eloquence ➪ aot oneshots + prefs

bundt // pieck

Your eyes fluttered open to the warmth of the sun on your cheeks. You'd fallen asleep with your curtains open, and now you were severely regretting it, as you'd just been blinded awake at the crack of dawn. You yawned and sat up straight, stretching your arms above your head before climbing out of bed. The yellow squares of light left by your apartment's open windows covered the floors throughout the kitchen and living room, adding a touch of vibrance to the flat's mostly brown and gray decor. As you rubbed your eyes and stepped into the kitchen, you couldn't help but shake the feeling that something important was happening today. Not something life-changing or soul-wrenching, but something like a...

"Oh!" you remarked quietly, lightly hitting the kitchen table with your fist as you walked past in triumph. There was a fair today in the village, celebrating the one-year mark since the war with Paradis--or, rather, the war against Eren Jaeger. You had planned to simply watch for your fourth-floor window, as the food and vending stalls were being set up just beneath your apartment block, but now you were thinking otherwise. It was such a beautiful day, and it would be nice to get some fresh air. You opened a wooden cabinet above your slightly-rusted stove to grab a piece of bread, but then lowered your hand as you realized if you had breakfast you wouldn't have time to ask anyone to accompany you to the fair. No, you didn't really want to go with anyone anyway. Going alone might give you more of a chance to leave in case you changed your mind again.

You grabbed the bread and a pan from a separate cupboard and twisted the knob on your old stove. It took a few seconds, but the stove eventually sputtered to life, the flames threatening to burn down the whole block before receding to tiny sparks beneath the pan. You wondered for a moment if you could even make toast on that in under an hour, and decided it was unlikely, so you finally made the decision on whether or not to eat breakfast, placing the bread back in the cupboard. You grabbed your shoes and walked out the door, figuring it would be nice to go see how the fair was coming along.

Sure enough, when you turned the corner around the front of your apartment block, you were almost overwhelmed by the bright colors of the stalls selling food, toys, trinkets, paintings and more that filled the entire street.Sure enough, when you turned the corner around the front of your apartment block, you were almost overwhelmed by the bright colors of the stalls selling food, toys, trinkets, paintings and more that filled the entire street. Small, colorful shops took up almost every inch of the road, leaving barely five feet of space for customers and citizens to roam the street. You were surprised to see how many people were already there, but the majority of them were setting up their shop or seemingly on their way elsewhere.

Seeing so many people proudly putting together their stalls made you wish you had a stall of your own to attend to--or better yet, a friends' shop that you could help out with. You didn't have a particular talent you were keen on sharing in a brightly-colored stall, but the idea still seemed entertaining. You strolled down the cobblestoned street, slowing down in front of a few shops you found interesting, but never coming to a complete stop as you didn't want to make anyone uncomfortable. You passed in front of a larger stall where a man was hanging rugs from a rack in the back of the stall. He closed his eyes when he smiled and waved, giving you the impression he was someone who smiled often. You waved back and continued down the street, still not stopping to ask vendors what they were selling since you were one of the only pedestrians out at the time. That is, of course, until you saw her.

She was wearing a tan shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows with a long brown skirt flowing around her knees, both of which were dusted with what appeared to be flour. Her dark hair was pulled back in what appeared to be a ponytail, but so many strands of hair were hanging around her face and cheeks you weren't exactly sure how she'd managed to pull it off.