As it turns out, I did not have to wait long for there to be something for me to do. Hanji had soon sent for me and was waiting for me outside in the courtyard.

She greeted me animatedly. "Long time, no see!" she exclaimed. "I have a treat for you! Follow me." She quickly turned and walked away with me not far behind.

In no time, we were in another courtyard with many people in it. In the center of the courtyard were several black posts in the ground. I saw two rising pillars of either steam or smoke (I was not sure which). Soldiers were running around, seeming highly troubled.

"What's going on?" Hanji asked one of them.

"It's Sawney and Bean…" replied the man.

Hanji quickly pushed past him before he could continue speaking. I followed behind her, wanting to see for myself what was happening. Hanji screamed and dropped to her knees in front of the steaming pillars. "SAWNEEEEEY! BEEEAAAN!" she cried. Tears streamed heavily from her eyes. "NOOOOO!"

I looked closer and saw to enormous skeletons causing the steam. Titans? Why would we have Titans inside the walls? Let alone, inside the Survey Corps headquarters? Hanji continued to wail for the dead creatures. I remember Corporal Levi telling me something about her being absolutely in love with the things. Why, I was unsure. I stood awkwardly behind Hanji, not knowing what to do.

After several minutes of crying for them, Hanji stood and wiped her eyes and nose. "They were good titans!" she said, sniffling. She cleaned off her glasses. "I wanted you to see them alive. Maybe help me conduct some experiments on them to find out more about them." She sighed and put her glasses back on her face. "But it would seem that someone killed them," she stated rather bluntly. She sniffled again. "I'm sorry you're seeing me like this," she apologized with a small laugh. "I really do enjoy working with Titans."

"But why did you have them in the first place?" I asked. It did not make sense to me.

She walked up to the steaming piles and inspected them thoroughly. She soon walked away from the skeletons. "Captain, please get this all cleaned up!" she ordered. "And quickly find the culprit of this heinous crime." A soldier, the captain, saluted and went around giving orders to the others. She turned back to me. "We captured them," Hanji explained casually. "If we as a race want to gain any knowledge from our enemies, then we have to get up close and personal with them. It's the only way." She sniffled again.

That would explain why Erwin had said they had lost a good number of people recently. Probably to capture those Titans.

"Well, I have you for the whole day," Hanji said brightly. "Let's go find something to do." She paused. "Oh, wait. We should probably inform the Commander about this." She sighed. "Come on then."

We walked back to the other courtyard. People were still milling about, doing their duties or just standing around. Corporal Levi was yelling at a few Cadets about cleanliness. It was a very typical morning for sure (despite the steaming Titan corpses). I sighed, content.

"Somebody grab that cat!" a voice cried out. Suddenly, several soldiers were running past, chasing after an orange blur. The soldier closest to the cat had an apron on. "It has the dinner in its mouth! Somebody grab it!"

The cat ran between Levi's legs and sprinted in Hanji and mine's direction. It leapt and promptly landed on my chest, the force of the jump knocking me onto my back with a thud. Quickly, I held the cat to me and managed to wrench what little bit of meat it had in its mouth out of its jaws. It meowed and looked at me sadly with soft yellow eyes. I let out an audible "aww."

The soldier in the apron, whom I easily assumed was the chef, held out his hand. "Could I have that please?" he said impatiently, gesturing to the meat.

"There's not much," I said, handing it to him and standing up. I kept the cat in my arms. He was very soft, but really needed a bath. His stench found its way into my nose.

"How'd he get in here?" Hanji asked, scratching him behind the ears. He purred loudly and rubbed his head against her hand.

"Jumped through the window, the little bastard," the chef replied irritably. He looked at the small piece of meat in his hand. "This meat isn't enough to feed even one person! This shit's expensive! Where's a gun? I'm gonna shoot it and make it for dinner!"

I hugged the cat to me. "No!" I said a little too defensively. "I-I mean, no, you don't need to shoot him. He could catch the mice that run around." The cat squeaked uncomfortably and I loosened my grip on him. I was surprised he had stayed in my arms as long as he had.

"We'll talk to the Commander about him," Hanji interjected. "We're going up to see him anyway."

The chef huffed, obviously annoyed. "Fine." He turned on his heels and stalked back to the kitchens.

Keeping the cat in my arms, Hanji and I walked inside the castle and up to Commander Erwin's office. Hanji knocked and waited for permission to enter. I followed in behind her.

Commander Erwin was sitting at his desk, looking over several papers. His pen scratched on the parchment as he signed his signature. "What is it, Hanji?" he asked looking up. "Oh, hello, Ariadne. Good to see you here." His smile was warm. I hid my red cheeks. The cat purred softly against my arms.

"We have an issue on our hands," Hanji informed Erwin. She leaned forward on his desk. "Somebody has murdered Sawney and Bean," she said, obviously still upset.

"Murdered?" Erwin creased his eyebrows.

Hanji nodded. "In cold blood! Somebody must have used their 3D maneuver gear and killed them!"

"I'll put out an order to have everyone's gear inspected," Erwin replied. "Immediately." He opened a drawer and pulled out a clean sheet of paper. After dipping his pen in the ink, he quickly wrote the order on the paper and handed it to Hanji. "Make sure everyone knows of this. Inform Corporal Levi as well."

