Equanimity » Levi Ackerman

22 | 𝔖𝔬𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔢

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"Then stop making that face, it doesn't suit you." An awkward silence overtook the two as Maria stood there, confused by his words.

'It doesn't suit me?' She thought. Did it mean she was somewhat pretty to him? Perhaps this was a weird way for Levi to compliment her face when she wouldn't be frowning or maybe she was just looking into it way too deep. The honey-blonde shook her head and made her way past his form.

"Then I just have to go and visit our Commander. The only problem here is that I don't have a horse and I can't take any of the others." "I will take you in the morning," Levi spoke in return.

"Alright," Maria muttered while brushing some dirt off her pants. "If you don't mind." "I wouldn't have told you so if I didn't." The ravenette sighed and went to turn around. "Right..." She trailed off.

"You're up for a walk?" "Huh?"

"Are you gonna keep this up all night? Because every time you seem to open your mouth, some idiot starts talking. Don't make me repeat myself." Maria scrunched up her face and blinked at his response.

"Harsh." Although Levi was being his usual rude self, she didn't fail to hear the small chuckle that escaped his lips after her little comment. Seeing a certain playful side to this man would be counted as something really rare, but hearing him laugh quietly made her believe she'd at least grown a little closer to him in these weeks.

"But yeah, I'd love to take a walk." "Come on then."

Maria didn't have to let him tell her twice and went to grab her crutch that she had popped up against some hay bales. This time the short male made sure to wait so she could catch up. As the two walked on in silence, Maria made sure to check on the watchtower where she caught a glimpse of Armin's blonde hair.

Being couped up in a cabin with seven teens made Maria think back to her early Scout days. She also realized how different things had worked out considering she never envisioned becoming a Lieutenant in the first place. Aside from that, Maria finally got the chance to talk to each new squad member separately. Except for Historia – who still didn't talk much after she made her past known to the squad, the morning after they arrived at the cabin. That's why Maria took the time to get to know all of them a little better one on one, despite the fact most of them had already spoken to her before.

Even when she was still dealing with the loss of their old squad, Maria felt like Levi had done a great job at picking the new squad. Now that Jean was around her again, she reminded herself how grateful she was for being able to survive for so long.

"Something's on your mind." "It's funny how you can read me so easily these days." But the truth was, Levi had always been able to read the small woman, this time wasn't an exception. Walking on at a slow pace, Maria began to speak again.

"In all honesty, I somehow imagined everything would be different when I joined the Scouts." She began while Levi turned to watch the side of her face. "I felt like I had nothing to live for. Now I realize that Jean was - and still is - a great part of my life. But back then, joining the Survey Corps was for me to escape."

At first, Levi didn't answer and just listened to what she had to say. Although this wasn't the first time Maria would speak in such a vague manner, Levi couldn't help but ask himself what she meant by 'escape'. Surely Erwin knew about her past, but she never brought it up when she was with anyone else. But Levi wasn't dumb either, looking back at how frail and insecure she'd been, he just put two and two together. Just like him, she'd had a shitty past growing up in Trost, or at least something close to that. Even so, comparing the underground with Trost District would be like trying to compare apples to oranges. So it had to come down to something that affected her family, maybe a past relationship, or some kind of incident.