'inhale, exhale'



Your abraded the birch-wood of Captain Levi's office. Your spine had transformed into a contorted arch; your knees trembling every time you leant forward to scrub the floor.

You whimpered sorrowfully to yourself whilst using your forearm to wipe the sweat from your temples. The stench of cleaning fluid was intoxicating your lungs and burning your nostrils.

Your fingers were coated in a wax-textured fluid. The skin was beginning to soften and wear away from the alcoholic cleaning-liquid: although, your nails had a clean-sheen to them that you quite enjoyed.

Your gaze rose to peer through your lashes, locking onto Eren Yaeger - he was sat uncomfortably on his knees opposed to you. You offered a courteous smile at the brunette as he offered one back, his soft lips stretching past his flushed, soft cheeks.

Eren then pulled a mocking expression that was directed at your Captain (who was miserably sat at his desk to monitor your cleaning, and ever-so-often making crude remarks about your technique). You gingerly snickered at Eren's expression before stopping as you felt the piercing glare of Levi.

"Is there something funny about polishing my floor?" His tired voice snapped.

"Of course not, Captain Levi." Eren worriedly responded before reverting his attention back onto his scrubbing sponge, "We're sorry."

Levi suddenly rose to his feet, his cold stare fixated on the clean-floor. Or, more specifically, the areas of the floor that lacked polish. His stern face formed a genuine cringe; he sharply inhaled through his clenched jaw.

"Why is my floor still filthy? You've been cleaning for almost an hour, there is no excuse." Levi sighed in anguish; "I excepted this from you, Eren. But, Y/N, I thought I had taught you better than this."

The Captain lifted his index finger to gesture for you to stand: you immediately obeyed his command, making a mental acknowledgement of how terrifying Levi could be as a superior. You had always assumed that Petra had been exaggerating when she told you how spine-chilling the short man could be.

"Eren, go down to the cellar and get some fresh cleaning equipment."

"Of course, Captain." Eren eagerly responded with a salute, "Where is the cellar?"

"It's on the left wing, at the far end of corridor 'C4'. It should be easy enough to find - even for you."

Eren, still with a nervous smile staining his lips, queried: "Left wing?"

Levi groaned once more. He lifted his palm up to his face, his index finger and thumb now massaging his nose bridge in frustration. His forehead had a wrinkle of apoplexy.

"Y/N, show Eren where the cellar. And, be quick!" He snapped as your face suddenly lit up, "This floor won't clean itself."

"Of course, Captain." Eren saluted once more before confidently leaving the office - you followed swiftly behind.

The doors to the office slammed behind you both, causing a shudder to run down your spine. You gestured towards the left, beginning to guide Eren through the treacherous hallways of the Scouting Barracks.

ΰΌΊβ™°ΰΌ»

Your fingertips traced along the edges of the chipped walls, your eyes slowly fluttering shut as you tried to tried to calm your racing heart.

"Is he always like that?" The brunette asked as you flinched, your rapid heartbeats swiftly increasing.

"Like what?"

"So... terrifying?"

You softly laughed, catching Eren fearfully checking over his shoulder in the corner of your eye: "According to Petra, yes. Although, I've never thought of Levi being as scary until he became my Captain a week ago."

"He is so different to how I've been imagining him. He's so much-"

"Shorter?" Your giggles grew louder in volume, "Don't say that to his face; when I was younger, I teased Levi about his height and he refused to acknowledge me for a week."

"I'll keep that noted." The brunette widely grinned.

Your eyes slowly ran up the corridor before your curiosity peaked at the sight of the cellar door - it was cracked open, with a hazy, orange light excluding from the inside. You increased your pace as you realised that someone was already in there.

"I wonder who is in the cellar at this time of day." You thought out loud.

"Is it unusual for someone to be in there?"

"Very."

The cleaning products were just a foot away from the main entrance of the Cellar; they were purposefully organised in close proximity to the door so that Levi would have easy access to his products.

You lifted a heavy bucket, as well as a fresh cloth; Eren swiftly took them from your hands with a smile, "Let me carry them back to his office, they're heavy."

Your eyes bashfully fell to the ground, "Thank-you, Eren. That's kind of you."

Your gaze fell towards the stairs of the cellar; a single, stone wall blocked off the rest of the basement - only the stairs of the cellar were visible, as well as Levi's products beside the door. It was still unknown to you who else was down there: the murmuring of multiple people was driving you into insanity.

Your curiosity grew with each second that dragged by.

Eren, sensing your desire for knowledge, offered: "I can meet you back at Captain Levi's office, if you would like."

"Thank-you, again." You nodded, before swiftly making your way towards the bottom of the long, narrow stairwell.

However, you were left ever so slightly disappointed as you realised who was down there: Reiner, Bertholdt and Annie. Whilst hiding behind the stone wall, you peered at the three Soldiers: trying to remain in the shadows whilst listening to their conversation.

"We need to do something, fast." The blonde woman began in her usual, brooding manner: "This plan of yours, Reiner, is taking too long."

