Hange waited with baited breath for the assigned teams to lead in the first titan. We were stationed up in the branches of trees that were right on either side of the site where the experiments would take place. A few other squads were scattered around the area as well to assist us in anyway necessary, but Hange was the only one ready to jump into action at the moment. We'd been standing around for about an hour at this point simply feeling the summer heat through the dense leaves as the sun rose higher in the sky; most of the soldiers were hanging back casually. I glanced over at my squad leader to see if she had relaxed a little but it was in vain. Her glasses flashed against the sunlight excitedly and her suppressed grin was more obvious than ever. Especially when the thundering of hoof prints reached our ears.
A small whimper escaped Hange's lips and small clacks sounded around the area as all the soldiers gripped the hand controls of their swords, ready to jump. Hange put her hand out though to signal us to stay back. I crouched down and looked out into the distance so that I could see the small group of green cloaks and a towering figure staggering awkwardly after them. One of the soldiers on the next branch over blew a low whistle at the height of the beast coming towards us, it was one of the tallest ones I've ever seen!
As they grew closer, Hange's excitement continued to increase once the branches started to vibrate and I could just barely make out The Captain's bitch face from the front of the group. "Hold!" Hange commanded as they continued to grow closer; everyone was practically itching to get this over with and go home. After this we'd have the rest of the day and the night to conduct whatever experiments we wanted that were within reason. The Commander stood opposite of us, ready to give the signal in a few seconds. But when his voice rang strongly through the air, Moblit and I jumped into action first. We propelled ourselves right at the beast's legs, trying not to get ourselves fucked up from the dirt that was being blown in the air from the heavy footsteps. The two of us worked in tandem as we cut the tendons on the backs of its legs and the beast fell forward with a loud grunt. We continued to disable the large titan as fast as we could while the other squads jumped in and began the process of restraining it. Blood and steam flowed forth in large amounts as we worked meticulously to ensure the safety of the other scouts like The Commander had wanted.
Hange cheered obnoxiously once Moblit and I finished and landed a little ways away from the head of the titan, steam billowing off of us as the blood evaporated. I sheathed my swords after a few minutes simply watched the show. The titan struggled valiantly with an angry expression on its face, its eyes seeing but not comprehending anything.
"Perfect! Excellent job you two! Ah- this is so exciting! Let's get started!" Hange fluttered around the beast like a butterfly while some of the soldiers put on the finishing touches for security. Moblit looked like he wanted to stop and shake the madwoman but just stood there with his hands held out in front of him like he was carrying a precious bottle of wine.
The Commander jumped down from his post on the tree branch and started instructing some of the newer cadets to start pitching tents a safe distance away from the site while the rest were assigned to other tasks such as lookout duty or something else equally tedious. I waited around for a few minutes while Hange and The Commander discussed some minor details and removed my cloak. Tied onto my waist was a pair of goggles that looked similar to Hange's, but these were more for keeping steam and blood out of my eyes during the experiments. Unclasping them, I removed them from my side and made quick work of securing them to my head, but sliding them up into my hairline until we were ready to proceed.
I stood with my arms crossed as I stared down at the beast. It panted a little from all the excitement, but its eyes were still hazy and half lidded. Its body was littered with enormous stakes to keep it grounded; the titan's massive hands were quivering despite being nailed to the dirt. Did it have a sense of fear or was it simply itching to feast on one of the soldiers that were nearby? Who knew. I glanced over my shoulder at Moblit who had come back to the scene with a small trunk along with a pair of gloves gripped in hand. "Here, Hange instructed me to bring these for you." he said, handing over the gloves and I showed the man a small smile of gratitude.
"Thank you." I said as I rolled up the sleeves of my jacket and put on the leather gloves. While Hange was completely hands-on with titans, I refrained from skin to skin contact. I frowned in thought as I looked back over at the titan, something about touching their unbearably warm skin made me shudder. I'd much rather spend my time skewering them instead of gently patting their cheeks and hoping for some form of emotion from the damn things, that was Hange's department for sure. But for now I turned my attention to the small trunk that Moblit had brought along and kneeled down to pop open the locks on it. Inside resided bundles of syringes, tubes, a stack of notebooks and pencils, and even a few different types of poisons. I hummed a little as I picked up a syringe and readied it; a small black box lay underneath the carefully packed needles that Hange, Moblit, and I had designed ourselves. "Ready?" I asked the more seasoned soldier, handing him the box and he nodded solemnly.
