This is a long one.
ENJOOOY.
3rd POV
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Night soon fell on a gleaming HQ- seriously what the hell happened.
Confusion filled the entire room as nobody, except Eren and Colith had an idea of how the entire castle got so...clean. It wasn't like Levi squad didn't try, heck, they did their best to satisfy the corporal's high standards because they knew so well that the man would never let anyone rest if the place didn't shine. They were used to it, which was the sole reason why they dreaded coming here in the first place but duties were duties. But, for an ENTIRE CASTLE to shine like the darn place wasn't abandoned in the first place shocked them! Eld, Gunther, Petra, and Oluo exchanged confused looks while Eren sat nervously next to an unbothered Colith who was busy ogling at the annoyed captain. Girl apparently had priorities.
The four soldiers had no idea that she was the one responsible for less future cleaning and settled instead for: The Corporal angry cleaning the place for some reason...? Yes, it was probably that.
"Heard they called you monster long before being labeled...what was it...a shifter! why's that?" the only blond of the group, Eld, decided to ask since the silence was starting to become uncomfortable. They were well aware of the Captain's foul mood since the man kept glaring at one of the two new additions for some reason they didn't know. Though the receiver of Levi's sharp gaze remained unaffected, and that was an impressive feat! She even had the guts to pull a sweet smile at him. The squad wondered if she had any self-preservation in herself but choose not to prey on it. If she wanted an early death it was her problem.
"eh, I dunno." she grinned back, flashing her pearly white teeth for the world to see. A pink hue invaded Eld's cheeks. She was...pretty to be honest.
Eren, having not noticed this, threw her an 'are you kidding me' look to which she blew a raspberry at. She wasn't taking this seriously. Her childish behavior didn't sit right with Oluo because the man adopted a superior look, attempting a poorly imitation of the corporal's intimidation...It would've worked if the four veterans didn't look so done with his bullshit.
"Tcheuh! Must be exaggerating, the punk doesn't look like much!" Eren's jaw dropped.
Doesn't look like much?! She could wipe the floor with him and nobody could stop her. Really, was he dumb? It wasn't like it was the first time someone underestimated Mo- Colith and ended up regretting their life choices right after. Thankfully, he was certain she wouldn't act on his comment by the amused glint in her eyes. Colith was someone nice. But it didn't mean that she won't beat you up for looking at her funny and oh boi did it happen a lot because some smart-ass choose not to take her warning seriously and the terrifying screams they released didn't faze him The slightest since they deserved it.
"be nice, Oluo." Petra slapped his head with a scowl, earning a huff from him.
"Didn't hear how she scared the daylights out of the MPs that they left her and the kid with us? She must've done something, right?" Gunther added for a matter of fact.
"Hmpf, they're just a bunch of cowards. Pretty sure some would piss themselves at the mere sight of a 3 meters. Wimps." Oluo smirked to the annoyance of his walnut-haired companion.
They weren't here during the trial so they missed everything except the few rumors from those present and let's say that the moniker Monster was taken seriously after her stunt. Well, she didn't seem that scary right now by the way she smiled gently like she hadn't downright threatened important people and was left alone for it. Maybe that was the reason behind their captain's wariness and narrowed eyes as if waiting for any fool play. Hm...Maybe staying alert was a good idea. The three mentally agreed on this...Except Oluo, that idiot was too smug to play nice with recruits even if said recruit could kick his ass to Sunday. No one earns a moniker this easily in their line of work, not a freshly promoted cadet unless he/she acted like said moniker.
Though she had beautiful eyes...that definitely wasn't Eld thinking that.
"I swear I didn't do anything! I just kindly told them to leave my family alone, nothing much." Colith waved a hand.
"kindly more like glare to death! People fainted!" Eren looked at her like she was an alien, the rest of Levi squad gasped. "I don't even know how you managed that but it happened! And favorite shirt? Really?"
"But, I liked that shirt." she pouted.
"You got a hole through your chest for Maria's sake!" Eren exclaimed in disbelief.
"EH Really?! That really happened?! Thought they were exaggerating, how are you not dead?!" Gunther gaped.
"Titan thing." she grunted vaguely.
"How on earth did you make people collapse in the first place though?" Eld added.
