IV - Truth or Dare

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Only a few days had passed since the survival training that had almost ended up in carnage. And if the incident was now behind them, a large majority of the cadets still showed obvious signs of trauma. Mina and Sasha had had many nightmares the past few nights, Connie and Jean jumped at the slightest suspicious or rough sound, Eren was even angrier than usual and so surly in training that Shadis had to berate him several times. Christa was furious with herself for allowing herself to be so miserably taken in, and had consistently harassed her brother to take the next step in her training. Which he refused until she calmed down.

Amos hated seeing them like this, he hated it more than he cared to admit. He missed the atmosphere of the 104th cadet corps, Connie's stupid jokes, the arguments between Jean and Eren, Sasha's carnivorous appetite. All of this seemed dead...

Fortunately, he intended to convey this through relatively universal, if unorthodox, methods.

(-)(-)(-)

Curfew had already passed, but five cadets were still up and out to prepare a little surprise.

"Are you sure it will work ?" Reiner asked as he placed a box of goods near the others.

He and Amos had secretly kept and hidden some of the human traffickers' contraband. Just for an occasion like this

"Is there really no other way ?" Bertholdt stammered with a bag on his back and a slightly more nervous than usual expression on his face.

"I tried everything to cheer them up," Amos replied, placing the bundle of firewood he was carrying next to Annie and Ymir who were busy trying to light a fire. "Unless you want to keep that depressed mood during the rest of our classes, put some effort into this. And need I remind you that we do this for our comrades, do you really want to leave them like this?"

"No," the taller teen automatically defended himself, "but we could be in big trouble if Shadis catches us."

"No worries on that side," Nox answered, "I seasoned the drinks of the instructors with a powerful sleeping powder. Not even a marching band would wake them up."

Annie looked up from the campfire with a raised eyebrow.

"Where did you find that?"

"In the smugglers' bags," he lied, "they had really good stuff."

The little blonde accepted his answer with a nod, and concentrated on her fire which finally came alive after an extra minute of patience.

Bertholdt soon realized he had run out of arguments, he glanced over at Reiner and Annie but neither seemed to want to abstain from the party.

"But ..." he began before being cut off by his best friend.

"Don't tell me you're afraid to drink?" Braun joked, taping a band across his back. We all deserved to relax and our comrades need our help. A small party isn't going to kill us."

Bertholdt looked at him with concern for a second, before finally lowering his head.

Ymir took some games from the traffickers' bags and brought them to Annie to start roasting them.

"I don't know how to cook," the little blonde warned.

" Leave it, I'll take care of it," Amos suggested while settling down at her side, "while I'm busy you can start to arrange the place a little. And bring me the bottles while you're at it, I'll flambé the meat with cognac."

Reiner devoted himself to open the crate containing the bottles, but since he was unable to tell the difference between the different beverages it contained, he brought it to Amos who uncorked one to smell it. He hurriedly pulled his nose away from the bottleneck, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Ouch, now that's whiskey," he breathed, scratching his olfactory organ, "there's at least 50% of pure alcohol in there."

This information worried his comrades.

"Isn't it a bit strong?" asked Reiner doubtfully.

Nox shrugged and corked the bottle.

"They don't seem to be all like that," he said, "but we'll have to be careful what we distribute if we want to avoid bad surprises tomorrow."

They nodded in agreement.

Amos then skewered a few rabbits and began roasting them over the fire using the improvised spit made by Annie.

"Well," he went on after having flambéed the meat under the impressed gaze of his comrades, "Reiner and Ymir, you can go get the others. Be discreet and keep the surprise. Bertholdt ? Go get mugs and plates from the refectory. Annie? We need more water, we're not going to spend the night drinking nothing but alcohol."

(-)(-)(-)

"Seriously Reiner," Connie grumbled, "what are you up to?"

"You'll see," replied the tall cadet, "we just thought you all needed to get your heads above water."

"We don't need any help," replied Eren, relatively annoyed at having been dragged out of bed after their grueling day of training.

"Says the one who always needs Mikasa to hold his hand," swung Jean.

"Shut up, Horseface!"

"Fuck you, suicidal bastard!"

"Will you shut up!" Ymir growled as she arrived with the girls following her. "We are here to relax! Not to beat the crap out of each other!"

Eren scowled at her and continued to follow Reiner while muttering words as vulgar as they were unintelligible.

Then Sasha paralyzed herself and was suddenly seized with uncontrollable tremors, Christa was so surprised by her sudden stop that she bumped into her.

" Sasha?" she asked a little worried. "Is everything alright ?"

The huntress didn't answer, her eyes had taken on a dangerous scarlet glow, an impressive amount of drool ran down her lips.

"Meat," she mumbled in a guttural voice, sniffing the air, "meat!"

Without warning, she began to run like an animal towards the meeting place, hissing furiously.

"Stop her!" Reiner screamed in panic as he ran after her. "She's going to devour everything !"

Immediately the cadets followed in their comrade's footsteps and ran, unfortunately for them Sasha was much too fast, and the only one who could have caught up with her was not motivated enough to do so.

(-)(-)(-)

Annie placed the buckets of water she had gone to draw from the river, alongside Amos, who partially raised his head.

"Potato Girl is coming." He warned, continuing to turn the spit, "Can you take care of her or do you want me to?"

The little blonde raised an eyebrow before hearing a cry worthy of a hungry banshee coming from the West, she let out a sigh.

"I'll handle this."

With these words, she went and planted herself facing the direction from which the scavenger was going to arrive and put herself in her usual fighting stance while glaring at the woods with her icy gaze.

