Mmmmmmmmmm, for some reason, this was harder for me to work with than I thought...Well, the second half was, I was flying with the first bit C:

Today gave me the perfect opportunity to get this chapter done, thanks to my tumblr dashboard getting spammed with FREE! posts...got nothing against it, it's a decent show, but I just didn't care much, and no fucks are really given now that it's finished. (I'm more upset that Dangan Ronpa and our beloved SNK are finishing up for the season, at least it's obvious that there's gonna be another season for them :D )

The first four days, Eren had reverted back to a dangerous, mindless animal. Several of his care takers were injured whenever they approached him from inside his cell, some even had a finger or two bitten off for foolishly thinking they would be able to touch him. Trying to sedate him was found difficult thanks to him constantly lashing out and mauling whoever got close; in the end, they had to drug his food just to get him to settle down.

By the third day, the muzzle was reintroduced.

The next two days, he had spent crying. It was like clockwork; he would aimlessly wonder around his cell, then the tears and wails would come and continue throughout the day until he tired himself out and fall asleep, and the cycle repeated once he woke up.

For three days after that, the self destructive behaviour began. Clawing along his face, arms and legs, bashing his head against the metal walls to the point that he managed to split his head open, and throwing himself against the bars at the front of the cage. Biting himself would have been added to the list, if it wasn't for the muzzle that was preventing him. The science department had taken the precaution of having his cell padded and have mittens strapped to his hands to prevent any further self harm.

By day 9, it had appeared he had accepted his fate and was complying with the scientists tests. In his mind, he had convinced himself that if he did as he was told and be a good boy, then maybe Hanji would return. The tests themselves were harmless; mostly just taking blood samples, having x-rays, and physical examinations to check on his overall health and fitness. Most of the staff were kind to him, Armin and Mikasa would visit every few days, and due to being put under the authority to supervise, Levi was present every day to make sure everything was running smoothly.

The days progressed, and while Eren still went along with the tests, the novelty of everyone's kindness and presence was wearing off and was quickly withdrawing into his shell. Whenever someone would pass him, he would call out for Hanji, which would only earn him a sad look from whomever he directed the name to.

When day 13 rolled around, he had stopped eating the food given to him.

At the end of day 14, whatever hope he had in his usually lively eyes were gone.

By day 15, he had just given up.

He would lay lifelessly in his cage, preferring the cold metal surface over the bedding provided in the corner. Blank, glassy eyes would stare out into space, and the bags under his eyes were a clear indication that he had stopped sleeping at some point. This had caused a stir throughout the lab, especially when he didn't show the slightest reaction or response when they picked him up and brought him out of his cell to sit him on the examination table to figure out what was wrong with him.

It didn't take long for Levi to realised what the problem was, and knew that something needed to be done. Requesting a day off and one phone call later lead the corporal to sitting in a small cafe' in the town about an hour's drive away from the base.

"God damn it, you have serious tardiness issues." Levi grumbled as he took a mouthful of tea. Cold grey eyes leered at the brunette who was bundled up in a thick jacket, scarf, and mittens to stay warm from the unusually cold weather outside.

"Sorry! I was going to get here earlier but then I realised how cold it was and had to rug up a bit more, it's bloody freezing!" Hanji whined with a shiver as she took her seat at the table Levi had claimed in the tiny cafe'. "I'm rather surprised to get a call from you; would'a thought you'd be happy that I was gone."

"I just wanted to take a day off for a breather, and since you have a lot of free time on your hands, I thought it would be good to catch up in one of our old haunting grounds."

Hanji snorted "Naw, you do care!"

The male shot the woman a glare as he took another drink from his cup. "Good to see you're doing well."

"Pfft, you kidding? I bawled my friggin eyes out as soon as I got home!" Hanji laughed, even with her brutal honesty, it was easy to tell her tone of voice was forced. Eventually her laughter died down and her expression changed to sad and tired. "I've managed to keep myself occupied in a way to distract myself. So, who's in charge of Eren now?"

