Levi was irritated if not surprised to find the guard sitting outside the door to the office when he came to check on the girl. He had scoffed when Erwin had mentioned it, questioning how much trouble a nine year old girl could get into. The scout snapped to attention as 'Humanity's Strongest' approached, nodding to him.
"Any movement?"
"None sir, hasn't made a peep."
He tutted slightly at the thought of her still being asleep this late in the day, it wasn't long until breakfast would be starting. For goodness sake, the sun had been over the horizon for a full twenty minutes, and here he was facing the probability of waking up a no doubt snarky child.
Knocking perfunctorily on the door, he went striding into the office, glancing to the untidy blanket which was crumpled on the floor in front of the now cold fireplace with an expression of distaste. Unable to resist, he marched over, picking it up and shaking out the dog hairs which clung to the fabric, before folding and returning it to the cupboard.
"Hey, brat, where are you?" he tried to remind himself to sound non-threatening, but couldn't hide the irritation in his voice. Could she be hiding somewhere in here? A brief check stilled that theory, and he frowned. "Oi, get in here."
The guard obediently entered the room.
"Where is she?"
"Umm, sir?"
"Spit it out- when did you last see her?"
"Last night, I checked in on her when I took watch and she was sound asleep."
Levi groaned to himself, trying to imagine how stupid a person had to be to let a child slip past them, whilst simultaneously thinking of places where the girl could have run off to. Likely she had been spooked by the unfamiliar adult and decided to escape. He left the confused guard staring at the empty room as he began to search the base, cursing Erwin under his breath the whole time.
Old haunts were usually a good place to begin, so he started by searching the infirmary, only to be caught by Hanji coming out of her lab to see him opening and closing cupboards and looking behind the curtains. Her snorting in amusement made him spin around and glare in her direction.
"Tch, what's so funny shitty glasses?"
"You are my masculine midget. What on earth are you doing? If you are looking for your sanity I am afraid it's not in the supply cabinet."
With a heavy sigh he closed the door to the dispensary and threw up in hands in aggravation. "The damn brat has gone AWOL and I was trying to think where she might be hiding."
"Aah, I see. Want my help?"
"That would be appreciated" he ground out through gritted teeth, irked by her smug expression.
"Then have no fear! Hanji is here! And I know exactly where to look."
He raised one eyebrow at her.
"Think about it- if you were a kid who had just woken up, hell anyone who had just woken up, what is the first thing that you want?"
"A shower and some soap."
The scientist sighed dramatically, "wrong answer clean freak- the right one is: breakfast! I will bet you anything she is in the dining hall." She sighed as she could almost see the cogs going around in his brain, processing the notion.
"You might be right. Thanks."
She grinned at him.
"I would never have been able to think of something so childish. Let's go see."
The smile slipped, and she followed behind him muttering dire threats and insults at his back.
They arrived to find a scene of utter chaos erupting amongst the usually drowsy scouts who were assembled for their breakfast. At first because of his height, all Levi could make out was the ring of backs as the scouts were formed in a circle around something happening in the middle. There was shouting, some laughing, and suddenly a rowdy cheer.
Pushing his way through with a whooping Hanji who was picking up on all the excitement, they moved to the front of the crowd to see what in the hell was causing such a ruckus. The eyes nearly bulged out of his head as he came across one of the most bizarre and chaotic scenes of his life, staring at the antics of the cadets from the 104th.
The furniture had been shifted out of its normal positions except for the heavy table. Benches and chairs had been set at random angles to each other, spread out over the space in the middle of the room. The cadets seemed to be reorganising themselves into some inexplicable formation, with the Braus girl climbing onto Reiner's shoulders, holding what appeared to be a muffin high over her head. Springer, Kirstein and Jaeger were standing in what seemed to be some form of defensive perimeter, whilst Armin was hurrying around the spectators apparently collecting bets.
A rhythmic clapping started from one side of the circle, at the far end of the table, getting faster and faster. The cadets seemed to ready and brace themselves, and Levi was pretty certain that the entire scouting legion had finally lost it.
