Black Cat

Introduction

Mornings were the bane of Elodie's existence, especially when they were met without tea. She muttered to herself angrily as she barged into a tea shop. Simultaneously, she was met eye to eye with her father - Commander Pyxis of the Garrison Regiment.

What are the odds she ran into Erwin and her dad? Her expression fell into a deadpan at the sight of the commander from behind Pyxis.

"Great..." she sighed heavily and then walked past them to search for a specific tea.

"Great?" Pyxis raised a brow. "Good morning to you too, sweet pea."

"What's the matter, didn't you get your morning tea?" Another voice intervened. Elodie met eyes with Erwin, her very best friend since childhood.

Her deadpan deepened. Somehow when the two of them got together, she became the source of their entertainment. On any regular day she would play along and dish it back to them but yesterday she forgot to restock her tea and today was not a regular day.

Today was the start of her leave.

"Never been one for mornings, has she?" Erwin remarked to Pyxis.

"Not one bit, commander." Her father continued the conversation as if she was not in the room. "In fact, I'm afraid that she hasn't changed much since her teenage years."

Elodie Ignored their blatant teasing, to measure the man beside Erwin who was busy buying tea from the merchant.

Surely he wasn't the famous underground criminal Erwin was recruiting to the Scout Regiment...right?

He stood just a couple of inches taller than her - something that was slightly refreshing in her mind because her fellowcomrades had always poked fun at her size.

'Dynamite comes in small packages, Elle.' Erwin would encourage her.

Guess he took it quite literally with this new recruit.

The man turned around and their eyes met briefly as she took in his features. Looks like she would have to see his abilities for herself. They had to be substantial for Erwin to pluck him from the underground.

She couldn't deny the suspicion that crept inside of her. The man who was standing before her had previous intentions to kill Erwin. She was told he was hired by Nicholas Lovaf, a known anti-scouting mission faction leader who had been out to get her close friend since day one.

Elodie's brows knitted together in thought, silently wondering what exactly had changed his mind so fast. And if he was trying to play it off that he did?

Looks like she would have to discover his true intentions.

Erwin peered over at Elodie, noticing that she had long checked out from the conversation. He followed her gaze to Levi and then took it upon himself to introduce them.

"Levi - meet my very good friend, section commander, Pyxis."

"Please, call me by my first name, Elodie," She was quick to correct Erwin with a sharp glance. "I worked hard for my position. Don't give that old man all my credit."

"Old man...?" Pyxis repeated as a glum expression crossed over his face.

Elodie held out a hand to him and he clasped his over hers in a brief handshake, "Nice to meet you."

It didn't take long before the girl's attention was pulled elsewhere. She stopped in front of Erwin and stared up at the taller man expectantly, "Now if you'll excuse me, eyebrow, you're in front of the Earl Grey." The section commander pointed behind Erwin.

"Eyebrow, huh?" Levi echoed back to her, his eyes swarming with amusement. "Has a nice ring to it."

"I thought so myself," A smirk curled at the edges of Elodie's lips as she grabbed a box of tea. She turned back to him with a twinkle of interest in her eye, "Looking forward to working with you, recruit."

"Likewise."

"You will have to forgive my daughter, she's not taking the loss of her team very well" Dot divulged to Erwin as soon as she left the shop. "As you know, she is very action driven. Put her on leave and she doesn't ever quite know what to do with herself."

"Try not to worry, Dot. I will visit her later once I finish processing reports for the day." Erwin consoled.

"Good luck, commander." Pyxis shot him a wave before exiting the tea shop.

"Well, now that you have gotten your tea, it is time we part ways for the day." Erwin turned to Levi. "If you need anything more, you know where to find me."

Normally, Levi was quick to reply, but since he had seen Elodie, he had fallen victim to his curiosity.

Why did the commander's daughter look so familiar?

"Levi?" Erwin called out.

"Loud and clear."