"Woah there, kid. That's hot. Why don't I?"

I went to grab the pasta, but Blake pulled the container closer, propping it up against his small frame as he continued to struggle across the hard wood floor. "No! I have it! The lady gave it to me, so it's my job." I shrugged at this but made sure to keep a free hand around the large bowl of salad I was carrying. He managed his job though, bringing the entrée to the table much to the satisfaction of his fellow cabin-mates.

I dropped the salad onto the table and settled down to eat, spooning myself some pasta and grabbing an apple from the bowl of fruit in the center of the table. Then I went to grab the milk and stopped. Alas, the pink cap—skim. "Ugh. We got the worst one. Who even likes skim?"

Jack piped up, throwing his arms into the air, "I know! It's all watery and gross and not milk. It's water milk! So weird."

Sammy looked up and added, "Yeah, it's gross."

Caleb adjusted his glasses, tapping his fork against his plate, "Although 2 percent or whole milk drunk in excess is fattening. Scientists have found—"

"Dude. Stop. The milk's gross," Danny cut him off. To him, Rodger mouthed a silent "thank you."

I scanned the room for blue-capped milk jugs, and there it was, the coveted 2 percent. And on who's table? Who else's? Entitled asshole Kirschstein. There he was with his senior camp counselor, the one who was sniffing all the food. This would be too easy: they were clueless. I grinned. "You know what, guys? We don't have to stand for this injustice! We can break free! Make our own destinies! Drink the milk we wish to drink!"

Danny drummed the tabletop, and the rest of the boys took it up. "No more skim! No more skim!" They cheered. I shushed them and mimicked zipping my lips closed and locking them with a key.

I then tiptoed across the cafeteria, and, with a glance to my cabin, who waved their arms silently in solidarity, nabbed the jug from Jean's cabin's table and made a run for it. Passing Levi, I spared a shrug and a grin at his raised brow. "Let us drink milk! Behold the 2 percent!" I called out, passing the jug around. Even Rodger offered me a small smile as he downed a glass. Sammy pointed and laughed at the sloppy milk mustache taking up residence on Jack's upper lip. Anthony just sipped his milk in small mouthfuls, drawing circles on the tabletop with a fingertip.

Peace and quality dairy products restored to my kingdom, I returned to my seat and opened up my schedule to check for the fifteenth time today where and when I needed to be.

We had skipped our first morning adventure in order to get the kids tested for swimming levels, seeing who would be required to be added to the Beginner's Swimming activity and who needed a lifejacket and whatnot. 1st Activities had also been skipped because the paperwork for activity sign-ups hadn't gone through yet, despite Erwin and Hange's best efforts, so what else had resulted but a giant game of freeze tag up on top of the hill, counselors included. My upcoming break was highly needed.

Everyone who wouldn't be guards during the free swim were in charge of the kids, meaning Erwin probably was trekking back up the hill, readying himself for a rematch—Cops and Robbers this time, of course. I hadn't missed the bemused look on Levi's face as he'd been dragged out by a child half his already quite small size. He had raised a brow at Erwin before stepping into the mid-afternoon heat, only returning to face forward when their eyes met and chests rose in shared, acquiescent sighs.

I rubbed the base of my palms into my eyes with a groan. I really needed to stop watching those two—watching him really. I mean, they made a great couple and all, but God. It was just… I don't know. Distracting. Ymir dropped onto the couch in the game room in which we'd gathered, tossing a careless arm over my shoulders. "Come on, Eren. Don't end up like party-pooper Marco over there." She jerked a thumb to Marco's form, scrunched beneath a gray afghan on a nearby couch, fast asleep with an arm thrown over his eyes, the muscles between his brows visibly tensed and wrinkling despite his obvious catatonic state.

"Fuck off, Ymir."

"Oh, I'm hurt. Really." She widened her eyes and pulled her arm from me. Then she let out a laugh and walked off to join the game of pool Jean and Connie were trying to throw together.

Closing my eyes, I slumped into the couch, if nothing else then to rest my eyes. The night had not been kind to me. One of the kids, I thought it might have been Anthony, had been tossing and turning all night, whimpering in his sleep, so I'd stayed up too, distracted. I bet at home he would have been sleeping in his mom's bed, and she would have held him closer. Maybe she would have gotten him a glass of water when he jumped awake. At least, that's what I remembered my mom had done way back when. She would offer the glass to me and then pull the covers closer around us; turning her green-blue eyes on me, she'd hum softly, and I'd drift back to sleep. Poor kid. Sighing, I succumbed to the pull of my heavy lids, joining Marco in his attempt to get some rest.

Hands shook me, their light touch lifting me from heavy slumber. "Eren, wake up. Eren, we've gotta go. Wake up…" I blinked open my eyes to meet Marco's concerned face. One hand tugged his gray afghan closer around him while the other rested on my shoulder.

Mumbling, I shook him off as I sat up: "Mm up. Les go. Where we goin?" I yawned and stretched.

Marco's lip quirked up by its corner. He cast aside his blanket and headed for the doors. "Boat docks. I've got a boat to man. You've got kids to teach. The waterskiing awaits."

I grinned at the reminder. Right. Waterskiing. "Right behind you." With a final shake of my head, I heaved myself from the couch.

