"This may be a special night, but... let's not let the public find out! Behave like soldiers without causing a ruckus!" My mouth watered at the sight of the meat on the table as a random soldier talked to us, but his words only went in one ear and out the next.
"Is this... really meat?" I say softly to Connie and Sasha who were in front of me. I hesitantly went to touch the ham but my hand was slapped away by Jean. Eren and I slap Jean on the shoulder in return, Eren having to maneuver around me from his place right by my side to reach the now agitated horse-face.
"Don't get your grimy hands on the food," he says, partially annoyed but also amused. I slap him again on the shoulder.
"Oh, shut it, Kirstein, I wasn't sure if it was real!" Jean just laughs at me again and Eren pulls me closer to his side, which I don't resist.
"Tonight's the night before we retake Wall Maria!" The man from before says, holding up a mug of beer. "Cheer!" Everyone cheers but I don't as my eyes are still fixated on the ham in front of us.
Once the man is done talking, all of us at our own little table filled up with Connie, Sasha, Jean, Armin, Mikasa, and Eren, everyone immediately shoots out their hands to take a piece of meat, but are all shocked when Sasha got shot it first and starts gnawing down on it.
"Code Red! Code Red!" I scream out to the others and everyone launches into the action.
Last night Levi told me that the captains and commanders were spoiling all the soldiers with hams and chickens at dinner, also saying I wasn't allowed to tell anyone, but long story short, I told everyone and we all made a plan for the inevitable.
I throw Armin and Eren pieces of rope while Connie holds Sasha in a headlock. A second later Jean and I swung over the table and took both of her arms that still had a vice-like grip on the huge chunk of ham.
"Mikasa! Your turn!" Armin yells out while Jean, Connie, and I drag Sasha over to a pillar a few feet away from our table. Mikasa nods, her eyes narrowed at Sasha's ravenous state, and pushes at her face with one hand while ripping the meat out her mouth with the other.
Mikasa finally gets the meat out from Sasha's mouth and sets it on the table, cutting off the pieces that Sasha slobbered on. Her mouth now empty, Sasha screams and bellows at the loss of the meat, but her yells are lost in the room filled with the other screaming cadets, all wrestling for their own share of food.
"Damit, Yeager! Tie those knots already- Ow! She bit me! S-She's eating me! She's eating me! Sasha, stop it!" Jean yells as Sasha chews on his hand, mistaking him for the meat she was just biting down on seconds ago. I flick Sasha in the head and she releases his hand with a whimper, but it soon turns into a growl again as she fights against us.
"I'm trying!" Eren yells out while narrowly missing the kick Sasha sent out for his head. It takes Armin to full-on fling himself over her legs to let Eren tie her flailing limbs down and behind the post her back was now up against.
After a few more minutes of struggling we all back away from a depressed Sasha as she stares at the meat on the table longingly before passing out fully. The rest of us are left panting and whipping drops of sweat off of our foreheads as we head back to the table.
Once settled down we just went into casual talk until Jean opened his big mouth.
He was talking with Marlo about random shit that I was too bored to listen in onto, but my ears perked up when he raised his voice. "But the most useless of all is the suicidal maniac who only knows how to charge in."
Jean bumps his shoulder into mine, trying to talk clearer to Eren who was on my other side, one of his hands interlocked with mine and tucked away under the table.
"Right?" Jean asks. Eren lowers his water from his mouth and his face turns sour as he looks at the ash brown-haired boy next to me.
"Jean... Who do you mean by that?"
Who else could he be fucking talk about Eren?
I give Armin a pointed look from his place on the other side of Eren. He watches the two boys and looks back at me with a disappointed shake of his head.
"Who else but you? You suicidal maniac." Jean says, slightly caught off guard by Eren's question.
"Actually, I found something out recently. I'm quite a normal person, you know? So if you're saying that to me, that just makes you a coward, Jean," Eren says with a cocky smirk. I grip Eren's hand in mine harder than it already was in a silent warning. He ignores this of course.
There's a second of silence until both of them shoot out of their seats, gripping each other's collars, all while making sure not to harm me while doing so.
