October
After a moment composing himself, Eld took a deep breath, and turned the door handle to the office, walking in confidently.
"You requested my presence Commander?"
"Ah Eld, yes - thank you for coming in last minute. Please, take a seat."
Eld did as the man asked, while the Commander checked off some remaining paperwork from his frankly disturbingly large pile. Though he wasn't speaking loudly, his voice still held a booming, authoritative quality;
"It's rare nowadays that I have a spare moment for these reviews, so when my meeting with Mr Brauer fell through this morning I seized the opportunity to call you in here."
It was only then that Eld noticed Captain Levi stood leaning against the wall to his right, arms crossed. The Captain simply glanced at him impassively, then back to the Commander. Although he maintained his trademark aura of judgement and slight threat, those qualities were lessened by his nose, which was still red from having picked up the squad's cold not a week before. Eld fought away a smile.
"Mr Brauer, sir? The town Tailor?"
"Yes." The Commander replied, returning his pen to its ink pot, "But that isn't the reason I called you in here this morning."
"Of course, sir." Eld replied, and suddenly felt anticipatory worry crawling across his skin around his neck and upper chest.
"Following your recent field work, and taking into consideration the report from your latest performance review with the Captain here, it seems to me that you are well overdue a raise." He smiled his charming smile;
"Eld Jinn, I would like to formally offer you the position of Squad Leader."
Eld's heart stopped in his chest.
"Naturally this means moving on from your current role in Special Operations. A new squad would be drafted with you at the helm, and you would be required to attend the strategy meetings with the other officers. I'm sure I don't need to mention that this position comes with a pay rise."
Eld didn't know what to say at all. When he'd first joined the survey corps, his goal had always been to work his way up through the ranks and do as much as he possibly could to help in the war against the titans; but ever since the squad had settled into their work with the Captain, he'd always assumed that he was doing that. Surely there was no higher honour than the Special Operations Squad, though there were plenty of officers that outranked and out-earned him. But then, he couldn't overlook such an amazing opportunity. He would be well placed to run a squad of rookies, keep them alive and fighting for humanity's freedom. As one of the most experienced scouts out there, he could surely do a lot of good instructing a new squad, exercising his jurisdiction. Not to mention a pay-rise would be even more welcome now that he was married, and been discussing trying for children with Harriet.
The Commander's voice cut through his pondering;
"I gather from your silence that you haven't been expecting this offer."
Eld frowned, pulling a hand round his face,
"No sir." He replied, "Not as such."
He turned his head towards Captain Levi, who remained stoic, as unchanging as a picture on the wall. Unhelpful.
"Commander, if you don't mind me asking - what would that mean for Special Operations?"
"Well, Captain Levi would have the choice about whether he wants to hire a new second externally, or promote from within his squad. Either way they are likely to need to hire an additional soldier in your absence. For the most part though, I gather that Special Operations would remain as it is. Please don't worry yourself about such matters, that will be a job for myself and the Captain here to figure out, should you accept this new post."
"…right. Of course sir." Eld frowned, overwhelmed by the barrage of new information.
The Commander inhaled deeply through his nose,
"Why don't you take until the end of the month to consider. I appreciate that this is a big decision for you, but, if I may, I truly believe you would make a splendid squad leader."
"Thank you sir." Eld responded, standing from his seat, head whirling, "I'll be sure to make a decision by then."
"I'm glad to hear it. Dismissed."
Eld nodded once, and took his leave.
—
Erwin watched as Levi pushed himself off the wall and made to follow Eld.
"Levi, one moment."
"What." The dark haired man returned with a disgruntled look over his shoulder.
"Next week we have a large consignment of wood arriving for the workshop for the scout's first ever ceremonial titan effigy. I would be grateful if you personally could assist Ness and Hange's squad in overseeing the delivery."
"Sure." Levi sniffed, holding Erwin's gaze, "That it?"
"Catch a cold?"
"…huh?"
Erwin smiled slightly in response to Levi's scowl. In all their years of friendship, he'd never once known Levi to get sick. The man stayed feet away from anyone who sneezed or coughed, and donned gloves and a face mask when he needed to touch anything 'tainted' by an invalid. Infamously a clean-freak, it extended far beyond concern for his environment to his own body. Thus, the only explanation was that the grumpy old Captain had gotten closer than was characterful to someone who had caught a cold; and Erwin had a feeling he knew exactly who that someone was.
"Brew some echinacea root into tea, that should bring down your symptoms." Erwin offered, "Moblit keeps some in the lab office-"
"You think I don't know the types of tea Erwin?" Levi growled.
Erwin simply chuckled lightly,
"How foolish of me. Though if this cold has affected your whole squad as Mike informed me it has, then perhaps you could consider adding echinacea to your ration requests as we head towards winter. I'd be more than happy to approve it - it's of the utmost importance that our Special Operations Squad, and indeed Humanity's Strongest, remain healthy."
"I don't plan on making a habit out of catching a cold."
"By all means; but better to be safe than sorry, no?"
"If you believe that, then you better stop talking."
Levi glared and Erwin raised a single eyebrow.
"Are we done here?" The Captain grumbled, pulling a handkerchief from his top pocket, and with a look of disgust meant entirely for himself, wiped his nose.
"Ginger." Erwin's eyes gleamed.
Levi stalled, bringing the handkerchief slowly away from his face.
"I'd be happy to approve that too. I've heard that ginger also has healing qualities. Perhaps you could take some tea with ginger, if echinacea root isn't to your liking, Captain."
Levi simply stared at Erwin, who had interlaced his fingers together, and rested his elbows on the desk: all easiness, but with a barb of deadly cunning lying in plain sight if one looked properly. It was Erwin's way.
"You may find it makes you feel better." He added.
"I'll bear that in mind." Levi replied wryly, and Erwin was certain that the tick in the man's lips was a smile lying in wait.
"Mm." Erwin blinked, "That's all Levi."
A squad leader? Eld wasn't sure what to make of the new information. He was in no doubt of his own skill - it made sense that he would be put forward for it - and he supposed it had been long enough since he'd been offered a raise, but still…it had come out of the blue. He was settled in his current position; he'd never taken so much as a second to consider moving on from it. Now given the option, he was stumped. He sighed; irked that he'd misplaced his notebook, he wanted to write some of his thoughts down in it, get some clarity through committing them to paper. Nuts. He'd have to do with his spinning mind.
He smiled politely at Section Commander Hange and Moblit as they passed him on his return to the barracks, overhearing part of the (unsurprisingly strange) conversation they were having:
"What it is is - we hang the donkey from the ceiling, then hit it with clubs until the confetti falls out-"
"Uh…I'm not so sure about that Section Commander…it sounds like animal cruelty to me…"
…
Eld shook his head, a little bewildered as he continued down the autumn path towards the barracks, mentally preparing for several hours of intensive cleaning duty.