"Uh, Marco? What the hell are you wearing?" I asked, eyes wide as I examined his outfit.

He glanced down. "Just… clothes?" He fingered each item in turn, "Swimming trunks, long sleeved t-shirt, lifejacket, hat, sunglasses, towel, watershoes?"

I lifted a brow. "Isn't that, I don't know, a bit… excessive?"

He shrugged, saying, "I just don't want to get sunburnt my first day." I smiled at this, and we lapsed into silence, preparing the boat for the nine or so campers coming our way soon. Then Marco spoke up again, "Oh, and I've got sunblock if you want any."

"Of course you do," I laughed but accepted the bottle anyway. The guy had a point.

And… she was up. Sure, her legs were spread a bit wide in the water skis and her arms were a bit too stiff holding the handle, but no matter, she was up, riding along behind the boat with a determinedly clenched jaw and squint of her eyes. "Callie's good. She's up."

A chorus of cheers rose up from the other campers. Marco glanced over his shoulder from his position at the wheel, a smile flashing across his face at the sight of the little girl. I kept my position as spotter, watching her intently for any signs of distress before letting up a little bit. She was going to be fine. Marco tossed me my towel, which was hung over the back of his chair, with a call of, "Eren, heads up!" I pulled it from the air before the wind and motion could take it. He said, "You've gotta be cold, being all wet and with the wind and all."

"Nah, man," I said. "Feels good in this heat. You though, with all those layers… you can take the next one into the water, have a dip, cool down."

He bit his lip and shook his head. "No, no. I'm fine."

"You sure? Seems like—"

Another girl grabbed my hand and pointed my attention back to the water. Callie was losing her balance, legs spreading in her skis before… "Ooh. Ah. Yeah, she's down, Marco! Take her around!" Marco gave me a thumbs-up as a he circled the boat, and I signaled to the kid, waiting for her raised hand, showing that she was indeed okay.

After pulling her into the boat, a couple more kids gave it a go before we headed back to shore, all the little water-skiers properly drenched, a bit bruised, and wearing exhilarated, exhausted smiles on their faces. A job well done, I'd say. After they'd all hung up their lifejackets and thrown on some sandals, Marco shooed me out of the boat, and I led the kids back to the amphitheater to meet with their respective cabins.

"You've taken them to the dark side. Oh god. Oh no," I said, glaring at Ymir. "You will pay for each and every red wagon. Each and every shriek. You will pay, my friend."

Thanks to Ymir, who was in charge of the hiking activity, Danny and Jack, the dynamic duo, had learned several new songs to pass the hike with, including the dreaded Little Red Wagon song. "YOU can't ride in my little red wagon!" called Danny gleefully. Jack returned, in a similar fashion, "YOU can't ride in my little red wagon!"

She simply winked at me as we watched them. "Just doin' my job. Besides, Eren, I thought you were all for the camp songs."

"Anything else. Anything else." She hid a laugh in her palm. "You know I hate that song."

She just threw this shit-eating grin at me and joined the boys, shouting at me now, "Third verse, same as the first! A whole lot louder and a whole lot worse!" I felt my eyes grow wider, my teeth set in place as I tried to control the exasperation bubbling up inside of me.

Erwin was a beautiful human being though. Upon seeing the two boys, who were now jumping up and down as they simultaneously made the motions and yelled the lyrics, as well the cowed expression on Anthony's face and Gabriel clamping his hands over his ears, he stepped in. "OKAY!" The boys stopped immediately: this guy was a master. "Let's get on back to the cabin to change for group swim, and why don't I teach you guys a new song?" Gabriel let his hands drift back down to his sides with a sigh of relief meanwhile Anthony gazed up at Erwin like he was his own personal messiah.

Danny folded his arms and cocked his head, "But we like this song." Rodger mumbled something under his breath at this, shaking his head.

Erwin ruffled Rodger's hair before continuing, "Trust me. It's just as fun, but I think everyone will like it." With that, he led the kids away, leaving myself and the rest of those on lifeguard duty to get ready.

Needing water and sustenance, I headed to the deck out back of the cafeteria where the snack booth was set up. I stopped in my tracks at the sight before me. "Sasha, who left you in charge?" She glanced up from the candy bar she had been shoving down her gullet. "I really don't think that was quite wise."

"Hai nah?" She asked around a mouthful of nougat.

I gestured to her stuffed cheeks. "Um, perhaps the fact that the kids haven't even shown up yet. As in you've been in the booth for like what, 5 minutes? And that's your…" I counted the wrappers strewn about in front of her, "fifth candy bar."

She swallowed, crumpled up the wrapper in her fist, and promptly threw it at me, hitting me squarely in the right eyeball. "Fuck off. It'll be fine. I'm just hungry."

I tossed the wrapper back at her, which she sidestepped, and turned away, sighing. Yup, definitely a bad idea.

I returned to my post on the dock, water bottle and towel and in hand to find that my partner for my station had shown up, and who else could it have been but Levi. Levi… in a position of vulnerability… near the water… Comeuppance was within my grasp. But then, without taking his eyes off the book he held in one hand, Levi said, "If you so much as look at the water and think of getting some sort of revenge on me for last night, you will live to regret not just that choice but every breath that you ever take again."

