"Heichou!" Petra called as she neared, a huge smile plastered on her face. Levi frowned, suspicious. Had she been drinking? He quickly snuffed the thought. It didn't matter to him. They were at a party, after all.
The hall, crumbling as it was, was big enough to fit the entirety of the Scouting Legion that was currently residing at the old HQ in the woods. Men and women, ranging from the new recruits from Erens old class to Erwin, laughed and chatted amongst each other. Sasha and Connie had somehow managed to get their hands on some music. Probably with the help of Hanji, Levi thought. Petra arrived, slightly breathless. The atmosphere was picking up, more people dancing, the volume getting louder. Levi raised an eyebrow at her. "Heichou, dance with me?" Levi scoffed. Petra laughed, grabbing onto his arm. Levi said nothing, allowing her this breach of propriety. "How much have you had to drink?" He asked aloud. She giggled, releasing his arm and putting her own behind her back. "Nothing! Okay maybe one. Or two." Levi rolled his eyes. "More like five" came a gruff voice from behind Petra. She spun around to see Eld, accompanied by Erwin. "Commander! Eld! The party's going really well, don't you think?" Erwin smiled while Eld agreed. He reached over and ruffled Petra's hair. "When am I going to get an invitation to dance then, Petra?" he joked, as she swatted his hand away, laughing when she scowled. "Come on" he grabbed her hand and towed her onto the dance floor where there were several other familiar faces already present. Mikasa determinedly dragged a very scared looking Eren as he looked back at Hange, who simply laughed at him. Connie and Sasha were doing some bizarre dance routine which seemed to involve some sort of martial arts, and Levi spotted others gathered around the room. Jean, Marco, Reiner and Bertolt were sat at a table playing what either looked like cards or a drinking game, with Armin timidly watching nearby.
Erwin sighed as he leaned against the wall next to Levi. "They need this" he said. He was referring to the party, of course. It wasn't in celebration of something, or maybe it was. Celebrating being alive. Because come tomorrow, many of them could be dead. These parties were a long standing tradition in the Scouting Legion, a way to blow off steam and make happy memories with friends before expeditions. It boosted morale, if only for a short while, and avoided people going mad with fear, spending all night thinking of their impending death. Levi only grunted, sipping from his glass.
"So, if you have three aces, you win?" Armin asked, watching the game Jean and the others were playing. "That's right" Reiner confirmed. "Come on, just play already" Jean growled. Marco laughed and told Jean not to be so impatient. "I can't help it when he takes three fuckin' hours to work out what's going on" Jean retorted back. Armin finally sat and took a card. Bertolt took a gulp of his beer and Jean grinned. "Don't expect me to go easy on you" "Same to you" Armin replied seriously, looking Jean in the eyes. The group burst into laughter, and the game commenced.
"Hoiiiiiiii" Sasha held her bread bun high in the air above her head, her leg bent at the knee, as Connie stood in a similar manner opposite her. They messed about, fake-fighting, exaggerating mortal wounds, Connie collapsing to the floor in fake-death, causing Sasha to choke on her bread. As she pounded on her chest, Hange wandered over, standing on Connie's hand in a suspiciously deliberate move. Connie yelped and shot up, clutching his hand and glaring at her. "Shouldn't lie down in the middle of the dance floor then, idiot" Hange looked down at him, grinning manically. Sasha finally stopped choking, laughing at Connie's expression, and pulled him to his feet. His eyes widened as Hange launched into an explanation for an experiment she had yet to perform, sensing a weak target. "… and then to see if you actually die within three seconds of me doing that…." The duo looked at her with identical expressions of horror and tried to find any means of escape. "Ah! I just remembered, I saw a dessert over there on that table that looked extremely tasty!" Sasha suddenly proclaimed, and dashed off. Connie stared after her in betrayal, before backing up as Hange proceeded with her explanation in minute detail, getting rather close as she did so.
"…wait, Mikasa, I really don't know how-" Eren spluttered as he was unwillingly dragged onto the dance floor. They finally stopped and Mikasa turned to face him. His face burning, he heard Jean yell over something about 'Eren and his girlfriend' "Shut up, horse-face! I-It's not like that!" Eren stammered back, feeling his entire face being set alight. He turned to Mikasa and saw that she was also blushing, surprising him. "It doesn't matter if you don't know how" she muttured, looking at him. "Can't you remember when we were little and your dad played that guitar?" "Eh?" Eren started, surprised. "I… yeah" he said, smiling as he remembered. "We were so clumsy". "You were so clumsy" Mikasa corrected, smirking slightly. "Hey, it wasn't just me! I mean, I guess I did stand on your foot that time, but it was once!" "Oh ho?" Mikasa tittered "It was a lot more than once Eren". "I – Whatever" he laughed, grabbing her hands and stepping into the childish waltz that really didn't go with the music but which he could clearly remember from his childhood. Mikasa moved with him, everything going smoothly, unlike Eren tripped over his own foot and crashed backwards into Hange. Connie was quick to take advantage and ran over to Sasha at the food table, accusing her of "Leaving me alone with that damn weirdo", as Eren apologised profusely to the hooting laughter from the direction of Jeans table.
Sitting at the table with Oluo and Mike, Levi observed the festivities. "Tch. I can't even tell if that weirdo has been drinking or if it's her normal state of creepiness" he stated, referencing Hange who was rapidly closing in on another unsuspecting target. Mike did his snort-laugh, and Oluo grimaced, pitying the soldier that had to deal with Hanges enthusiastic attempts to explain her freaky experiments. "Probably just her normal – oh no" he watched in horror as the woman in question detached herself from her victim and make a beeline for their table. She grinned, thumping down at the table opposite Levi. "Hey Levi, I've just had the best-" "No" "But Levi" she whined, her eyes an impossible size behind her glasses. "You don't even know what it is yet!" No he didn't. He had learned from experience it was better to head Hange off at the pass, rather than try to dissuade her later on. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as she began to ramble. Just once, he thought. Just once, I'd like to have a whole day without having to deal with her impossible craziness.
Erd spun Petra around, smiling as she laughed in delight. "Everyone's in such high spirits" she said, noticing the various activities occurring around the room. "I'd wager that's the alcohol" Erd joked, his huge frame dwarfing Petra. "It's good" she sighed. "It's really nice to see even the Captain enjoying himself" Erd grimaced down at her. "I don't think he is particularly enjoying his interrogation right now" he said, referring to Hange. Petra laughed. "He likes it really" she replied, noticing him looking at Hange with a mix of annoyance and exasperation. "I love you guys, you know." She said suddenly, smiling at Erd. "Okay, seriously, how much have you had to drink?" Erd laughed, before becoming more serious, blushing slightly as he said "W- we love you too. We're all too manly to say it though, so don't you dare tell anyone I did". Petra giggled, disentangling herself from Eld and rushing over to the table Levi was sitting at. "Crap, Petra I was serious! I'll never live that down!" Eld exclaimed as he realised her intention, running after her.
Everyone was indeed in high spirits, laughing and joking, pushing back the dark, consuming fear for one last night. This night was not for fear. It was for laughing at the clumsiness of Eren, the sudden skill of Armin in cards, causing Jean to lose his temper multiple times, Marco coming to the rescue and calming him down. It was for Mikasa's sudden blush as Eren hugged her, for Sashas bread buns hidden in her pockets, for Hange's unwavering determination for Levi to say yes to at least one of her experiments.
It was a night for fun.