"You're so full of yourself, you pig shit!" Jean yells out, his knees slightly brushing against my shoulder. I just sit while taking a sip of water, bored already by their usual antics.
"You trying to grow out the hair on your mane, horse face?!" I snort suddenly at Eren's insult, watering coming back up my throat. Armin has to push the two out of their seats by patting me on the back, making sure I don't die while I continue to choke and laugh at the same time.
Soon the two boys are having at it a couple of feet away from our table, and everyone including me watches as they throw punches at each other.
"Ooo!" Everyone exclaims while Eren lands a harsh jab right onto Jean's stomach, making us all wince after like we just received the blow.
"You bastard!" Jean yells after regaining his composure. He's just about to launch his fist at Eren's face but I yell out.
"No! Not his face!" Connie looked sideways at me with an are you for real look and I just shrugged in answer.
Thankfully Jean's punch goes to Eren's gut instead of his pretty face, but his next words faze Eren more than a hard jab to the stomach would.
"You know, if you didn't have titan powers you would be dead ten times over. And every time, Mikasa and Y/n would swoop in to save your ass." I tch under my breath at the tall boy's words and grip the table. But I don't get up, I just let Eren handle this.
"If you insist on being suicidal... I'll just have to kill you myself!" Jean yells out and swings his fist at Eren again in the stomach. I wince at Eren's pained face, but when his eyes meet mine I glare at him, telling him silently to finish the horse-face already. He smirks at me and nods discreetly.
"You should start showing some respect, Jean-boy!" Eren yells out and swings his fist right at Jean's stomach, then pulling back to hit him again and again.
"Hell yeah, Yeager! Beat his ass!" I yell out next to Connie as we both shake and cling onto each other as we watch the fight before us.
"Yeah! Get him right in the-" Everyone in the room lets out a loud "oohs" as both Jean and Eren land simultaneous punches to each other's sides.
This goes on for about ten more minutes, none of us going to stop the two teenagers from their now pitiful fighting. But Levi's stalking towards them makes me go on high-alert.
Levi swiftly kicks Jean in the ribs, making him fly to the ground, and then he goes to punch down Eren in the face but I yell out the same thing from earlier.
"Levi, not his face!" Levi stops mid-punch and kicks Eren like he did Jean instead with an eye roll. I smile at him in thanks which he tries his best to reflect but fails as he's still in a pissy mood.
"You're all too damn rowdy," Levi speaks loudly in the room of unruly cadets and soldiers. "Go to sleep," someone's retches on the ground, "and clean that up."
"Yes, sir!" Everyone replies and leaves the room. I got to leave with Mikasa, Eren, and Armin but I quickly remembered Sasha who was still tied up and gagged on the other side of the room.
"Sorry, Sasha! Nearly forgot about you there," I chuckle out nervously, afraid she might mistake me as meat like she did Jean. "H-Here." I hold up a plate of ham and cheese from earlier that I saved for her.
Sasha snatches the food away from me after I untied her and starts to scarf it all down. Leaving a glass of water by her side I got to catch up with the others.
..................
After having a lighthearted talk with Eren, Mikasa, and Armin, and saying goodnight to them, I was left walking in the dim candlelit halls of HQ, venturing through the multiple hallways, on my way to see Hanji and Levi.
Ever since the two adopted me two months ago we made it a thing that we would say goodnight to each other every day, especially at times like these when we were all so busy preparing for the expedition that we never had time to see each other.
My footsteps echoed in the empty halls, aside from the occasional Scout passing through as well.
Finally reaching the floor all superiors were sleeping on, I walked to the end of the hall where I knew Levi's room was, and even if I didn't know where it was located I would be able to find it just fine with Hanji's loud voice echoing from inside the room. The door was opened just a crack, but I widened the gap even further and slipped inside of the room.
I smile at the sight in front of me: Hanji was talking about her absurd titan theories, as usual, while Levi was trying his best to ignore her as he attempted to stay concentrated on his paperwork.
"... and I told Moblit this but he wouldn't listen! Saying things like how I was crazy but- Oh! Hey babes, what're you doing here?" Hanji stopped talking with her hands swinging in emphasis, nearly smacking Levi in the head several times, and turned to face me from her sitting position on the edge of the shorty's desk.
