shortcutter | [3] drei | the fertile fortress

Entry tags:

[3] drei | the fertile fortress

The journey wasn't a lengthy one. It was a bit longer than the estimated fifteen kilometers, but for a Survey Corps horse, such distance was akin to a sprint. There had been no cause to stop, and although they'd taken a few minor detours to avoid being harried by wandering titans, they still made good time; however, with the thick silence that held between Levi and Mikasa for the duration, it could have felt shorter. The weather also did them no favors. The sky was pale and overcast while the wind blew hard, threatening a storm.

Their path skirted them well wide of the forest, leaving less chance for a surprise attack. Levi was prepared to encounter a mass of titans as they drew nearer, and had warned Mikasa of the possibility, but the final leg of their trek proved to be uneventful. The lack of titans was almost unsettling, and as the fortress rose into view, Levi motioned for Mikasa to slow. He reigned his own horse to a trot and allowed her to catch up so that the two of them were riding side by side.

The fortress was a broad, hulking structure that sat on the crest of a hill with a shallow and steady incline. Its thick gate, visible from their position, was up and appeared to be fully intact. The crescent cut of a stream ran some twenty meters away from the north and west facing walls, appearing not unlike half a moat. The stream crawled further south only to disappear into the forest.

Still no sign of any titans. So far, this was seeming all too easy. When Levi spoke, he raised his voice to be heard over the light howl of the wind and the rattling of his cape.

"I'm going to give you my extra horse," he said. "Tie them near the gate, then scale the walls from the outside. Find the highest point up there and be my lookout. I'll circle the place and check for any breaches."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A substantial decrease in the attacking forces; Mikasa had expected as much from him, in truth. Eyeing up an eyeless titan, she thought she was starting to recognize his handiwork.

But there was still work to be done. "The door is blocked." She was unstrapping the axe as she spoke. Next, to rummage through the bags for three of the prefabricated torches, a flintbox, a pouch, and a couple of leather thongs. She began to wrap the axe and torches to bind them to her back, working methodically and efficiently despite the rain.

Finally she bothered to look at him. The same sort of calm, level gaze she'd given him in the forest, despite the hair plastered over her head and her soaked clothing dragging.

"I'll hurry."

Then she took off to climb the wall again and drop back down into the courtyard. Even over the rain, the heavy strikes of the axe could be heard. The wood near the handle splintered and gave way. Mikasa could smell the same cold, stony smell as the door fell open, and something else, something coppery. She stepped into the shelter of the corridor to light the torch.

When she did turn, Levi held her gaze and nodded. He believed her, and it might have even shown in his eyes. In light of that, he had nothing to say. There was no choice but for them to trust and rely on each other, just as Erwin devised.

Levi propelled himself up to the battlements and resurveyed the field. Two more coming from the left, and another from the right. More straight ahead. Still others tromping around the outer wall. He would need fresh blades to get them all, but for now, he could handle the nearest three.

He paused, and when they neatly aligned themselves, he weaved between them, spinning and hacking, silkily cleaving the titan flesh as if it were no stingier than the surrounding sheets of rain. The steam from the corpses rose in geyser-like plumes, and Levi landed near the horses, almost shin deep in the runny glop. His cape hissed from the spattering of residual blood.

So much for avoiding the filth, but at least the cleansing rainfall would do its part -- though it was soaking him to the skin. Levi bit back a shudder and replaced his swords. Then he was off again to continue the defense.

Between her dripping hair and numb, gloved fingers, there was an unnecessary amount of difficulty involved in lighting the torches. Still the pounding persisted. It seemed closer now. Impatiently she plucked off the gloves; her hands were still raw, the tips of her fingers pinked, but it was worse being constrained than exposed. She lofted the torch up. There against the wall was the gate mechanism, enclosed in a wood and steel cage whose latch hung open. Still this pounding, incessant now, more trebly and scratchy in proximity...

She turned to the side and stifled a shriek. The torch dropped and she scrambled to pick it up. Her heart clamped shut in her chest with the shock - more the surprise than the actuality, but there, wedged in the passageway, gleaming, pink, and cramped, an abnormal-type titan had scrunched itself to within ten meters of her. Its huge grinning face mooned and jeered at her brainlessly.

