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Post by darth vader on Oct 7, 2013 21:51:44 GMT -8
a hero never turns around
| There had been an awful silence that settled over the squad like a curtain when the captain announced the Titan shifter among them. Thalia had heard rumors of course, as a cadet, and she had not even disbelieved them--but there was a difference between that and the cold weight of reality settling down upon your shoulders.
The man--boy, in truth--standing next to her had coughed and stepped backwards, his jacket pulled tight over his shoulders as he tensed. Thalia was glad at least that she had not betrayed herself in that way. Or betrayed her squadmate. There had been the brief cold flame of apprehension licking up her spine as the captain spoke, and as quickly as it had come it melted into adrenaline, the desire for movement, to do what had to be done. She had felt her heart jump into overdrive, and remained utterly still.
Remained still for too long, perhaps. Half the squad is gone when she shakes herself into motion, and Stefan is just a mere idea in the distance, heading towards the mess hall. She breaks into a jog after him. Enjoys the burn of the exercise for the brief moment it takes to catch up and slide into place beside him, brushing her bangs behind her left ear.
"How does one become a shifter? By birth? If not--well that's a bit of an interesting quandary. The rumors during training were inescapable but they also seemed so absurd. I never really believed, I suppose." She stopped. "I apologize if I come off as rude. I'm just curious. You're my squadmate and I don't want to make you uncomfortable." |
LAIKA OF GS!
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Post by redox-kun on Oct 7, 2013 22:38:05 GMT -8
stefan had expected nothing less than their numb trepidation, but he can’t bring himself to care. grown men have watched him with the sort of murderous intent that only a survivor of a breach could muster. after his salute at being called at the end of training, he does not give way to any physical reactions that could prompt further tension within the group. he has never feared the judgement of his peers - stefan has learned from a young age that the officers who held the noose above his neck were the men to watch.
not anymore. their instructor has now ushered him into the open, where the net of his personal handlers has grown steadily wider. what genius officers they are, to add an extra hundred eyes to judge his every twitch. right now, he has never been quite as vulnerable in his life.
the instructor’s voice cuts through the tension like a sheet of thin ice, and he finally relaxes from his salute for the cause that he doesn’t quite believe in. if the cadets needed a placebo, then they will get one, the man had said. stefan suspects this is the reason why half of them wouldn’t last five minutes during a wall breach.
there are some who will get over their fear eventually. the prey will eventually become the hunters, especially to those who don’t fight back. the only thing that stefan can do is to deny them the satisfaction.
he walks off to the mess hall as if nothing had happened, looking forward to the empty table that he would probably be privy to tonight.
the pink girl -- he certainly didn’t expect her to be the first to approach him. then again, the difference between courage and stupidity is only made by the amount of fear that seizes them. he’s not so concerned by her questions as much as he is by the amount of eyes that she has drawn. after all, she is asking the one question that none of them dare to ask.
stefan decides to shift the attention from himself. “...i don’t think that would improve your chances of slaying a titan.” to his credit, his tone is as tempered as ever. it had to be. the adults at the capital were far better at reading these things than a little girl with more curiosity than good sense. LAIKA OF GS!
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Post by darth vader on Oct 7, 2013 22:58:49 GMT -8
a hero never turns around
| He's not really enthusiastic. Thalia shrugs. "Yeah, okay. You didn't really answer any of my questions though. It's whatever. I imagine you'll be shifting during training, though? Stupid of the captain to not have you do so, honestly. It'll be great practice on facing real titans and we need to learn how to work with you, around you. They really only taught us to work against large mobile creatures in academy."
She laughs, bright and clean.
"I guess we'll never have to worry about how to get around large flat environments on the 3D maneuver gear with you around. Like a portable building." |
LAIKA OF GS!
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Post by redox-kun on Oct 7, 2013 23:20:39 GMT -8
fending off curiosity is decidedly more difficult than fending off outright malice.
somewhere in the back of his head, stefan hopes that the girl would get eaten by a three-meter class. it’s a shame that threatening his classmates is considerably harder when nobody trusts him not to act on his threats.
“i’m glad that you consider me to be such a convenient beast of burden” the irony is thick, but stefan makes sure not to sharpen the edges. faintly, he wonders if she would consider the corpses of her comrades as fitting stepladders, but he doesn’t dare say it in front of the cadets who are keeping an eavesdropping distance. “never have i been bestowed a higher honor” LAIKA OF GS!
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Post by darth vader on Oct 7, 2013 23:29:02 GMT -8
a hero never turns around
| She twisted her mouth to the side in a half-frown, considering.
"We're all here to be useful," she settles on. "We're soldiers, and we have missions to accomplish. You can throw me at them, I suppose. The titans that is. A nice soft underhand to the back of the next and wham, bam."
She bites her lip. She used to hold the script, and now all the pages are in a language she doesn't read. The military beat something into her, but it also beat the last vestiges of something out, maybe, she thinks. Or not. Maybe he's just difficult. Grumpy from being exposed as a titan shifter in front of all their squad--that would be fairly awkward, she thinks.
Thalia clears her throat.
"Anyway, enough of that. Do you want to get dinner together? I hope they're not serving that potluck stew again. I'm pretty sure it's just street rat. And I've had street rat that tasted better."
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LAIKA OF GS!
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Post by redox-kun on Oct 7, 2013 23:59:41 GMT -8
ah, so she is here because of her own free will, and not out of conscription or economic need. he’s seen her skills in practice. she’s definitely good enough to be a shoo-in for the military police, but it’s obvious when she actually gives a damn about the war. stefan’s favorite kind of soldier. he doesn’t mind so much that she’s rushing to her death, but he will mind if she intends to drag him into her inane plans.
of course he would be glad to throw her. throw her into a pile of concrete, that is.
“...do what you want” stefan mutters, realizing that he’s gained one pest that he doesn’t really have the means to remove. not legally, at least. he is silent as he retrieves his bowl of porridge and bread, pretending not to notice how the tables around him become rather empty fairly quickly. he’s had enough foresight to sit in the corner of the room, at least. if he sat in the center, then there might not have been enough space at the edges to accommodate all of the cadets. LAIKA OF GS!
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Post by darth vader on Oct 8, 2013 8:27:26 GMT -8
a hero never turns around
| Porridge and bread tastes better than garbage any day, even if she has to soak the hunk of bread in the porridge before it becomes remotely chewable. She'll take it. Eating is auto-pilot, swallowing fuel she doesn't even taste. Thalia hasn't unlearned bolting down her food, eating neatly and silently enough that everything edible is gone before anyone has a chance to realize she got her hands on a meal and try to fight her for it. A fight they'd lose, and knew they'd lose. But risking the beating was worth the chance for food, no matter how small and hopeless a chance.
She pushes her empty bowl to the side and folds her hands on the table.
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LAIKA OF GS!
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