I stopped at that. There was something in his tone where for a second I believed every word he said. I shook my head at that thought though and snorted. "Aye, aye, Captain." He shook his head before letting us lapse into silence. I uncapped my water and took a swig, dipping a toe in the water. Just a bit cool, definitely warmer than yesterday. I glanced at him.

I mean, what could he really do to me? He was slim under the dark tank top he'd thrown over his red lifeguarding swim trunks, still muscled but lean and fine boned. His skin was pale, veins visible underneath. I decided that the only way he had been able to toss me in last night was because I'd been thrown off guard. Yes. That was it.

Then his eyes met mine, and I felt myself blush. "Hey, shit for brains." He just kept staring, his expression as stony as always. Then he sighed, "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Not that I could think of… I patted my head. Sunglasses-check. Patted my neck. Whistle-check. My pockets. Free of cellphone and other electronic devices-check. What could I possibly… "SHIT. My tube! Fuck. Okay. God. Shit. I'll be right back. I just left it…" Shit, where did I leave it? God, Eren. You're so stupid. It wasn't… yeah no. But then I… the boat. I'd left it on the shores! Right next to the lifejacket rack.

I took off, my ears ringing with Levi's admonishment to hurry my ass up; he definitely wasn't the one getting in the water today.

Jesus, I needed to get in shape. My lungs were screaming several expletives at me, I could tell, because I could no longer walk straight. "Fuck," I mumbled between gusts of breath. My lungs kept up their commands: Just breathe, Eren. In. Out. In. Out. Yes. Oxygen. We like that.

At least I'd found the rescue tube right where I thought I'd left it. Collecting one more beautiful breathe of air, I grabbed the tube and pivoted to make my way back to the swimming area.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

What? I so didn't have time for this. I huffed, "I just—"

"Were you even thinking? I just… Marco, what the hell?"

Wait, he wasn't… Oh. Marco was answering: "Look, Jean, you don't understand. I'm being really careful, I promise. I'm—"

Jean cut him off, saying, "No, you don't understand. When you said you were coming for the summer, I thought you'd be in charge of I don't know… archery in the middle of the woods, arts and crafts, board games, for fuck's sake! But waterskiing? Horseback riding? Seriously? Do you know how dangerous that could be for—"

"Jean, this isn't your life. I know what I'm doing. Would you just back off? Hmm? I've got it handled. I'm fine. I'm a grown fucking adult. Don't do this."

Silence. Maybe I should… There was some rustling.

Marco spoke again, "See? I'm fine."

"Marco…"

"Look!"

Jean sighed.

"You know exactly what would be there if I wasn't fine."

He murmured, "I know. I see. It's just… you're doing everything you can? You're handling this?"

More rustling and then I heard a muffled sigh that sounded like it came from Marco.

Jean again: "I just… I worry, you know?"

Marco: "Yeah. You gotta trust me though. I know my limits. I know what I have to do. Besides that, I just need you to trust me. Okay?"

"Okay. Yeah." A pause, and then hesitantly, "You know I—"

"Yeah. I know, I know," Marco said softly.

I took that as my cue to tiptoe away.

"What the f—" Levi cut himself off, glancing at the kids swimming next to him, before continuing, "What took you so long?"

I brushed my hair out my eyes. "Nothing, nothing. But look!" I gestured with my rescue tube, "I found it!"

"Yeah, I see. Good for you, brat. But not so good for me." He gestured to himself, floating shirtless on his own rescue tube. "You're in the water the rest of the week, got it?"

I smiled. "Fine by me. You know, I could still—"

"I'm in now. I'm not getting out and baking out in the sun covered in this fish sh—" He cut himself off again and growled, "You know what I mean."

Again, I found myself grinning as I took a seat on the edge of the dock, dipping my feet in the water.

"Eren! Eren! Eren!" I glanced up. And who else but Caleb, decked out in life jacket, water wings, and goggles. His sunscreen wasn't completely rubbed in and still lay white and shiny on his damp skin. "Guess what?"

"What?"

He settled next to me, slick swim trunks sliding against mine in a way that wasn't exactly pleasant. Levi eyed him with this tiny, barely detectable wrinkle in his nose. He'd taken out the piercings in his brow and ears. For what reason, I didn't know. Caleb continued, "So after lunch I got to go on this super cool hike—the science discovery one?" I nodded. "And my counselor, he said he was your best friend!"

"Blonde with the ponytail? Armin?"

"Yeah, him! YOU DIDN'T TELL ME YOU KNEW A REAL LIFE SCIENTIST!" He grabbed me and squeezed.

"Well, I don't know if I'd call him that."

"But he worked with NAREC. NAREC!"

"What?" This kid was intense, man. Wow. His goggles seemed to be the only things keeping his eyes from popping out of his sockets.

"Narec! National Renewable Energy Centre? Only one of the most important research centers in the entire United Kingdom? How could you not know that?"

Levi snorted from his place in the water. I threw a glare his way. "I mean, I know where he interned this past semester but I don't see what the big deal i—"

"And you!" Caleb pointed to Levi, flinging several droplets of water at his face in the process. Levi stared at him, raising a single hand and wiping his brow. "You know Hange!"

"And sometimes I really wish I didn't," he deadpanned, eyeing the kid's hands like they were suspect of transmitting the black plague and all other sorts of diseases.

