@FALCOGRICE

[grice]

Please don’t try and fly out of here or go real high, if anyone else can. You’ll get really hurt no matter how many times you do it differently. I’m fine, though.

[ flying? maybe you might have seen something . . . ]

I found some things in my school before what happened last month and didn’t have time to let anyone else know. [ there’s a brief video of a sheet of ripped notebook that could be replayed at any time, rewritten in english. with that out of the way, ] The doors are locked now but I know a way to open them. I’ll try it as soon as I finish detention.

Thank you for your time and stay safe.

( ⭐️ there’s also an open log for more action! further into the month there will be more investigation prompts for this for those interested! )

Comments

[grice]

[ —it's time to go. with erwin's retort, falco lowers his head and his voice, responding with an air of submission: ]

Yes, sir.

[ should he look more grave? worried about the "discipline" he'll be getting from this too? yes, maybe some sternness in his features would do. he may not be the best at lying (or maybe he's pretty passable), but he's certainly an opportunistic and adaptable boy to make it all believable to untrained eyes. he's quiet as they walk and remains close to where erwin has shepherded him to his side, only the clicks of their shoes echoing throughout the elementary school halls . . .

as they pass by the padlocked door, he mutters, but doesn't look: ]

There.

[ because it's strange as it is to have a padlocked door in a school. ]

[13thcommander]

I see it.

[Erwin has been taking it all in too, and he also noticed the padlock. He'd ask more about it here, but they're obviously being watched, and he keeps his back straight and his eyes forward as he escorts Falco out of the school.]

[They probably think he's taking the boy home to beat him. What kind of monsters are they, if they think that's appropriate behavior?]

[Once they're outside and on the sidewalk, Erwin picks up the pace.]

Keep looking forward. Let's get home before we say anything.

[Have to keep up appearances until they've got some privacy!]

[grice]

[ the "yes sir" has gone unsaid, but it is well implied with falco's dutiful compliance. down to the picked up pace on the sidewalk and on their way home, falco doesn't say anything unless they go through their house's door— he's in trouble, after all, mentally steel himself for what is assumed to be a spanking, or something.

that's what most kids are afraid of, that and getting grounded, but house arrest was no different than the internment zone. he'd do alright in faking the rest to some buddies his age who try to wave and immediately cover their mouths. yikes. ]

[13thcommander]

[Erwin still projects the aura of a military man, and while he's down an arm, his height and strength haven't really changed. He sees the looks they get as they walk home, and it's pretty entertaining; they must be doing a good job acting all this out, because those are some wide eyes they get from the kids, and a knowing nod or two from the adults who see them. Everyone clearly thinks Falco is in for it tonight.]

[Erwin waits until they get inside and the door is closed behind them before he releases Falco's shoulder, and relaxes his own posture. He sighs and starts shrugging out of his coat.]

Hot chocolate? And I believe there are a few cookies left over from the last time I went shopping.

[You know what's great, Falco? Refined, easily available, cheap sugar. This is why your not-dad has to jog every morning.]

[grice]

[ falco's mind works to contain an explosive amount of hope. it wouldn't be easy, he's certain that if it's protected by day it should very well be at night, too, usually most things of value are— he starts by hastily shrugging off his own spring sweater just as quick as their act, puts it where he needs to, and replies: ]

I'll get the cookies! [ cookies......... a child's best friend. ] I have an idea—

[13thcommander]

All right, all right.

[The change in Falco as soon as the door is closed is amazing, and Erwin has to stifle a grin.]

Let's get settled at the kitchen table and then you can tell me all about it.

[Erwin hangs up his coat and moves to the kitchen to get started on the hot chocolate. He doesn't normally invite twelve year olds to strategy sessions, but what the hell, the kid has earned it.]

[grice]

[ cookies, plates, mugs and even placemats are all set, ending with falco sitting in his chair and waiting patiently for erwin to sit with the cocoa (though the little rapid jump in his leg could say otherwise). he waits only a moment afterwards, but already starts off: he may be young and his strategizing equally green, but he was smart and scaling, deserving his place as a candidate. ]

The Jaw Titan could break those locks, [ he gestures with both hands into a squeezing motion, afterwards reaching for and pinching a cookie. ] it’s smaller than it should be, a little more than two meters instead of five. It should fit through the door with a squeeze, [ he starts counting on his fingers, ] it’s fast, could take hits . . .

[ his gaze lowers and looks graver, then, ]

I’m sure there’ll be guards there now.

[13thcommander]

[The Jaw titan Erwin knows was more of a dancer than a biter, but he'll take Falco at his word.]

How well does it maneuver in a tight space? It won't do much good to have it break a lock and then get caught in the doorway.

[He knows titans can take hits and heal better than humans can, but a two meter titan also can't hide or escape as easily as Falco might think.]

We also don't know what kinds of weapons the guards will be carrying.

