~"Gooooooood Morning!"~

A single groggy eye opened to search for the source of the soft and melodic sound that disturbed Evelyn's sleep; two darkened square glass lens resting on a nose filling its view.

Shrieking and retreating on instinct, Evelyn cried out in pain and found herself on the floor when her senses awoke. "Damn it, that hurt."

"Sorry," Hange moved to help Evelyn to her feet.

"In what world would you think it is appropriate to wake someone like that!" Evelyn complained while rubbing her lower back.

"You didn't respond to any of my other attempts." Hange said. "Wait, what are you doing?"

Cuddling into the warm embrace of the wool blanket on her cot, Evelyn shut her eyes. "It's too early, come back later," she mumbled.

"If you don't get up, you'll miss breakfast." Hange pointed out.

"Fine," Evelyn said sitting up, a low ache in her stomach suddenly growing at the mention of food.

"I brought one of my spare uniforms; it should fit you better than the mishmash from yesterday. We'll stop by the tailor later for your own set." Hange said and pointed to a nearby table where a pair of pants and a jacket were carelessly placed.

Swinging her legs off the cot to go inspect the new clothing, a chill spread across Evelyn's bare legs. A panicked thought raced through her mind as she turned her gaze toward Hange, whose attention was drawn toward something on the ground. Stubbornly pulling the pants on, Evelyn saw as Hange took her hoodie into her hands and examined the zipper.

"So are we starting the habit of sharing clothes already?" Evelyn asked as Hange felt the black teddy lining of the hoodie.

"Hands-on is the best way to learn." Hange said without looking up. "It's so soft."

"That's why I bought it." Evelyn said while snaking her left arm into the jacket with some difficulty. "You mind?" Evelyn shook the jacket up and down with her hand engulfed in the fabric where her elbow should have been. "The zipping can be done later."

"Zipping?" Hange moved to help.

"Opening and closing the front basically." Evelyn explained with the jacket now hanging limply across her back. She positioned her left hand behind her right shoulder. "Hand me the shoulder part will you?"

She instinctively hung the jacket loosely over her right shoulder, her right hand peeking out from under it, once she felt the fabric in her hand.

"Food?" Evelyn asked turning to face a critical Hange.

Her eyes narrowed, she pointed at Evelyn's face "Can you remove the metal spikes over your eye?"

A look of confusion turned to recognition. "Oh, you mean my piercing? I suppose. If I really need to."

"Does it serve a purpose?" Hange asked fully seeing it for the first time.

"Beyond teen rebellion, it's just to look cool. I guess." Evelyn struggled to twist an end off with only her non-dominant hand. She let out a frustrated growl and sat on the cot. Leaning forward to move her right elbow as little as possible, she managed to remove the jewelry before placing it carefully on the nearby pillow.

"Now food?" Evelyn asked looking up at Hange. A single nod of approval brought her quickly to her feet.


"Seriously, you woke me for this? Where's the kitchen? I can deal with bad food on the road, but this is seriously what gets served at home base too? Have you people never discovered spices? Tell me you at least have salt." Evelyn cried in frustration.

"Salt is too expensive to use a lot of. It would cost a small fortune to use it every day. And you're not going to the kitchen. Erwin wants to see you after breakfast so eat up."

Grumbling under her breath Evelyn picked through the broth and nibbled on the bread with her head resting on her hand.


"No! I won't, I can't join the military. I've seen enough to know it's just the people in powers' play thing. They send others to die to in their petty, dick-waving wars and to make more money while keeping their children out of it. I won't be a part of that." Small drops of saliva were spat into the air as Evelyn raged.

Sitting behind his desk, Erwin considered the woman sitting in front of him. "Humanity's soldiers play a vital role in protecting humanity. Without these brave soldiers, humanity would never leave the walls. It would never learn about the world outside. You would not have been saved."

"Don't play the personal card with me. My father died 'for his country.'" Evelyn's index and ring fingers retracted and extended together automatically. "I've heard personal justifications all my life, they don't affect me anymore."

"Then let me explain it a different way. The citizens in the walls are all of what remains of humanity; the walls are the only protection from being completely annihilated. The war we fight is not for the nobility, it is for the whole of humanity. Of course, if you insist on passing up my offer, we cannot protect you. Custody would be handed over to the military police. You may be interrogated, and likely thrown in prison or executed."

