Author's notes:

Hi all, posting chapter two as promised. I must point out that I actually know jack all about horses, so some internet research was looked into regarding behaviour and equipment terminology. It may become abundantly clear that I know very little on how to maintain horses, but ye have been warned :)

Please direct your eyes... somewhat south.

~0~

Chapter II

He had been tasked with mucking out the stables. Since Eren arrived here six days ago, he had been given a set of tasks daily only two days ago, after he convinced them that he had rested and recovered from his injuries, courtesy of Levi in the Courtroom.

Even though Eren was a novice when it came to horses, he quickly found he enjoyed the work, being left alone for a few hours and keeping active. It gave him time to shift through his thoughts, or if he so choose, to completely block out his thoughts and just keep busy.

This morning, Eren found himself thinking back on his time with The Corporal. Those words had struck a chord in him, yet of which he wasn't sure.

Since arriving at the Corp's, Eren had mostly kept to himself as much as he could. He had met a few members of Levi's team, and a few others whose occupation he was unaware, yet Eren knew that those he had met had scrutinized him from head to toe. He knew why, obviously, felt it with every waking moment, but it was a hard thing to swallow when only last week he was viewed as a strong healthy soldier with a future of potential.

Now, as he walked through the corridors, or carried his meal to a solitary table, or set to work with a chore that others had also been assigned to, he was met with various levels of precaution. Each one as uncomfortable as the other, and he hated it.

Some would furrow their eyebrows, watching his every move, others would shuffle their feet discreetly distancing themselves. Some he saw twitch their fingers, achingly wanting to feel if their swords were in safe reach. It hollowed him out, seeing all this. He couldn't stand the stares they thought he couldn't see. Didn't they know he didn't want this? He didn't choose this?

Eren knew that they had been gracious enough to try to act normal, but he could still see this plain as day. He ached for normalcy, he ached for someone just to talk to him without fear, with mutual respect, without hatred or being on edge.

Which is why when he felt himself hit rock bottom like this, he remembers being on that dusty couch right after he was hauled out of the courtroom. He remembers feeling completely empty and spaced out until he felt the motion of someone sinking down right beside him. He remembers pulling his tongue out of the space where his tooth had been, to look next to him at who had just made themselves at home on the same couch he was on. Corporal Levi had flung his arm over the back on the sofa, fingers landing close to the nape of his neck and had looked him straight in the eye as he casually crossed one leg over the other.

"Do you hate me, Eren?" he had said, face as neutral as ever, but eyes flitting across Eren's face, searching for his own answers.

Eren reminisced being so surprised back then. After having walked out of a courtroom filled with different representatives of their nation and being judged upon whether he was worthy of living or being led to slaughter, he now had one of humanities most cherished soldiers, asking if he, of all people, hated him?

He had already realised that The Corporal had set aside his own humanity to protect and save Eren's. To beat the living shit out of Eren in that Courtroom of judgemental people who didn't want to understand was to simply save Eren's life.

"No, I understand it was necessary."

Eren sighed as he piled up the big stack of old hay. He wiped the sweat from his brow as he clutched the pitchfork, preparing to start laying fresh hay. Truth be told, sometimes that memory was one of the only memories he could cling to, to prevent him sinking into a depression. Even if he was yet to find normalcy from within the Survey Corps, he unexpectedly had found it calming around Corporal Levi. He wasn't sure why, he gathered it was that surprisingly, Levi was the only one who had yet to shrink away from him, the only one he could see no fear shining through his eyes. He felt no contempt when Levi addressed him.

If it wasn't for the fact that he had been garnering hero worship for the stout man since late childhood, he would be sure to have looked him in the eyes more often. Yet, as it were, Eren felt so insignificant in the man's presence that he found it hard to.

It was a fast path to hero worship when Eren had laid eyes on him years ago. The Corporal had ridden in on his horse through the gates, surrounded by his tired and tattered squad. The citizens had lined the road, some to welcome them back, some to scorn them for wasted taxes. Levi had looked slightly fatigued, yet compared to his crew, he seemed perfectly unharmed. The man had swung his leg off his mare, gracefully climbing down to the ground with a soft thud of his boots. Eren had pushed through the crowd to the front, as he had lost sight of the man due to his short stature.

