Chapter Text
“I’m not taking your fucking ration.”
The hiss of his voice is whispered, avoiding anything else to hear except for the eccentric scientist next to him. They pout at him before continuing to reach the canteen over to him.
“Come on, Levi. You’ve run out of water hours ago. At least drink some of mine.”
“That’s yours. I’m sure we can find some more soon.”
“You’re right. Which is why I’m offering. You’re going to pass out from dehydration soon,” they warn him.
“Just take the canteen, Levi. Hange won’t stop nagging, and the more they nag, the more they’ll waste energy,” Erwin tells him from behind.
All three of them have been walking for what seemed like days, trying to find some appropriate shelter for at least a few days before the dead eventually catches up to them. The noise of dried leaves scrunching under their boots only told them that it was fall already, and the weather is getting colder by the minute. Hange has been telling Levi to take their water for the last twenty minutes, and Levi keeps refusing because he believes in being equal with their rations.
“Oh, come on. If it was me who ran out, you’d offer yours, right?”
He would. “I wouldn’t. Because it’d be my ration.”
Hange whines. “Just take the damn thing!”
“Leave it alone, Hange.”
“You’re so insufferable,” Hange grumbles, finally placing their canteen back in their pack. “Don’t blame me if you pass out. Erwin’s the one carrying you.”
Levi rolls his eyes, but does feel his mouth starting to dry up. He’d never admit it though. Even with the cold weather, it was easy to get thirsty. Clean and drinkable water is hard to come by, and the last lake they came across was fifteen moons ago.
By evening, they set up camp temporarily in the forest. They didn’t find a source of water, but they had to eat dinner. Hange starts a fire while Erwin sets traps around them for while they sleep. It was a routine thing by now. Hange cooks their dinner, which is just a few squirrels Levi hunted while walking through the forest. It’ll do for the night.
It was Erwin’s turn to keep watch, which is how Hange ended up passing out in their sleeping bag and Levi leaning against the tree. He has a clear view of the moon, and at the corner of his eye, he would see Erwin glancing around to keep watch.
“You should’ve taken Hange’s offer. You’re getting paler than usual, Levi,” Erwin softly tells him, careful with the volume of his voice.
“Tch. They just feel like they owe me or something. For last time,” Levi mutters, but Erwin can hear him because of the quiet night. “It’s not their call to make. Owing me. It’s pointless. I did what I had to do. No one owes me shit for it.”
“Have you maybe considered that Hange was just worried for you? It won’t do us any good if you pass out from dehydration.”
“I haven’t passed out from shit since before this whole goddamn thing went down,” Levi rolls his eyes again. “They’re worried for nothing. It’s just damn water.”
“Water can make a difference, you know.” Erwin quietly says, mostly to himself. “I hope we find some soon. It won’t end well if we continue like this for the next three days. Without water…”
“Yeah, yeah, I know the drill,” Levi sighs, and he pushes himself off the ground.
Upon the noise, Erwin tilts his head to look at Levi as the shorter man gathers his bow and arrow. “Where are you—”
“It’s quiet at night. I’ll bound to hear water flow somewhere, right? Hange’s due for a bath anyway. Fucking stinks the whole place up, it’ll attract biters.”
“That’s not happening.”
“Relax. It was a joke.”
“No, I meant you can’t just wander around in the dark.”
Levi turns on his solar charged flashlight before pointing it to Erwin’s face. Erwin sighs, looking away from the bright light.
“I’ll be fine. Can’t sleep anyway. I’ll be back.” Levi huffs before walking away, making sure to step over the traps of metal cans to avoid setting off any noise that might attract any of the dead. Or worse, wake Hange up.
Levi walks around, careful with each step. This wasn’t really the first time he had done this, which is why Erwin was fine with it, and he does think clearer at night. It was quiet, and the area had few biters around. This is the forest after all. Not many people evacuated to the forest when they were still alive. Most of the biters were in the city where the population was higher. Erwin, Hange and Levi had just been there to check if they can find a place to stay, but immediately turned back when they found the streets just crawling with them. City of Mitras was a dead end, quite literally.
Now, the three of them aimlessly roam around, just trying to get by. Surviving somehow, that was all there is to it nowadays.
