It Started With Cadet Training (Reader/Levi/Erwin/Hange/Mike)

Fight For Freedom

You shake your head at Levi's disapproving glare when you finally sit down, nestled between Erwin and Mike, a little too close for professionalism. Despite the fact he was cuddled up to Hange's side, probably pretending that no one was looking his way.

The kids pestered Erwin with questions as he sat there, dooming himself by answering all of them, only for them to ask him more. It was a race of questions and answers, and he was losing.

"Alright, stop pestering Papa and get moving to help Nibi set up the obstacle course. If you make it extra hard, you'll get extra desert," Levi ordered, taking a softer - yet still as stern - tone with the kids as he picked up their bowls.

"Yes, mom!" the kids replied, saluting him with the scout salute, before taking off after Hange towards the stairs leading up from the mess-hall. You weren't entirely sure if they'd picked up the salute from daily training, or if they were taught to do it by someone to mock Levi.

But, you didn't get time to ask, as you found yourself sitting alone with Mike and Erwin as Levi left for patrol. Most of the scouts had cleared out by now, leaving on patrol, or heading over to warm-up for the afternoon's obstacle course.

"So, paperwork?" you squeak, standing up from the table and attempting to avoid showing the both of them you had blush spread across your face. You'd been together for years, yet no matter how long passed, you were still flustered by their company.

"Actually, Erwin, I think (Y/N) wanted to show you how much aloe vera helps stumps," Mike interjects, standing up as well so that the back of your headrests against his chest.

"Really? Well it's a good thing I've finished my paperwork, isn't it," Erwin muses, standing up as well to sandwich you between the two of them again.

You could feel the heat radiating off your face at this point as you dart out from between them, pointedly walking towards the stairs.

"Not if you stand around in the mess-hall all afternoon," you state, trying to play it off as nonchalant as you could, despite the hammering in your chest.

You were a grown adult, dating these men for years, you'd seen them naked for fuck's sake! Why were you acting like a teenager seeing your first pin-up magazine?!

"Relax, pumpkin. We didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," Mike murmurs, walking up behind you, resting his hand on the small of your back as you climb the stairs.

"You two can be so embarrassing sometimes," you grumble in protest, focusing on the heat from his hand as you reach the second set of stairs.

Erwin chuckles at your words but says nothing as he walks behind you, towards his office. Yet, the moment you reach his office, closing the door behind the three of you, he deflates, slumping down on the couch.

You exchange worried looks with Mike, mirroring each other's raised eyebrows as Erwin reaches a hand up and wraps it around his missing arm.

Mike mouths to you "I'll be right back", before walking off towards the door adjoining your bedroom and the office. You lock the door to prevent unwanted intruders, as you walk over and sit down next to Erwin on the couch.

"You doing okay?" you whisper quietly, resting your hand on top of his as he holds his missing arm.

"I keep feeling it. All-day. Can't even manage paperwork," Erwin rasps, slumping into your touch.

"It's called phantom pains, I get them from time to time too," Mike states, sitting down on Erwin's other side, passing you the jar of aloe from the capital.

"Fucking sucks," Erwin grumbles, pulling a chuckle from your lips unintentionally, you don't manage to catch yourself in time before he hears. "Are you laughing at me?"

"No, just - you never swear. Usually, you're so eloquent with your words," you comment, kissing his cheek, "It was stupid, I shouldn't have laughed."

"No, no it's okay. I like your smile," he whispers, leaning down to kiss your forehead.

"Take your shirt of Erwin," you order, unscrewing the top of the aloe jar.

Erwin blinks at you, his face flushing bright red. It brought you immense joy to see that you weren't the only one who still acted like a teenager sometimes. Across from him, Mike lets out a chuckle, stretching out his legs as he detaches his prosthetic.

"I - er - why?" Erwin stutters, stumbling over his words as he gives you an incredulous look.

"So I can put aloe on your arm. Why else?" you snort, reaching up and undoing the belt around his chest for him.

"Right. For the aloe," Erwin repeats, using his remaining hand to undo his shirt. You had to admit, he was getting better at removing it. Almost as good as he was when he had two arms to work with.

He sits quietly as you pull the bandages from his limp, standing up briefly to place them in the trash can. Only to return to Mike and Erwin having switched places so that you were sitting in between the two of them once again.

"You two are really going to be the death of me," you grumble, shaking your head as you pick up the jar once more. Your smile never leaving your lips.

"But you love us," Mike hums, leaning on your back as you sit cross-legged on the couch, dipping your fingers into the aloe as you face Erwin.

"Unfortunately," you sigh, placing your two fingers on Erwin's skin.

He shivers under your touch, letting out a long sigh as he relaxes into the couch while you coax the aloe to absorb into his skin. It takes quite a few sweeps of aloe to fully cover his limp, each one drawing another satisfied sigh as you watch the stress and pain melt away. You weren't sure if it was the phantom pains leaving, or the fact his skin was that dry. If you had to guess, you'd go with the latter. Phantom pains were hard to coax away.

When you finish Erwin's arm, you steal a moment to appreciate how relaxed Erwin had become. His feet up on the coffee table as he rests his head on the back of the couch, a smile stretched across his lips, and his eyes closed.

"He looks relaxed," Mike whispers in your ear, his arms closed around your waist, having pulled you into his lap.

"Finally," you whisper back to him. You weren't sure if Erwin could hear you two, but you honestly couldn't care. "How long do you think we have until Hange finishes training the scouts for the day?"

"At least enough time to put some on my leg as well, and curl up for a nice nap. They have most of the patrols pulled in favour of their new 'titan avoidment' course," Mike explains, nuzzling his face further into your neck. The scruff of his beard scratching against your skin.

"How long has it been since any of us have had any alone time in the past few days? We've been running ourselves ragged to keep up with the kids and figure out where the wall was breached," you muse, dipping your fingers in the jar again, adjusting yourself to be able to rub the aloe into Mike's skin.

"Enough to miss you, even at night," Erwin mumbles. He doesn't move from his position, apart from the leg that rests slightly closer to your knee.

"We'll find the reason soon. Then we'll reclaim Maria, and finally move as fucking far away from the capital as we can," Mike states confidently, shifting his hands to rest them on either side of your waist, rubbing small circles into your skin.

"Maybe one day, we'll be able to finally live outside the walls too. I'd love to show the kids the freedom of being outside," you muse, feeling Mike relax into you as you take another scoop of aloe.

"To feel the wind on their face, and finally watch the sunset without fear. Let's fight for that," Erwin agrees, leaning his head next to Mike's shoulder.

"Let's fight for them," Mike decides, earning a murmur of agreement from the two of you as you close the jar.

You lean back against his chest, your head resting in the crook of his shoulder instead as you close your eyes.

"Let's fight for freedom."