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After dinner is all served you take the opening you have to go sit with Eren and Armin again. On your way by you notice that Bertholdt isn't sitting with Reiner. You look at him as if to ask why and he gives you a smug shrug. You’ll have to ask him later.

“(Name).” Eren smiles at you as you sit. Armin looks at you with a little bit of a shy blush and then composes himself a little.

“H-hi (Name).” He says quietly. You smile.

“I missed you guys. I've been so busy lately.” Your words cause the both of them to smile and a strange sort of grunt from Mikasa. You two tolerate each other and are usually friendly but it seems like today isn't going to be one of her friendlier days.

“At least we all get meals together, normally.” Eren said “Where were you though? You were gone today and I-uh we wanted to hang out a while.”

“I ended up on a trip to Stohess, kind of unexpectedly.” You say with a smirk. “Oh, and I found out something awesome!” You are excited now, who better to share it with than your best friends?

“Oh what happened?” Eren asked. In a few minutes he might have wish he hadn't.

“So I told you about my Nikolae… He’s alive and I got to see him today!” You were trying to keep your voice down but you were getting a little more excited than you meant to. You loved Nikolae, maybe not like you used to, but he’d always been your best friend.

“I’m glad. But he should feel like shit letting you think he’s dead.” Eren says. You look at him a moment, something seems to be wrong and you can’t quite figure it out.

“I’m happy you found him. I wish people wouldn't worry each other like that though.” Armin said, trying to keep himself collected.

You realized suddenly you didn’t do what you normally do, my brother… my adopted brother… No you said ‘my Nikolae’ no wonder they were both upset.

“Sorry Nika and I were best friends. He was the one who convinced the family to adopt me.” Somehow your words have just been spilling out lately and it almost frustrates you, but you love being honest too. “I thought… well we got a report that he had fallen from almost 30 meters when his equipment failed and that he wasn't breathing so the scouts left him.” You sigh softly.

“I’m just glad he’s okay. He wasn't so happy when I told him that I have a new family now. We’ll always be family, but this...” You motion to the room full of Survey Corps members. “Survey corps and especially you guys are my family.”

The boys seemed to relax some. The truth is, they just wanted to know you weren’t leaving anytime soon. They both smile at you now.

“So tell us another story?” Armin asks. You know he loves when you talk about the outside world, but suddenly a different idea entirely hits you.

“My mother used to sing a song when I was small. A song that she would sing for my father before he left the walls to be with her… Would you like to hear it?” You say with a smile. Of course, the second you do say that several ears about the room pick up. The fact is, every time you've told stories they would gather around.

The voice you didn’t expect to speak was Levi, who had wandered over from his usual spot when he noticed the others crowding you.

“Actually, brat, since that idiot was willing to trade a small fortune to hear you sing...” He says sitting next to the boys. This sort of makes everyone tense a moment. “Don’t disappoint us.”

You take a deep breath, letting your nervousness melt away as you step out of the crowd.

“If I can get you all over there… It’s easier for me.” Your voice is confident now. You used to sing for the people back home whenever something happened. Today though, you just wanted to sing your mother’s song. ( Cover, Julie Fowlis Into the Open Air )

This love, it is a distant star
Guiding us home wherever we are
This love, it is a burning sun
Shining light on the things that we've done

I try to speak to you everyday
But each word we spoke, the wind blew away

Could these walls come crumbling down?
I want to feel my feet on the ground
And leave behind this prison we share
Step into the open air

How did we let it come to this?
What we just tasted we somehow still miss

How will it feel when this day is done
And can we keep what we've only begun?

And now these walls come crumbling down
And I can feel my feet on the ground
Can we carry this love that we share
Into the open air?
Into the open air?
Into the open air?

This love, it is a burning sun

After you finish singing you realize that you've been dancing unconsciously… In fact you often do when you sing or tell tales. It’s like you paint a tapestry with your form. Never intentional but some say it is hypnotic. You stand still now, breathing in and letting the silence wash past you. What a lovely feeling, silence…

Before long the silence is covered with applause and you smile softly. You dismiss yourself quickly, wandering back out into the hallway to escape the madhouse that the mess hall had suddenly become. You never considered yourself greatly talented, you just enjoyed singing.

You started to walk away when you felt a hand catch your arm. You turned to be met with a set of piercing silver-gray eyes. They shimmer like steel in the dim light of the hallway.

“Oh, corporal… I was just taking a short walk.”

“Tch, weren't you ordered to stay with Erwin or me?” He said still staring at you. You closed your eyes tightly.

“Of course, sir. I’m sorry.”

“Levi.” His tone didn’t change but the grip on your arm lightened. “At least when none of those little shits can hear it.” His words made you smile. You knew he would run them into the ground with his names but he did genuinely care about them. It was his way of distancing himself.

“Of course, Levi.” Really you prefer names anyway, they feel more familiar. He releases your wrist and places his hand back onto the small of your back, moving you forward, you assume towards his office. You walk silently together.

After a short time he turns a different direction, using his hand to guide you. By now you were used to walking to his office, due to delivering papers, this change of direction catches you off guard. It’s sending you down an unfamiliar hallway.

