[ REC o ]

The man in the confessional is blond and tan and sweaty as hell. Despite this, there's a large smile spread across his features and if it weren't for the perspiration drenching his muscular build, one wouldn't even guess that he was tired at all.

"Hey there! I'm not sure if the cameramen were able to catch my punishment from Levi, but I didn't see any while I was running, so I'm assuming that the footage of me out there is minimal. I'm Reiner though! I just got back from my run around the island!"

He sits on the stool, grinning at the camera like an idiot before allowing a laugh to ricochet throughout the air. "I barely got to interact with my group members and I honestly can't recall their names. That's probably not a good thing since I need to get people to see me as a good guy, so that's definitely something I need to work on. I'm already off to a rough start by pissing off that Levi guy—I don't want to make things harder on myself." He straightens his back and fidgets a little in excitement. "I'm excited to make friends. This is going to be great."

-—episode one: awkward introductions—-
"I'm sorry that it had to end this way, Levi. You're a brave man."

Erwin had dismissed the contestants to attend to their own affairs as the judges began their review of the various sites, though Petra had hinted that it would be a good time to try and strike an alliance or two with the others.

Annie kind of supposes that this is an opportunity that she should take advantage of. However, she doesn't really hold any particular interest in social interaction: everyone around her seems more annoying than anything else and she wants absolutely nothing to do with them.

But even she does want a sense of privacy, it seems to be impossible to achieve since there are two socially awkward boys trailing behind her because it seems they have nowhere else to go.

"Freckles."

The greasy-haired boy looks up from the ground in surprise at the acknowledgement.

"Tall boy."

The other brunet turns his attention to her curiously.

"Why are you two following me?"

Both men turn to look at each other as they search for a response. The shorter one has gone back to fiddling his thumbs nervously, so, with a sigh, the taller one responds first. "My name's Bertholdt, not tall boy," he corrects. "In all honesty, I didn't realize that I was following you until you pointed it out. We were all asked to go back to the main house to socialize with the other contestants—and I'm not interested in that at all. So I'm just kind of walking away."

Annie pivots on her foot to scrutinize him appropriately. She isn't quite sure what she had been expecting him to say since he had been incredibly quiet when they were working together on the tent. She'd be lying if she said that she wasn't surprised by his decision to speak up to her so easily after his silent compliance with her earlier orders. Bertholdt towers over her, and despite the confidence of his tone, it's clear that he feels uncomfortable. He's lean with muscle and already burning from the summer heat and Annie quickly realizes that he can be of some use to her—competition-wise, at least.

She turns to look at the other boy. "And you?"

"I-I'm Marco," he manages, and the blonde finds it within herself to take some mild pity on him. "I don't really know anyone else. And I don't want to be left alone."

The response is a pathetic one and it does nothing to impress Annie. Unlike Bertholdt, Marco clearly doesn't possess the abilities to hide his own emotions or the physical advantage of height and muscle. He's a waste of time, Annie quickly deduces, but she immediately feels an odd sense of guilt at coming to such a conclusion so quickly. It's a bad display of emotion that's incredibly embarrassing and she desperately begins to rack her brain for a way to justify it.

"Annie, right?"

The calling of her name drags her out of her thoughts and she blinks up at the tallest boy, silently glad that she's grown enough to maintain her stoic expression.

"We're supposed to be using this time to form alliances. None of us want to interact with others, so I say that the three of us stick together," Bertholdt continues and Annie is actually appalled by his audacity.

She recovers rather quickly, however, and begins to contemplate the situation. Bertholdt was an immediate yes. Marco, not so much.

The shorter boy seems close to reading her thoughts and already looks like he's on the verge of tears and that's really not helping Annie's decision to help him because even if she does feel a little bad for him, he's still weak.

Bertholdt has been observing her intensely and carefully adds, "But it has to be all three of us, or none of us at all. I'll back out of this deal if you don't agree to take on Marco as well."

Annie's honestly not sure why Bertholdt has attached himself to the anxious boy beside him but it makes her uncomfortable. Here it is—the excuse that she had been looking for to allow herself an alliance with Marco—but she doesn't like the way that the opportunity has presented itself. She's starting to prefer Marco over Bertholdt.

"Okay. Deal."

The two participants of the transaction stare at one another thoughtfully: Bertholdt with relief, Annie with distrust.

Marco looks on between the two and he seem something that frightens him so he says nothing.

Eren and Connie return with a girl just as Armin's helping Krista up out of her sitting position.

"Guys, this is Mikasa. Connie and I saved her from a douchebag. She'll be hanging out with us for a while."

