Year 850
"Sorry about that…" Commander Erwin said as Eren nursed his facial wounds with a damp cloth. "You really did speak your mind in front of the Generalissimo and other big shots unrestrainedly, after all."
"Sir…" Eren mumbled, not expecting an apology.
"That gave us the perfect chance to play the card we had prepared up our sleeve. The pain you're in was also necessary to achieve our goal. You have my respect." Erwin held out his hand. "And nice to meet you, Eren. Let's get along from now on."
"Yes, sir. Nice to meet you too." He shook the tall man's hand.
"Say, Eren." Levi flopped down on the couch, causing the boy to flinch.
"Y-yes?"
"Do you hate me?"
"N-no…I understand the act you put up needed to be believable."
"Good, then."
"But still, there're certain limits!" Hanji exclaimed. "You knocked his tooth out, for crying out loud! There was no need to!"
Erwin smirked. "Ms. Oldman was quite angry. I'd be careful if I were you, Levi."
"I would think he'll take a knocked out tooth over being dissected ay day. As for Reina, where-"
As if in a perfectly timed movie, the door to the room burst open, revealing a rather furious-looking Reina. A frown was buried heavily in her face, and her cheeks were flushed in anger.
"You!" She shouted at the corporal, marching toward him. "You overdid it big time! If you ever hurt that poor kid again, I'll personally kill you!"
Levi gazed at the woman in front of him, while Eren looked in fear of what might happen to her. He hadn't known of anyone who would dare threaten the corporal like that, and he'd rather not find out what happened to them when they did.
But the short man did nothing.
He watched as the blue-eyed woman raged on and on about treating co-workers, no matter how inferior they are.
"…You even knocked his tooth out! Why don't I get rid of one of yours so you two can match?!" She grabbed his shoulders, getting right up in his face. Eren winced at what might happen.
"Eren, open your mouth and let me see." Hanji said, kneeling to the boy's eye level. Her eyes widened. "Your tooth is growing back…"
"Huh?" Reina whispered, turning to the teenager.
"Interesting…" Erwin mumbled, leaning over to get a closer look.
"See? The kid's fine." Levi mumbled, earning another stern look from Reina. She crossed her arms, turning away from him to look at the Commander.
"Commander, sir, I ask permission to accompany Eren whenever Levi's around."
Erwin gave her a humoured smile. "You may accompany them until we reach headquarters. Then Levi and Eren will be parting ways. You will not be allowed to go with them after that, I'm afraid."
Levi leaned into the couch with a smug scowl. Reina glared at him, but nodded at Erwin.
"Yes, sir."
"Now," Erwin started, walking toward the door, "shall we go? I'd like to be back at HQ by midnight."
The crew nodded, following suit. Reina walked up to Eren, who was about to stand up from the couch. "Sweetie, do you need any help walking?" She offered a hand.
"He's fine, Rei." Levi rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.
"I didn't ask you!" She snapped, glaring at the short man. He stood up and walked way.
"I-it's okay, ma'am. I can walk on my own." Eren smiled.
"Well, okay then. But you tell me if he hurts you again, okay? I'll make sure he gets what he deserves!" She patted the teen on the back.
"That's not necessary…"
"Of course it is! He's being a total jerk to you!"
Eren scratched the back of his head and let out a nervous laugh, but didn't bother arguing with the small woman. She gave off a motherly vibe that convinced him she was just as stubborn as Levi- maybe even more.
The crew walked out of the large building to where multiple horse carriages were stationed. Erwin, Hanji, and Mike headed to one carriage, while Reina and Levi accompanied Eren to theirs. The two adults sat across from Eren, Levi folding his arms and glaring at nothing, while Reina softly hummed and looked out the window.
'I wonder what their relationship is…' Eren stared at the two as they avoided each other's eye contact. Reina nervously tapped her fingers to the tune she was humming.
"Say, Eren."
"Y-Yes?" He looked up at the woman.
"How tall are you?" Levi looked at Reina with a curious furrow in his brows.
"Er…170cm last time I checked."
"Wow!" Reina smiled, "And how old are you again?"