“Where are we going?” You ask, while you don’t stop walking you do hesitate a moment, which is met by another ‘tch’ sound. He doesn’t say anything, just motions you forward. Lightly shaking your head you keep walking towards the end of the hallway, where you stand before a set of double doors.

“We’re going in there.” He said finally. He opened up the doors to reveal what once might have been a ball room. A small raised stand in one corner reveals an old harpsichord. There are stands to place more instruments.

You expected the room to be dusty, as it clearly hasn't been used in a while. In fact, even on cleaning duty you have never found yourself there. Instead this room is practically spotless. He walks past you and sits down at the old harpsichord. He starts to play a melody, the same one you just sang in fact. He misses a note here or there and looks irritated.

“Sing it again.” He says. As soon as you finish singing the song, he plays out the notes again on the harpsichord and then he starts adding harmony to it. Before long he demands you sing again.

You sing the song with his playing accompanying your voice. The sound of it echoes through the entire chamber, filling it with soft, sweet music. The song isn't very long but it sounds beautiful. You smile delightedly while absentmindedly running your fingers along the harpsichord.

“You play beautifully, when did you learn to…” You start to ask but he cuts you off.

“It doesn’t matter.” His reply is quick and you watch him a moment. He’s very quiet now but almost has a slight smile ticking at the corners of his lips. You step away from him and the harpsichord, looking around the room a moment.

Some ages ago this place must have been beautiful. Despite the disrepair, the stone walls are inlaid with chips of marble that tell a tale of ages ago, when this was likely home to a king or noble. You walk towards the center of the room, off into your own little daydreams of how it used to be.

Listening to music in your own head, you hear the tune of an old Romanian waltz that sometimes played in your village. You find yourself dancing lightly, still engrossed in the daydream that you’d let take over you. In fact, you’d forgotten you aren't alone, due to the silence of the one watching you.

As you took a turn to the right in your silent waltz with yourself, you suddenly felt someone’s body taking the place across from yours. You open your eyes to realize Levi was standing there. This also meant he had been watching you dance with yourself. You blush when you feel his arm wrapping around your back and his hand take yours. Your left hand rests lightly on his shoulder.

“L-Levi?” You ask a little shocked. “I’m so sorry. I was daydreaming and I…”

“Tch, just keep dancing brat.” His voice seems more gentle than normal, although you aren’t sure. You nod, dancing with him in a relatively slow waltz. Your eyes meet his and you notice that they are by far softer than they were, in fact they seem almost content. His hand slides from where it rested at your shoulder to fall to the center of your lower back. He pulls you in a little closer and keeps dancing.

“Levi… where did you learn to…” He seems content to cut you off; you barely get that much of the sentence out.

“The same place I learned the harpsichord.” He says, clearly he’s not interested in discussing that further. Instead he takes your hand and sets it on his chest gently. He doesn’t say a word. Instead, he just rides his other hand gently down your side to your hip and keeps dancing with you gradually moving slower.

You find the dance has stopped, leaving you staring at each other instead. After standing like this a while, you start to feel a little uncomfortable and find yourself blushing. You look away again, glancing at the floor.

Two fingers place themselves so gently beneath your chin, prompting you to look up again. He leans in closer to you and you find your eyes drifting shut.

“Ahem… What the hell is going on in here?” Erwin’s voice cuts through the room, effectively interrupting anything that might have happened. Your eyes shoot open and you look at him. You try to break away from Levi who just continues to hold you.

“Simple, you’re interrupting.” Levi said flatly. He released his grip on you though noticing your discomfort. The entire atmosphere has changed now, with the two men challenging each other silently again. After a minute Erwin holds out a hand to you and you walk back in his direction. Levi says nothing, simply stands silent in the middle of the room with his arms crossed.

“I’m afraid it’s obvious where you will not be staying for the remainder of the week.” He says. “Levi, I need a word with you.”

“You missed hearing her sing.” He said flatly. Erwin looked at you and then at him again.

“I will have to fix that later. You and I need a little chat.” He said. “(Name) go straight to your quarters. I’ll come get you in a while.”

You nod, hastily leaving the room. Honestly you don’t even want to know what they “have to talk” about, you just want some quiet. Rushing down the hallway you slide around the corner towards your room, only to find a sad looking Connie walking away from your door.

“Connie?” Your voice makes his head turn your direction. A sudden smile crosses his face. He runs over and hugs you. You give him a gentle hug back, a little confused by the sudden pouncing.

“(Name!) I've been looking for you for days. Um… I mean… You haven’t been around much and all.” He suddenly releases you from the hug. “Sorry, the boys say I grab people too much.” He chuckles lightly. “Anyway you haven’t been to your room much and I was worried. Normally Sasha and I meet you here… It’s kinda weird.”

“It’s okay Connie. I've been under surveillance. It isn't a big deal it’s just that they watch me a lot right now.” Your response probably isn't what he’s after, but you don’t really want to say you’re sleeping in the commander’s bed either. It sounds… well kind of wrong…

“I missed you though.” He says. “Plus we never finished pranking everyone.” His smile gets wider and you can’t help but smile too.

“You also never proved you can cook!” You say nudging him.

“Oh… I forgot.” He says blushing. “Maybe we can try that bet again?”

“I have a better one… I bet you can’t get the chocolates from Erwin’s desk.”

