Author's Note: Hello my Lovelies, I am so so sorry about the long wait, so much has been going on but still, I know it's no excuse. But hey, I'm gonna be uploading a new chapter every Sunday to make up for my lack of a schedule if that helps? No? Okay. I really am sorry. Um, anyway, I hope you guys like this, for right now it's gonna kinda be canon with a few changes, but later on it's gonna change a lot, since I'm gonna incorporate some of my theories I had come up with when I was first watching the show and stuff. Also, I have not finished the manga so if something isn't right, I'm sorry.
Warnings: yaoi (boyxboy) don't like don't read, not my problem if you have a problem, AU-canon divergence, OOC-ness, Levi's mouth, violence, etc.
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ATTACK ON TITAN. LEAVE ME BE!
Ch.1 recap and responses
The atmosphere was peaceful. The trees stretched upwards, their branches like fingers reaching towards the ball of light that granted them life and warmth as though trying to grasp it to claim it for their own, their emerald leaves blowing softly in the wind and the breeze danced playfully amongst the trees and woodland creatures that had sought shelter from the somewhat overwhelming heat from above. With the lack of mobile life forms, the ground was still and silent, yet not eerily so, as it was the calm stillness, with the gentle whisper of the wind and the steady thrum of a nearby stream the only sounds that echoed through the forest.
"YAAAA-HOOOOO!"
Alas, such peace was never meant to last being near the Survey Corps training ground, as with the Survey Corps comes-
"Hanji-san, please slow down, you've lost a few of the recruits."
Hanji Zoe, resident squad leader, eccentric scientist and titan...
"PERFECT! TITAN BAIT!"
"No."
"But Leeeeviiiii-"
"No."
"But-but TITANS! Think of the RESEARCH I COULD DO!"
Let's call them an….enthusiast.
"Shitty Glasses we are not training these recruits to be sacrifices for you to get a few new pets."
"How DARE you! They are NOT pets! They are my CHILDREN!"
That's very dedicated to their passion.
"Fine." Hanji stopped abruptly, landing harshly on a large branch before dropping into sitting position with arms and legs crossed, with a large pout upon their face. Levi, though he was loathed to admit it, found the action to be less irritating than it would have been normally. He blamed the thought on the heat and the resulting closeness between the two due to the current "mission" they've begun planning, or as Hanji liked to refer to it, "the brilliant 10 step plan to get Levi laid". Hanji had said there were actually two more steps to the plan, but that was more for Levi to just be happy in general, Levi hadn't the slightest idea as to what they were, nor did he have any desire to find out.
"Hanji-san, you really shouldn't take off like that. You're responsible for the new recruits, what would happen if they got lost?" Moblit crouched next to the fully grown adult behaving like a child, looking like a parent scolding his child.
"Then the little shits would have had to find their way home like the grown ass adults they are. If they can't keep up, they should at least have enough skill to backtrack." Levi snapped from his place leaning against the trunk. He could hear a faint whizzing sound, signaling the incoming of another member, and wasn't surprised to find Mikasa Ackerman, the supposed prodigy of the 104th, landing gently upon the large branch they had all claimed as a resting place. However,he did not expect to find the little blonde and the two toned horse-like kid trailing right behind.
"Mi-kasa, please slow down." As shocking as the cadets speed was, the following collapse onto the moss covered bark and heaving breaths was predictable. Speed was easy to increase, stamina not so much, especially for such a small boy.
Despite the age limit never changing, the new soldiers seemed to be younger and younger with each new batch.
Levi sighed softly, as much as he knew the necessity of it, and as proud as he felt whenever he saw the groups that were brave enough, or stupid enough, to face the titans, he couldn't help but to feel angry, knowing he was sending these kids to their death.
Stop it, you can't do anything more than you've already done. You train them as best as possible, you fight as hard as you can, try to make sure Erwin remembers that these are actual people and not pawns, what else is there?