The two blonds blink in surprise at the randomness of the statement, each of them quietly regarding the newcomer to their quartet. She's slender and seems apprehensive about the situation that she's been dragged into but says nothing about it. There's a mumbled chorus of greetings before Armin says, "I'm not sure if you heard the announcement, but we're all supposed to be heading to the main house while the judges make their final decisions. It's probably the directors giving us all the opportunity to get to know one another better and form our respective alliances. Krista and I were just about to head over there." At the mention of her name, Krista allows her eyes to flicker towards Armin blankly.

"Alliances, huh?" Connie asks. "Well, we should make a pact to support one another—all five of us."

Krista frowns at this, turning once more to silently scrutinize Mikasa. It's not that she doesn't like the girl—she has no reason to, at the moment, so doing so would be silly—but she doesn't hold the same interest in her that Connie and Eren seem to (the latter more so than the former). "There are twelve of us on the island. Wouldn't an alliance of five be kind of unfair?"

Eren and Connie both look kind of affronted while Mikasa's taken to biting her lip in thought.

"This time around, the alliances would be focused on getting into the better accommodations, so we should each be able to form an alliance of six individuals max," Armin adds in. He'd honestly rather scout the rest of the contestants over at the main house instead of tying himself to this one group. Sure, he liked Connie and Eren, but it's clear that the two boys had committed themselves to a pact with Mikasa whom he wasn't sure would be beneficial to him.

The brunet is staring back at him in careful thought with a frown gradually becoming more and more prominent upon his features.

Even though Mikasa's interactions with others her age are generally sparse, she's perceptive enough to take a hint. "Let's go. We're supposed to meet everyone at the house, right? We don't want to be late. It would make a bad impression."

A few nods and words of affirmation circle throughout the gathered group but Eren turns to shoot a look of skepticism at the woman beside him.

[ REC o ]

"I'm not really sure what happened because it all happened so fast," she admits as soon as the camera in the confessional booth flickers on. Her almond eyes convey a sense of confusion and fatigue as she rakes her hand through her silken locks. "I really don't know how I feel about anything. Jean and Ymir are clearly prone to violence and the boy with the eyes—"

There's a whisper off-screen to supply her with a name.

"—Eren, I mean, is obviously prone to overreacting and that's not a good quality to have either," she sighs. "I'm sure that they have their good points too, but at the moment, they all seem to drag stress with them everywhere they go. I didn't expect this show to be easy, but I had thought that the people would be more amiable—though I suppose I don't have too much to go off of."

There's a pause until Mikasa draws her eyes upwards to stare directly in the camera. "Either way, know that I'm not going to let you tell me 'I told you so,' Levi. I'll deal."

It's silent again and her eyes flicker towards the doorway of the booth.

"We're supposed to be making alliances over in the main house. The optimal strategy would be to just make myself generally likable so that whoever wins won't see the harm in having me with them on the third floor if they haven't made enough bonds to have a list ready with them. It's better to be liked than disliked, after all." A pause. "I just have to figure out how to make myself likable, I guess."

As she continues to think about these words, her expression continues to darken more and more.

When it had been announced that all contestants were to make their way to the main house, Sasha felt like jumping for joy because a) she wouldn't have to return to her horribly silent group, b) twelve teenagers crammed in one room would surely result in some decent conversation, and c) she was lost as hell and at least the Smith household was titanic enough to be spotted from all points on the island.

She wasn't really sure what she had been expecting when she had stumbled through the front door, but it was spectacular to say the least: the entrance opened up to the common room which included modern suede couches arranged in a semicircular arc around a glass coffee table and, across the seats, a large, curved television set. There's a transitional section from the entertainment area to the pool that includes a large bar equipped with various liquor and a set of three stools. From what she can see, the pool's large and equipped with a rock waterfall towards the right and, based on the faint bubbling she can hear, a jacuzzi that's cut out of her vision. To the left of the common room is a large kitchen that triggers her stomach to growl and she vaguely wonders what's inside the refrigerator.

However, she finds it within herself to resist the temptation and plops down onto the couch in the centermost position. She knocks her flip-flops off and doesn't care too much about the blackness of her soles or the grime stuck between her toes when she rests her feet on the tabletop.

The door opens and her eyes immediately dart towards the newcomers in genuine excitement until she sees who it is and feels herself stiffen. She forces herself to maintain the cheeky grin on her features as the two take seats as far away from one another as possible (and therefore incredibly far away from her as well—which is probably a good thing since she's terrified of them both). There's a mumbled grunt of greeting as the freckled woman mimics Sasha's position and promptly crosses her ankles over the table.

"You look kind of familiar," the boy starts and Sasha immediately pins him as a narrow-minded individual because of course she should look familiar (they had run into each other earlier, after all) but clearly he can only focus on the things in his immediate attention radius. "My name's Jean Kirstein."