Sasha almost instantly popped out of the bushes and ran straight for the feast.

"Meeeaaaaat !" she roared before seeing a pair of deadly cold silvery blue eyes.

Her survival instinct took over her animalistic appetite, she stoped so suddenly that she made two long furrows on the ground before stopping just in front of Annie.

The petite blonde stared at her for a very long ten seconds to make sure the huntress was more terrified than hungry, before slowly pointing to one of the benches set up earlier in the evening.

"Sit down," she ordered coldly, "or I'll break your jaw and force you to watch the others eat."

This prospect made Potato girl shudder in terror, she hastened to carry out Annie's orders by sitting as straight as possible. But her gaze remained glued to the rabbits.

"Done," the short blonde announced as Nox gave her a thumb up to thank her.

A few seconds later, the other cadets burst into the clearing, gasping and scarlet-faced.

"Where's Sasha ?" Reiner asked after breathing a sigh of relief when he saw that the game was intact.

Annie nodded nonchalantly in the direction of the huntress who was salivating while being quietly seated.

"What's happening ?" Connie questioned, noticing the meat being cooked.

The recruits' stomachs rumbled, their eyes widened at the dream they were about to live. Amos greeted them with a broad smile.

'Sit down,' he said as Bertoldt returned with a bag full of cutlery, 'it's practically ready. And don't worry about the instructors, they won't wake up until tomorrow morning."

"If not at noon."

The teenagers did as they were asked, and took their places around the campfire.

"Is it someone's birthday ?" Jean asked.

Amos shook his head.

"No," he replied, pulling a knife from his boot to cauterize it under the flames, "but I figured a little party was more than necessary given the general mood."

He sliced off a good piece of meat and put it on a plate brought by Bertholdt.

"So ?" he resumed louder. "Who is hungry ?"

They were all too happy to answer him positively, and all followed Sasha's example once served. The cadets filled their stomachs as much as possible, savoring every bite and every drop of juice from this unique pleasure.

Amos raised his head from his plate for a few moments to see the benefits of his little party.

His friends had all regained their colors, Sasha was eating like before, Christa was laughing with Ymir while royally munching on his meat, Jean was ecstatic over the food, he promised Marco that they would have many meals like this once they were members of the Military Police, Connie tried a few stupid jokes that didn't make anyone laugh, but made Nox smile. Eren seemed invigorated for the first time since the survival exercise, and was chatting ardently with Armin, even Mikasa had regained her colors seeing her friends smiling and laughing, she was eating her meal silently enjoying the expressions on their faces.

"Well done," Annie complimented when she sat beside the tall blond.

"Thanks."

"I was talking about the food."

Amos burst out laughing.

"Sure you were."

The little blonde rolled her eyes, but didn't insist any longer, Nox grabbed a bottle which he uncorked before bringing it to his lips.

"Hey Amos?" Ymir called from her seat. "What are you drinking ?"

"Fancy whiskey," he replied, taking another sip, "50% of that shit is pure alcohol."

The tall girl and the rest of the cadets frowned, some glaring at Nox.

"And you're drinking it on your own without sharing ?"

"I've been advised that this may be too strong for you," he replied, shrugging before taking another swig.

Ymir winced in displeasure, grabbed her cup and came to stand in front of her girlfriend's brother.

"Give me some, you bastard," she growled, handing him her cup.

Amos gave her a mocking smile, before turning to the others.

"Who else wants some ?"

Almost all the recruits nodded greedily, Mikasa casted a worried look in Eren's direction as he joined in after a moment of hesitation.

"Then let me put on a few rules," Nox said while rising from his seat. "Ladies. If you don't want to wake up with a boy in your bed tomorrow I advise you to drink with moderation, I don't want to spend my evening chaperoning to make sure none of you end up with a swollen belly in a few months."

The girls blushed furiously when they heard this, some glared at the tall blond with furious looks that he ignored.

"Secondly, if there's a single fight that breaks out I will demolish those who have provoked it, that goes for everyone."

He gave a severe look to Jean and Eren who swallowed before nodding.

"Thirdly," he announced, getting up to rummage through a bag, "those who wish to drink..."

He pulled a magnificent varnished wooden violon and slung it over his shoulder.

"… have to dance."

 (-)(-)(-)

For nearly three hours, the party was in full swing. The cadets danced, drank, ate and had fun around their campfire while laughing and singing.

Initially, almost everyone agreed to abide by Amos' rules, but the few recalcitrants ended up feeling alone seeing their comrades having fun and joined the party. Christa devoted herself to replacing her brother with the violon whenever he wanted to take a break to drink or chat with others. Deep down he was very proud of himself, the atmosphere within the 104th had never been so good, the cadets were arm in arm dancing around the fire and laughter prevailed. He had to admit that he enjoyed this evening greatly, seeing all the people he grew up with so happy warmed his heart.

Unfortunately, he should have known that everything wouldn't go as well as he had hoped, and it was confirmed when he noticed that a tall guy with brown hair was roughly dragging a completely drunk Sasha by the arm.

Without warning, the predation instantly seized his eyes, and he put down his bottle before starting his hunt.

The dark-haired cadet didn't get very far, and contented himself with throwing the huntress on the ground behind one of the dormitories before starting to unbutton his pants.

Amos grabbed him hard by the back of the neck, ignored his gasp of pain and threw him back. The big booby staggered, beating his arms in vain before collapsing with his four limbs in the air, he straightened up painfully when he discovered his attacker.

'I thought you wouldn't play chaperone,' Rodolf muttered with his alcohol-laden breath.