Levi wasn’t lost in thought, and once he heard some rustling in leaves, he jerks himself to turn around, pointing his flashlight towards the direction while his other hand immediately reached for the sword he carried. Levi still used his gear from the military, same as Erwin and Hange. But Erwin mostly uses his axe now, and Hange with a bat. Either of them weren’t as skilled as Levi was with a sword, and Hange even gave Levi their friend’s sword so he can use two instead of one.
Levi looks around, but doesn’t hear any noises that would tell him a biter is nearby. He remains cautious, but determines that the noise was probably the wind. He continues to walk, hoping to hear the sound of a water stream, but there was nothing but crickets and the sound of leaves crushed under his boot from every step. He sighs, turning around to retreat back to camp. When he gets back, Erwin and Hange were still in the same place as he had left them. Hange was awake now, though, and they frown at Levi.
“Did you go by yourself again? Levi, you can’t just keep doing that,” Hange looks at Erwin. “And you, you can’t just allow him to go on his own.”
Erwin chuckles. “He is a grown man, Hange. And Levi can take care of himself.”
Levi puts his bow down. “Can you two shut the hell up?” He mumbles, clearly upset that he didn’t find any water stream during the hour of walking around. Before Levi knows it, he falls asleep while leaning against the tree.
Levi wakes up from a frantic shaking of his shoulders. He opens his eyes, feeling Hange’s hands grasping his shoulders to wake him in the morning.
“What… what the hell is happeni—” Levi barely finishes his sentence when Erwin slams his axe next to his head, where a biter’s head was now pinned into the tree that Levi was previously sleeping against.
He finally wakes up, and takes in the sight of them being surrounded by biters. Levi curses under his breath and wonders why he didn’t wake up from the slightest of noise as usual.
“I told you to drink my water, you ass! You’re getting weaker and weaker!” Hange yells as she swings her bat in the air, hitting a few biters in a row. “Your senses are getting duller!”
“Fucking shut up! It’s your po—”
“Now is not the time to bicker!” Erwin reminds, still fighting against the biters.
“How the hell did this even happen?!” Levi yells, pulling out his swords and starting to cut down the monsters nearing him.
“We didn’t hear them coming from afar! Before I knew it, we were surrounded.” Erwin grits his teeth. “Must’ve been from the city!” He grunts, trying his best to fight off the biters near him.
The three of them continue to fight, but the amount of noises they are making keeps attracting more into this area of the forest, and they can’t exactly run because there aren’t any safe openings for them to slip past through; they were trapped.
Levi’s eyes form a glare. Hell no. There’s no way he’s dying like this. He pushes himself to his limits and starts shredding through the undead, killing them one by one with his immense strength. Hange warns him to pace himself, but Levi doesn’t stop. Before he deals a blow towards the final biter however, he is startled when an arrow goes straight through the skull of the corpse he was about to kill.
The corpse drops to the ground, and he widens his eyes and looks towards the direction where the arrow came from. All three of them look towards the same direction, and they see a figure. Not just any person, but a young boy. Probably around ten or eleven. And he was standing within a fair distance from them, and his face held genuine concern and a sort of determination you don’t ever see in kids like him.
Levi frowns, narrowing his eyes at the boy but not saying anything yet. Hange is the first to speak. “Whoooo! That was a nice shot, kiddo! You just saved his life!” Hange laughs in relief. “Where did you come from?”
The boy says nothing, just staring at them and shifting his gaze from Levi, to Erwin and to Hange, and repeat. Erwin speaks next, and Levi can hear him taking a step forward. “Thank you, for your help. Are you alone out here? It’s unsafe for you to be alone in the woods,” Levi can detect worry in Erwin’s voice.
Before anyone else can speak, another new voice fills the air.
“Eren!” A female voice from a distance seems to be running from behind Eren, and once she catches up to him, Levi can see that it was a girl near Eren’s age. “Eren, you can’t just run off like that! What if you—” she freezes once she sees Levi and the rest. As if it was her instinct, she stands in front of Eren and her worried expression shifts to a defensive one. She and Levi lock gazes for a moment while he wipes the sweat from his brow.
