Chapter 50
As Sasha went to her arranged post the next morning, she didn't expect to find Samuel there, and she expected even less to see Jonas and Eric with him. The three were just loitering around, Samuel and Eric in a conversation about something while Jonas sat on a crate, cleaning dirt from the soles of his boot. She didn't see the point in that; it'd be dirty again soon, she was sure.
"What are you guys doing here?" she asks, and Jonas looks up from his boot, saying: "Good morning to you, too."
Sasha laughs sheepishly.
"Right, good morning. Well?" she prompts, and Jonas snorts. Sasha wonders what's so funny, but doesn't get the chance to ask as Eric answers: "This is where we were ordered to. I don't know the details, but apparently, we've impressed some superior of yours and he asked from ours if we could come give you a hand."
"You two specifically? Even though you two aren't set to work together this time?"
Samuel laughs.
"Read between the lines, Sasha. You think this timing is a coincidence? It was just yesterday that you complained to Jean about your current task because it keeps you away from these two. Obviously, he's the said superior."
That made sense, actually. Jean had said he'd see what he could do about her problem, but she hadn't expected him to get anything done so soon.
"Missing us that badly, huh?" Jonas asks, and that smug look on his face is one Sasha definitely hasn't missed "I'm flattered, really, but unfortunately, you're not my type. How about you, Eric, do you fancy our gluttonous friend?"
Sasha pouts; he didn't need to ad that description! A small cough, though it sounds faked, draws her attention to Eric. Is she imagining it, or is he a little red in the face?
"Don't be ridiculous" he says "And if I did try something, Samuel would kill me for it."
For a small moment, Sasha is alarmed that something has happened between the two with Eric saying something like that, but as Jonas' loud laughter booms out, she realizes it's some type of joke. But what kind- oh!
"I thought Jonas was supposed to be the asshole here, not you" Samuel grits through his teeth, and the carefree smile on Eric's face tells her he's not alarmed in the slightest about angering him "And for the record, I already got rejected, so it's not my business if you try. You'll get turned down if you do, though."
Jonas' laughter stops abruptly as he and Eric stare at him.
"…Sorry, I didn't know" Eric admits "I really shouldn't have joked about that."
"It was Jonas who started it" Sasha points out "And now I'm feeling awkward."
"That's what you get for turning down a guy who'd actually be ready to put up with you" Jonas tells her with a lopsided grin "Let me guess: there's a certain someone you turned him down for?"
Sasha's face flushes. She'd like to deny it, but at the same time, she'd rather not. Somehow, the idea of doing so felt wrong.
"That's none of your business" she settles on saying, quickly changing the subject: "It looks like you two left an impression on Jean."
"You're not even trying to hide the fact that you're changing the subject, are you?" Eric snickers, but thankfully, he's not as much of a jerk as some, mainly Jonas, would be and actually plays along "I don't think we've really impressed him; your superior was probably just buttering up ours. And from how pleased Richter seemed, I'd say he did it right. Not that he cares what- um…"
Eric suddenly cuts himself off, biting his lip. Sasha's not completely sure what he was about to say, but she has a pretty good guess.
"What we devils think?" Samuel fills in the exact same thing that Sasha had thought about. Eric looks apologetic as he fidgets, but he nods.
"No offence, really, it's just how most of us are due to prejudices; me and Jonas were like that, too."
"Yeah, we remember" Samuel says, clasping a hand on Eric's shoulder "But honestly, you were always pretty decent guy, especially in comparison to Jonas."
"Hey!" the other Marleyan protests, jumping up "He was not; he was just better at hiding his distaste!"
Samuel and Sasha laugh at that, but stop when Eric mumbles: "He's not exactly wrong about that…"
A short but awkward silence follows before Sasha smiles softly.
"Well, past is in the past!" she declares "We're all good now, right?"
Eric nods, relieved, and when Sasha looks at Jonas, he nods too, though he does it with a roll of his eyes. Then she turns to Samuel, who simply mimics Jonas.
"Alright, time to get to work, then!" work that didn't seem nearly as boring now, though bringing a couple of Marleyans along might get some complaints from the merchants. Sasha wasn't worried about Eric, but she hoped that Jonas would stay in line.
"What exactly are we doing? We didn't really get any details; we were just told that our expertise was needed."