"Eld!" Petra beamed as he wandered into the hall. Decked out in their bandanas and aprons Gunther and Oruo ducked their heads through two separate doorways and greeted him in their conventional ways; Gunther with a small smile and head nod, Oruo with a pained grimace.
The smell of citrus and bleach filled his nostrils.
"What was your meeting about?" The ginger chirped, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"Ah er - nothing really." Eld scratched his head, "The Commander wanted me to clarify something I'd written on a report from last expedition, that's all."
"Oh right." She smiled, dunking her cleaning rag back into a soapy bucket of water, ready to continue her regular task of washing then waxing the floor.
Much as Eld valued the squad's opinions, he didn't want their feelings about his offer to cloud his judgement. He needed to figure out what was best for him first, without their input.
"I'm not surprised the Commander couldn't read those chicken scratches you call handwriting. I am surprised it's taken so long for you to get called out on it. Tch." Oruo grumbled, disappearing back into the bathroom. After a moment, his humming started up.
"A letter came for you by the way." Gunther muttered, gesturing for Eld to follow him into the kitchenette.
A letter? From Harriet, or maybe his mother? Though, they'd both written fairly recently. It wasn't likely that either of them'd write again so soon unless they had some urgent news…
His chest was tight as Gunther handed him the letter and he squinted at the writing. The address for the barracks and "Mr Eld Git of the Scouting Regiment" was scrawled on the front in a particularly haphazard and thankfully unfamiliar manner (plus Harriet and his mother could definitely spell his surname, they both had the same one…'Git'? Really?). On the back, the seal was a deep blue that he recognised as standard for the agricultural industry. He felt his whole body ease up, relieved, though intrigued.
"What's it about?" Petra asked brightly, having followed them in.
Eld's mouth twisted in concentration, "Hang on a second small fry…" he muttered, and eased open the wax seal, pulling out the paper and unfolding the scruffy letter as Petra stood on her tip-toes to read over his shoulder;
Dear Mr Eld Git of the Scouting Regiment,
Please accept my sincerest apologies for writing to you out of the blue with a request, but I simply couldn't think of anyone else I could contact with this matter.
You visited my farm earlier in the year along with some companions, and quite spectacularly retrieved my prize donkey which had escaped. I'm sure you'll remember the day, as it was unusually dramatic…
I wish that I was writing with better news, but unfortunately I will need you and your lasso once more, for you see, that very same donkey, my dearest Herbert Romeo III, has been kidnapped. As I'm sure you can imagine all of us here at the farm are devastated - the mule was gifted to me in late summer two years ago by my darling wife Mrs Grüntzels, who has since passed on, and serves as a living memory of her legacy.
We have been given until the month's end to come up with one-thousand gold coins to retrieve him. This is an unfathomable sum of money, even for a fairly successful business, we are struggling to make ends meet. Therefore I am imploring you to assist us in catching the culprit of this heinous crime, as a young and able-bodied man, with his head screwed on, and a natural inclination for retrieving wayward donkeys.
I look forward to receiving your response in this matter,
Yours sincerely,
Mr Hutch Grüntzels
Local Farm Owner
"What the…" Eld uttered, perplexed, "This is…"
Petra was blinking quizzically, "Well. That sure is something."
Apparently the letter held just enough intrigue for Gunther to momentarily forgo his wall-washing task, and he pulled down the rag tied around his nose and mouth, "What's it say?"
"That I have to help a farmer get back his stolen donkey."
Gunther frowned, "I hardly think the Captain will let you have time off to do that."
"You're missing the point." Eld spoke insistently, pacing around the common room and waving the piece of paper around, "This letter is insane. Who in their right mind writes something like this?"
"A devastated farmer?" Petra replied, as though the situation was completely normal and actually fairly easily explained.
"What's going on in here - I can't hear myself singing over your interminable prattling." Oruo barked from the doorway, arms folded in his best impression of the Captain.
"Eld's been sent a letter from the local farm asking him to help find a stolen donkey." Petra offered.
Oruo's face melted into a mask of shock, "What?"
"But…" Eld began, "Why me? Why not ask the Military Police to sort it out? How the hell could I help with this? I'm baffled." He stopped, looking up from the letter with a worried expression, and spoke quietly, "I'm baff-Eld."
Petra placed a bewildered, comforting hand on his arm while Oruo stomped towards them;
"Let me see that." He uttered, snatching the paper from Eld's hand.
Gunther came around the kitchenette counter and leant back on it, arms crossed. His dark eyes pierced Eld's;
"You gonna do it you think?"
"Like I'd have time to." Eld answered, "Even if I did, I'm not sure I'd be a great help with something like this. Kidnappers asking for one-thousand gold coins…for a donkey? I mean…something just doesn't add up."
"The donkey must be worth it." Gunther said assuredly, "No kidnapper worth their salt would steal something that they didn't think they'd get a return on. They'd've done their research - that farmer is probably willing to pay a high sum for it."
"Well, yeah except, instead of paying it or trying to raise funds, he sent me this insane letter."
"Hm." Gunther paused thoughtfully, "Likely he's just exhausting other options first."
Petra smiled cheekily catching Eld's eye, "It's a shame its not a baby goat, or it'd be a literal kid-napping - right Eld?"
Gunther and Petra started laughing at her terrible joke while Eld looked on, befuddled. Gunther, laughing at a bad pun? Maybe the bleach had gotten into the guy's brain. Everything was disorientating: today was throwing so many curveballs at him he wasn't sure what to think anymore.
"Petra, this is no time for jokes." Oruo said seriously, handing Eld back his letter, "A man's ass is on the line!"
More guffawing chorused though Petra and Gunther, but Eld found that he was too bamboozled by the day's events to laugh at even Oruo's unintentional buffoonery.
As Oruo realised what he'd said, his serious expression morphed into pompous complacency, and he folded his arms smugly;
"Heh. The ladies do tell me that my wit is one of my finest qualities, second only to my handsomeness, enviable strength and excellent intellect."
"Second to three other things? How does that work then Mr 'excellent intellect'?" Petra wryly teased.
"Eld. What're you gonna do?" Gunther interrupted.
The three pairs of eyes of his squad mates were trained on him and Eld scratched his nose thoughtfully. The question was strangely poignant, and he took a moment to consider his unusual day, his job offer, before responding;
"Beats me. I guess I'll write back and suggest he chats to the Military Police about it. That's their job after all, not mine." He took a deep breath, "Anyhow, that's enough idle standing around discussing a man's ass." He smirked, "I don't know about you guys but I'd rather not be cleaning after curfew. Move it."
