You held up your end of the deal, so here is my end.
I don't know how long I sat like that, with my head on my knees, hugging myself; but I knew it was long enough since my tears have stopped streaming down my face and are now gently trickling down my cheeks.
"How long are you going to sit there and cry, kid?" a voice startles me out of my moment and my head snaps up out of reflex. My eyes are greeted by the figure of a large man in an emerald green cloak. His blond hair is cropped short and parted to the right while his icy blue eyes examine me.
"I'm not a kid," I say with a sniff and wipe my eyes. "I'm twenty six years old,"
"And I am a thousand and forty two, so hush up, kid," he says and offers me his left hand. He pulls me up from the floor with quite a bit of strength. "I'm Erwin Smith," he states plainly. "You must be Levi's new household member. I will take you to his chamber,"
"Oh, thank you," I say while taken slightly aback.
"So," Smith says as we walk down the labyrinth of corridors that feel never ending. "Why were you sitting there and crying?" he asks.
"I just found out that I can't leave this place, ever," I mumble.
"It's not so bad here. The Tower is a beautiful place to live," he muses.
"But aren't most cages beautiful? I will never be able to see my family again because of this stupid war,"
"This 'stupid war' is the only thing stopping the Creators from killing all the non-winged on the planet, so you should be grateful to us-"
"Grateful? Don't make me laugh. If it weren't for this war to begin with then I wouldn't have to live in this glorified coop-"
"That is a very selfish view. Do know how many of my friends have died to keep you and your species safe? The world is a lot bigger than you think, and you are free to leave this place whenever you want," Smith says coldly before facing away again.
My steps falter and I fall behind him, keeping my head down. Of course he has lost friends to this war, probably people who he loved very dearly and here I am being selfish because I won't see my family. I mean, I haven't seen them in eight years before I hopped on a plane to be here.
"I'm sorry," I say softly. "I'm not usually like this, I just feel lost and alone and I don't know what to do or where to go or even what is expected of me. I'm sorry for being insensitive, I'm sure it wasn't very nice to hear me act like an unappreciative child. Thank you for your hospitality,"
He sighs audibly. "I understand. Come now, Levi is probably worried sick about you. Let's not keep him waiting, shall we?" he waits for me to catch up before we set off again.
"Captain Ackerman is worried about me?" I enquire.
Smith erupts into laughter. He is laughing so hard he starts wheezing and he bends forward slightly to catch his breath, "Captain Ackerman," he huffs. "Oh, you are a funny little hatchling. Don't ever call him that to his face, not if you value your life,"
"Oh, all right…" I trail off.
"And yes, he will worry about you, if only a little bit. You are a member of his household now, so he is responsible for you,"
"What is entailed of a household member?"
"Well, that depends on the head of the house now doesn't it? For instance, those in Petra's household help her sort through information since she is part of the reconnaissance team. Her household members follow the Intel and research leads: because not all Intel is good Intel. Gunther's household members go undercover and sniff out informants', and so on. Though I don't think Levi expects anything from you just yet- ah, we're here,"
I look around and notice a rather unassuming door to our left. The door is made from the same wood as the door that led to the council meeting.
"Right then, I will leave you too it," Smith says and turns to leave.
"Wait! You're just going to leave me here?"
"Well, yes. Good night, Eren Jeager. Let's talk again some time, all right?" he states as he turns around and walks way. I watch his back when I notice something strange. I brush it off quickly and turn to knock on the door.
"What- oh, it's you. I'm surprised you found your way. Come in, take your shoes off," he turns and walks into his 'chambers'. My nagging feeling clicks once I see Ackerman's back.
"Oh shit! I'm such an idiot!" I say aloud as I slap a palm to my forehead, rather hard too.
"Is something the matter?" Levi glances over the shoulder.
"Yes, I have to find Mr Smith and apologise for what I said,"
Ackerman turns to me sharply and steps in close, his silvery eyes burning like some unholy night terror. "What did you say to him?"
I flinch under those eyes. "I- I complained about being in this 'cage' and not being able to leave here, but I just saw that he was missing his right wing and- and I feel like an idiot,"
"You are an idiot, but lucky for you Commander Erwin is not a trivial man. It takes a lot to upset him. Though don't ever call him Mr Smith to his face, he might just kill you," Levi states with a smirk.
I feel my cheeks burn slightly. "Funny, he said the same thing about you,"