Levi wanted desperately to believe that little voice, that somehow sounded suspiciously like a certain bright eyed bright, he knew that he would always feel some bit of responsibility for these children that are playing soldier. And with the thought of Eren, his mind gladly transitioned from his current depressing line of thoughts, to his current predicament regarding the young shifter.
It had been a week since he dragged Eren up to the rooftop he always watched the stars along with Farlan and Isabelle and since then, it was obvious to everyone that bothered to pay attention that something had shifted between the two, though no one aside from the Captain and his subordinate knew exactly what had happened. Which, really wasn't much when Levi thought about it, honestly after Eren's promise to him, they simply sat in silence until they fell asleep. Though, that in itself had the potential to cause quite a few problems and raise a lot of questions had it not been for Hanji volunteering to find the two the next morning when no one could find Humanity's Strongest and his charge, a dangerous and unpredictable possible traitor. Needless to say, there was a fair bit of panic erupting within the castle that morning, while the two missing soldiers slumbered peacefully up on the roof, curled together on the hard ground. Levi told himself they drifted together out of need for warmth due to the chill of the night air, but deep inside, he knew that wasn't it at all. And the fact that he hasn't gotten a good night's rest since then only proved it further.
Eren calmed him, made his feel at peace with himself to the point even his paranoid insomnia decided to take a break for tormenting him and let him sleep soundly. Hell, Hanji couldn't even wake him. According to Eren, the scientist burst through the door leading to the rooftop with their usual vigor, and in turn, the young brunette had shot up at the loud slam from the door and the eccentric excited shouts and coos over their position, and yet, Levi continued to slumber on, his only reaction being to turn towards Eren, grasp his torso tightly, and mumble indiscernibly into the cadets shirt. The only thing Levi remembered from that morning was slowly waking to see Eren's face hovering over him, the sunlight creating a halo like effect around the boy, his eyes a gentle gold, possibly due to the soft lighting, and certainly not because he was an ethereal being, though in that moment, Levi wasn't so considering the night before.
How anyone could be so willing and determined to get close to someone like Levi was beyond his reasoning. He was a cranky, bitter old man that was so fucked up by things that had happened, he was far beyond repair, but obviously Eren saw something in him.
"-evi. Leeeeevi. Ravioli. Shorty. My love, my light, my-"
"What in the actual fuck do you want?" Levi snapped as he shoved his self proclaimed best friend away from him, as they were disturbingly close to his face.
"The rest of the recruits have caught up." That was...surprising, actually, he hadn't expected them all to get there so quickly given how much distance Hanji had put between them in their sudden burst of energy. And indeed, they did appear to have caught up to them, granted they were panting and a fair few were dry heaving. Had he been any one else, he would have ordered every one to stop there and rest, especially considering most looked on the verge of passing out, and those who didn't, were already actually passed out, either against the trunk of a large tree or were clutching a smaller branch like a child would a doll. But, Levi was Levi and in true Levi fashion,
"Alright you little shits, up and at 'em, you had a nice little warm up with Shitty Glasses but not it's time to haul ass. Stay caught up with me, Hanji and Moblit will be following, fall back to the crazy and they might decide to experiment on you, fall behind Moblit and you're gonna be stuck doing laps for the next week! Do I make myself clear?"
He decided to torture the newbies. Afterall, he didn't get his turn the first few days they were here, that was more of a break than any previous batch of cadets had gotten.
"Yessir!" Levi wasn't much of a music lover, but that was one of the sweetest songs he had ever heard.
Aside from Eren's lullaby a voice sang in the back of his head. One that sounded like Hanji. Just how many voices did he have in his head?
You were a result of the fever. Go the fuck away.
I thought you didn't have a fever?
Fuck. Off.
********************LINE****************************
"Eren, how are the stables coming along?" The sweet voice of Petra called out to him from just outside the gate.
"I'm almost done Petra-san!" Eren replied as he emptied the bucket of water he had been using for wiping down the various grooming tools.
"Good. Levi-Heichou should be back from training the new recruits soon, then it's group's turn. I know you can't participate yet, but if you get your chores done you could at least sit in, get some tips and tricks for when your training starts."