"As I'll ever be." Moblit said, sending a signal wave over to Hange and the woman gave us a quick nod before bidding The Commander a farewell and running full speed over to us. Hange began to spout off the different possibilities and outcomes of different experiments as drool began to ooze out of the woman's mouth. Moblit just handed her a clean hanky.
Across the small field, other soldiers stood watching as the three of us neared the beast slowly. I could see Petra gripping onto Claude's arm for dear life on one side and The Captain leaning against a tree on the other. His arms were folded neatly against his chest as he observed and I turned away to put my goggles in place. Hange fluttered around the beast while I tested needles on the beast on the soft parts of its body. Each one made a quick point of snapping in half as if it were pressed into the wall itself and I huffed.
"Maybe we should- Eli wait!" Moblit screamed as I grabbed one of my swords and sliced part of the titan's arm open without missing a beat. Steam billowed up into the air as the titan struggled a little and I made quick work of shoving the needle into the open wound and drawing whatever blood I could. The hot liquid filled up the container and the needle steamed as I pulled it out after a moment. I walked back over to Moblit with the sample and he fumbled with the small black box a little before popping the lid off for me. It was designed to keep the heated substance cooled, just in case the heat were to be too much for the container to handle. My gloves were warm from holding it and I worried a little, wondering if it would last. But it was all progress in the end.
I worked on getting a few more samples while Hange tried to communicate with it and the spectating soldiers started to wander away one by one, test after test. Now, at the end of the day, we still hadn't gained anything substantial. Moblit had at least two books filled with experiments and the outcome or rather two books filled with failure and it was safe to say that I was becoming bitter over the situation. The titan panted as Hange plunged a makeshift spear into its chest and the woman screamed bloody murder.
"Does it hurt?! Can you feel it?! Tell me something! Anything!"
Moblit and I sighed as we watched her, it was obvious that we were quickly getting absolutely nowhere and walked up to my captain. "Hange..." I started, but the fat tears rolling down her face stopped me in my tracks. Mobiit came behind me and put a hand on my shoulder with a worried from on his face. We both watched her for a moment as a few soldiers were drawn to the sound of one of the superiors' anguished cries. Moblit chewed on the inside of his cheek for a moment before going over to Hange and beginning to restrain her.
"End it." he ordered and my eyes widened. Hange's cries became louder as she begged us to stop; Moblit struggled to drag her away as I drew one of my swords and turned to the beast behind me. Its gaze had remained the same but its hand seemed to try to claw into the dirt as steam billowed from its chest. My eyebrows furrowed a little but I drew the other one and climbed up the beast's back to end my captain's suffering, or at least a small part of it.
Maybe one day I'd end all of it.
Steam billowed up and my hair licked the air like flames as the hot, sticky air forced it back. I sighed as I hopped off the decomposing titan and shoved my goggles up onto my forehead, walking over to retrieve the notebooks that Moblit had left behind. Sheathing my swords, I bent over to pick up the books and stared back over in the direction where Moblit had dragged Hange off into. I chewed on my lip and picked up the pencil that was left abandoned on the ground and scrawled across some closure on the title page before snapping the book shut with one hand and proceeding to take off my gloves and shoving them into my back pocket as I walked away from the scene.
...
Later that night, Hange found the notebooks that were left by the flap of her tent along with the small note that were tucked halfway into the title page. The woman put a hand over half of her face once her eyes started to swim in warmth and she smiled as she retreated back into her tent. The Scouts had come here with the intent to capture two titans, but it seemed as if one was enough to satiate Hange's hunger for now, especially after receiving her little gift of closure.
The woman smiled once more as she ran her fingers lovingly over the title page.
Albert.
...
I sighed and stretched a little as I settled down onto the floor of my little tent that resided in the outskirts of the camp. After that, I loosened the bandages that kept my breasts tightly contained while I was out on the field or during training and a sigh of relief escaped me as I could breathe a little easier. I turned the lantern down low before taking rolling up my shirt over my chest and continuing to work on the bindings so that they wouldn't fall off in my sleep, but were still loose enough to be comfortable in. A light blush shamefully coated my cheeks as I foolishly wondered what kind of cruel games The Captain would have up his sleeves if he saw me like this. The hand that was resting underneath my breasts as I adjust the cloth twitched at the thought and I adjusted my weight as I sat back on my knees. The heel of my foot was good at causing friction in that position.
A small gasp escaped my lips as I turned myself into a needy little bastard for a second or two, shifting my hips a little each time until I'd feel just right. But my body felt like it was frozen in ice when I heard that oh so familiar click of the tongue by the flap of my tent.
Oh I was so fucked.