Without warning a small figure came streaking down the table top, apparently using it as some sort of run way. Jaeger's crew all readied themselves as the tiny form leaped from the end, seeming to bounce across two chairs and launch itself towards the two man tower. Kirstein made a desperate grab for an ankle as it passed him, only to be knocked over by the dog which seemed to materialise amongst the boys and send them flying like nine pins.
Gracefully the acrobat, who Levi realised must be the girl, turned a somersault as she passed right over Braus and Reiner, plucking the upheld muffin like ripe fruit and landing lightly on her feet on one of the benches. Triumphantly she raised her prize, the crowd roaring again, before she bowed and split it with her shaggy partner.
Hanji was leaping around and yelling along with the others at the display, as bets on whether the girl would succeed were counted and collected.
Grinning like maniacs, the cadets were forming themselves into some form of human pyramid at least three tiers high, when suddenly Eren saw his superior officer standing gobsmacked in the crowd. Automatically the boy tried to snap to attention, which seeing as how he was on the bottom of the pyramid was a bad idea, leading to everyone collapsing on each other and cursing.
That soon stopped as they too noted the expression on the Captain's face, rapidly forming ranks and saluting as the bawdy crowd fell suddenly silent.
"Can somebody explain just what the bloody hell is going on here?" his voice had started as quiet but was shouting by the end, causing the miscreants to flinch and the crowd to belatedly scatter, regretful looks cast back at those standing in disgrace.
"Well? Anybody? How about you Kirstein?"
"Sir, yes sir! We were conducting an impromptu training drill sir!"
"Elaborate soldier."
"Yes sir!" Jean's voice took on a slight squeak but nobody dared laugh. "There was some discussion over whether Elsie should be counted as one of our ranks and the logical step was that she be tested for suitability. And, uhh… things got a little carried away…"
"I see," his voice was back to a near murmur, which set them all on edge far more than shouting. "So naturally you decided to allow bare feet on the table tops, an animal in the dining room, scratches on the floor from moving furniture, and… hang on, who the hell is Elsie?"
The little girl stepped forwards, shame faced with her mutt beside her, and raised her hand slowly.
"So that's your name is it?"
She nodded.
"So you finally decided to speak huh?"
Armin visibly gulped as he stepped forwards briefly. "Actually Captain Levi, she didn't know or didn't have a name so… Mikasa picked one for her." And he snapped back into position, staring straight ahead.
"Well then… Elsie? I gather you are cause of all this chaos."
The girl nodded solemnly again, eyes wide and staring up at him from a flushed face. He was slightly surprised by her apparent boldness, taking in the changes already in the previously skittish child.
"Are you sorry for what you have done?"
Elsie paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and looked him straight in the eye as she shook her head.
Her new friends all gasped, and Levi's eyes narrowed. "You aren't sorry for breaking the rules and making a mess?"
The little girl nodded her head frantically, and the Captain was having trouble trying to decipher what she was trying to tell him. It was Sasha who acted as interpreter this time.
"Sir- I think she means she is sorry for upsetting you and making a mess, but she doesn't regret playing with, and trying to prove herself to, us."
Elsie was nodding frantically, shooting a grateful look at Sasha. Despite the chaos, Levi could not help an inward smile at the exchange. He was liking this brat more and more as she showed that she did have some spirit after all. Outwardly he remained as impassive and ticked off as ever, frowning seriously down at the child, who was now absently stroking the pelt of the dog.
He huffed a sigh. "Alright then cadets. You will return everything within this hall to its original position, then scrub every single inch of floor and furniture until I could allow one of you to eat your dinner off of it. After that, you are all on washing up duty for the next three meals."
The teenagers all snapped back to full attention, fists to chests, "SIR, YES SIR."
He glared down at the girl and her dog, "That means all of you, cadet."
Her eyes somehow managed to grow even wider, and once again there was a streak of summer sky blue which almost took his breath away. Slightly clumsy, she copied the motions of her friends, thumping herself in the chest so hard he half expected her to break a rib, back straight enough to be a ruler. The attempt at 'perfect soldier' was only spoilt by the ear to ear smile which she wore with an expression of almost dizzy happiness.
"Alright brats, get to it!"