Little Eren was literally clinging to Levi with all the strength that he had in his little hands as the man walked into the dining hall, pressing his face to the man's chest. The officer made some rather harsh glances towards anyone who appeared that they were going to question him, but his gaze did soften when his eyes made contact with a certain woman's who was sitting with Captain Erwin and some other people that Levi personally knew of course. The man then looked away from them to the boy as he heard a small whimper come from the toddler, "Boy this must be a shock to you.. being surrounded by people you don't know.." Levi ran his hand over the boy's head gently as he tried to calm the child.

Walking over to where the start of the line was, he carefully held the boy in one arm as he picked up a tray along with a plate, usually he did not feed himself and just had a cup of coffee or tea. Coffee was what he usually preferred, "Now what to get you little man.." Levi looked to the boy for a moment as the toddler turned himself around, his green eyes looking down at the food in front of him before turning to plant his face back into the man's chest as Captain Erwin walked over, "Where were you last night? You never showed up to the meeting.." He said looking to the boy that was in the Lieutenant's arms.

Levi tightened his hold on the child a little to prevent anyone from taking the child from him as well as to prevent little Eren from falling out of his arms as the toddler reached for a small bowl of cut up apples, "I got a bit distracted last night." Levi said as he put the bowl of apples Eren was reaching for onto his tray, then a bowl of grapes next.

"Will it explain why you have a toddler with you?" Erwin crossed his arms over his chest as he looked down to the shorter man, "It is hard to imagine you would take the time to take in a child."

Levi looked up to the blond man with a hint of a glare, "And maybe I did take the time to take the child away from some adults who might have beaten him to death if I did not step in." The raven hair said harshly as he picked the tray up and walked over to where the drinks were served, ignoring his superior as the taller man followed him, "Erwin would you just let me get this kid fed before he starts chewing his hand off?" Levi said as he removed the toddler's fingers from his mouth, handing the child one of the apple slices. Eren eagerly took the apple and immediately started chewing on it, looking from Erwin to Levi. The toddler partially hid himself from the taller man, as he seemed to be scary to Eren.

The Captain opened his mouth to say something but snapped his mouth shut before walking away back to the table that Hanji and the others were sitting at, mumbling something to them. Though the woman looked over to Levi and little Eren with a small smile on her face as she rested her chin on the back of her hand, saying something to her superior officer that just earned a face palm from the Captain.

The Lieutenant decided that perhaps Eren would like a cup of milk or juice, and so searched the beverages for something. Finding some apple juice he put some into a cup and placed it on the tray before getting himself a cup of plain black coffee. Picking the tray up he sat down at the same table as the others, next to Hanji.

Eren looked to the woman before hiding his face, still munching on that one piece of apple that Levi gave to him a moment ago as Hanji looked to the toddler, "So where did you get him from Levi?" She smiled at the boy as Eren looked to her, "He is so adorable!"

Levi looked down at the boy, wiping some apple crumbs from his face, "I got him while I was on my way to the meeting.. he was hiding under this merchant stand." He then gave the boy his apple slice back and looked to Hanji, "The adults who must have taken him in before I took him, were not treating him so well at all." The man frowned, "I thought that they might have left him there since he was not moving. But then with how they were yelling like they were and grabbing at him I do not blame Eren for not getting out from underneath the stand."

Hanji smiled at Levi, "Well it is a good thing that you were passing by." She watched as the toddler tried to give Levi a piece of the apple that he was eating, "He already seems to be so attached to you. Eren? Is that his name you gave him or what the couple were calling him?"

Levi gave into the little boy's demands and took a bite of the apple, swallowing before speaking again, "No. I named him Eren. The people were calling him a Devil's Child.. I see no evidence of that." Levi handed the toddler another apple slice as Eren reached for one.

"I don't understand that. He is acting like a typical toddler.. though better behaved than one actually. Has he thrown any fits?" Hanji looked to Levi with a curious expression on her face.

Shaking his head before sipping his coffee, "No tantrums so far." The man took another quick sip of his drink and set the cup down, "He's quiet for a kid his age."

The woman frowned a little, "That is odd but maybe it is just a phase he is going through. He seems to be happy. Which is a good thing." She giggled when Eren looked to her and tried handing her an apple slice, "No thank you Eren I already have eaten. But your daddy hasn't. Maybe he will eat it." She watched as Eren looked up to Levi before trying to hand him the apple, well more like trying to stuff it in his mouth.

"Thank you Eren.." He looked to the woman next to him with a calm expression that really said 'Gee thanks a lot.' before taking the apple and taking a bite of it. Watching the boy's face light up as he ate the apple though put a warm feeling in his chest. He wondered how when he rarely smiled at anyone that this toddler manages to get the man to smile so easily. Maybe it was just an affect kids have on adults.

Hanji giggled, "If you want I can hold Eren so you can eat your breakfast properly." She looked to the Toddler, giggling again as he was now trying to put a grape in Levi's mouth, on top of the apple that he was already eating.

"Please. He is probably thinking my mouth is an endless cavern to stuff food into." The Lieutenant picked Eren up and handed him to Hanji. The boy did put up a bit of a fuss as he was handed to the woman but quietened down once he was seated, holding onto the woman's shirt staring up at Levi with sad eyes, "It is just until I am done eating Eren." Levi said before putting a grape in his mouth, handing the toddler another apple slice. Eren refused to take the apple and instead made grabby hands towards Levi, asking for the man to take him back as the toddler's eyes started to fill with tears. It just took one small glance at the boy for Levi to give in and take the toddler back from Hanji, "You really are attached now are you?"

Erwin looked to the man next to him before looking back to Levi, "So how will you explain to the General about why you missed the meeting-" He was then rudely interrupted by Levi as the younger man quickly cut in with, "Sitting there listening to a bunch of people discussing on how to get more land to fatten up merchants is not that important of a meeting Captain. Not to me. Merchants are already fat enough."

Eren giggled loudly, coughing a little before yelling, "Fat!" And threw himself into another giggle fit.

The Captain sighed, shaking his head, "Well you better make sure you get to the next meeting.. What are you going to do with the kid when we go on expeditions though?" The Captain's blue eyes settled on the shorter man.

Levi looked to his superior and shrugged, "Depends on the reason for the meeting and I will figure out what to do with Eren." The man said as he picked up a napkin and wiped the boy's face off gently who took the piece of cloth and started trying to clean Levi's hand, "Eren I just cleaned your face with that.. gross." But he just let the boy do what he was doing since the boy was learning.

Glancing to everyone then back to the boy, he decided that perhaps it was time to take Eren back to the room and get him cleaned up. Separating the bowl of apples from the rest of the tray, Levi carefully picked the boy up in one arms as he stood up. Picking the tray up he walked it over to where the cleaning station is and then walked back to the table and picked the bowl of apple slices up, "I will see you lot later." Levi then walked away, though Hanji was following close behind him.