“Wait, Erwin has chocolate? Does Sasha know?” He looks at you with wide, excited eyes.

“Would he have chocolate if Sasha knew?” Your laughter is joined by Connie.

Connie looks at you a minute then gets a silly grin. “Come outside with me, we could set up an awesome prank!”

“I’m stuck here waiting for the commander…” Your reply brings him a frown. Then he jumps up as if remembering something.

“Oh I forgot.” He fumbles around a bag at his side and drags out a parchment with a pressed flowers attached to it. He hands it to you smiling.

As you examine it, you notice that he has pressed several morning glories, some small white flowers and a big yellow carnation. While not the most perfect arrangement it looks very pretty. He’s glued them down to the page and coated it with a sealant. His feet are shuffling nervously as he watches you, a big smile plastered across his face.

“Mom and I used to press flowers and I thought you know, flowers are pretty so you’d like them, because you’re pretty.” He says quickly. He smirks at you, kisses your cheek and takes off down the hallway.

“Wait… Connie!?” Your calls fall on the dead stones but no one responds. You unlock the door to your room with a big smile and then set the paper he handed you in a safe place on your desk, weighting the corner lightly with a small brass cube.

You gather up a clean uniform and some clean clothes to sleep in. Once you are done you sit at your table and reach for your uncle’s journal and silently cursed yourself for leaving it in Erwin’s room. Everything about today had you thinking about the past, which really isn’t something you normally allow.

You’d learned a few things from the journal, mostly about your parents. Your mother is an example of your uncle’s musings though, he called her the gypsy. She was one of the adventurer scouts, eventually disappearing for months on end into the walled city. Your father, on the other hand was born in Stohess and worked as a physician in Mitras when she had met him. Your uncle makes several obscure comments about how interesting it is they are from either side of the walls.

You lean over onto the table, finding yourself drifting off thinking of all the people you’ve met in the time you've been here. You’re nearly asleep, in fact when you hear a solid knock at the door.

“Enter.” You respond sleepily. It takes a short time after the door opens for you to drag you head up to see who is there. Erwin’s presence isn't out of place, but in a way you’d rather just sleep.

“Tired?” He asks gently. “Let’s get these boots off.” You look at him with a confused glance but don’t say anything.

He pulls your boots off and helps you loosen the straps of your harness. His hands glide lightly across your body from one buckle to the next and you find yourself smiling lightly at his touch. Once they are loose, he helps you stand and removes them quietly. You smile weakly at him now, still very exhausted from the day.

“Is there anything you left in the room that you need?” He asks, you look at him puzzled.

“The journal?” It’s really all you can think of. “I’m sorry. I’m so tired.”

He doesn’t say another word, just picks you up and gently lays you on the bed. You look at him with a puzzled expression as he brushes the hair from your face lightly.

“I’ll have your things back to you in the morning. Just get some sleep now.” He kisses your forehead softly.

“My orders?” You ask softly, your eyes starting to close without your permission. You hear him chuckling lightly.