The office had fallen back into its comfortable quiet, the only sound the light scratching pens of its inhabitants. There was one difference however: the electricity that sparked when the eyes of the two soldiers met now held a knowingness and gentle affection that had once been so clumsily concealed.
In some ways, Petra considered paperwork evenings more relaxed than ever since the revelation of their mutual attraction, but in others they had become more desperate - at least for her. Neither of them had so much as pecked the other on the cheek in two weeks due to their intense schedules and lack of spaces to be alone together (their colds hadn't helped either, and the thin walls of the barracks coupled with Levi's fear of discovery ruled out staying the night in one another's rooms)…and so Petra'd had to make do with highly charged stolen glances and the occasional lingering brush of a hand during blade skills. She was still waiting for him to pull another stunt like the kitchen chopping lesson, but it hadn't materialised, neither had she managed to work up the courage to play footsie with him under the table at dinner…
Their gaze met again and the opal blue of his eyes sparked…but after a moment he picked up his pen and returned his attention to his work.
The office, it turned out, was the one place where they had been able to be alone just the two of them, but an overload of work and an unprecedented number of interruptions had thwarted them there too, and each evening once the paperwork was through, Petra found herself dejectedly returning to the barracks alone under orders to 'get enough sleep before drills tomorrow.'
She wondered if it was affecting him at all. Even with his guard down like this he could be so hard to read; like he had three of his own walls constructed inside, and she'd only made it through the gate of the first one. She smiled to herself as she dipped her pen into the ink pot, imagining herself as a giant, ugly titan, bursting through Levi's wall Maria, bricks and mortar flying through the air as he watched on from his Sina castle in horrified awe, his eyes wide in that way they only went when he was completely taken off guard. Humanity's strongest or not, she was going to get through to him and shower him with affection. Petra didn't back down from a challenge.
"Something amusing you?" His low voice cut through, though he didn't glance up.
"No Captain." She watched him as he wrote, "Just thinking about a funny letter Eld received last week sir."
He stopped, catching her eye,
"You don't have to be so formal with me Pet."
She licked her lips mindlessly, "Noted."
She wasn't sure how much longer she could go without pouncing on him, knowing the perfection that resided beneath that fluffed up cravat and finically buttoned white shirt, and at this point the only thing stopping her from making any unruly moves was her deep respect for him as her commanding officer. He was a stickler - it was part of the reason for his success - and his particularity about how he did things was something she found bizarrely attractive about him. It was tricky to parse her respect for his apparent rule-abiding nature with the fact that that same nature made her heart flutter and desire pulse through her marrow.
She brought her hand to stop at the end of a final sentence and cleared her throat breezily. He froze, eyes flitting to her briefly, then back down to his work.
Petra repressed a teasing grin,
"Have you always stuck so rigidly to the rules, Captain?"
He slowed again, and gave her a flat look, "Thought I just told you not to be so formal."
"Mm, you did." Her voice was alight with smiling.
"And don't 'the rules' dictate that you should always use your superior's honorific? My lenience with you is hardly following that."
Once again he returned to his work. A chuckle sat in Petra's throat. In his mind the conversation had ended, but she wasn't done pushing.
"It's just…I've heard, sir, that you were once quite the rogue - before joining the scouts, I mean."
He snorted,
"Have you now."
Petra chewed her lip with a concentrated frown. She supposed it was never going to be so easy as just asking him a question or two.
Returning her pen to its pot, she crossed her arms and raised her brow, fixedly watching him. After several minutes, when he hadn't so much as changed the rhythm of his writing, she shuffled as noisily as she could in her chair, and leant forward, resting her chin in her hand, watching him once more with a concentrated, curious zeal that she hoped would force him to pay attention to her.
…
"The hell are you doing?"
Score.
"Watching you for signs of roguery, Captain."
From the tension in his neck and the minuscule twitches of his mouth she could tell he was trying not to smile, which in itself was another win. Once he'd beaten the urge, he queried;
"And…?" Then he mirrored her position, leant forward, chin in hand. She felt her heart soar as his lovely eyes pierced her, but she'd be damned if she was going to let him beat her that way.
"Far as I can tell, you're as straight-laced as they come, sir."
"That so? While we're on the subject let me ask - how much am I paying you for your observations?"
"Well sir, for the work I'm putting in, I'd say I was vastly undercompensated."
His eyes narrowed and his lip quirked at the edge.
"…although…looking at you now Captain, I may have to change my assessment…I'm seeing hints of a rogue after all…right around…" She reached out and brushed the corner of his mouth with her thumb, "…here."
He smiled easily under her touch and she beamed in response. Nothing in the world could make her feel quite so good as watching the tension leave his body in response to her. That familiar pull in the chest urged them towards each other, but as quickly as it arose, the office door burst open and Oruo dashed into the room, coming to a stop just behind Petra with his hands on his knees, struggling to catch his breath.
Levi shot up out of his seat and Petra sighed inaudibly.
"What is it?" Levi questioned, and Petra was certain she heard more than a touch of frustration in it. Perhaps the lack of contact was affecting him more than he let on.
"Forgive me Captain." Oruo puffed, "It's your horse, sir. She's restless…she won't eat."
Levi scowled, "You ran all the way here to tell me that?"
Oruo finally stood up straight, a bead of sweat forming above his crinkled brow, "I thought you might be able to get her to settle Captain. I know how important she is to you. If that mare doesn't eat tonight, she won't be any use in training tomorrow morning."
Petra looked on with wide, perplexed eyes at the twitching muscles in Oruo's cheek as he tried to remain composed.
Levi exhaled irritably and pushed his fingertips into his forehead; "Fine. We're almost done here anyway. Petra, finish up the last few papers. I'll come down now."
With that he pulled his cloak from the back of his chair, and swept out, Oruo in tow.
Trust Oruo to barge in with evening horse-related problems…a literal night-mare. Petra gave a defeated sigh, picking up her pen once again. Intimacy would have to wait.
Gunther came racing towards the squad at such a speed that he was almost a blur and threw a newspaper flatly on the mess hall table,
"Have you seen the paper today?"
Eld lifted a brow, pulling the newspaper nearer to him to read the headline:
DISAPPEARANCE OF ONE PRIZE ASS
"Looks like everybody's running with the same joke." He quipped quietly, "You read it?"
Gunther took his seat, "Mm. Doesn't say anything we didn't know already, though the guy is really cut up about it - and there's a request for anyone with any information to write in to the paper."
"Like for anonymous tips?" Petra asked, drawing the paper towards herself and Gunther nodded in response.
Oruo poked a stewed carrot on his plate with a fork, "I thought you wrote back to him. Some help you must've been."
"I did write back. Though it was a week or so ago now." Eld gave Oruo skeptical look, "I told him to talk to the Military Police. Never got a response."