Eren remembered that he couldn't tear his eyes away, The Corporal stood straight, every single one of his inches used to keep himself gracefully composed. Eren had studied his face, steel grey eyes scanning the crowd with a brief once over, and Eren remembered thinking that those eyes were perfectly designed. Concentrated and controlled, observing everything that Humanity's strongest needed them to with efficiency and precision. Eren had glanced at the ink black locks, the contrasting undercut and the furrowed eyebrows.

His eyes roamed the compact body, thinking that every limb was formed perfectly in every way. Taunt muscle compressed powerfully within this man who stood as the shortest adult in the crowd. However, even as a young teen, Eren had felt the powerful presence of Levi, even as he was being called out on over his comrades deaths. Eren had heard the stories of course, Lance Corporal Levi had proven himself time and time again as a deadly Titan killing machine, and in that moment, Eren believed every word. Yes, hero worship had bonked him on the head that day, and hadn't left him since.

He was startled out of his memories when he felt a strong hand clamp onto his shoulder. He spun around, fingers loosening on the pitchfork and found Squad Leader Hanji peering down at him through her glasses.

"Mornin' Eren!" She greeted, rocking back and forth on her heels as her hand fell from his shoulder. Eren had still to get used to her erratic behaviour, and found himself more often than not being peered at as though he were some sort of test subject. Funny enough, he guessed he wasn't far from the truth. He would become her test subject very shortly.

He straightened up, feeling his back click as he went to salute her.

"Good morning, Squ-"

"Just Hanji, if you please!"

Eren frowned, feeling out of place to address her in such away, "If you insist—"

"I do!" Hanji beamed down at him, giving Eren a hearty slap on the back before she started careening him towards the stable doors. Eren just about managed to balance the pitchfork against the wall before he was excitedly shoved through the doorframe. He guessed it was time for training, which made him feel suddenly as though he was being filled with ice cold water.

Hanji had her palm flat up against his shoulder blades, steering him off to behind the paddocks and into the surrounding grassy fields. Eren could feel her palm with every step, feeling uncomfortable all the way. Hanji was the only other person, all bearing Levi, and of course, Commander Erwin, who didn't look at Eren as though he was a threat. Although, Eren justified, the Commander was rarely seen by Eren, and Hanji preferred to look at him like he was a friendly monster, not a threatening one. Which again made Levi the only one in Eren's books who he almost relied on.

As they made their way through a large group of thick trees, they soon found themselves on the other side, where the path opened up into larger rolling fields. The grass was unkempt, making their efforts to walk double as they had to lift their knees high.

In the distance, Eren saw a small group of green cloaks all gathered around two or three picnic benches. Hanji was guiding them towards the cloaks, the faces soon becoming clearer as they trekked.

"Eren, today is the start of your training, are you as excited as I am?" Hanji garbled on, barely containing her excitement and making them walk just that little more quickly. Eren felt as though his feet were turning to lead, dread swept through him in continuous waves.

He couldn't do this.

He felt his heels starting to dig into the dirt and the palm on his back increased in pressure through the swing of Hanji's step. Soon they had come to an awkward stop, half a field away from the cloaks, whose heads turned inquisitively towards them.

"Squad lead—"

"Just Hanji."

"Right. Um, I-." He swallowed thickly, finding it hard to unjumble his thoughts as they were all battling to trip out of his mouth. Hanji's palm slid up to his shoulder as she leaned down to him, curious eyes studying acutely. He blinked at her, mouth agape and stuttering nonsense.

She seemed to understand as her eyes became softer, her fingers patted his shoulder idly as she smiled, excitement momentarily controlled.

"Boy-o, do you see those soldiers over there." She pointed towards the group, a strawberry blonde woman saw Hanji point, and in return raised her petite hand to wave back.