“Your orders right now are to get some sleep. I’ll check on you tomorrow.” He says. You are asleep before you even hear him leave the room.

~~~~~ Timeskip to just before dawn~~~

In the morning you were woken up by Erwin, who assigned you into Hange’s care for the day. You don’t mind the eccentric scientist. Even though it’s technically a few days early, you aren’t too upset by being let out of your punishment.

“(Name)… Erwin told me I get you all day today, isn’t that great? I have so many questions and we’re going to be doing some experiments with Eren and we’re going to have soo much fun. Oooh! That reminds me, have you kissed him yet?” In the very short time it took her to spout all of this, she threw her arms around your shoulders and was leaning on you hugging you closely.

“K-kissed? Wait, what? No…” You stutter out. “What on earth Hange, I thought you were shipping me with someone else? Wait why did I bring that up?” You’re flustered, or maybe you’re trying not to think of Eren, who reminds you of Nikolae… You are really not interested in thinking about Nikolae right now.

“You kissed someone then, or they kissed you!! I can tell! Come on, cutie you can tell your lovely Hange!” She pulls you over to the chair by her desk and makes you sit down. You stare at her a minute.

“I’m not getting out of this… am I?” Really you know the answer; you just wanted to say it as a protest.

Hange’s big eyes staring behind her glasses look so expectant and you try so hard not to say anything. Finally after a while of just staring you close your eyes.

“Which one?” You say with a nervous laugh. She grabs your cheeks and squeezes them tightly enough to hurt. “Oww. Hange!”

“Sorry, sorry, you’re just sooo cute!!!” She lets go of your face. “Oh my Walls you have to tell me everything, about everyone and I need to know who you think is the cutest, and…”

“Um… Sorry am I Interrupting, Levi sent me in here.” Eren’s voice came from the doorway and you blush afraid to look at him. You really didn’t want him overhearing all of this!

“Oh come in. We’re trying to figure out who (Name) has the biggest crush on!” Hange says.

“No, we’re trying to help (Name) escape this!” You say suddenly standing up and trying to dash out. Eren smirks and grabs your arm as you pass him by.

“Now, this could be interesting…” He says with a big smile. You look up with your (e/c) eyes meeting his stunning turquoise gems. “I’d love to hear who you like… but maybe later huh?” He winks at you and you actually feel your heart flutter a bit.

“You all are going to be the death of me.” Your voice is quiet now as you look away with a soft blush on your face. “Can we move on to something else?” You mutter. He laughs and turns you back towards the lab.

“We’re stuck with Hange today, might as well make the most of it.” His grin is almost obnoxious. He seems so excited and you aren’t sure why. In the short time you’ve been here you know Hange has somewhat tortured him. Normally he doesn’t seem quite this happy to be with her.

“At least I’m stuck with you.” You say with a grin. “Being with Hange by yourself can be a lot!” Your grin fades a little when you hear Hange’s voice.

“Ah you all love it. Anyway, here’s our first experiment for the day. I need you (name) to come over here.” She grabs you by the arm and drags you almost to the corner. “We’re going to test Eren’s reflexes!” She gets a devious sort of grin and you stare at her.

“Um, Hange, what do you have planned, exactly?” You put on the most authoritative voice you can come up with, hoping she’ll actually answer that question instead of brushing it off. Nope, not Hange. Her silent grin just makes the strange bad feeling you were starting to get grow. Dear gods… what does she have planned now?

“Nothing too dangerous, if Eren’s reflexes are okay.” She says.

“This… is not reassuring…” At almost the exact moment you finished those words, a noise sounded behind you. It reminded you a little of the sound of your wires, but something was wrong… It was more like steel sliding across a chain. But you didn’t have a chance to process it as your body suddenly launched forward across the room. Needless to say such a sudden motion made you scream.

You made it about halfway across the room before Eren had you around the waist with one arm, the other hand grabbed at something hooked to your harness. Once whatever it was detached, you felt yourself tumble to the ground taking Eren with you. He pulled you around so that you hit mostly on him and only partly on the hard surface below.

“Eren are you okay?” You asked him. You weren't hurt but you could tell that you hit pretty hard. You were also a good two meters from where he had grabbed you. The nearest assumption you could make is you were dragged a while. Trying to get up off of him, you found his arms wrapping tighter around you, not letting you move.

“Um… Eren?” Your soft question seemed to snap him back to the world. He looked at you and blushed as he released you from his grasp. You get up off the floor and stand near him.

“Uh… Sorry, I guess I just panicked a minute there.” He says quietly. He stands up again and looks at you. Before long he’s rubbing the back of his neck and just staring. “Yeah… we should get back to work huh?” He asks.

“Yeah… Um wait… did Hange just strap a bomb to my back?!” Your voice is a combination of nervous and angry. You aren't quite sure what to say if it is true. Hange, on the other hand just starts laughing. “Hange what did you do?” You growl.

“Well, actually it is a propulsion system I was working on for a new 3DMG unit. I figured I could test it by firing it… then I figured, hey what if it helps to get a certain pair of people a little closer… then I realized I just said too much and decided to lay off the coffee a while…” She suddenly jumps up into the air and takes off across the room after the misplaced ‘propulsion system’.

“S-she had coffee?” Eren asked looking slightly terrified. Your puzzled expression makes him continue. “The last time she had coffee she tried to tie a trainee to the ceiling without gear, to ‘test their problem solving.’ Then she asked two people to date her, before telling them that she really preferred titans and just wanted to see their faces when they were rejected. Then she was found trying to decide which bomb would work best to blow me up.” He shuddered at the thought. “I still don’t’ know if she meant titan Eren, or me Eren…”

“That’s… scary. Is she always like that?” Your voice gives away your sudden slight fear of the scientist.

“Only when she has coffee.” He said with a strangely sad smile. “Today is going to be a really, really long day. I’m just glad I got to hear you sing, before I possibly get killed.”

“My singing isn't that great.” You mumble. The truth is you don’t know either way, but people keep asking you to do it.

“No, it’s better than that. It’s amazing.” He says with a grin. “Anyway… I was kind of wondering…”

“Hey you two, have you seen Hange anywhere?” Another voice comes out of nowhere. Turning towards the source of a male voice you think you hear Eren mutter under his breath.

Your eyes fall on a man with short light brown hair and extremely tired looking brown eyes. His current expression implies that he is excessively irritated with life in general.

“She went chasing a rocket that way, Moblit.” Eren says. “Oh, you might want to watch her, she’s had coffee.”

“Screw me with a fork.” Moblit looks even more annoyed and goes chasing off in the last known direction of the elusive Hange beast…

“Who was that?” Eren looks a little annoyed at first but quickly calms back down.

“Moblit Berner he’s Hange’s assistant, voice of reason, and personal guard. He hates all of the above.” Eren says with a shrug. “At least he’s gone for now. Now where was I?” He smiles at you. “Oh yeah, I was going to tell you…”

“The commander has called a meeting about an upcoming expedition.” Another random soldier yells entering the room. His voice is extremely loud. “Everyone must attend at the training grounds in five minutes.” The man turns on his heels and walks quickly away.

