. I glared at her, anger rising in me. I thought about telling her to fuck off, challenging her. The muffin weighed heavy in my pocket like a ton of bricks. I saw Eren crumpled wings in my mind and felt the guilt rise up.

"Fine. You and I will train once a week for two years. If you can't beat me by then, you're hopeless."

"Every day and indefinitely."

"Every day? Never gonna happen. Twice a week until you beat me."

"Four times a week indefinitely." We were leaning closer to one another, almost waiting for the other to strike.

"Three times a week until you beat me. Final offer." I said. She raised her eyebrows.

"Alright. How does weekends and Wednesday sound?" She said.

"Whatever."

"Alright. You're secret is safe with Ymir, the self-serving, soon to be first hunter, bitch." She said. She held her palm in front of her face ad hacked up a wad of spit. I watched wide eyed in terror as she spit in her palm and offered it to me.

"Fucking disgusting!" I sneered at her.

"Shake, or its not officially a deal."

"I am not touching that revolting slime covered bitch paw." I backed away from the offending hand.

"Shake." She commanded. I bit down a joke about her being a bitch and saying dog commands.

"Not that hand." I said, plucking a pair of black leather gloves out of my jacket pocket. I felt the squished muffin while I was in there and was reminded of Eren. I slipped on the gloves and she rolled her eyes.

"And I'm the bitch." She said, holding out her other hand. I shook it and quickly pulled back.

"So where is he?" She said. "Are we going to see him?"

"I'm going to see him. You will fuck off and go do whatever it is bitches do the forest."

"No way. I wanna see him." She said.

I opened my mouth to bite an insult at her when she cut me off.

"I should at least get to see him once."

"Fine." I said. "He's this way, keep up."

"I will!" She said, and we were off. I didn't like taking her to see Eren, but I figured that if she saw him, she would feel a stronger need to keep it secret.

We ran hard, and I tested her agility. I was short and could run under the tree branches no problem. Her tall form was a hindrance to her in these woods where the branches stuck out right near her head. I snickered whenever she would fall behind because she had to work around a tree awkwardly.

I slowed down as we approached the clearing. Ymir caught up to me and I stopped. She stopped next to me.

"He's in that clearing?"

"The last time I saw him, yeah." I looked at her pointedly. "Be slow, Ymir. First lesson: be cautious when approaching anything and everything."

She nodded. "Right, teacher."

I rolled my eyes and flipped her off.

She snickered. I walked out to the back of the river first, slow and looking around. Ymir followed me.

"He's by this river?" She asked.

"He was. This is where I brought him to heal."

"I didn't even know this river was here." She mused, crouching down and washing her hands and face in the water. I was so happy she washed that fucking slime off

"Not a lot of people do. It's in kind of a hard to get to area. The hills all around here disguise that there is anything over here, so no one comes to look."

"How did you know it was here?" She asked, standing back up.

"I stayed here when I was on the run from the Military Police a lot." I explained.

"Oh! That sounds like a fucking story." She leaned forward, putting her hands on her hips and smiling.

"Enlighten me, teacher. What the fuck did you do to get chased by the Military Police?" She said rudely.

"We'll talk about that shit later. Right now, we need to find Eren." I looked all around but couldn't find him.

"Eren is his name?" She asked, looking with me.

"Yes. Eren. He's like a medical nymph."

"A medical nymph?" She asked me, stopping her search to look at me.

"A healing nymph." A voice said and Ymir immediately drew her sword. I looked toward the voice and saw nothing. Could he be blended into the environment? Is that a nymph power?

"It's Eren." I said to her. "Put that shit away."

She narrowed her eyes. "I'll put my sword up when he comes out of hiding."

She marched toward where the voice came from. "Show yourself!"

"I'm not hiding! I'm eating!" He called, and then I pin pointed his voice. I ran over to the base of the apple tree and looked up. He was sitting on a branch, lazily munching on an apple.

"Ymir, put your sword away." I called again.

She moved underneath the tree and looked up, gasping when she saw Eren sitting there, swinging his legs, and smiling at her. She looked over his shirtless form, taking in his wings, and then slid her sword back into its sheath.

"Ymir, this is Eren. He's a healing nymph. Eren, this is Ymir. She's a bitch." I said.

His eyes widened.

"You look like Marco." He said.

"Who?" She grumbled, still looking at his wings.

"Marco. He's an earth nymph in my band. He has dark hair and freckles, too. He's really sweet, although I feel bad for him because Jean is, like, in love with him. It's awful. I wouldn't wish Jean on anyone in the whole wide world." Eren fluttered his wings gently.

"Who's Jean?" Ymir asked.

Eren didn't answer. Instead he said, "Watch out guys, coming down!"

Ymir and I barely had time to move out of the way before Eren had jumped down and landed gracefully in front of us. He walked past us out toward the river and sat on the bank.