"Those there are Levi's elite team, hand selected. Unarguably the best of the best. They trust each other and their skills more than they trust any remaining family they may own. Now, I'm not one to really wax poetry, but Levi trusts them too, and he's just added you to his squad, so you are now one of them." Hanji straightened up and her other hand came up to meet his other shoulder, turning him away from the cloaks and towards herself.

Eren felt as her fingers tightened slightly and sensed that Hanji was desperately trying to make him understand.

"It will take time to earn their trust, and I'm sure they will have to earn yours, but don't ever forget that we value life, and that means yours too. In fact— ." here she leaned in closer, pony tail falling messily over her shoulder and eyes gleaming, "—Yours more than anyone else's now Eren, you're special. There's only one of you."

Eren studied her eyes, it was hard not to seeing how close she was, he could see the resolve in her eyes. He could see everything she wanted to say, but couldn't due to her scattered scientific thoughts.

Hanji saw more to Eren than just a walking experiment. She saw and valued his life, yet she also saw how meaningful he was to the human race, even if they themselves did not. He could see that she wanted to work relentlessly until they had some answers, some proof of hope that humanity would not reach extinction. She would slave away day and night, forever more, to understand and resolve humanity's problem.

Eren felt an uncomfortable lump in his throat.

How could he argue with that?

It was a hard thing to put yourself aside for the sake of others, when it really came down to it. Yet between Levi's actions and Hanji's resolve, Eren felt a shift within him. He had to try, the Survey Corp's put everything on the line. Hell, they knew ridicule like the best of them.

Eren remembered the sneers and angry shouts of the public every time they had returned to the gates empty handed.

While what Eren faced was probably more exhausting, and probably more emotionally damaging in the long run, he had to try. He owed them this much. He was alive because of them.

Eren brought his hands up to grip at Hanji's forearms, squeezing tight as he determinedly locked eyes with her. She looked a little surprised, but as soon as he nodded and his decision was clear, she was grinning ear to ear.

"Atta Boy, Eren!"

He nodded again, turning to face his new squad. He didn't know what to expect, and his fears still wanted to swallow him whole, but he pushed them aside. Only through hard work and training would they ever find any results.

"Ready, boy-o?" Hanji asked, palm returning to between his shoulder blades.

Eren nodded a final time, already accepting the nickname, and took a step forward.

"Yeah."

~0~

As it turned out, training had merely meant… well, training. After introductions were made to the group and Eren had names to faces, Hanji wasted no time in dropping that bombshell. Eren could have killed her once he was thrown into a vigorous morning of hand to hand combat, endurance tests, survival skills and 3DMG exercises.

As he was running around the overgrown field for the 11th lap, thighs burning and chest heaving, he vaguely wondered when between Levi and Hanji they would have liked to have told him that he was definitely staying human today.

Was it a test? Had he failed? Or did they just see that he wasn't ready?

Either way, as he started his 12th and final lap, he glanced at the group by the picnic benches as they huddled for discussion. They had been there since he started running, Erd and Oluo going over his combat skills, Petra his survival skills and Gunther discussing with Hanji his overall performance.

As Eren slowed to a stop, he realised he should have seen this coming when The Corporal was nowhere to be found. They wouldn't have tested his Titan shifting abilities without him, would they?

He walked slowly over to the benches, eyes seeking out some water to quench his thirst.

"Good job today Eren." Petra had greeted him, slipping into his hands a canteen of water. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she perched on the bench. Eren all but collapsed beside her, fumbling with the lid of his canteen as the discussion slowly quietened down.

"Well I should hope so, it was just basic endurance training, if he couldn't show competency in that then God help us all." Oluo chimed in, waving his hand dismissively.

"Despite that fact," Erd had stated calmly, "Eren is well adapt in all these areas, it states here that he ranked 5th overall in the 104th trainees' squad, impressive." He tapped this file in his hand, as though the paper lead to the evidence they were looking for this entire time. Eren frowned, wishing that they had realised that before he could no longer feel his legs.

It was mixed responses Eren found around the table, some members seemed willing to support Eren, whilst others felt only hard evidence would produce results and put their weariness at ease.

"You will need to go through at least a few more weeks of training, to get used to our style of team work, it's no good to us if you know your shit, but not ours." Oluo stated bluntly, looking over at Petra briefly. Petra just blanched, giving Oluo a disgusted look.