He's scooted a little closer to her and has leaned forward to offer a handshake. There's a strained smirk on his face that reminds Sasha that her priority should be making alliances with others instead of just trying to locate a conversational partner. So she allows her smile to stretch a little wider and removes her feet from the table so that she can scoot a little closer towards him as well. "Hi, I'm Sasha." His hand is warm and soft and if she had cared more about the impression she was making on this guy, she'd probably feel self-conscious about her sweaty palms ridden with calluses.

"Ymir," the woman on the other other side throws in. She doesn't make a movement to reach out for physical contact and when Sasha turns to acknowledge her, she finds that Ymir's eyes are still closed and her head is tilted up to the ceiling. Jean shoots her a look of distaste, but before he can come up with some kind of snarky retort, she adds, "Kirstein here's a little prick, Sasha. Just a fair warning from one ponytail-clad girl to another."

Sasha isn't really sure what to say to that and assumes that Jean will stand up and throw himself at Ymir in agitation. He surprises her, however, by crossing his arms and forcing a casual laugh. "Sasha can make her own judgments of me, Ymir."

There's a sound of vague amusement that escapes the other woman's throat and Sasha finds that she's smiling.

A blond man who reeks of sweat is the next to enter and he surveys the room for a moment in mild thought before throwing himself into the seat next to Ymir. The effect of his sudden weight causes her to momentarily bounce up into the air, making her eyes widen in confused surprise before she turns her glare to the newcomer.

Sasha and Jean both wince on his behalf.

The man seems completely oblivious to this, however, and even goes so far as to merrily throw an arm around the smaller individual beside him. "Hey, everyone! The name's Reiner!"

It's silent, save for the hissing escaping Ymir's mouth that's gradually getting louder and louder.

If Jean had wanted to make the situation even worse, he probably would've poked fun at Ymir about the time she told him that the Reiner guy was more useful than he was. Fortunately, the door opens once more before he really has the opportunity to weigh his options: two blonds, the bald kid from earlier, the fucking brunet with an explosive personality, and a little while behind them, Mikasa.

Sasha instantly recognizes the guy that had laughed at her joke earlier and waves him towards her with a large smile. He grins back and looks at Jean sitting beside her hesitantly, but allows himself to sit on her other side. They launch into an easy conversation and that makes Jean a little nervous because he does recognize Connie but he's pretty sure that they're not on the best of terms and he really needs this redhead on his side or else he'll be absolutely empty when it comes to alliances.

Armin and Krista move to sit in the space that Jean had once occupied that now exists a sizable distance away from the others. Their almost identical blue eyes don't really regard one another and instead, all of their focus is set on the others gathered. Eren is glaring at Jean, who's not really paying attention, but decides to take a seat next to Reiner who seems friendly enough despite Ymir's angry shoves at his torso. He gestures for Mikasa to take a seat with him, but she doesn't make a move in order to do so.

Her top choice would've been to take a seat next to the redheaded girl that she had run into earlier because although they didn't really strike up a conversation earlier, at least she's not entirely unfamiliar. Unfortunately for her, all the seats around Sasha are taken and Eren would probably consider it too close to Jean and another fight would occur. Ymir would be her next choice, but she's not too sure what that'll make Jean think and she really doesn't want to make anyone angry and she can't help but wonder how the hell she got herself into this sort of situation after only a few hours on the island. The only other option would be to sit by Krista and Armin, but the two of them have formed a strange bond that she doesn't entirely understand and she's almost completely positive that neither of them would be happy if she invaded their exclusive group.

She's stuck.

But then something inside her clicks and she counts heads: one, two…. eight. Including her, nine. There are twelve contestants total though which means that there are three others that aren't present. And there it is, her saving grace.

She debates for a split second whether or not she should make some sort of excuse but ultimately decides oh well, fuck it.

Mikasa leaves the room and only Eren and Jean really take true notice of it. Armin and Krista take silent note of her action and Ymir notices it as a subject of interest in the corner of her eye, but she's too busy threatening the mass of muscle next to her to bother doing anything about it.

Jean and Eren both lock eyes when the door clicks shut but neither of them move. They both feel this weird urge to get up and talk to the other, but the feeling is small, far away from their conscious, and disgusting in its entirety. It's not long before Eren gets dragged into conversation with Reiner and Ymir (though the latter is only present begrudgingly) and Sasha is courteous enough to tell her next corny joke to Jean though, and the feeling is quickly forgotten—if it were even acknowledged in the first place.

Historia isn't quite sure how to interpret the way Armin so nonchalantly sits beside her as though they're friends—in all honesty, they've barely even held an actual conversation between just the two of them. So as she observes him observing the others through the corner of her eye, a part of her wants to force him away while another wants to ask him about who he really is.

"It's been ten minutes and three other contestants still haven't shown up," he remarks, and Historia's not sure if it's supposed to be to himself or to her. "I wonder where they could be. They could be important."

She decides to simply hum in response, feigning vague interest in the obvious fact. "Still trying to create the most optimal alliances for yourself, huh?"