Colith chooses to shrug at that question. She couldn't just explain [Killing intent] to them. That shit's literally from another anime. Okay, she could but she's too lazy and didn't want to scare them off too much. That would be such a drag. Okay, enough naruto references.
"did you really get shot? How come you're not hurt? is that because you're a titan? How does it work?" Petra's soft voice inquired.
"maa,maa that's too many questions, guys, slow down." Colith whined causing the strawberry blond woman to blush in embarrassment.
'gotta know why people hate her cause she's adorable!! Dunno why they assume she has a crush on Levi- ight I thought so too at first, but,' Colith's eyes quickly flickered between Petra and Oluo. 'they're definitely a thing. Oh, bootleg Levi is about to speak.'
"Oi Oi, who do you think you are? Snoot-nosed brats like you think they're so special just because they got noticed by the commander. Don't let it go to your head though greenhorn, you're just a brat so you better respect and answer us, got it ?!" again Oluo spoke with arrogance.
Colith internally debated between slapping the shit out of him or a kind roast. She went for the latter for the sake of Eren's sanity, boi was nervous enough and a little roast couldn't hurt, right?
'lmao' Colith blinked. "I'll start respecting you the day titans choose to go vegan cause that ain't happening soon with your yee yee ass haircut. Oh and I'm older than you by the way."
He choked on his spit in outrage.
"What did you-"
"Older?" Eren pipes in, in confusion but was ignored.
"What's your name again?" she casually asked, not bothered by his offended sputters and the squad's growing amusement. Oluo huffed in an attempt to calm himself down and growled through gritted teeth.
"Oluo Bozado."
"Yeah imma call you bootleg Levi until you choose to grow a personality for yourself." Colith decides with a nod and ignores the offended choking sound coming from the smug bastard and the poorly restrained laughter from his comrades. Eren lightly pinches her arm in warning, though amused by her response. Levi remained silent until his voice caught everyone's attention.
"You could've dodged it, didn't you."
Everybody stopped what they were doing to look at the till now silent captain.
"dodge? Dodge what, captain?" Petra's clueless voice asked, interrupting an outraged Oluo from yelling insults. Eld and Gunther wondered what he was referring to while Eren had an idea of what the corporal was talking about. How could he not...since he was there when she... He shook his head to clear the frightening memory from his mind.
Colith however was lost because she threw him a genuine confused look.
'the fuck is he talking about'
Levi sipped his tea as he had everyone's attention on him before placing the cup on the table covered in bread crumbs and candles. Colith had volunteered cooking dinner but they didn't trust her enough to let her meddle with their food so they ended up with the usual bread and bland soup. Their loss.
Eren was pretty disappointed since he missed her cooking but did his best not to show it. Where she even finds ingredients to cook tasty foods he has no idea but he's certain only the wealthy people from Sina have access to it. He didn't even know what rice was until he found some stuffed in his omelet covered by her strange tomato mixture Mikasa was so fond of one morning, and by the walls...it was delicious.
Where the heck was she even finding these spices? The first time his tongue met salt, he almost cried because, Maria, did his food taste ten times better with it. He was so greatly surprised that he almost missed Armin's comment. How had she accessed it though? The blond told him the sea had plenty of it in it and the only way to even think of tasting salt would be to live at the capital, be wealthy preferably since it was rare or being part of royalty. Though Colith was neither of those and they still had quality food- he digress.
"the shot, why didn't you dodge it?" Levi's flat question surprised everyone. Eld laughed nervously before realizing his captain was dead serious. Eren gaped. Dodge? Dodge what? A shot from a freakin' rifle? A POINT BLANK SHOT?! What the hell is he talking about?!
Several sets of eyes turned to the woman whose face turned blank for a few seconds before a sheepish smile and a chuckle escaped her lips as she scratches her freckled cheek.
"So you noticed uh...I guess you're right. Why didn't I dodge? It's pretty simple actually..." her hand came resting on Eren's head. "that bozo would've shot my boy if I hadn't placed myself in front of him, thus making myself the sole target." Eren's eyes widened "I'd rather take a bullet than let my family get hurt." she didn't miss the few gasps that escaped them - excluding Levi cause that guy does not gasp- and the incredulous teal eyes stuck on her.
