Memories Tend To Be Dreams Themselves[LEVI X READER X ERWIN]

#8: Initiation

It had already been around midday when they made it to the old headquarters. Levi had assigned everyone a part of the building to clean, and all his squad members were getting down to business. He'd put [Y/N] in charge of the kitchen, which she agreed to do, although reluctantly. To her credit, she did try to conceal her apprehension.

That's how she ended up alone in the room with a white cloth covering her mouth and nose, cleaning the windows until she could see them sparkle. Eren had warned her about the exaggerated standards the corporal had, and the last thing she needed was a scold for her cleaning capacities.

After about ten minutes, she started to find an odd peacefulness about cleaning the room by herself. Ever since she had joined the training corps, alone time had become a rarity. Being an ambivert, she didn't mind huge groups of people, but she'd always been used to having her privacy. Having no one around was a rare treat.

Losing herself in the perpetual series of tasks, [Y/N] unconsciously started humming a soft lullaby. Her low voice brought life to the dull kitchen, and time started melting away as her mind filled itself with past happy moments.

"Oi."

The voice didn't scare her, considering she'd lost the ability to get startled over the years. However, it did take her by surprise. She turned around, meeting a forever bored steal gaze.

"Hey, Levi. Can I help you?" she asked, half-smiling.

"I came to see how you were doing. I really hope you're worth better than the Jaeger brat, I had to have him redo his entire floor."

"He was never even really good at cleaning up after himself. Had to force him to more than once."

How he managed to look amused without even smiling was beyond her. "Doesn't surprise me. Now, let me see."

Every step he took, every move he made was making the girl's stress level rise. For whatever reason, she really did want to impress him.

"...Not bad. Not half bad, [Y/N]."

"Is there advice you could give me?"

His eyes slightly widened. He'd never been asked that about cleaning before. Everyone just wanted to get out of it as soon as possible. He considered that she might have been joking, but her eyes looked genuinely interested, and it made something warm rise in his chest.

He looked away. "Tch. Yeah. I mean- yeah. Come over here and have a look at this corner. What you should have done was..."

The cleaning session was over soon after. Levi had spent about 20 minutes teaching tips to [Y/N], who looked pleased upon learning about something that didn't have to do with fighting.

It was simple time together, but she was content to have found something that her superior liked. She hadn't had the chance to befriend him as much as the others, for he was a pretty reclusive person by nature.

The captain, on his end, was still pondering about how surreal the whole thing felt. She'd listened to his every word, not out of fear of reprimand but out of interest. He could tell she would remember what he'd told her, and he still hadn't worked out how he felt about that.

~~

"[Y/N]"! Eren exclaimed, approaching his longtime friend. "Almost haven't seen you all day, I'm so hungry!" Like a child, he rested his head on her shoulder, whining about how hard his previous task was.