"Wow…" Petra's eyes were comically wide as she scanned the article, "Listen to this -
'Mr Grüntzels had this to say on the matter: 'I've reached out but no-one is willing to help me. Members of the local authorities have explained that they don't have the time or resources for problems like this. I don't understand why they won't treat this crime as the crime that it is, the theft of property - of a beloved mule. I have run out of places to turn to and without Herbert the donkey motivation at the farm has plummeted and we are harvesting less than ever before.'"
Petra looked up from the page, worried, "Maybe you should've helped him…"
"Yeah you heartless bastard." Oruo said through a mouthful of mess-hall stew.
"For Maria's sake don't talk with your mouth full!" Petra chided.
"Helped him how?" Eld questioned incredulously, "For all I know some dumb kid took the thing into town and sold it for some magic fucking beans."
"Poor guy." Gunther said quietly, taking back the paper and rolling it up, "'They don't have the time or resources'. We all know what that's code for: the Military Police won't help the common folk without a bribe."
"Which would mean he's out of pocket either way. Pay the thieves or pay the MP's…not much of a choice if you ask me." Oruo drawled, loosely gesturing with his fork.
"At the very least I hope he gets some good tips from civilians writing in." Petra said sadly.
Eld sighed, "I gotta say guys, you all sure have a lotta sympathy for this farmer and his lost donkey."
"Well you know, if it were me, and someone had taken my guitar hostage, I'd be crushed. Dad bought it for me as a kid, it's my most prized possession." Petra said pensively.
"Mm." Gunther folded his arms, speaking seriously, "I'd definitely write in to a paper for help if kidnappers took my novels that James gifted me."
"And could you imagine if they took the Captain's selection of cravats?" Petra jested, "There'd be hell to pay."
"And my cravats." Oruo inserted, "I don't know how I'd bear the loss. Hell would most certainly need paying then because-"
"Alright, alright point taken." Eld waved his hand, "I'll send the guy another letter. See if he has any information he didn't reveal to the paper. You know - stuff that only the thief would know or whatever."
"Great!" Petra beamed, "Keep me in the loop, I'll see if I can help too."
She held her hand up for a high-five and he lamely hit it. So now he was helping out with a donkey kidnapping. Man, this month was a real wild ride.
The office door tentatively creaked open, and Levi found he was surprised but content to see Petra bustle in carrying a large linen bag.
"Working on a Sunday Captain?"
She didn't stop to wait for a response, knowing his reply would either be non-existent or sarcastic, and instead rummaged through the bag while Levi fell into his customary trance watching her. As she shuffled through the contents in search of something, he considered her small nose, a little red from the cold weather, then her bright searching eyes, and finally her delicate hand as it habitually tucked loose strands of her red hair behind her ear to help her focus on her task.
He stood abruptly and instinctually from his desk chair, an impulse brought about by his excruciating desperation to be close to her.
They were both well aware that their physical relationship would be tricky and opportunistic, but, Levi had once again, as he was wont to do, underestimated the power of attraction. He'd foolishly figured that, after their first time, their urges would be quelled for a while, and they'd more or less be able to return to work as usual; that they'd maybe find time for that sort of thing every couple of months or something. Having had no previous experience of this kind of closeness, and a libido that was, until her, almost non-existent, it'd been his best guess at how these things worked outside of a brothel…
But he was a moron.
Instead it was just as it was before, if not worse: he was plagued by daily intrusive thoughts of her angelic, sighing face, her silken skin and hard nipples flourishing in the candlelight, sometimes at inappropriate times - but - this time the thoughts weren't imagined; they were remembered. Real events, real euphoria that occurred in this very office, on this very desk.
Even for a master of self-restraint it was proving very difficult not to act on his rushing feelings when she was near him, and at this point the only thing that had been stopping him making any unruly moves during their paperwork evenings was the fact that they'd almost been caught the first time, and he cared more about her reputation than his pleasure. Other than that, there simply hadn't been an opportunity to. Someone always seemed to be around to throw a spanner in the works. Damned busy, nosy-ass scouts.
"It's in here somewhere." She was muttering under her breath, concentrating as he wandered around the front of the table coming to stand right by her. It amused him that she was yet to notice his movement, so focused she was on her search.
"Gosh darn it…where…" She froze, biting her lip, then clocked where he stood. He leant in and tucked the strand of hair behind her ear again that had become loose, enjoying the pink glow that developed across her cheeks as he did so. With the same hand moving back around her head, fingers interlacing with her hair, he pressed a slow, simple kiss on her lips, and delighted in the sound of her surprised inhale.
"That what you were looking for?" He mumbled as they parted, bringing his hand around to feel the fine softness of her cheek, thumb easing back and forth along her skin, considering her beautiful face in the glow from the window's afternoon light.
Her auburn eyelashes fluttered as she blinked broadly twice, stunned,
"N-no…"
Then, golden-brown eyes still trained on him, she slowly lifted a neatly folded grey piece of fabric from the bag, which he now saw was packed full of neatly folded items.
"Your…shirt…um…" She swallowed as his eyebrow ticked up, "I…washed it. I had laundry duty today when I got back from town…"
"I see." He said, moving his hand down towards the grey square of material.
"But…" She started, "I'd much rather find that other thing again if…" She leant back in, returning his kiss, but this time it was searing. She wordlessly placed the shirt back down and moved a hand up through his undercut, stepping in closer, the bag of laundered clothes forgotten as their hot bodies pushed into one another.
Blood coursed through him and he allowed his animal instinct to take over as he squeezed her torso into his, not letting her escape, and his cock has already began to throb through his trousers and he nibbled at her lips, then delved into her mouth with his tongue.
She massaged the muscles of his back, her blissful sigh just as he remembered it, and the world was once again beginning to blur around him as he unleashed a lusty moan into her mouth. He stopped dead, the world came screaming back into focus as his unexplainable gut instinct kicked in. He promptly stepped back, holding her shoulders at an arms length. For the second time she blinked at him, utterly startled, but as she opened her mouth, there was a quick rap at the door, which then instantly swung open to reveal Oruo, panting with his hands on his knees, exactly as he had done before.
By the time Levi looked back to Petra, her hands were on his cravat and she was squinting, mid-sentence as if she'd been chatting the whole time;
"It's hidden by the crease of the fabric, but it's definitely there - if you give it to me sir I'll take it to laundry and get that stain right out! Can't have our esteemed Captain walking about with a soiled cravat now can we?!" She giggled slightly too loudly, then pulled his cravat out from his collar, having apparently undone it while she was babbling.
Levi struggled to contain his bewilderment.
"Captain…" Oruo wheezed, "Squad Leader Ness needs you at the workshop. There's another consignment of wood that arrived for the effigy that he needs you to sign off."
"That's not what he said earlier." Levi growled.