"Wow, that's impressive..." Petra awed.
"You sure it's wise to pick on someone who took a shot like a champ?" Gunther joked to Oluo who sent him a glare.
The Levi not look-alike crossed his arms in an attempt to look casual but didn't fool anyone by his sweat-dripping face. "Peuh! So what?! I could do that too!"
"Oluo, just...no." Eld deadpan then noticed the shocked silent teen next to the cutie-Colith. "You alright there, buddy? Look like you saw death itself. "
The blond's voice brought Eren back from his thoughts which made the teen fumble with his words when every eyes were on him. Colith shot him a worried glance. Her mother henning was showing.
"Ah I...hum," he scratched his cheek nervously at the foreign attention on him. Well, they were all focused on her so that kinda caught him off guard. "it's okay, I was just...surprised by what she said..."
"is that so..." Eld hummed then set his attention to the others.
1st POV
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Ngl the asshole caught me by surprise with the shot that I almost forgot to turn off my pain receptors in time. Dunno where he got the idea that I could've dodged a close-ranged bullet (which I definitely can) but hey, Levi has good instincts so I can't fault him! Yet he won't stop being a sussy bak-Eh Allah stop me- at least not till I tell them more. Ugh, should've said the truth from the get-go but honestly, if a stranger pop outta nowhere to tell you that your whole existence and future came from a Japanese dude's brain, that your hardships, pains, and griefs were casually used to entertain people, wouldn't you flip out? Did you see how Eren turned out when he learned that all their pain was caused by humans and not titans? Subhanallah, Just thinking bout his reaction's making shivers crawl my back. Bet he'd find a way to go on a rampage in my world. Just know it.
Guess I won't divulge the I come from another dimension and you're not real part but I'll try to be as honest as I can. Really don't like lying, yet that's all I've been doing since I got here, how shameful...that's why I want to tell them now than never. They're part of my family now, right?
Family huh?
Can't believe how right the dipshit was when they said I'd find precious people here and I can already hear that bitch mocking me. To be frank, I really got attached to the trio so much that I often forget to check on Ma and the others. Not that I don't miss them, who am I kidding, MA I LOVE YOU!!—I mean...at first I thought of just helping them by preventing some shits from happening or comforting anyone who needed it and all. But...seeing their eyes full of trust, full of relief and...love when I took them in made me realize something really important. They aren't fictional characters...not anymore.
They're humans. Humans who deserve the world, to be loved and protected, to be happy. And I Colith realized that the night they cried on me. When I felt their little quivering arms around me, bawling their eyes out because I choose to do something I would've done normally and it struck me hard how cruel this world was if children, CHILDREN, thought that receiving care and help was something foreign. They cried because I choose to help, to take care of them, to spare them the pain of being abandoned, and to treat them like the children they were. For giving them a chance to be loved. And damn did I love them! And I knew the moment they put their trust in me that night I'd start feeling guilty for lying about my origins.
Sigh
Fuck, now I'm scared of their reactions. NO TIME TO CHICKEN OUT COLITH, YOU PROMISED TO EXPLAIN THINGS. I mean, can't tell them that they're fictional characters in my world, that I know EVERYTHING on them, and oh that I know the secret behind the titans and purposely choose to keep it from them- AAAAAAGH THEY'LL HATE ME, WHY DID YOU CREATE A FAKE BACKSTORY BITCH!
Okay, chill, you can do it. You're the mother of all, jeez, can't still stand this title I DIDN'T CHOOSE THIS GODDESS BULLSHI- YES IT'S PRETTY CONVENIENT BUT STILL!
From that point on, the next few minutes went like canon with them discussing their next moves, and OH the expedition will take place in one month. Cool... Okay, not cool when you know how bad it's gon turn if I let things go the way they're supposed to. I could totally spoil them what's inside the basement, thus saving a lot of lives but they would ask for proof and how I knew of it and since they're not aware of what I can do yet they wouldn't believe me so I'll just wait for my beans and the others to get here. Doesn't mean I can't drop hints here and there tho.
Or just go apeshit.
It all continued until Eld and everyone's heads turned toward Eren and me.