“I’m sorry Eren. I guess we need to go.” He starts grumbling under his breath but agrees with you. As you walk towards the training grounds you feel something warm slide between the fingers of your left hand. You look down to see Eren’s hand and look up at Eren, who smiles gently, but just keeps walking with his eyes forward.

Description
After dinner is all served you take the opening you have to go sit with Eren and Armin again. On your way by you notice that Bertholdt isn't sitting with Reiner. You look at him as if to ask why and he gives you a smug shrug. You’ll have to ask him later.

“(Name).” Eren smiles at you as you sit. Armin looks at you with a little bit of a shy blush and then composes himself a little.

“H-hi (Name).” He says quietly. You smile.

“I missed you guys. I've been so busy lately.” Your words cause the both of them to smile and a strange sort of grunt from Mikasa. You two tolerate each other and are usually friendly but it seems like today isn't going to be one of her friendlier days.

“At least we all get meals together, normally.” Eren said “Where were you though? You were gone today and I-uh we wanted to hang out a while.”

“I ended up on a trip to Stohess, kind of unexpectedly.” You say with a smirk. “Oh, and I found out something awesome!” You are excited now, who better to share it with than your best friends?

“Oh what happened?” Eren asked. In a few minutes he might have wish he hadn't.

“So I told you about my Nikolae… He’s alive and I got to see him today!” You were trying to keep your voice down but you were getting a little more excited than you meant to. You loved Nikolae, maybe not like you used to, but he’d always been your best friend.

“I’m glad. But he should feel like shit letting you think he’s dead.” Eren says. You look at him a moment, something seems to be wrong and you can’t quite figure it out.

“I’m happy you found him. I wish people wouldn't worry each other like that though.” Armin said, trying to keep himself collected.

You realized suddenly you didn’t do what you normally do, my brother… my adopted brother… No you said ‘my Nikolae’ no wonder they were both upset.

“Sorry Nika and I were best friends. He was the one who convinced the family to adopt me.” Somehow your words have just been spilling out lately and it almost frustrates you, but you love being honest too. “I thought… well we got a report that he had fallen from almost 30 meters when his equipment failed and that he wasn't breathing so the scouts left him.” You sigh softly.

“I’m just glad he’s okay. He wasn't so happy when I told him that I have a new family now. We’ll always be family, but this...” You motion to the room full of Survey Corps members. “Survey corps and especially you guys are my family.”

The boys seemed to relax some. The truth is, they just wanted to know you weren’t leaving anytime soon. They both smile at you now.

“So tell us another story?” Armin asks. You know he loves when you talk about the outside world, but suddenly a different idea entirely hits you.

“My mother used to sing a song when I was small. A song that she would sing for my father before he left the walls to be with her… Would you like to hear it?” You say with a smile. Of course, the second you do say that several ears about the room pick up. The fact is, every time you've told stories they would gather around.

The voice you didn’t expect to speak was Levi, who had wandered over from his usual spot when he noticed the others crowding you.

“Actually, brat, since that idiot was willing to trade a small fortune to hear you sing...” He says sitting next to the boys. This sort of makes everyone tense a moment. “Don’t disappoint us.”

You take a deep breath, letting your nervousness melt away as you step out of the crowd.

“If I can get you all over there… It’s easier for me.” Your voice is confident now. You used to sing for the people back home whenever something happened. Today though, you just wanted to sing your mother’s song. ( Cover, Julie Fowlis Into the Open Air )

This love, it is a distant star
Guiding us home wherever we are
This love, it is a burning sun
Shining light on the things that we've done

I try to speak to you everyday
But each word we spoke, the wind blew away

Could these walls come crumbling down?
I want to feel my feet on the ground
And leave behind this prison we share
Step into the open air

How did we let it come to this?
What we just tasted we somehow still miss

How will it feel when this day is done
And can we keep what we've only begun?

And now these walls come crumbling down
And I can feel my feet on the ground
Can we carry this love that we share
Into the open air?
Into the open air?
Into the open air?

This love, it is a burning sun

After you finish singing you realize that you've been dancing unconsciously… In fact you often do when you sing or tell tales. It’s like you paint a tapestry with your form. Never intentional but some say it is hypnotic. You stand still now, breathing in and letting the silence wash past you. What a lovely feeling, silence…

Before long the silence is covered with applause and you smile softly. You dismiss yourself quickly, wandering back out into the hallway to escape the madhouse that the mess hall had suddenly become. You never considered yourself greatly talented, you just enjoyed singing.

You started to walk away when you felt a hand catch your arm. You turned to be met with a set of piercing silver-gray eyes. They shimmer like steel in the dim light of the hallway.

“Oh, corporal… I was just taking a short walk.”

“Tch, weren't you ordered to stay with Erwin or me?” He said still staring at you. You closed your eyes tightly.

“Of course, sir. I’m sorry.”

“Levi.” His tone didn’t change but the grip on your arm lightened. “At least when none of those little shits can hear it.” His words made you smile. You knew he would run them into the ground with his names but he did genuinely care about them. It was his way of distancing himself.

“Of course, Levi.” Really you prefer names anyway, they feel more familiar. He releases your wrist and places his hand back onto the small of your back, moving you forward, you assume towards his office. You walk silently together.

After a short time he turns a different direction, using his hand to guide you. By now you were used to walking to his office, due to delivering papers, this change of direction catches you off guard. It’s sending you down an unfamiliar hallway.

“Where are we going?” You ask, while you don’t stop walking you do hesitate a moment, which is met by another ‘tch’ sound. He doesn’t say anything, just motions you forward. Lightly shaking your head you keep walking towards the end of the hallway, where you stand before a set of double doors.

“We’re going in there.” He said finally. He opened up the doors to reveal what once might have been a ball room. A small raised stand in one corner reveals an old harpsichord. There are stands to place more instruments.

You expected the room to be dusty, as it clearly hasn't been used in a while. In fact, even on cleaning duty you have never found yourself there. Instead this room is practically spotless. He walks past you and sits down at the old harpsichord. He starts to play a melody, the same one you just sang in fact. He misses a note here or there and looks irritated.

“Sing it again.” He says. As soon as you finish singing the song, he plays out the notes again on the harpsichord and then he starts adding harmony to it. Before long he demands you sing again.

You sing the song with his playing accompanying your voice. The sound of it echoes through the entire chamber, filling it with soft, sweet music. The song isn't very long but it sounds beautiful. You smile delightedly while absentmindedly running your fingers along the harpsichord.

“You play beautifully, when did you learn to…” You start to ask but he cuts you off.

“It doesn’t matter.” His reply is quick and you watch him a moment. He’s very quiet now but almost has a slight smile ticking at the corners of his lips. You step away from him and the harpsichord, looking around the room a moment.