"What was it you asked me again? Who's Jean? Well, Jean is an awful person and I hope you never have the displeasure of meeting him and having to look at his horse face. He's a metal nymph, and we fight all the time about who's more useful. I'm not useful, but he's really not useful." Eren snorted.

The whole time Eren rambled on about Jean and how they "fought all the time" and it was always "Jean's fault" because "Jean had something to prove", Ymir was edging closer and closer to Eren.

"Can he fucking help you, Ymir?" I hissed at her. She and Eren both froze. Eren looked over his shoulder and saw Ymir had moved very close to him.

"I wanna touch his wings." She said reaching a hand out. I was on her in a flash, grabbing her wrist. She narrowed her eyes at me.

"I. Wanna. Touch. His. Wings." She growled.

"Um, please don't." Eren said in a little voice, standing up and moving away from us. "Touching wings is a very special thing. It happens only between mates. We aren't mates and so if you would please refrain from touching my wings, I would very much appreciate it."

Ymir stared at him. He stared back with his big, scared green eyes.

Ymir relaxed, and I let go of her wrist. "No need for the long winded speech, kid. I'll play nice." She shot me a look.

"Don't hurt him." I growled at her. "You do that, you are no better than Erwin."

"Oh? But you like Erwin, don't you? Or you just like his cock?" She spat. Eren looked at her in shock.

"Go fuck off." I said coldly. We held each other's gaze for a moment. I could see her trying to decide whether to challenge me or not.

"Alright. I'll go fuck off." She gave me a significant look. "Teacher."

She slipped away into the forest and I barely heard her move. She was good.

I turned back to Eren.

"I brought you something." I said. His eyes lit up. Something twisted in my stomach when I looked at them.

"Really?"

"Yes." I handed him the muffin and he slowly unraveled it, crumbs going everywhere. He sniffed at it.

"Berries? And some other ingredients."

"For fuck's sakes, brat. It's a muffin, not a weapon. Eat it." I sat down on the back again, and Eren followed my lead, sitting across from me. He broke off some of the muffin and brought it to his mouth. His little pink tongue darted out and licked the piece tentatively. He smiled.

"It's sweet." He commented before taking the bite.

"Well, yeah, it's a muffin."

"Is this what humans eat?" He said, breaking off another piece.

"Humans eat lots of things." I looked up and down his wings, seeing how they had healed. "How are your wings?"

"They are getting better. I healed the bullet wounds and the cuts, but they are still too sore to fly. I tried to get back home earlier and the pain made me fall." He winced at the memory.

"I'm glad you are getting better. You will be home in no time, Eren." I said gently to him. I looked over his shirtless body and filed the details away in my mind for later. I looked over abs, licking my lips unconsciously at the sight of the brown hair running down into his pants. I ran my eyes up his toned shoulders and gently sloping neck and strong jaw and – for fuck's sake.

"Brat. You have crumbs all over your face." I reached out my hand and swept it over his face. His cheeks were soft and warm and I saw the skin turn bright red under my touch. I looked back into his eyes and found them unfocused, like he was looking through me. His eyebrows folded up and his mouth pressed into a frown.

I moved my hand away.

"Sorry. I should have asked first." I cursed myself for doing something that made him uncomfortable.

"I-it's not that." He looked away from me. "It's just…I'm a healing nymph."

"Okay?" I said when he didn't continue. He opened and closed his mouth several times before he finally said something.

"I can feel other people." He looked at me sideways. "I can feel when they are hurting and, um, you're in pain right now."

I frowned. The only thing that really hurt me was the left over soreness from Erwin's roughness.

"Yeah. And?"

He blushed hard and covered his face with his hands.

"I can feel where they are hurting, too." He whispered.

"Oh." I said. So he knew my ass was hurting. Great. I scowled, cursing Erwin.

"I got pounded last night, okay? Let's drop it. I don't wanna fucking talk about it." I said, looking away from him.

"O-Okay." He turned slightly away from me and I saw his wings tremble slightly in my peripherals.

We sat in silence for a moment. I could see him sneaking peaks at me from the corner of my eye.

"What, brat?" I said a little too harshly to him.

"I just- I didn't think you, um, were gay." He said, pulling his legs up and hugging his knees.

"Is there something wrong with that?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

"No!" He said, straightening a bit. "I'm gay!"

I raised my eyebrows at him. So my fantasy nymph was gay, too. I liked that.

"I, um, I- Look, I just, um," He started stuttering all over himself, pushing his face into his knees.

"Spit it out, brat."

"What's it like having sex with a guy?" He asked in a rush, tensing.

"For fuck's sake, Eren. How am I supposed to answer that?" I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Fucking hell, brat."

He whined and put his arms over his head. I saw his wings tremble and bright red move down what I could see of his neck.

