"I'll go find a job."
"I'm telling you, that's not necessary."
"It's the most efficient way to repay you."
And here I was, arguing with the people I was in debt to. Farlan was the one who continuously told me not to get a job; that they could find some other way to get money. The other two who lived in the household just stood off to the sides, Levi overlooking the argument, internally deciding who had the upper hand, and Isabel guiltily watching it take place.
"Not necessarily," Levi spoke suddenly. I turned my head to look at him and raised an eyebrow as if daring him to continue. "There are quite a few things you have the ability to do that would be more efficient than paying us with money."
"Alright, then. Tell me what you want me to do."
"I want you to let us teach you how to use the 3DMG." That wasn't exactly what I had expected; especially from Levi. I thought he would tell me it would take too long or that he didn't want to put up with someone as inexperienced as me. Apparently, that wasn't his train of thought.
"F-Fine. When are you planning to start?" I asked almost reluctantly. I turned to look at Farlan for a split second to see his thought on the matter and he just sat there, looking near angry at Levi. This place was just full of surprises.
"As soon as possible. Go get ready." He said, then walked out the door. I was starting to get the hang of how this guy acted...
"Uh... Hey, Farlan?"
"Huh... Oh, yeah?"
"What did he mean by 'get ready'?" I asked, making the quotation marks with my fingers(a/u: did they do this in the Attack on Titan world? If not, IM A REBEL).
"Oh, you need to put those on." He pointed over at a bundle of clothing that lied on the table.
"Took you long enough."
"Oh, be quiet. It was my first time ever even being introduced to another outfit of clothing and you expect me to get that on correctly first try?" Levi scoffed and I rolled my eyes. I saw him stand and I followed close behind as he walked through the dimly lit streets.
"So... where are we gonna do this?"
"Well, since this is your first time even trying on the stuff, I'm taking you to an... abandoned part of the city to practice your balance."
"Oh.." The rest of the walk there was spent in silence as I pondered on what I thought the experience would be like.
Well, lets just say the 'experience' was nothing like I had imagined and I was not prepared for this at all.
"This is literally your twentieth redo and you still have no clue what to do."
"Hey, you can't blame me! I've literally been sitting around scrounging for food my entire life! I've had no time to be laying around practicing my balance!" As I stood back up, I dusted my thighs off to recover from my previous outburst. The metal rings resting on my thighs still connected to the old, rusted bars that somehow made up a place for training for three-dimensional maneuver gear. "Plus, you've given me no tips what-so-ever and expect me to get it right right off the bat." Levi sighed and then went off about how I should focus on balancing the weight on either side through my waist, where the ropes held me up and about how this wasn't at all beneficial to him and I should be very thankful with all he's doing for me. I listened patiently, even though I wasn't in the mood for being lectured.
Surprisingly, most of the buildings on the way here weren't 'abandoned', unlike what Levi had told me. Most of them were just occupied by older people, which was even more of a surprise than Levi lying. I would say people who were in their forties or so lived there. Majority of the people in the Underground would barely live to thirty down here, and that was only if they had support when they were children.
Realizing I had zoned off, Levi started to lift me back up again. I shook my head frantically and struggled to contain the need to squirm. Calming myself, I exhaled deeply and it felt almost as if time had slowed down. I put the tips Levi told me to use and balanced one leg on either side of me and did the same motion with my arms. Once the tips of my feet left the ground, I shook with fear. I wasn't exactly in a stance that made it easy to catch myself if I fell over so I was relying on this technique to keep me from turning upside-down.
I closed my eyes and focused on straightening my arms and legs, and my entire body for that matter. I was shaking with fear and courage on the inside. It bounded through me like waves in the ocean on a summer day. Each wave left me breathless and it felt as if I was the only person on the planet anymore. Now a foot off the ground, I opened my eyes that I'd successively forgotten I'd closed. I wiggled around one more time and almost lost the balance I had, but when I realized that I was doing it; I was balancing off of nothing but those two metal rings, contentment and happiness flooded my body instead of fear. A smile grew onto my face.
And that was when I fell. I flipped around, feet flying through the air until they slowed above my head. I was still smiling, my arms scraping the ground underneath me and I saw Levi walk up to me. He was smirking and my smile faltered. Then I crashed onto the ground, swearing effectively.
"What was that for?!"
"You fell. What else was I supposed to do?"
"That's not fair!"
"Whatever. Get up; you're going again." You could hear him praising you through the tone of his voice and smiled again, straightening yourself back up.
"Fine. But I won't forget this!" You promised.