"I lied," Nox replied, glaring, "tell me, you were not doing what I think you were going to do ?"

Obviously, the tall boy was too drunk to notice the guttural tone used by the tall blond, so he just shrugged.

"Hey, you're the one who said they shouldn't drink too much if they didn't want to end up in bed with a guy."

He nonchalantly pointed his finger at Sasha.

"Potato Girl drank too much," he concluded as if it were obvious.

Amos didn't answer, his eyes wide with demented animal rage, he let out a bestial growl that startled Rodolf.

"You Parasite," he hissed before time began to slow down around him.

 (-)(-)(-)

He put Sasha in his bed less than five minutes later under the drunken and curious gaze of Hannah and Elsa who threw him "good nights" while giggling stupidly. He smiled at them, before going to comb the camp from top to bottom to make sure that no wrongdoing had taken place during his absence, but he was reassured to find that it was not the case.

When he returned to the party grounds, he noticed that almost everyone had retired for the evening, the last ones still present were engaged in an intense yet senseless discussion.

After midnight passed most of the recruits were too tired or drunk to continue dancing, so Reiner offered to move on to the next attraction of the evening.

"Ok everyone, he announced in a loud voice, now that the tongues are loosened it's time to play a dangerous little game."

Amos raised an eyebrow, before grabbing his bottle and coming to join the circle the cadets were beginning to form. Christa came to sit by his side and put her head on his shoulder under Ymir's somewhat jealous gaze and the envious eyes of the other boys.

"What game are you talking about ?" Amos asked.

Bertholdt, Eren, Connie, Mikasa, Armin, Ymir, Jean, Marco, Amos, Mina, Christa and Annie gave Reiner a questioning look.

"Truth or dare, if you don't answer or don't do the dare, you have to drink."

Some recruits grunted, but nodded nonetheless. Amos scanned the faces of the attendees to make sure everyone present was still fit to play.

"Wait a second," he thought, suppressing a laugh, "has Mikasa been drinking ?"

The oriental indeed had her cheeks flushed from the drink, and despite her imperturbable stoic expression, her gaze was much less sharp than usual.

"I have a feeling this game is going to be fun."

"Who should start ?" Marco asked with a hint of childish impatience.

"Well, about you ?" Jean suggested, giving him a friendly nudge.

The freckled boy raised his eyebrows, before thinking quickly.

"Amos ? Truth or Dare ?"

"What a surprise," he sarcastically thought before answering: "truth."

"What do you know of the Noble Police?"

The tall blond froze in place, before heaving a sigh and swallowing a shot of whiskey.

"You could have found a subject a little more cheerful to start this game," he grumbled while Marco scratched his head.

"Sorry."

"Why are you making such a fuss about it ?" Eren sneered. "They're just MPs like the others."

"That's where you're completely wrong," interrupted Nox in a deep voice, the MPs are corrupt and lazy incompetents. But the NPs is a whole different story. These guys are rebel hunters and professional killers. They are the little personal soldiers of the noble families, and when two noble families come into conflict, it is they who beat the shit out of each other to death in the name of the Lord they serve."

The recruits remained dumbfounded by these disturbing revelations, Marco, Jean and Connie were particularly startled by these words.

"I've said too much, I'll have to slow down on the whiskey."

"That is why I strongly recommend that you do not join these psychos," he added, staring at the three concerned and Annie, "you could end up killing each other in the name of duty. Contempt yourselves with the MPs, if you want to clean them from top to bottom I wish you all the possible success. But stay away from the NPs."

They nodded one after the other, while Reiner, Annie and Bertholdt exchanged a very short knowing look.

"My turn," Nox said, clapping her hands to dissipate the mood that had become heavy. Annie ? Truth or Dare ?

"Dare," replied the young girl in a bored tone.

"Kiss Reiner," he whispered with a mocking smile.

He had never seen anyone drink a glass of alcohol so fast in his entire life, not even his father had been so quick. Even Eren had not seen the drunk soldiers of Shiganshina stalking each other at such speed.

General hilarity engulfed the recruits at the lightning speed with which Leonhart took his drink, and in part because of the instant rejection Reiner had received.

"Fuck you, Nox," she spat, flipping him off.

Amos blew a simple kiss at her in response, drawing more laughter from the others.

Annie snorted in dismay and turned her angry glare at a laughing Reiner, "Reiner. Truth or Dare ?"

" Dare."

"Repeat twenty times in a row: 'I'm an incompetent cunt,'" she ordered in a firm voice.

All the recruits widened their eyes at the violence of this dare, Reiner in particular felt like he had been slapped across the face.

A horrified expression took hold of Bertholdt's face.

"Annie..."

"Shut up," said the young girl, sipping her cup of whiskey. "He knows he deserves it."

Her compatriot swallowed hard, before getting up to perform his action.

"I'm an incompetent cunt, I'm an incompetent cunt, I'm an incompetent cunt..."

A good minute passed before he finished his twenty repetitions, a heavy atmosphere had settled around the campfire, Annie seemed satisfied.

Reiner took a long sip of alcohol to recover from the grueling ordeal imposed by his comrade before turning to Christa.

"Truth or Dare ?"

"Truth."

"How are you so good at fighting ? Every time I'm put against you you kick my ass."

Many cadets nodded at this, for them too were curious about Christa's skills.

A violent blush seized the cheeks of the little blonde, she looked at her drink and gulped it in one go.

"I've been trained since I was eight years old," she revealed while letting her head rest on her brother's shoulder. "Because someone… got pissed… And I mean really pissed. I never saw Eren nearly get as pissed as this person."