[grice]

[ he has to imagine the school door right in front of him and get a better feel for it by looking at one of the house’s own doors from where he sat. if he considers the same as erwin (that the jaws is also a dancer), he might be able to. might, because there’s still the risk of not going as planned. ]

It’s not bulky— I’d even say it’s flexible. Like a bird.

[ as for the guards— even if he could take hits, it was unwise to assume he could take any hit, especially when anti-titan artillery already exists. he sighs and holds his head for a moment with a cookie in his free hand, looking at it and imagining a lock. ]

It’s a risk . . . Even if I went earlier to watch the guards. But— how else can we see what’s in the rooms?

[13thcommander]

Oh, I'm not disagreeing that we need to go and investigate.

[Erwin, being the adult in a situation where there's a chance to explore? Falco, please!]

Are you able to shift repeatedly in one day? If you can, without wearing yourself out, I'd suggest we try practicing in here. If you can get through the doors in the house, you can probably get through the doors there.

[grice]

But if the risks are too great—

[ it might be worth waiting. falco was cautious, and he’d certainly choose sure survival over a risk of death or worse in situations that weren’t needed to act quickly— though in the former, he’s taken the risk out of passion. his heart always spoke louder where gabi was concerned.

. . . if he had a responsible adult with him, a commander, it should be fine. right? his tune changes. ]

I can try twice if I rest in between? Ah— I have to, [ he gestures, ] go to the backyard.

[ he’s not destroying the house’s interior with boom ]

[13thcommander]

[Erwin can understand risks of passion. He's taken a few of those himself. Fortunately, Falco's Gabi--whose name Erwin has seen written down but hasn't heard anything about yet--isn't in Santa Rosita, and won't be a distraction.]

I suggest we compromise. Why don't we spend the next day or so practicing your manueverability, and then we go investigate on the weekend? There'll be fewer people in the school then, so we'll be less likely to be spotted, and you'll be fully rested and ready to go.

[grice]

[ while not completely guaranteed, but not strategy or plan is. not with the amount of external variants that can bleed into the plan, so . . . this one does seem at least the smartest, enough that falco gives the briefest hints of a smile. ]

Great. [ he'll finish his cookies, his milk, get up from his seat and— goes through one of the draws for a knife. ] I'll, um, [ he holds it up, a gesture, but easily brings it to his side in a safe manner. ] excuse me.

[ bye he boom ]

[13thcommander]

[Erwin was never all that great with the youngest cadets. That was always Levi's strength, not his; he just doesn't know how to talk to teenagers. But Falco makes it easy, and Erwin smiles back at him.]

Would you mind if I watched?

[Erwin takes his own cup to the sink and rinses it.]

I've only seen a few shifters transform before, and I'm interested in the process.

[grice]

[ oh— ]

O-of course not! [ it sounds so weird for someone like erwin to ask, really! though falco only has one fear, which is being to close, but he's sure that he knows that already as a safety precaution, even if the titan's burst would be inherently smaller. ] I'll start on three.

[ he hasn't started counting yet, but he has held the knife's blade with a finger and given it a slice, a small wince tightening his features. ]

[13thcommander]

[Erwin knows enough about shifters to keep his distance, lingering in the frame of the back door and giving Falco his space. He's seen Eren transform enough times, but rarely anyone else, and he watches intently as Falco slices open his finger.]

[The ensuing lightning crash isn't as big as Erwin was expecting, but that's for the best. A little lightning can be chalked up to bad weather; a full-on titan boom would definitely raise some eyebrows.]

[He's going to ask what happens to the knife after transformation. Eren always used his teeth--the animal--and Erwin never got to ask another shifter how they pocketed whatever sharp thing they used to cue the transformation.]

[grice]

[ this poor knife and its whereabouts . . . that are soon to be known! in the meantime, falco makes the preparations: distance, injury and goal. the crack of a lightning strike comes small but still ugly in sound, quickly surrounding the boy once his count up got to three, especially because the titan replacing it, full of feathers and quadruped limbs (bones and muscle first, of course), was exactly the same: not as large as a titan, but hell if he wouldn’t be terrifying if he were the size of one.

falco’s forelimbs are long, but not complete wings and far more prepared for ground maneuvering than air. black talons curl up to his chest, and he makes way, with a restless shake, when a neighbor opens their window to yell about a coming storm. how strange!

stranger than the giant earth bird going straight for the door by a crouch near the fence. training is happening. ]

[13thcommander]

[Erwin's first thought: holy shit.]

[His second one: Hange would love this.]

[For all that he's spent his life battling them, Erwin has only seen one titan shifter up close, and that's Eren. He's seen the Female Titan from a distance, and had a stare-down with the Armored Titan on top of a wall, but the only one he's ever tried to talk to or get close enough to touch is Eren's.]

[So hopefully Falco won't be creeped out when Erwin steps aside, so he can try getting through the door, and uses that opportunity to run a hand over the titan's shoulder.]

Amazing...