Flapping Of Wings
Summary: Random bonus scenes from It Takes Two Wings To Fly, mostly from the moment Eren and Levi reunited onward. Fluff, fun, slight non graphic smut, occasional angst, short. Not in chronological order.
17. Mentors
Eren knew that Luka kid admired his former Captain. It was plain as day, his admiration and respect, and Ern couldn't even fault the boy for it because Eren had been like him once, partially still was, too. Captain Levi, Humanity's Strongest Soldier, was an easy man to admire, to be in awe of, after all, and he was even easier to grow fond of in a short span of time. In his kindness and selfless wisdom and experience he shares, one easily grows to like him and desire his approval. Even with his sharp edges, harsh demeanor and shit (literally) humor, he was the kind of person you just want to stay close to and experience wonderful things together.
Now, Luka might not be so enthusiastic to bathe in the blood of his enemies - though Eren meant that for himself only in the context of Titans, as bathing in human blood would be messy, unhygienic and highly impractical - as some might be, but he still wanted to explore things at Levi's side and for that reason, he seems to kind of hate Eren. Eren doesn't really care, as he wasn't the kid's number one fan, either, but it still miffed him a little how the boy seems eager to steal Levi's attention from Eren at every chance he got, even more so after they became lovers.
Eren tried to tell himself it's stupid to get jealous or competitive because of a kid, but there were still times when he would snap at the boy or steal Levi away from him in manners which Levi found increasingly 'barbaric'.
Luka's interruptions to their free time only increased since Levi agreed to teach him some basics that any Scout had to know, even going as far as to start teaching him basic maneuvers with the 3DMG. It had Eren becoming increasingly more frustrated to the point that Levi wouldn't indulge him in either sex or spars to deal with it, which meant Eren had to go train on his own to blow off some steam.
And ever since the incident with the tailors and the whole town when they saw him shirtless after emerging from his Titan after that first Hunt - if you can call their fight against the wolves and the monkey-thing that, anyway - whenever Eren or Levi wanted to really train their bodies and work up a sweat, they had to go into the woods so no one would ogle them. Eren had to head out into the woods more often than his fellow Eldian because Eren was as hotheaded as ever, so it really was no surprise to anyone when they saw him grumbling to himself as he trudged towards the edge of the forest alone or, occasionally, in the company of either Farlan or Mike.
One such time, just when he was done with his warm-up routine of exercises and standard fighting maneuvers, he heard a branch snap. His senses have heightened since he started living alone in the wild over twelve years ago, so he had no problem pinpointing where, exactly, the sound had come from and he was on high alert for more signs of an intruder while continuing his Paradis military-standard katas combined with the techniques he'd learned from Annie or other Shifters, be they previous Attack Titan holders or people like Reiner and Zeke. He secretly bit the inside of his cheek in preparation should he need to swiftly transform while he steadily moved around his chosen clearing, discretely making his way towards the source of the sound he'd heard earlier.
When he was close enough, he allowed himself to partially transform, forming one Titan arm and snatching the intruder and the bush they were hiding in in one fell swoop. He loosened his grip slightly when a familiar yelp reached his ears and Eren frowned in confusion at his captive.
"Luka, what the hell are you doing here, sneaking around like a rat? Don't you know how dangerous it is to sneak up on a soldier? You'd be minced meat if I were Captain Levi."
"Does it matter?" The embarrassed boy snapped, not daring to meet Eren's eyes. "Will you please just let go of me already? This thing is way too hot. I feel like I'm in an oven."
The Shifter arched an eyebrow at the kid, unimpressed. "Not until you tell me what you were doing. You'll be fine for a little while longer in my hold like this before the heat starts becoming too much, so I won't even have to be scolded by Levi if you're a good boy and just tell me what the hell you were thinking, going into the forest alone when you know perfectly well what lurks out here. Or we could just wait until the welts and burns start appearing. Because, honestly, I can do this all day."
Luka scowled at him and Eren was impressed by how well the kid had copied the expression off of Levi, but Eren also grew up around Mikasa and matured around Levi, so Luka was hardly intimidating. Especially as the kid wouldn't have even been alive had he lived somewhere else.
"You gonna tell me or should I sit back and make myself comfortable?" To show just how willing he was to do just that, Eren formed a chair behind himself with Hardening, the crystalline surface reflecting the sunlight that managed to seep through the branches and leaves of the forest rather prettily. It would be hours before anyone bothered to come looking for either Eren or Luka. Well, two hours tops, if Levi noticed them both missing, but Eren knew he can make Luka talk before it came to that. "Well?" He asked as he sat down on his improvised chair and waited. When Luka grumbled something into his chin, Eren sighed, exasperated, wondering once again how Levi had managed to deal with brats like this for far too many years. "A little louder, hm?"