"Yes ma'am! Thank you!" Petra chuckled lightly as she walked away, though Eren was exactly sure what she found funny, though he didn't dwell on it. The female mind is a scary place.
Well, all minds were actually, they constantly were created new fears and doubts, causing unnecessary pain and anguish. The mind was quite troublesome, really. Especially his Corporal's mind, considering the conversations they had last week. His captain was apparently in a lot more pain than he originally thought. Eren knew that Levi had struggled quite a bit but, he didn't realize the extent of it. They were far more similar than he had assumed. Each had put up walls to protect themselves.
Eren had expected that from Levi, of course, it was hard not to put up barriers to protect themselves when you were surrounded by death constantly. What he didn't expect however, was for Levi to tell him he's gotten through those walls. He was ecstatic,but, he wasn't sure how he was going to keep his promise, or even if he was the best person to do that. Sure, he'd be able to understand Levi, better than others would, but, it's not as though he isn't without his own problems. Eren has nightmares, and defense mechanisms, and anger issues, and isn't the most patient person sometimes. How could someone as broken as Eren be good for someone like Levi?
"Eren." The brunette jumped slightly, straightening up at the sound of his captain's voice.
"Yessir?" He spun to look at the other male, who was leaning against a fence post, his legs and arms crossed and looking at him with a small smirk. Eren couldn't help but to think it was a very, very, nice look on the man.
"Petra said you were done with your chores and that it might be a good idea for you to watch us train. I don't think that's a good idea though," Eren deflated, he was really hoping to be able to at least watch if he wasn't able to do anything himself, "What I am going to do though is test your hand to hand combat skills first, see where you lie skill wise, and then have you watch a corresponding pair, so you can see what they do and possibly make some adjustments."
Eren perked up immediately. Finally, he was going to be able to do something other than clean and help Hanji with experiments. He knew Levi didn't really have time for his personal training, what with him being out of commision for a few days, he had gotten behind on his work, and had spent the past week whipping the 104th into shape, catching up on paperwork, and fixing all the mistakes the Survey Corp members had made cleaning wise, but still, Eren was slowly decaying from lack of action.
"Come on." Levi turned and started striding towards the large clearing where the rest of his squad stood waiting.
**************************Greetings Earthlings. I am a line.**************************
"Hehe, the newbie is going to get pumbled. Levi-Heichou never goes easy on us," Auroro smirked, "Honestly, there's no way the kid is on par with any of us. Even if he does observe a pair, it's not like he's gonna pick up on anything. If you ask me, Levi_Heichou should just spare him the humiliation of testing the boy's skills in public"
Levi had to hold in a growl, Auroro was a skilled fighter and had a good heart, but his cockiness was just a bit much sometimes. He glanced over to Eren to see the brunette scowling, but not necessarily as though he was angry or offended, but more, confused, or fondly annoyed? Perhaps it had something to do with Jean, he and Auroro did seem to be rather similar, and despite their arguments, Eren and the other cadet were rather close. No matter, Levi couldn't have one of his own have such a lack of confidence in another squad member. Teamwork and trust was vital in this field of work. And so, he calmly crept up behind the taller man.
"Well, it's a good thing I didn't ask you, otherwise Eren would never learn properly. He needs to be tested so we know what he needs to be taught." The man jumped, as the rest of his squad snickered. "Actually, Eren, you will fight Auroro first, if you beat him, then I will fight you."
The youngest member of the squad stared at him for a few moments, and Levi had to suppress a shiver, occasionally it seemed as though the brunette was staring straight into his soul, with that calculating and almost accusatory stare, it felt like all of his thoughts and secrets were laid bare for the boy's eyes. That may actually explain how he seemed to slip past his barriers.
No, Lev thought, that has nothing to do with his apparent mind reading stare ability, that is just because Eren is a force of nature no one can ignore or deny.
"Yessir." Eventually the cadet responded, after what felt like a lifetime.
"Very well, then let's begin."