Going back to work after two weeks off is hard! Anyway hope you all enjoy this :)
"That's good Arlert, keep going," Levi called up to him as he managed to surpass his previous record of pull ups with ease. Levi watched as his biceps contracted with each lift and he found himself being amazing that this Armin was the same as the skinny kid who had come to ask him for help six months ago.
Truth be told Armin seemed to know what he was doing now and have a grasp on how he was supposed to train in order for it to be most effective so, really, he didn't need Levi there anymore. Neither of them had said anything to change the status quo and neither of them wanted to but Levi was sure that Armin could probably continue to handle pushing himself to the limit on his own.
It was strange; he hadn't expected Armin to grow on him as much as he had. He was intelligent, almost scarily so, he was interesting to talk to and he put Levi at ease to the point where he was quite happy to talk about back when he was living in the Underground. At first it had been mindless chatter to distract him while he ripped his muscles to shreds but Armin had been intrigued and asked him questions and, for once, Levi didn't feel like refusing to answer. The kid was no longer the annoying brat who had thought he could score himself brownie points by coming to training dressed like him.
Just how far he had come in such a short time was a feat in and of itself. Considering the kid had barely been able to lift his own scrawny body weight and collapsed after a run around the training ground, seeing him now was like looking at a completely different person. He had more muscles mass and he was a much more skilled soldier and it showed. Erwin and the higher ups could bang on about Eren Yeager and his shifter powers all they wanted but Levi was certain that, especially now, if anyone was going to make a difference to humanity it was going to be Armin Arlert.
"Ah Levi," Erwin's voice cut through the morning air and made Levi instantly irritated, "Hange said I'd find you out here."
"Glasses needs to learn when to shut the fuck up," he growled as Erwin reached him. Erwin fixed him with an infuriating smile and Levi had to take a deep breath to stop himself from punching him. Erwin had disturbed him from, what had so far been a pleasant morning, no doubt with another briefing about their next exterior mission to try to reach Shingashina. While he knew that he would need to hear it eventually he had wanted to enjoy the early morning sun, mostly undisturbed, for a little longer.
"I asked and Hange told me where you were," Erwin stated, "nothing more to it than that."
"Yeah well Glasses still needs to learn to shut the fuck up," Levi replied. "I was enjoying some time away from you Eyebrows, what do you want?"
"And if you had still been in your quarters, as I had originally thought, I wouldn't have found you," Erwin said smugly. Rat bastard was right but damned if Levi was going to tell him that. There was no way he would have been in his room this morning: he wouldn't miss training and actually enjoyed these sessions, especially getting to see how far Armin had come.
"So what do you want?" Levi asked when Erwin said nothing else.
"What are you even doing out here?" Erwin finally asked furrowing his brow as he looked around the training ground.
"The fuck do you think?" Levi asked. "Training."
"Then why are you just standing around?" Erwin asked, still clearly confused.
"I'm not training myself, I'm training him," Levi said jerking his head in Armin's direction. Erwin looked over to see Armin pull himself up so that he was ale to swing his legs over the post to sit on it.
"Is that Armin Arlert?" he asked taken aback. If he had expected anyone he had expected Eren and maybe for Hange to be there as well but not Armin on his own.
"Yeah," Levi replied, "and what?"
"Nothing I just did not expect you to be training him of all people," Erwin said looking over at Armin now hanging over the post and pulling himself into a sitting position in mid air. Each time he hung back down his shirt flipped down slightly to show off the impressive set of abdominal muscles he had acquired over time. "He certainly seems to have improved somewhat since I last saw him."
"That's because you don't pay attention to anything that isn't written in strategic formation," Levi quipped. "Kid's actually improved quite drastically."
"With a teacher like you pushing him until he collapses I'm not surprised," Erwin chuckled causing Levi to send a glare his way. "I am impressed though; the dramatic difference in both his shape and abilities is astounding. If you had told me that this was the same Armin Arlert Keith Shadis described as 'built like a daffodil' I wouldn't have believed you."
"You better fucking believe it," Levi said, crossing his arms triumphantly over his chest, "kid's come along way."
"Yes if we were to encounter another situation like Stohess I wouldn't feel worried that he was likely to get himself eaten," Erwin said. "He seems much more competent, as if he could handle his own and protect others if need be."
"Like I said; kid's come a long way and he's a damn good soldier now," Levi stated.
"While that is a pleasant surprise as, admittedly, I didn't expect him to last all that long after joining the regiment, especially when we began taking on exterior missions. What confuses and amazes me more is why you agreed to train him in the first place," Erwin said.
"What do you mean?" Levi asked.