“I found them, they were being attacked,” Eren finally speaks up, looking at the girl once she turns to face him. “I saw a herd going that way, so I lured them here. I didn’t know that there were people here…”
“So this was your fucking fault? You could’ve killed us!” Levi barks back, taking a step forward, but Erwin stops him by blocking him with an arm.
Eren shrinks a bit. “I swear, I didn’t know anyone was camping here, sir! I was just trying to—”
“Eren, you can’t just do that!” She hisses. “What if mo—”
“We have a place,” Eren immediately tells Levi’s group, and the girl’s face fills with panic.
“N-No, we don’t—Eren!” She grabs his arm.
Eren shakes her off, looking Levi directly in the eyes. “No, not just a place. A community. We have walls, food, houses. Please, come with us. I’m sorry for luring a hoard to here. It’s safer there. You’ll all be safe there!”
Levi hears Hange gasp from behind him, and he sets his gaze on the boy. He looked determined, but he was growing nervous under Levi’s gaze.
“Mikasa! Eren!” Another voice speaks up from a distance, and more footsteps fill the space around them. This time, it was adults who enter Levi’s line of sight, two of them wore lab coats. They are startled to see the trio surrounded by dead corpses. “What happened here?”
“A horde I was luring away from our direction, and they killed them all without breaking a sweat!” The Eren boy immediately tells them with enthusiasm in his voice.
The adults look hesitant, particularly the bearded man with glasses and a dark-haired woman with tired eyes, and they glance at the trio again.
“Not again, Eren. How many times do we have to keep telling you that it isn’t your job to lure hoards away.” The bearded man sighs like he was tired and fed up, rubbing his forehead.
Eren just looks back at Levi and the others, and he steps forward. “Come with us. You can stay in our community, and you’ll be safe. We promise.”
“Eren…” the bearded man with glasses look reluctant. “We can’t just…”
Hange fills the sudden silence. “I’m Hange. This is Erwin, and shorty’s Levi.”
Levi sends Hange a glare for that, but he is met with a look of hope in Hange’s eyes, something he hasn’t seen in a while.
“Good to meet you, Hange, Erwin and Levi!” Eren grins.
One of the adults tap Eren’s shoulder. “We should get going, there could be more infected out here. It’s best if we get back to the walls. You shouldn’t have ran off, Eren.”
Eren nods half-guiltily, and he looks at Mikasa, who still looks at him with a frown. Eren looks back at the trio. “Well? Are you coming?”
Levi, Erwin and Hange exchange looks. “We don’t have a choice. It’s either out here, or with them,” Erwin says.
“We don’t know them, they could fucking gut us,” Levi hisses, still looking directly at the other group.
“You really think a ten-year-old’s going to gut us? If anything, he looks like he idolizes you already,” Hange mutters for only them to hear.
Levi grits his teeth, not liking this one bit, but if it means they could have a chance to drink water and fill their packs with supplies before going on their way, he’d be stupid not to take this opportunity.
“Fine.”
It wasn’t that far of a walk. Though if the attack never happened and they kept walking to the same direction as before, they never would’ve stumbled upon the place. The community was well-hidden.
During the walk, the Eren kid kept glancing curiously at Levi. It was a little annoying.
They reach the gate, which was rolled to the side to let them in. They were stopped by the people they were walking with.
“Before you go inside, I’m going to need you three to surrender your weapons first. It’s only a precaution, since we don’t know each other. We want to keep our community safe, too. I’m sure you understand that.” The man with glasses states.
Levi looks at Erwin, who just nods. It makes Levi roll his eyes and they start to place their weapons in the crate presented to them. Levi took his time though, he had a lot of weapons on him.
Once they were cleared, the dark-haired woman with tired eyes offers them a small smile. “I’m Pieck, by the way. Welcome to Liberio.”
Hange and Levi exchange a look, and Levi can tell that Hange is excited. As Levi takes a step forward, for some reason, his knee gives way to his weight, which makes him stumble a little. Hange catches him by instinct, and Erwin goes to Levi’s side.
Levi grunts, pushing himself on his feet, but his body felt too heavy. The fuck?
“What’s wrong with him?” Eren asks, a little concerned too.