"How could you say that? She knows everything. Everything!"

"I wouldn't go that far, kid."

"When I grow up, I'm gonna be just like her and Armin. Except my best friend will probably be more like Eren because you're really grouchy and by the way you've been looking at my hands, you seem to have a hard time dealing with dirt or germs. You know, that could be a sign of a lot of things, actually. To begin with, it could be Mysophobia or colonially germo—"

Levi glared at him. "I think you mean colloquially, brat." Levi glared at me.

"Hey, Caleb," I said, grabbing his hand and flashing a guilty look to Levi. "Have you tried that cool water toy that Connie's got going over there? I bet you haven't because the line was really long, but look! It's pretty short now." I stood, hauling him up with me. "Why don't you go try it out a bit. I promise you can tell me all about how it works at dinner, okay?" And pushed him toward Connie before plopping back down with a sigh.

"One of yours, I assume?" Levi asked. I nodded. "How charming."

I frowned. Sure, Caleb was a bit of a know-it-all, but he was one of my kids. He was my know-it-all. "Hey, he's not so bad. He can actually be pretty cute."

Levi stopped all motion, all kicking and beating the water. And that was it. His hand caught my ankle, and he pulled me in and shoved me under. I came up coughing. "Serves you right. Cute, my ass."

"Well, your ass is pretty cute." Shit. Why did I say anything? Ever?

His eyes widened for a second before settling into his heavy-lidded stare and pronouncing quite clearly: "Dickhead." I could feel myself blushing and then I was being shoved back under the water. Yeah. That one I deserved.

The rest of the day passed just a bit more smoothly. I led the kids in icebreakers and team building exercises during the time for our cabin activity after group swim. Erwin didn't show up. Some had been hesitant. Some had been bossy. Some had bad attitudes. But eventually, enough of those had been put aside to the point that they all seemed just a bit more comfortable with one another.

After meeting on the steps and singing a couple songs, we settled down for dinner. It was a good ten minutes in before Blake piped up from his place near Rodger: "Wait. Where's the milk?"

I glanced up and down the table. "It's gone!" Sammy whined, and he was right. There sat a container of milk, but rather than blue, the evil pink cap was back.

Blake groaned, dropping his head into his arms, "Not the 2 percent!"

Jack and Danny were standing on top of their seats, hands raised over their eyes in search of the milk thief. Simultaneously they pointed and yelped, "Over there! He's over there!" There I spied this red-headed kid with glass, tall and thin as a beanpole, tiptoeing across the cafeteria, the conspicuous shape of his shirt revealing the milk carton hidden beneath the cotton fabric. Jack's face flushed red as Danny's hands balled into fists. "We gotta get him! We gotta—"

I felt my eyes widen and broke in. "Woah, woah there guys. We'll get it back. We've got weeks and weeks but we've gotta be stealthy about it. Avoid confrontation. Like spies or ninjas."

"Did you know that ninjas—"

"Yeah, we know, Caleb. Shhh," The two boys huffed as they slumped back into their seats. Blake was eyeing me but dropped his head to his plate when he noticed my gaze. I sighed and turned to Caleb, asking him to elaborate, and that he did. Throughout all sixty minutes of dinner. Every single one.

Following the 2 percent-less meal, we counselors dispersed to begin setting up for evening activities. I snagged Armin out the door, dragging him away from his conversation with Hange, his co-counselor. "Come on, man. I wanna set up some of the kayaks before I they come our way." With that, we hurried to the boat docks and were able to unload several kayaks before the kids came in. Blake was actually part of the group, and I was met by a hesitant smile.

We began our spiel with Armin narrating as I demonstrated and were met with yawns and wandering eyes. "So if you want to turn, you just have to swivel your—" Armin stopped, glancing about the group before sighing. "Wait. How many of you already know how to kayak?" Every single hand rose up, as did Armin's brows beneath his bangs. He grabbed the end of his ponytail and pulled the tail up above the crown of head. "Huh, okay, wow. So why don't we ah…"

"Get going?" I cut in. "We can just do a simple turn about the edge of the lake to stay away from any heavy winds out in the middle. Would anyone feel more comfortable with Armin or I sharing a kayak with you?" Not a single hand rose up. I looked at Armin and he shrugged, eyes wide. "Okay then. Let's just grab our kayaks and go then. Help out anyone struggling to get theirs in the water. Everyone needs to get their lifejacket checked before even going near one of these things. And be careful getting in—it can be wobbly, especially if you haven't gone out in a while."

The sun was starting to warm the horizon in oranges and pinks as we rounded the bend in our kayaks, floating along the shore as we dipped up and over on each gentle wave. Armin and I paddled from the back, making sure no one fell behind or strayed too far. Blake had a tendency to paddle out to the middle and into the wind. Another girl, Gwen, tended to get distracted by various things along the shore before paddling madly to stay in the middle of the pack. "So…Levi, huh?" He said, waggling his brows and grinning

I felt my face flush. "No, no. It's not. Levi is around, yes, but it's not—" Armin raised a brow. I tried again, "He has a boyfriend. And they're happy. I mean, haven't you seen them together? Haven't you seen him?"

Suddenly this light came into his eyes. He started to whistle, letting his kayak drift a bit away. "Oh, I've seen them alright." Lips pinched together as he held back a smile, he glanced at me, holding my eyes before looking out to the setting sun again, whistling.

