Chapter 11: Observations

Hange was sitting in the mess hall, sipping a cup of coffee and flipping through some reports they'd been working on for the past few days. They were enjoying the bold taste of the coffee on their tongue and the warm sunlight streaming through the rafters. There were almost always a few scouts populating the mess hall between meals, it was often a quiet place to relax and catch up with friends. With the recent storm and still chilly weather the hall was a little more crowded than normal. Hange had staked out a spot at the officer's table by themself and had spread out comfortably across a large portion of it.

Glancing up from their papers every once in a while, they were glad to see Amelia sitting with Petra at a table by the entrance, her crutches leaning against the table a few feet away. The two were chatting happily and Petra seemed to be instructing her as Amelia wrote in deep concentration, her head bent over the paper and her nose crumpled adorably. Hange was glad to see Amelia becoming closer with other members of the Survey Corps. She hadn't developed many friendships with the other cadets, and none with the ones who had picked their regiment. It was heartening to see an experienced and kind member like Petra growing so close to her.

Levi strolled through the entrance to the dining hall, and Hange grinned, expecting him to walk up to them immediately. To their pleasant surprise, Levi's eyes immediately went to the two girls at the table, walking over to them and standing behind Amelia. She looked up at him with a broad smile and they talked for a moment before his eyes moved to what she was working on. With a typical click of his tongue, he bent over her, his left hand placed gently on her shoulder, his right grasping her hand in his, fingers covering hers as he helped her move the pen she was using.

Hange stared at the two giddily, Amelia's face was warmed by a faint blush, and Levi's usually grim expression had faded into a relaxed visage. Petra also seemed to have noticed the two's unusual intimacy and was eyeing them suspiciously. With a squeeze of Amelia's shoulder, Levi headed into the kitchen to presumably make some tea.

As soon as Levi left them, Petra rounded on Amelia in accusation.

"What's going on between you two?" She demanded.

"Nothing, I—we just made up, that's all. It seemed silly to be fighting when either of us could die any day." Amelia defended, managing to sound at least partially convincing. Since their encounter in Levi's quarters a few days ago, he'd been treating her unusually well, and Amelia wasn't sure what to make of it.

Petra pursed her lips but apparently decided not to push the issue, and Amelia looked down at the paper in front of her, letting her hair fall between her and her friend like a veil to hide her reddened cheeks. Petra had been helping her practice her lettering, correcting her when she drew a letter incorrectly or misspelled a word. When Levi had come in to see what she was doing, Amelia could only compliment him on his own impeccable handwriting. His hand on her shoulder had sent electricity coursing through her body, and he'd wrapped his fingers around her own, guiding her hand in a practiced, patient script. When he'd let her hand drop from his, her heart had fluttered at the word he'd helped her spell out in graceful, arching letters: "Mia".

Hange was grinning stupidly as Levi sat in front of them at the officer's table, steaming cup in his hand. He ignored their face, choosing to glance distastefully at their disarrayed mess of papers instead. It was truly a miracle that they managed to find anything in the piles of notes and lengthy accounts of their observations. Levi didn't know how Erwin sat through the reports, but he did, never budging an inch or appearing bored. He would even ask them questions about their observations. Levi would never understand their relationship.

"What's happened between the two of you?" Hange inquired, leaning forward with bright inquisitive eyes.

"What shit are you spewing, four eyes?" Levi asked, his face deadpanned.

"You and Lance Corporal Amelia of course," Hange answered in restrained anticipation.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He responded coolly, sipping his steaming tea. His hands still tingled where they had touched Amelia only minutes before.

"Something happened, didn't it?" Hange pressed the issue, their knowing expression inescapable. Levi glowered at them darkly with a look that would make anyone else quiver in fear, but Hange only grinned wider, returning to their work with renewed vigor.

Levi sighed, cupping his chin in his hand and staring into his tea. What had happened between them? They'd fucked, yes. But that had been out of mutual lust, stress, and relief of finding each other safe. Amelia at least certainly hadn't been ready for that, based on her reaction afterwards. And now, she seemed to be opening back up to him after their conversation. Levi didn't understand what that meant nor how she was feeling. Hell, he wasn't even certain how he felt. He'd had always been a decisive person, someone who would stick with his decision and face down any problem. Not understanding his own mind was a completely new experience and put him way out of his depth. It made him frustrated to think about Amelia because when he did, she acted like a splinter in his mind, abrasively refusing to be ignored and in too deep to be pulled out.

It was still hard to believe that this gutsy recruit was also the graceful tightrope walker he'd seen perform in Shiganshina. He could still remember it clearly. They'd been performing in the street outside of the Survey Corps' temporary lodgings within the district. It was the evening before their failed expedition beyond the walls after which Commander Shadis retired from his position and wall Maria was breached. They'd rigged the wire between the upper floors of two buildings on opposite sides of the street. It so happened that Levi's room was just to the right of where they'd attached the wire, his windows had been pushed open earlier in the day to let in fresh air, and Levi had been debating whether or not to close them to drown out the noise of the crowd.

Moving to the window, he reached out to pull one shut, pausing as a girl with long blonde hair and elaborate make-up, stepped out onto the wire. A tight white leotard was the only clothing that covered her petite but curvy body. The crowd below her was chattering in anticipation as she stepped across the thin line. Coming to the middle, she folded over and lifted her legs high in the air, balancing in a handstand. Her partner took that time to run out on the wire, leaping towards her, and she let her legs fall open into the splits so that he passed safely over her, landing unharmed on the other side. Swinging around the wire she pulled herself back up and the two continued their acrobatic feats.