Hanji saluted. "Will do." She turned and started for the door. I also turned to follow her.

"Ariadne, wait," Erwin said quietly. "Before you leave, what's with the cat?" He stood and walked up to me. He was standing close enough I could smell his cologne over the smell of the cat. It was highly comforting.

"The chef was chasing him in the courtyard because he had dinner in his mouth," I explained. "He jumped on me before anyone else could catch him." I looked up at Erwin, hoping that my next question would not be denied. "May I keep him, sir? I'll look after him and I'll make sure he stays out of the kitchen and sees that he chases mice." I felt like a little kid trying to convince a parent to keep the cat.

Erwin laughed. He was not making fun of me, but I was unsure of why he was so amused. "I don't see why you can't," he replied still laughing. He patted the cat's head. "Besides, he's cute and seems to like you."

I smiled. I could keep him. "Thank you, sir!" I went to salute, but then realized I would have to put the cat down. Erwin noticed this and laughed again.

"When we're alone, you don't have to call me 'sir,'" he informed me. "Erwin is just fine." He was looking down at me softly.

My cheeks burned red again. "Um, okay." I had been unsure whether or not I would be allowed to call him by his first name since I was a soldier now. I figured 'commander' or 'sir' would be enough. But he wanted me to call him by his first name. I could get used to that again.

I was uncertain as to how long we stood staring at each other. It was not awkward, but it did get to be embarrassing after a while. Erwin cleared his throat. "Well, you should probably go back to Hanji, but you may want to wash the cat first. He stinks."

"Oh, um, right." I went towards the door, my cheeks continued to be red. I turned back around. "Um, Erwin."

"Yes?" He was already sitting behind his desk again.

"If, uh, if you're having trouble sleeping, you're welcome to sleep with me again. If-if you'd like." It was an invitation, but there was no way I could say it without it sounding weirdly sexual. I was not ready for that sort of thing. I held my breath, waiting for a reply.

He smiled gratefully. "I think I will," he replied. "Thank you."

"Yep." I hurried out of the room and towards my own dorm. Yep? Seriously, Ariande, you just said, "yep" to your commander? What the heck is wrong with you? I mentally berated myself the whole way there.

When I got to my room, I let the cat out of my arms and onto the floor. "Come on, kitty," I said. "You need a bath." I walked into the bathroom and he followed me. I had owned cats before and knew how to bathe them. I just had to steer clear of the claws. After I had drawn the water in the tub and went to get the cat, I was surprised to find he had happily jumped in. "Uh, okay then." I said and grabbed the soap. He let me rub his fur with the bar of soap and wash away the dirt. I had to get a pair of scissors from my drawers so I could cut away some of the matted fur under his belly.

The whole time I was cleaning him, my mind was on two things: naming this cat and Erwin, but mainly naming the cat. He purred loudly as I rinsed away the bubbly dirty water off his back. Ginger? No, too cliché. Tom? Again, cliché. I had gone through a long list of names in my head, but could not think of one that fit him. I drained the water and grabbed a towel to dry him with. Suddenly, it occurred to me.

I held the cat up and looked at him. He stared curiously back at me with yellow eyes. His pink nose and white whiskers twitched. "Your name is now Marcus," I told him. "Marcus the cat. Remember it."

Marcus meowed.

I took the towel and rubbed him down until he was dry. He looked like a much happier animal than he had before. I pet him and set him down on the floor. I stood and went out of my room to look for Hanji. Marcus followed behind me, close to my heels. He meowed contently as he skipped around me, trying to rub his body against my legs, nearly making me trip.

"Seriously?" I hissed. "Come on, dude." Marcus looked up at me and purred loudly. Geez, this cat was friendly. I told Marcus to go run around the grounds, but to stay out of trouble. He almost cheerfully ran off without a second thought.

When I found Hanji, she ordered me to get my own 3D gear and put it up on display for inspection. I had not used my gear since arriving this morning so I was curious as to why I needed to get it. She told me I was not to be excluded from the inspection. I ended up not doing anything else with Hanji for the rest of the day as we had supposed. The inspections took all day long.

By the end of the day, I was pretty much exhausted. Even though I had not used my gear, I was thoroughly questioned on when the last time it was I filled it with gas, when I had last used it, when I had last repaired anything. It was really annoying to be honest.

I went to my room and found Marcus lying on my bed, curled up into a little orange ball beside my pillow. I pet him before I took my uniform off and changed into pajamas then crawled into bed. I reached into the drawer of my nightstand and pulled out my phone. I had to remind myself many times that I was not from this world. I used to be somewhere else and I often forgot.

The light from the phone blinded me for a moment. The lantern I had burning was not very bright. I went through my pictures. I growled, frustrated. The faces in the photos were still blurry. I could not figure it out. There was no logical explanation as to why they were all unclear. I put the phone back into the nightstand and lied on my back, staring at the ceiling.

I figured Erwin would be here by now. The way he acted in his office made it seem like he was going to join me as soon as I went to bed. I looked at the clock on my wall in the dim light of the lantern. 11:30. There was still time for him to come. In the meantime, I pet Marcus to keep myself calm.