The tension in her jaw and on her teeth released as Evelyn relaxed her facial muscles. "Why exactly haven't you done that?" Evelyn asked coolly. "Not that I'm complaining, but I'd assume you would be under some code or duty to hand me over to your superiors."

"My duty is to humanity."

Evelyn studied Erwin face for a moment. "So," Evelyn leaned forward, resting her left forearm on her thigh. "Let me get this straight. Either I go along with this plan or you throw me to the wolves?"

Erwin considered the expression for a moment.

"Precisely."

Evelyn leaned back, her shoulders slumping. "I'm not a fan of this. I want that on record."

"Consider it noted. Now, there are some preparations for this plan that need to be taken care of. Once I have more information, I'll send for you."

With the conversation coming to a close, Evelyn's focus began to shift to the dull and constant ache that had taken root in her head. Wanting to massage her temples, her right and left arms reached upward before an involuntary wince of pain escaped and she let her right arm fall into the hold of the sling around her neck.

Erwin examined the pale woman in front of him, a trembling hand massaging her forehead with the other hanging limply from a dirty cloth sling. "Hange, bring Turner to the infirmary."

"Yessir!" Hange nodded from the back of the room with her own concern showing in her eyes.

"What? Why? I'm fine!" Evelyn protested.

"That's an order! Soldier." Eriwn commanded with a disguised smirk behind a stern look which was met in return with a simple glare.


"Did you wash your hands?" Evelyn asked as a doctor entered the room.

"Evelyn!" Hange cried in disapproval.

"What? He's not using gloves; I want to know his hands are clean."

"I just washed them" the doctor standing before her smiled warmly. "Now how can I help today?"

"Well since I'm here, can you check on my arm?" Evelyn asked while moving the sling's knot over her head. The gentle touch of the doctor did little to persuade the nerves in her swollen elbow from staying silent.

"Can you extend your arm?" the doctor asked and moved to the side. Evelyn bit back a forming yelp as she tried to reach her arm out. "That's enough," the doctor lightly pushed her arm back to her chest. "It's likely a simple sprain; I cannot find evidence of any broken bones. Rest it for a few days and begin to move it regularly afterwards to keep it from becoming stiff in the future."

The doctor prepared a new sling from clean cloth and stepped back. "Anything else?"

"No." Evelyn said beginning to push herself up. A hand on her shoulder forced her back down.

"She's been holding her head in pain off and on all morning." Hange spoke from Evelyn's side.

"It's just a headache." Evelyn protested.

"Has this been a reoccurring symptom or is it a recent development?" The doctor asked.

Evelyn sighed. "It started last night; it's gotten worse since then. I'm sure it'll go away in time."

"Has anything changed in your life recently? Have you eaten or had anything to drink recently?"

Evelyn bit her lip to stifle a sarcastic laugh. "Just what passes as food in the mess hall." Her voice shook with the effort of keeping it as calm and monotone as possible in the moment.

"You haven't eaten much since you arrived." Hange interrupted. "You barely ate yesterday and this morning."

"It seems you should eat more." The doctor explained. "In the meantime, I can recommend some sweet-smelling herbs like lavender to draw out the vapors that bring aches to the head. A sweetened water bath may be advisable." Evelyn tilted her head to the side, purposefully and repeatedly blinking in confusion. "If that doesn't work, we can try trepanning."

"Pray tell!" Evelyn clapped her hands together in a ball in front of her, her anxious suspicious distracting her from her pain. "What's trepanning?"

"It is a surgical procedure where pressure on the brain is relieved through creating an opening in the skull." The doctor explained calmly.

"Surgical," Evelyn said while nodding her head, an awkward smile spreading across her face. "Right.… Hange! I think it's time to leave. I'm feeling a LOT better Doc. Thanks."

"Would you like to take some of our supply of lavender or roses or willow tea?"

"Yeah, I'm good! Thanks. Have a great day doc."

As Hange and Evelyn left the building, Evelyn stopped her companion. "I'm going to die here. I don't know how or why, but I think I'm going to actually die here."

"Don't talk like that. You said it yourself, it's just a headache. You just need to eat more. If that doesn't help, I'm sure once we find the problem causing it you will be back to normal."