"We're advising some merchants on what would sell in Marley and elsewhere outside. That was originally Sasha's job, since she knows about these things probably more than anyone else in the military, but you two probably know even more than her, which is why this was a good call on Jean's part. He said it'd be good if you could talk about some of the products brought on your ship, too" Samuel explains as they go in to the warehouse, following Sasha's lead. Eric gives her a curious look, asking: "Sorry if I remember wrong, but aren't you from a farm in the countryside? How come you are the one who knows the most about these things?"
"I have a good taste!"
"What she means is that she's had the habit of sneaking in to kitchens and pestering the cooks for years" Samuel translates, ignoring Sasha's glare with a grin "Including some Marleyans that we caught as war prisoners years ago. She bothered them a lot, it seemed."
"Samuel!" Sasha protests, eyes wide. They didn't need a new reason to get in to a conflict with these two! Glancing at the Marleyans, she sees Eric staring at her with his eyebrows raised, but the look on his face isn't exactly judging. Jonas is simply smirking, like that was something he'd expect out of her.
"You brought Marleyans along?" Sasha was glad for the distraction, but she would've preferred it to come in some other form than a sneering merchant from Sina. Holding back a scowl of her own, she says: "Yes, I did. They know more about these things than I do."
And definitely more than you do went unsaid, but she was sure he got the message.
"Pleased to meet you" Eric says removing his helmet as he does so "I hope we can be of use today."
Sasha resists the urge to smile smugly at the stunned merchant, who clearly expected problems just from the sight of Marleyans. After a moment, another man from the Reeves company, this one probably not from Wall Sina judging from his clothing, stepped forward since it seemed like his colleague would get nothing done.
"I'm sure you will" he says, actually extending a hand out for Eric, who takes it without hesitation. Sasha smiles. This would go well, and this would help in their efforts to close the gap between the people of two nations. Baby steps, but they'd get there.
XXXXX
Nikolo laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He'd been given some painkillers for his injuries, but that was all. Assuming those really had been just painkillers, of course, but with how clear his head felt, they probably were. Besides, he needed them for his throbbing left arm, now in a sling. With his injuries treated and the adrenaline no longer getting to his head, Nikolo had a chance to think things through clearly. His attempt at an escape had been doomed from the start, he now thought. Yes, he'd gotten away, but would he have gotten to his grandfather without someone else from the family spotting him first? Unlikely. And his grandfather actually agreeing to help him would've been even unlikelier, he realized. But had returning here really been the right call? He didn't have much of a choice after getting beaten up by Grior, but what if he'd made a different call from the beginning? What if, instead of relying on his family or anyone else, he'd just tried to get away on his own? Hide somewhere for a while to let the ruckus created by his escape to die down and to take the time to think of his next move. This was far inland, no borders or harbors close, but surely, he could've traveled to such a place as long as he avoided being recognized. It's not like he was a dangerous fugitive or even a runaway soldier, he'd been kicked out of the military after all, so his picture wouldn't be spread around, aside from maybe his hometown if his family searched for him. He could've probably crossed the border illegally somewhere, preferably somewhere not in the best terms with Marley, and asked for sanctuary. Perhaps he could've offered to help out with forming connections to Eldia, to get that country a head start compared to many others and prevent Marley and Hizuru, there was no question the later was involved, from having complete monopoly over the resources from the island.
…Yeah, right. Not that it was impossible; if everything went really well, perhaps that type of a scenario could've happened, but with how many things could've gone wrong, it was extremely unlikely he could've pulled that off. First of all, he had no money, but he would've had to get around and have something to eat, and he would've had to do that without attracting unnecessary attention. That would've been tricky, and crossing some border would've probably been easy in comparison for a trained soldier like him. But after that? Things would've gotten even trickier than at the start; it would've taken great luck and skill to find the right people, not to mention get them to agree to listen to him. And if they did, would he have been believed? Probably not, when he had no evidence. A plan like that would've relied too much on absolutely everything going right.