"If you are trying to act like Corporal Levi, you're just making yourself look stupi—."

"Okay! Time for lunch!" Hanji sing songed over their dispute, energetically pulling out their wrapped lunches.

Bemusedly, Eren accepted the lunch that was practically thrust upon him, looking around the table at the eccentric squad. Troubles momentarily forgotten, Eren grinned and unwrapped his bread.

If these oddballs had found a home in the Survey Corps, then maybe he could too.

They ate sharing stories and learning a little about each other as birds flew overhead and the sun settled high in the sky. Eren's legs ached but he could feel his strength returning with each passing minute. Erd and Gunther eventually strolled half a field away where they could be seen sparring and Hanji had taken to scribbling down notes on two different note pads in chicken scrawl handwriting.

The wind carried sounds of hoofs approaching and Eren swivelled around on the bench to see Levi approaching with two mares, the ropes hanging loosely in his hands. Eren drunk deep from his canteen as he continued to watch The Corporal approach until the man was a few metres away.

Levi's eyes flickered over his surroundings before landing on Eren and remaining there. Eren felt his stomach flip, unsure as to why but placing it in the fact that Levi's presence was unexpected in his books at this point.

After a few beats of silence, Levi separated the reins and held one set out in front of him. Eren rose awkwardly and claimed the offered reins, watching as Levi turned to his right and took a few paces away from him. Levi glanced over his shoulder, noting that Eren had yet to move, and tilted his head to the side ever so slightly.

"Coming?"

Eren was quick to jump into action, giving an experimental tug to the reins, the horse following easily as he caught up to Levi. They started walking away from the squad, distancing themselves by two full length fields. Eren occasionally fumbled over some grass, or found his horse had come round the other side of him, surprising him when it breathed out heavily next to his ear. He caught Levi smirking at him the second time it had happened, and he had to huff out his own amusement.

"Do they always do this?" Eren enquired, leaning forward to peer at Levi from around the horse's neck. He couldn't help his smile as he saw Levi still smirking.

"She is testing you, seeing who really has the control."

"Why didn't she do it to you?"

Levi raised an eyebrow, eyes lingering on Eren's face. Eren rolled his eyes, still feeling amused.

"Good point. So, how do I show her?" Eren suddenly felt much more eager to learn. It wasn't everyday a soldier could say they received training from Humanity's Strongest, even if it was only in horse riding.

"You need them to know that you are assured in yourself." Levi stated, posture relaxed and stroking the mare's neck. "Horses are much like humans in this regard, you wouldn't follow a bumbling fool, or a stranger that you don't know."

Eren's eyes widened. Ah, clever. Levi had taken over Eren's horse training as it was a trust building exercise. Eren knew without a doubt that Levi had seen how unsure Eren had become of his own existence, how his trust in others and in himself had crashed down around him. Eren lowered his eyes to the floor. Did he deserve to be wasting The Corporal's time like this?

"Eyes to me, Eren."

His eyes snapped back up, Levi was studying him, patiently and unwaveringly so.

"None of that anymore. I don't care if you have to lie to yourself until you believe it, but leave that unease behind. What were you just thinking?"

He was taken back slightly, the tone, whilst not loud or threatening, had taken on an authorative quality. He found himself speaking before he had a chance to alter any of his words.

"I was just thinking that I am wasting your time, Sir."

Levi furrowed an eyebrow, trying to make sense of it. "Are you suggesting that you are a waste of time? Or a waste of my time?"

Eren wasn't sure, so he settled on "Both."

Levi sighed, coming round his horse to take the reins off Eren, he lead the horses to the nearest tree, tethering them to a branch. He then approached Eren again, coming up to stand an arm length away.

He folded his arms across his chest and leaned his weight onto one hip.

"Are you angry, Eren?"

Eren felt confusion wash over him, was he angry? Angry at what?

"Huh?"

Levi just stated his comment again, elaborating. "Are you angry? You have a right to be, you know. It was only last week you were probably discussing dreams and future goals. Are you angry that it's all been turned upside down?"

