Meeting new people (Paul Kasper)

Namara sat quietly in her own corner of the sparsely habited dining hall, her attention buried in a book, the muddled din of outside conversations mentally blocked out of her ears. She was too fascinated with the text to worry about much else at the moment.

The book was a nonfictional record of various people's theories on the nature of stars, a topic she was fond of. She loved learning about the night sky, which was undoubtedly one of the most beautiful things she'd ever seen. The page she was currently emmersed in described the twinkling pin points of light as enormous spheres of gas burning incredibly far out into space.

She liked reading these kinds of books, acquiring knowledge of a world millions of miles away from the one she lived in, a place with out any walls, titans, or limits on human aspiration. It was essentially everything she wanted.

Paul put down his utensils and began wiping his hands off on his apron with a smirk on his face, happy that he had made another well cooked meal for his fellow soldiers. Well, well cooked at least with the supplies he had. The soldiers didn't really have that kind of fancy meal, you see. Unless you were in the Military Police, of course. 'Buncha lazy cowards...' The Joker thought to himself about the MP.

When the next cook came to take over, Paul nodded at him, and he tucked his apron within the pants of his uniform. He got himself a tray of food, and began looking out around the mess hall, trying to find a place to sit. It was a depressing site, some soldiers looking normal, others with broken arms, or bandages around their heads, some not even looking up from their trays. He noticed a girl, sitting alone, nose buried in a book. He walked over to the table she was at, and nudged her slightly. "Hey, mind if I sit with you?" He asked, putting a small smile on his face.

The petite, white haired soldier was pulled abruptly out of her book when she felt a gentle nudge on her arm, and she looked up in slight surprise to see a brown haired boy standing over her, a friendly smile on his face.

Paul nodded at the girl when she said he could sit with her. While she looked engrossed in a book, she looked pretty lonely. He sat down next to her, setting his tray down on the table. ""Thanks." He responded.

"What's your name?" He had asked her.

He ran a hand through his messy hair, nodding at her. "My friends call me Paulie." He stated simply. "Good to meet you, Namara." He took her hand, and gently shook it.

She nodded politely in greeting when he gave her his name; Paulie, he'd said. She glanced down at his waist then, noticing the white apron tucked into his uniform.

"Do you work in the kitchen?" she inquired as she set her book down, carefully folding down the ear of her page so she wouldn't lose it. Her tone was earnest, her expression calm, curious, and sincere.

Paul looked down at himself when the girl looked at his waist. [color=#669933]"Like what you see?" /color] He remarked jokingly. She then asked if he had worked in the kitchen. A grin appeared on his face, as he nodded enthusiastically. "Yup! V=In fact, before joining the Scouts, I was a chef in my family's restaurant in Shiganshina."

A light blush dusted her cheeks at his first comment and she curled her fingers in her lap and stared down at them in embarrassment, almost considering hiding her flushed face in the thick pages of her book. "I-I didn't... I mean, that's not why I was..." She could tell he was only teasing but she couldn't help from feeling abashed. Why am I so socially inept around boys?


Her blush gradually subsided as he responded to her question, her flustered expression softening into sympathy at what he said. "You're from Shiganshina?" She stared down solemnly at the table for a quiet moment, unable to prevent herself from recalling memories and instances associated with the name of that town.

He laughed at her shy behavior, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Relax, I was only kidding." He said. "Besides, a good looking girl like you wouldn't go for a guy like me anyway."

He put his feet up on the table, leaning back, putting his hands behind his head as a cushion. She had asked him if he was from Shiganshina, no doubt wondering how he was able to escape the attack.

"Yeah, I'm from Shiganshina. My brother was a scout, and I was a little kid at the time. If it weren't for him, let's just say I wouldn't be here."

She blinked in surprise at his statement about her appearance before her expression settled into a soft kind of shame. She didn't believe she was pretty with her emaciated body and pale complexion, but she didn't see the point in refuting it. She did feel bad that she had possibly hurt his feelings though; he seemed fairly cordial, especially compared to most of the people she'd had experience interacting with.


"I understand." she murmured in reply to his explanation, a tiny smile of comfort evident on her expression despite her downcast demeanor. "I'm from a little village in Wall Maria. We were kind of isolated, so the news of the breach didn't reach us until they were right on top of us."

She smiled broader then in an attempt to drive off her sullen emotions and any other lingering thoughts about the agony of the past, her deep lavender gaze aglow with optimism and sincerity. "You're a really good cook by the way," she commented earnestly before tucking a bothersome lock of white hair behind her ear. "Meals are probably one of the best aspects of my day."

She seemed rather saddened by his compliment about her looks. She knew it was a compliment.....right? She then began to talk of her home in Wall Maria. In an attempt to comfort her, he put an arm around her. He smiled brightly when she complimented his cooking.

"Well thanks!" he replied. "Aside from fighting, cooking is what I've been perfecting over the years."

"Well you're certainly talented." She replied with a sincere smile, though a faint blush did dust her cheeks when he slung an arm across her shoulders. She knew he was just attempting to be kind though, so she didn't attempt to shrug him off; it would have been petulant. "The only thing I'm fairly proficient at is using my gear. Well, that and reading I guess."


She smiled sheepishly as she cast a swift glance at her book. It was true; there wasn't anything in the world she was better at than reading. She could finish a five hundred page novel in no more than a day if she devoted most of her time to it. It was truly a shame though; the books the public was allowed to read only contained so much knowledge. There was an obvious limit. Nothing could be read of the outside world, the land beyond the walls, the place she wanted more than anything to see. It was harmless to speculate about the origins of stars, distant entities whose existence was entirely impersonal. But to publish anything unveiling the untouched treasures of the unseen world; that,  at least in the eyes of the monarchy, was catastrophic.

Well, if it wasn't for the titans, we'd already be living in that world. She reminded herself silently with a tiny sigh.