Morning had passed uneventfully in the cave Levi inhabited with his two honorary siblings. So uneventfully, in fact, that the raven haired teenager was starting to get worried. Until that day, a certain brunet had showed up every morning without fail. His arrival would be followed by a bout of shouting between himself and Isabelle before Farlan arrived and convinced him to start their training.
Naturally, when he had woken up from his short morning nap after his job of the previous night, Levi had expected the day to follow the usual pattern. Except Eren had never showed up. Farlan and Isabelle had come back from their morning 'stroll' which consisted of wandering the streets, grabbing the fastest pouches they could find as they went. They couldn't earn much that way, but it brought a few coins and sometimes enough to buy some food. Their main income was what Levi earned by assassinating people, and frankly they could live with that alone. Levi knew however that it made the two feel a bit less guilty to bring back their own share. He wasn't stupid. He knew they didn't like what he was doing, but he didn't have much choice. It paid well and they needed the money.
Anyway the point was, that by the time Farlan and Isabelle had come back, the brunet still hadn't arrived. The three of them had hung around the cave, something they never did before the boy had first come. None of them had ever mentioned the blue eyed child, but they were all waiting for him, as they busied themselves with superfluous activities.
When noon came and the boy still failed to show up, Farlan and Isabelle had decreed the boy had things he needed to do today and might or might not show up later in the day. Levi stubbornly kept up the appearance that he really didn't care whether or not the boy came. He tried to convince himself that it didn't matter that he wasn't there and that nothing could have happened to him. He was training with Farlan and ran hella fast…But Farlan wasn't the best of fighters and if he could defend himself, his techniques could be insufficient when facing a skilled fighter. What if Eren had run into trouble like that time with Isabelle?
Levi got up brusquely, his sudden movement catching Farlan's and Isabelle's attention. He banished the worry from his mind, because after all he didn't care at all about the damn kid, and marched towards the entrance followed by the two other's questioning stares.
"I'm going out." he announced a bit snappishly before he started descending towards the bottom of the cliff.
As he climbed down, thoughts of the smiling brunet sneaked back into his mind. It kept him busy, worrying about the brunet before kicking the annoying thoughts out of his mind, for them to sneak back in a moment later. Engrossed in his thoughts as he was, he got the impression that he reached the bottom in no time. Once his feet were on the ground, he became unsure.
Where the hell was he even going? It was all nice and well that he had decided to go out, but he couldn't exactly stroll without aim in Oz. The underground city wasn't the kind of place where one could go on leisurely afternoon walks, so where could he go?
He was saved from making any kind of decision by Katia calling him from where she was doing her laundry in front of her house.
"Levi!" called the woman waving to him with a bright smile.
The raven haired boy didn't hesitate for long. He might be violent and short-tempered, with no love for people in general but he did have a soft spot for the blonde woman. Katia had never held his nocturnal activities against him and had always welcomed him with open arms. She had often tended to his wounds when he was younger and remained in his heart one of the few he considered as friends.
"Katia." he said in terms of greeting as he stopped next to her.
He knelt on the grass next to the basin, and rolled up his sleeves in the way Katia had, before plunging his arms in the soapy water and starting to wash the sheet.
"How are you doing? I didn't expect to see you today. You don't come out so much anymore." commented the woman, as she continued her washing, this time with Levi's assistance.
Levi remained silent. It was true he didn't really go out much in the day, because Eren was there, and for some reason he would always stay in the cave when Eren came.
"Eren didn't come, so I'm free to do what I want." he said at last.
Not that he needed to stay at home when the kid was there but he couldn't see himself telling the woman he was worried to death over a snotty brat who was probably fine wherever he was.
"Oh."
The slight cracking in the woman's voice and the way her hands stopped moving for a moment was all Levi needed to know she knew something.
"You know something." he said, looking up to stare at her.
Katia recoiled a little when she was met with the hard steel gaze.
"He came by yesterday. We talked a bit." she said.
He knew she wasn't lying, but he also knew she hadn't told him everything. The blonde woman went back to her washing, but Levi continued staring at her intently.
"What did you tell him?" he asked, a pool of dread forming into his stomach.
Katia didn't look up, stubbornly rubbing the sheets.
"He wanted to know what kind of job you did at night." she admitted finally.
As the yelling she was expecting didn't come, she glanced upwards. The raven haired boy was looking at her with utter disbelief. Slowly, it morphed into resignation and, Katia wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't seen it, pain. She was stunned for a moment but when she regained her senses and made to check, the young man had already gotten to his feet, quickly dried his arms and walked away.