Shit. He totally knew something. "Armin." More whistling. "Oh, come on, Armin. You know something. I know you know something. You have that look on your face."

He widened his eyes at me. "What look?"

"You know, the I-have-juicy-gossip-but-I'm-gonna-torture-Eren-with-suspense-first-before-I-tell-him-look. That look."

Armin lifted a hand to his mouth, shouting, "Blake! Come back here! Do I have to remind you again?"

"Armin."

He finally cracked on that one, a grin spreading and dripping across his face like syrup on the pancakes at breakfast. "So I might know something." I stopped paddling. "But, you can't tell." I stared at him. "There's trouble in paradise."

"Woah. Wait. What? No. Go on."

"So you know how I was on the swim station? Erwin was supposed to be on break, right? But, see, he came by the docks first."

"Uh huh?"

"And so he came over to Levi and they kissed and whatever. And then he said something to him—I don't know what. He was sort of teasing Levi, and Levi like didn't even say anything or react."

"That's not exactly out of the ordinary, Armin. Have you seen that man's facial expressions? They come in a set of 3—bored, more bored, and bored to death."

"No, no. Because, see, they kept talking and when Erwin went to leave and tried to kiss him goodbye, Levi avoided him. Turned his cheek. Stopped the kiss. Aborted the mission." Hmph. Weird. "And then Erwin walked away, and you came up, and he grabbed that book and opened it to a random page like he had been in the middle of reading it."

"Maybe he was."

"Sure, Eren. That's why he acted like nothing had just happened five seconds ago."

"I mean, it's definitely weird but…"

Armin just gave me this smirk and paddled away, calling out that the hour was almost up. Time to get back to shore. I groaned in frustration. Armin obviously thought this was a big deal. But I mean, he couldn't possibly be watching them as much I had been. Levi was different around Erwin. Comfortable and even warm. One lover's spat didn't change that. Besides, Levi was obviously a pretty private person; it was totally reasonable for him to act like nothing had happened. That was it. Of course.

When we arrived on the steps of the dining hall for the evening gathering and Camp Activity, Erwin was nowhere in sight. Probably doing some sort of administration work. Not avoiding anyone, I told myself, before moving on. I gathered our cabin around me before we initiated the game—ninja, and it was serious. Soon enough, three other cabins had joined us in underhanded combat, with it coming down to the final three—Gabriel, the dark horse; Jacob, a chubbier child from Levi's cabin with eyes like a hawk; and Armin, of course, the master strategist.

The game was cut short by the calls for camp songs, and before descending into a chorus of "boom chica"s, Jacob stalked right up to Gabriel, and with a threatening step forward and a jerk of two fingers, he whispered, "I'm watching you, shortie. This isn't over." At this, I readied myself to intervene and protect Gabriel, but Armin threw a careful shake of the head my way. Wait, it meant. And so I did, and to my amazement, Gabriel took a step forward, came up on his tiptoes, shoved a finger in the kid's chest and said, "You're going down… big guy." They stared at each other further, and I sent an alarmed glance Armin's way. This was not good. At least, I had thought so until they descended into laughter, Jacob shoving Gabriel to the side as Gabriel ducked out of his attempted noogie.

Eventually, the songs came to a close and Hange directed us out to the main green where she announced the evening's Camp Activity—Dodgeball. Heron erupted into cheers, and when Hange stepped back from the podium to prepare for the game, I gathered the kids around me. "Alright, guys. Here's our moment. Revenge of the 2 percent. We play as a team tonight. The goal? Take out Counselor Jean. The one with the funny colored hair and the horse face." Danny and Jack exchanged high fives as a tiny giggle burst forth from Gabriel. He glanced to Anthony, who offered him a tiny smile in response. After debating strategy for several minutes, I called out, "Alright. Hands in! Heron on three." 'One, two, three, HERON!' came the chorus of boys around me, fueled by chocolate cake and the sweet taste of vengeance. We descended upon the field, our single goal in mind.

And were thoroughly walloped until the third and final jail break. Now or never. We held back from the lines this time, dodging all balls, not even trying to catch them. Our hand-eye coordination was not fully developed yet, apparently. But finally, finally, it was just us, and it was just Jean and his cabin because of course the bully and the cabin of bullies is fucking amazing at the game for bullies. Together we played, gathering balls and lobbing them all at once toward each newly appointed target. Slowly the other side was diminishing until it was just one lone horse—man, excuse me—and his rubber ball.

"You ready, guys?" I called out. They waved their armed hands and whooped with joy. So like wolves upon our prey, we surrounded the horse, lining the boundary. "On three, alright? One…" His eyes widened. "Two…" His knuckles grew white around his own clutched weapon. "thr—"

From Blake: "This is for the 2 percent!" The boys yodeled and yelled as they all threw in tandem, but it was Blake's ball that throttled straight for the target, hitting Jean straight in the stomach as the barrage of balls came from all sides.

And… "Bullseye. Out for the count, Kirchstein," I said, smirking into his narrowed eyes.

Blake stood in the center the cheering then, staring at his hands. "I got him," he mouthed, just staring. Then, "I got him!" He yelled, bending back to shout his triumph to the sky. The boys surrounded him then, repeating his name again and again.