Some ages ago this place must have been beautiful. Despite the disrepair, the stone walls are inlaid with chips of marble that tell a tale of ages ago, when this was likely home to a king or noble. You walk towards the center of the room, off into your own little daydreams of how it used to be.

Listening to music in your own head, you hear the tune of an old Romanian waltz that sometimes played in your village. You find yourself dancing lightly, still engrossed in the daydream that you’d let take over you. In fact, you’d forgotten you aren't alone, due to the silence of the one watching you.

As you took a turn to the right in your silent waltz with yourself, you suddenly felt someone’s body taking the place across from yours. You open your eyes to realize Levi was standing there. This also meant he had been watching you dance with yourself. You blush when you feel his arm wrapping around your back and his hand take yours. Your left hand rests lightly on his shoulder.

“L-Levi?” You ask a little shocked. “I’m so sorry. I was daydreaming and I…”

“Tch, just keep dancing brat.” His voice seems more gentle than normal, although you aren’t sure. You nod, dancing with him in a relatively slow waltz. Your eyes meet his and you notice that they are by far softer than they were, in fact they seem almost content. His hand slides from where it rested at your shoulder to fall to the center of your lower back. He pulls you in a little closer and keeps dancing.

“Levi… where did you learn to…” He seems content to cut you off; you barely get that much of the sentence out.

“The same place I learned the harpsichord.” He says, clearly he’s not interested in discussing that further. Instead he takes your hand and sets it on his chest gently. He doesn’t say a word. Instead, he just rides his other hand gently down your side to your hip and keeps dancing with you gradually moving slower.

You find the dance has stopped, leaving you staring at each other instead. After standing like this a while, you start to feel a little uncomfortable and find yourself blushing. You look away again, glancing at the floor.

Two fingers place themselves so gently beneath your chin, prompting you to look up again. He leans in closer to you and you find your eyes drifting shut.

“Ahem… What the hell is going on in here?” Erwin’s voice cuts through the room, effectively interrupting anything that might have happened. Your eyes shoot open and you look at him. You try to break away from Levi who just continues to hold you.

“Simple, you’re interrupting.” Levi said flatly. He released his grip on you though noticing your discomfort. The entire atmosphere has changed now, with the two men challenging each other silently again. After a minute Erwin holds out a hand to you and you walk back in his direction. Levi says nothing, simply stands silent in the middle of the room with his arms crossed.

“I’m afraid it’s obvious where you will not be staying for the remainder of the week.” He says. “Levi, I need a word with you.”

“You missed hearing her sing.” He said flatly. Erwin looked at you and then at him again.

“I will have to fix that later. You and I need a little chat.” He said. “(Name) go straight to your quarters. I’ll come get you in a while.”

You nod, hastily leaving the room. Honestly you don’t even want to know what they “have to talk” about, you just want some quiet. Rushing down the hallway you slide around the corner towards your room, only to find a sad looking Connie walking away from your door.

“Connie?” Your voice makes his head turn your direction. A sudden smile crosses his face. He runs over and hugs you. You give him a gentle hug back, a little confused by the sudden pouncing.

“(Name!) I've been looking for you for days. Um… I mean… You haven’t been around much and all.” He suddenly releases you from the hug. “Sorry, the boys say I grab people too much.” He chuckles lightly. “Anyway you haven’t been to your room much and I was worried. Normally Sasha and I meet you here… It’s kinda weird.”

“It’s okay Connie. I've been under surveillance. It isn't a big deal it’s just that they watch me a lot right now.” Your response probably isn't what he’s after, but you don’t really want to say you’re sleeping in the commander’s bed either. It sounds… well kind of wrong…

“I missed you though.” He says. “Plus we never finished pranking everyone.” His smile gets wider and you can’t help but smile too.

“You also never proved you can cook!” You say nudging him.

“Oh… I forgot.” He says blushing. “Maybe we can try that bet again?”

“I have a better one… I bet you can’t get the chocolates from Erwin’s desk.”

“Wait, Erwin has chocolate? Does Sasha know?” He looks at you with wide, excited eyes.

“Would he have chocolate if Sasha knew?” Your laughter is joined by Connie.

Connie looks at you a minute then gets a silly grin. “Come outside with me, we could set up an awesome prank!”

“I’m stuck here waiting for the commander…” Your reply brings him a frown. Then he jumps up as if remembering something.

“Oh I forgot.” He fumbles around a bag at his side and drags out a parchment with a pressed flowers attached to it. He hands it to you smiling.

As you examine it, you notice that he has pressed several morning glories, some small white flowers and a big yellow carnation. While not the most perfect arrangement it looks very pretty. He’s glued them down to the page and coated it with a sealant. His feet are shuffling nervously as he watches you, a big smile plastered across his face.

“Mom and I used to press flowers and I thought you know, flowers are pretty so you’d like them, because you’re pretty.” He says quickly. He smirks at you, kisses your cheek and takes off down the hallway.

“Wait… Connie!?” Your calls fall on the dead stones but no one responds. You unlock the door to your room with a big smile and then set the paper he handed you in a safe place on your desk, weighting the corner lightly with a small brass cube.

You gather up a clean uniform and some clean clothes to sleep in. Once you are done you sit at your table and reach for your uncle’s journal and silently cursed yourself for leaving it in Erwin’s room. Everything about today had you thinking about the past, which really isn’t something you normally allow.

You’d learned a few things from the journal, mostly about your parents. Your mother is an example of your uncle’s musings though, he called her the gypsy. She was one of the adventurer scouts, eventually disappearing for months on end into the walled city. Your father, on the other hand was born in Stohess and worked as a physician in Mitras when she had met him. Your uncle makes several obscure comments about how interesting it is they are from either side of the walls.

You lean over onto the table, finding yourself drifting off thinking of all the people you’ve met in the time you've been here. You’re nearly asleep, in fact when you hear a solid knock at the door.

“Enter.” You respond sleepily. It takes a short time after the door opens for you to drag you head up to see who is there. Erwin’s presence isn't out of place, but in a way you’d rather just sleep.

“Tired?” He asks gently. “Let’s get these boots off.” You look at him with a confused glance but don’t say anything.

He pulls your boots off and helps you loosen the straps of your harness. His hands glide lightly across your body from one buckle to the next and you find yourself smiling lightly at his touch. Once they are loose, he helps you stand and removes them quietly. You smile weakly at him now, still very exhausted from the day.

“Is there anything you left in the room that you need?” He asks, you look at him puzzled.

“The journal?” It’s really all you can think of. “I’m sorry. I’m so tired.”

He doesn’t say another word, just picks you up and gently lays you on the bed. You look at him with a puzzled expression as he brushes the hair from your face lightly.

“I’ll have your things back to you in the morning. Just get some sleep now.” He kisses your forehead softly.

“My orders?” You ask softly, your eyes starting to close without your permission. You hear him chuckling lightly.

“Your orders right now are to get some sleep. I’ll check on you tomorrow.” He says. You are asleep before you even hear him leave the room.