She drank down a deep breath. First she threw the torch down on the ground in front of the titan, then turned to slap the lockbolt out of the axle in the mechanism. A testing touch tried at the pull on the wheel - heavy. The titan was unfazed by the fire and continued to scritch towards her, to reach for her with its gaping mouth. Just looking at it, she felt a disgust so sharp it pierced her focus. Mikasa stepped clear of the cage with a fixed and fierce expression. She approached and smelled blood. With a single lunge in anger she slashed out the thing's childishly clear green eyes. In the moment of opportunity that followed she began to crank at the wheel.

The gate groaned open.

Levi heard it. The rough grumbling of wood and stone was distinct enough, even through the boisterous chaos of battle and the hammering deluge. With his targets dwindling, Levi had strayed to the northwest corner of the outer wall. A corpulent fourteen meter class titan waved at him dully, like a fitting gesture of farewell as Levi jetted out of reach and arced back to deliver the fatal blow. The behemoth thing teetered, and Levi's eyes widened as it began to tip -- in a direct path to smash the wall.

It had to be well-fortified, but who knew what kind of damage the impact could do? Levi's face compressed manically as he fired both cables into the titan's back. He dropped from its left shoulder and heaved, using his gas to alter the trajectory of its collapse.

He succeeded, but only partially. The titan's face smeared the lower quarter of the wall and its neck made a grisly crunch as the body settled, but the thick stone remained well intact. For his efforts, Levi landed face-first into the ground; along with a timely burst of gas, the softness of it cushioned his fall.

Levi stood, then spat and wiped at his eyes. He soared back towards the gate where a shorter, beady-eyed titan approached the opening, lurching and sluggish. Swinging down, Levi lead with his blade and slashed open its back, carving a deep swath from neck to ass. It howled, and he silenced it with a cleaner cut.

Now they had their opening. Levi launched himself onward, heading for the tie-out.

When she ran out of the gate, she saw the field of the fallen: the wrecks of titans steaming, the crumpled limbs and nameless slabs of gelatinous, translucent flesh. There against the wall lay the big corpse of a huge titan... that must have been the awful crash she'd heard. There Levi was, heading for the horses, still swift, still completely, as far as she could tell, intact. Relief and something else.

She ran to him.

"They're in the walls. Levi..."

What she saw when he dropped to the ground... His grim sharp glare dancing from the dark hollows of a dirty face and his short, powerful body... he looked older and somehow creepy. Far from being disturbing, somehow it made him easier to approach. She'd never seen him so dirty before.

She was covered in gore herself but it was steaming away even now.

"There was a titan in the wall." She repeated dumbly over the rush of the rain.

When she had hacked away its jaw it wasn't to save her own life. The thing couldn't have gotten out of the relatively small doorway to pursue her. She just hated it. She hated how it reached for her in its blindness. She hated what it represented. She hated that it made the fortress unsafe. She thought about how a pig was butchered and how its head was cracked open to remove the brains; there were seams in the bones of a skull, splices and joints. After the jaw she had begun hacking at the most likely locations until she could cut a path to the base of the neck. It had strained hotly to the last moment.

She wanted to dry off and for Levi to provide answers to dark, panicked questions that she couldn't state out loud, in that order. But for the moment she had, without even realizing it, begun waiting quietly and attentively for his next order.

When she said his name, his neck gave a slight, involuntary twitch, as if he'd received a gentle prod that stirred him from a daze. Not 'Sir' of 'Captain.' She'd just spoken it, plainly, and trailed off.

It was nothing to dwell on. Somehow, it hadn't even felt inappropriate. And though it was, Levi had no time to discipline her over something so minor; all the more considering she'd done her part and come back in one piece. So she'd earned some leeway.

"We'll deal with them," he said. "Horses first. Let's get them inside."

As he moved to untie them, he noticed her bare hands, still somewhat rosy and abraded. Once the horses were free, he hefted the lead ropes.

"You did well." He paused. "Show me to the crank and I'll shut the gate. Then we can find shelter for the horses and take the supplies we need for the night to somewhere dry."

No reason for them to remain separated at this point. With titans in the walls, it would pay for them to watch each other's backs whenever they could.

We'll deal with them.

Silently she nodded, took her own leads from him, and followed him to the gate. In the weird calm there was nothing left of their assault except rain-noises and rising steam. One last time, she looked out over the field, and the dissolving bulk of the titan ground against the wall, and thought about how he'd done it. They hadn't been separated that long and there was so little vertical opportunity. He must have... she couldn't reconstruct the whole fight in her mind and she wanted to be able to.