Welp
"most of us find it hard to believe. So how does it works? This whole changing into a titan trick really." They watched us with different degrees of curiosity.
Seeing how totally clueless Eren was about the matter and honestly, I knew the boi had no idea how it worked, I decided to take matters into my own hands.
"Say Eren, do you remember what you did before shifting those three times?"
He blinked a few times not understanding where I was going until a spark of recognition brightened his eyes. "I...I think I bit my hand or something...?"
"hm-hn pretty close but that ain't the only thing you did."
"Huh? What do you mean? What did I do?" He tilted his head like a confused puppy and I struggled hard not to squeal and glomp the shit out of him.
'breathe Colith. Breathe.'
Looking at the others, I noticed that I had their full attention. Even Levi was a bit curious which made me hella happy. Good. I then shifted my attention to the table and took the first thing that entered my field of vision, a fork that was resting on my empty plate. After examining it for a second, I nodded.
'guess I'll demonstrate!'
Before Petra could open her mouth to ask what I was gonna do with it, said object crashed suddenly with so much force on my hand that the little finger on its path detached itself from it in a bloody shak!
Was I a Jojo fan? Maybe.
Oluo, Petra, and Eren released terrified shrieks and jumped away at the sight of the missing finger and bloody mess on the table. Their head whipped to my hand and the finger so fast that they'd have whiplashes if they kept going. Eld and Gunther backed slightly away but nonetheless watched me with horrified wide eyes. And the cherry on top, Levi's shoulders tensed while his grip on the teacup tightened. How it didn't shatter in his hold still amazes me.
"Lesson one on how to handle a shifter: do not let anything sharp near them." I continued with an eye smile. "If you wish to have a chance against an enemy shifter, better have them exhausted and preferably trapped faaaaar underground"
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Eren yelled and watched with horror the pinky and blood on the table before gawking at my calm face in disbelief. "WHY AREN'T YOU REACTING?!"
"SHE-SHE'S CRAZY I'M TELLIN YA!! " Oluo joined with fearful eyes. Oh, where did the prideful asshole go? "INSANE!"
"Why would you do that?!" Petra cried in horror and worry? How she manages to do both, I have no idea.
"What is the meaning of this?" Levi's cool voice interrupted their panic. I turned to him and was quite impressed by the way he kept his composure during my display of...madness. However, his body language and slightly raised eyebrows betrayed his poker face. He was obviously shocked. Meh, I would be too if someone suddenly chopped their own finger with a fork. A fork, come on I could've done better. Eld held (hehe, pun intended) his left hand because of the phantom pain while Gunther hissed at the sight of the injury.
"Don't worry Cap'n" a flicker of irritation flashed through his eyes, "I'm merely explaining something. And you guys should pay close attention to the wound. Notice that it stopped bleeding." I pointed the injury with my other hand, where my pinky was supposed to be and oh the blood stopped gushing the moment I spoke. "See?"
"w-w-we should t-treat your hand quickly!" Petra made a move to go retrieve a medical kit but halted with a 'eep' at my voice.
"No need, just sit down and watch. Jeez! It's like y'all never saw an injury before! Pretty sure you've already witnessed wild shit out there so this ain't nothing, am I wrong?" I did raise a valid point though. Being a scout means eventually witnessing titans turn your comrade into an unrecognizable bloody mangled corpse...or what's left of it although it was rare now to run into a titan who'd try to take a bite of an unaware cadet. So a pinky was nothing, BUT STILL!
The three soldiers looked at each other then reluctantly sat down with different degrees of worry. Oluo was freaking out, Petra was pretty much shaken and kept watching my left hand and pinky while Eren didn't know if he should be glaring or crying for my rash decision. I mean, who does that?! Rohan kishi- that's not the same show!! Gunther and Eld exchanged worried looks between them then sought their captain for further instructions but the man stayed calm with his sharp and w̶o̶r̶r̶i̶e̶d̶ grey hues waiting for my next moves.
"Now to answer your question, Eld. To successfully shift into a titan you actually need to fulfill two conditions.
1- An injury—"
They all immediately stiffened at the implications of my words and eyed my bloody left hand in horror. They must've realized that I had them in my clutches and could blow the whole building up if I wanted. I rolled my eyes and continued.