Reiner's brows were fixed together in agitation, his lips tightly pursed into a frown; "If we rush, mistakes will happen. You don't want that, do you?" He turned towards the tall, brunette in hopes of agreement, "Right, Bertholdt?"

"I don't know, Reiner. What you're doing is a risk: and I'm not sure if it's worth taking. If people found out, if she found out, I don't want to know what would happen to us."

You leant the side of your body against the stonewall whilst peeking over the edge: you cleared your throat, hoping to gain their attention and find out why the three of them were in the cellar and what this plan was.

Reiner flinched at the sound.

"What are you doing down here?" He sighed through his nose as his hazel eyes ran up your body, "Y/N?"

"I could ask the same to the three of you. Annie, what are you doing here?" You questioned your friend of the past three years, "I thought you had joined the Military Police - have you changed your mind?"

"Reiner, do something." Annie suddenly blurted out with a gaze of horror plastered on her face, "Now!"

"What are you talking about?" Your voice softened, "Reiner?"

Your eyes glanced between Reiner and Bertholdt: their faces mirrored the same horror that had stained Annie's. Reiners lower-lip twitched with anxiety as he struggled to find the words to speak.

"You two," Reiner turned towards his two Comrades with a suddenly calm demeanour, "Leave. I'll talk to Y/N, don't worry."

"Reiner, are you sure?"

"Bertholdt, let's leave." Annie Lionheart abruptly grabbed his forearm and stormed out of the room; her shoulder aggressively hit against yours whilst she walked past.

You swallowed anxiously, hearing the Cellar door slam shut behind them both.

"Braun." You stepped forward from the shadows, Reiner burying his hands in his pockets in hopes of finding something: "What was that about?"

Reiners stare was fixated on the ground, his large hands consistently rummaging whilst your anxiety only grew.

"Reiner? Answer me. You're making me nervous."

His amber eyes lit up with delight as his fingers finally plucked out a black-and-white packet. He used his thumb to open the paper lid, pulling out a cigarette.

He placed the cigarette in between his soft lips, then outstretched his arm towards you: "Do you smoke?"

"What?"

Reiner repeated himself: "Do you smoke?"

"No, I don't."

He raised his eyebrows whilst pulling out a copper lighter from his other pocket: "Suit yourself."

He cupped his large hand around the rolled-paper, lighting the end with an amber flicker. He swiftly inhaled the silver smoke, his golden eyes rolling back in pure-pleasure. A groan left his pleased lips.

You swallowed as the toxic odour of smoke infiltrated the cellar: "Tell me: what were you all talking about?"

"Cigarettes."

"You're not as good of a liar as you think you are."

"I'm not lying, we were talking about cigarettes." Silver smoke expelled from his parted lips as the tip of his lip curled upwards.

"Then what was the plan that you were all discussing when I walked in?" You crossed your arms over your chest defensively.

"I'm seventeen, and Annie and Bertholdt are sixteen. We can't exactly walk into the market and buy a pack because we're all below eighteen, so we considered taking another Scouts I.D. and using that to buy a packet." Reiner shook his head, using his ring finger to tap the cigarette: "But, Bertholdt and Annie told me that it was a ridiculous idea that we could get into trouble for."

You interrogated him, "And why were you so terrified of everyone finding out?"

"If the others found out, especially you, we could get into deep trouble for taking another soldiers I.D." He explained, "With an offence like that, we could be exiled from our Regiments."

"Why especially me? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Because you're the closest to our superiors."

You stepped closer towards the older boy with a stern expression fixated on your face, your lips pursed into a frown.

"Why do I feel like you're lying to me, Reiner?"

"Maybe, I am. But maybe, I'm not." Reiner pulled out the cigarette from his lips, tapping it once more: "Want to try?"

"No, not exactly." You replied, despite still walking closer towards him : "Talk me through it."

Reiner faintly smirked whilst holding the cigarette in between his middle and index finger: he held it within an inch of your parted lips, "When you feel it in between your lips, I want you to breathe in deeply."

"Will it hurt?"

"Inhale, and maybe you'll find out." He calmly responded.

You did as you were told, deeply inhaling the smoke from the cigarette Reiner held.

The rich smoke tickled the back of your throat as you fought the urge to cough. Your face formed a cringe whilst Reiner removed the cigarette from your lips, placing it back in between his own.

"Hold it." He ordered whilst balancing the cigarette between his soft lips.

You held the thick smoke in your throat as the urge to cough increased: it scolded your mouth and throat.

"Now exhale." He ordered as you obeyed, watching thick smoke flood from your lips and nostrils: "There's a good girl."

"Oh, be quiet." You furrowed your eyebrows in retaliation to his comment.

"It felt good, didn't it?" The blonde asked you whilst removing the cigarette from his lips once more.

With a pout, you took the cigarette from his grasp and placed it back in between your own lips. You exhaled the thick smoke into his face with a devilish laugh, before dropping the cigarette onto the concrete floor to put it out.

"Come on," Reiner Braun's head shook with a sigh, placing his hands back into his pockets: "Let's get out of here before someone catches us."

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