It had been horrific.
They had spent 2 hours out in the mud and by the end of it Levi was dripping with mud from head to toe. At first he had cautiously made his way after Hanji, unable to do anything else thanks to broadcasting live. Up until then, the man had not realised just how badly he was afraid of bugs. It was a nightmare. He had tried to keep up his cool, charming facade as he interviewed Hanji, but he kept breaking his sentences, flinching and downright leaping away as weird bugs flew lazily around, landing on him and crawling. "So how long have you been doing th-argh!" He had began to frantically wave his hand after a fat black fly had landed on it, and though Mikasa and Eren tried their hardest not to laugh, Hanji mistook Levi's flailing for excitement, "I've been at this for ten years now and it's just wonderful! Every day I get to come out here and see all these lovely creatures and make friends with them all!"
Levi tried to laugh in a good-natured fashion, but it came out nervous and slightly manic, "f-friends you say? With all these bugs?"
"Oh there's not just bugs!" Hanji clapped their hands together before making a sweeping gesture to the muddy water they were standing hip-deep in, "there's all sorts of great wildlife here! For example, despite the black rain frog eating the dragonflies, there's a nice little amount of them around the place! Watch this!"
Looking queasy, Levi stood by as Hanji scanned the water in a crouching position, before they threw themselves into the water, splashing everyone and the camera. Mikasa couldn't help laugh, she had her waterproof gear on the machine today, and Levi looked scandalized as he watched dirty water drip from his sleeves. Eren assured him in a whisper that there was a clean shirt in the car. Mikasa was busy zooming in on Hanji as they reemerged from the water with a grumpy-looking black frog. It was fairly hideous and looked thoroughly pissed off with the world. It reminded her of Levi.
In an attempt to recapture his usual on-air elegance, Levi smiled and looked interested, "so this is the creature that helped deplete the dragonfly population?"
Hanji nodded, petting its back with a smile, "it's a cute little thing, isn't it!? Well it won't be allowed finish off the dragonflies, I have something very cool to show you, if we can find it!"
Levi swallowed nervously as she let the frog hop back into the water. He jumped then as something long rubbed against his leg, "are there eels in here?!"
"Only a few!" Hanji grinned, leading the group further into the muck.
Further down, the crew watched as Hanji began to carefully separate clumps of reeds. They looked so serious for those few minutes, Levi noticed with surprise. Their brown eyes scanned the reeds, one hand pushed their goggles up onto their head to hold their hair back. There was a little sunshine now that made the water droplets on their strands sparkle. Levi, for a moment, gave a smile.
That all changed when Hanji let out a "WHOOP!" of triumph, causing him to stumble back in the water and fall. Mikasa laughed, Eren froze in terror, and Hanji didn't notice as she beckoned the camera closer to zoom in on the tiny dragonfly larvae that were stuck to the reeds. Levi spluttered to the surface of the water, coughing and swearing, but luckily he had washed a little bit aways from the crew, and the viewers would not hear his foul mouth assail everything in the universe that he now declared eternal hatred for. Eren quickly waded over to help his boss, whispering urgently that he had to regain his composure, but as the camera turned to him, Levi just stood there looking murderous. "These are the larvae that are going to hatch in the next two weeks," Hanji was telling him excitedly, seemingly unaware that their interviewer was looking ready to choke the life out of them. Mikasa was doing a masterful job though, making sure to keep only Hanji, the larvae, or wide shots of the landscape in the frame as Hanji gushed about the mating habits of the bugs.
By the time she called cut, Levi was twitching with both cold and rage.
"That was so much fun! Thanks so much for coming today!" Hanji enthusiastically shook the hand of each crew member, though Levi made a point of washing his immediately after in the sink. They were in the breakroom of the sanctuary facility, having warm drinks and lunch now that filming was over. Eren had been sure to pack clean, dry clothes for everyone to change into after. He had told Levi he knew they were going into the mud, but he thought he knew that and hadn't mentioned it. Needless to say, Eren had received a whack to the head.
Levi felt filthy, and as a result, he felt ill. He had not been able to shower, to wash himself clean. He had to peel off his ruined outfit, dry the filth onto himself and pull on clean clothes. The shower in the facility was broken, and would remain so until there was enough spare cash from the meager funding cheque received to fix it. Hanji continued to chatter excitedly to Mikasa and Eren about their work, though their sentences were punctured with wild gestures that slopped coffee and sprayed crumbs everywhere. If Levi was said to have no social grace, Hanji Zoe was no better than a toddler who had eaten too much glue. There were moments, however, throughout their mad ramblings, that Hanji took on a serious tone about their work. In those moments, Levi could not help but watch as they spoke, and found despite the burning hatred he felt for them exposing him to this awful place, there was something ever-so-slightly fascinating about this goggled freak of nature.