"Honestly calm down, I'm just explaining the theory with examples, sheesh." I turned to the tense boy next to me with a reassuring smile. "Now Eren, you said you had to bite your hand—which is a wild shit to do but suit yourself— wasn't there something else? A situation that urged you to make a decision? Because with my hand in this state, shouldn't I be a titan?"
He gulped then sent the others an apologetic look that was received by a silence. Poor boy then thought about my words carefully.
'a situation...?'
He frowned. "my memory's a bit fuzzy but..." he racked his brain in concentration when a thought entered his mind. "the first time I remember...finding myself... Inside a titan with a missing arm and leg," Gunther winced and sent an apologetic look toward the teen before frowning in confusion at the sight of said limbs back. "Then nothing...the second time it was to protect..." he halted. I urged him to go on with a squeeze on his shoulder when I felt him tense at the memory. Must've been pretty scary to be on the receiver end of everyone's fear. Jeez, he's just a kid, come on Isayama."...it...it was to protect Mikasa and Armin from a cannonball.."
"And the last time?" I encouraged.
"the last time I..." he trailed off for a while until his eyes widened in realization. " I transformed because Armin's plan required it and everyone's hope that I could move the boul- it's because I wanted to move the Boulder!" his eyes shined with realization.
"Bingo!" I snapped my fingers with the good hand and gave him a head pat which earned me a proud smile from him, then turned to our stunned audience. "and finally
2- to have a specific goal in mind.
Those are the two required conditions to shift! So simply having an injury won't work! "
Levi squad just watched me in disbelief.
"so...you busted your finger just to tell us this?" Levi finally asked in bewilderment. What the hell is wrong with me?
"pretty much, yeah" I replied while retrieving the bloody finger then casually put it in my pocket to the horror of the four soldiers plus Eren. He seemingly had forgotten that I now lacked a pinky, "but that's not the only thing I wish to demonstrate.
Lesson 2: Ti-"
A BANG!
then a
"OW!"
Followed by an exasperated
"Squad leader Hanji!"
From the door behind Levi jolted everybody out of their stupor, successfully halting my explanations. Levi didn't even flinch or look behind him and his 'i'm so done with this bullshit' face made me chuckle. My laugh helped them relax considering how tense the atmosphere became after I busted my finger. I took the liberty to wipe the blood off of the table with a tissue no one saw me create while Petra hesitantly stood up to answer the poor fella (Hanji) who ran into the door and whoever was with her.
"my bad. Good evening Levi squad! How is castle life treating everyone?" Hanji immediately recovered while the per- Ilse apologized to Petra. My eyes brightened.
'ILSEEEEEEE'
"You're early." Levi almost groaned. Almost.
"am I? Suppose I couldn't- EH WHAT'S GOING ON HERE??" she immediately noticed my hand and quickly zoomed next to me and Eren to observe the injury. "WHAT HAPPENED?! WHERE'S YOUR PINKY? WHAT DID I MISS?"
I heard a gasp from Ilse who was near the door. "Ah squad leader Hanji, Ilse it's nice to see you both again! I was simply explaining how the shifting ability worked-"
Hanji released an excited squeal that made Eren and the others almost jump out of their skin and I think I heard "loud shitty glasses" somewhere.
"HOW EXCITING!! Told you, Ilse, that something interesting was happening! My instincts never lies!"
"instincts my ass. You're just weird." Levi scoffed and sipped his tea.
"Hey that's mean!" she pouts before turning her attention to me. "Please go on! And Ilse take notes!" Hanji took a chair and sat down a bit too close to me...but EH, it's Hanji so I let it slide.
"R-Right !" the freckles woman hurriedly took out her famous notebook from her uniform pocket and armed herself with a pen. She glanced at me hesitantly before copying Hanji and settling down on an available chair.
I quickly summarized what they missed and waited for Ilse to finish writing and sketching- should really introduce them to modern technology at this point- my hand before continuing.
"As I was saying, Lesson two: titan regeneration. As you can see my hand's pretty fucked."
"and whose fault is that?" Oluo spat in annoyance.
"shut up Bootleg Levi,"
"What does that even mean!?"