This drew sharp looks from all the natives of Shinganshina. But instead of answering them, she through a very mocking smile in Amos' direction who found the stars far more interesting than his sister's story.

"You think Mikasa's bad, Eren ?" she asked while pointing a finger Nox's chin, "well that guy was far worse."

"Don't exaggerate." Her brother grimaced in disdain.

He missed the oriental's icy glare.

"You almost killed those poor boys !" she chastised in a drunk voice.

"I would have killed them if father hadn't stopped me, those little bastards were throwing rocks at your face."

The cadets' eyes widen in horror at the casual tone he employed while talking about murdering children, they started exchanging worrying looks among them.

Fortunately Ymir came to their rescue:

"Are you done 'Mikaso'? Or do you wanna piss farther to prove your manliness ?"

Almost every cadet bursted into laughter while Amos was grimacing in disgust and Mikasa through an appalled look at the freckled girl.

"Fuck you, dickhead." he through back, but a light slap on the back of his head from his sister ruined his attempt at being authoritarian. Which drew more laughter.

Anyway, Christa yawned in a ladylike way while scanning the crowd, it's my turn.

She considered her choice for a second, noticed that a certain oriental looked upset, and asked:

"Mikasa? Truth or Dare ?"

"Truth."

"Why are you always wearing that scarf ?"

The half blood pulled up her piece of clothing over her nose, all traces of anger left her face in a blink.

"Eren gave it to me after saving my life," she whispered, thinking back to that very important moment, "I really care about it."

The little blonde nodded, smiling, satisfied by this answer. Before a detail makes him raise an eyebrow.

"Looks like she's seen better days," she remarked. "Do you know how to patch it up?"

Mikasa shook her head shyly, hiding her embarrassment, Christa then gave her a dazzling smile.

"I can teach you if you want."

The oriental girl's face suddenly lit up, and she thanked the little blonde sincerely as she continued to smile at him.

" Your turn now."

Mikasa turned to Bertholdt after noticing that he hadn't been interrogated yet.

"Truth or Dare ?"

"Dare."

"Kiss Annie."

The big booby froze in place, watched the little blonde for a moment, and emptied his goblet out of sheer cowardice. Everyone laughed except Amos, Christa, Mikasa and Annie.

"Why does everyone want to kiss me ?" The latter growled, ulcerated by the attempts of the other cadets.

"Apparently, the lonely wolf with the cold eyes has a lot of success around here," the adviser joked from his seat, "there are three boys here who really want to kiss you."

"Who ?" she exclaimed, horrified, scrutinizing those concerned with such an intimidating gaze that they all turned their heads.

"Figure it out yourself."

"Amos ?" choked Bertholdt in an effort to divert attention, "truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Who among us will die first?"

This macabre question cast a chill that was automatically broken by the tall blond's burst of laughter.

"Connie, definitely."

"Definitely," added Reiner.

"Definitely," agreed Jean.

"Definitely," Connie admitted.

All eyes turned to him.

"What ? I would have said the same thing."

Amos laughs once more before shaking her hand.

"Since you're doomed, h'about we give you the floor this time."

"Okay,"approved the boy with the shaved head before turning to Jean, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Write a poem for Mikasa."

Jean had never been good at this sort of thing, and he refused to miss a poem in honor of his 'secret' crush, so he chose to drink.

"Mina, truth or dare ?"

"Dare", exclaimed the girl relieved that her turn had finally come.

"Kiss… Amos."

The concerned gave him a dismayed look, before turning his head towards the young girl with black pigtails who seemed about to faint. Realizing that she had a crush on him, he motioned for Christa to raise her head before standing up in turn to give Mina an encouraging smile.

"If that's really what you want, you'd better hurry, unless you want a drink."

Carolina hesitated for a few seconds that seemed like an eternity to her, before coming to stand in front of him, holding her breath. Having no desire to spend the entire night letting the young girl weigh the pros and cons, he grabbed her by the cheeks and kissed her greedily.

Whistles and exclamations commented on this act so daring in everyone's eyes, Amos applied himself to offer her a worthy first kiss while Mina was paralyzed on the spot and voluntarily suffered his licks.

Considering that the tender exchange had lasted long enough, Nox parted from the girl with pigtails, licking her lips shamelessly. She blushed so hard she looked like she was about to explode on the spot.

"Your turn," he announced, wiping his lips with the back of his sleeve.

Unfortunately, she was so shocked that she fell on her buttocks holding her cheeks in embarrassment.

While the tall blond understood that it was simply a result of the effect his natural beauty had on Mina, the other people present laughed and whistled at the youngest who was kissed by the boy of her dreams.

" Well, " he growled to put an end to the teasing a tiny too insistent for his taste, "I'll take her place for once. Annie? Truth or Dare ? "

" Me again ? " the little blonde girl growled inwardly before answering: truth.

"Marry, fuck, kill," Amos enumerated, swallowing a sip of whiskey, "between Connie, Armin and..."

He was about to say Eren when he met the incendiary gaze of the Oriental at Jaeger's side, a mocking smile lit up his face.

" ... and Mikasa, " he completed under the furious jet black eyes of the latter. " Which one do you fuck, which one do you marry and which one do you kill? "

Annie rolled her eyes, before taking a moment to think.

"I'll marry Armin, at least I'll marry someone with a brain."

The concerned blushed furiously and hid his face behind his hands.

"I'll fuck Mikasa," she added, shrugging her shoulders, hiding her smirk.

Amos restrained himself with all his strength from bursting out laughing at the outraged expression of the Oriental.

"And I kill Connie," she finished, taking a sip of alcohol.