"Of course. I can only distribute my loyalties to so many people. Why would I waste my time on someone that has no purpose to me?"

A sound almost like a snort escapes his female companion as she turns her head now to face him directly. "Never pinned you as the type to be such a prick."

"Never pinned you as the type to care."

Historia chuckles at that and allows herself to recline further into the comfort of the sofa as opposed to Armin's more rigid position beside her. "I care about more things than you know, I'll tell you that. And we both know that you're not actually the asshole I just accused you of being. You were supposed to defend yourself."

"Well, I didn't."

"And why's that?"

This time it's Armin who turns to look at her, finally shifting his gaze to meet hers. Deep blue eyes stare intently into one another, daring the other to make the first step forward in regards to risking a possible relationship, but neither seem all too willing to provide the spark. In his peripheral vision, Armin can still make out the fully stocked bar and he vaguely wonders if putting some alcohol in his companion's system would get her to talk, but in his current situation, such a ploy would be easily discovered. Lying wouldn't do him so well either, he rationalizes, since Krista's clearly intelligent enough to see through something so halfheartedly fabricated and he's never been that good at being dishonest. So he allows himself to answer her with a simple, "I didn't see the point. You can call me whatever you want to call me."

"You care about what I call you though," she reasons. "You don't seem like the type to take insults so casually."

"I'm not," he agrees.

Historia's eyes narrow at his easy response and her distaste for him only intensifies. The conversation's running in circles because Armin's refusing to give her actual answers to anything and it bothers her because she's always considered herself decent when it came to mind games, but this guy seems to be better—he isn't cracking. Armin seems to take note of this as he allows himself a short bark of laughter.

She breaks her gaze to huff, "Okay, you win, I'll agree to work with you. Who else do you want?"

"Eren. And the other blue-eyed girl that's not here right now. At the moment, no one else catches my interest."

The direct nature of his response again catches her offguard. She's not really sure what she should expect when she slowly asks, "And why the three of us?"

When Armin tenses beside her, Historia has to fight the impish smirk that longs to reveal itself on her features. The blond seems to be genuinely uncomfortable with the question and he's finally allowing some of this discomfort to shine through in his awkward demeanor and Historia's torn between laughing at him and feeling some vague sense of guilt.

"We all have nice eyes."

She blinks.

"What?"

"Nice eyes," he repeats, pulling at the skin below one of his own bright-blues while furrowing his brows at her as though she's being too loud because the cryptic message is somehow important to him. But they've only been on the island for a few hours now and their arrival was meant to symbolize a new start for all of them. So what could possibly be so important—

Oh.

Blue, blue, blue, blue.

Armin allows himself to revel in the understanding that lights itself within Krista's eyes and when no staff member marches in declaring that he needs to be sent home, the feeling only intensifies. There's no denying that Historia's impressed by the execution of his admission and this fact only makes her squirm in her chair. Armin's lit the spark that they've both been waiting for with his comment and so it's only right that she takes the opportunity with open hands.

"A color stands abroad on solitary hills that science cannot overtake, but human nature feels."

The boy beside her smiles at this and mimics her position as he leans backwards and folds his arms behind his head. "Dickenson's 'A light exists in spring.' Nice."

Historia allows herself an honest simper because Armin may be a pain in the ass, but at least they shared enough of an unspoken mutual understanding to keep their conversations interesting. She's glad that the assurance of her message has been relayed, and then Armin asks, "Anyone that you've taken a particular interest in yet? We can add them to the alliance. I don't care."

She can't help but laugh as she asks, "Are we going to keep talking through poetry?"

"Why not," he responds in amusement, "Riddles can be fun."

"Roses are red, violets are blue. Armin's pretentious, but hey, I am too."

The two burst into honest laughter and Armin even offers her a light shove in mild defense of his character. "I'm taking that as a no then?"

A smirk is still dancing on her features as she says, "I'm not as desperate as you are, Armin. My secrets are still mine alone."

He makes some offhand, pompous retort, but Historia is too focused on the manipulative gleam in his eyes and the reflection of her own small frame within them to really catch what it is that he's saying.

Mikasa's not that good at talking to people and she finds introductions to be awkward as hell, but she was able to find the other three contestants rather easily and has been stalking them from about fifteen feet away which probably makes her super creepy. A part of her just wants to call out and say something but the three have been walking in silence for ten minutes now and Mikasa's only now beginning to realize that the longer she remains silent, the more awkward her introduction will be.

Despite Mikasa's care in regards to footing and overall noise production, it doesn't change the fact that Annie knows she's being followed—though Bertholdt and Marco still remain oblivious.