I ignored him. "but this is merely something to fret over. Us shifters, if trained, can control the healing process of a wound or even better, regrow a limb!" Eld, Gunther, Petra, and Oluo gasped in surprise. Even Eren, but the teen understood since he experienced it. Unconsciously but still.
Hanji absorbed the information like a sponge while Ilse quickly scribbled.
"You mean you can regrow any parts of your body?!" Hanji gushed. I nodded.
"That's sick..." Gunther mused then suddenly turned to Eren who backed away a bit. "is that why you got your leg and arm back? Because when you said you were missing them I didn't understand. Well, fuck..."
Eld patted his back with an 'I gotchu bro' because he too was lost.
Eren chuckled nervously. "yeah, I didn't think about it until Colith pointed it out actually. It makes sense now."
I hummed "YUP! It's a great advantage if you find yourself with a chopped-off limb!" steam started flowing from the wound to the shock of all of them. Hanji looked like she was about to explode. I grinned at her "Cool right?" she nodded wildly to the annoyance of Levi, "well it is if you're in good shape. Can regrow anything in record time even a severed right arm!" They didn't know why I specified this limb in particular but didn't question it. The fools. "however, regeneration varies according to your stamina. When exhausted, it takes longer than it should. Unlike now." Their eyes immediately focused on the steam that was escaping from the wou—
"YOUR PINKY IS BACK!!" Hanji screeched with glee then grasped my hand to observe it closely. "wow... It's like you never lost it, to begin with! The bones, the joints even the skin is back! Truly fascinating!"
"...amazing!" Ilse mutters in awe, having sketched the whole process in her book. Damn, she's fast.
"well, that was...very interesting..." Petra laughed nervously, "but did you really have to inform us this way? I mean, by hurting yourself?"
I snorted "Not really. Just wanted to show off."
"tch, That's some fucked up way to show off." Levi scolded.
"Yeah please don't do that again. almost gave me a heart attack when your finger flew on the table." Eld shook his head with a grimace which made me chuckle.
"I make no promises!" they sweatdropped at my reply. I saw Hanji look at the table and the ground as if searching for something. "do you need something?"
"Your pinky, where is it?" her head snapped in my direction, glasses shining with eagerness. Bootleg Levi scoffed a 'what a weirdo' and received a stomp from Petra if we can go by his sudden cry of pain and 'my foot!' whines. What a baby.
"Really Hanji?" the Corporal threw her a judgemental look from his pretty handsome face.
"What? It's for my researches!! Do you think I'll find a severed limb from a shifter every day? Well no! So I'm curious about it-Stop looking at me like I'm some sort of degenerate!"
"Aren't you one?" He scoffed in reply.
"Listen, Tobe, you don't have to-" Ilse tried to dissuade me but I just:
"here you go."
"She gave it to her. Of course, she did. Why am I not surprised." Eren raises his arms in disbelief while the crazy scientist chanted 'this is the best day of my life!!' in the background . "why are you like this?"
I shrug "if I can help their research advance, I'll gladly do it. I'm okay with it. It's not like I lack information. Got a lot to share but not today, I'm tired." on cue I yawned.
"I KNEW SHE WAS A GOLD MINE! JUST KNEW IT" tears started spilling from Hanji's eyes. "THIS IS A GREAT STEP, NO, A JUMP FOR HUMANITY'S UNDERSTANDING ON TITANS! PLUS WITH THE TWO TITANS WE JUST CAPTURED, WE'RE GONNA LEARN SO MUCH MORE!!"
"here we go again." Gunther snorted tiredly
"capture? Did you capture titans? How?" Eren turned to Ilse since Hanji was too busy rambling about her researches with my pinky in a bag. Where she found a bag, I have no idea.
"yes, we managed to capture two small titans, a 4 and 7 meters class during Trost reconquest. However, they were surprisingly easy to capture. I wonder why..." she mused until she suddenly looked at me with wide eyes but stopped herself from saying more. I grinned. "On second thought, I think I know the answer."
Eren frowned but let it go. His curiosity pushed him to ask the fateful question.
"So... What experiments will you conduct on the titans exactly?"
Hanji stilled, everyone's stiffened.
"Oi shut up, don't say anything else." Bootleg Levi sneered.