"Thank God," the bald man muttered relieved.

Unfortunately for him Reiner heard him.

" What ?! " exclaimed the latter, falsely scandalized. " You'd rather die than marry or fuck Annie? "

The concerned glanced at Springer, daring him to answer.

" Yes," he admitted, scratching his head, " I mean ... I think it's the less painful way to get away from this mess. "

Bursts of laughter followed this declaration, even Annie seemed slightly amused by this confession.

The only one who wasn't amused at all was Mikasa, the latter still glaring at the little blonde.

"Well then, Connie," the fighter continued, "truth or dare?"

" Truth. "

"Who would you fuck?"

The Ragako native quickly swallowed a glass of whiskey to avoid answering, and nearly choked on a coughing fit.

" Damn, " he choked, swallowing the horrible taste, " what is this thing? "

"Fancy whiskey," Amos informed him, "see that as an honor. "

The drinker swallowed hard, pounding his chest, before turning to a person who had not yet been questioned.

"Eren, truth or dare?"

"Truth," replied the curious boy, ignoring Jean and Reiner's boos.

"If you had to bed a local girl, who would it be ?"

" What ? "

"He's asking you which girl you'd want to fuck if you had the chance," Amos clarified before turning a disappointed look on Connie.

"He could have shown a little more imagination."

Eren blushed violently, before answering:

" I haven't really thought about it, training is all that matters to me at the moment. "

"Liar, but we will avoid exposing you to preserve Mikasa."

The answer was disappointing to everyone, but Eren seemed more interested in the prospect of asking rather than answering:

" Armin? Truth or Dare ? "

The little blond was a little surprised to see his best friend questioning him, nevertheless he complied with a nod.

" Dare. "

" Beat Amos at chess. "

The concerned raised his eyebrows in amusement, and threw a defiant smile at Armin who felt a colossal pressure fall on his shoulders.

" I'll get the chessboard, " offered Christa getting up to return to the dormitory.

Ymir snorted on his side.

" Seriously, don't we have anything better to do than watch two big heads play chess ? " she grumbled, taking another sip.

"If I lose, I promise to do ten truths or dares in a row," Amos announced, straightening up to stretch.

The tall girl stopped in her tracks, and let a wide smile light up her face. She went to stand behind Armin to give him a good pat on the back.

"Go get him.' she said, handing him her bottle, " You're going to need that. "

The little blond hesitated for a moment, before swallowing a good swig, he swallowed hard before slapping his cheeks to put his mind back to work.

"I'm ready," he said as Christa returned with the chessboard.

Surprisingly, Armin chose the black pieces.

Truth or dare was immediately suspended for the duel between the two smartest people in the camp, and while three quarters of the cadets understood neither the rules nor the game they were playing, they were all captivated by the game between the little blond and the tall blond.

However, it was obvious to all that Amos had taken a significant advantage when Armin had only his King as his remaining piece. And Jean like others didn't understand the reason why the native of Shiganshina was spending his time escaping the hold of the tall blond when the latter had very clearly announced that Armin could no longer win. After a moment, the face of the smaller of the two blond lit up with satisfaction.

" Stalemate "

"Damn…" Nox groaned in mock disappointment.

"Armin won ?" Eren questioned enthusiastically as five other cadets celebrated a victory they thought was a given.

" I did not win, " corrected the native of Shiganshina with embarrassment, I just… snatched the draw. "

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Amos reassured him, "it's the first time I haven't won."

Not knowing what to say, Armin scowled to avoid exposing his pride.

" So ... " commented Jean hesitantly, "... Armin did not win. "

"He didn't lose either, for once," the Adviser noted with a smile. "I'll do five truth or dares as a reward. But it's Armin and no one else who will decide who can ask me. "

The little blond understood without difficulty that his friend was asking him to show fair play by offering him the possibility of choosing. However, he allowed himself to retain the prerogative of the first question:

"Truth or Dare ?

"Dare," Amos replied, theorizing that Armin would have preferred a "truth".

" Teach me a unique move in chess. "

"You little ..." he thought, frankly impressed, " you dare take advantage of my generosity to steal away my strategies ... I'm so proud of you. "

" Take the white pieces and play pawn E4, I'll show you a trap I invented, " he grumbled.

Armin complied, and advanced his pawn. To his great incomprehension, Amos handed him a pawn and then a knight in the flesh before stupidly advancing his bishop to put his King in check, but the latter could very well neutralize the threat by himself.

"But what's the point of doing…that…? Ah! No ! " he cried as he realized his Queen was roughly exposed to the opposing Queen without any defense or cover.

" Does that answer your question ?" Nox sneered, devouring his opponent's master piece.

Armin buried his head in his hands and called himself a fool while Amos laughed.

"Did my trap satisfy you?" he asked smiling.

" Yes, " grumbled the little blond, " I admit that I was so confused and sure of myself that I did not see anything coming. "

"Well, then who else will have the right to question me?"

Armin surveyed his friends before giving the floor to Ymir.

" Truth or Dare ? "

" Dare. "

"Kiss the girl you have a crush on. "

"There aren't any," Nox replied, shrugging.

The tall girl gritted her teeth, but didn't let herself be disheartened.

"Then kiss the prettiest one."

"Okay," he replied before grabbing Christa and giving her a good kiss on the cheek which made her chuckle.

The boys stared at him with jealous looks while Ymir winced in displeasure.

"I should have said 'aside from Christa,'" she growled, watching her tipsy lover hug her brother.

"In that case it would have been Mikasa and I doubt she would have liked it," Amos answered without restraint.