Inside the courtyard she pointed him at the door, but -- of all things, she flushed a little to see that she'd left the axe out in the rain, propped against the wall, with its head in the mud.

"It's in there." She said, sounding peeved. At the same time she held out a hand for his leads.

Levi could provide her with all the riveting details later, if she wanted to hear them, but for now some urgency remained. Additional titans could still be wandering the field close by, and others might find their way to courtyard from who knew where.

"Keep watch."

It went without saying that she should also retrieve the axe. He brusquely handed her the leads and strode inside, hesitating only when he saw the decaying form of the abnormal-type titan she'd eviscerated. The hot vapor had mostly dissipated, but some of it still lingered as a thin haze. Levi could have appreciated the warmth if it didn't disgust him.

He entered the cage and grasped the crank. With his adrenaline subsided, he could feel a dull ache in his arms and chest as he worked the wheel. The only needling pain came from the bruise Mikasa's wire had left during their previous training -- a wound he'd slightly underestimated, but no matter. It hadn't hampered him during the fight.

By design, the gate was easier to close than it was to open. Levi finished the job in little time and left the chamber, kicking at one of the dead titan's emaciated limbs as he went.

All was quiet while Levi worked; Mikasa retrieved the axe and knocked the mud loose before tying it back up with the packs.

From the gate to the doors of the main hall it was perhaps thirty meters. The courtyard was roughly square and the detritus of a command post scattered it still: wide, muddy ruts that lead to and from the gate; mouldering racks sized for rifles; the collapsed shambles of outbuildings, at least one of which had a stone base and a hunched-over cover of thatch now sparse and blackened -- a stable, most likely.

If the rain didn't let up, probably it would be necessary to bring the horses in through the wide hall doors and keep them inside overnight. No doubt Levi would reach the same conclusion.

Though it was difficult to judge the hour through the heavy weather it felt like evening was setting in, and the unnaturally dark sky promised a night as unpleasant as the day had been. They crossed the courtyard in silence. A heavy bolt lay across the bastion doors, but it lifted away without issue, and the doors yielded to a cavernous interior of which nothing could be discerned. The croak of the rusted iron hinges echoed in the darkness. Mikasa pulled the torches from their ties at her back.

The weak light from outside barely penetrated the blackness. Levi lit a torch and held it aloft, then took a step further inside. The wavering light built, revealing the greater portion of an entry hall. It appeared spacious, but was hardly grand. Several stone pillars stood with unattractive girth, raising twelve meters or so to support the ceiling, which curved upwards to form a half-dome. Straight ahead was a wide stairway that narrowed slightly as it rose, leading to a corridor set under a blandly designed archway.

There were passages on either side, as well. The carpet leading up the central stairs, now the color of dried blood, was dusty and caked with filth. The entire chamber had a musty, fetid smell, as if a titan lurked unseen in each shadowy corner. If indeed one did, the scuffling and invasive torchlight could very well stir them to life. Still, he did not have Mike's nose, and he heard nothing to indicate their presence.

Levi chose to explore the left passage; from what he understood of the the architecture, the right-leading corridor would eventually grant them access to the bastion tower, where he knew at least a single one-armed titan dwelt. Levi said nothing to Mikasa as he moved. His 'keep watch' order still quite obviously stood.

His decision proved to be the wrong one in only a matter of seconds. After just a few strides, Levi saw the pale, gangling form of a stooped and grinning five meter class titan fully blocking the passageway. He retreated slowly and drew a sword with his free, dominant hand. There was no way he could get at its neck until he lured it into a more open space.

The warning to Mikasa came out sharply. "There's one."

This proved to be a second and more damning assumption. As Levi backed toward one of the thick pillars, a second titan of similar height stood behind it, obscured from either his view or Mikasa's. It blindsided him utterly, striking with the flat of its palm and slamming his back against the pillar, pinning him there. The torch spun from his grip and clattered to the ground, and though he still held his blade, Levi's arms were restricted uselessly to his sides as the titan's fingers curled around him.

Edited (and and and) 2013-11-15 05:23 (UTC)

Mikasa lit her torch from Levi's and trailed him by a few meters. The tall ceiling seemed all by itself to promise danger after her experience in the gatehouse; and, like the roof of an immense mouth, it left her with the uncomfortable sensation of being swallowed into the bastion as they turned the corner and she could no longer see the light from the courtyard. His order was forgotten, but also superfluous. Stiff-shouldered, with a white-knuckled grip on her torch, she scoured the darkness obsessively.