"Clearly you didn't have to," Erwin replied. "I certainly didn't give an order for this so why would you use up your precious free time to train a new recruit."
"He's hardly a new recruit," Levi stated. "He's been with the regiment for pushing a year now."
"That's not exactly what I meant."
"Then what the fuck did you mean?" Levi asked. "It's early and I don't have the patience for what you're trying to dance around here." Erwin chuckled. It had been a while since he had been on the receiving end of Levi blunt honesty.
"What I mean is I am surprised that you, who is notorious for being openly hostile and... what was it Hange said? Oh yes; pushing people away because you have intimacy issues."
"I am 'openly hostile', as you put it, to people who piss me off, which is why I spend most of my time being 'openly hostile' to you and Glasses needs to learn when to shut the fuck up," Levi growled.
"Regardless I am surprised why you of all people would take on the extra work of training him in the first place," Erwin said, his smug smirk only serving to irritate Levi further. He looked over towards Armin, who had swung himself back over the post, having finished that set of exercises, and dropped himself to the floor where he began stretching out his arms.
"Because he asked," Levi replied shrugging.
"Come again?"
"He asked me to train him and I accepted," Levi said again, spelling it out. Erwin stared at him, open mouthed, for a second. That was the last thing he had expected to come out of Levi's mouth.
"I'm sorry, let me get this straight," he said, "he asked you to train him?"
"Yes."
"And you agreed?"
"Yes."
"Now that I find much too hard to believe," Erwin said after a pause.
"Why?" Levi asked. "He asked and I agreed, there's nothing more to it than that."
"Of course but you can understand my confusion," Erwin said. "I mean what exactly are you getting out of this arrangement?" There was a definite tone to his voice that heavily implied something and that rubbed Levi the wrong way.
"Absolutely nothing," he replied truthfully.
"Then I don't understand your motivation for doing it."
"He's got heart and he wants to make a difference," Levi explained. "What the fuck is wrong with helping him get there."
"But has your helping him been equally detrimental in other areas aside from his physical fitness and stamina?" Erwin asked. "Have you sacrificed his brains in order to build upon his brawn?"
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Levi asked scowling. Erwin simply smirked at him before turning to Armin, who was in the middle of stretching out his hamstrings.
"Armin," he called over, "can you come here for a moment please?" Armin jogged over to them and saluted the both of them as he reached them.
"Good morning Commander Erwin," he said and Erwin was surprised to note that, despite having done some quite complex exercises, Armin didn't seem to be out of breath at all. "How is the morning treating you?"
"Very well thank you Armin," Erwin replied also surprised to note that Levi's bad attitude hadn't rubbed off on him either. The regiment already had one perpetually scowling killing machine, they didn't need another. "I actually came here to talk to you in fact."
"To me Sir?" Armin asked his brows furrowed in confusion. Levi narrowed his eyes at Erwin. What's he playing at? Like hell this was what he came down here for.
"Yes," Erwin said smiling. "I have some strategic formations that I have been looking at for too long, I could really do with a second pair of eyes and I know from what I have heard that you are quite the strategist yourself," Erwin said. Armin's face practically lit up at the praise.
"I'd be honoured Sir," he said, beaming.
"Excellent," Erwin said and handed him one of the papers that he had been carrying. "Now this is on a much smaller scale than the plan I ordinarily use but this is a rough draft of..."
"Our current scouting formation," Armin finished for him as he looked over the paper.
"Exactly," Erwin said. "Now there are a few changes that I have been thinking of making, nothing too drastic mind just simple ones here and there."
"Do you need to Sir?" Armin asked, his eyebrows knitting together under his fringe as he looked at the plan in his hand. "With all due respect the formation works as it is, wouldn't it be detrimental to suddenly change it now, especially if we are planning another exterior mission any time soon?"
"While I do agree with you I do believe that the changes I intend to make would benefit the regiment and assure that more of us returned alive at the end of it," Erwin said.
"What are the changes you are currently planning for Sir?"Armin asked.
"I was planning on bringing this unit here in," Erwin said pointing to the group at the edge on Armin's right hand side, "and placing them here behind the centre guard." He pointed to another place on the plan.
Armin frowned as he thought about Erwin's proposal and so did Levi. That would leave way too many of them exposed and would only result in more deaths as they would all be in one big clump. Even Levi knew that was wrong so what the hell was Erwin up to?
"Are you sure Sir?" Armin asked furrowing his brow in confusion. "That will leave this side completely exposed and unprepared for if they are suddenly attacked."
"I suppose that is a rather large downside," Erwin mused. "We'll need as much of a head's up as possible, especially if we encounter another like the female Titan."