The other option would've been to somehow sneak on board a ship that would head for Paradis. Finding such a thing would've been the easy part; there would've surely been rumors about it after all, but for such a thing, he would've still had to find a way to survive until the ship left, not to mention he would've had to do so in an environment with lots of soldiers, making the chance of him being recognized higher. And then there would've been the matter of sneaking on to the ship. Nikolo had no idea what kind of security arrangements they had, but he was sure they wouldn't be weak ones. And even if he did get on, he would have to remain unnoticed until the ship got to its destination. That part probably wouldn't have been all that hard; just remaining at the very back of some storage area and having some crate or barrel he could hide in if needed would've probably done the trick. Perhaps he could've even gotten inland by hiding in one, but the problems with that were to be found by completely wrong people, the chance of suffocation if the thing was more airtight than he would've thought, and getting stuck in there without a chance to get out for too long. What if he hid in a barrel that was among ones not meant to be opened for quite a while, the barrel ended up under some others or he would otherwise be unable to get out, and would just starve there?
Nikolo shuddered; his imagination was taking him to places he didn't need to be at again. He hadn't gone through with some crazy, overly optimistic plan; he had just gotten himself beaten up and sent back here again. Sasha and Connie would laugh if they saw him now, as would commander Hanji. And Jean too, though he might try to be more subtle about it. Or not, depending entirely on his mood, he guessed. Captain Levi would probably scowl and call him an idiot, and Mikasa would give him a blank stare that said the same without words. Armin would try to hold in his own laughter while trying to get the others to stop la-
Nikolo freezes. Armin. How long had it been since he left the island? Armin had already lost a year by the time they met, and nine more when he left, which left three-
"He's already dead" Nikolo realized, eyes widening. He hadn't made it back in time to say goodbye. Back when he left, he had though he would… would he have made it in time if he'd taken the doctor's deal when it was first offered? Would he have found a way to the island in time?
"Don't think about it" he told himself. Nothing could be done about it now… he hadn't been all that close to Armin, but he would say they were friends. They had talked about the world together, sharing letters about it even, though it had been mostly due to Armin's interest in the matter. To this day Nikolo wasn't sure why Armin had asked questions from him when he was convinced that Yelena and Onyankopon must've known much more than him, not to mention would've been more willing to share, but perhaps it was some kind of attempt to close the gap between them. Armin had had such big hopes for peace after all… he hoped that whoever his successor was thought along the same lines as him.
Who could that be, anyway? Surely not one of his friends? The Ackermans were probably out of question for their blood alone, and they couldn't risk losing commander Hanji after thirteen years, but Jean? Connie? Sasha!? Could it be one of them? Jean would definitely be smart and responsible enough to be given the powers of the colossal to, but Sasha and Connie on the other hand… yeah, they were probably safe. Excellent soldiers who did as told when told, but not the brightest. Making either of them the Colossal Titan would be the wrong move… but then again, that particular titan was a one hit -type of weapon. If it was meant to appear when ordered, and then back down again, like Armin had apparently done during the attack on Liberio, it didn't matter if its holder wasn't the brightest, so maybe his friends weren't safe after all?
…He needed to get back, and soon. He didn't know what exactly his deal would hold. He already felt guilty, and he might end up regretting taking it, might end up doing something bad because of it, but right now, taking it felt like necessary evil. He had no time to waste, in case the Colossal really was one of those three. He knew there were lots of other soldiers that it could be, but the worry over his friends was still there. They were the elite, after all.
"Maybe that will protect them; maybe they don't want to lose such skillful soldiers after thirteen years" Nikolo tried reasoning to himself, but it was a bit too late. He'd already gone down the rabbit hole of worry. Suddenly, he hears a key turn in the lock, and while he's been dreading it all morning, now he's actually glad for the distraction. He sits up, wincing as he moves his left arm a bit too much. Bringing his right hand to feel his swollen face, he knows that he won't be able to talk very clearly. Well, he would probably just be expected to listen anyway; Dr. Becker was unlikely to want to hear anything he had to say. Not that there was much; keeping his mouth mostly shut was definitely the best move now, injuries or no injuries.
The doctor steps in, flanked by his two guards, as expected. He doesn't look any worse than before, so Nikolo supposes that dealing with his escape attempt hadn't kept the man up all night. He kind of wished it had.
"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" the doctor starts with a smirk. Knowing that he won't be able to talk properly and that trying it would hurt, Nikolo just shrugs. Besides, he doesn't want to give the doctor the satisfaction of hearing him stumble on his words any more than he has to.