"I said," snapped the embarrassed boy. "That I came to watch you train."
"Come again?" Asked the dumbfounded brunet and Luka groaned, miserable.
"I came to watch you train. Do your drills and exercises."
"But ... But why? Why not watch Levi? Hell, why not ask him to outright train you?" Eren asked, confused beyond words, because he was sure the kid detested him. Or just plain didn't like him, anyways. He sure as hell preferred Levi, that's for damn sure.
"I ... I didn't want to come before him as a total dork who's never learned how to throw a punch before. I mean, have you seen how he fights?!" Eren snorted, because oh boy has he ever. "Besides, I tried watching him a couple of times but he does things in such a way that I can't figure out how to follow. You, on the other hand, have considerably clearer movements that are easy to tell apart step by step even when you're going full speed because, well, no offense, but Levi's way faster than you and his fighting style doesn't seem ... I don't know, uniform? And after he told that story about how he learned to fight, I figured trying to watch someone who had actual military training would be easier to observe and learn from. Hence why I try to watch you whenever you go out to train by yourself."
Eren could only stare at the boy for a moment, more stunned than he cared to admit. It's not that he hadn't had someone admire his fighting style before - and it's not as though Luka was admitting to that, either, just that he was easier to copy than Levi was, which was totally reasonable and understandable - but this still caught him off guard in a way nothing else ever could. It was just sort of surreal, because he knows he's not exactly Luka's favorite person ever, even if he doesn't quite understand how they got to the point where they would sit through a meal mostly glaring at each other. Was this another Jean situation? Hadn't one been enough?
'Luka better not be fucking in love with Levi or else I'm Rumbling this shit.' He thought to himself with a scowl which he quickly smoothed out from his face before the kid could notice it. "So let me get this straight," he said, crossing his arms as he stared down the kid. Eren had no problem being harsh with kids. Hell, he'd been very tempted to kill Gabi after she shot Sasha and he had, actually, unfortunately, been the cause of death of children on two separate occasions. Well, three, if you count the chaos of his second fight with Annie in the capital. "You've been basically stalking me through the woods, knowing what sort of creatures lived here, risking not only your life, but the lives of your people, Levi and myself should you be captured as a host, just so you can spy on my training routine and try to do all that stuff on your own, regardless of how dangerous some maneuvers can be, especially for a beginner, without supervision? Just because you were shy to actually ask me or Levi to properly train you?" The way Luka turned cherry red by the time he was finished, Eren had his answer. He let loose a longsuffering sigh before waving the kid over. When Luka made no move to come closer, Eren's old temper reared its ugly head in the form of impatience. "Well?" He snapped, irritated. "Do you want me to teach you some basics and the proper and safe way to build up your stamina and muscle or are you going to continue standing there like a statue and playing voyeur?"
Luke gawked. "You're actually going to help me?"
"Not if you keep that attitude I'm not. And you better prepare yourself, because I'm about to put you through hell because I sure as hell didn't go easy on myself when I was training to join the military. You're going to be sore all over and wish for death by the time I'm done with you. And then you're going to come with me tomorrow for more of the same and you're going to ask for more. Trust me, you're gonna need it if you want the Captain to ever train you with the 3DMG. Now come over here and try to punch me."
"Well, you don't have to ask me twice!"
"You call that a punch? Pfft."
"I swear, if you tell me I punch like a girl-"
"You think I'd praise you like that? Hell nah! That would be an insult to Mikasa. And Annie. And Sasha. And Historia, Ymir, Pieck, Yelena, Petra, Nanaba, Gabi, Kaya, Rico, Niffa, Zophia, Hitch, Mikasa's mother, my mother, no doubt Levi's mother, maybe Zeke's mother, hell! Ymir Fritz and her daughters, too... Basically nearly half of Eldian women, be it from Marley or Paradis, can throw a better punch than you. Like hell am I saying you can punch like a girl!"
"Hey! Not all of us can start the end of the world!"
"I'll have you know I've been punching and stabbing way before then. In fact, I was younger than you are when I killed two men, but that's a story for another day. Right now, I need to teach you how not to punch like a pansy. First of all, the way you hold your fist offends me on a personal level. Do you want your thumb broken? Also, why the hell are you punching with your fingers? Ever wonder why it's called a 'knuckle sandwich'? And while we're at it, are you throwing a punch or a baseball, I can't decide. Even Zeke punched better than that-"
"Oh, screw you! If you're not going to teach me-"
"What the hell do you think I've been trying to do for the past ten minutes!?"
Behind a tree just on the edges of the little clearing stood one highly amused and thoroughly exasperated Levi Ackerman, facepalming as his would-be mentee and his former subordinate turned lover went at it like bickering children.
He really was stuck co-mentoring a brat with an even bigger shitty brat.
Walls, did he miss Falco in situations like this.