Hange nervously laughs. “Uh… it’s been days since we last ate proper food. Or drank clean water. Levi here fought like hell earlier, and he’s probably just tired. Don’t worry. He’s a lot stronger than he looks right now, I promise!” Hange says, and Levi grits his teeth as he attempts to get on his feet again, but fails. Hange leans down to look at Levi. “Just lean on me, alright?”
Levi lifts his head go glare at them, but is startled by the sight of other people from a distance, who were watching them as they entered their community. These people… Levi observes them to have clean clothes, and walking by pairs sometimes, and… is that a fucking baby stroller?
His mind goes blank.
Eren palms his forehead. “Of course. Why didn’t I think of that! Come on, let’s find you guys something to eat before we take you to see our leader.”
“Your leader?” Erwin questions, quirking a brow as he helps Levi on his feet.
“Yes. The one who runs this place, basically.” Pieck tells them.
“Where is he? I can speak to him while Levi and Hange rest, if that is alright with you.” Erwin offers.
Before Pieck could answer, the people from the tower calls loudly for them to reopen the gates. They all turn around to watch the gates be opened, and in comes a few people on horses. The gate is closed once more, and the four individuals climb off their horses. It was a group of two men and two women.
Pieck looks at Erwin, a little nervous. “Well, you can do that now.”
“What is this?” One of the women approaches them.
She had a frown on her face and an intimidating set of green eyes. She wore khaki pants, a neat white blouse, and some boots. Her brown hair is tied tight into a ponytail, and she carried a bat and a gun in a holster attached to her belt. Erwin and Hange share a glance, and Levi just weakly clings to Hange’s side with his eyes closed.
“We found them in the woods. They were being attacked.” Pieck explains, and the other woman just continues to frown.
“I don’t remember giving anyone the authority to open our gates for strangers,” she tells them, before her gaze falls on the three strangers.
She briefly looks at Levi, who is still holding onto Hange at the edge of dehydration. His head is lowered from the lack of energy, and he can barely lift his face to look at the woman.
Pieck sighs. “But they’re here now, alright? One of them is clearly at the verge of dehydration, and they haven’t eaten properly in days. We can’t just turn our backs on them.”
“And you led them here? To where we sleep? Where all the children sleep? We don’t know them,” the woman presses.
Levi coughs weakly. “Do we… look like we’re fucking capable of murder right now?” He weakly wheezes out, and Erwin had to take over for Hange by assisting Levi this time. Hange hisses and rolls their tired shoulder.
The woman blinks. “And you even found one with a mouth on him.”
“Levi, shut up. You’re not helping,” Hange quietly tells him before grinning at the other group. “Well, uh… let’s all just calm down and work this out together. We can earn our keep here. We’ll do anything you’d like to prove that we can be civilized citizens, too. Just give us a chance. We already surrendered our weapons to show our trust, is that not enough?”
The green-eyed young woman only steps forward to approach Hange until they were face-to-face. Hange realizes that they were a bit shorter than the woman, and they feel a little intimidated by her since she exuded a certain authority and power.
The woman narrows her eyes, and opens her mouth to speak.
“It was my idea.”
The woman stops herself from talking before she looks behind her, only to see Eren straightening his posture and looking determined and brave. Despite the childish voice, he seems to be doing his best to hold his ground as he pulls a serious expression on his face.
Hange watches as the young woman’s face softens. “You went outside again?”
Eren nods, putting on a brave face.
She sighs and approaches Eren, effectively leaving Hange’s vicinity to go to the child. They all watch as the woman bends her knees to be at the boy’s level.
“Eren. You know the rules. No leaving the walls.”
“But I brought a weapon—”
“That is not the point,” she cuts him off. “I don’t want to hear anything about you leaving the walls. Do you understand?”
“But—”
“Eren.”
The boy hangs his head and slowly nods.
“Good. We don’t let people in. Not anymore,” she softly tells him, gone was the intimidating aura emanating from her.
Eren gives her a look of desperation. “But these are good people. Strong people! They took down a horde all by themselves, without guns!” Eren tells her, sounding a bit excited while also pleading their case. As he speaks, the woman watches him with her full attention. “It was my fault that they were attacked in the first place. I lured the hoard away from our place, but I didn’t know that the three of them were in the woods. They need our help. Please, we have to help them.”