"Nothing is normal!" Evelyn yelled, drawing the attention of people nearby.

"Shh! You are drawing too much attention." Hange placed her hand on Evelyn's back and pushed lightly before beginning to walk forward with Evelyn following automatically. "I understand your normal is different from ours. There has to be some form of middle ground between the two for you to be comfortable. That's why I'm here; to find out more about what knowledge you have and make use of it."

"What even makes you think I'm trustworthy? For all you know I could be making everything up as I go along."

"Have you lied to us yet?"

Raising her left eyebrow, Evelyn replied "No."

"There! See. That's enough for me."

"Seriously?"

"Well I'm here to test what you say against what we know and find ways to verify any new concepts that we may learn."

"So, you're my fact checker?"

"I'm your boss," Hange said while opening the door to her lab. "And it's time to see if my trust is misplaced." Entering the room, she motioned Evelyn to a table where her bags were placed.

"So that's where those went!" Evelyn blurted out. "Felt like an idiot this morning when I realized I forgot about them."

"Why don't we start with a simple topic?" Hange asked with hungry eyes. "The clothing you wore had interesting properties to them. The hooded sweater that split in two and..., what was it? 'clipped up?'" Hange pinched her chin in thought.

"My hoodie?" Evelyn asked. Hange nodded in response. "Oh, you're talking about the zipper; it's called zipping, not clipping. I'd show you but I left it in my room this morning. My pants have them too though."

"Give them to me!" Hange gasped in excitement.

"Chill." Evelyn moved her left arm in front of her down from her chest to her thigh, her palm facing the ground through the motion. "Can you put the big bag on the ground for me?"

Once the knapsack leaned against the table, Evelyn began to release the straps holding it closed. Handfuls of folded clothing began to cover the table in a messy pile. Jeans, hiking pants, leggings, tank tops, T-shirts, and long-sleeved shirts, along with various other garments, captivated Hange.

"Is it normal to have this much clothing on the go?" Hange asked looking over Evelyn's shoulder and examining the different patterns and colors.

"Well, it's enough to go camping for a week and spend some time at a friend's house." Evelyn shrugged.

"A week!" Hange blurted out, shocked. "That's enough clothes for a year, maybe a lifetime."

Evelyn laughed. "This is like 1/5th of my wardrobe."

Hange's eyes grew wide. "Alright. Now I think you are lying."

"Well, I tend to over pack. Besides, in my world there's a bunch of clothing for different occasions," said Evelyn struggling to contain her laughter.

"Of course we have that too, but this is excessive." Hange said while picking through the piles.

"Well that's true, but we have a lot more things going on in my world. Like this." Evelyn grabbed a black bikini top. "This is for swimming. The fabric is one that dries very quickly."

Hange took the top in her hands and felt the synthetic fabric before placing it back on the table.

"What's this?" Hange asked seeing some thin black fabric poking out of the knapsack. A lacy garment unfolded delicately as Hange found the shoulder straps. Evelyn turned around as Hange held it up to her chest. "Well, I certainly wasn't expecting to learn anything about this type of occasion. Is this also for camping?" Hange teased with a raised eyebrow and proud smirk.

Sighing, Evelyn closed her eyes while tilting her head down and pinching the bridge of her nose. "No, now give it back." Evelyn reached out to grasp the garment but Hange swung to the side, evading her as the door to the lab swung open.

Loud footsteps drew the pair's attention. "Hey four-eyes, Erwins needs…" Taking in the scene before him, Levi swiftly turned on his heels mid-step and began to leave. "Nevermind."

As the door closed behind him, Evelyn and Hange met each other's gaze and burst into laughter.


Just a quick note, I'm trying to keep this story realistic and grounded in the idea that the Attack on Titan universe (at least those in the walls) is somewhere in the medieval tech tree. They may have guns and cannons, but medical advances may not be the greatest. The doctors in the medieval period were well versed in physical injuries but the concept of chemical pain (as seen with the headache) was not as well understood. They had a mess of different treatments for pain but what caused the pain wasn't as well understood.

Also to those that leave comments/reviews, seriously, thanks. And special shout out to Thomas Drovin, you have some serious dedication and I'm honored.