Levi spotted the titan first. At his warning she was already reaching for her sword -- but then by the dim flickering torchlight she watched a huge hand smash him against the pillar and wrap him. His dark head vanishing into the shadow of the fist... She saw it with a rising sensation of dread, so each hair ticked up on the back of her neck, and a strangling, soothing certainty: no. It would not be permitted.

The other titan, the one Levi first spotted, still lumbered towards her as she dashed halfway around the pillar in a narrow arc and the torch in her hand flickered low in her rush. She dropped the wire into the titan's shoulder - of the arm that gripped Levi - from the other side. It howled in pain. As she flew up it tried to reach for her and slammed its arm around the pillar to no purpose. She clambered desperately onto its shoulder and fired another line into its neck, and stabbed the butt end of the torch deep into its ear canal. The titan groaned and bucked uselessly; persistently stupid, it could neither conceive of how to step back from the pillar far enough to use its arm freely, nor how to shake its head to loosen the torch. Both hands freed, now, she drew her other blade.

A dark focus flattened her perception. She stabbed a sword into the meaty crest of the titan's arm and slashed downward and towards the chest to sever the muscles that allowed it to lift its arm. At once the limb fell and dangled loose as a hung carcass. Like the gouging of eyes, like the slashing of jaws, she'd learned this from Levi.

Launching herself back up, she searched for anything, anywhere, from which to propel herself for a slash at the thing's neck, but there was only darkness. Fine, by strength alone then. By hacking, like she'd done in the hallway, while the titan lurched and screamed and reached for her with its still-functioning hand. She saw that hand drop away as she tore out the last critical ribbons of flesh. She never saw the one reaching for her from behind.

Pure darkness engulfed him, and with what felt like humiliating pain, Levi resisted the constriction with all the strength that his powerful, compact body could muster. He held out long enough; once the muscles in its arm were thoroughly lacerated, he had the opportunity to rip himself from the titan's hold.

His dropped torch had snuffed out, and Mikasa's — with the jerking unsteadiness of its position — made the light inside the expansive hall unreliably wild. Levi needed a second or two to orient himself, then he loosed a second blade and spun counterclockwise around the pillar in time to see the titan with its lopsided smile extending an oversized hand towards her.

Cables flew, each one zipping high and sticking to seperate pillars behind his target. The moment seemed to slow, but Levi moved as swiftly as he ever had, delivering a flurry of whirling strikes, chopping tendins in its knees, then sheering both upper arms before crossing his blades at its face, jamming the length of them into both eyes. The titan shrieked at a startlingly high pitch, and Levi finished his manuever by kicking out at its forehead, sending it toppling back.

Levi retracted his wires and landed in a crouch. If Mikasa wanted it, the finishing blow was hers.

A gentle touch fell at his shoulder. She stooped for a moment and looked him over, and her eyes were very wide, very dark. Then she examined his work. In her other hand she held the torch, still mercifully lit, though the bottom of it was smeared with some odious waxy substance. She passed it to him. Her pale features hardened.

Standing, she pulled out both swords and strode towards the collapsed enemy.

Afterwards she dropped the blades out of their hilts and grabbed the next - her last - pair. She moved slowly now, methodically, as if assuring herself that everything still worked the way that she remembered.

The overnight location would have to be walled in stone on all sides while permitting exit and escape. No doors too wide. No signs of crushed furniture, disturbed hangings, muck on the floors, or other signs of titan encroachment.

On the second floor of the bastion they found what must have once been a nobleman's bedchamber, with several sizeable windows and a view to the east, a clear drop of 25 meters to the ground, and a reinforced door. The huge four-poster bed slept only lichens and molds now. A handful of chairs with decaying upholstery; dressers; chests; a painting unrecognizable beneath its coating of dust; a pair of benches -- these last were bare wood and as such were still usable. Torn, mildewed books scattered the floor.

There was also a wide fireplace with a mantel of carved marble. When they went down for supplies, Mikasa collected the axe, too. Upon returning to the room she ditched her bundle and immediately started to hack apart the chairs.

Levi assisted quietly with the chores. He fashioned a clothesline from their extra wire, and strung it above the fireplace so the garments wouldn't block the heat or get in the way. He shed his damp cloak and jacket, hung them, then knelt by the fallen books. He found a thick one — a tome detailing noble genealogy — and tore out several pages without pause. They served as kindling, and using the newly splintered wood, he built a fire.