"Fifteen, ma'am."
"Wow, fifteen." She turned to Levi with a smirk. "You know, Levi hasn't grown since he was tw–"
"Watch it, Rei." The short man glared at the strawberry blonde. Her smirk grew wider.
"Last time I heard, Levi said his height was one –" Levi's right hand clapped over her mouth, leaving the rest of the sentence a pattern of mumbles.
"Stop." He mumbled as her hands shot up to grab his own. It was then that Eren noticed a gleaming ring on Reina's hand. A small diamond was held in it by four small gold points.
"Oh, Ms. Oldman, are you married?" The two paused in their little scuffle to exchange looks with each other. Levi removed his hand from her mouth.
"Er…yes." She looked at the ring, admiring it. "I normally wear the ring around my neck since it gets in the way when I'm doing surgery and such, but today I was able to wear it." She smiled, looking back up to Eren.
"Is he in the military, then?"
"Yes, he-"
"Why do you insist on knowing about Reina's love life?" Levi's arm fell behind Reina's shoulders as he crossed his legs. "You crushin' on her or something?"
"Levi!" Reina smacked him lightly on his side.
"N-no, sir! I was just making conversation…"
"See? Stop thinking weird things! Now he's not gonna want to talk to either of us!"
'She sure yells at him a lot… It's strange that he barely responds. That's not like him at all.'
"We're almost there, anyway. It's not like we would've been able to have a stellar conversation."
"Not with you around, that's for sure." Reina crossed her arms.
Within a few minutes, the carriage halted.
"Eren," Levi cut through the silence. "You'll be staying the night at headquarters, and from then on you will be moved along with my squad to the old HQ."
"Uh, yes, sir." Eren managed to spit out. Levi immediately opened the door of the carriage and hopped out.
"Remember what I said, Eren. If he hurts you…"
"You'll be the first to know" The boy smiled. Reina returned it with a grin.
"Good boy." She patted his head and left the carriage as well, Eren following closely behind. She led him into what looked like a cafeteria. There were boxes of produce as well as one chef cooking up meat. "Have something to eat, and we'll get you situated soon after."
Eren gave the woman a nod, heading toward the boxes. He grabbed a bread roll and headed over to the chef to get a slice of pork. He ate in silence, until realizing the strawberry-blonde woman had disappeared. Eren spotted Commander Erwin, and walked up to him after dropping off his dish.
"Excuse me, sir, but I still don't know where I'm sleeping."
Erwin's eyes widened for a moment before he chuckled. "Sorry about that, Jaeger. Levi's the one in charge of placing you, so I'd suggest you talk to him. His room is up those stairs and at the end of the hall." Erwin pointed to a spiralling mahogany staircase. Eren gave him a nod and a curt 'thank you' before following the directions.
He walked up to the dark door, knocking on it thrice. He heard voices coming from inside the room, but no one answered the door. Eren twisted the knob, creaking the door slightly open. What he saw inside the room made his eyes widen.
It was Reina and Levi, attached at the lips. Her arms were wrapped around his neck while he clutched onto her hips. Eren stood in silence as Levi moved his lips to her neck, causing a small moan to escape Reina.
"Ah…Levi…" Her eyes fluttered open, widening when she spotted the brunet teen. "O-oh! Eren!"
"Eren…?" Levi muttered in disbelief, immediately frowning at Reina before following her gaze to Eren. The two immediately released their grips from each other.
"W-what brings you here?" Reina gave him a flustered smile.
Awks...
So I lied lol.
I ended up having writer's diarrhea right after i wrote last chapter, so this has been sitting here since like monday lol. I figured I'd might as well post it.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL MY CANADIAN READERS! MAY YOUR TURKEY BE AWESOME AND YOUR MASHED POTATOES BE HELLA AWESOME!
Thanks to fae and her mask, annoyingradish, mst88, KiraKiraBluemoon, LilShorty0594, and RebornRose1992 for the reviews! :))) The finale will be posted sometime next week, followed by the bloopers for chapters 21-25 shortly after! :)
Thanks for reading!