The oriental immediately swallowed a swig of whiskey before hiding her face under her scarf.

" Hey ! " Eren scolded. " Calm down ! You haven't stopped since the party started! "

"I agree," Amos said concernedly, "why did you start drinking in the first place?"

She pointed accusingly at the young man with the neck of her bottle, revealing to him the real state in which she was.

"Gee, I wonder why … " gritted the girl, glancing at the tall blond.

He frowned.

"I hope you're not implying it's my fault," he replied, holding her accusing eyes.

" Oh no ? Who said 'those who want to dance have to drink'?'"

" That's not at all what I said, " he growled outraged, " I said that those who want to drink must dance, I did not say anything for those who only wanted to dance. "

Mikasa opened her mouth to retort before realizing she had nothing to say. So she preferred to frown on herself and hide her face under her scarf.

Amos was very tempted to point out to her that she should listen to him more carefully and more often, but that would have brought back the pain he had tried to erase by throwing this party.

So he chose to keep his lips sealed for this time.

" Well, " he growled, massaging his temples, " who's turn is it, Armin? "

The little blond hastened to choose someone to evacuate the tension that reigned between the oriental and the tall blond.

"Connie?"

The native of Ragako thinks for a few seconds, before asking:

" Truth or Dare ? "

" Dare. "

" Arm wrestle with Mikasa. "

The Oriental's raven eyes sparkled instantly upon hearing this, she lowered her scarf and got into position on the grass. She didn't even bother to hide her small smile.

Armin trembled with nervousness, it was not at all what he had had in mind when he wanted to lighten the mood.

For his part, Amos was not amused at all, he glared at Connie who avoided him by looking away.

Ymir laughed openly when he saw his annoyed face.

" If I must, " he grumbled, lying down in turn to take his opponent's hand.

The starting signal was given, and the result was most predictable.

Indeed, and for the beauty of the sport, the tall blond tried to move the iron grip of the oriental. But she didn't blink an inch, she stared at him with a bored and stoic expression for a few seconds, before crushing the back of his hand against the grass without the slightest mercy.

Fortunately, Amos had the good idea to accompany the movement, otherwise he would have dislocated his shoulder.

A few cadets including Annie had the courage to chuckle at the Adviser's humiliating defeat, Mikasa seemed particularly pleased.

"Okay," Nox groaned, straightening up to massage his joint, "if you're done laughing, we can move on to the next one. "

Christa immediately offered to massage his shoulder, but his brother politely refused without forgetting to smile at him for his kindness.

" Uh ... " Armin hesitated browsing their comrades look, "Annie? "

The concerned thanked the little blond with a nod, before fixing Nox in the eyes.

" Truth or Dare ? "

"Truth," Amos replied, beginning to regret his idea.

"I don't want the others to hear it," she said, motioning for him to follow her a bit further.

Nox raised an eyebrow, but eventually complied.

Once alone, Leonhart asked her question:

"Which boy has a crush on me?"

"Oh for fuck's sake..." Amos growled, slapping his forehead, "Annie..."

" Answer me," she said sternly.

" You're drunk, " he replied, ignoring his own state, " what are you going to do with that information ? "

"It's none of your business, Nox," the petite blonde growled, clenching her fists.

"You want to know if Armin has a crush on you? The answer is yes. "

The petite blonde's eyes widened slightly, before returning to her neutral expression.

" And the others ? "

"Don't tell me you're interested in other people," Amos growled, crossing his arms. "But don't trap me in your romance story, Annie, I already don't appreciate that you used me rather than talk to the person concerned."

Leonhart clenched his fists again and glared at him with an icy stare that only earned him a disinterested raised eyebrow.

"Now let's get back around the fire before the others suspect something."

And so they did, while maintaining a neutral face for Annie and a fake smile for Amos. Their facades faded, however, when they discovered the sad spectacle before them.

Apparently Jean and Eren had another lover spat, and this time they decided to settle their differences with a drinking contest. Much to the chagrin of Mikasa and Armin who almost begged their friend to stop. But the native of Shiganshina was not known for backing down in the face of adversity.

"What's happening to you, Jaeger?" Kirstein bellowed, taking another shot. "'Not able to take a little drink? What you gonna do against the titans if you can't fucking hold your fucking stomach?"

"Shut the fuck up, Horseface!" Eren replied imitating him. "You, on the other hand, there's no point buttering a head that's already full of shit. You should stop or else you might become a decent guy!"

Nox rolled his eyes, before crossing the clearing to face the two brawlers.

"Enough !" he thundered in a firm voice. "You're going to go into an alcoholic coma if you continue like this."

"Mind your own business!" replied Jean before trying to take another shot.

"Yeah, fuck off!" Eren nodded as he did the same.

Predation appeared in a split second, Amos grabbed the rivals by the back of their necks, straightened them up, forcibly spun them and girdled their throats before planting two fingers in each one's mouth. They widened their eyes before violently regurgitating the exaggerated amounts of alcohol they had drank.

Mikasa immediately wanted to intervene, but Armin held her back by the arm, shaking his head. Making him understand that it was unfortunately necessary.

"Bloody hell," growled the tall blonde frankly disappointed, "do not complain tomorrow if you have a fucking migraine."

He waited for them to finish emptying their respective stomach, before handing Eren to his comrades.

"Here, Reiner, take him to…"

Unfortunately Braun was unable to answer, he was lying in the grass, his eyelids closed.

Amos let out an exasperated sigh as Hoover looked down, he was the only one who had noticed how drunk his friend had gotten after Annie's dare.

