The Elite: Wings of Freedom (Levi x OC)

Chapter 8: Joint Training

Present - Elena 

Today is the day that Levi and I start our joint training of the new cadets. I have to admit, I am excited for it. Not only is it a chance to train with Levi again, but it also allowed me to observe the new recruits and see what kind of potential they have.

I chose green tea this morning, but Levi had grabbed his usual black tea. Erwin and Hange had said that they wanted to talk to us about something, yet they were not here.

Levi sipped his tea with a blank face, but I knew that inside he was celebrating his first cup of the day. I picked mine up and was about to do the same, when one of the new cadet recruits laughed from a few spaces down the table. I raised an eyebrow at him, giving him a stern look. He quickly composed himself but then scooted down the empty bench closer to us.

"What do you want, brat?" Levi asked, unamused.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I just noticed that both of you hold your cups weird," I could hear laughter bubbling up inside of him.

Before either of us could respond, others around us started to chime in in agreement, having their own laughs about it. I took a moment to observe the two of us. Levi was holding his cup in his normal way, from the top. I pushed down a smile and then looked to my hand. I was holding the cup from the body, with my two middle fingers slipped inside the handle, the other two on either side of it.

"How is mine weird?" I protested, prompting a glare from Levi.

"Neither of you hold it by the handle," another cadet recruit pointed out. This caused laughter to rumble amongst the surrounding tables who were listening in.

I sighed and put down my cup. I glanced at Levi who looked the most disinterested he could be, and a memory rose up in my mind.

~ It was not long after I had joined the scouts, Erwin had wanted to speak with me and Levi about something. I had assumed he was going to ask if we had known each other in the past, since everyone seemed to have noticed the tension that brewed between us. Levi and I had arrived in the Commander's office, and he wasn't there. Levi had mumbled something to himself about Erwin always being late, and then had poured three cups of black tea. He had placed one in front of Erwin's spot, one in front of me, and kept one for himself. I had thanked him, and picked up my cup from the handle to sip it.

"Don't do that!" Levi had yelled almost instantly, startling me so much that I had almost spilt the hot tea all over myself.

I had glared at him in response, "What is your problem now? You put the tea in front of me, and yet you expect me not to drink it?"

He had rolled his eyes and set his cup down, which brought the way he holds it to my attention, "That's not what I was meaning, idiot. Don't hold the cup like that. You don't know if the handle is going to break or not."

I had squinted my eyes at him, dumbfounded. He seemed to hate me, and yet he was trying to help me at the same time?

"Don't look at me like that, brat, you look stupid," he had spat back to me and taken another sip of his tea.

I would have begun to laugh at him, but then Erwin had walked in. ~

After reminiscing on the memory, I looked back to Levi, who glanced up at me. Even though his face was expressionless, I could tell he was thinking about the same thing I was.

"You don't know if the handle is going to break or not," I quoted from that day, gaining another glance from Levi.

The others looked to him, waiting for his response, and he grunted in agreement with me.