Pastime

The water was freezing. His feet had gone numb standing in the current like this and icy needles were stabbing his legs, yet he waited patiently, training his eyes on the frothing, white water less than three feet away. A little too far to his left, a salmon flew past and and splashed into the river behind him. Lucky bastard. Oruo frowned.

On the other side of the river, Petra was likewise occupied with the incoming fish, standing with her shoulders hunched and her hands poised like talons. Levi was crouching on a rock outcropping between them, oddly reminding him of a cat preparing to pounce. Another salmon leaped from the water, closer this time, but as soon as his hands closed around it, the little beast twisted and squirmed free again. "Shit!"

"Gotcha! Whooo!" He heard Petra cry out. Holding her wriggling prize aloft, the young woman scampered nimbly across the river and deposited it into the wicker basket they were keeping on the bank. "Ah, Rose, I can't feel my feet!"

"How full is the basket, Pet?" Oruo called.

"Pretty full." She answered, flopping onto the grass. "How 'bout you two each catch one more and we'll call it a day?"

Oruo shrugged, "Fine by me." Then lashed his hands out and seized the salmon, nearly losing his balance, but he managed to keep a firm hold on the fish. "Hah! There we go. All right, Captain, one more and we can go home." Almost as soon as he said it, Levi whipped one hand out and seized an incoming salmon and stood, eyeing him with a bored expression. "Show off."

"Can we get out of the river now? I'm freezing my ass off."

"Nobody forced you to come with." Oruo answered, leading the way back across the river. "Damn, it's cold. You could've stayed behind and kept an eye on Eren like you're supposed to be doing. For all we know, he's a titan right now and is wreaking havoc and mayhem all across Wall Rose."

Levi said nothing.

"Admit it. You've gone a little stir crazy being stuck in that castle."

"I'm sure Eren's behaving himself." Petra offered when they reached her on the bank and deposited their catch. "Levi, you carry the basket, okay."

"Why me?"

"Cause I'm a lady and Oruo's an old man."

Their commanding officer crossed his arms and frowned. "So you're a lady and Oruo's an old man only when it's convenient?"

"You betcha. Hop to it, rogue."

"You know if you don't, she'll just whine the whole way home." Oruo pointed out, pulling his boots back on.

"I don't see you volunteering."

"I might throw my back out."

Levi scowled in frustration and hefted the basket over his shoulders. "Yeah, the next time I see you being picked up by a titan, I'm just gonna watch."

"No, you're not." Petra teased, scooping up her boots and running on ahead.

Oruo laughed.

"What's funny?" Levi scowled.

"Nothing, I was just thinking this kinda reminds me of when I used to take my kids fishing."

The captain glared at him. "You really want to compare us to your children when I'm carrying two kilograms of dead fish over my shoulder?"

"No need to be so defensive, Levi, I'm just feeling a little nostalgia."

He turned his head away at the scolding, keeping his sullen eyes on the ground. Oruo cracked an indulgent smile and impulsively ruffled his captain's black hair. Immediately, Levi recoiled and pulled away, "You do that again and I'll take your hand off!" He snarled.

Just like Samuel. He always hated it when I did that. Oruo paused though, returning his hand to his pocket and staring forlornly at the ground. Although if I were to guess, it was probably me Samuel hated.

To his left, Petra and Levi were arguing about something again, though he didn't know what about this time. It just made him think of Anya and her brother. Their constant bickering that always made the little one, Miro, start crying. Anya would be almost the same age as Petra now, he realized with a jolt. Had it really been so long? The thought of visiting them flitted across his mind but was discarded immediately. He wasn't welcome back there nor would any of them be particularly happy to see him.

I wonder if things would have turned out different if I'd just been a father and not a Scout.

Suddenly, Petra appeared at his right, staring up at him, but before he could ask what she wanted, the woman grasped his wrist and planted the palm of his hand over her copper hair. "You're a strange one." Oruo shook his head. She grinned, then narrowed her eyes pointedly at Levi. He glared back at her, then sighed in defeat and pointed at his head. Oruo frowned. "You sure that's not too demeaning for you?"

"At this point, this is as close to family as I'm going to get."

"Don't be a glass half-empty, Levi. You're still young." He brought his hand down on his head. "Don't end up like me, all right?"

-0-0-0-

Author's Notes: I don't know why they were fishing. I just didn't want to write them sitting around doing nothing. Anyway, this is the replacement to the previous Chapter Six; I like this one better, but the old one might be rewritten and re-posted.

Attack on Titan/Shingeki no Kyojin is owned by Hajime Isayama.