I ran to the center and hauled the kid into my arms, settling him on my shoulders. "That's my man! First drink of that jug's all you, kid." We then had to settle down for our closing day ceremony, but soon enough, Blake was back on my shoulders as we hiked back to the hill, spouting "We are the champions" at the top of our lungs.

Eventually, Erwin did show up, right after the boys had finished showers and were jumping into bed. He asked them of their day and a couple delved into little anecdotes from their various activities. Blake gave a rousing account of the 2 percent battle, at which Erwin suppressed a chuckle before arching an eyebrow to me. I shrugged. Kids loved competition, and he had to admit it, skim milk, especially the camp's special brand of craptastic skim milk, was fucking awful. Plus, I mean, it was certainly a bonding experience, more so than any of the stupid team-building games we'd played earlier that afternoon.

When 10:30 rolled around, Erwin announced it was time for lights out. He was met with a chorus of dissent. Gabriel popped his head out above the railing of his bunk above Anthony's bed. "Counselor Eren could tell us a story first."

"No, no. It's lights out," Erwin said, reaching for the light switch.

"Maybe tomorrow though," I added from my place next to him. "I need time to think of one first."

"Okay, tomorrow," said Gabriel.

"Yeah, tomorrow," said Daniel.

"You've gotta promise though," said Sammy.

"At least make it a good one," said Rodger.

I raised my right hand and crossed my heart with my left. "I promise, on my honor as a member of Heron and as your best, most loyal, most fun counselor that I, Eren Jaeger, will tell a bedtime story tomorrow and it will be at least pretty good, even by Rodger's standards."

Erwin shook his head at this but shrugged. "Okay, now it's lights out," he reasserted before flipping the switch and clicking on his own flashlight to find his way back to the bottom of our shared bunk.

"Night, guys. Sleep well," I whispered before snagging my bag of toiletries and shutting the door quietly behind me.

The lanterns hanging off the sides of the showers glowed in the darkening night. Bugs hovered and buzzed about the fixtures, and moths slammed their tiny bodies against the glass. As another counselor cracked the door to venture inside, several of the creatures zoomed inside overhead. In the crack of light I could identify the guy in front of me. "Hey, whatcha doing, asshat? Letting all the bugs in two-by-two? Hurry up and shut the door."

Jean glanced back and shrugged, slamming the door shut just an inch from my nose.

"Not like that, dickhead," I grumbled, before opening the door again. I glanced around as I surreptitiously rubbed my nose: Marco stood at one of the sinks washing his face while the tall, dark skinned guy, Bertolt, hummed some tune as he brushed his teeth. His friend, the big blonde, Reiner, snapped a towel at his ass as he walked up next to him. Bertolt flushed a bright red, and Reiner simply grinned. At the sight of Jean in his mirror, Marco brushed a hand over his shoulder before splashing his sudsy face. I greeted Marco as I took the adjacent sink, asking of his day.

He shrugged. "Everything went as planned. The kids are cool, but it was just so weird…"

I arched a brow at him, "Weird?"

He shrugged again. "I don't know. It's just… my co-counselor? I think you know him."

I met his eyes in the mirror with a curious glance, mumbling around the toothbrush I'd shoved in my mouth, "Who?"

"Levi? The short one?"

I grunted, motioning for him to continue.

"Anyways, like the kids were sort of scared of him at first, but they seem to be okay now."

I spit into the sink. "So what's the problem?"

He rubbed his face with his towel, speaking through the fabric. "I mean, it's not exactly a problem. But it's just weird. I… I don't think he sleeps. Or he barely sleeps?"

"Huh?"

"Last night he grabbed a chair and just sat outside all night with a flashlight. I didn't hear him even come in. I mean, I'm a heavy sleeper and the chair was gone by the time I woke up, but I didn't see him 'til like fifteen minutes after I woke the kids up and he started telling the kids what to do to clean up the cabin."

"So he didn't sleep?"

"Yeah. And I know it's not really my business but he seems to be a good guy and I worry because I know if I don't sleep I—" He cut himself off. "I don't know. It was just weird, and I've seen you guys talking so I figured you might know him a bit better than me right now so I thought maybe you could ask somehow if he's okay and sleeping or whatever?"

I broke into a smile at that, clasping a hand over his shoulder. "I'll see what I can do, but I think it's all good, Marco. You really don't need to wor—"

"I know. I know. I just do, so… I don't know. Thanks." I smiled and patted his back. The guy really did need to chill though. He'd make himself sick stressing like that.

I was the last counselor out of the showers, and silence fell around me as I made my way back to Heron. The cabin was silent except for the whispered breaths of the kids. Wincing at the creak of the wood underfoot, I slowly closed the door behind me and tiptoed to my bunk, hanging my towel over the post and depositing my toiletries in their appointed shelf. Curling my toes over the rungs of the ladder, I crept up the bunk until—

"Counselor Eren?"

My foot missed a rung, and my knee banged into the railing. I muffled a curse before glancing at Erwin in the bunk below me. His quiet snores stopped briefly as he turned in his sleep before settling into his pattern again. "Hm? Go back to sleep. I'm just getting back from the showers."

The quiet voice in the dark: "I can't."