Levi had found himself enjoying their performance despite himself, having never seen a freak show before. He knew that they found many of their recruits in the Underground, a perfect place for locating practiced thieves and pickpockets. Leaning against the sill, he watched as they neared the end of their performance. The man stood in the center of the rope, and the girl ran from the other side, grabbing each other's shoulders in an incredibly well practiced move, he lifted her high into the air as she came to a handstand on his shoulders and he lowered his arms to the side, the sunset illuminating their strong silhouettes. Letting go with one hand, she balanced on the other arm, setting her free hand on his head and pushed herself up to a one-armed handstand on his head. Levi could see her body shaking from the effort, as the man began to walk slowly towards one of the ends of the tightrope.

When he had neared the far side, he crouched down, grabbed her and threw her high over his shoulders back towards the center of the rope and she flipped in midair. That's when something appeared to go wrong, as she landed on her hands, she swung wildly out of balance, lost her grip on the rope and began to fall to the horrified screams of the crowd below her. Levi had leapt onto the sill of the window before realizing he wasn't wearing his 3DMG and watched the tragedy play out with disgust at the unforgivable gaff. Her feet caught the wire at the last moment, and she hung there, arms spread wide, an enormous smile of triumph on her face as the crowd cheered at their finale. Swinging herself back up onto the wire, she and her partner bowed low to the excited crowd, the orange light of the sunset shining like a spotlight on the two acrobats.

Levi sighed imperceptibly and sipped his tea, Hange glancing up at him over their reports in sympathy. Hange had picked up on Amelia's undeniable hero-worship of Levi immediately after she'd joined their squad and had been glad to see her become quickly disillusioned by the realities of the man. What Hange hadn't expected was the growing attention Levi had turned on Amelia. Levi was so reserved and silent it was often difficult to know what he was thinking or feeling, but Hange had become pretty adept at figuring this out after almost ten years.

He had rarely shown romantic interest in another woman in all the years she had known him. The last time was when Petra had first joined the Survey Corps, but when she had been placed directly under his command and had continued to worship him as a larger-than-life figure, his interests had quickly dwindled to friendship and brotherly affection. Levi was too disciplined to ever pursue someone under his direct command and too realistic to love someone who saw him as a godlike being.

Hange glanced back at Amelia who was now alone at the table, pouring over a book—a new one it looked like. That made Hange smile, they knew how badly Amelia wanted to learn to read and write and it brought them happiness to know that the girl was achieving her goals. Amelia closed the back cover with a smile, shuffled her papers together and stood up, trying to grasp all her things in one hand and work her crutches at the same time. It was only a couple of steps before her papers fell all over the floor. Before Hange could stand up to help, Levi was at her side.

"Tch," he reprimanded. "Idiot, use a bag next time."

"Yes sir," she agreed with an unapologetic smile as he collected her things off the floor, shaking some dirt off of one of the papers in disgust. Hange smiled to themself as they watched the two head out of the hall. They wiggled their eyebrows at Mike as he took the seat next to her.

"Our lovebirds are doing better," Hange told him as he watched the two leave. He responded with a flick of his hair and an insightful sniff.

"Erwin's scheduled our next expedition," he told her, and Hange nodded grimly.

"We have a lot of wounded still recovering from the last time."

"They'll have to stay behind."

...

Amelia was downgraded from her crutches the morning the expedition was set to leave and had quickly gone to the stables to prepare her horse. It's true that the doctor hadn't exactly cleared her for duty, but like hell was she going to be left behind. She was well enough to use the 3DMG in an emergency and didn't want to stay behind while the rest of her team was risking their lives in her absence. At least she could be another hand to help.

"Where do you think you're going brat?" Levi's voice had come from behind her as she was trying to tighten the horse's saddle without bending her leg too much. She swiveled around and saluted him.

"I'm preparing for our expedition sir." She answered steadily, not dropping his gaze.

"You are not fit for duty, Lance Corporal, get out of here." He instructed, and Amelia bristled abrasively.

"With all due respect sir, I can be of help."

"Tch. You are not healed enough to be anything more than a snack." Levi said, approaching her, his eyes narrowing in frustration at her indignance. "Intense riding will reopen your leg after a few hours."

"But sir, I—"

"You are not going on this expedition, and that's final." He told her, his tone dangerous. Amelia turned her back on him, her arms crossed over her chest. She didn't want to stay when all the others were risking their lives… when he was risking his life.

"Isn't that Commander Erwin's decision? Why don't you go ask him and I'll—"

Amelia let out a shriek of surprise when Levi grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder, walking briskly towards the HQ. She pounded her fists against his back and yelled at him in protest, but he ignored her. HQ was nearly empty, all of those who were fit to be on the expedition gathered outside. The few scouts they did pass hurried away quickly, knowing better than to get in Levi's way when he was angry. Shoving open the door to his room, Levi slammed it behind him, tossing her down on the bed.

"What the fuck, Levi?!" She yelled, only to find herself silenced by his lips crashing down on hers, his hands pinning her to the bed by her wrists. She felt the immediate reaction of her body to this treatment, heat coursing through her. Her lips parted, and her eyes fluttered shut. But just as quickly as it had begun the kiss ended, and she opened her eyes to find him looking down at her with a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

"Be a good girl and stay," he said, releasing his grip on her and moving quickly to the door.

"Like hell," she shouted, leaping up and chasing after him.

But she was slow on her injured leg and he reached the door first, swinging it shut behind him. Amelia grabbed for the handle but found it locked. She debated kicking the door in but knew her leg couldn't handle it yet. It pissed her off because she knew that if she couldn't kick in a door she had no business trying to fight titans. By the time she managed to pick the lock and get out of his room, the expedition had left.