Her body's responded in its typical over-the-top fashion: tense shoulders, sweat pooling at her temple, heart thundering loudly within her chest, but it all infuriates her because goddammit, this was a stupid teenage reality television show that her father signed her up for, there was no reason for her to be so nervous. The security is tight on the island; she had made sure to inquire about it to no end before they had began building their tent as a group. She's safe. She shouldn't have to worry. Worrying would be silly. She's Annie Leonhardt, she shouldn't have to worry, she was just being silly again, yes, that's it, she had to calm down. Someone was probably lost and roaming around aimlessly, that was highly probable. She'll be alright. She's safe—

Annie pivots on her heel, alarming her two brunet companions as she glares at the foliage around her. She catches a vague glimpse of the characteristic neon orange shirts of the show before it disappears and she has to at least give props to whoever it is that's been trailing her for finding a way to camouflage themselves within the evergreen scenery around them. "Cut the bullshit, I know you've been following us. Come out."

Marco, who had finally looked like he had found some kind of comfort after all the hours of being on the island, has gone back to looking like a nervous wreck and Bertholdt simply finds it in himself to look confused. "What are you talking about, Annie?"

She glares at him, focusing on the nervous sensation in her stomach instead of the man before her because her gut feeling is never wrong. "Look, whoever's out there, I don't really give a fuck. I'd rather have a discussion face-to-face instead of being trailed. Come out."

Mikasa really doesn't have any other options, so with an apprehensive sigh, she comes out from behind her shelter, raking a hand through her dirty locks. "Okay, sorry. Hi. I'm Mikasa."

There's a grunt and a nod from the other woman. "Why have you been following us, Mikasa?"

"Well," the brunette starts before she realizes that she's not exactly sure how to explain anything the proper way. It's clear that the men before her have no real weight within the conversation and the blonde girl isn't interested in any sort of theatrics, so she supposes that her best bet is to just be straightforward. "I needed to find people to form an alliance with, and after stopping at the main house where everyone else is, I realized that forming an alliance with any of them wouldn't be beneficial to me at all. So I left to find you three."

Icy blue eyes stare back blankly until she finally says, "Okay. Welcome to the team. I'm Annie."

Bertholdt and Marco know better than to react, though the former is better at hiding his surprise than the latter. Mikasa, however, is shocked by how easy that conversation had ended up being. "Just like that?"

"Sure, why not," Annie responds with a passive shrug. "You're stealthy and I think you have the potential to be of some use to me. Not sure how we can help you but that's your problem and not mine. There's no need to overcomplicate things by talking about it. It is what it is."

She's blunt and straightforward and doesn't care if she comes off as rude. Annie immediately reminds Mikasa of Levi. And hey, Mikasa can deal with Levi, so she can probably deal with Annie as well.

Things don't seem so bad anymore.

"Cool," she responds, and she's not sure when the two of them have closed the distance between themselves to stand beside one another, but she doesn't remark on it.

Annie gives her another once-over before allowing a slight smirk to appear upon her features. "The rest of the contestants are that awful?"

"I wouldn't say awful. I just know that I sure as hell don't want to be stuck there. I thought that I was going to suffocate."

Bertholdt laughs at that, patting her shoulder in camaraderie without even realizing that he's doing it and Annie's expression of amusement has intensified.

"Join the club."

The results of the competition aren't shocking in the least. Levi, however, is fucking done because what the hell, these kids were lazyass motherfuckers who didn't even try to put effort into anything. For some reason (he wasn't sure why), he had felt the vague sensation of hope prickling at the back of his neck as he lay on the deck of one of the docked boats.

But that was earlier. Reality's made itself known to him once more.

One group's site (his own cousin's group, nonetheless), looks as though a drunk Hange had rampaged through the area and decided to pass out on top of the tent instead of within it. Perhaps it had looked decent at some point, but now, it had folded in on itself in a haphazard manner (definitely not his aesthetic) and Jesus Christ, if he actually had to live in that—

Erwin, Petra, and Hange each give the tent a two on the five point scale.

Levi makes sure to give it a negative six and ignores the various expressions of disapproval from his fellow judges with relative ease.

The next group, one with two awkward brunets, a stoic blonde, and a redheaded girl with a smile so fake that it almost made Levi puke, at least created something that was respectable. The tent stands tall and poised in its position, fabric pulled taut over the framework to provide a sense of perfection. A hastily drawn smiley face is drawn in front of the tent and it doesn't take much thought to figure out who had decided to throw it in last minute.

It isn't a bad tent, per say, it was just boring.

Three. Four. Three. Two.

The final tent had been put up with ease (though not with the same level of perfection as the other group) and has strung seashells on a line to act as a makeshift archway a foot or two before the entrance. Strategically placed leaves and plucked tropical flowers offer a thematic aura that's unique enough in comparison to the rest of the tents. It looks habitable.