"Might I suggest," Armin said tentatively, as if he thought he were overstepping the line just by voicing his thoughts, "that you move the unit here if you're going to move them anywhere." He pointed to another section on the plan, not where they had originally been but where they would be spaced out enough in order for them to see further and cover a greater distance without the worry of ending up under the feet of those in front of them.
Levi watched Erwin's face carefully as he seemed to be taking in Armin's suggestion and weighing up the pros and cons of it in his head. He didn't put much stock in strategies – how on earth could you plan out a mission when your enemy was so unstable and unpredictable? – but he knew that Armin was a genius. If there was anything that he could suggest to make Erwin's formation better it was probably worth listening too. A smile spread over Erwin's face as he looked up at Armin.
"Now that is a much better idea," he said. "Thank you Armin I will begin drawing up a new formation plan to take this into account."
"Thank you Sir," Armin replied beaming. Levi could see the pride shinning in his eyes and he felt a smile begin to tug at the corners of his lips. He suppressed it, not wishing to smile in front of Erwin, but it was still nice to see the kid happy, especially considering that he had been having a tough time of it lately. One morning he had accidentally blurted out about his fight with Eren so that evening Levi had taken him to his quarters and they had drunk until Armin had passed out on the sofa. The hangover the next day had been awful (for Armin anyway) but being able to talk about it and get everything off his chest had helped.
"You may return to your training," Erwin said. Armin nodded and saluted.
"Thank you so much for the opportunity Sir," he said before darting off to finish the rest of his muscular exercises routine.
"Did you get what you wanted from him?" Levi asked once Armin was out of earshot.
"I certainly did," Erwin replied smiling.
"Even I knew you 'redesigned formation' was bullshit, what made you think that he was going to agree with you in anyway?" Levi asked.
"I didn't want him to," Erwin replied.
"Sure whatever, because you were testing to see if I'd trained the smart out of him," Levi said sarcastically.
"Something like that," Erwin chuckled. "He's a good strategist and he has good ideas, it would be a shame to waste that just because he is building his muscular strength."
"Kid knows what he's doing, it's fine," Levi stated. "He was the one who chose to do this after all."
"That still doesn't explain what's in it for you," Erwin said.
"I told you nothing's in it for me," Levi replied.
"Then why do it?"
"I don't have to explain myself to you Eyebrows," Levi snapped. "Just get it through your head that it's happening."
"Fair enough," Erwin said. Whether he was happy with Levi's response or not Levi had no idea but he wasn't going to stop and ask. The less Erwin tried to probe into what was going on inside his head the better.
Erwin looked over at Armin holding his bodyweight up on his elbows, his back a perfectly straight line, completely still and in control. He really had come a long way thanks to Levi's training. Erwin had no idea how he had done it, and didn't think Levi would tell him if he asked, but it was clear that he had done something worthwhile.
"You know I think that if he can get a kill count as impressive as yours when you were his age then he could make Commander with his physical skills combined with his mental skills," Erwin stated.
"Bare in mind when I was his age I hadn't even been topside," Levi reminded him. "When I was his age my kill count consisted of thugs and criminals and anyone who happened to piss me off."
"Either way," Erwin said, "I certainly believe that he has the potential to become the next Commander. I may have to start grooming him for the position."
"See when that comes out of your mouth it makes you sound like you want to fuck him." Levi said. "You sound like a dirty old man."
"If you say so," Erwin replied, smirking at him. "You are the one who sees him sweating and in various degrees of clothed on a daily basis." Levi saw the taunt but he wasn't going to rise to it, not this time. He sighed. He might as well give Erwin what he wanted, he didn't seem to be going away any time soon.
"He reminds me of Furlan," he said.
"Pardon?"
"He reminds me of Furlan," Levi said again. "Not as calculating and much more naïve 'cause while Shinganshina was a mess it's got nothing on the Underground but he's got that same intellect and he just wants to look out for his friends and get out alive. Kind of reminds me a bit of Isabel as well."
"Of course..." Erwin said after a pause. Of course that was why he had said that he would help Armin in the first place; because he had seen something, no matter how small, of his old friends in him.
"I told you what you wanted to hear, now get gone. I'm busy," Levi said turning his attention back to Armin.
"Of course," Erwin nodded. "I'll leave you to it but think about what I said. If he can prove that he is as skilled as you are then he could easily make Commander."
"Whatever," Levi said. He might have sounded disinterested but he knew that Erwin was right. Armin was certainly smart enough and now he even had the physical skills to back it up. If he was honest, Levi though he would actually make a very good Commander; one he wouldn't mind following.