Oruo began to sweat afresh, scratching the back of his head, "Heh - right - he did say that it wasn't expec-"
Levi scowled, his voice sharp, "Tell him I'll be down shortly. And take this package from Erwin to the post office. I won't have the time to do it myself, seeing as I now have other commitments."
Oruo curiously took the parcel from his Captain, crinkling the paper wrapping in his fingers. "Nile Dok…" he mumbled, reading the front as he sluggishly stalked towards the door, judging its weight.
"Hey. Get moving." Levi commanded at the ambling man, who instantly jolted,
"Yessir!" He exclaimed, hastening a salute before vanishing through the door in a trail of dust.
The two smitten soldiers looked at one another, once again beaten by chance.
"Shit."
Levi sighed, taking his cravat back from Petra and flipping up his collar to begin re-tying it,
"Remind me to ask Erwin for a lock for this shitty place."
"Oh…" Petra began coyly, "If you're asking for things…"
"What?" He frowned, fluently throwing the under-section of the cravat over the top.
"Maybe…a sofa?" She smiled sweetly, turning down his collar, making full use of her stupid, gorgeous, pleading doe eyes.
Levi scoffed, "Nice try. And what would I say it's for? All the meetings I host?"
Her hands came away from his collar, and she looked down, dispirited.
"Thought so." He muttered, returning to the other side of the desk, "You better get going. Make the most of your free evening. I'll see you at drills tomorrow."
"What about your shirt sir?" She asked, holding out the grey folded material towards him.
"Keep it." He said, shrugging on his black jacket, "Looks better on you anyhow."
He didn't miss the cheerfulness that returned to light up her face before they left the office to go their separate ways, again.
The nights were getting longer, and the time Eld had to make his decision was rapidly running out. He was still completely torn. Sometimes he'd wistfully watch the young cadets as they trained, and imagine himself guiding them and correcting their errors, as he had done earlier in the year with Emmett. He was reactive, quick and consistently made good calls in the field - he'd be a excellent squad leader, and there were days when he was certain that the promotion was the right path to take, but equally there were days with incidents that made his path less definite…
"Petra?" He hurried into the common room where the woman in question was merrily seasoning her hot pot, "A letter was at the door - same handwriting as before…I'll bet it's a reply from our farmer."
Shocked, Petra dropped her wooden spoon and hurried to the counter, "What're you waiting for Mr Git? Open it!"
Eld didn't need to be told twice.
He pulled open the blue wax seal and eased out the folded letter, but inside there was something else; another, smaller envelope with a green wax seal that had been previously opened.
"Huh…" He mumbled, picking up the smaller envelope.
Petra grabbed the folded letter and began scanning it; "Ah - he says that he was over the moon to receive your last letter offering to help out - and that you're the only person to get back to him after the article!" She beamed, "See, isn't that nice?"
"Sure. If we solve it." Eld murmured, pulling a piece of paper from the smaller envelope. He made a face, holding up the contents to show her. A small pencil sketch of a donkey. It was tricky to make out as the pencil had been smudged a little, but it looked as though the mule was inside a bricked room, and there were some large circular stones in the background…it was familiar to him, but he couldn't quite place it.
"I'm guessing this is Herbert then. Some kind of…ransom…drawing?" He stroked his beard.
"Wait, I can see something through the paper…on the back…" Petra pointed to the drawing and Eld turned it around, and the pair of them scanned the inked all caps letters:
FOR: HUTCH GRÜNTZELS
CAN YOU FIND ME?
SATURDAY NIGHT, 9PM.
BRING THE MONEY.
IF YOU DON'T, YOUR ASS GETS MY ARROW.
"Rats. Thats tonight! He mention this is his note?"
"Hold on." Petra picked up the letter again, "Right - so - apparently the small envelope containing the ransom note drawing was sent in to the newspaper from the kidnappers using the anonymous tip address. This bit is less important but - he also says that he'd tried asking the Garrison regiment for help when the Military Police didn't pan out, but that it was like talking to a brick wall."
"Hmmm." Eld nodded slowly, seriously, "That makes sense."
Petra looked a little nervous, "Any ideas?"
He narrowed his eyes and picked up the small envelope that contained the ransom note again and turned it around in his hands.
"Wait a second." He stopped, gazing down at the envelope, more specifically, at the green wax seal. "This green seal…it's from the survey corps."
Petra's eyes widened, "No way. The scouts?" She took the envelope from his hands scrutinising the wax seal, "But…why would a scout steal a donkey?"
"Perhaps our good friend Captain Levi was looking for another ride - I heard his horse has been fussing recently."
Petra clapped a hand to her mouth, and for a moment he thought it was in shock, but he quickly realised that she was just trying not to laugh.
"What?" He replied earnestly, "He's the only ex-con scout I know, which means that right now, he's my prime suspect. Who else do we know that could pull something like this off?"
"Really Eld, the Captain?" Petra wiped a tear of repressed giggling from her eye, "Captain Levi, a donkey thief?"
"I knew I recognised it from somewhere…" Eld muttered, studying the drawing.
Petra continued with her spiel; "And where would Captain Levi be housing his new, expensive steed, do you think?"
"The Old Mill building."
"Oh - wow. You answered that a lot faster than I was expecti-"
"Come on half-pint. Let's go."
"But the others-" Petra protested.
"No time to wait around for them to show up. Roll out."
As the pair of them marched purposefully through the cold, dark fog towards the edge of the compound, Eld knew he was being silly. Of course the thief wasn't the Captain, what use would he have for a donkey? Or even the one thousand gold coins that that donkey would apparently earn him? There was surely no tea blend or cleaning product that cost that amount of money, and the man didn't spend his earnings on anything else. It was probably just some other hard up scout, trying their luck to get some more money. A weird and illegal way to go about it, but still, each to their own.
For Eld though…something about playing the part, leading this ridiculous detective mission was thrilling, and Petra was playing the crucial role of his wide-eyed sidekick flawlessly. At this point it was a bonus if he got the donkey back to its rightful home. He was in his element: deducing the best course of action on the fly, delegating to his team…he felt important.
The old building appeared through the gloom, faint light glowing from under the door. Eld suddenly held out his arm, stopping his companion in her tracks.
"What is it?" She asked.
"Keep your voice down." He replied in a whisper, "We don't know what it's gonna be like in there. Herbert might be guarded."
"Oh. Of course." She replied lowly, nodding.
Eld squinted into the dark up the small mud path that led to the entrance. "I can't see any tracks leading up there, but there is a light on…" He stroked his chin, "Alright. Here's what we're gonna do. I'll go in first, you tail me. If there's any sign of trouble, deploy your gear and hit the rafters. We can use our flares to obscure the vision of any attackers. You keep me covered from up high, and I'll retrieve Herbert with this." From inside his jacket he pulled out a coiled rope: his lasso. "Got it?"
