Clearing

Chapter 2

I just realised I haven't updated this... oopsies

There are no warnings for this chapter

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I sat at the same table I always did, wedged between Armin and Sasha, Mikasa and Eren sat opposite us. There was no rule as to who sat where, but it had become a sort of unspoken agreement that we sat in these places every time. I didn't know when we decided on this plan, but it had stuck around for a good few years.

Connie sat on the other side of Sasha, and Jean was opposite those two, next to Mikasa. Mikasa hadn't exactly been thrilled to sit next to him, and I honestly couldn't blame her, but he mostly just talked to Connie and Sasha. Plus, having him next to Eren would result in endless bickering, and I don't think any of us could be bothered to deal with that.

I was quiet for most of the meal, spending the majority of it listening to Armin talking about moths, for some reason. He seemed to have a new obsession every week, always venturing up to the library in the castle and finding another book on some type of insect or plant, and then dumping all of his new information on me before quickly moving onto his next topic. The only one that seemed to stick was his fascination with the sea.

"Do you know how many types of moth there are?" He asked excitedly, waving his fork dangerously close to my face.

"What? No?" I grabbed his arm to try and stop him from poking out my eyeball.

"Guess." He wiggled free of my grasp and went back to skewering the carrots on his plate.

"Uh... two hundred." I sighed. I had absolutely no interest in the things, and they honestly freaked me out a little, but seeing Armin so excited about them made me smile.

"More."

"Two hundred and fifty?"

"More!" He was getting increasingly worked up about these damn moths.

"I don't know!" I threw my hands up in frustration.

"One hundred and sixty thousand." He grinned, holding up his book and pointing to the number on the page.

"Really?" I frowned, peering at the text. "That's a lot of moths."

"Right!" He flicked onto another page and started rambling on about his favorite type of moth, or something along those lines. I sat and listened contentedly, happy that he was satisfied in his strange fixations.

Faster than I had thought, the meal ended, and we were ushered out into the courtyard, informed that we were to be given an announcement. We stood to attention as the commander moved to settle before us.

The orange light from the torches bled into the darkening sky as all of the scouts waited for him to speak, anticipation and nerves thick in the air. We weren't normally given announcements unless there was a mission, and the disaster that had been the last expedition meant that nobody was too keen to get back out. Except for Eren, but we all knew that he was a lunatic.

My heart thumped beneath my hand as the commander opened his mouth.

"Scouts," he started, his deep voice cutting through the silence. "In three days, we will venture outside wall Rose and attempt to get an idea of the situation we are facing in regards to the titans within wall Maria."

Although the crowd was still, I felt a rush of panic wash over everyone. It was always like this when a mission was announced. As much as we were all proud of our contributions to humanity's survival, the long trips beyond the walls were never remotely pleasant.

"It will not be longer than twelve hours, and our plan is not to attack or to fight. We simply want an idea of the damage done to the land, and to judge whether it will be possible to reclaim. Unless an immediate threat is posed, I do not want any of you to engage with any titan." His blue eyes scoured over the crowd. "Understood?"

There was a collective shout of "Yes, Commander!" before Erwin signaled for the crowd to disperse. I ran over to Mikasa, who was searching desperately for Eren.

"Oh, I hate waiting for these missions." I groaned, resting my hand on her shoulder. "Eren's over there, by the way." I pointed my other hand towards where the man stood with an incredibly nervous Armin.

I felt Mikasa's shoulders relax, but she made no move towards him, choosing instead to keep an eye on him from a distance. She nodded, agreeing with my statement.

"I think the lead up is honestly worse than the real thing. Suspense is horrible." She turned to face me after confirming that Eren was alright. "Are you doing ok?"

"Yeah. A little nervous, but I think we all are." I nudged her forwards slightly. "We should probably check on Armin. He looks like he's about to be sick."

We made our way over to the two guys, and Eren's eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed my hand on Mikasa's shoulder. I rolled my eyes at him, removing my hand to poke him in the forehead. I laughed as irritation crossed his features, the action slightly loosening the nervous knot in my stomach.

I put an arm around Armin, noticing his face had gone pale. He pulled me into a hug and I smiled. He smelt of flowers and parchment paper.

"You're nervous about the mission, huh?" I said into his shoulder. He didn't reply, but nodded in response. I started to rub circles on his back in an attempt to calm him down. "Me too." I sighed. "Do you want to talk about it, or do you want to take your mind off it?"

"A distraction sounds good right now." He laughed a little, but I could tell it was only for my benefit.

"Well then," I pulled out of the hug, but kept an arm around his waist. "Should we go to the library? We can see if they have any more books on moths or whatever. Maybe we could branch out into a different type of bug. One a bit less creepy, hopefully."

Armin nodded again, and I smiled up at him, trying to start a peaceful conversation as we started walking towards the castle. I was about to mention the moon when I heard Jean talking behind me.

"Well, I was in the top ten when we graduated, so I have no reason to be nervous. I'm better than most of you idiots." He bragged incessantly. "I know I'll be fine."

"Give me one second." I whispered to Armin, releasing him and turning around to march over to Jean. Sometimes I could deal with his superiority complex, but when there were so many nervous recruits around? Jean's ego couldn't possibly be that big.

He still prattled on about his superiority to Marco, Connie and Sasha, but paused when he saw me approaching. I didn't say a word, narrowing my eyes before I kicked him hard in the shin.

"Shut the fuck up, Jean." I hissed as he yelped, clutching his leg. "You're no better than anyone else. This mission is serious, not an excuse to stroke your damn ego."

Jean hopped around in a circle, whining about the minor injury he had received. I rolled my eyes at his stupidity.

Connie laughed at him, clinging onto Sasha's arm and spluttering something about a horse-flamingo. Sasha looked Jean up and down before turning back to Connie. The two of them stared at each other, trying to keep a straight face before bursting into laughter at the same time. I smiled slightly as I watched them hold onto each other for balance.

Jean was an asshole. I didn't understand how these people put up with him.

I saw poor Marco try and keep his composure as he asked Jean if he needed help, but the stupid man just swatted him away and continued to hop like a cricket.

With that, I turned back to Armin. He had his lips pressed together to keep from laughing, and I grinned, looping my arm in his and leaning my head on his shoulder as I left the others to deal with Jean's melodrama.