"Hm? What's wrong?" Apparently, the man had company alongside him. Judging by the voice, it must be a woman. A hyperactive, beaming yet noisy woman. She was unusually upbeat, for someone who had just lost their 'prisoner'.
Briefly scanning the hospital room, the man took a short few steps towards inside, looking for whatever made that muffle sound. He skimmed through every detail, every spec in the room. He took notice of the patients as well. There was only one patient awake, which was the sickly old lady, who was propped up by the bedframe in the rear of the room. The man let out a silent sigh, concluding that the sound probably came from that patient. After scanning the room once again, he turned to leave in disgust. "This place is filthy." There wasn't anything out of the norm for him to notice, save for a tiny, squeaky sneeze that came from somewhere behind him. Now that had caught his attention, and it made him walk towards the suspicious bed where the old patient was, the same bed where the sound came from and where Mikasa and Leia were hiding.
Mikasa mentally scolded Leia for almost blowing their cover, and in her defense, she said that it was dusty underneath. She bit her lower lip, trying to look for a way to escape. And weapons. They need weapons. Just in case things would seem bleak. Sad to say, there wasn't much underneath the bed, save for a pair of slippers and a plastic spoon.
'Better than nothing…' Mikasa grabbed the pair of slippers and tossed the other to Leia, who clumsily catched it. With her grip on the slipper tightening, she tried to anticipate every possible move the 'enemy' could do. The man was a mere 1 meter away from the bed, and he could feel the heavy tension underneath it. He crouched down, slowly reaching for the blanket that's concealing the bottom part of the bed. As he was about to pull it up, the duo was bracing themselves.
In a flash, a pillow was thrown at the man's face, making him lose his balance and fall on his bottom. Narrowing his eyes, he stood up and parted his lips to unleash his foul words towards the old patient, not until a hand covered his mouth. "Now, Levi. We don't want to be kicked out of the hospital again, do we?" the brown-haired female said in a sing-song way.
The man who was called Levi slapped her hand away, and started wiping his mouth with his handkerchief. "Shut up, four-eyes." He moved back a good 5 steps away from both the patient and the woman. "Damn, your hand's so filthy, Hanji. " He wiped his mouth again. "I think we should go now, before things would get worse." Hanji said while trying to push Levi towards the door. "The nurse said that the patients in this room are mentally-ill. Let's go before the other patients wake up and start stirring up trouble." She flashed an apologetic smile towards the elderly, who, in turn, returned the smile back.
Footsteps were receding, its' sound fading out every step. Hanji was still pushing Levi out through the open door. "I'm very sorry for the Corporal's ruckus." she said while bowing her head a few times, which earned her an 'Oi' from the Corporal himself. At the hallway, Levi retorted "If you hadn't been such a big softie, that shitty brat would've probably be in HQ instead of this place." He slapped her hands away, again. "And we wouldn't be dealing with this crap right now."
A smile was imprinted on Hanji's face as she clasped her hands behind her back. "Relax, we'll find that lil' kiddo eventually." Walking with a rhythm, she gave him a side-look. "You must be really desperate for company down there." Her snorts turned into small chuckles, until it turned into huge cackles. She laughed pretty much to herself in amusement. In the midst of her laughter, Levi's stoic expression did not falter, though he was somewhat annoyed by her heartiness. "I should lock you up back at that mental room."
After they concluded that the coast is clear, Mikasa and Leia graciously thanked the elderly for sticking up to them. The elderly patted the auburn girl's head and whispered to her ear. "Take good care of your girlfriend, laddy!" She said while wearing a toothy grin. Not knowing what to say, she shot a glance at Mikasa before muttering "…um, I'm a girl so... "Leia played with her fingers before looking up at the elderly, who clearly said 'Of course you are, deary'.
"We'll be on our way then." Mikasa grabbed Leia's hand, and started leading the way once again. "What did she say to you?" a question that she randomly thought of.
Leia just shook her head in embarrassment. "She's nice and all, but all she said was crazy talk." Covering her face with her other hand, she sighed. "There's no need for you to know what it was." Just cuz I have short hair doesn't automatically mean I'm a boy. Or maybe it's cuz of my voice..? Or maybe I just really look like one. She lowered her head. Or maybe I just act way too much like a boy. Leia pouted. If I tell Mikasa, she'd make fun of me for sure…
It took them a bit longer than expected, but they managed to get out of the hospital unseen. The two girls hid somewhere behind the hospital, where a bunch of trees were planted. Half an hour passed and yet still no sign of them. Leia peeked around the corner of the building, checking if whether her other 2 friends were coming. Where are they..?