Silence falls before them, as the woman’s gaze locks with Eren for a moment.
Eventually, she gets back on her feet and glances at Erwin. “They can stay for now. Not forever,” she informs, and Hange breathes out in relief. “But I want to talk to you one by one later. For now, take them to the empty house at the sixth lot,” she instructs, and without waiting for another response, she walks away with the original group she returned with.
Hange smiles and looks at Levi’s almost limp body. “Hear that, Levi? We’re staying, and we even get our own house!” They excitedly say, but when Levi only responds with a hum, Hange’s smile fades. “Levi? Oh, shit—”
Then, his vision slowly faded into darkness.
The next time he wakes, it was to the gentle sound of water being poured into a glass.
Levi blinks his eyes open and he immediately looks to his left, only to see an unfamiliar dark-haired woman sitting cross-legged on a chair next to the bed Levi was on.
Wait… a fucking bed?
She was pouring water into a glass cup, not even fazed by how he stirred awake. “You’ve been out cold for three hours now. I already spoke to your other two friends, one-on-one,” she says. Levi recognizes her voice to be the woman from earlier, when he was too out of it to even see her face. “They are both quite interesting.”
Fucking hell, Hange and Erwin left Levi alone in a room with her? While he was unconscious? What the fuck happened to being cautious?
“Don’t worry. Your friends are downstairs. I figured you’d be waking up within the next few minutes, so I asked them to wait. They stayed with you the entire time,” she is sat in an elegant way, Levi almost forgot the world went to shit, and he was no longer a soldier who always talks to higher-ups like her. Especially now since she wore all white.
Levi cautiously looks around the room, observing the cleanliness of it all. Like it was a model home that can be seen in television or magazines. It didn’t look like it wasn’t lived in, since it felt cozy and there were books in shelves. Levi briefly wondered who lives in this house.
“Here. Drink some water. I was told that you passed out because of dehydration.”
Levi eyes the glass cautiously, but eventually gave in before grabbing the glass to start drinking. He does it slowly, to avoid choking. After the one glass, he was still thirsty, so she pours him some more. While he waits, he looks down and realizes he was wearing a cleaner shirt, but the same pants.
He was so thirsty, he couldn’t bring himself to worry about who the hell changed his clothes. He drinks more water and exhales before leaning back against the bedframe. Levi can feel her eyes on him, and he slowly meets her gaze. She gestures to the table beside the bed, and he follows with his eyes. There were two pieces of bread and a muffin on a plate, right on the nightstand.
“Eat. I’ve surmised from Hange that you haven’t eaten in days,” she begins, and Levi just stares dumbfoundedly at the bread. “It may not be much, but the nurse said that you should start with something light before eating heavier meals, to avoid any stomachaches.”
He just grits his teeth. “Who are you, and what is this place? How the hell does this place even exist?”
She contemplates for a moment. “I’m Anette. You’re in Liberio. This place is an unfinished suburban community project during around the time it all happened. Our people found it and made it into our home. We finished the project ourselves. It’s our home, and it protects us, the same way we protect it.”
Levi stays quiet, and he feels awkward knowing that he passed out from fucking dehydration. He doesn’t want to appear weak because he knows he isn’t.
Although, it may be a good idea to downplay his strength. He doesn’t know these people.
He reaches for the bread and eats. It was soft to chew, and had a pleasing taste. Levi couldn’t believe it. He’s fucking eating bread.
Anette’s face doesn’t give anything away, but it was obvious that she is still not agreeing for them to stay here. Levi wonders what she talked about with Hange and Erwin.
“You were all here? This entire time?” Levi quietly asks as he meets her gaze.
She shakes her head. “No. Just like the three of you, we were all out there. Half a year of being in the wild until we found this place,” she says, and Levi huffs.
Half a year won’t compare to a decade of surviving out there.
“It was deserted, so we settled in here. More people eventually found us, and vice versa. Now, we’re going strong with three hundred and fifteen people. Three hundred and seventeen by next month, once Mary gives birth. She’s having twins, how wonderful. They are always enjoyable to have.”
Levi feels a sort of shock from hearing that. Three hundred people are here? And they’re having babies in this time? What the actual fuck?
