He stared up, up, up into storm grey eyes.
"LEVI?!" Erwin shrieked in a voice far too high for his own. Levi glared down, down, down at the little blonde kid screaming his name. Then Hanji caught up and everything clicked into place.
Levi's eyes burned, "Don't tell me you-"
"It was an accident!" She cried. She scooped up their mini commander, and patted his back soothingly. You know that sob kids do? the one where their eyes are screwed shut, their nose is stuffed and their wailing like the galaxy is falling apart? Yeah, Erwin was experiencing a level ten meltdown.
"BUT HANJI!" Levi roared, "HE'S AN INFANT."
"I said I was sorry..." She hefted Erwin highed up on her hip so could hide his face in her hair. His little fists clutched her shoulders, his pudgy short legs (so unlike the powerful ones he used to have) wrapped themselves tighter around Hanji.
"Hanji I can see him trembling!"
"He's fine!"
Erwin screamed, and further ruined his day by his own tears. Meanwhile, in Erwin's head it was firework show of his adult mind trying to rationalize what his kid-brain simply couldn't. The mind of a man trapped in the body of a toddler.
CRAZY.
Snot dribbled down his chin as he huffed and puffed before his cries resumed with renewed vigor. Levi's voice raised to a shout to try and drown out the noise.
"WHAT'S WRONG WITH HIM?"
"NOTHING IS WRONG WITH ERWIN." Hanji roared back. Erwin's wails shattered the brief silence. "I'm going for walk... try and c-calm him down?"
Hanji was surprised to see Levi immediately step after her. "What?" he challenged. But Hanji just shook her head. But as she started to move, Erwin suddenly pulled on her hair, screaming like the end was nigh. Like he could see the world exploding right outside the window. His hands made grabby motions for Levi, but when Levi reluctantly extended his arms, he got a foot to the face instead.
"THAT'S IT," he lunged at Erwin. "The little tyke gets it-"
"Levi!" Hanji cried as she spun Erwin back into the protection of her chest. "He's just a child!"
"I don't care." Give it Hanji, you're scaring him. "At least... let me try."
Hanji turned her head up in a pout. "No, I don't trust you."
"Zoe Hanji-"
She flinched when he used her full name. With extreme reluctance (and a lot of balance. Erwin throwing all 40 pounds of him around) she passed the screaming toddler to Levi. The moment Erwin's face was forced into Levi's neck, his tantrum died down and he stopped fighting so hard. He sniffled and Levi's grimace became an expression of pain. "There's snot on my neck-"
"Got it!" Hanji leapt forward. And before Levi could react, she snatched his ascot and used it to clean Erwin's face. Swiping tears wouldn't have been as upsetting compared to what she did next. "You wanna blow your nose Winnie?"
Erwin, still huffing in attempt for the third wind, managed to blow his nose into the ascot. Hanji made sure he took a few deep breaths before leaving.
"I'll be back, promise!" she called over her shoulder. "Just going to do a load of laundry."
Her footsteps faded, and for a few tense seconds Levi was convinced Erwin would start crying again. But the mini commander simply resumed resting his head on Levi's shoulder, already falling asleep.