"It's okay. Look, brat. It really depends on a lot of things." I said. He peeked at me from under his arms and I felt the intensity in his green eyes.

"Like?" He asked.

"Like who your partner is, whether you're top or bottom, what prep you do… that shit." I said, trying to remain as calm as possible, like I wasn't sitting here with a beautiful gay fantasy boy asking about gay sex.

"What do you mean top and bottom? And what's prep?" He asked innocently, picking his head up a little more, so it was resting on his folded arms on top of his knees.

"Fuck. You know nothing about this, do you?" I asked.

He frowned at me. "It's not my fault I've never been taught! I've never had a boyfriend!"

"Hmmm? So what have you done?" I asked him. It was less so I could educate him about gay sex and more for my own pleasure. I loved watching him blush while looking at me with those embarrassed eyes.

"Nothing." He bit his lips.

"Nothing? You've never even been kissed?" I asked him.

"I already said I've never had a boyfriend! There aren't a lot of young, single, gay nymphs!" He sat up, glaring at me. I saw the fire in his eyes again, and I liked it.

"Would you like a kiss?" I asked him. His eyes widened and he jumped like he had been shocked.

"From you?"

"No, the fucking gay merman in the river."

I rolled my eyes when he glanced over to the surface of the still water.

"Eren, fucking kiss me."

His wings trembled a bit and I moved closer to him. I sat beside him and tilted my head up.

"I don't know how." He whispered. God, that blush and those eyes were going to kill me.

"Just don't do anything awful like bite my tongue and you can't mess it up."

"Your tongue?" His eyes flicked down to my lips.

"I'm gonna put it in your mouth, Eren." I reached up and stroked his hair. His eyes went cloudy for a second, then he came back to me.

"Your power?" I asked.

"Yeah. Now that I've got, um, everything, it'll quit probing in you."

"So you can kiss me now?" I asked him. He studied me for a second before giving me a big, goofy grin.

He leaned in and was all over me. He pecked all over my face and then finally pecked my lips. I pulled him closer, preparing to take over the kiss when he licked my lips. It wasn't a sweet, gentle 'open up for me' love lick, it was more like a slobbering dog. I pulled back, keeping one hand in his hair and wiping his spit off of my face with the other hand.

"Fucking hell, brat." I growled. He looked at me innocently.

"What did I do?" He pouted. I grabbed his hair with the other hand and pulled him down roughly. He gasped and I slid my tongue into his mouth. I played with his tongue and he squeaked. He pushed his tongue out to play, too, and I felt his relax against me. After a moment, he put his hands on my waist and gripped my shirt. My fantasies flashed before my eyes and I wanted to continue. I couldn't, though. I couldn't just this beautiful nymph and leave him. I couldn't lovingly be his first time and then drag him into all my bullshit. I pushed him away with a hand on his bare chest.

"Levi," He whined.

"There. There's your first kiss." I stood up. He looked at me and then stood up himself.

"Can I have another?" He asked.

"No."

"No?"

"No. Brat, I said you could have one kiss."

"Oh." He looked disappointed. I hated seeing that in his beautiful eyes and I had to look away.

"I need to go." I said, moving back toward the forest.

"Will I see you again?" He said, moving on my heels.

"No. I came only to warn you today. Erwin is still hunting you. You need to stay out of sight. Just climb back in that tree and stay there until you can go home." I said, not looking at him.

"Levi? Levi! I want to see you again." He grabbed my wrist and I spun around. I jerked my wrist out of his grasp.

"Nymph, I am leaving now. I will not see you again. Go be with your own kind." I spat.

I ran into the forest. He didn't follow.

After running a while, I became aware of something running closer and closer behind me. I expected to see Eren, but it was Ymir.

I stopped and caught my breath while she caught up to me.

"So," she said in between pants, "kinda disappointed there wasn't actually a gay merman in the river."

I froze. That was a joke I had said to Eren. My face curled into a snarl while she smirked.

"You were listening."

"I was!" She laughed. "I was surprised that you didn't catch me when I looped back around to eavesdrop. Guess you were too caught up in the love fest."

I narrowed my eyes.

"You're a real piece of fucking work, bitch."

"Guilty as charged." She flashed me a dazzling smile. I didn't return it.

"Oh, lighten up. It's not like I'm gonna go after him. I'm gay as hell." She laughed.

"I have to admit. Eavesdropping on the first hunter is a hell of an accomplishment." I praised her. She stopped laughing. She flushed a little bit. She shuffled from foot to foot and I saw how uncomfortable she was.

"Like I give a fuck." She ran off.

I could see that she did, though. She wanted to be first hunter as validation. She just wanted to do a good job and have that recognized. She needed a strong role model, a teacher, and something to focus all her talent on. I sighed. Just like young me in the underground. I chased after her.

I just hope she turns out better than me.


ymir/ other characters friendship makes me happy.