I was getting anxious for some reason. Were my nightmares going to come back now that I was back at the Survey Corps headquarters? I had done fine (for the most part) when I was at training. I prayed my nightmares would stay away until Erwin came into my room and laid beside me.

I looked at the clock again. 12:03. He was late. Maybe he was able to sleep without me while I was gone. It was highly possible. I was pathetic. I should not expect my commanding officer to continue sleeping with me, even if he had done it many times before.

As I lay petting Marcus and waiting for Erwin, I finally heard the door creak open. I glanced over and saw Erwin stepping across the room. I noticed he was not wearing the straps around his body. I also noticed the bolo tie was missing from around his neck and the top buttons were undone of his shirt.

As if I had not left for 2 months, Erwin sat on the edge of the bed and removed his boots. It was so routine. I scooted closer to the wall to make room for him (Marcus stirred in his sleep but did not move with me). I lifted the sheets to let Erwin beside me. He pulled me close to him and let me rest my head in the crook of his neck. He put his arms protectively around me. His scent was so comforting. I had not realized how much I had missed him.

"Couldn't sleep?" I asked, whispering into his neck.

"Not exactly," Erwin replied. "I got caught up with the paperwork for today."

I nodded. "All in a day's work."

"Something like that." We laid in silence for a while. I was closing my eyes and was just about to fall asleep when Erwin spoke again. "I have reason to believe that the person who took out the test subjects was not a Survey Corps member."

I opened my eyes again. "What makes you think that?" He went off into a long explanation of why he thinks it was someone with reasonable skill and secrecy. I tried to listen carefully, but my tired brain refused to let me. "You've had a full day," I commented after he finished speaking.

"I would assume you have too," he replied.

I shrugged. "I suppose." We laid in silence again. My eyes drooped again.

"Ariadne, I have a question to ask you."

"Hmm?"

"What do you say we make this a regular thing between us?" I felt him shift to look at my face. "Us sleeping together I mean."

I creased my eyebrows, unsure of what he meant at first. "Isn't this pretty much already a regular thing between us?" I paused. Wait a second, does he mean…? "I could get used to that," I said after a while.

He chuckled. "That's a yes then, correct?"

I smiled. "Yes."

The next thing I knew, Erwin was kissing me. Time stopped. I felt pleasure course through my body from his lips on mine. We pulled apart for a moment. He gently pulled me closer to him as I ran my fingers through his blond hair, purposely to mess it up. It (obviously) looked different from the pristine Erwin I was used to seeing, but I liked it. He kissed me again, this time with more passion, but still it was loving and gentle. I never knew one could feel all these sensations at one time.

Our bodies moved together, Erwin on top of me. He leaned on his elbows and looked down at me, staring into my own blue-gray eyes. This time, I kissed him. It was a little awkward at first, but since I initiated this one, it quickly grew even more heated between us. His lips trailed away from my mouth and found their way down to my cheek and then my neck. My arms made their way around his shoulders, pulling him even closer to me. I had no idea what my body was doing, I just knew this was really nice.

One of his hands wandered down to the hem of my pants and began to pull them down. My body froze and I quickly grabbed that hand. I shook my head, my cheeks turning red. He stopped kissing my neck and looked at me, confused.

"No," I said sheepishly. "I-I'm not ready for that."

He promptly removed his hand and brought it up to caress my face. "Alright then," he said finally. He kissed my forehead lovingly, the way he did many months ago when he came to my rescue.

"I'm sorry," I apologized as we adjusted ourselves beside each other again. I accidentally laid partially on Marcus and he meowed angrily at me. I quickly apologized to him too. I had totally forgotten he was beside me as well. I turned my attention to Erwin again. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have led you on like that."

"It's fine, really," he assured me. "Besides, we still have the rest of the night to be together." He propped his head up on his elbow. I loved the way his hair was messily strewn across his face. I loved the way his cheek bones and jaw line were angled, distinct. His strikingly blue eyes were hypnotizing.

I laughed. "To be honest, I really just want to sleep, but the kissing was fun." I ran a hand through my own now messy hair.

"Then let's sleep." It does not take much to convince me to return to Erwin's embrace. We kissed some more and talked of little things in between. I was unsure of the time when we actually fell asleep, but I wanted the night to last forever.

I just love these two, like for real. Anyway, since I didn't really update as soon as I have been, I decided to go ahead and make this one pretty long. There's a lot going on, but it was still fun to write.

I had some writer's block this week so I wasn't sure what to write for this chapter. I ended up seeing something on Deviantart with Erwin and a cat. I loved the idea so I decided to give Ariadne a cat. Marcus will be fun to write about. :)

I felt like the last couple chapters were really poorly written (even for me) so I hope I made it up with this one.

Thanks for reading! You know what to do. :D

Edit: If Erwin seemed OCish in this it's probably because he kinda is, but that's only when he's alone with Ariadne. I try to keep his original personality as much as I can. But his character is really complex and since he's not my own character, it's hard to do any of his internal dialogue and things like that. Hope you enjoyed it anyway!