Still, even though it was declared the winner, it really is not that impressive and Levi is still not excited to have to live there for the rest of summer. (Because he will be one of the three individuals living in this tent. He'll even entertain the thought of asking Erwin for it instead of just glaring at him until he gets what he wants. And that really says something.)

"Well," Petra starts, "I guess we know who the winner is."

"It's really no contest," Erwin throws in. "You know, I had kind of expected them to be more creative. We should throw in a creativity component when we're looking for contestants next time, Hange."

The individual beside Erwin hums in agreement, pulling a notepad and a pencil out of God-knows-where to record the thought.

Levi allows an annoyed "hngh" to release itself out into the open air.

From their position, they can see all three of the campsites. The four judges are soon joined by the five other key members of the production crew to stare at the tattered clump of metal and fabric that had been crushed underneath God-knows-what—the first site they had stumbled upon. Three of them would have to sleep in it.

Three of them would not survive the summer.

There's a pause as they all silently contemplate the best way to approach the matter until Hange shrieks, "Nose goes!"

Hands quickly dart up to touch the tips of their own respective noses and Levi's left blinking in innocent confusion because wait, what the fuck just happened.

Erwin settles a firm, reassuring hand on the brunet's shoulder. "I'm sorry that it had to end this way, Levi. You're a brave man."

When his fate finally dawns upon him, Levi doesn't even have the strength to argue—that had been lost when he put all his hope into a bunch of goddamn teenagers to build him an appropriate shelter for the season. So instead, he allows himself to fall onto his knees and dramatically flip his head upwards to stare at the blue sky above.

"God, what the fuck did my parents do to make you hate me so much?"

"Don't say that! Hey, Levi, I'll stay with you in the tent!"

The brunet turns his glare to bore into the eyes of his blond best friend, about ready to snap at him to stay the hell away because his big frame was sure to take up all the space. Unfortunately, Levi's interrupted before he gets the chance.

"Oh, don't worry, look, I'll volunteer to stay with you too!" Hange smiles in what they assume is supposed to be a reassuring way.

Levi takes one accidental whiff of the figure before having to resist the urge to puke.

"I fucking hate my life."

A final announcement is sounded throughout the entirety of the island to remind contestants that they should all be heading to the island's main house if they haven't already since the judges have made their decision.

Marco's not sure how it happened, but somehow Mikasa and Annie have both totally hit it off and he's pretty sure that they've declared themselves to be in a mutual dictatorship over the entire alliance—he's just not sure if they were being sarcastic or joking or what. He's honestly not too sure what's going on at all, but Berholdt's nice—he likes Bertholdt—and so he'll just have to content himself with doing whatever Bertholdt does.

The entrance to the house is already in view as the quartet continues their onward pace, Mikasa and Annie leading the troupe side-by-side while throwing insults back and forth at one another. They're not even really throwing them at each other, it's more like Annie complains about one thing and then Mikasa agrees, then Mikasa throws in some profanity into whatever it is that she's saying and Annie grunts in amusement.

It's a weird start to a friendship, Marco thinks, but he's really not one to judge and he figures that no one would really listen to him anyway.

All eyes focus on them when they enter the room, a chorus of a badly accented "Howdy!" resonating from the center of the room. Sasha and Connie are giggling over their dumbness and Jean has this smile on his face but it's difficult to discern whether it's a strained smile or just a constipated one. It could probably go either way.

There's an empty space between the aforementioned trio and a separate blond duo, so the four file into position to fill the void. Armin and Krista's gazes linger a little longer than they should, but they're both careful enough to know their uppermost limit.

Eren, however, is not, and his bright eyes are narrowed into something like a crossover between a glare and dejection. Mikasa's still in deep conversation with Annie, and if she notices, she doesn't make it obvious.

It's not long before Levi, Erwin, and Petra stride in: Levi's looking pissed as hell, Erwin is humming a merry tune off-key, and Petra has that trademark grin on her face. They stop in front of the gathered teenagers and the room is immediately wrapped in silence.

Erwin speaks up first from his position between the two hosts. "We have the results of the first contest! I wish that I could say something nice like, 'You all did wonderfully,' but that would be a total lie."

Most people in the room know what it is that he's referring to and they at least have the decency to shoot him an apologetic grin—save for Ymir and Jean, of course, who only shoot each other pointed glares.

"Congratulations to Armin, Eren, Krista, and Connie! You guys are the winners and will be receiving a special perk during the next island event," Petra cheers, clapping in excitement.

"As for the rest of you: you're all fucking disappointments," says Levi, not being able to restrain himself from chiming in with some sarcastic humor.

Whatever expression of disappointment that had lingered on Eren's features earlier is instantaneously wiped off as he and Connie jump up in a sloppy hurrah. They wrap their arms around one another in a friendly hug, still whooping and hollering, before turning to look at Armin and Krista. The two blonds on the other side of the room have a calmer reaction to the news, though it's obvious that they're still thankful as well. It isn't long before Connie and Eren close the distance between them and pull them into a team embrace. Armin throws his head back to join in their merry laughter while Krista allows an expression of amusement to grace her features.