"Got it." She repeated, her trademark determination ablaze in her eyes.
They set off, racing along the outside wall of the old mill building to the doorway, and with a final look to her, Eld gave a firm nod and kicked the door in.
"Alright the jig's up! We…" He stopped still. The crime-solving duo were staring into an empty room. A single wall torch was lit, the light licking the walls of what looked exactly like the chamber from the drawing: the distinctive large circular stone grain mill sat in the middle of the floor, except, there was no donkey to be seen, and no kidnappers either.
"Huh…" He mumbled and scratched his head, glancing sidelong at Petra, "I was so certain that that was-"
"Look!" She called out, pointing above the grain mill to the ceiling, where, hanging from a long thin ribbon was some colourful pink and orange paper maché…in the shape of a donkey.
"What the-"
He began, but was silenced as an arrow zoomed through the air from seemingly nowhere, piercing the toy creature, which began to rapidly emit billows of bright blue smoke.
Within seconds, the room was filled.
"Petra?!" Eld called out, coughing.
"Eld!" He heard her yell, but she'd vanished within the cobalt-coloured fog.
Out of the blue, everything went black.
.
.
.
When Eld came around it was pitch dark. He was sat on a hard chair, a sack was over his head, and could feel rope constricting his wrists, ankles and stomach. Fuck.
He swallowed uncomfortably. How the hell had he managed to fuck that up so royally? And where was Petra? He quietly prayed she'd got out, she was artful, she might've managed to deploy her gear as they'd discussed and made it to safety. Lord he hoped so.
His breathing quickened from inside the sack, which at that very moment was pulled from his head. The room was still pitch black.
From the gloom, a match was struck, illuminating the small space with a yellow glow. A pokey room came faintly into view, timber panelling and some ominous figures wearing long dark robes like monks, except each with a potato sack over their head and two dark pits torn into them where the eyes should be.
The central figure with the match bent down and lit an oil lamp at Eld's feet. He spluttered, struggling in his bindings, his eyes flitting in alarm between the three cloaked forms that surrounded him.
"Eld Jinn." A deep voice boomed, as the central figure stood, "You have been selected as a sacrifice."
A single bead of sweat rolled down Eld's face, though he was attempting to remain composed.
Shit. Holy shit. All this for a donkey? Was the donkey a descendent of the king? What in three walls had he done to deserve this? Fuck. He was going to die here in this tiny wooden room, with no goodbyes to his wife or family, no promotion…
"Who are you? What do you want?" He demanded, almost managing to conceal the cracking in his voice.
The central figure raised a hand as though to silence him, then gestured to its companions. The figure to the left raised a tankard, the figure to the right, a basin and a rag.
"Begin the cleansing ritual." The voice thundered.
From either side they approached, and, through the gloom, the central figure pulled a blade from its sleeve and appeared to glide across the hay strewn floor towards him.
"Wait! No!" Eld choked out, panicked and struggling wildly with his bindings, but they wouldn't budge.
The knife and Eld's eyes flashed in the low light as the wraith-like figure approached-
wait…wraith-like?
"Time for your mead shower, bitch."
Now there was a familiar voice coming from his left.
Warm, sticky ale from the tankard drenched him along with a wave of confused relief and Eld's mouth fell open.
How could he be such an idiot.
"…ah come on." He mumbled to himself. His hair had come out of it's regular bun and was sticking to his cheeks with the beer. His face cracked into a wide grin.
The three bodies froze and appeared to look at one another.
"Continue." The deep voice resounded, and the wraith to his right (who he now noted was a lot shorter than the other two) dipped the rag into the basin and began lathering his face with soapy water.
Eld focused on the eye-holes in her potato sack, "What's the plan then small fry? Are you throwing me to the wolves? Feeding me to the mules?"
She froze and he heard a very faint clear of the throat,
"Small - who? N-no we're three - uh - mass murderers!" Petra squeaked in a ridiculous high-pitched voice.
"The architects of your doom!" Oruo added from Eld's left.
Eld chuckled, "Gee, I can see why Gunther did all the talking. You guys are just the worst at this."
Gunther's sack covered head fell into his knife-free hand.
"Quiet you!" Oruo commanded, "You're here to pay the ultimate price!"
"The ultimate price!" Petra reiterated.
"Right…and uh, if you don't mind, who am I paying this price to? Herbert the ass?"
"The wraiths of course." Oruo boomed, "Now shut your hole, stop asking so many stupid questions."
Gunther sighed, pulling the potato sack from his head, "Give it up guys. He figured it out."
The others quickly followed suit, Petra placing her basin and rag on the ground. Eld glanced at the three of them, eyebrows raised.
"This is your fault - your voice gave it away, you didn't even try to conceal it!" Petra pointed emphatically at Oruo.
"My fault? Could you not hear yourself? You sounded like a demented old hag."
"Exactly - terrifying!"
Eld interjected with a grin, "Petra, it was honestly the least menacing thing I've ever heard in my goddamn life."
"Menace comes in many forms!" She defiantly announced.
"Wow." Eld shook his head, smiling, "Well done. Gotta say, that was a very solid Night of the Wraiths prank. The best I've seen. I'd clap you all, but my hands are tied."
It was at that moment that Eld realised he'd been tied up with his very own lasso. He nearly groaned.
"Hm." Gunther smiled back, a hint of pride about him, "I'm surprised we made it this far honestly. There were some moments there when I wasn't sure we'd get you to the mill at all without a fight."
"So…go on then. Tell me how you did it. I take it there was no Herbert Romeo III, and no kidnapping for ransom either."
Oruo downed the dregs of ale from his tankard and wiped his mouth on his sleeve, "Your first mistake was at the beginning of the month, at the tavern, when you left your little notebook on the table to buy a round. Being the astute investigator I am, I scanned the most recent page of notes, uncovering your plans to trick each one of us for the Night of the Wraiths."
"So that's where my notebook went…" Eld muttered.
"The plans were just drafts, not fully formed ideas yet, so we wanted to make sure we nipped them the bud before you had time to finish them." Petra added, "We wanted to trick you instead, get you back for last year. We realised the best way to do it would be as a team. That's when Gunther had an idea."
"I wrote you the first letter largely as a test to see how you'd respond." Gunther began, "I wanted to appeal to your hero persona, and I knew you'd never remember the name of that farmer, so Petra's crossword anagram skills were put to the test."
"Hutch Grüntzels…Gunther Schultz. Holy shit." Eld's eyes widened and he looked to Petra, who beamed with pride.
"You were extremely skeptical of the letter." Gunther continued, stroking his chin thoughtfully, "So we knew we were going to have to try harder to get you to bite."