"Ilse Langer."

"That's good. If there's anyone else I would trust him with, it's Ilse...How is he?"

Levi was quiet for a bit, trying to think of the best way to put Eren's behaviour without worrying the woman. "He misses you."

"I see..."

The two were quiet, and stayed that way for a while. Hanji would fiddle with the pompoms on ends of her scarf, not able to find anything to really say, while Levi continued to drink his tea. Once he had finished, Levi placed the cup on the table and chose to finally break the silence.

"Do you really need that scarf?"

"Huh? That's a random question, why you ask?"

"I just think there's a certain someone who might need it more than you do right now."

Hanji's eyebrow quirked up, not following what he meant. Even after the short male decided to give her an 'Are you fucking serious?' look, it still took her a while for what he was talking about clicked. "Oh! Right." Hanji chuckled as she unwrapped the colourful scarf from her neck and handed it over to the tiny Corporal. "What makes you think my scarf will do anything?"

"I know for a fact that you've had that gaudy abomination for a few years; so your stink will be all over it. If I give it to the brat, maybe having something with your familiar scent will help him cope better with the whole separation anxiety."

Yet again, Hanji was rendered speechless, completely stunned by the others words. Levi noticed Hanji looking at him with her eyes all widened and bug-eyed, which bothered him.

"What?"

The shocked expression quickly changed to a mischievous grin as she let out a small, high pitched giggle. "I'm sorry, but it's just so cute seeing how you're looking after Eren even when you keep trying to look like you don't care and act professional!"

A hard kick to the shin, and accidently smashing her knee on the table was all it took to get the woman to stop laughing and tend to her abused leg.

"Stop making up idiotic assumptions. We're undergoing a very delicate situation with our neighbouring countries, and if all hell breaks loose, we may need him to help prevent anything serious from happening, and we can't do that if he's sulking like a snot nosed runt who might need to be fed through a tube with how he's behaving."

"Okay! Jesus, you seriously can't take a little joke." Hanji pouted as she rubbed her shin but soon paused. "...Wait, he's not eating?!"

–-

"Oi brat, you awake?" Levi asked as he entered the laboratory and headed straight to the cage that contained the person the question was directed at. Looking inside, he was greeted by erry, tired turquoise eyes staring blankly at him; if it wasn't for his chest rising and falling, the kid could have easily been mistaken for dead just from how still he was. "Of course you are, stupid question.

No response.

With a tired sigh, Levi unlocked the cage. "You know, I decided to catch up with Hanji today."

This time there was movement. It was only a blink and eyes looking up at him, but it was still a response.

"Still annoying as usual, but a bit quiet. It was somewhat nice to actually catch up, surprisingly." Levi mumbled as he pulled out the scarf from his jacket's pocket, "She also wanted to give you this."

The scarf was dangling in front of Eren, who seemed to have no interest in the woolen article of clothing. The corporal then moved the scarf inside the cage and brought it up to Eren's nose. It was a slow reaction, but once Eren actually smelled the scarf, he immediately perked up and snatched the scarf from the others hand so he could get a better smell for confirmation.

It was a rather bizarre sight, but considering that the kid had been brought up thinking he was an animal, it just seemed normal watching him sniffing the scarf like a dog. Eventually he tore the scarf away from his face, glanced over at Levi before picking himself up from his spot and moved back to his bedding, where he curled up, scarf held in his arms protectively, and soon closed his eyes and finally fell asleep for the first time in several days.

On a completely random topic, guess who's hurt themselves working yesterday~

Long story short, my sister was sorting out the cattle, and two of them charged head on with the gate I was securing, so the force of two fully grown heifers crashing against a metal gate that smashed into my shoulder. I'm genuinely surprised I'm not bruised :'D and thankfully it was just cows and not the bull, I think I'd be a lot worse if that was the case.