"Might've been hard with those injuries, but then again, I'm sure you've had worse" he continues "I take it you haven't forgotten what you said last night?"
Nikolo just shakes his head, wanting him to get to the point already. Thankfully, Dr. Becker seems to have had enough of casual chatting, too.
"Good, for once you're out of here, you'll have your hands full. Not that it'll be all that soon; people would get suspicious" he says "If everything goes as planned, which mainly means you behaving yourself and doing as told, you'll get out in about half a year."
"Half a year!? That long?" Nikolo thought, not liking this at all. It must've shown on his face, for Dr. Becker smirked.
"Had you agreed to this sooner, it wouldn't take so long. You'd probably be out by now, in fact" he pointed out. Nikolo glares in response, but wisely keeps his mouth shut, though that might have more to do with his inability to speak properly at the moment than anything else.
"After you're out, you'll spread the word about the terrors of Paradis to your family and friends, but not too eagerly so that they won't think you've become obsessed and send you back here" that was the first thing Nikolo could agree on "Eventually, you'll speak to bigger crowds of people, preferably businessmen. Getting a chance for that with your background shouldn't be too hard."
It wouldn't, Nikolo knew, though his family might fortunately be reluctant to let him keep any speeches.
"That's the main part of our deal; we'll figure out the details with time. Any objections?"
Nikolo shook his head. What else could he do at this point?
The doctor smirks, satisfied.
"Good. If you have any questions, you can ask once you're actually able to speak" he left after that one last remark, and Nikolo got a chance to be alone with his thoughts. Half a year. He was still stuck here at least that long, but that also meant he had at least that long to figure out how to wiggle out of this deal once he was out.
He was up for the challenge.
XXXXX
The morning had gone way better than Sasha expected. Sure, Jonas had run his mouth a little, but she and Eric had managed to keep him in line, mostly. Honestly, the snobs from Wall Sina were worse than him, but Samuel and the guys from the Reeves company managed to handle them, so things didn't get even close to escalating. It had felt a lot longer than just the few hours that it actually was, as usual, but this time, Sasha honestly didn't mind. While working together had been a real task for the Sina merchants and the Marleyans, especially Jonas, due to the distrust between them, they'd actually gotten somewhere. Eric and Jonas knew more of Marleyan cuisine than she did, obviously, so they were a big help, and she was sure this had taught them a thing or two about the island, too.
Thiswas a great step towards the peaceful coexistence with the outside world that they wanted!
"You look happy today" Jean comments to Sasha as their little group reaches him. He frowns "A little too happy, actually. What did you do?"
"Nothing!" Sasha hisses, glaring at Jean, though she'd like to give a nasty eye to Jonas laughing by her side, too. And it's not like Samuel and Eric's snickering is escaping her notice, either.
"Nothing? Skipped work, then?"
"What? No!" Sasha denies, realizing a second too late from the smirk on his face that Jean did that one on purpose "You know what I meant! And to think that I was gonna thank you… well, after that, you're not getting any thanks, so ha!"
The guys are still snickering as Jean stares at her blankly, and it's Eric who points out: "By saying that, you pretty much thanked him anyway."
"Did not!"
"Dunno what you're thanking me for, but you're welcome in any case" Jean says with a shrug "Don't know about you guys, but I'm going to head for lunch."
Jean enters the hall and Sasha huffs, elbowing the still laughing Jonas. He stops, but that self-satisfied smirk on his face probably won't be leaving any time soon. They enter the lunch hall too and go their separate ways, Marleyans to one direction and Eldians to the other, joining their own comrades on opposite sides of the hall. They could have just shared a table, there was no rule against that, but Jonas and Eric's superiors probably wouldn't have taken that well, not to mention there was Horst, too. But maybe they could share the same table despite everyone seeing it some other day? Just the fact that this massive building was even built with the purpose of pretty much everyone working at the harbor in mind was a proof that things were improving, after all. Sure, there tended to be pretty clear lines on where Marleyans and Eldians ate, not mixing, but lately, Sasha had noted that some people didn't try to get as far as possible from the other side when coming here. Small steps.
