"Cadet Luell! How many times have I told you to not track mud into my office?! How many times must I fucking tell you to not be such a God damned mess?!" Captain Levi yelled at the young cadet. Catherine Luell stood meekly in front of his desk, holding a stack of paperwork from Hange Zoë. "Once again, you're completely filthy. Have you been rolling around in mud? Not to mention the grass stains on your sides." He wrinkled his nose in disgust. Her previously white shirt was now brown and green, courtesy of the mud and grass she had been tossed into and trudged through. Her pants were completely covered in grass stains, with mud splotches creating a chaotic polka dotted pattern. Ironically, her boots that got the most of the damage while on the field were only streaked with mud. Needless to say, Catherine's uniform was utterly ruined.
"I had to help Hange with an experiment with Eren and I didn't have time to change before I had to bring you the latest reports. She said it was of the utmost importance that you receive this as soon as possible," she explained weakly as he surveyed her, looking more shocked as he fully realized just how dirty she was. His eyes burned her, and she felt her skin flare wherever he looked. It matched the red blush on her cheeks.
"I don't care about the urgency of these papers. It's science; it changes all the time when new information comes about," he said. "When you come into my office I want you clean so you don't get my office dirty. Do you realize I've had to clean up every mess you've made? You're distracting me from work." he added the last part exasperatedly, standing up and approaching her. Catherine's muscles tightened, worried he'd strike her. He was known for beating Eren into a pulp and giving troublemaking cadets a slap upside the head.
"I'm sorry, Captain," she whimpered as he tore the stack of papers out of her dirt-covered hands. "I'll go clean up really fast and come back and clean this up." Levi slammed the report on his desk, staring daggers into the girl's brown eyes.
"Don't you think you've done enough damage, Cadet Luell?" he demanded. Biting her lip, she fought back tears. Why do I always end up here? Standing in front of Corporal's desk getting screamed at? It's not like I'm intentionally tracking in mud, she thought. This time really must've been the straw that broke the camel's back; I haven't ever seen him this mad before. "Your cleaning skills are mediocre, anyway. You would ruin my floor, not to mention almost kill yourself with cleaning fluids."
"I'm sorry, sir," Catherine repeated, keeping his gaze. She was not going to let him know how intimidated she was. "I promise I won't ever track mud into your office again." He let out a small "tch" and sat at his desk, head in his hands. Way to go. You just made his day way more stressful. Good job, she scolded herself.
"Go wash up, put on clean clothes, and come right back here. I need to think about how I'm going to punish you," he said without looking up at her. She quickly saluted before starting to hurry out. "Did I dismiss you?" he asked coldly, making her stop in her tracks.
"I-I assumed since you said -" she began, but he sighed loudly, cutting her off.
"You need to fucking listen to what I say. I told you what to do after dismissal but I said nothing about dismissing you," he told her harshly. "Luell, do you just live to ignore everything I tell you?"
"I don't ignore you, sir. I listen to you when you give me pointers on how to make my gear technique stronger, or when we talk about tea, or how your day is going," she replied sincerely. He sighed again, looking down at his desk.
"Stop being a smartass and get out of my office," he said after a moment of silence. Catherine didn't need to be told twice. She turned around quickly, fleeing the office with as much speed as she could muster up.
Well, maybe he'll go easy on me, she mused a few minutes later as she stood in the shower stall, washing off all of the mud and dirt off of her body. After all, usually he does seem to have a soft spot for me.
Oh, come on, can you hear how ridiculous you sound? her conscious berated her. So what if he cleans up your cuts after a hard day helping Hange? So what if he's given you a few sutures and has you share a warm cup of tea with him every so often? He does it because he has to, not because he has a soft spot for you.
He treats me better than Eren and everyone know he's practically Levi's little brother, she pointed out before sighing. I guess it doesn't really matter. He's going to do what he's going to do. Still, I wish he won't punish me too much. Ugh, why can't I just ever remember to wash up before I go to his office? Or better yet, insist to Hanji that she let me wash up before giving me the papers to give Captain Levi? I feel like that'd be the best option. I need to remember to do that. She winced as she scrubbed off some mud from her bruised skin. And maybe tell her I need to have limits on how much I get put through with assisting her.
Catherine finished up cleaning and quickly got dressed in a uniform she was borrowing from Krista and left, hurrying back to Levi's office with a sick, nervous feeling in her stomach. It'll be fine; he'll just give me cleaning, or kitchen duty, or something.
Or kill you and hide your body in the woods, a voice in her head snarked.
"Hello Cadet Catherine, I trust you're doing well today?" Startled, she gave a short shriek and turned around to face the man who'd come up behind her.
"H-hi, Commander! Sorry, I'm just a little on edge right now, sir," she apologized with a salute. He waved it off, giving her a curious look.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
"N-no!" she replied hurriedly with a shake of her head. "Well, I mean, it's just I . . . I've been called into Captain Levi's office for punishment because I tracked mud into his office again, and I am . . . I really should be getting there soon." God damn it! Pull yourself together! Commander Erwin can't see you all tongue-tied and scatter brained! How the hell will you climb your way to the top if he thinks you're a nervous wreck?! she scolded herself harshly.
