Those Three Words

Summary: All the three word phrases Eren and Levi said to/about each other as their relationship changes and gives them a whole new meaning.

3. A gut feeling. (VS Squad Levi) (Eren) (Eren POV)

A single careless moment was all it took for Eren Yeager to discover why these people have been placed on the most elite squad the Survey Corps had to offer.

It wasn't on purpose. Eren would never disobey a direct order from none other than Captain Levi, even if his very life wasn't on the line depending on how well the man can keep him under his control. All of this was as new and full of surprises for him as it was for Hange, Captain Levi or the Special Operations Squad, aka Squad Levi. Eren hadn't meant to partially transform, he didn't! He'd only reached for his dropped spoon when his bite-covered, bandaged hand had spasmed in pain. It had fallen just out of reach and he had been a lazy dumbass who hadn't just gotten up and picked it up, instead stretching as far as he could, only for something in the process to trigger his Titan powers.

And now he had Gunther Schluz, Olou Bozardo, Petra Ral and Eld Jinn with drawn swords looking ready to kill him on the spot with only Captain Levi standing in their way to stop them.

To say that Eren was panicking was an understatement of the century. By some freak accident he himself didn't know how it had happened, he was facing some of the most elite soldiers in the military but what confused him even more was the fact that it was Captain Levi who was defending him. Hadn't the man said he'd kill Eren the second he lost control? Eren didn't know what this was if it wasn't a loss of control, so why was he still alive and why was he the one being supported by the Captain?

Everyone but the Captain was yelling. All of their eyes had a deep fear in them, their expressions angry, their body language desperate but ready to cut him down in a second. Eld, Gunther and Oulo were all taking turns threatening him, demanding answers and ordering him to disentangle himself from the partial Titan body he had somehow formed while Petra was focusing on trying to get the Captain to step aside and get away from Eren because he was too close.

"No, you're the ones who should step away," countered the short man coolly, completely unbothered to have to face his squad's blades all of a sudden when they'd just been having tea a few moments ago. Eren wondered for a second just how used to violence his Captain was and just how confident he was in his skills to take on four elite veteran Scouts that he hadn't once raised his voice or flinched whenever one of them would take a threatening step forwards. "Stand down," he ordered calmly, staring the ginger head down.

Eren could only stare at the man's back, unable to believe that the Captain would ever take his side over his long-time comrades.

"Why!?" Asked Petra in a yell that was so scared and desperate that Eren's heart pounded mercilessly in his chest as he realized just how little trust even sweet, helpful, friendly, caring Petra had for him, just because he was able to turn into a Titan.

"A gut feeling," Captain Levi replied with absolute certainty, and that seemed to stun the woman for a second and Eren even forgot about the others for just that one moment, stunned that he actually had the Captain's trust at all, in any capacity, but then the yelling began again and it was becoming too overwhelming. The tension was unbearable and all of the yelling voices were mixing in his ears, making his heart pound and he could barely hear the Captain's calm tone as he tried to get everyone to just drop it.

The whole ordeal ended with him yelling at them to shut up, managing to wrench himself free, Squad Leader Hange freaking out over his Titan arm and Captain Levi congratulating him on managing to transform.

But the one thing that stuck with Eren for years after that (un)lucky incident was the way his Captain had trusted him, even after only one day of Titan experiments and less than a week as his subordinate, the way the man had never once showed an ounce of fear or disgust, the way he had stood up for Eren and protected him, establishing himself as someone trustworthy in his life early on in their relationship.