“What… how…”
“If you’re wondering how we found out about the twins, we have a doctor here, and some fair equipment. There was a clinic and pharmacy being built here. Though it was unfinished, it still had a stock in storage. It’s not much, but it works for us.” Anette nods, and Levi’s head practically swims. A fucking doctor? “Are you feeling a little better?”
Levi is awake now. Very awake, because this place is unreal. “I guess.”
Anette hums. “Good. I want you to take a walk with me. Can you do that?”
“Uh… yeah.” Levi makes a show of slowly getting up, as if it was difficult for him.
Anette politely opens the door for him and he walks through. He goes down the stairs and sees Hange sitting on the soft sofa, along with Erwin who is standing in front of the mirror above the fireplace. Hange is looking around the house at awe, in disbelief of how beautiful the interior could be.
Hange and Erwin immediately look at Levi and Anette once they descend the stairs, ever alert for any noise. They relax once they see Levi, and Hange stands to approach him. “Hey, you doing okay?”
“Yeah. I just needed sleep and water, I guess.” Levi nods.
Erwin looks at Anette. “Are you sure you are giving this house to us?”
“This is only temporary. Just until the three of you are back on your feet.” Anette says, with a tone of finality as she walks towards the door. “Are you coming?”
Levi sighs, giving Hange and Erwin a look. The other two seem to be worried, and Levi can obviously see that they want to stay here for far longer than just ‘temporary’ since this could finally be it. They can finally be safe here instead of being among the horrors out there.
Levi follows Anette outside, and Hange plops back to the sofa while stressfully removing their glasses.
Erwin approaches the kitchen and walks up to the sink, reaching over for the faucet to turn it on. Then, the flow of water exits the pipe, and Erwin glances at Hange. They share a look before Hange laughs in happiness before running off to find a bathroom. Erwin smiles to himself as he touches the stream of water, feeling the pressure against his fingers.
Levi walks next to Anette, and they walk past a few people who are also walking down the street with their children and family. Levi would eye them from time to time, unused to seeing children. The last time he saw children was—
“Eren seems fond of you,” Anette’s voice pulls him from his thoughts, and he looks at her. “He said that you fight well. It’s been a while since I’ve heard him sound so excited.”
“Is that right?” Levi mutters. “Is he your brother, or something?”
She hums in amusement, which is surprising because he hasn’t heard her sound amused in the entire time he knew her so far. She doesn’t seem the type to laugh anyway. “Heard that one a million times before.”
Levi frowned. Huh?
Anette briefly glances at him. “Eren’s my son. He’s ten.”
Levi raises a brow. She doesn’t look like a mother at all, from how young she looks. “Right. So, you run this place?”
“I wouldn’t say I run the place. I make decisions to keep the people here safe. Earned their respect that way.” Anette tells him as they walk, and he watches her greet others with a nod. Everyone would wave at her with a kind smile, too. “Erwin mentioned that you’re all from the Survey Corps. Paradis Disease Control Facility.”
Levi really didn’t want to talk about this, but if being a bit honest will get Hange and Erwin to stay here, then Levi should at least try.
“Yeah.”
“And you’re the captain. Erwin’s the commander, and Hange is a scientist.” Anette recalls. “That means you three have certain skillsets that could be useful to our community.”
Levi shrugs, not knowing what else to say.
Anette stops walking, and Levi doesn’t notice at first so he keeps walking until he realizes he was alone. He turns back and looks at Anette with a frown, just a few feet away from him. Anette crosses her arms and gives him a stern look.
“I still don’t think we should take you all in permanently… but I’m willing to hear my council out if they plea for your stay. Which I think they will,” she frowns. “We’ll hold on to your weapons for now. We don’t walk around with firearm here. Normalcy is part of our lives within these walls.”
Levi is hesitant to hear that. He was very used to having his weapons at arm’s reach, but this is for Hange and Erwin. “Fine by me.”
Anette blinks at him in response, and she continues to walk. She would show him around, pointing at certain buildings. She shows him how the water works, how there is electricity due to the solar panels, the food pantry, the farm, and even the building that holds the weapons. Levi tries his best not to look impressed, but once she pointed a school, it was difficult not to look a little surprised.