Next, Levi stood to observe the bed. No blankets or quilt, and the linens smelled harshly of mold and rot; they were unusable, in his opinion, and handling them only briefly made him queasy. Levi ripped the bedding from the frame and sent it fluttering out the window. Underneath, the feather mattress appeared to be salvageable. He dragged over a bench and attended to it with rough, wet cloth and — for scraping — the back of a knife.

Though they could sleep on the floor just as easily, there was time to kill, and the methodical work made for a relaxing and occupying task. With removal of the bedding, the odor of the room had marginally improved, and the fire began to radiate a cozy, spreading warmth.

Edited (another tiny thing) 2013-11-16 11:42 (UTC)

When she saw him go for the mattress, she leaned back on her heels a bit, nodded to herself, and dragged the other bench over to her corner to split. Once she was satisfied with the pile of firewood, she wiped off the head of the axe and put it away, and stripped off her cape and jacket as Levi had. Her long, sodden scarf joined them on the clothesline.

Next she pulled out an iron pot, a pair of tin cups, a waterskin, and packets of tea, jerky, and hardtack. Filling the pot, she set it near the fire to boil. She lingered there a moment to soak up the heat. It was restful, listening to the crackle of the wood and feeling a little of the wet chill get driven away; it was civilized. Something that promised to keep danger at bay. Outside, the inclement weather waxed severe. The rain pelted at the windows, but it was too dark to see much further than that. A thought occurred to her; she looked over to where Levi sat, absorbed in his work. She went back to the packs and pulled some other things out.

The stuff was laid on a clean bit of the hearth. She took her wet boots off and tucked them close to the fire, then her stockings, and draped them over the high knee of each boot. A metallic click as she unfastened her belt and the chest crosspiece of her harness, then the knee buckles. She stripped out of the harness and carefully laid it on the floor before pulling her shirt off over her head.

Beneath, she wore a wide white breastband with a halter strap. Beneath her trousers, which also came off: white shorts, like a boy's, except shorter and made of a thin, silky-looking fabric. The shirt and trousers joined the other clothes on the clothesline. The whole business was undertaken in a simple, practical fashion, without reference to modesty. Finally she crouched and unfolded a change of clothes from her fireside pile and dressed herself.

But there remained still some left of the bundle she'd brought over. Mikasa gathered it up in her arms and tread gingerly, mindful of the dirty floor and her bare feet, over to Levi. At this moment, and no earlier, she at last evinced embarrassment. A funny sort of lost look came over her. She opened her mouth to speak but coordinating the words didn't happen immediately.

"...I...brought you a change of clothes. If you give me your wet things, I'll hang them up."

She laid the bundle on the bench next to him. At least she had been thorough: trousers, shirt, undershirt, socks, underwear, even a fresh cravat. The pot began to steam in the hearth.

The cleaning didn't require an intimate focus, so in spite of himself, Levi kept casual surveillance of Mikasa as she went about her tasks. (Subtle as well — it's not as if he was leering.) His excuses for watching her at this point were running thin. She was attractive; what shame was there in admitting so? Though her fighting made for an impressive spectacle, there was something equally appealing in how she handled her domestic duties with a distinctive, practical earnestness.

She didn't need to ask questions. In this way, and others, they were working much better together than he'd expected.

When she undressed, Levi kept his eyes on the mattress. Even when he could sense her standing next to him, he didn't look up until she spoke. He took his time scrubbing at a particularly stubborn smudge, then rose after he set the knife and cloth aside. The words 'I'll do it' were on his tongue, but for some reason, they stuck there. She'd offered, and it felt strangely ungracious to decline.

"All right."

Levi undid his buckles and slid out of his harness with fingers as mechanical and deft as a concert pianist's. After shedding his boots, he handed each of the remaining items to Mikasa: first his socks, then the cravat, shirt and trousers. He stopped at his underwear, which was of a similar material to hers, only black. The fit was tight over the hard thew of his thighs.

He redressed fully after she turned — more for her benefit than his. Afterwards, he returned to the mattress. His hunger had grown rapidly since they'd settled; he needed only a few more minutes to finish his work, then he could wash up and prepare to eat.