I felt my brows knit as I peered into the dark. A thin figure sat huddled in blankets on his bottom bunk. "Anthony?" I whispered, recalling the bunk arrangements. Silence followed, so I crept to the bunk, sitting on the edge of the bed and placing my hand on his shoulder. He scooted closer, molding himself to my side. "What is it, bud? Why can't you sleep?"

He rolled his head into my t-shirt, mumbling into the fabric, "Nightmares."

"Have you tried going back to sleep again? Counting sheep? Thinking good thoughts?"

He shook his head into the fabric. "Doesn't work."

Rubbing his back with one hand and carding through his hair with the other, I hummed a little bit. I remembered nightmares at his age. Huge hulking figures and doctors with needles and cages, lots of cages. No, there was no going back to sleep after nightmares like that, but my mom had always gotten me to… Hmm. That was a thought. "Wanna go on an adventure?"

He rolled his head from my side to gaze up with those big moons of eyes, "Like what?"

"The kind where we fight the nightmares. Soldiers for sweet dreams."

"Is there treasure at the end of the adventure?"

I paused. Would the kitchens be open? Well, I guess we'd figure it out. I ruffled his hair. "Two words: ice cream."

He turned back into my side, and I felt his mouth stretch into a smile, felt his teeth through the fabric. "Okay."

"Right then, grab your sandals." He slithered down from the bed. "Quietly! This is our secret."

I gave him my flashlight to guard against monsters. Flashing it back and forth across the hill, we made our way to the kitchens. The leaves rustled in the nighttime breeze, and the crickets chirped from their homes among the blades of grass. The flashlight revealed a couple glowing sets of eyes, a couple alarmingly shaped bushes, several hulking trees, before flitting past with each step. That was until it stuttered to a stop: off to our right was another beam, hovering back and forth in short flicks of motion. Anthony stopped in his tracks and grabbed for my hand. "Come on, let's go see. Easier to confront it then just run away." He nodded just barely to my statement, his hand tightening its clammy clasp.

"Who's there?" Anthony called out. The light in the distance stopped moving as we approached, our own light revealing silver eyes that reflected the beam back at us and the little glints of light bouncing off his piercings. He clicked his own flashlight off, shutting the novel he cradled in his lap. Here he was, just as Marco had described. "Hey, you're, you're the counselor from the skit. The one Eren," here the kid tugged my hand, "was in."

Levi looked to me and raised a brow. "Nightmares," I mouthed. He gave a tiny nod to this, a light of understanding seeping into his gaze. I knelt to the ground next to Anthony, whispering in his ear, "You know, I bet Levi likes ice cream, too."

Anthony glanced to Levi, eyes wide. "He's sort of scary."

"That's because even the nightmares are scared of him. I hear he's humanity's strongest soldier. But you know, even soldiers get hungry."

He bobbed his head resolutely, grabbing my hand again and squeezing as he whispered to Levi, "We're on an adventure."

Levi looked down on him, a warmness entering his eyes that melted ice of his gaze, "Oh yeah? What kind of an adventure?"

Anthony glanced to me, and I nodded in turn. "The kind with ice cream," he said. "Do you, do you wanna come?"

"Well, if there's ice cream…" He rose from his chair. "Lead the way." And so we returned to our expedition with our newest soldier in tow.

The shadows hung long and looming over the hall leading to the kitchen, leaving Anthony squirming and reaching not just for my hand but for Levi's as well. When we finally came to the door at the end of the hall, we just stood and stared until with a little nudge to Anthony's shoulder I said, "Come on. You open it."

Reaching with both hands now, he clasped the doorknob, but nothing moved. He turned it the other way—nothing. Settling his hands on his hips, he frowned. But then turned at the rustling coming from behind him.

"Here, I think this will help you out," Levi said, pulling a key ring out of the pocket of his black jeans. "You want me to do it or…?"

Anthony shook his head and grabbed the keys from his hand. Victory was in sight. The treasure was right here—"X" marked the spot. When the door creaked open, revealing the industrial sized appliances shining in the moonlight coming in from the windows, Anthony couldn't contain his grin. "We're here! We're here!"

Walking past him, I ruffled his hair. "That's right, kid. Now how about that treasure?" I opened the freezer and swept my eyes over the contents. "So we've got strawberry, vanilla…. Uh, caramel swirl… cookie dough aaand…. chocolate. Which do y—"

"Chocolate!" Anthony called out, hopping atop a tall stool near the counter in front of the closed service window. Meanwhile, Levi got out three dishes and silverware, washing them each twice and his hands at least that many times. They were a bright pink when he set the bowls out across the counter.

"Levi?"

"Strawberry for myself."

Grabbing the strawberry, I tucked both under my arms and shut the door. Pulling up two chairs for Levi and me, as Levi scooped out the ice cream, I settled next to Anthony. Once he began digging into his bowl, I propped my cheek up on my hand. "How's the treasure?"

"Gerd," he mumbled around his mouthful of ice cream. Levi covered his mouth with his hand and turned away, squeezing his eyes shut at the sight. I felt myself smile at that. Of course he had a thing about talking with your mouth full.

"And the adventure? Feel like we defeated some of those nightmares?"

Anthony paused and swallowed, picking up his spoon to cut into his ice cream and stir the melted part. He shrugged.

