It doesn't surprise Bertolt to hear that Annie hasn't been taking it easy. Thinking of Zeke brings a sour taste to his mouth now, but he can't help remembering what Zeke said: "She's probably in hiding somewhere, practicing her kicks." Zeke was wrong, of course. However, the idea of Annie practicing her kicks still springs to mind, and he answers her almost-smile with a smile of his own, small but sincere.

A weird adjustment, huh? Maybe it's arrogant of Bertolt to assume, but he thinks he can handle that. They adjusted to possessing the Power of the Titans; they adjusted to shedding their armbands and living amongst the people of Paradis; they adjusted to a new military with new rules and regulations. If Annie adjusted to this place, weird as it may be, then Bertolt thinks he can, too.

"Oh, um." Bertolt glances down at his drink, neglected for so long that it's nearly cold. "To be honest, I wasn't really tasting it. It's tea. But," he raises his eyes to Annie's again, tone dropping somewhat conspiratorially, "they have hot chocolate."

Hot chocolate: a treat that Bertolt has never tasted before, too rare in Liberio and nonexistent in Paradis. The availability of such a drink here was too much for Bertolt to initially process, what with everything else going on. But now that Annie sits across from him, the idea of trying it seems fun, not frightening.

He begins to rise from his seat, intending to take his cup back and retrieve something fresh for Annie and himself. "Do you want to try that? Or do you want tea? I think they have coffee, too."

A drink that he's not interested in tasting again just yet, memories of the early morning atop Wall Maria still too fresh in his mind.