"Bertholdt?" resumed the Adviser. "Take him back to his bed."

The taller nodded before executing.

"Are there others who need help?"

Ymir and Christa supported each other, they responded by shaking their heads. Armin flinched slightly, but luckily for him Annie came to lend him her shoulder, Connie carried Mina on her back, Mikasa didn't move an eyelash.

"Everyone to bed," Amos finally announced, handing Jean to Marco. "Conny? Pass Mina to Mikasa, the boys go to the boys dorm and the girls to the girls dorm. Let us know if there is a problem. I'll come back to clean up as soon as I put Eren to bed. You have six hours of sleep ahead of you before Shadis wakes up, savor every second of it. Nobody shows up sick tomorrow. Understood ?"

"Yes Amos."

"Perfect, to bed now."

With these words, he perched Eren on his shoulder under the annoyed gaze of Mikasa, and went to the boys' dormitory followed by Bertholdt, Marco and Connie.

He took off Jaeger's boots before slipping him under his covers, then he made sure that everyone had gone back to their beds before going out to smoke one of the cigarettes he had extracted from the traffickers while finishing his bottle.

"I think I'm beginning to understand why you liked it so much, Father," he thought as he took another shot, "it's a good painkiller for the cruelty of the World, too bad it is not a real cure."

He quietly lit his cigarette and watched the glow of the moon with his glassy gaze, he let out an uncontrollable smoky chuckle.

"Fuck I drank so much ... but to be honest I'm pretty proud of myself. Everyone smiled again, everyone had a good time. Even the hangover of the next day we will share it together."

He stopped to take a last sip and puff on his cigarette, after which he released a cloud of smoke skyward while staring at the stars.

"I'm happy to be here," he concluded before going to pick up the trash left by the revelers.

It took him much longer than he would have liked, but he wasn't particularly annoyed. He nonchalantly gathered together the crates, the carcasses, the bottles and the canvas bags. He kept one of these to collect all the cutlery, cups and plates. Then he lit a new fire using the remaining alcohol to burn all the waste. Once this was done, he returned to the refectory where he set about doing all the dishes for his comrades for fifteen minutes. However, he had to exercise the greatest caution in order to prevent his alcohol-clouded mind from playing a nasty trick on him. He didn't want to break a plate or cut his hand with a knife.

A powerful yawn escaped his jaw and he stretched like a feline.

"Well…" he purred, lighting another cigarette, "five and a half hours of sleep before Shadis' bugle blast, I've seen worse."

That's when he heard the distinctive sounds of punches against the practice posts. He frowned and walked towards the source while continuing to smoke. He was almost not surprised to discover that the author of all this fuss was none other than Mikasa, on the other hand what surprised him was the state in which she was.

Indeed, the oriental was soaked in sweat from head to toe, the poles on which she tapped had almost all been reduced to crumbs under the onslaught of her fists. The only one still standing was thick as a tree trunk, which had no protection to take the blows properly.

That was probably why the girl's hands were covered in blood.

"Mikasa ?"

No answer, she kept knocking with all her might.

"Mikasa ?!" he called more firmly.

Always nothing.

Amos had had enough, he put his arms under the oriental girl's armpits and pulled her back.

"Stop for the Goddesses's sakes, you're going to break your hands !"

For a moment he thought she was going to struggle or force herself free, but instead she collapsed on top of him.

"Hey, hey, hey !" cried the young man, helping him to sit down. "What's wrong ? Mikasa ?"

It was then that he realized that in addition to being drenched in sweat, her breath was that of an ox, her facial features were distorted with anxiety and grief, her breath reeked of whiskey and her face was covered in tears.

"Carla ..." she whispered, "I'm so sorry. I promise you I'll protect him, I won't fail again."

"She's delirious," Amos thought sadly, "I'm going to have to sober her up."

"Calm down," he whispered tenderly, "I'll take care of you. But I need you to be strong, okay ?"

Mikasa nodded absently, her eyes dripping with tears.

Nox gently lifted her to her feet while supporting her wobbly legged body, then he tossed her scarf behind her back, before stepping behind her, girdling her throat and shoving two fingers into her mouth.

The oriental girl's eyes widened in horror and she began to struggle with muffled cries, but she was too drunk to free herself from the tall blond's grip. And soon she was regurgitating an astronomical amount of whiskey onto the floor.

"Bloody Hell" the young man thought, noting the extent of the fetid puddle, "did she down a whole barrel ?"

"Stop Please !" the girl begged in a voice drowned in tears.

Amos felt his heart tear, but he didn't give in.

"I have to do it again just in case," he informed her regretfully.

"No…"

Too late, Mikasa felt two fingers force through the inside of her mouth to pierce her uvula. She bent forward and vomited once more, a less but still impressive amount came out of her.

"Good," the tall blond calmly announced, lying her gently against a tree, "you should feel better tomorrow morning."

The oriental didn't seem to have heard him, she wiped a violent fit of coughing, inhaled deeply before exhaling with a hoarse breath. She desperately tried to relieve the pain in her stomach by breathing in the fresh air.

Amos took a silk handkerchief from his pocket and snatched a skin full of water from his belt, then he dampened the cloth before busying himself with cleaning the girl's sweat-covered face and vomit-covered lips.

She shivered at the cold and wet contact, her eyes gradually regained their light before landing on the tall blond.

"What is happening ?" she whispered hoarsely because of the inflammation in her throat.

"You drank too much," Amos replied, wiping the sweat from his brow, "I had to make you vomit."

The oriental reddened with shame before putting a hand on her stomach, she had the terrible feeling that a wild animal was tearing her stomach from the inside.

