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

Calm Before A Storm

Pixis could tell something was up.

Earlier, Levi had met up with him outside the hospital where he knew Erwin had been admitted to. The both of them together with Pixis' assistant, headed to the room because he had to meet with Erwin concerning current state of affairs within the walls.

Now here they were, gathered inside Erwin's hospital room. Levi was sitting beside the bed, Pixis on the other side, and his assistant had opted to stand by the wall.

"It's good to see you're up and about, Erwin," Pixis said as Erwin turned to him. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm doing quite fine, sir. Thank you for asking," he answered with his usual business expression and tone. As expected of the iron commander of the Survey Corps—even as he recently lost an entire arm, he looked unfazed as ever. Pixis thought how the Scouts really were a whole different breed.

Pixis decided to go straight into business and relayed everything that had happened within the walls the past days, about how citizens of Wall Rose had been sent to the underground civilization, how the military only managed to keep them in check in one week before announcing that Wall Rose was safe, as well as the aftermath and unrest among the masses.

As Pixis neared the end of his report, all traces of playfulness in his expression had now faded away and was replaced with a more solemn look. "We can now be certain, that one week after Wall Rose falls, people will begin to destroy one another."

With a lax arm draped at the back of the wooden chair, Levi gave a halfhearted apology to Erwin. "You've finally recovered to the point of being able to talk. I'm sure just hearing about this week is enough to make you want to go to bed again."

Erwin lightly shook his head. "No, I've had enough sleep." He then added that he would like to hear more news of what happened while he had been out.

"Well, it's too bad about your arm," Levi pointed out, returning his passive grey eyes to Erwin; despite the seemingly dull stare, there was a genuine hint of concern in his gaze.

Erwin followed his stare to the bandaged part of where his right arm should have been. One arm was a small price to pay. "How many hundreds of soldiers do you think I've fed to the titans? One arm's hardly enough to make up for all of that; I'll pay off my debts in hell one day."

"Careful," said Levi. "What would she say if she heard you say that?"

Pixis arched a brow. She?

The door to the room creaked open, and Pixis turned to see that had Isanna walked in with a tray in hand. She curtly nodded at Pixis's direction in a formal greeting.

"I brought tea," she said, walking over.

She offered a cup to Pixis' assistant, then to Pixis himself. "Thank you, Sergeant," he said with a smile.

Then he watched her pad over to the other side and handed Levi a cup, saying something about how she made sure she got the ratio of his favorite mixture correct because he was picky when it came to his tea. After that, she turned to Erwin.

"Doctor said you should only drink water for the time being," she said, passing him a glass of water.

Erwin accepted it. "Thank you."

Pixis watched the exchange with a curious glint. Although eccentric, he was an observant man. He knew something was up the moment they arrived here and took note of the cozy air between the two. Like an invisible barrier had finally crumbled.

But the most interesting sight of all, Pixis noted, was Erwin. Nobody made a comment earlier when they'd first arrived, but it was as obvious as a dark stain in a white shirt.