Eren was baffled; Levi continued on, Eren unsure if he's ever heard him speak this much before.

"Show me. Show me how angry you are that people now look upon you with fear. Show me what you showed me in that cell under the courtroom. You told me you wanted to kill titans Eren, well I am beginning to question if those were really your intentions."

Eren sucked in a breath, how could The Corporal even question that? Had Eren not shown him in that cell room his convictions? He had practically bellowed them at him, and now he is questioning them?! He felt his hands tightening into fists, nails bedded deep in his furled palms.

"You act as though you've had a personal vendetta against those titans since you were a child, and maybe you do, but I doubt you Jeager. You stand before me, unable to look me in the eye, unable to tame a horse-."

Eren felt his teeth clenched and grinding, the words striking him deep, the words from his Corporal, the one man that he strived to be like since first laying eyes on him.

"—Self-doubting yourself and wondering if you should just keel over and die. Do you give up so quickly, Eren? Does a mere obstacle such as becoming a titan really render you beaten?" Levi stepped forward at that, the pads of his fingers landing on Eren's chest, before firmly shoving him backwards.

Eren stumbled; catching himself and feeling his muscles tighten, coiling in rage.

"I don't need a soldier second guessing himself in my squad, either he is a fighter, or he's titan food. Which is it to be Jeager?" Levi said, taking a swift step forward, looking at Eren through a neutral expression.

Eren's skin was vibrating, the one and only thing Eren believed, his hatred for the titans, was being called into question. Had he really drowned in so much self-pity over what others thought of him that his principles were put on the back burner?

He was visibly shaking, head staring at the grass as Levi's hand came to grip the front of his shirt. He felt the fist tighten in his shirt, when he heard Levi mutter on a quieter note,

"Will you not avenge your mother?"

Eren snapped, his forearm springing up so quick he hardly felt the impact it had on the Corporal's arm as he was released, his own body weight returned for his own thighs to support. He barely registered the projectory of Levi's arm being thrown away from the man's body by his own force before he was grabbing back onto it again.

He only had time to hear Levi grunt before he was yanking the shorter male towards him, fist clenched and ready to strike.

His fist met air though as Levi had twisted his body up into the air, using the support of Eren's grip on his arm to arch and land heavily onto Eren's shoulders, Eren didn't even have a second to grab Levi's thighs before the man was throwing himself backwards, strong thighs gripping his head and ankles crossed under his arms to haul Eren skyward and backwards.

Eren slammed to the ground, skidding away from Levi. He let out a feral growl before scrambling to his feet, Levi charging towards him. He blocked an attack to his head and then to his side, forced into defence as a flurry of blows tried to land. He ducked and swung a leg round under him, trying to halter Levi's fast attacks, yet the man gracefully jumped over his leg. Eren pushed up from the ground, tucking his head in as he grabbed Levi's waist whilst the man was in mid jump.

He connected and all but threw Levi away from him. Levi landed on his feet, some distance between them and momentarily paused. Eren thought he had seen Levi smirk then, a lively glint in his eye before he was charging again.

Even through his anger, Eren could see the grace of Levi's movements, each limb aligning as needed, each move resourceful and with purpose. He didn't have time to admire it though, as he was soon again blocking high kicks to his face. He managed to grab Levi's thigh strap, clawing it towards him for momentum to land a strike to his stomach, but Levi had manoeuvred out of his grip, using his knee to land a blow to Eren's solar plexus.

Eren flinched back, air knocked from his lungs, fingers grasping for anything before they gripped at Levi's ankle mid-air. He managed to keep his balance long enough to right himself before throwing Levi's leg away and throwing a blind punch. It missed, as he expected but gave him enough force to start his own flurry of attacks.

Eren's rage was growing more and more and he flung knees and elbows, fists and feet at the other man. He had managed to push Levi back a few feet, but still had yet to connect a good attack. His breath was loud in his ear, and he saw Levi's chest rise and fall slightly more than normal.