“It’s not much, but we have three teachers. It’s not a university, of course. Just basic things that children would normally learn at school,” Anette explains. “Well, it’s time for us to go back. It’s almost sunset. Your neighbors must have extended our hospitality already.”
“What does that mean?”
When they return to the house, Hange was beaming at Levi. “Look, Levi! Our neighbors got us casseroles! I can’t believe it!” Hange shows him two casseroles on the kitchen table, their mouth watering at the sight.
Anette gives them a final look. “I’ll come by again tomorrow. Enjoy your dinner.”
“Thank you,” Erwin tells her, and she nods before leaving. Erwin turns back to Levi and Hange, smiling. “This is a good place for us. Don’t you think? Everyone here is welcoming and safe. It has been a while since I’ve heard a baby cry down the street. I remember when things were still normal, and I’d be annoyed to hear a baby cry,” Erwin chuckles, shaking his head. “Now I’m relieved to hear it.”
Hange scurries to the sink and grabs a small basket. “And look! Soaps and toothbrushes, Levi!” They look so relieved, and their eyes almost fill with tears. “The water is running, too. So, you should hop in the shower. Your stubble isn’t exactly a stubble anymore, too,” Hange snickers, handing him a clean and new razor.
Levi slowly takes it, in disbelief of the possessions that this house has. He tries the shower, and is amazed that there were options for temperature too. He never thought he’d ever experience a hot shower again. After the shower, Levi wipes the steam off the mirror and cringes at his appearance. His hair is longer and his stubble was a beard. Fucking gross.
Levi takes his time to cut his hair. Then, he takes the razor and begins shaving his face.
When Levi steps out of the shower in new yet baggy clothes, Hange whistles at him and Erwin smiles. The two of them were setting the table, and Levi was a bit surprised to see that. He hasn’t seen a dinner table be set this way in years.
“Haven’t seen that face in a while!” Hange jokes, and Levi rolls his eyes.
Erwin hums. “I’ve always told you that you can always use my razor.”
“Gross.” Levi gives him a glare, sitting down at the table while staring dumbfoundedly at the food.
It smells delicious, and he can feel his stomach practically cave in. And the amount of food they have in front of them was practically a whole month’s worth when they were still in the wild.
“Your clothes are a bit big on you,” Erwin comments.
“Yeah, it’s fine. They’re just clothes.”
They all sit together and start eating, Hange was almost in tears while they eat the lasagna. Fucking lasagna. Jesus, who are these people?
“I don’t remember the last time I ate a proper meal like this, you guys. Do you remember?” Hange sniffles.
Erwin hums as he slices his lasagna with a fork and knife. “Two years ago. Roasted beef. Nana.”
Levi scoffs. “You named the cow?”
“Everyone names the cow,” Erwin chuckles. “Loid wouldn’t back down when he insisted we all eat together on the weird table we found. He always made sure that we all had equal rations.”
“Jensen found beer, too. He was so excited.” Hange softly chuckles.
Levi clenches his jaw, remembering how Isabel and Furlan were fighting over who gets to be the first to slice their roast beef. Isabel would accuse Furlan that he might cut a bigger portion for himself, and Furlan retaliates by tugging on Isabel’s pigtails. The two kept arguing, but there were smiles on their faces from how happy they were to have a proper meal in weeks.
A hush of silence fills the room, and Levi didn’t have to say anything to tell Hange and Erwin that he was also thinking of their lost comrades. None of them take a bite of their food for a moment, just letting the silence fill the air.
“We have to make this work,” Hange softly says, with an emotion in their tone that makes Levi’s stomach shrivel inside. “We need this.”
Erwin slowly nods. “I agree. We can’t leave. This is what we’ve all been looking for since the beginning. A place that’s safe. This is what our comrades have died for, to get us here. We can’t lose this.”
Levi lets out a breath. “Then, we fight for it. We’ll do anything for them to make us stay here.”
Hange and Erwin look surprised to hear the determination in Levi’s voice. “What if they say no?” Hange asks nervously.
Levi’s face remains constant, and he gives them a shrug. “Then, we’ll just take this place.”
He resumes eating quietly while Hange glances at Erwin with dread across their face, and Erwin merely continues his meal as well.