"That's when I saved the day." Oruo proclaimed with a self-assured step forward, "Without my family contact at the local paper, we never would have gotten the story printed."
Petra and Gunther rolled their eyes.
"Did people actually write in to send tips?" Eld asked.
Petra giggled, "Not really. But one lady did write sweet letter in sending Mr Grüntzels her condolences and ranting about the Military Police."
"Petra's sweet nature meant she would be the most likely of us to offer her assistance, and she was the last person you would suspect of deception." Gunther said, "Then, once we got you to write back offering your help, we set up the sting."
"I was also meant to 'solve' the clues if you were struggling with them." Petra smiled, "But you got there so quickly I didn't really have to do much."
Eld smiled back.
"…and the smoking paper donkey?" He asked with a quirked brow.
"One of Hange's experiments." Gunther answered, "An invention they'd come up with as a child for birthday parties, remodelled to include a smoke bomb using components from the flare guns."
"They were a little too excited to whip that one out." Oruo groaned.
Eld nodded slowly, "And, uh, where are we now?"
"Inside the titan effigy the Commander commissioned for this year's Night of the Wraiths."
Eld swallowed, "Damn…"
The titan effigy…the Commander mentioned it in in a memo to all the squads just over a month ago. They were building and burning it in the large sparring field outside the ODM runs for locals to dress up and come and watch, the idea being, as usual, a way for the scouts to get donors, making the most of the festival. He'd been so scattered he hadn't put any of it together. What an idiot.
"Man. This is…" Eld shook his head, dumbfounded, "I don't know what to say. Impressive. To be honest I can't believe I forgot what day it was today, but…the chances are I wouldn't have remembered to prank you guys in the first place anyway. There's been a lot going on recently and I…"
He looked down, his hair falling in front of his face in mead-sodden clumps. The answer to Erwin's job offer now stunningly clear.
"Thanks. That was fun. I can't imagine ever working as part of another team." He said with a sincere smile.
Great as running a new squad would be, there was only one place he truly belonged. He was sure Harriet would understand, their family planning had been based off his current salary in any case. On Monday, he would turn down the Commander's generous offer.
"This is gonna be hard to top next year. I better get prepping."
"You're damn right." Oruo declared haughtily.
Petra giggled, "You should've seen your face!"
"Don't think I've ever seen anyone so shit-scared. Even beyond the wall." Gunther stated.
"Sure, whatever. I'll let you have it…for now." Eld quirked a brow, "So…since I figured it out…would you mind untying me?"
Oruo's face melted into a knowing grin, as the three began closing in on him;
"Oh no, not yet, you still have to pay the ultimate price."
"A sacrifice for the wraiths!" Petra called out,
Gunther raised the knife,
"Say goodbye to that goatee-"
"What?!" Eld began frenetically jostling in his seat in an attempt to escape the trio, "Does the Captain know about this?"
"Know about it?" Petra laughed, "The beard shaving bit was his idea!"
"NO!"
From outside the wooden effigy, cawing crows took flight into the foggy night.
Erwin's crazy Night-of-the-Wraiths-effigy-burning-fundraiser-dress-up-outside-in-a-damn-freezing-field-party was in full swing and Levi had so far spent it avoiding locals who were bugging him with incessant questioning. His go to response had become; "Read a damn paper." …which went against everything he actually thought; the scribblers often wrote any old shit they felt like, and anyone gullible enough to take their over-dramatised extreme versions at face value was a blockhead, but, at the same time, Levi wasn't paid nearly enough to deal with the moronic questions of the general public. Especially not on a 'night off'.
It'd been about thirty minutes since his squad had emerged from the fifteen-metre tall titan effigy to veteran cheers, a newly clean-faced, waving Eld in tow. He looked a lot neater now, Levi hoped he'd consider keeping himself clean-shaven. Perhaps next year the squad could do him a thorough haircut.
The band had set up on their small makeshift stage under glowing red string lanterns, and were dressed in some quite ridiculous outfits that ranged from Mike as a drumming werewolf to Nanaba as an elf with a flute, to dark priest Moblit with his acoustic guitar. In front of double-bass playing Lynne, who was simply wearing a white sheet with eyeholes cut into it, stood Petra and her guitar, strumming and singing in her captivating way while local brats ran around playing tag in front of the stage.
Levi hadn't missed when she removed her kidnapper's robe to reveal his favourite black corset with the red lace, which sat atop a full, floor length black skirt, then Nifa placing a large witch's hat over onto her copper head to match the girl's own, and that of Petra's friends from her ex-squad. She was perfect.
"Hey Levi, great costume!"
Hange and Erwin approached him in their respective ridiculous attire, Hange as a 'mad scientist' and Erwin with a long black and red cape with a popped collar and…eyeliner?
"I'm not wearing a costume." Levi grumbled.
"Oh. Right. Well I suppose you're scary enough without one!" They beamed.
"And you call this dressing up do you?" He sneered, grabbing the front of their stained lab coat.
"Of course!" They chuckled, "Not one of these items is regulation. For one thing the goggles are far too big, and the-"
"Spare me." Levi ruffled their messy hair and released their coat from his grasp, then turned to Erwin, "And…what are you meant to be? A man whose eyebrows grew so bushy he couldn't see to pick normal clothes out of his closet?"
Erwin smiled widely, "Not familiar with the chilling tales of Dracula, Levi? I think you'd enjoy them as the cold, solitary type."
Levi's brow twitched, "You always did love a ridiculous spectacle."
.
"All these ghosts out haunting us,
They follow us day to day,
We'll let them know that they're welcome here,
All this tragedy what else can we say?
So darling don your hat, your cloak, your mask,
In this world our love gone so fast,
We can be whatever we want…"
.
The audience clapped the end of the song and the band began to pack down their set-up, Moblit doing a call out for any donations to the Scouts.
Levi, under the spell of a beautiful witch, was drawn towards the stage.
Erwin's voice glanced off his back, "Where are you going Levi?"
"To have some tea, with ginger."
—
Erwin's smile grew exponentially as he watched the short man walk away in his classic black jacket, dissolving into the costumed bodies of the crowd.
"You know, you really do look like a demon when you smile like that." Hange teased.
"ERWIN!"
Erwin and Hange looked over their shoulders to see the irate face of Nile Dok stomping towards them, dressed as a dog.
"I see my packages arrived safely Nile. Thank you for being here and showing your support for the Scout Regiment. We'll be taking donations after the effigy burning."
"What the hell are you playing at?! This outfit is tailor made!" Nile barked, gesturing to the shaggy brown all-in-one.
"Don't you like it? I think it's very fitting."
Hange was screeching with laughter as Nile howled,
"Why?!"
Erwin smirked, "Don't you remember? You always used to say 'it's better to be a living dog than a dead lion.' Would you like a drink? Let's fetch you a tankard of mead. It's on me."
