Nicolette woke up early the next day, eager to get to training. Today was their aptitude test with the Three Dimensional Maneuvering Gear. By the time she dressed and headed outside she noticed the sun just now coming up, realizing just how early she had gotten up. She wasn't just excited about this for her own sake, but to see how the others fared during the test, to see how they really measured up. To Nicolette the abilities of her new comrades were just as important as her own.

"You're up early." A voice caught Nicolette off guard and she jumped a little before turning to see Connie smiling up at her from the ground. He was lying down in his casual clothes, arms crossed behind his head. "Nicolette, right?"

"What are you doing down there?" She asked as she slowly stepped down off the porch of the barracks cabin. "You'll get dirty." She insisted, still ignoring his request for confirmation of her name.

Connie sat up, dusting off his sleeves a bit as he turned his eyes away from her and looked up at the sky. "I like to watch the sun rise sometimes, it's more entertaining to me than the sun set."

"What's the difference?"

"A new day is starting, instead of ending. New chances."

"How poetic." Nicolette rolled her eyes.

"You try very hard to keep to yourself. You know that's now how this works, right?" Connie stated as he stood up to his feet.

"What do you mean?" Nicolette inquired, not really caring but asking anyway.

"We have to establish trust in one another, make relationships. That's the only way we can go into the field at ease. If someone rides with another they don't know anything about, someone they don't trust, it makes for a mess of things."

"And you'd know from experience?" Nicolette looked at him now with dull eyes, calling him out. Connie seemed caught off guard by her question and was silent. "I do agree with you to some extent, but outside of training, outside of the field, there's no need for me to further any kind of relationships with anyone. It only makes things worse really."

"W-Why do you say that?" Connie asked her, intrigued.

"Because when I watch a comrade die I don't want to be so overcome with grief I let my guard down. I only choose to care for the ones I know have a low risk of death, and that would mean no one here."

"Do you really think you can live a happy life that way?"

"Who said anything about a happy life? I just want to kill Titans." Nicolette was done with this conversation and spared no additional words or glances to Connie before leaving him where he stood.

Nicolette was the first to arrive for training, standing in front of the stationary gear used to test the cadets as the sun positioned itself in the morning sky and others filed in and began to whisper, guessing who would fail and who would succeed. Once the instructor arrived he explained the test and began calling names for cadets to gear up and begin. Nicolette observed carefully as the first wave of cadets began.

Mikasa's form was perfect. Connie seemed to have a rough start but got the hang of it. Sasha seemed completely eased and even bored, swaying around like it was a game. Then there was Jean. Nicolette's attention lingered on Jean as he worked his balance, staying steady with a bit more effort but still working it well. Something about his face in that moment, the determination and discipline it took for him to prove his skill, it was something Nicolette found reasonable admirable. He might have wanting more in life than to have a comfortable living in the interior, but there was something very driven about him.

Then there was Eren. All eyes slowly seemed to make their way to cast stares his way as he found himself completely upside down. "What are you doing Eren?" The instructor shouted at Eren when he finally noticed the poor boys situation. "Straighten yourself up!" Nicolette couldn't help but laugh at the irony; just yesterday he was bragging about slaughtering Titans but today he couldn't even work the omi-directional gear properly. Others recalled the same as Nicolette and a few muffled laughs seemed to break out among the cadets as they all watched Eren struggle. Eren seemed horrified at his own short comings, and finally the instructor gave orders for Eren to be let down.

"Gregor, up here now!" The instructor shouted and Nicolette was quick to obey. As Eren slumped away in defeat Nicolette was hooked up to the gear and lifted up. And just like that, it was all it took, and she was floating steady. Her arms remained out just an inch or two away from her body as if that was what she assumed needed to be done in order to work the gear properly but in all honesty it was all much simpler than that. Her positioned remained well balanced, and as she begun to smile at her accomplishment she noticed a harsh glare casted by Eren as he looked at her as if she had just showed him up. "Well done Gregor, we might actually make a solider out of you." The instructor gave the signal for her to be lowered, and as her feet touched the ground once more her eyes remained on Eren as he turned his back to her and walked through the masses of cadets to join Mikasa and Armin.

"Not bad Nicolette." Connie's voice rang from behind her and she turned to face him with a soft sigh.

"You again?"

"I just wanted to congratulate you. You did wonderful."

"I don't need you to congratulate me."

"I know that." Connie insisted as he moved to stand by Nicolette, "But I wanted to anyway."

Something about how nice he was being to her, especially after this morning, was rather odd to Nicolette. "Why are you being so nice to me?" She asked, a little hint of anger in her voice. After all, she had made herself very clear to him earlier that morning that she had no time for this sort of friendly nonsense yet here he was, complimenting her and all like he hadn't paid attention to a word she he said.

Connie looked over at her; their eyes meeting in a level stare due to them both sharing a similar height. He looked more serious, like he was suddenly overcome with determination. "I've decided I'm going to be your friend."

"I don't want you to be my friend." Nicolette insisted harshly. "Didn't I explain that to you?"

"And I've deiced not to care. You need friends Nicolette, whether you realize it or not. We all do. It's the only thing that can make all of this easier. Friendship is what keeps us sane during training, and out in the field. You can't survive without it. You may not realize that now, but soon you will and if I do nothing it will be too late by the time you come to understand it. So I've decided to be your friend, whether you like it or not."

"That's enough for today!" The instructor shouted once everyone had a chance to test out the gear. "Get a good night's rest and we'll pick up from here tomorrow morning."

Nicolette looked over at Connie and he smirked at her with a certain sense of insistence and she knew he wasn't going to let this go. She sighed and rolled her eyes, knowing there was more than likely nothing she could say to make him give up on his new found mission. Despite him lacking any real knowledge of the outside world, he seemed rather philosophical about the whole thing and that kind of determination wouldn't be easy to break. "Fine." She admitted defeat, knowing it would be better in the long run to just go with it. "But stop calling me Nicolette." She insisted as she walked away from Connie to head back to the barracks.

"Then what should I call you?"

"Colette." She stopped for a moment and looked back at Connie, trying hard not to hate him for his noble motivations, "My friends call me Colette."