The others in the room aren't really sure how to react to the news and, for the most part, their expressions remain stoic and nonchalant. A hint of annoyance is evident on Jean's features but it seems that he knows better than to truly react to the news. He supposes that he shouldn't be all too surprised anyway: his team really didn't stand a fighting chance against anyone.

"We're also ready to reveal the results of the audience survey to announce who the fan favorite of the week is," Petra chirrups, the merry mood of the quartet easily rubbing off onto her.

Levi grunts from the base of his throat, clearly still upset with his sleeping arrangements for the next month. He's already started plotting an attempt to worm his way into a different tent but he's not too sure how successful he'll be since Erwin's convinced that this is just going to be a giant month-long sleepover with two of his closest friends and it's practically impossible to talk the blond out of an idea once he's hellbent on making it a success.

The situation is bleak at best.

"I hope that you've figured out who you like and who you don't. Remember: six individuals per floor. Try to refrain from killing each other if you don't get placed where you want to be."

Nods echo throughout the room and Armin makes a faint sound of displeasure that is difficult to notice because he had spent all of his time talking to Krista and didn't get the opportunity to solidify his stance with Eren or speak to the blue-eyed newcomer. He's being sloppy and he's not entirely sure how he feels about that. Krista thinks that she hears something from the figure beside her and spares him a halfhearted glance, only vaguely interested in whatever dilemma is running through his mind.

Jean is feeling considerably antsy and he thinks that he's about to burst. Noticing his nervousness, Sasha allows herself to give him a reassuring pat on his thigh. She finds that he isn't all too bad once you ignore his temper tantrums and apparent pushiness when it comes to women. It's fair to say that she's not interested in getting too close to the attractive man beside her, but it's difficult for her to not feel pity when the poor kid is practically shaking. The tawny-eyed boy is surprised by her sudden action but finds it a little calming.

Petra breaks the seal on the envelope in her hands. Her eyes scan the paper for the name and she turns to look at both Erwin and Levi to gauge their reactions. The former is just as excited as she is while the latter seems generally uncaring. She turns to face the quartet. "Things seem to go very well for you."

All attention shifts to the four and within the small group, there's a bubbling sensation of pleasant surprise.

"Congratulations, Eren!"

He erupts into a loud whoop that's quickly echoed by those around individuals left on the sofa say nothing but there are a number of wary stares being shot his way. Sasha hopes that Connie'll put in a good word for her and Reiner's a little confused as to what's going on because, in all honesty, he's kind of been confused the entire day. Ymir doesn't really care where she has to stay the summer—she's never been the squeamish type—and across the room, Annie shares the same sentiments. Bertholdt kind of regrets not wandering over to meet the rest of the other contestants sooner but figures that he'll just have to live with his decision and Marco isn't too surprised either.

Mikasa isn't really sure how to react so she hastily shifts her attention elsewhere and ends up locking eyes with Jean who looks more curious at her discomfort than anything else.

"So, Eren, who'll it be?" Erwin asks. "You can pick five others to stay on the third floor with you and, for the most part, this decision will be set in stone."

The brunet nods, slowly coming down from his high of emotions. He regards the room carefully, locking gazes with each individual in the room.

His eyes stop on Mikasa who's turned to looking at the empty glass table at the center of the room.

[ REC o ]

"In all honesty, I have a lot of options. I'm the guy in power, which is kind of funny. Like, who would've thought?" The boy says as he reclines back on the stool, causing it to lean precariously on only two of its legs instead of four. He had pulled the neon orange t-shirt over his head sometime after they had recommended for everyone to enter the main house and it covers the bad tanlines he's already received after his first day on the island. "The only guy I know for sure that I want up there with me is Connie—he's already proven that he's going to be a real bro."

His eyes have yet to meet the direct gaze of the camera and are instead focused on something in the opposite upper corner of the room. "Let's see… Armin and Krista both seem like promising choices as well. I like them. But I don't know if they like me and I don't know how I feel about that.

There's that Sasha girl that Connie was talking to, and I'm pretty sure that I spotted her earlier today when I was breaking up Ymir and Jean's fight. She said a dumb joke, I think. Don't have anything against her really—I don't think I have anything against anyone except Jean but he's an asshole so that's a given—but when we walked in, she was already talking to that prick. So are they, like, a thing or whatever? It wouldn't be good for me if she's being influenced by him. I probably shouldn't care though, it's not like that guy can do anything to me anyway.

Ymir seems alright. She kind of seems like the type to do whatever she wants and that's not necessarily a bad thing. That Reiner kid's funny. I like him.