In the ordinary rhythm of chores, whether back at base or in bivouac, she was among friends, and that was the anchor of her actions. This pace and warmth, this simplicity, this satisfaction of completing fundamentally useful things, was rooted homelike feelings: in Carla's gentle instruction as she peeled potatoes for the table, in Eren's chatter as they carried kindling back to the house, in her father seated on a stump, cleaning feathers from a duck while asking her about her day.

It had seemed natural at the time to take the clothes over to him. There was a fire in the hearth; there would be dinner soon; Levi seemed pleasantly busy. Something had changed so that when she looked at him now she saw less of an overpowered, nasty martinet and more of a -- more of someone who cleaned a mattress and had her back. No, it was more than just that, wasn't it.

Too tired and unaccustomed to pursue the thought to its end, she was left instead with the growing awareness that she did not approach friends or family when she approached Levi. When she came to his side, she remembered that he wasn't like Eren; despite his size, he was no boy. That was when the embarrassment set in.

She took his garments one by one. Looking was unavoidable in the process, but there was nothing said of it, no issue made of it. She returned to the fireside.

As she wrung out his socks and hung them, and his trousers, and shirt, and the cravat next to her own scarf, the image of him stuck in her mind. Not like Eren. Powerful-looking, corded from head to toe like one of the statues in the museum, efficient; and there, upon the hard, pale plane of his chest, a bruise as big as her open hand. It wasn't from the titan in the hall. It had to be a few days old.

She took a stained linen bag from the tea packet, shook some leaves into it, and drew a cup of hot water to brew tea.

Edited (the rane in spane falls manely on the plane) 2013-11-17 06:10 (UTC)

Naturally, there were some marks and stains that would not come out no matter how he used the tools at his limited disposal. In cases like these, his practicality was stronger than his compulsion. The mattress was clean enough now that he could deign to use it; given its make, it would be much better for his sore body than a night on the hard floor. Whether Mikasa thought the same was up to her, though it was difficult to imagine she would be more bothered.

Using the rainwater, Levi thoroughly washed his hands and forearms, scrubbing until they were tingling and pristine. He strode over and crouched at his small, personal pack, then began to paw through it. Earlier, he thought he felt a suspicious lump that hadn't been there when he'd organized his things the night before. His inkling was confirmed: it was a round thing, wrapped in a handkerchief, and there was a gleam of red as he uncovered it.

An apple. Levi wasn't sure who could have sneaked it in, but he suspected it was either Erwin or Hange. But, more strongly, the sight of it made him think of Petra. Similar generosity had been her trademark, and if he'd chose to confront her later, she would have laughed and denied doing it, lying poorly while responding with something like: Captain, don't you know how many big fans you have among the troops? It made his chest feel hollow — but as always, the emptiness refilled shortly with stout resiliency.

Levi turned and held the apple above his shoulder so Mikasa could see it.

"Our dinner just got sweeter," he said. "We must have a big fan."

No matter that it had been among his personal things. It was something to share. Whoever put it there in the first place would certainly understand.

She had dipped a pair of clean handkerchiefs into the water left in the pot and washed up while the tea steeped. A moment of brief, profound pleasure to press the cloth over her face and feel heat seeping into her chilly nose and tired eyes; then she wiped down her neck, hands, and arms, pausing in the middle to decant the teabag into the other cup.

When Levi spoke he interrupted a train of thoughts about what Eren was doing this night, whether he was comfortable (probably) and being treated well at the summit, whether Armin was watching out for him. She looked over Levi's way with reserve -- though, seeing what he held, she wondered who the fan was and how they knew she liked apples.

She brought his tea over to him and in the process plucked the apple from his grasp. Curling both hands around it, she rolled her wrists; the apple snapped in half with a crack and a burst of delicious scent. Unceremoniously she held out one half to him. Its white, fragrant interior shimmered in the firelight.

Since her hands looked freshly spotless, Levi had no logical issue with the abrupt splitting — nor much of an emotional one. Fruit was simply food, and it all served the same basic function: it was consumed, used for necessary nutrients, then the rest was shat out. Yes, it was a juicy, scrumptious gift, but it would ultimately end up in the same place as the grainy, tasteless hardtack.

Levi kept his empty hand raised. He glanced at the half she held out to him, then up toward her eyes. There was nothing to it — her look. No indication that she expected him to do anything other than take the half she offered, ignoring how she'd snatched the apple right from his grasp without a word.

He extended his hand slightly further, keeping his fingers open and his gaze level. Nothing in his expression hinted at any irritation or impatience.

