*5 Days Into Expedition*
"You good?!" Gunther whipped past me, in hot pursuit of a titan that was tailing Oluo down the narrow street.
"Yup! Never been better..!" I panted sarcastically, scuffling my boot against the searing flesh of the titan I had just slain.
This was our second attempt at hunting that stupid journal down. We had been forced to withdraw the day before, after Petra nearly had her entire leg torn off. We hadn't even dared to venture in at night, when they were all motionless, because we were exhausted. Even Levi didn't complain when we had requested camping out a short distance away.
Now, it was round two, and we had almost completely wiped out the hideous herd of naked man-eaters. My kill count was almost in the double digits already, with mostly solo kills. I had teamed up with both Petra and Eld for very few, but I was proud of myself for what I had achieved.
"Our target is due north from here! Petra, Eld, with me! Oluo, Gunther, (Y/N), cover us from the outside!" Levi shouted his orders, already launching off in the direction of where we were told the journal would be. I just wanted to hurry up and get it over and done with. Our horses were tied just outside of the village, with Boy as the exception. He was just lingering around the others obediently, but I still wanted to get back to him as soon as possible.
They took their sweet time inside that crumbling cottage, and we had finally eliminated all of the foes lurking about. I just sat upon the roof, tugging absently at the straps that hugged my thighs tightly.
"I swear, you're covered in enough dirt to buold your own mountain..." Oluo irked, motioning to my entire body, which was more muck than visible skin.
"Yeah, and it itches..." I complained for the umpteenth time, rubbing my face where I had again been splattered by the odd, disappearing titan blood. "Do you think Levi would stab me if I gave him a hug like this..?" Gunther snorted, covering his mouth.
"I'll pay for your medical bill if you do it." He snickered, just as said man and company emerged from the building.
"Deal!" My (E/C) eyes flashed with mischief as I stood up, running and taking a daring leap off the edge of the roof. "Yo, Ackerman! Think quick!"
I put a lot of faith in him catching me, and that he did, but the moment he felt just how filthy I was, he let me drop the rest of the way down, and I landed right on my ass in the dirt.
"Perish." He shuddered, flicking off what looked to be a clump of grit from his cravat.
"How on earth did you manage to get that messy, (Y/N)?" Petra sighed fondly, helping me up from the ground. Shrugging, I started walking off, feeling all squirmy.
"I dunno, maybe because my landings aren't that clean. I just kinda..." I raised my arm out and pretended to chaotically strike at the air. "...Whacha! Then down I go."
Levi strode past me, shaking his head and readying his odm gear.
"I suppose I'll just have to show you how it's done next time..." He muttered, launching himself into the air.
"Oh...uh...cool..?" I followed suit, kind of excited that the man was willing to teach me a few of his tricks.
"Before we do anything else, we're finding you a stream or something to clean up in...I'm not being stuck with a reeking pile of brat for the next twenty four hours..." I poked out my tongue, but he didn't see me.
Yeah, well, you're dirty too, thanks to me...so hah! Suck on that!
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"Quit your squirming! If you don't keep still I'll have to chop most of your hair off!" Petra giggled, trying to force me to sit obediently as she tried to wash the mud from my (H/C) hair. I wasn't having any of that as I tried to splash her from over my shoulder.
"But I'm going all pruney! I'll end up looking like Oluo!"
We both erupted into girlish cackles, and Petra finally waded away, giving me my partial freedom.
"So, who was that cutie who saw you off the other day..?" She cooed in question, wiggling her brows and earning herself another splash.
"Marco? He's like my big brother...He just reminds me so much of Dimitri..." I confessed, shutting down any hopes she had about him being a possible suitor. "I'd bet you any money he'll be running the Interior Police one day."
"Oh? He sounds like a darling heart! Tell me about the others in the cadets, then!" She looked so eager, and I couldn't help but smile a little at that. She must have been so desperate for female friendship after being surrounded by men for so long.
"Well, let's see...There's Reiner, who's really big and chunky...in a muscle way. He's really nice and he always has my back. His best friend is Bertholdt. He's really tall and shy, but he sleeps in weird positions, so I've heard." I smirked at the thought.
"Go on, go on!" Petra pulled herself up onto the bank, still dangling her legs in the water and motioning for me to continue.
"Sasha and Connie are kind of full on...but they're nice. Sasha is a gutsache, though...Uh, Eren is a bit intense, and so are his friends Armin and Mikasa...I honestly thought Armin was a girl for a few weeks..!" I was enjoying talking to her about my friends, and I had started listing them off on my fingers. "Christa is a sweetie, but her bodyguard Ymir is a bit rough...Same goes for Annie...Hmmm...oh, and there's Jean. He's...him, I guess..."
I don't know how the hell to describe him...
"I'm glad you've found a bunch of friends, (Y/N)! It's great to make close allies during training, so then you have people you trust out on the battlefield!" Her reasoning was a little dark, but I still smiled and agreed with her. "So...how about you and Eld..? You two were awful close earlier..." She teased pointedly, and I sunk a little further into the water.
"We're just friends..." I insisted, but my voice sounded guilty as all hell. It was difficult not telling her the truth, but I didn't want Eld to resent me for it, nor did I want to be judged.
"Oh, is that so? Then what happened between you two while we were away during your training..?"
You're relentless, woman!
"W..well...what's the go with you and Oluo, huh?" I bit back, and that shut her up. Pink cheeked and squirming, Petra dropped the subject. Before we could pick up where we had left off before the tangent, we were interrupted.
"You two are taking your sweet time..." Levi stood a few feet away from the water, tapping his foot with folded arms. Yelping, I submerged myself up to the neck, as we were only in our underwear.
"PERVERT!" I screeched, but Petra didn't seem phased.
"Sorry, sir! We'll finish up and let you guys have a turn! Come on, (Y/N)! Our clothes should be dry now, too!" She hopped up and walked over to her clothing, which was hanging on some low hanging branches, but I stayed put.
"N..not until Levi leaves..." I mumbled timidly, dipping down until my mouth was blowing bubbles.
"A body is a body, brat. Are you a man, or a mouse?" He narrowed his eyes, and I mirrored him, daring to challenge the mighty captain.
"Squeak." Unimpressed, but seemingly defeated, Levi turned on his heel and started back through the dark forest of trees, towards where we had set up camp.
"You have two minutes, otherwise we're coming in anyway, whether you are dressed or not."
I knew that was no empty threat, and the second he was out of sight, I climbed out of the water and made a beeline for my clothes.
"No fucking way I'll let him see me in my underwear..." I muttered, dancing into my white pants.
"He's right, though. I mean, it's not like our breasts and such are visible. To work as a squad, we need to be tight knit. I've seen all the guys in their underwear before, no biggy. Even Levi."
Oh...I guess that makes a little sense..?
"...Is his Weevi as small as he is..?"
"DID YOU SERIOUSLY JUST GO AND CALL HIS DICK A WEEVI I'M-"
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***Kind of a filler because I'm impatient and wanna get to T_o_t 👀***