~~~~~ Timeskip to just before dawn~~~

In the morning you were woken up by Erwin, who assigned you into Hange’s care for the day. You don’t mind the eccentric scientist. Even though it’s technically a few days early, you aren’t too upset by being let out of your punishment.

“(Name)… Erwin told me I get you all day today, isn’t that great? I have so many questions and we’re going to be doing some experiments with Eren and we’re going to have soo much fun. Oooh! That reminds me, have you kissed him yet?” In the very short time it took her to spout all of this, she threw her arms around your shoulders and was leaning on you hugging you closely.

“K-kissed? Wait, what? No…” You stutter out. “What on earth Hange, I thought you were shipping me with someone else? Wait why did I bring that up?” You’re flustered, or maybe you’re trying not to think of Eren, who reminds you of Nikolae… You are really not interested in thinking about Nikolae right now.

“You kissed someone then, or they kissed you!! I can tell! Come on, cutie you can tell your lovely Hange!” She pulls you over to the chair by her desk and makes you sit down. You stare at her a minute.

“I’m not getting out of this… am I?” Really you know the answer; you just wanted to say it as a protest.

Hange’s big eyes staring behind her glasses look so expectant and you try so hard not to say anything. Finally after a while of just staring you close your eyes.

“Which one?” You say with a nervous laugh. She grabs your cheeks and squeezes them tightly enough to hurt. “Oww. Hange!”

“Sorry, sorry, you’re just sooo cute!!!” She lets go of your face. “Oh my Walls you have to tell me everything, about everyone and I need to know who you think is the cutest, and…”

“Um… Sorry am I Interrupting, Levi sent me in here.” Eren’s voice came from the doorway and you blush afraid to look at him. You really didn’t want him overhearing all of this!

“Oh come in. We’re trying to figure out who (Name) has the biggest crush on!” Hange says.

“No, we’re trying to help (Name) escape this!” You say suddenly standing up and trying to dash out. Eren smirks and grabs your arm as you pass him by.

“Now, this could be interesting…” He says with a big smile. You look up with your (e/c) eyes meeting his stunning turquoise gems. “I’d love to hear who you like… but maybe later huh?” He winks at you and you actually feel your heart flutter a bit.