"I'll take the other half."

Mikasa blinked and glanced down at the two halves. Was one bigger than the other? They looked more or less the same. His face was obscure in the shadows, sharp, lit only on one side by the fire. In any event, there was nothing she could tell from it.

Out of an inability to imagine any reason why not, she handed him the other half as he'd requested. Doing so produced an unaccountable tightness in her scalp and an expression of mild consternation.

Apples brown fast. She cupped her hands around her half and bit into it. The skin was tight and bitter, the flesh crisp and sweet. A dark look was directed at Levi from beneath her black lashes; her neck felt bare, and she turned on one heel and returned to the fireside to open the other packets.

Levi watched her turn, then bit hard into his half. He took his time chewing, enjoying the texture almost as much as the taste. After a second bite, he sampled the tea. It was the tired, standard-issue brew — how many hundreds of cups had he swilled? — but the initial sip did its job, working quickly to dispel any of the chill that still hung to his insides.

Before long, Levi joined Mikasa by the fire. Using his foot, he nudged the bedside bench across the room so that it rested next to hers, then he sat and crossed his feet. His knees and shins absorbed most of the heat, so he adjusted the angle of the bench a bit and settled casually with his body open to hers.

He supposed she could use some debriefing, and now was as good a time as any.

"The titans inside were pretty damn frisky, even in the dark," he said. "And the ones outside attacked as soon as they all started moving. So what do you think? Doesn't seem like a coincidence."

Already, they knew the Ape Titan was capable of directing a legion of its fellows at seemingly any hour, so that was where the evidence pointed. It didn't mean much that its hairy ass hadn't showed; they still knew very little when it came to the power behind controlling titans.

This casual guy.... She thought, but said nothing.

Not because he deserved it, nor because it was what was done for a superior officer, but simply out of habit, Mikasa broke a piece of hardtack into fingers, and set a few strips of jerky (it was better not to ask what the jerky was of. Meat was rare enough these days,) next to them on a clean napkin, and set the whole business on the bench at Levi's side. She arranged herself at the far end of the bench with a similar portion in her lap and her teacup at her hip, neither particularly looking at Levi, nor particularly avoiding him in favor of the fire and the long red scarf dangling above it.

"It's the Ape Titan," she replied bluntly. Her voice was soft and resonant with fatigue. Methodically she tore a shred from her jerky, balanced it on top of a finger of hardtack, and nibbled.

The weariness in her voice was discernible, but that was fine. Levi had no intention of needlessly dragging this chat on — or likely any conversation in the future. Still, he attended to his food with no urgency to speak of, loading a napkin full of the jerky and hardtack, approximating his share. He chewed on the jerky separately, and softened the hardtack in his tea before eating it piece by piece.

His question had been bait for a quick, easy answer, but it lead directly to a follow-up that centered around what she should believe to be the crux of their mission.

"It seems like that thing has a particular interest in his fortress," he said, after swallowing. "It can get titans in. That's something we should assume. So what happens, even if we take tomorrow to clean out every titan in the walls? Will it ever be a safe place for Eren to hide?"

She stared into the fire following Levi's pronouncement, looking blank, not even fiddling with her dinner now. Her lips parted; her gaze focused at something in the flames. After a breath she turned to Levi.

"...We'll have to kill it."

The statement was peculiarly hesitant, like Levi might judge her answer correct or incorrect.

The thought represented a change in her previous strategy, which involved Eren secure within the walls, herself at the gate, and Levi and everyone else in the environs and woods, keeping the titans at bay. (Erwin did not appear in this strategy.) But if it was true, the thing Levi was hinting at, if the Ape Titan could bring the titans inside the fortress walls, then -- there was no strategy that did not start with the death of the Ape Titan. Quite unconsciously she assumed it would be them, her and Levi, specifically, who accomplished this task.

i ---- did not know that, no

swoon

no subject

no subject

i had thoughts about this thread today. so impatient!

dirty wet make out session ready go

believe it or not, you sleaze, it wasn't even about that sort of thing. no spoilers tho~

i welcome the suspense

godmods gently

yeah well i'll scatter your detritus, and wow that got long

joins you in tldrland

so been wanting to use this icon

heichou's most photogenic smile also uhhh timeskips a little bit?

no subject

no subject

no subject

...just tldrs forever....

please do

;_; sorry she is going to blow the inherent beauty of his gesture

inherent beauty be overrated

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject