Shorter Than Me

5 Ecyn

"Captain!" I call.

Captain Zebbo turns and waits for me to catch up to him. The people he was with leave him and continue inside.

"Yes?"

"I need to talk to you for a moment, sir."

"What about?"

"Briine. And training." He nods and I continue. "I was talking to Briine and... he was saying that he likes to be challenged. In training. I... I was just thinking that if the training went faster, he would feel more challenged. I don't mean to insult your training methods, sir. Ignore me if you want. It's just... Briine is my friend and he..."

"No, it's fine. I do think he needs to be challenged. Recruits need a taste of real life before they are forced to swallow it whole."

"And, sir?"

"Yes?"

"Please don't mention to him I said anything. I'd rather he not know, sir."

"Of course. Thank you for telling me."

"Thank you, sir." I put my right fist over my heart and my left fist behind me until he turns and walks inside.

I let my breath out. That wasn't very hard. It would have been with Captain Levi, but he's gone somewhere.

I wonder where he is. Where could he be? Where would he be? The only kind of liesure activity I can imagine him doing is killing titans.

Maybe that's what he's doing. Did he go past the Wall for some reason? That would be crazy.

I walk parallel to the building. The moon is out, but it's behind a lot of clouds so I'm walking in the dark. Crickets are the only sound I can hear other than a few distant voices. I stop for a second to lean against the wall. I breathe in the cold crisp air deeply.

The rough wall behind me fights the peacefulness I feel.

"Ecyn!" I hear my name called from my right. I turn my head and see someone walking toward me. Based on the tall silhouette, I guess it's Dren.

"How did you know it was me?" I ask as he gets closer.

"You're the only one with such a short figure."

"Come to brag about your height?" I smirk.

"No. Actually, I came to talk to you." He shifts his weight to the other foot. I can't see his face well and he can't see mine.

"What about?"

"Nothing specific. I just want to get to know you better. If that's alright with you," he adds quickly.

"Yeah, sure. As long as I get to know you better too."

"Of course. That's how conversations work." I hear the smile in his words.

I smile too. "So what do you want to talk about?"

He shrugs. "I don't know."

"I'm not good at these things," I tell him.

He moves to lean against the wall next to me. His arm is a cautious six inches away from mine. "I've noticed you don't need help mounting a horse any more."

"Yeah. Captain Levi didn't want me to be dependent on anyone. Like I'm a nuisance."

"You're not. You're really skilled. You'd kill so many titans."

"Thanks." I think I blush, or almost do. "But I don't know about "so many.""

"More than me." He shrugs.