Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki No Kyojin or any of the characters. Rights go to Hajime Isayama.

Head down. Ass up. Reiner figured that he'd be in this position at least once before he died. The situation he had always had in mind was completely different of course. His fantasy especially never included a blood-thirsty demon hovering over him with a whip. Whips were always welcome. Just as long as they were not in the hands of a blood-thirsty demon.

Armin on the other hand never considered such a predicament. In fact, he was completely terrified of what would happen to him. Eren and Mikasa had always taught him that being submissive to strange, old men was the first step to being – well he didn't even want to think about what would happen. Not like he believed that either Reiner or himself held any sort of charm that would activate Shadis's snake (Mikasa told him that that was the politically correct term for it) but you could never be too cautious in the world that they lived in.

While the two blonds bowed awkwardly on the floor, Shadis could only sigh. He expected such behavior from idiots such as the potato girl or the Springer boy or even the arrogant horse-faced boy, but he never would've thought that he'd have to bust two of his most well-behaved trainees. Braun was like a godsend. Arlert had more brain cells than half the 104th squad trainees combined. The two were the last people he'd expect to pull stupid shit out of their asses, yet here the two were. Their faces were planted on the carpeted floor and their butts shook nervously in the air. He swore he saw a puddle of water slowly leak from under Armin's face. Pathetic.

"You have three milliseconds to save your shitty lives."

.1 - .2 - .3

Armin was a fantastic strategist. He wasn't that fantastic. He mentally kissed his butt goodbye. Oh, there was just so much he hadn't done yet. There were so many things he had yet to fulfill!

"Sir, we have a perfectly good reason for this," Reiner finally piped up. Armin noted that his voice was a tone higher than usual. "Um, if I may look you in the eyes while explaining…sir."

"Heave your fatass up Braun. Say is quick."

Reiner steadied himself on his legs. They were trembling like jelly. "Uh, yes. You see…the reason me and Armin were here was because….it was for training, sir!" Nope. There was no way he was going to buy into that.

"Bullshit."

Armin saw it coming a mile away. "M-may I stand up as well, sir?" He wasn't sure as to how he'd be able to come up with an excuse for Reiner's obvious lie. He had to try though.

"Quickly!" The two were lucky that they weren't ones who normally caused trouble. Shadis was taking it slightly easier on them than how he'd react on normal occasions.

The smaller blonde stood quickly. He used the desk behind him as support or else he'd go toppling down due to sheer fear. "We do have a perfectly reasonable explanation for this. We really do, sir."

"Than spit it out, Arlert!"

"Y-yes, sir! Well, you see, me and Reiner we um, we….we –"

"We were looking for your guidance, sir," Reiner piped up. He gave Armin a slight nod to signify that he'd take it over from there. "It's embarrassing to state, but we really look up to you sir. We look up to you so when our problem became evident to the both of us, we immediately searched for you. Armin got scared at the last moment and hid, and that is why you found us in your closet."

Shadis was about to call out the lie again, but he just sighed and aggressively rubbed his head. Fine, he thought to himself. If the two honestly did seek him out for advice and guidance than he had no other option than to hear them out. He was an asshole but he wasn't heartless. Besides, it was his duty to make sure that all the lasting trainees got the emotional support they needed. Not like he particularly cared for any of the loud pieces of crap that walked around the grounds, but higher ups' orders were to be carried out or else punishment would eventually meet up with him.

"Very well," the instructor hissed. "You need guidance, than spit it out quick 'else I'll throw yer asses out the window."

Armin wasn't too confident in Reiner's abilities in lying. So far he was fairing alright, but it'd only be a matter of time before he slipped up and got them both killed. He forced himself to stand quiet. That was the only thing he could do at the moment.

"Thank you for hearing me out, sir. This problem of ours is really personal and we're glad to have you help us out."

"No sentimental shit. Get to yer point, Braun."

"Yessir!" Reiner took a deep breath. His eyes briefly met the baby blue of Armin's. He prayed that the other boy would forgive him after this.

"We're going through an identity crisis, sir," went Reiner's reply.

"Get. To. Yer. Fucking. Point. Braun."

"We're gay, sir."

Silence. More silence. Even more silence. There was just nothing but silence.

Armin's mind was going wild. He knew that they might've had to come up with a farfetched lie to get themselves out of trouble, but in no way was he prepared to hear what just flew out of Reiner's mouth. The taller boy in comparison actually lookd smug and proud of himself.