Eren looked at everybody's horror-filled face, or those who showed emotions— remember, Levi— But was unable to ask what was going on because the next moment he blinked, he got startled by Hanji magically appearing next to him with a sweet smile. Even Ilse felt dread for what was eventually going to happen to the poor boy but you know, sacrifices shall be made.
"Ah...how incompetent of me, to have missed such a curious mind like you. Allow me to enlighten you young one" she voiced with a calm sweet tone. Calm before the storm huh?
That was everyone's cue to skedaddle outta here. Leaving the glasses-wearing beast with her unaware prey in the mess hall.
"Sarabada, Eren. I'll tell Mikasa you love her for you! " I waved a bye and didn't stay to hear his response to my teasing.
As the door closed, I released a yawn and watched those present exchange good nights before parting ways. Ilse lingered for a while, hesitation clear in her movements before shaking her head and leave. I must've looked like shit for her to leave her curiosity like that. She simply uttered a 'g-good night Lith' and went her way.
Now that I think about it, where am I to sleep? I knew it was downstairs in the dungeon, thanks anime, but I wasn't supposed to know that since nobody told me. I saw Levi's little figure retreating further in the alleyway.
WELP.
"Cap'n~ where am I to sleep? You didn't assign me a place to sleep at." with giant strides, I found myself beside him in an instant.
The man didn't even spare me a glance. Rude. "Jaeger hasn't told you? downstairs in the dungeon. Now go away."
"Eh? Why? Is it because you think I'll suddenly shift in my sleep? Don't worry it won't happen!"
He stilled then whirled to look up at me.
"How did you-"
"I just deduced. It's the logical thing to do when handling shifters. Guess I can't help it." I shook my head with a sigh. "at least I tried. Goodbye comfy bed~" I whined dejectedly and started walking in the dungeon's direction. Good thing I cleaned it pronto earlier. "Good night Cap-."
A grip on my wrist stopped me from taking another step. I frowned then looked back down at the per-oh. OH !!!
"You...I don't know what you're playing at but and it's not fooling me. I feel like you're not telling us everything but.. Tch" he sighed" I'll let your disregard for authority slide this time since you provided useful information tonight." a goofy grin threatened to lift my lips upward until his glare froze me in my spot, "But...know that the next time I hear you say 'cap'n' instead of 'sir' or 'captain' I'll punish you so badly that you'll be unable to forget it for a long time. Am. I. Clear ?" his eyes narrowed fiercely and I dumbly nodded with wide eyes. This seemed to satisfy him. "Good. Now go clean yourself there's blood on your shirt...You're filthy."
He reached for my face but stilled when my breath hitched. for a second I thought he would do something until he let his hand drop. We stayed like this, looking at each other for a moment with his gaze studying me heavily and It seemed like he wanted to add something but thought against it.
I felt my heart race by how close our faces were and had to fight tooth and nail mentally to keep a wild blush from showing on my face. Thankfully the darkness of the night gave me a great cover. He released my wrist and that's how I realized that I was bending down to match his height when I straightened up.
'Damn'
I watched him take a few steps toward the stairs until he stopped to give me a sideways glance.
"and refrain from hurting yourself in the future to prove a point...understood?"
Again, I nodded and replied with a meek :
"y-yes sir."
His gaze softened a bit, "Good, now scram." and gone he was.
'Damn'
My heart was doing a Speedy Gonzales bullshit because DAYUM WHAT WAS THAT?!
"I'LL PUNISH YOU?!" "SO HARD?!" "YOU WON'T FORGET IT?!" Subhanallah. I knew he was probably talking about stable duties but DAYUUUUUUUUUUM.
My cheeks burned because dayum his glare. Dayum this MAN. AND DAYUM THIS STUPID CRUSH. I felt for my cheek and found some blood on my fingers. Huh.
Was he about to wipe the blood off my face?! Eh seigneur.
I stood alone in the alleyway like a dumbass, still shocked by what happened before getting a grip on myself, and immediately warp to my house outside the walls to take a MF bath because, no way was I going to bed like this. Plus he kind of ordered me to- Colith. Stop being a simp.
"but he's hot when he's mad tho..."
I should maybe play nice before he really gets mad at me.