𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 | 𝐉𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐊𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧

𝐗𝐕𝐈 : 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐊𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐭

You kept your head down, ripping out item after item: the fruit basket, a glass bottle, a deck of cards, and... Hands wrapped around your shoulders, gently pulling you away from your horse. They pressed your back against a warm, dense surface. Those same hands glided down your arms, only to wrap around your fingers and remove all the supplies you planned to walk to the center of the clearing. Hot air tickled your earlobe, and tingles shot through your spine with each smooth word slipped from a foreign tongue.

"As your employer for this week," Mr. Kirstein's voice weaseled into your blood, "I am ordering you to relax. Take Lucy from my left bag and sit."

The proximity of his rapid heartbeat against your spine won you over instantly. You followed his command as a perfect handmaiden as you swept off to steal the cat and escape Mr. Kirstein's grip on your body and soul.

Lucy's head poked out from under the leather bag's flap, noisily meowing for you to free her from her comfortable cage. You slipped into the most decisive trace as you walked the kitten and yourself under the cedar's shade. You kneeled into the grass, weaving your fingers through Lucy's fur, and watched Mr. Kirstein put his massive muscles to good use.

Trip after trip, he spread everything around you. His strong arms threw out the blanket, tossed down two pillows, set down bottles and books, and prepared the mango and games. All you did was stare from your position, nothing available to busy your hands beyond the tiny cat purring in your lap.

It was always shared work whenever you had picnicked or relaxed with Niccolo, Eren, Hitch, or anyone . You tried to remember when someone last allowed you just to watch, but no memory came to mind. Even as a little girl, when Father would take you out to play and snack in this same clearing, you always carried something.

But, today, you lifted no fingers. You were a princess with your fancy cat, watching from your throne of clovers and daisies. Mr. Kirstein ordered your obedience as a king but settled to act as your servant for the afternoon.

It was the first time you truly were made to feel special by someone without them knowing how affected you were by their kindness. But Mr. Kirstein could never know his little kindness moved you so profoundly. He might think you were weak-minded and in need of pity.

Once he finished his preparations, Mr. Kirstein motioned for you to sit on the blanket beside him. You quickly joined him on the comfortable fabric, placed perfectly in a partly sunny spot. Little sunbeams filtered through the looming trees on the edge of the clearing, casting spotlights on both you and Mr. Kirstein.

"What would you like to do first?" Mr. Kirstein asked.

"First? What did you bring?" You did your best to shake your reverie of royalty with your question.

Mr. Kirstein scanned all the little activities he laid over the blanket. "I brought books for reading, paints for painting, games for playing, needles for sewing..."

"Sewing? Do you need me to hem something? Is that why you wore your suit?"

"No!" Mr. Kirstein panicked slightly. "No, I thought... Well... You seemed to enjoy yourself when Armin had you stitch in the parlor, and your flowers were very nice, so I thought... It was stupid. I am sorry. I–"

"Oh, I didn't mean to... It's alright. I just wouldn't expect you to bring something like that out all this way. I appreciate the thought."

You did appreciate that he tried to bring things to entertain you, not just activities for himself as most guests did. You finally looked over all the items he fetched for the afternoon and noticed that he brought such a wide assortment of thread that you could brocade nearly anything your heart desired. He had even packed your Selahtinalìtin set beside his deck of cards, further showing you that some small piece of his brain paid attention to your preferences.