I looked to Levi at this, and he leaned forward, closer to Anthony. "I don't think Eren means you've got to get rid of all the nightmares right now, kid. Not even some of them. But you just need to understand that there are other people around here you can come to if you're scared."

My brows rose at his intercession, especially when Anthony nodded a bit before breaking into a smile. As did the corners of my mouth when Levi barely shrank away from his sticky-handed hug. Anthony then returned to his bowl of ice cream, and Levi met my gaze. His eyes softened when he saw me staring, but then he dipped his head to stare at a spot on the counter, using his fingernail to scrape at whatever infinitesimal speck was there.

Levi ran a hand through Anthony's flop of brown hair. "He's a good kid, this one." After nearing the bottom of his bowl, Anthony's appetite had evaporated altogether, leading him to lay his head on his folded arms and fall asleep.

"Yeah," I said. "Just seems so scared all the time. Wish I could do something, I don't know. He's wound up so tight, and he's got this burgeoning friendship with this other boy, but still. I feel like he's not enjoying himself, which is the worst. Camp was always such a good place for me as a kid."

He slid some more ice cream into his dish, swirling the slightly melted portion with the new scoop. "Reminds me of me actually."

I paused and glanced up. He had his head balanced on one palm, looking at the kid with this little sympathetic quirk to his lips, just barely detectable but there. "Oh?"

His eyes slid back to me. "Not everyone's got the capacity to jump right in and deal with all this shit." I felt my eyebrows come together in consternation. He added, "like you. Give him a bit; he's just getting used to the water."

"I'm just not so sure he can swim," I mumbled, envisioning those panicked eyes over the huddle of covers.

Levi shook his head and spooned himself a mouthful of ice cream, tongue dabbing at the corner of his mouth, which was full but not big. Small in this delicate way that I wasn't contemplating at all. He smirked. "Aside from the metaphor—that was cheesy as fuck, by the way—I think he'll be fine. You're doing well with him, anyway."

I shrugged. "I figured ice cream and a stroll would be better than having him lie around in that strange bed and wait for sleep to come back. Now nightmares," I pointed my spoon at him, "those I've got covered."

He gave me a curious look but didn't say anything. Instead we ate in silence, watching Anthony's eyelids twitch as he navigated dreamland. Soon we finished up, and while Levi rinsed the dishes after washing them twice, I nudged Anthony awake, pulling him into my arms to sort of hang a bit over my shoulder. Good thing he was small for his age; any bigger and the kid would have had to walk himself back.

Once Levi had washed his hands several times after returning the bowls, ice cream, and silverware to their proper places, he pulled the keys from his pocket and led the way out the door.

"Did Erwin give you those?"

"Hmm?" He said, glancing up from his place leaning over the lock.

"The keys. Did Erwin make a copy for you?"

"Oh, um yeah. That was a while back though," he said off-handedly.

"Yeah?" I realized I sounded a bit too hopeful.

Levi's brows came together as he side-eyed me, replacing the keys in his pocket. "Yeah…"

Yeah… Okay, definitely too hopeful. I could feel the heat rising to my face, too, and decided to readjust Anthony in my arms a bit, if nothing else then to possibly hide the blood rushing to my cheeks.

Levi sighed and started for the glowing exit sign. I hurried to catch up and get a glimpse of his face, but it remained stony and unreadable as he said, "Listen, kid. I don't know what—"

I broke in, "Do you do this every night?"

"Tch," was his single sound of protest.

I felt myself blushing again. "I mean, not the midnight adventure, but, I mean, the whole not sleeping thing."

No response. He just kept walking. I had to readjust Anthony again. Shit, the kid was heavier than he looked, and this man should not be so quick on such short legs.

I continued, "Because I was talking to Marco earlier, your co-counselor? And he said that he didn't hear you come back in last night, and I know he was worried about you, which I'm probably not supposed to tell you, but that seems like a thing he does, but, anyway, yeah, we were wondering…"

"You were talking about me earlier?" He was smirking again, and I was blushing again.

"No, no. I mean, not like that. He was the one who brought you up, I just… He was worried. That's all," I huffed.

For a while there was just the sound of the plodding of our feet over the dirt path and patches of grass. Eventually, Levi was the one who broke the silence: "I don't sleep well. Have trouble getting my brain to settle down. Have trouble keeping it settled down. The reading is the only thing that helps, and even then it's not that great."

"Oh," I said, lost for words at his little confession. At some point, we'd returned to Levi's cabin. I hadn't noticed when.

"Yeah, so… Marco doesn't need to worry."

"Right."

Levi just met my eyes for a moment, completely expressionless before reaching out a hand to ruffle Anthony's hair. "Sweet dreams, kid."

Anthony opened his eyes into little slits and mumbled blearily, "G'night, Levi."

Levi smiled just a bit at this as he settled in his chair, picking up his book and opening it to the dog-eared page and turning on his flashlight. I turned to leave but stopped in my tracks when he called out, "You, too, brat. Sleep well." Glancing over my shoulder, I caught the smirk that flashed across his face as he became absorbed in his novel.

"Sleep well, Levi," I mumbled. I don't think he heard me, but that fact still couldn't stop the little of bubble of whatever feeling that was fizzing in my stomach. Somewhere between the smirks and the ice cream, I had somehow managed to chip away a little layer of steel in his gaze.