STRONGEST HOPE (ERERI❤RIREN)

CHAPTER 7 - LINK IN THE CHAIN & SMALL KINDNESS

LINK IN THE CHAIN

Levi walked away from the door he'd just slammed. He went to the counter to fill the tea pot up and set it on the burner. He whistled a little while he prepared two cups for himself and Erwin. Feeling a burning sensation on his back, he turned around to look at Erwin with one eyebrow cocked. "Problem?"

Erwin said nothing and nodded. He put the reports he'd been reading onto the table in front of him, then sat back with one arm folded across his chest. He waited for Levi to get the hint.

"You mad?" Levi quipped, feigning nonchalance. He brought the tea cups over to the table with sugar and milk. The water was almost ready. "Seriously, what's up your ass?"

Erwin's eyes narrowed. He replied calmly. "Why are you such an asshole?"

Levi choked and knocked over the sugar bowl. "God dammit! Erwin! What the hell are you talking about?" He used one of Erwin's envelopes to scoop the sugar back into the bowl, and then into the trash. "You know what a waste that is?"

"I know what a waste it is to toss away people that care about you just because you're a chicken shit," Erwin said simply. Levi just stared at his friend, dumbfounded. He barely heard the teapot whistle. "Um, Levi?"

Levi jumped and pulled the pot off of the stove. He quietly filled their cups, then sat down. Erwin waited patiently for Levi to speak. Levi hated him for it. There was no getting out of it. His stomach released its tension and he let out a huge breath. He looked at Erwin, his head cocked to the side. "What is it, old man?"

The commander put two teaspoons of sugar and a drop of milk in his tea. Sipping above the steam, he pinned Levi with his gaze. Sitting back, he saw the annoyance in Levi's eyes, but there was something else. Uncomfortable, shaken, sad. All qualities the Captain scorned. Ah, self-loathing.

"If you're done reading me like a book, maybe you'll actually speak before morning," Levi snapped, picking up his cup. Having put nothing into it, he held it by the top of the cup, drawing the heat in without flinching. His returning gaze didn't waver.

"I was hoping you'd tell me how you're doing?" Erwin leaned forward and put his cup down. "I seem to be healing okay, but you seem to be getting worse."

Levi shifted uncomfortably. "Oi, Commander, what's this bullshit?"

"I've heard things here and there about you. You're not eating. You're sitting up all night with me. Drinking."

Levi's eyebrows went up. Did that shitty brat tell him that? There was that ulterior motive, but it hurt his stomach to think of it.

Erwin noticed his eyes drop. "I expect any man or woman to imbibe every once in a while, but considering your history, I worry that it's not a great choice. You tend to forget what you've done."

Levi was on fire. Yeager was such a shit. He was going to pay. He looked up at Erwin slowly. "Who told you?"

"Dimo Reeves did, in a roundabout way."

"What! I never- " Levi spat. Erwin interrupted him.

"His nephew is a night time watchman above the gate," Erwin explained. "He told Reeves he'd seen you a couple of times up top. He actually picked up your bottles after you left."

The Captain man sucked in his breath. It hadn't been Eren. He looked up at Erwin with sorrowful eyes. "I don't know what to say."

"Relax, Levi." Erwin smiled. Reeves likes you, so he brought you some pretty expensive whiskey, with the suggestion that you stay away from the cheap stuff. Funny, you never struck me as the whiskey type."