Levi's Squad Treats Eren Like a Kid (Finished)

On The Issue of Eren's Health

"You're really skinny."

"I - I'm sorry?"

Eren had really meant for that to sound serious and maybe offended, but it came out as a squeak because Petra's hands had settled on both sides of his waist. He made another sound - not a squeak, definitely not - when she pressed her fingers down. Ignoring his discomfort, she made a face of displeasure.

"You haven't been eating, have you? They probably gave you some dry, tasteless bread down in the prison, those - " Petra definitely did not curse then. It was just Eren's ears. Petra is always nice and smiley and she definitely did not just curse again. Then her eyes snapped up and there was a frown aimed at him. "But you're with us now, and the food's not great but it's got to be better than what they give the trainees, so why are you still so skinny?"

Eren wasn't quite sure what to say. He wasn't even aware that he was that skinny. He was, what, over sixty kilograms? He fought the urge to back away from Petra, who had seemed a kind, lovely young lady until her eyes blazed with disapproval. "I'm eating! I swear, I'm eating, I finish my food at every meal, you know the Captain will kill me if I don't finish my food."

He really did not need two people threatening him until he cleans off everything on his plate.

Petra's frown softened, though she still looked concerned. "Well, obviously it isn't enough then. I'll have to ask whoever's cooking to give you more. You're still growing, and what if your growth becomes stunted because you're not eating enough - "

Petra continued muttering to herself, hands flitting over Eren's waist, making him increasingly uncomfortable. Eren did his best to not squirm. "Pe, Petra, I need to, um - the cleaning. It won't do itself. Captain will - "

"Oh." Her hands mercifully paused. "Alright, then, let's get to work. You'd better not be late to lunch, Eren! I think it's Erd's turn to cook today, I'll ask him to set aside a bigger portion - "

"You really don't need - "

Eren wasn't allowed to finish before Petra stalked off in the direction of the kitchens. He was left blinking, dazed, because what had just happened?

The Scouting Legion really was composed of a bunch of weirdos.

.

The Petra incident could have been ignored - maybe he really did look a bit too skinny? He swore he's healthy enough though, titan regenerative ability and all aside - but when he skidded to his knees during training, having misgauged the distance between the tree and the ground, Gunter is beside him almost immediately, checking for wounds.

"I'm sorry," Eren said, hiding his wince. The wounds would heal soon enough, but it was bloody damn painful to scrape his knees. Without saying a word, Gunter lifted his knee, eyes scanning over it. Under the ripped cloth, there were bits of soil and dirt in the wound. Eren grimaced and dug around for a clean cloth so he could wipe it, but Gunter beat him to it with a handkerchief he whipped out of his pocket. Captain Levi had apparently trained them all to carry clean cloths around at all time.

"G-Gunter! I'm fine, thank you, you don't need to bother over this!" Eren exclaimed when Gunter very carefully wiped over his knees, brows knitted together in concentration. It was just a flesh wound, seriously, why did Gunter look like he was considering carrying Eren off to the infirmary?

"Did you hurt yourself anywhere? Your hands?" Gunter used his free hand to check Eren's palm, nodding when there wasn't any visible wound on it.

No, really, he had suffered much worse in his trainee years, there was no need for his senior to trouble himself over something so minor. Before Eren could voice his thoughts Gunter nodded, as though having decided something, and said, "We'll take a break. It's time for lunch anyway."

"But we've only been training for half an hour!" Eren protested. "Please, I've nearly got the move down - "

"No. Obviously you're tired enough that you got injured," Gunter said, standing and holding a hand out for Eren to take. On instinct Eren took his hand, allowing Gunter to pull him up. "Besides, I'm getting hungry too, so let's go back."

Oh. Well, there was no reason for them to stay longer if his senior was hungry, Eren thought, mulling over and accepting the explanation, though something in the back of his head nagged that his senior, all of them, were acting very...off.

.

The suspicion was confirmed at lunch when Eren found, in his usual spot, a much larger bowl with steaming soup and a plate heaped with at least three more pieces of bread than anybody else had. He looked up, tried to catch Petra's eyes - she was eating her meal with a look of contentment - and he met Erd's instead. Erd grinned at him. "It's not much, but eat up."

That really wasn't the issue here, because this was far, far more than anybody could finish. "I couldn't possibly finish this," Eren protested weakly.

"Are you saying you won't eat what I made, Eren?" Erd said with a look of mock hurt. Petra looked up then with the same expression.

"No! N-no, that's not what I meant," Eren said, hands flailing. "It looks delicious! I just meant, it's...a lot."

"Eren."

That voice made him snap to attention and face the head of the table. "Y-yes, Captain?"

"Shut up and eat."

Eren hunched down in his seat, shrinking away from his Captain's scowl, and stared at the wide, wide bowl of soup. He picked up his spoon, tried not to sigh, and began eating. Over the table he could feel Erd beam at him.

.

Moving around with a bloated belly was not fun. Auruo insulted him with every name under the sun as Eren swung through the trees with unsteady balance, and when he finally called for a break Eren was more than glad to wander off and find some tree to collapse underneath.

It was as he tried to get his breath under control that he realized Auruo had followed him and was standing beside the tree, hand held out, something small in his palm. Auruo was resolutely not looking in Eren's direction.

"What is it?" Eren asked, blinking away the sweat in his eyes.

"Ginger candy. Brat," Auruo added, as though for good measure.

"For me?" Eren couldn't help but ask. He took it, feeling the wrapper crinkle in his hands.

"Tch. If you can't eat that much then say so," Auruo said.

Eren really, really wanted to say that he did protest, didn't Auruo hear? But he bit back his words and popped the candy into his mouth, rolling the spicy sweetness around on his tongue. It must be really good candy too, or maybe it was just his psychology or whatever that he could feel his stomach quiet down, even if only a little.

"Thank you," Eren said with a small smile, receiving a click of the tongue in response.