Shorter Than Me

12 Ecyn

We follow him into the forest. Once again, I feel left out. I walk slightly to the right of them all and just listen to their conversation.

"I had a dream that we found out what was in my basement," Jaeger is saying.

"What was in there?" Arlert asks.

"Glowing titan bones. When I grabbed one, I turned into a titan and accidentally destroyed everything else inside."

"Well when we finally get to the Shiganshina District, we'll knock you out so you don't destroy everything," Jean tells him. I laugh a little.

"Do you have any idea what could be in there?" Arlert asks.

"No. For all I know, it could be glowing titan bones." Jaeger shrugs.

"Guys..." Kerstien calls our attention to the space in front of us that Captain Levi no longer occupies.

"He went this way, Jean." Ackerman jumps and pulls herself into the trees. I follow her quickly, not wanting to be the last one left on the ground.

We hang facing Captain Levi. "Try paying attention next time. It might save your life."

"Yes, sir," we all say, generally at the same time.

"Arlert, you are the smartest here but also most likely the least skilled."

I see Arlert's eyes move down a little and his cheeks have a slight tint of pink. I think he's embarassed.

"I expect you to do most of the thinking and all the talking. Ackerman, you fight better alone. Kerstien, you don't get along very well in a group. Guiin, you need to learn."

I look away. Did he have to mention that? Of course I need to learn. I'm not sure I'm better skilled than Arlert. He's faced more titans than I have.

"Jaeger. You're hotheaded and you don't work with others well."

Why did he just mention our flaws?

"Sir," Ackerman says.

"What?"

"If none of us work well together, why are we together?"

"You'll learn to work together, or die." He turns and zips away.

I find myself a little annoyed at him. Does he have to be rude and make depressing comments all the time? I find it hard to respect him when he punches me for making one mistake or when he calls me shortie just because I happen to be one of the few people shorter than him.

But still, he has amazing skills. And he isn't all negative. He let me use his cloak. He helped me snap out of my shock and probably saved my life. He's saved my life multiple times. He isn't bad, just very very unlikeable.

Unlikeable is a word right?

Now that I think of it, he hasn't called me shortie for about a week. Ever since Dren died. He called me Guiin while screaming at me and slapping me. He called me Guiin just now. Did something cause a change? Was it the expedition? Do I now have more of his respect?

"Guiin, hurry up." Arlert looks at me. I see the others a lot farther ahead of us.

"Sorry." I speed up.

"Can I call you Ecyn or is that too familiar for you? We're in the same squad so we might as well become friends."

"Sure. You can call me Ecyn."

Armyn. Yeah? Armin and Ecyn ship name? Ecmin? No? O k...

"Thanks. You can call me Armin too."

"Naturally."

He smiles at me. A genuine smile. I try to smile back, but I don't think my smile is as real. I've had too much stress for the past week.

(The picture is from the internet and the words are edited on using the app Pixlr. They're the first lyrics to the song Demons by Imagine Dragons. The video is my favorite version (a cover that was Nightcore'd). It is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard (and rather easy to learn on the piano). I recently taught myself to play it on the piano. Yey)