A Promise (An Attack on Titan Fanfic: Erwin Smith)

Chaotic Babysitters

It had been two whole months since the fall of Wall Maria.

As the first wave of bitter aftereffects had died down and the Military Police were finally dispatched by the government to Wall Rose to accommodate the restless angry crowds, Erwin was finally able to order his soldiers to take a rest after two months of continuous labor. 

The surrounding Scouts who were seated on the tables in the mess hall were shooting weird glimpses at the direction of one of the officers' tables at the far end of the hall. 

They didn't know what to feel; because it was just sheer chaos looking at them. 

Their Sergeant Major and recently promoted Section Commander were currently ganging up on Levi, chiding him for scaring an infant with his constipated-looking face, while his scowl only deepened; one of their highly-esteemed squad leaders, Mike, was trying to cheer up the said infant. Above all, their Commander, who rarely ever showed his face in the mess hall, was calmly seated amongst the chaos with a black cat on top of his head as he sipped his tea.

"Levi, you scared her," Hanji said with a disapproving frown at him, shaking her head, "you look like you're about to kill someone."

Isanna snorted. "That's just his face."

"Shut up," Levi growled at the two as he lowered his gaze back at his meal and continued eating. It wasn't his fault he was like this; being born and raised in the Underground wasn't exactly the ideal place to practice his smiles. If you smiled at anyone down there, it'll probably be the last thing you'll do before getting your own throat sliced.

Lauren was still sniffing as she buried her face into Mike's neck, her short arms wrapped around him while the blond patted her back. 

"I'd say," Isanna piped up, pointing a spoon in the grumpy man's direction, "we should help Levi practice his babysitting skills. Everyone in favor say 'I'."

"I."

"I."

Erwin simply closed his eyes and wordlessly sipped his tea, ignoring their conversation for the sake of his peace of mind and sanity.

Levi glared at the woman sitting across him. "I don't want - "

"You'll do it," she insisted with a pointed look, "Sergeant Major's orders."

Levi couldn't believe it; she had used her position against him for such a menial task. He turned to Erwin, who was seated at the end of their table and gave him a 'is-this-even-legal?' look. 

By this point, nobody bothered to laugh nor comment at the fact that Mhile was once again perched on top of his head since it had somehow become his favorite spot. 

The Commander shrugged his shoulders in response without a word. 

"Trust me," said Isanna, trying to convince him, "it'll be fun."

•

It was not fun.

The next morning, Levi realized he would have to insert babysitting Lauren into his cleaning schedule. He was currently in the empty mess hall, breakfast had just ended, and Isanna had handed the infant over to his responsibility before she left together with the rest, after giving him some helpful and specific babysitting tips like "relax" and "just be a decent human being".