Ein Riese, der Fliegen Wollte

Like the Tides

Levi gives a small, satisfied nod to himself as he watches out the window of his office. The colt tosses its head a bit, but doesn't buck the kid off like the others had, which is a distinct improvement.

"You know, I can't tell if I'm surprised or not to see you watching him out the window."

Levi doesn't jump at the sudden presence of Hanji's voice, but it's a near thing. He turns to level a glare at them. "The hell are you talking about?"

Hanji is sitting on his desk, feet kicking as they watch him with a shit-eating grin. "I mean it was odd enough that you called him by his first name. You almost never call anyone by their first name..."

Levi's glare intensifies. "If you're talking about Eren, he doesn't have a last name. If he did, I would use it."

Hanji ignores him, grin still plastered on their face. "And then you let him call you Levi . Which was doubly strange."

"I'm not sure what you're trying to get at here, but I'm almost certain you're wrong." He crosses his arms over his chest. This had better not be going where he thinks it's going. He doesn't want to have to kick Hanji's ass.

"And if I'm not mistaken-"

"-you probably are-"

"-you two didn't stop talking until long after midnight the other night. Which, you know, is a bit strange for you, because you're a bit of a recalcitrant individual-"

"-I have a fond dream that it wears off on you-"

"-so I can't help but wonder what's going on there." They bat their eyes innocently at him, but Levi doesn't buy it for a second.

Levi huffs. "There's nothing 'going on there'. Kid wanted to know about Titans."

Hanji gives a noncommittal hum and taps their chin. "Yes, he's pretty inquisitive for a newbie. You know, he tried not to show it, but he seemed quite interested in your Berserker. Maybe you'll have one more person in your little fanclub."

Levi scowls. "It's not a-" he cuts himself off and pinches the bridge of his nose. "What did you come here for, Hanji?"

"...what?"

"I assume you didn't come here just to pester me. What did you need?"

Hanji's eyebrows raise. "Oh no, I came exclusively to pester you."

The door slamming behind the scientist can be heard throughout the entire building.

Levi grunts as he swings at the practice dummy, sweat trickling into his eyes. All around he can hear the sounds of training, the crack of wood and metal, short, humid panting, and the cacophony of shouts from his soldiers.

A grimace blossoms on his face as he stops and wipes the sweat from his brow. He feels grimy with the sweat and dirt clinging to him, and his skin crawls at the feeling.

He glances over to where some of the newest soldiers are training. Eren, Mikasa Ackerman, Reiner Braun, and Sasha Braus are speeding through the 3DMG obstacle course. He can hear their cables whining and whipping through the air and decides to get a closer look.