Familiarity - it wasn’t the same as comfort of presence, but there was a certain… soothing, perhaps? sort of air whenever the vaguely caustic cadet was around… she even offered him a nickname, why, he honestly couldn’t fathom, but she spoke to him with such authority, it was difficult not to want to respond up to standard.
Was it discomfiting, to be called something affectionate by someone who otherwise didn’t seem to want to have anything to do with any of the other trainees? (Other than their resident Goddess, of course.)
He held the wooden dagger loosely in a grip less than confident of its next movement - he always hated having to be the bandit, it was nerve-wracking… this was training they had endured since childhood, and they would have to reign in natural instinct and skill so as not to appear as though they had been bodily and mentally shaped years prior.
Reiner was far better at playing the role…
“Uhm… it’s necessary, isn’t it?
…. especially if you want to join the Military Police… maybe.. I mean..
you’d be fighting humans… more often than Titans, in the inner walls…
I don’t really like it, either way… .. ah… what about you?”
Those rich tones were barely audible above the din of combat, and toned muscles tensed lightly, holding up the makeshift weapon in a stance he hoped looked viable to any prying eyes - though he made no move.
— Respect was not something Ymir appeared gave out for free, or much at all truth be told. Even Krista wasn’t treated with 100% respect by her, often times Ymir would poke fun at the blondie, though she did care for Krista’s kind soul. Difficult it was, receiving equal consideration from her. It was all in how she was taught to live, all those years ago. She’d lie to herself, say this was just who she was, but no, it was who she had been taught to be. Ymir didn’t know how to live how she wanted, didn’t know how to give up her harsh edge in favor of the kindness she truly felt towards the other cadets. Hiding who she was, hiding behind sarcasm and a near unapproachable exterior is how Ymir survived. Still she would attempt kindness, and she did respect the others, they just didn’t know nor see such a thing reflected in her words. It was there though, in her actions and intentions.
— There was only one person she did her best to show real respect towards, and he was Bertholdt. Why? Simply put, he didn’t deserve to be treated like shit. The other’s didn’t a good portion of the time either, but there wasn’t one time Ymir could think of that Bertholdt deserved even a small sarcastic comment. He was the single exception to her rule, though she still did her best to not break character with him, after all, don’t want to get caught giving a fuck.
— Listening to him she grinned, shaking her head just a bit.
“Is it really necessary?
The majority of these trainees are not going to the Military Police. Why waste time and skill on such useless exercises? If we are to be trained to fight titans-”
... Wasn’t that strange to say....
“- then why not focus more heavily on such as 3DMG training and other such things?”
Eyes traveled over to their instructor, noticing as he began moving through the crowd in their general direction, checking make sure the exercise was being executed. Not wanting to get him, or herself, in any sort of trouble, Ymir ducked down and rushed towards him, attempting to only take the knife from his hand, nothing more.
