Yours Truly, Levi

Gaining Trust

"Are you lost?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"You're wandering like an idiot."

"Not all those who wander are lost, Heichou."

"No, but all those who are lost, wander."

"I'm not lost."

"Are you sure you're not lost?"

"Yes, Heichou, I'm sure."

The conversation that follows your scene with Levi by the alder tree. He'd had his arms full of the branches of leaves and scraped off bark that he wouldn't let you hold for him ("Not with that injury. Are you seriously as dumb as you look?"), so instead you led the way, following the map, stumbling through the forest, tripping over logs and nearly killing yourself trying to stay going in the same direction.

Suddenly your foot hits a sinkhole and you twist your ankle, barely catching yourself before you tumble into the muddy ground. "Shit!"

"You're lost."

"I'm lost."

"Knew it."

"No need to brag, Heichou."

"But I knew it," he says.

"Stop that," you say teasingly.

"Stop what?"

"Being annoying!"

"I'm being annoying?"

"Yes! You are." With this, you turn on your heel and face him, playfully defiant.

"Well, you're lost and an idiot."

"Well, you're mean and a turkey."

"A... turkey?"

The two of you are silent, gazing at one another, astounded, then burst out in a maniacal laughter you haven't felt in so long. Levi's laugh is charming- deep, throaty and genuine, a bit crazed, as if he has been hiding his inner psycho-manic all along. As you both calm down and catch your breaths, you look at each other again and collapse into peals of laughter once again, laughter that lasts longer than either of you care to keep track of.

"Ah, man," you say as you catch your breath, wiping your eyes. "I haven't laughed like that in so long... not since I left home!"

Levi's smile melts, and he looks away. "I don't think I've ever laughed like that. Not... not in my entire adult life," he says, a rare, goofy smile playing on his usually serious, smug face.

"Really? You never laugh?"

"My sense of humor isn't one that requires laughter to appreciate," he says tautly, and you nod in understanding, having been at the receiving end of his dark, dry sense of humor many times.

"Maybe you just never had the reason to laugh, Heichou," you say softly.

"I guess not... between the- well, I really shouldn't be talking to you about this," he says, pulling away.

"No! It's okay, Levi-san," you say, stepping closer. "I might not... understand the suffering you've seen, but I can listen, and appreciate, and try to... try to understand you better."

"What on earth is there to understand?" he asks bitterly.

"I see a man hardened by sorrow, but he won't share why," you say, your confidence growing. "I see someone who never had a reason to laugh, or smile. At least... not for a long time."

He looks back at your face, as if considering.

"And I want to help that man," you continue. "I want to see you laugh again, but I can't do that if I don't understand who you are. You already know my story. So tell me yours."

He looked past you, his eyes flickering, as if he was thinking what he has to lose by telling his story to a kid he just met two months ago on a journey he didn't want to go on, and you see the determination set in the emerald glow of his vision.

"Okay..." he says tentatively. "You seem like a... decent person... I guess."

You sit instinctively on a nearby log, and he awkwardly follows suit.

And so be began. "It all started when my parents died, below ground..."