“You all are going to be the death of me.” Your voice is quiet now as you look away with a soft blush on your face. “Can we move on to something else?” You mutter. He laughs and turns you back towards the lab.

“We’re stuck with Hange today, might as well make the most of it.” His grin is almost obnoxious. He seems so excited and you aren’t sure why. In the short time you’ve been here you know Hange has somewhat tortured him. Normally he doesn’t seem quite this happy to be with her.

“At least I’m stuck with you.” You say with a grin. “Being with Hange by yourself can be a lot!” Your grin fades a little when you hear Hange’s voice.

“Ah you all love it. Anyway, here’s our first experiment for the day. I need you (name) to come over here.” She grabs you by the arm and drags you almost to the corner. “We’re going to test Eren’s reflexes!” She gets a devious sort of grin and you stare at her.

“Um, Hange, what do you have planned, exactly?” You put on the most authoritative voice you can come up with, hoping she’ll actually answer that question instead of brushing it off. Nope, not Hange. Her silent grin just makes the strange bad feeling you were starting to get grow. Dear gods… what does she have planned now?

“Nothing too dangerous, if Eren’s reflexes are okay.” She says.

“This… is not reassuring…” At almost the exact moment you finished those words, a noise sounded behind you. It reminded you a little of the sound of your wires, but something was wrong… It was more like steel sliding across a chain. But you didn’t have a chance to process it as your body suddenly launched forward across the room. Needless to say such a sudden motion made you scream.

You made it about halfway across the room before Eren had you around the waist with one arm, the other hand grabbed at something hooked to your harness. Once whatever it was detached, you felt yourself tumble to the ground taking Eren with you. He pulled you around so that you hit mostly on him and only partly on the hard surface below.

“Eren are you okay?” You asked him. You weren't hurt but you could tell that you hit pretty hard. You were also a good two meters from where he had grabbed you. The nearest assumption you could make is you were dragged a while. Trying to get up off of him, you found his arms wrapping tighter around you, not letting you move.

“Um… Eren?” Your soft question seemed to snap him back to the world. He looked at you and blushed as he released you from his grasp. You get up off the floor and stand near him.

“Uh… Sorry, I guess I just panicked a minute there.” He says quietly. He stands up again and looks at you. Before long he’s rubbing the back of his neck and just staring. “Yeah… we should get back to work huh?” He asks.

“Yeah… Um wait… did Hange just strap a bomb to my back?!” Your voice is a combination of nervous and angry. You aren't quite sure what to say if it is true. Hange, on the other hand just starts laughing. “Hange what did you do?” You growl.

“Well, actually it is a propulsion system I was working on for a new 3DMG unit. I figured I could test it by firing it… then I figured, hey what if it helps to get a certain pair of people a little closer… then I realized I just said too much and decided to lay off the coffee a while…” She suddenly jumps up into the air and takes off across the room after the misplaced ‘propulsion system’.

“S-she had coffee?” Eren asked looking slightly terrified. Your puzzled expression makes him continue. “The last time she had coffee she tried to tie a trainee to the ceiling without gear, to ‘test their problem solving.’ Then she asked two people to date her, before telling them that she really preferred titans and just wanted to see their faces when they were rejected. Then she was found trying to decide which bomb would work best to blow me up.” He shuddered at the thought. “I still don’t’ know if she meant titan Eren, or me Eren…”

“That’s… scary. Is she always like that?” Your voice gives away your sudden slight fear of the scientist.

“Only when she has coffee.” He said with a strangely sad smile. “Today is going to be a really, really long day. I’m just glad I got to hear you sing, before I possibly get killed.”

“My singing isn't that great.” You mumble. The truth is you don’t know either way, but people keep asking you to do it.

“No, it’s better than that. It’s amazing.” He says with a grin. “Anyway… I was kind of wondering…”

“Hey you two, have you seen Hange anywhere?” Another voice comes out of nowhere. Turning towards the source of a male voice you think you hear Eren mutter under his breath.

Your eyes fall on a man with short light brown hair and extremely tired looking brown eyes. His current expression implies that he is excessively irritated with life in general.

“She went chasing a rocket that way, Moblit.” Eren says. “Oh, you might want to watch her, she’s had coffee.”

“Screw me with a fork.” Moblit looks even more annoyed and goes chasing off in the last known direction of the elusive Hange beast…

“Who was that?” Eren looks a little annoyed at first but quickly calms back down.

“Moblit Berner he’s Hange’s assistant, voice of reason, and personal guard. He hates all of the above.” Eren says with a shrug. “At least he’s gone for now. Now where was I?” He smiles at you. “Oh yeah, I was going to tell you…”

“The commander has called a meeting about an upcoming expedition.” Another random soldier yells entering the room. His voice is extremely loud. “Everyone must attend at the training grounds in five minutes.” The man turns on his heels and walks quickly away.

“I’m sorry Eren. I guess we need to go.” He starts grumbling under his breath but agrees with you. As you walk towards the training grounds you feel something warm slide between the fingers of your left hand. You look down to see Eren’s hand and look up at Eren, who smiles gently, but just keeps walking with his eyes forward.