The Trainee

Chapter Sixteen Samson's POV

I ended up spending the night with my mom going over what we saw out in the fight. By the time Dad came to get us, dinner was over and I was to report to my room with Eren, Armin, and Marco. To no one's surprise the tree of them were still awake when I walked in.

"There you are." Armin said in place of a greeting. "[F/n] was looking for you at dinner."

"Aww. Did she miss me?"

"Only as much as one misses a hangnail." Eren called out in a deadpan tone. His arms were elevated and there were little swirls of steam coming off of them as his body finished healing.

"I'm heartbroken. Scoot over." I pushed my "cousin" over and made myself comfortable. Armin took offence and said that was his spot and I told him to shove it. "Besides, Marco always welcomes visitors."

Now it was my turn to be told where to put my mouth. "Those with wandering hands need not apply."

The remaining banter was sparse since everyone was worn out from the day. Before falling asleep I tried to remember to find [F/n] in the morning.

~~~~

Sunrise came with the feeling of Eren landing on me as he got out of bed. "Sorry."

"Sorry my ass Jaeger." I grumbled making sure to grab a full fist of his butt resulting in a satisfying scream. I glanced over at the other bed and thought it was no secret Armin was nothing short of hideous when he woke up, it was like a Christmas present seeing his hair in a full bird nest and his eyes crusted with sleep.

In hindsight I should have taken the bed with him just to rub it in my sister's face later. "Mornin' beautiful." I sat up to stretch and blew him a kiss and he gave me the finger.

We set about our morning tasks of getting read before reporting for breakfast but when we got there I saw [F/n] and Mallory sitting together eating and laughing about something. I grabbed my food and sat myself next to them. "Ladies."

I got looks of surprise momentarily then the girls greeted me and turned back to their food and conversation. I could say it served me right for forgetting to check on [F/n] the evening before but Mallory beat me to it when I tried to interject into the conversation again.

"She was worried about you and you left her hanging."

"I'm sorry. I just got caught up in debriefing with my mom. We ended up working clear through dinner actually."

She eyed me, still clearly upset at being left on her own. "Honest?"

"As honest as a man like me could be."

"Not helping your case." [F/n] and Mallory shared a look

"I figured." I smiled and they both shook their heads.

[F/n] split the rest of her fruit with me as a peace offering. "So did you learn anything useful?"

The rest of the morning was spent telling her about the Titan that we fought and the samples my mother was able to collect. "It's usually impossible to keep and since the Titans disintegrate the moment they are killed but she's created a way to stabilize them long enough to be studied."

Morning chores turned to lunch after which we had to separate to attend to our duties. [F/n] returned to the infirmary and I joined my mother to continue the notes. I entered her office with a flourish and struck a pose with my back to her. "Mother it's me, Samson." At the last part I turned around and gave my best impression of a starlet from the interior making her stage debut.

My mom looked up from her notes and smiled. "Good to see you too hun. Transcribe these notes for me."

I took great pride in the fact that I was one of the only people who could read my mom's shorthand so I pulled up a chair and got to work. To the simple minded, my mother's 3 or 4 pages of scribbles would be simple to transfer over. But to those of us that knew her, this would be no less than 12 pages once fully written out. I was on page 5 when break time finally came in the form of my Dad rolling in and led my Mother out by the front of her shirt letting me know that she had been in the makeshift lab since before dawn and still hadn't eaten or bathed with the latter being the worst offence in his book.

I took this time to swing by the kitchens and grab a snack and go check on the infirmary which had moved indoors now that they had time to set things up properly. Greetings were called out as I passed some of my commerads who had been forced to spend the night under observation and made my way to the minor injury area which was now in one of the office rooms. I found [F/n] sitting with someone from Uncle Moblit's squad and she was removing a bit of wood stuck in the young lady's forearm.

"Samson don't you have work to be doing?" the soldier, Gerta barely looked my way.

"I am on my 15 minutes of yard time thank you very much. Besides, am I not allowed to enjoy the company of my darling."

They both stopped and looked at me as they spoke in unison. "I am not your darling." they looked at each other in shock of having the same reaction.

"What can I say? I get around." They turned their attention back to their task and I was allowed to sit as long as I was quiet. That lasted all of 3 minutes. "So Gerta, how'd that happen?"

"Titan tossed one of the wagons and I was hit in the process." a free hand was used to toss a red braid over her shoulder and I moved out of the way so it didn't hit me. In some

"What about you [F/n]? How's it been so far?"

She sighed and looked at me like she was beyond irritated. "I'm getting used to everything. Gerta is my 3rd person so far." I sat and watched as she stitched up the inch and a half gash quickly.

"You're pretty good at that."

[e/c] eyes flashed in my direction and I was reminded of how poorly [F/n] took to compliments. "Um, thanks. When you think about it skin is just like fabric and it's nothing more than fixing an old shirt."

Gerta looked offended. "Are you calling me old?"

[F/n] stuttered but I jumped in. "Dear Gerta you are only as old as the day is young."

"Not helping Akerman."

I was formally banished from the room when another soldier entered and threatened to give me a reason to be there if I didn't get a move on. Being the gentleman that I am I bowed out and made my way back to the office to finish my work.

Later that night I watched as [F/n] mingled with the other cadets and scouts and felt a sense of pride. She was making friends and it was all thanks to me.