Leia sighed in relief when she saw her two friends walking up to them, carrying… whoa are those drugs..? Her eyes widen at the sight. "Hey hey, Whooa there! What's all this?" Leia's panicky whisper caught there attention. Her suspicion rose as the three of her friends remained quiet. She couldn't believe it. "J-just because things seem bleak doesn't mean that you guys should resort to… this." Leia gulped at the sight of the loads of drugs they were hiding beneath their shirts. Eren groaned irritably and turned away. "It's not for us, idiot." Leia could only gasp in shock, and glare in frustration. Before she could even pick a fight with Eren, Armin intervened. "A-ah, what Eren meant to say was…" The blonde glanced at Eren, then at Mikasa. "These are for you…"
"Oh…" WAIT WHAT? Leia didn't have a chance to scream. Mikasa abruptly covered Leia's mouth so fast, a loud 'pop' sound was made, and it was as if she slapped her. Oooww… The auburn-haired girl could only whine silently as Armin explained the situation. Mikasa apologized, of course. Eren led the way to where they were going to hide out and stay for the night.
The sun had already set and they managed to find an abandoned cottage. It was old and creepy, but it seemed stable and so they went inside. They threw wood at the fireplace and lit it up, covering themselves with blankets they found in the covers. They sat near the fireplace, their silhouettes dancing on the walls. It was really cold, and if it weren't for the fire, Leia would've freeze to death.
"You're not fully-recovered yet, Lei." The blonde went near her with a few pills in his hand and a glass of water. "If only you could see yourself…You'd know how frail you look right now."He glanced at Eren and Mikasa again, checking if he should tell her more. Armin found it strange that Eren was looked away from him. Oh well. "We know you're too weak right now, but if we didn't bail you out, they'll take you away and..." He gulped. "..We'd never see you again." He gave her the pills and urged her to drink it. "Don't worry, we checked your prescription. It's the right ones." Armin grinned, trying to lighten up the mood, which made Leia blush a bit. She nodded and quickly swallowed the pills, "-!?" then coughs a bit ungracefully.
"C-careful! You could choke yourself!" Gently rubbing her back, he handed her the glass of water. She can't help herself. Having Armin's undivided attention was too much. It's like she could faint any moment now. "A-are you okay? Your face is burning red, Lei… Do you have a fever?" Seeing them being mushy made Eren disgusted, and angry, and bitter, and… There's no way he could be jealous. No way. He just doesn't like seeing Armin too close to Leia. Because Leia is… She's…
"Raah!" The brunette stood up and went outside the cottage, and Mikasa followed. "Where are you going, Eren?" Her face etched with worry. "Just need to cool myself. Don't follow me." Despite his warning, Mikasa still tailed on him and didn't leave his side. She grabbed him by the hand. "It's cold here, " Eren was about to make a run for it, but didn't when he heard Mikasa say "Let me at least hold your hand to keep it warm." They walked around in silence, and somehow, it calmed Eren down. Even for just a bit.
Meanwhile inside, Leia was staring at the fire while it flickers once in a while. No, she was staring off to space. Something was obviously bothering her, and since Armin was too bothered by the silence, he tried to talk to break the ice. "Um, Lei..?" No response. "Hey Lei." She's still not responding. Oh well, he tried to tap her by her shoulder. "Hey Lei, Are you feeling ok—"" …!?" Leia flinched by the contact, her eyes widened in fear.
"O-oh.. What's up Armin?" There goes that smile again, that weak and sorrowful smile that she always wear when she's hiding something. It doesn't seem like she knows what she's doing, so should Armin ask her about it? Or just let it be?
Maybe he was overthinking things, or maybe not, but there's one thing for sure, Leia is the one who's looks worried now. This has definitely turned into a vicious cycle. "I-I was just wondering if…you'd want to eat dinner now, heh.." Armin abandoned his worry and made himself forget about it. There's a time for everything. And that time is not today. "Armin...?" He looked as his name was called. "Does Eren hate me now?"