"Here," said the young man, handing her his waterskin, "rinse your mouth and drink slowly, otherwise you'll vomit again."

Mikasa thanked him with a nod, and did as she was asked. She dislodged the last traces of vomit between her teeth by circulating the water there before spitting it out, then she swallowed a few mouthfuls, but stopped when her stomach began to hurt her again.

"Give me your hands," Amos said softly, pulling a wooden pot out of his jacket pocket, "we'd better treat them right away."

The oriental was about to ask him what he meant by that when she looked down at hier limbs, noticing the bloody state they were in.

"W-what happened?" she asked, flexing her aching fingers to check that they were working properly.

"You were pulverizing the poles with your bare hands when I found you," he said, gesturing nonchalantly toward what was left of the practice equipment, "you were raving about apologizing to a certain 'Carla' for "failing".

Mikasa widened her eyes in horror upon hearing this, she felt the weight of her failure coming back on her heart at a full speed.

She tried to hide her face under her scarf, but the stabbing pain in her hand stopped her movement. Amos opened his pot, covered his finger with cream and gently took it to apply his concoction to the girl's wounds.

She shuddered as she felt the remedy sting her flesh.

"It's nothing," Nox informed her, making sure not to leave any area uncovered, "you have an inhuman metabolism, by tomorrow it will be gone."

Mikasa didn't answer, she just waited for the tall blond to finish treating his wounds, after which she hugged her knees, and let out a tear.

Amos wiped it mechanically with his thumb, thus attracting the attention of the young girl who stared at him with a surprised look.

"Damn, I don't know what's gotten into me."

"Why did you drink?" he asked, keeping his voice soft. "At first you seemed rather against the drink."

The oriental lowered her eyes, like a little girl caught in the act and forced to have to justify her stupidity to her parents.

"I didn't want to," she breathed before admitting: "but Eren, Armin and the others really seemed to be having fun. I just…I just wanted to join them."

"You didn't need to drink to do that, you know ?"

"I did not understand what they were saying or doing," she admitted, tightening her embrace, "I really felt… excluded."

Amos gritted his teeth in embarrassment, understanding only too well how the girl felt.

"I'm sorry, Mikasa," he said with a sigh, "I should not have kept this alcohol."

She raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"No, no," she assured despite her mind still foggy, "it's not your fault. I'm glad everyone had so much fun."

"I would not have organized this party if I had known in what state you would have ended up," admitted the young man a little surprised by his own words, "you have suffered enough as it is these last few days." The Oriental looked down as she remembered her pathetic debacle during the survival exercise, she let out another tear which Amos also wiped away.

"You want a hug ?" he suddenly offered.

"What the fuck am I doing ?"

Mikasa widened her eyes.

"What ?"

"You look like His ... Christa when she was little," he clarified while cursing his foggy brain, "every time she had done something she thought was unforgivable she scowled at herself to cry over her fate… A good hug was often the only thing that could convince her that life went on and that mistakes existed for us to learn from."

The Oriental didn't answer, she kept staring at him with uncertain round eyes. Like he was crazy and she only figured it out now.

"Why did I say that ?"

"Listen," he sighed, "normally I wouldn't suggest this to you, but I'm drunk, and you look like you need a hug."

"Maybe I do too, now that I think about it…"

Mikasa hesitated for a moment, before straightening up to lay her head against his chest.

It was Amos's turn to raise his eyebrows in surprise.

"I'm drunk too," she justified herself.

The tall blonde closed his arms around her, and tried to control his breathing.

"You understand now why I'm sorry to have kept this damn whiskey ?"

These words drew a chuckle from Mikasa which was quickly followed by Amos'. They giggled like children for at least a full minute before catching their breath.

"It's a little weird," he commented soberly.

"But it's not unpleasant," she replied in the same way.

"You're right."

A comfortable silence settled, their respective body heat kept them warm despite the coolness of the night. It was almost half a dozen minutes before one of them spoke again.

"Amos ?"

"Yes ?"

"Truth or Dare ?"

Nox couldn't believe his ears, he laughed before plunging his emerald gaze into the Oriental girl's jet-black gaze.

"Are you serious ?"

"Yes."

He rolled his eyes before chuckling quietly.

"What do you want me to answer? Truth or Dare?"

Mikasa gently lowered her eyelids.

"Dare."

"Dare it is."

She tightened her grip around her scarf despite her aching fingers, and whispered:

"That song you sang to wake me up a few days ago, can you sing it again ?"

Amos widened his eyes in disbelief, and silently questioned her.

"Please," she insisted, involuntarily blowing her heavy breath in his face.

Nox gazed at her for a moment, before letting out a long, deep, resolute sigh. He took a moment to clear his throat and finally started to sing his mother's song.

It wasn't the only song he knew, it wasn't even the best, but it was by far his favorite, because it was the first one she had sung to him, when he had had a nightmare a long time ago.

Mikasa gently closed her eyelids, lulled by the captivating melody. Exhausted and soothed, she ended up falling asleep without noticing the tears streaming down the tall blond's cheeks.

When the latter finished his song, he noticed the soft dozing face of the Oriental with a smile, then he carried her bride-style to her bed. There, he took off her boots, tucked her under her covers and pulled her scarf up over her nose.

"I'll never let you drink again," he said quietly before heading out. "And I will never drink in your presence ever again."

It was then that a strange smell rose to his nostrils, he opened his eyes wide, and looked around the dormitory.

Amos' eyes widened in horror as he spotted the source of the fumes.

"Oh Bloody fucking hell..."

AN: Hope you liked it !