"Do I look like I hold answers to tha rainbow, Braun?"

"No, sir. But we were wondering if perhaps you administered tests?"

"Tests? Tests?! Am I supposed to examine yer dicks and see if it's worth sucking?!" Shadis was hysterical at this point. Snakes, Armin mentally corrected him.

"No. Tests to check for HIV and all that. You see, hetero couples are banned from participating in such an act because they might get pregnant. Pregnant soldiers are no good. But homosexual couples only have to worry about –"

Shadis left. He left. With a simple, "no," he was gone as if some other force possessed him. Whether it was a "no" to the question or a "no" to the entire situation, that was something Armin wasn't sure about.

Reiner laughed as soon as he felt Shadis was far enough away. "How's that for a plan, eh, Armin?" His face was bright with a smile. "I seriously came up with everything as it went along, but it did us good."

Armin turned to his companion and gave a weak smile in return. He supposed that under these circumstances he wouldn't think too hard about what the larger boy said.

"Let's start grabbin'," Reiner instructed.

Eren sat upright underneath a gorgeous, green tree. The boy liked to venture into the woods on his days off, but today he wasn't quite filled with joy like he normally would be. He sighed and laid down on his side. Normally Armin would be right beside him, pointing out different plants and telling him fun trivia. It was something the two had been doing ever since the two became official soldiers in training. It helped them escape reality for a little bit, and it helped bring back the kind memories they held together as children. Today was supposed to be a day where he'd get to spend precious time with his best friend, but he wasn't there. Reiner had whisked him away.

It's not like he didn't like Reiner. The guy was basically the older brother figure to everyone out of the 104th squad trainees. He was kind, intelligent, and responsible. If there was anyone that he'd leave Armin in care of, it'd be Reiner. But it'd been several hours since he reluctantly let Armin fall into the hands of the larger boy. He knew that Armin didn't have to be by his side every moment of every day, but Eren just missed him so much. The more he thought about it – the more he realized that he sounded a bit too angsty, even in his own mind, but honestly there was nothing else he could do but whine to himself.

Suddenly, a noise came from just to the right of him. It wasn't unusual for a rabbit or a reptile of some sort to come crawling into the clearing, but the sound seemed a bit too off for it to be a small creature. Hesitantly, the boy sat upright again and stared intently at the bush the rustling was coming from. He almost peed his pants when he caught sight of two large eyes staring back at him. Whatever it was observing him seemed to be tall.

"What the-" He shot up and grabbed the closest object he could use to defend himself. That object turned out to be a three-inched stick, but that was all that was around. "4-meter class titan!" He sprinted towards the supposed titan and got ready to launch himself at what he thought might've been its neck.

As soon as he got close enough for launching distance, he squatted his knees back and heaved forward with a battle cry. Needless to say he was slightly put off when the creature stood up to its full height and kicked him in the crotch.

"If it isn't mister titan-complex himself."

Eren lifted his head and came face to face with something even more meddling than a 4-meter class titan. "Why the hell'dya kick me in the balls!"

Ymir sneered and crossed her arms. She tilted her head as if she were observing some work of art she created. "Please, Jaeger. You were the one who was trying to split my head open. You should be groveling on the floor and begging for forgiveness."

"You were the one who was peeping at me," he retorted back with force.

The girl just shrugged. "You looked like you were about to cry. I wasn't going to back out on watching that."

"Bitch."

"Indeed I am, punk. Moody because your fanclub of two dumped you?"

The boy's face became red with anger. "Shuddup!"

A staring contest began to take place between the two. Pure agitation leaked out into the air.

Thomas moaned as he slipped himself into the showers. It was a bit early in the day so nobody was around. It'd save him the trouble of fighting for hot water during the evening. Days like this had become his favorite over the past weeks. When the trainees were let off for some rest, Thomas was always the first to take it easy and do nothing. Some days he didn't even bathe if he didn't feel like it. Today was one of those days where all he wanted to do was bathe. The hot, refreshing water left the showerhead and sprayed all over his body. He could practically feel all the knots and tension evaporate from his body.

Little did he know, two pairs of eyes were watching his every move.

Once again thank you guys for all the support and lovely comments. They really make my day ^^

I'm not too satisfied with this chapter, but I think it turned out okay.