"I-I guess I'm just a little nervous, is all," she admitted with what she intended to be a normal chuckle, but instead it came out as nervous laughter. "I really s-should get going, I don't want to keep him waiting any longer than I already have. It was nice seeing you, Commander, and I'm sorry I can't stay to chat any longer!" She gave him a quick salute before power walking towards Levi's office. Great! He probably thinks I'm a complete nervous idiot! Way to go, Catherine, you possibly just ruined your military career! she berated herself as she reached the Captain's door. All right. Here goes nothing, she thought as she knocked on the door.
"Name and business?" Levi's voice called out, somewhat muffled by the heavy door and stone walls. Well, at least he sounds calmer now. Maybe he's not so mad anymore?
"Sir, it's Cadet Luell! I'm here to receive my punishment!" she replied, trying to stay calm. Now that she was here, she found that her nerves were starting to act up.
"Get in here." he demanded sharply. Okay, maybe he's still very mad, she thought, flinching. She opened the door quickly, entering as fast as she could. But, I might as well get this over with as soon as possible. "Shut the door." She obeyed. Looking to the ground, she noticed the mud she tracked in was no longer there; Guilt gave her a smart slap. "Sit down." he pointed to the chair in front of his desk. She sat down like a trained puppy, taking a deep breath. This doesn't look good. This doesn't look good at all.
"Luell, how many times have you attended training with dirty clothes?" he asked, standing up and facing the window.
"I don't know. Maybe ten," Catherine guessed, blushing. She never imagined Levi would pay that much attention to her clothes. Well, he is a clean freak. I guess clothes fall into the category of things he's meticulous about, she rationalized.
"Actually, it's been thirty," he corrected her. He kept track?! Catherine thought incredulously. "How many times have you tracked mud into my office?" Now, that one she did know.
"At least twice a week for the past month," Catherine mumbled, fiddling with the hem of the shirt.
"And I've given you kitchen duties every time, yet you're still not learning from your past idiotic choices." He turned to face her. "For some reason, you refuse to learn from your mistakes by extra cleaning. So I'm going to try something different." He stood directly in front of Catherine, leaning back on his desk. He'd never been this close to her before, and she struggled to keep eye contact with him. Her stomach started knotting itself, terrified by the new punishment he will dole out. Or perhaps she was nervous because Levi was so close to her. She wasn't that used to people invading her personal space. "For the next two weeks, you will be my assistant."
"Sir?" Catherine asked, pale eyebrows raised. Is that it? I just get to hang out with and help him for two weeks?
"I'm not going to lie, I'm a busy man and I need help from time to time. And perhaps if you see how much work I have to do on a daily basis, you'll realize I don't have time to clean up after you," he explained. Catherine stared at him, mouth slightly agape. That's all?! she thought ecstatically. That's nothing! I'm practically getting off easy! "Stop looking at me like that. If you would just learn from your mistakes like a normal person I wouldn't have to resort to this." She shut her mouth and looked to the floor to hide a grin as a knocking sound entered the room. "Go answer my door." Levi commanded. Catherine stood up as fast as she could, and while turning to get the door, her thigh caught on the arm rest of the chair. She tripped and fell to the stone floor, taking the chair with her. Levi sighed, and Catherine could tell he was face palming too.
"This was a stupid idea," he muttered, then in a louder voice said, "Name and business!" A sharp, throbbing pain in her thigh intensified as she lie on the cool floor. The door opened and Catherine saw Hange Zoë stride into room.
"I've been looking for you everywhere, Catherine!" she said, offering her hand to help the girl up. "Something said I might find you over here." She looked at Levi while Catherine gingerly stood up, lifting the chair with her free hand and placing it on its legs. "Levi, I'm going to have to take Catherine back, I need some more help with training with Eren for a few minutes before lunch starts."
"I can't do that, Hange," he told her, folding his arms across his chest. "She's my assistant for the next two weeks as punishment." Hange winced, putting an arm over Catherine's shoulders and ruffling the cadet's large mass of chaotic blonde curls.
"What did you do to get stuck with Short stack right here?" she laughed. Catherine fought the urge to laugh, but a smile forced itself onto her face. Levi glared at the two of them.
"She refuses to learn from her mistakes," he answered for Catherine. "Have Arlert and Lenz help you instead. Luell needs to undergo her punishment."
"All right, but if they don't live up to my standards I'm coming back and forcing you to give me Catherine," Hange warned, turning on her heel. "I'll see you two later." She exited swiftly, shutting the door behind her.
"Is your leg okay, Catherine?" he asked gently, eyes quickly flitting to her thighs. She nodded, her name ringing in her ears. He'd never called her by her first name before, and her name on his tongue sounded almost intoxicating.
"I'll be fine. I've had worse," Catherine shrugged, trying to act like it was nothing. In fact, the pain had gotten worse. Who knew arm rests could be so painful?
"Good. Now, go bring me lunch. I have a lot of paperwork to do and I don't have time to go down to the mess hall and eat there," he commanded as he sat back behind his desk.
"Yes, sir," Catherine replied, turning on her heel to leave.
"Oh, and Catherine?" he beckoned, voice dripping with something that almost seemed like playfulness. She turned back to him.
"Yeah?" she asked.
"You have five minutes." Her fists punched her body as she sharply saluted before hobbling out of the office. Levi snorted, turning back to his work. Amusement in his eyes and a smirk on his lips, he thought, I'm going to enjoy working that girl to the bone.