Hange and Erwin began to walk off towards the makeshift bar, chuckling, with an enraged Nile in tow, growling;
"How did you even get my measurements you psychopath-"
—
Petra's breath hitched as a warm hand met her bare arm from behind, and she felt his hot breath on her ear;
"Barracks. Now." His voice was firm, commanding as it was when they were drilling and she'd done something wrong. It sent a full shiver down her spine, but as she turned to see him, he'd vanished into the warm glow of the party.
—
The larger than expected crowd of village folk and scouts was gathering around the base of the fifteen metre titan effigy, chattering brightly, excited for the big event. Oruo pushed through them despairingly, intently raking through the crowd for any signs of them, but eventually making his way back over to his squad mates, dejected.
"Hey Eld." Oruo tapped him on the shoulder, "Have you seen Petra or the Captain?"
Eld took a sip from his tankard, "No. Haven't seen either of them since the band stopped playing."
"They might just be well disguised." Gunther mumbled, taking a bite out of an apple, eyes fixated on the effigy.
"Yeah." Eld added, "They'll be around somewhere."
A bead of sweat graced Oruo's brow.
Petra's heart was pounding and her skin prickled with goosebumps as she flung open the door to their quarters, to the hallway which sat, empty and dark. Her breath melted into the air as she pelted down the corridor, ducking her head into the vacant, cold common room. Not there. Lifting her skirt so she could move faster, she opened the bathroom door, also cloaked in empty shadow. Not there. Down the gloomy hallway she ran to her very own bedroom door, but that was dim too, bed made, tidy, just as she'd left it. Well then, there was only one other option…
The door at the end of the hall called to her, and she recalled with a nervous flutter her many late-night fantasies of making this exact journey, of throwing open the door to his chamber, of their ravishing of one another. It was surreal to be approaching it in reality with the same fervour as her hallucinations.
She didn't knock, simply cast open the door breathlessly.
"You took your time."
There he stood in the flickering light of two candles, white shirt half unbuttoned, cravat and black jacket neatly folded over the edge of his chair.
Her mouth went completely dry, and she realised as she approached him, moth drawn to a candle, that she hadn't taken in any other details about his bedroom at all, and suddenly her eager hands were ghosting up his abs and chest, finding their delirious way under his shirt.
"Pet…" His low voice whispered in a heated puff over her lips, "We don't have time for all that."
Amber eyes widening she gazed into his as he lifted her without delay and dropped her onto his rudimentary single bed, placing himself over her as she sank into his pristine white blankets, already in ecstasy. He took her lips quickly, then, not breaking eye contact with her, travelled down to her chest, and taking an end of the red lace bow of her corset in his teeth, pulled it undone in one long, slow movement. She shuddered with anticipation.
"I t-thought you said we didn't have time for all that." She stuttered, smiling and he grunted a single laugh, pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it to the side,
"I'm right. We don't."
The next thing she knew he'd already ripped open the front of her corset, freeing her breasts, pushed her skirts up to her waist and was easing her underwear down her bare legs. He was certainly fast when he needed to be. She'd barely caught her breath when he began kneading her tits and kissing her deeply. His low rumbling moans sent heat pooling between her legs and she eased herself up to be sat, granting herself access to the top button of his trousers as their soft, wet tongues played.
Levi felt himself growing harder at the feel of her hand fumbling with his button, and his breath began to stagger. He helped her, pulling down his trousers and his own underwear, freeing himself. She gasped, and he trailed his fingertips up the smooth skin of her legs to the patch of ginger hair between her thighs to begin his considered movements. As before, his face fell into a concentrated expression as he tried to draw out his favourite music.
Petra wanted more, she was aching for all of him, and if they didn't have much time, she would have to take it into her own hands. Each hand either side of his neck she forced his grey-blue eyes to hers, and he withdrew his hand from its position. Then, with her legs clamped around his waist, and a forceful swivel of her hips, she rolled them over, just about flinging them off the small bed to the floorboards, but not quite, so that she was straddling him, breasts free in the cool air, black skirt curtaining around their legs. She shrugged off her open corset.
His eyes widened a touch as he took in the sight of her, of their new position, and he attempted to get up, but she pushed him back down with her hands on his shoulders and a shake of her head, flames thrashing in her irises, and he obeyed, spellbound, bringing his hands to her sides.
Petra manoeuvred with a hand to slip him inside her, and began rocking her hips, rotating around him, and he felt himself growing uncontrollably bigger and harder. Her wetness surrounded him, enveloping him, and he was already losing himself to the beautiful burning eyes, bright copper hair and freely bouncing breasts above him.
Petra felt her body quaking over him. She was sighing in rapture, holding humanity's strongest between her soaked, fortunate thighs. His hair was mussed along the pillow, and his cheeks had taken on an uncharacteristically warm hue as he bucked his hips to meet her assured movements, filling her to the hilt, his hands furiously clenching her skirts at her hips. Mouth open, he panted into the night air,
"Ah!"
And she responded in kind, crying his name, taking in all of him.
His body began to tremble as he neared his peak, encouraged by her whining in pleasure. How could such an angel want this from him? What was she seeing? He was the luckiest son of a bitch living.
Not moments later he ejaculated with a shout, and she wasn't far behind, the warmth of her pussy undulating around him, her euphoric gasp melting into his bedroom air. She collapsed onto him in a heaving heap, and he felt the stickiness of their connection, her nipples hard and her breasts soft as they pressed into his chest. Sweetly, she nipped at his neck and jawline with little kisses. Just five more minutes, then they'd get dressed...
This was what it would be like - what it had to be like. Secret, stolen moments of beauty nestled within a life of duty.
The three remaining members of Captain Levi's squad watched as the raging flames lit up the navy night sky, smoke rolling up towards the stars as the giant wooden titan began to crumble into ashes before the awed crowd.
Oruo sighed.
Gunther smiled.
"My chin is cold." Eld mumbled.
oh my lord what a hefty chapter..thanks for ur patience with the updates etc i was off on tour for two weeks!
yes this chapter is named after the awesome film a close shave, true genius
if ur interested the song is based on halloween by phoebe bridgers (no surprises there)
so with this one i wanted to challenge myself to write an A plot, a B plot and a C plot all in one chapter that tied up...it ended up being more like two A plots and a couple C plots and many cliches hahaha and Eld's plotline pays very iffy homage to the film the wickerman. and as you can maybe tell this was meant to originally be posted on oct 31st...there are things i would maybe change now that ive done this, but im proud of myself for sticking it out nonetheless and completing my own challenge.
once again i have no idea when the next one will go up as sadly, life is still a raging garbage fire.
hope ur all doing well and thanks again for reading and sticking with it, u guys rock ^^