He pushed these observations aside, dodging one punch and blocking the next. He felt a jab to his calf, making his knee buckle, and grabbed the nearest thing available to make sure he brought his opponent down with him. His fingers clasped around Levi's cravat and all but yanked the man down.

Levi landed, knee to the side of Eren's shoulder and head bowed low due to the restriction of his cravat. Eren had sprawled completely on his back, with Levi's other knee jabbing painfully into his chest.

They had landed awkwardly, and Eren was left looking up into the face of his Corporal. Their breaths sounded loud to his ears, his body shaking from excursion. He still had Levi bent at an uncomfortable angle, and he let go of the cravat, allowing his hand to fall awkwardly down to his side.

Levi sat up, now that his neck had been released, and looked down at Eren, the glint in his eyes still lively. Eren looked up at him, not bothered by the weight of the other man but definitely taking note of his aching limbs. He had been hit many more times than he thought, the painful throbs only now he was detecting.

There were a few more beats of silence, both men studying each other before Levi huffed out his amusement.

"If I had known you were such a grabber, Jaeger, I would have dressed down."

Eren felt undignified by that response, but felt a complete wash of calm run through him. "Only your cravat, sir."

Levi raised an eyebrow and couldn't help the smirk tug at his lips. "Only my cravat? I had my thigh straps, arms, ankles… "

Eren couldn't help it, he was laughing loud and clear as Levi rattled off his list of offended body parts. Levi trailed off, slightly surprised by the laughing boy beneath him. He wasn't sure if Eren was laughing harder than normal seeing as Levi was restricting his chest, or if he had found what had transcended genuinely funny, but he found himself amused nonetheless.

He let Eren's laughter dwindle out, before he was left with a grinning soldier again, he was about to let him up before he felt fingers curl around his wrist, keeping him in place. He inquisitively looked down, green orbs wide and looking directly back at him.

"Thank you, sir."

Levi furrowed an eyebrow, wanting clarification on what he was being thanked for. "For what?"

Even though Eren was flat on his back, Levi didn't need to have the boy standing to see the shift of posture, the fire once again alight in his eyes. Yes, this had been more like the titan he had seen in Trost. He didn't need Eren in his titan form to see that lively fighting spirit he had witnessed that day. He was now looking down at it right now.

"For making me realise what a mess I was, and pulling me out of it."

Levi hummed as he took to stand, brushing the dirt off his knees and extending his hand down to the boy below.

"You're welcome Eren. Just remember, this is no waste of my time."

Eren accepted the hand and was swiftly pulled to his feet. Levi had turned and started making his way over to the horses that had lost interested and had taken to grazing the grass around the tree. He untied the horses and offered Eren his set of reins yet again.

"Now how about that horse riding, hmm?"

Eren nodded, feeling triple the amount of determination rolling through him now. He accepted the reins and started to listen to Levi's tips on horse control. As he watched Levi demonstrate figure of eights and posture, he felt ten times lighter.

Eren knew he was dumb in a few areas of life, but to this he was wise. Corporal Levi had made a calculated risky move back there. He had noted Eren's defeated nature and had taken to the challenge. Eren could have easily lost full control back there, body transforming into his titan, leaving Levi without 3DMG gear and a tethered horse. Yet Levi had held his ground, pushing at Eren's more human side, wanting to seek out that fiery human determination.

Eren didn't blame Levi for calling out the things that he had, he didn't even question how Levi knew of his mother in the first place. All he felt was gratitude that Levi had decided to become his pillar of support, even if it had meant a good angered sparring match.

It wasn't as though Eren had even landed any good hits apart from when he had managed to catch Levi round his middle to throw him back. Thinking back on it, Eren had landed no other note-worthy blows. However, he liked to think Levi had underestimated him, or even hoped that he had managed to impress Humanity's Strongest in some way.

Either way, as he watched Levi talk about horse tack and gear maintenance, he truly felt like he had connected with the man, and thanked him silently right down to his sore bones.

~0~

A/N: Whelp, who knew a good ol' punch up would knock some sense into Eren? You did? Nice call, man.

Please Review and fav and all that fancy jazz, its encouragement juice! I will post the next chapter in a few days :)

Cohali