Getting their food, the trio joins Daz at a corner table. Sasha had simply followed Samuel there, she hadn't noticed Daz until they were basically next to him, and Jean had tagged along, too. This wasn't an unusual group of lunch company for her save for Daz, but she certainly wouldn't complain; despite seeing the guy around here and there pretty often, they never really had any chances to properly catch up. But now they could.
Jean seems to have the same idea as he strikes up a conversation with the guy right after greetings. Daz is the same as ever, complaining about certain people or some troublesome tasks, but not without boasting of some job well done. Of course, he must know that his achievements pale in comparison to Jean's, the most likely future commander of the scouts, but he doesn't seem to mind. Perhaps he thinks that the top 10 of Southern 104th simply competes on whole another level entirely? Sasha was pretty sure she heard Samuel mutter something along those lines once.
"Okay, so how about you Jean? We all know how great your career's going, but is there anything interesting in your private life?" Daz asks boldly, and that gets Sasha's attention, too. Would Jean have something new to tell them, something he actually didn't mind sharing? He probably did, considering that overly calm way he sipped from his cup, like he didn't have anything to hide.
"You're definitely hiding something" she accused.
"It's not hiding if I keep my mouth shut when no one's asked anything" Jean denied.
"So, there is something" Samuel cut in with a grin "Spill!"
Jean just continues to sip his drink, and Sasha knows that the cup has only water in it, but the man acts like its wine or something. She's about to pester him in to talking, but turns out she doesn't need to: "Well, it's not like I specifically planned to keep it a secret from you guys, but I still don't want you going around telling people about it so that the information doesn't reach the wrong people too soon. Do you three know how to keep a secret?"
Three nods follow as the three lean in eagerly. With how theatric Jean's being, this must be big. It better be; otherwise Sasha will feel like a fool for letting Jean string her along like this. Now that she thinks of it, it does sound like something the Horseface would do for fun. Just as she's about to voice her suspicion, Jean leans in too and whispers: "I'm going to propose to Hitch."
"You what!?" Sasha screeches, and Jean immediately shushes her as heads start to turn their way. Not that it matters as most turn right back after seeing who was making a scene and that Jean was already there and would probably take care of it.
"Quiet down, Potato Girl! It needs to stay a secret!" the man hisses, glaring daggers at her.
"Sorry" she says sheepishly "That just… was quite a surprise. Have you been planning this for long?"
Jean blushes, he'd probably deny it if she pointed it out but he was definitely blushing, and clears his throat.
"Well, of course it's been on my mind, but the decision to do it soon came a little while ago. In fact, it was Armin who gave me the necessary push to make up my mind" Jean tells, and Sasha realizes she's not all that surprised. Looks like she really wasn't the only one the blond had had an important talk with "He told me to stop dragging my feet, or the chance could pass me by."
"It sure could; Hitch is great after all" Sasha admits, and decides to tease Jean a little "Put a ring on her before someone else does."
"Someone else? Like you?" Jean snorts, rising up to the challenge "I recall hearing that you two kissed once."
"THAT WAS ONE TIME AND WE WERE DRUNK!" Sasha yells out, slamming her hands on the table. This time it's not just the Eldians that turn to look; she's loud enough for the Marleyans to hear. If she was unlucky, Jonas heard her too and if he did, he would certainly demand for an explanation later. She was not looking forward to that. And if he asked, Samuel would tattle for sure, and they'd all share a laugh on her expense.
"No need to worry; it was just Sasha!" Samuel calls to the entire hall "Sorry for the trouble!"
Sasha glares at him, and Jean and Daz laugh.
"Who is this Hitch again, though?" Daz asks, and the other three stare at him in disbelief before Jean lets out a laugh "We really need to hang out more."
Turns out that a short description from Samuel was enough for Daz to identify Hitch; he'd seen her around often enough, simply being unable to connect a name and a face. In Daz's opinion, she was too hot for Jean. In Jean's opinion, Daz ought to shut up. Sasha laughs at them, stubbornly ignoring the small spark of jealousy flaring to life inside of her. She was happy for Jean and Hitch, she really was, but the uncertainty of if she'd ever have anything similar…
Sasha shakes her head. Now was not the time to think about it; now was time to be happy for Jean and cheer him on.
"But when would be the right time to think about myself?"
A.N: In the next chapter, Nikolo will finally catch a break… but it would be boring if everyone got a break, no?
