Chapter Text
Strained breaths echoed along the narrow walls as Annie climbed the last section of the staple ladder. In her haste to leave, she had completely forgotten to bring the light bulb with her, leaving her in almost complete darkness with only the faint light seeping through the wall cracks to guide her. On any other occasion, she would have gone back to retrieve the bulb, but knowing the path very well by now, she was confident she could find her way even blindfolded. Though she bumped her head on the ladder a couple of times, it worth the pain. She didn't want to risk being late.
Today was a special day, after all.
Taking a final deep breath, Annie pulled herself over the last rung and squeezed through the crack that granted access to the bookshelf. The books now towering in front of her were still the same – ever unmoved, with a thin layer of dust. Satisfied that everything was still in place, she quickly peeked out from behind the row of books. The familiar clicking of the wall clock welcomed her when she stepped out into the open.
It showed 5 minutes to 7AM.
Perfect. She was still on time.
Two minutes later, Annie had climbed up to a higher board to gain a better view. From up here she could see most of the room. The sun was already up, but the curtains blocked out any sunlight, leaving a dim yet calm atmosphere. Save for the clock, everything lay still and silent as it should be.
A wide grin stretched over her face when she took in the enormous figure still lying motionless in his bed. This had definitely been worth the rush.
You see, lying was probably not quite adequate, considering that, technically, the human was touching the bed only from his chest upward. His legs were arched over his back to a degree where his feet were almost touching his shoulders, the whole form of him resembling an impressively flexible cube. Over the last months that she had grown familiar with this particular human, Annie had discovered that Bertholdt assumed the most extravagant positions while sleeping. From open arms as if in deep prayer to knots made of limbs and blanket alike. One time, she found him sleeping with his hip resting against the headboard and his legs trailing up the wall, while on another morning, he was lying in a full-stretched split with one leg resting next to his ear. To witness him assume the wildest poses was the best perk of waking up early.
One day, she swore to herself, she would bring a scrap of paper to capture this work of art.
With another glance at the clock, she watched the second hand approach the top.
3.., 2.., 1..
The church bells started to ring outside, a high-pitched chime soon accompanied by a lower one. Just then, a much intrusive beep rang from the alarm on the nightstand. With the power of a magical incantation, it commanded the statue to move, the immanent life to awaken that had been trapped by the shrouds of sleep.
The giant form groaned and stirred, arched legs collapsing to the side as he mechanically unfolded one arm towards the nightstand. Not even bothering to face the the intruder, he blindly smacked at the approximate position of the alarm clock, missing his aim, and sending it flying to the floor instead. With an almost accusatory chain of clacks, the device toppled and rolled across the floorboards before bidding farewell with a final beep.
He had never seemed to like it in the first place.
Annie watched patiently, waiting for her friend to awaken, but when a full minute ticked by, she was positive he had fallen back asleep again.
Well, that was unexpected.
She pulled at her chin, a habit she had adopted from the movies to look extra contemplative. Should she intervene? He had been talking about this day for weeks, so it was clearly important to him. Any good friend would help him save his day, right? First and foremost, however, it would put her in his favour.
With her plan set in mind, Annie swiftly descended down the shelf and toward the nightstand.
After all, it couldn’t be that hard to wake a sleeping giant, right?
Two and a half trains of thought later, Annie was standing at the rim of the mattress. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t dare to approach him while he was sleeping. The idea had crossed her before, but she was well aware of the danger she would put herself in if he happened to move at the wrong time. Hence the short hesitation when she finally felt the slight give of springs under her feet.
She took a quick glance at the enormous arm resting next to her, which was still hanging over the edge of the bed.
Nah, it would be fine.
Half walking, half jumping, she made her way closer to Bertholdt’s face which was the depiction of peace itself no matter how screwed-up the posture. Even without seeing the full extent of his form, he proved absolutely massive in comparison, a true titan next to her humble presence. No matter how many times she'd been around him by now, part of her mind still struggled to grasp his sheer size.
Climbing the pillow was more difficult than expected. Even though it was only a flat one compared to the ones he usually used for reading, it was much softer than any ground she had walked before, the generous give of down almost causing her to trip at times.
“Alright, let’s get to work.”
Shoving aside the last yet persistent surge of instinctual nervousness, she rolled up her sleeves, if only for show. Truth be told, she couldn’t even fathom what the gesture's purpose was, but if people did it on TV, it had to mean something. She was sure of it.
She cleared her throat.
“H-hello..?” Her voice was more raspy than expected.
“Bert..? Do you hear me?”
She waited for a few seconds to tick by, if only to get over the initial surge of unease that came with raising her voice before a giant presence.
Apparently, he didn’t hear anything.
“Bert..!” she said, with a bit more emphasis, yet still not very far from whispering. Wary of the uneven ground, she slowly slid down the indent left by his cheek. Once within Borrower’s arm reach, his body heat became palpable with his breath washing over her in mild gusts of wind. His heartbeat, too, was now audible to her, albeit muffled by layers of fabric and flesh.
Deliberately disregarding the detailed view of his pores, she patted the most prominent part of the human, which was to say, his nose.
“Bert. Wake up.”
Some facial muscle twitched, as if annoyed by a fly, and she fought hard to suppress a pout.
“Bertholdt! You’re oversleeping! You need to wake up or you’ll miss your graduation ceremony!”
She hadn’t even finished the sentence when said Bertholdt groaned and rolled into a ball, tucking his chin further in. A second later, however, he seemed to decide otherwise, rolling over and away from her.
Annie groaned. Left with nothing but a wall of shoulders, Annie was kind of back at square one.
With a hint of annoyance in her step, she strode forward and grabbed a strand of hair, ready to jump at the faintest indication of movement.
No reaction whatsoever. Apparently, more drastic approaches were required.
Taking a shuddering breath and sending a quick prayer to whatever Borrower gods were watching, she jumped and pulled herself up the human’s neck.
“Please don’t roll over…”
It took her a moment to steady herself and adapt to the new ground. His breaths caused her to sway in gentle waves, the pulse now palpable beneath her feet like a soft drumbeat.
She braced herself for what was to come before stepping directly over his ear. The she took a deep breath.
“BERTHOLDT HOOVER!! WAKE UP ALREADY!!!”