"I couldn't believe my eyes. He was riddled with holes, missing four fingers on his left hand, and yet he still stood and continued to move forward whilst shooting at the men who were dug in about a hundred meters south. We were fighting an enemy way out of our league that day, and yet... I couldn't help but be more afraid of the man standing before me, even if he was on our side."

- Second Lieutenant Sven Michiels, Survey Corps

Nikola Krause always had a keen eye for details. He saw the way his mother tensed up when he walked in the room and pretended she was busy so that she wouldn't have to talk to him. He saw the way his best friend Evelyn would stare at him when she thought he wasn't looking. He saw every missing button and untucked shirt of his unsuspecting classmates. He was very good at paying attention to these kinds of things.

So it was quite a surreal feeling when he saw the humanoid figure peeking over Wall Maria before everyone else, who continued about their day like there was nothing to be alarmed about.

Nikola's mother was nowhere to be found when he rushed home after the Colossus Titan destroyed the gate separating Shiganshina from the outside world. Judging from the state of the house, though, someone had packed their things and left. It didn't take long for Nikola to put two and two together.

Nikola was fully prepared to accept his fate and stay inside to wait to be eaten, when Evelyn came barrelling into the house, crying and telling him she had looked all over for him and that he needed to come evacuate to the ships with her and her parents.

So now, there he was, living with the Tomaska family in Khartaum, a small farm town in northeast Wall Rose.

Evelyn's grandparents were bawling when they all arrived, unsure if their son and granddaughter had made it out of Shiganshina alive. It was as he was pulled into a group hug of relieved family members that Nikola realized that having a family that cared must be quite nice.

Over the next five years, Nikola became a Tomaska in all but name, life quickly returning to normalcy, to everyone's surprise. Khartaum was plagued with a large influx of refugees and a food shortage following the fall of Wall Maria, but Evelyn's grandparents were wealthy enough that it didn't affect them all that much.

At 12, Nikola began helping with the farm. It was actually unnecessary, as the Tomaskas had many employees and didn't have to do much work themselves besides sell their harvested fruits and vegetables at the market, but Nikola insisted that he should have something to do to help out. The work ended up being very laborious and physically demanding, especially for a preteen, but he didn't complain. Evelyn joined him so he wouldn't "work himself to death like a fool", but she was far more vocal about her discomfort and exhaustion than Nikola was.

Nikola was regarded by his teachers as a great mathematician, and would frequently send letters to his guardians about his proficiency in geometry and probability. However, he was always getting in trouble for doodling during class, wasting the school's ink and lead, and because of his slacking, he did awful in every other subject.

His life was all but decided when he was 13, when Evelyn's (and at this point, basically his) grandparents asked him and Evelyn if they'd like to take over the farm when they became too old. Nikola agreed in a heartbeat, and Evelyn did too after some coaxing.

But those plans would change on the night of his 14th birthday.

"Hey, Nick, what do you think about the military?"

"...It's cool? I guess? Why?" Nikola stared into the roof of his bottom bunk, trying to guess where Evelyn's head would be on the other side.

"Dummy, I mean what do you think about joining the military. You're 14 now, in a year we could both enlist and become cadets. Wouldn't that be badass?" Nikola immediately leapt out of bed and grabbed the frame of Evelyn's top bunk, peeking over with a serious expression that contrasted her shocked one quite well.

"Evelyn. You're not joining the military." His face was so close she could see the tiny hairs on his lip. Her heart skipped a beat from surprise and she leaned back reflexively.

"Woah! Settle down, I never said I was actually gonna do it, did I? ...You need to start shaving, by the way." Nikola stared at her for a few seconds, face unchanging, before disappearing back into his own bunk.

"You made it sound like you plan to. And shut up, I can't help it."

"Help what?"

"Help growing this disgusting moustache." Nikola went back to studying the frame of the top bunk. Evelyn scoffed.

"Okay, but seriously. It's... the only way we'd be able to go back to Shiganshina. I know things are nice for us, but we're just the lucky ones. Things are actually pretty scary out there. What if Wall Rose fell too? What would we do? What would everyone else do?" Judging from the creaking of the bedframe, Nikola guessed that Evelyn was now sitting up against the wall.

"Impossible. It's not going to happen."

"You don't know that, Nick. The Colossus Titan and Armored titan took out the walls like it was nothing. You and I saw it firsthand. It's a goddamn time bomb. I want to help people. I want to stop the titans. I don't want to be afraid anymore. I... I want to live in Shiganshina again."

Nikola's brows slowly furrowed. "First of all, life here is a thousand times better than it ever was in Shiganshina. Second of all, it sounds a lot like you're talking about the Survey Corps, Evelyn. Nobody joins the Survey Corps unless they're insane, or are trying to commit indirect suicide. It isn't happening. This conversation is over. Can't believe you of all people are suggesting we enlist in the military, considering you can't even plough a field for an hour without complaining. How would you even last through basic training?"

Evelyn sighed, and laid back down. "You can't stop me." She whispered, not intending to be heard. But of course, Nikola was no fool. He was silent for a moment, before replying.

"So you do plan to enlist. Liar. But... You're right. I probably can't stop you. Unless I physically injured you or watched over you like a hawk for the next six months before you turn 15, I know you'll eventually slip past me and enlist, if you're actually serious about the military. So if you really do that, I'll..." Evelyn certainly didn't like the sound of 'physically injure', but she knew his words were only in theory.

"If I really do that, what?"

Nikola's last words were quiet and uncharacteristically soft. "I'll... just have to follow you, I guess. I couldn't live with myself if I let the person who probably saved me from being titan food willingly go and get themselves killed."

Evelyn found his words to be bittersweet. She'd secretly been planning on joining the military since she arrived in Khartoum, so he definitely couldn't change her mind at this point. She was glad that she'd have him by her side... but it was for all the wrong reasons.

But at least she'd finally gotten an answer to the question she'd been silently asking herself for years. "Good night, and happy birthday... little bro."

She heard a low chuckle coming from the bottom bunk. "Go fuck yourself, Evelyn."