Then there are those three that I haven't talked to yet—" Eren's cut off as the individual behind the camera supplies him with the required names. He looks a little bit surprised by the interaction but quickly covers up the shock with a kind grin and a genuine word of thanks. "Annie, Marco, and Bertholdt. I don't know anything about them but I'm going to go ahead and assume that the three of them will be working together since they've only interacted with one another and came in together.

And then there's Mikasa."

His expression darkens and there's a tinge of annoyance evident in his features. "She came in with those three as well. Guess she's working with them now. Whatever. She can do what she wants. I don't care."

The sudden silence in the room is broken by the thumping of the stool as the two legs that had been stuck in midair reunite with the ground. It's only then that Eren allows the bright golden aquamarine of his eyes to meet with those of the camera as he shoots a smile that echoes the one he had first been introduced with.

"Guess I'm just going to pull my choices out of my ass—nothing new, I suppose."

When the names tumble out of Eren's mouth, all of the contestants are more than shocked. Connie's even left wondering if his brunet friend had tripped and fallen on his way back from the confessional because he's pretty sure that he had to have forgotten the names of some people. That's all that makes sense.

Armin's honestly wondering what the hell's going through Eren's head as well because his final decision doesn't really reflect what he had assumed the boy had originally been planning. The blue of his eyes immediately meet those of the shorter girl beside him and he vaguely wonders what her thoughts on the manner are but knows that it's not in his best interest to ask her right now.

Jean's got this expression on his face that's a cross between disgust and utter appallment and it's distracting enough to make Sasha ignore all of her thoughts in order to point and laugh at the man beside her. Ymir's laughing as well and Reiner joins in, loud and booming.

Annie's original trio isn't too surprised and Mikasa knows that she shouldn't be either, but for some reason, she had kind of been expecting that Eren would pick her.

"Say that again, Jaeger," Ymir calls from her seat. "I want to see if Kirstein's expression can get any worse."

Eren laughs at this from his position beside Petra, shooting her an amused smirk. "Connie, Reiner, Armin, Ymir, and Jean."

Jean turns another shade of bright red and Ymir's laughter only intensifies.

Whatever cool Jean had kept earlier is completely gone and he stands up in agitation. Sasha probably would have been at least somewhat alarmed by the sudden action, but she's too busy throwing her head back in excited amusement. The only sound of acknowledgement is a mild squeak before Jean screeches, "What the hell, man?"

Eren strides over and throws an arm around the taller boy's shoulders. "I fucking hate you too, you ungrateful shit cluster." A genuine grin that consumes all of his features still shines brightly on his face as he adds, "So don't get your panties in a twist and just let me be nice to you for once because I can fucking promise that it'll never happen again."

The man beside him visibly cringes at the words, expression evolving from one of of distaste to one of frustration as he shrugs the hand off of him. "Being in close proximity with you makes me want to vomit."

"Likewise."

"I think that I hate you as much as I love Cheetos."

"Can't argue with that one."

"You are literally the raisin in the trail mix of society."

"Wow, haven't heard that one before."

Jean's visibly seething now and he looks as though he's about to punch Eren square in the jaw until something suddenly dawns on him. "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

The shit-eating smirk on Eren's features widens. "Looks like there's a brain in that thick skull of yours after all."

Petra turns to Erwin with concern written all over her features. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Before the blond can respond, Levi perks up from his position, interest lighting up his eyes. "No, probably not, but it's going to keep things fucking interesting—that's for sure."

a/n: that chapter was a lot longer than i had thought it would be, jfc. i genuinely apologize for the lateness of this chapter—between college/scholarship applications and social drama, i've kind of been all over this place. i'm sorry if this chapter seems a little dragging ;333;

so what do you all think of the current events? alliances have been formed, floormates have been decided, and levi's going to be miserable. i'm super excited to hear everyone's thoughts on eren's decision at the end of the chapter. i really wanted to put bertholdt on the third floor as well, but then the numbers would be all mixed up and i didn't want eren to look sexist if there were zero girls on the third floor with him lololol

anywho, the new poll for the new chapter is up. last week's results had eren in first place, mikasa and ymir tied for second, and armin and historia tied for third. all of the votes have been super close, so i'm excited to see what'll happen this time around!

not sure when i'll be able to update again (ahhh), but feel free to hit me up over at my tumblr (nojeons) anytime—this includes to remind me that i'm taking forever to write and need to get on that asap. c;

i'm hoping to finish this story by the time summer rolls around because i have this super awesome idea for a pirate au, but i'm worried that if i juggle two multi-chaptered fics at the same time, nothing will get done lololol

as always, feedback is always appreciated! i'll never stop looking for things that i can improve on. c;

thanks for reading!

(edited on 05/07/2017 for grammar stuff; i'm laughing so hard at myself though for thinking that i'd be able to finish this story in six months i must have been crazy)