Wren tucked what little belongings she had beneath her bed. As cadets they weren't really allowed to have much. Only the bare necessities. Wren had mostly spare clothes and a couple other things here and there, but all of it fit in her small bag. Her whole life, mashed into this backpack. She sighed and climbed up onto the bed. Her bunk mate, Sasha was already passed out.
When Wren had left the mess hall to find Ymir she had found her dragging the potato girl to the women's barracks with the small blonde girl in tow. Wren found out her name was Christa and that the potato girl's name was Sasha. Christa was very sweet in introducing herself, almost sickenly so. Sasha however, just mumbled out a half asleep greeting before being tossed in her bed by Ymir.
Wren hadn't really bothered to say hello to any of the other girls. She figured there was plenty of time for that tomorrow. So she changed out of her uniform into a simple nightgown and settled into her bed.
She fell asleep to the sound of Sasha'a soft snores next to her.
—==++==—
As their first day of training, the cadets were being tested for their ODM gear balance on some swing looking things. Wren was confident in her abilities, yet when it was her turn to be strapped to the wires her heart started hammering in her chest.
What if she fell and smacked her face on the ground like that Jaeger boy had before her? There wasn't much time left to ponder her fate and the wires began to lift her off the ground. Wren wobbled only for a moment before clenching her core and distributing her weight evenly. She was great, almost as good as that asshole Kirstein, who wouldn't stop bragging about how well he had done when he finished.
Before Wren knew it she was being lowered to the ground again. She unstrapped herself from the wires and looked to Commandant Sadis. He gave her a slight nod of approval. She felt a little swell of pride.
As she was making her way to the back of the group of cadets where those who were finished were waiting, she fiddled with the strap across her stomach. It was digging into her so uncomfortably. If she could only loosen it just so...
Wren had a flash of deja vu as she smacked into someone again. It was the same boy from last night. He turned around and opened his mouth to say something and froze when he saw it was Wren.
"We have got to stop meeting like this," the freckled boy said, a hint of humor in his voice.
"Sorry," Wren replied, "It really was my fault this time."
The boy laughed at this and stuck his hand out, "Marco Bodt," he introduced himself.
Wren hesitantly gripped his hand, "Wren."
"Just Wren?" Marco asked, smile not leaving his lips.
"Just Wren," Wren returned his kindness with the smallest of smiles, really only a slight upturn of one side of her mouth. Marco didn't care. His own grin didn't falter and his cheeks began to redden again.
"Like a bird?" came a voice from behind Marco. And out stepped Jean Kirstein from behind him.
Wren's small smile faded immediately and was replaced by lips drawn into a thin line and narrowed eyes, "What."
"Your name's Wren?" he asked, cocky smirk playing on his lips once again, "Like a bird? Your parents bird watchers or some shit?"
"Why do you care, Kirstein?" Wren hissed. Marco glanced between the two, looking more worried by the second.
"How sweet," Kirstein gushed, in a mocking tone, "Little dove remembered my name."
Wren clenched her jaw and wondered how much trouble she'd get in if she broke his stupid nose. Likely more than he's worth.
Wren looked away from his smirk and addressed Marco again, "Bye Marco. Good job today."
"Y-yeah you too," Marco replied as Wren stormed past the boys and headed towards where Ymir and Christa were standing. As she passed Kirstein she got one last glance of his face. He looked shocked. Not everyone is gonna fall for your instigating like you want them to, dickhead. Wren thought, pleased that she had thrown the boy off. He seemed like he was used to getting the reactions he wanted out of people. Well, Wren was not going to feed the bastard's ego for one second.
~~~~~
Jean's POV
~~~~~
"Jean?" Jean turned to Marco when he heard the freckled boy say his name, "You okay?"
"Fine," Jean huffed, "Why're you all red? You like that girl or something?"
Marco's blush only intensified, "I-I just think she's really nice."
"Well, I don't think so. She's prickly. And why does she look sad all the time? And how would you know if she's nice? The two of you have spoken like three words to each other," Jean knew he was being harsh to Marco, but something about that girl set him off. She put him on edge and he didn't like it one bit.
"With that logic, how do you know she's not nice? You've barely spoken to her either," Marco responded, not reciprocating Jean's hostility and instead asking with his signature smile back in place.
Jean grunted in response and looked over his shoulder one more time. Wren was speaking to Christa and Ymir. She still wasn't smiling like the other two girls were, but she looked content. Definitely not angry like she was when she looked at him.
Jean prided himself on being able to figure people out quickly. What makes them tick, what gets under their skin. But, he just couldn't get a read on that girl. She was weird.
Jean decided then that he was going to make it his mission to figure her out. For no other reason than to annoy her, of course.
YOU ARE READING
dove // jean kirstein
FanfictionWren Andromeda doesn't expect to make friends when she enlists in the military. All she wants to do is follow in her parents' footsteps. Let the military turn her into a weapon and join the Scouts. But fate has different plans. Wren's world ge...