"Hey, Hanji," I say with a smile. Levi turns his head at the sound of my voice and sends me a quick smile, but then goes back to his work.
"What were you guys talking about?" I ask while walking into Hanji's stretched-out arms. I lean my head on her shoulder and turn it so I could see Levi at the same time.
Hanji takes a deep breath, ready to start talking about her theories again, but it is stopped by Levi.
"Don't even get her started on that," he mutters out. I pull back from Hanji and chuckle at her frown and glare she was giving Levi. She flicks me on the head but pulls me down so I could sit half-way on her legs as she continued to sit on Levi's desk, her arms slung around my waist and gripping me like I was a life-sized teddy bear.
Putting down his pencil after finishing writing whatever he was supposed to on the huge stack of papers sitting in front of him, Levi turns to me, a warm look in his eyes but his face still blank.
"How was your talk with those brats?" I roll my eyes amusingly.
"They're not brats, Levi."
"Yeah Levi, they're not brats!" Hanji says with a sniff and tuning her nose upwards in a posh manner. Levi lets out a tch but still awaits my answer.
"It was good, I haven't really spent a lot of time alone with them in a while." Levi nods at this and Hanji lets out a hum in response. It's silent for a few short seconds until Levi speaks up, a serious expression on his face.
"Let's talk about tomorrow," he says while making eye contact with me. I slightly stiffened and sat up as straight as I could be, still stuck in Hanji's hug.
"Okay..." I trail off, not really knowing where he was going with this.
"When we're fighting tomorrow, and if everything goes to shit, you find Hanji or I, okay?" I nod and he continues, "If you're in trouble, just shout out for either of us and we'll come to you."
"But protocol-" I start to say, but he cuts me off.
"Fuck protocol. You shout for either me or Hanji and we'll come to help you. I don't care what Erwin or anyone else says, we're not going to let out get hurt under any circumstances, got it?" I try my best not to shy away from Levi's intense gaze as I nod again.
"Got it."
"Good, but try not to pull any reckless shit like you always do- I already have my hands full with keeping you brats alive." I chuckle at Levi's statement, the atmosphere growing less tense and serious.
"Levi you really shouldn't keep calling them brats, they're not so bad-"
"I was talking about you too, Four-Eyes.," Levi says with a dry look to Hanji who had her head peeking over my shoulder. I slap my hand over my mouth to keep my laughter in, but it soon goes in front of me as Hanji releases me to the ground in shock. My hands catch me before I fall in a heap to the ground.
"Sorry, hun! But Levi! Don't be so rude! This is why... " Hanji starts to go on a rampage while Levi just sits back in his chair and stares at the woman with a blank look, but I could see the smirk creeping onto his lips.
Brushing off my pants I stand back up fully, and I'm about to interrupt Hanji as she's dumbly about to bring Levi's height into her one-sided argument but she cuts herself off for me.
"Oh, would you look at the time! Babe, you need to go to bed," Hanji exclaims, ushering me out of the room, but I duck under her outstretched arms and walk up to Levi.
I sling my arms around the shorty's shoulders, gripping him tightly into a goodnight hug, and he responds with a kiss on my forehead.
"Night, Levi."
"Night, hun." Releasing my arms I stalk back over to Hanji and she gives me another bear hug, almost lifting me off the ground.
"Goodnight to you too, Hanji!" I laugh out and grasp her back tightly.
She releases me and places me back down on the ground, ruffling my hair in the process. "Night, babe."
Giving the two one last wave I walked back down the dimly lighted halls and to the floor level where all the cadets were. I was supposed to have a room on Levi and Hanji's floor, given that I was Levi's second basically, but Hanji talked to the people in charge of rooming out of it, saying I should be spending time with my friends.
Seeing no one in the halls to the barracks I slip into my room, quickly changing into my pajamas, and crawl under the covers to my bed. I lay on my back and stare up at the ceiling, thoughts about what was to come tomorrow race in my head. From a look at the clock on the wall, illuminated by the moonlight peeking through the window, I saw that almost an hour has passed and I haven't even slept a wink yet.
Huffing out an exhale I whip the covers off my legs and place my feet on the floor. My legs were bare aside from the tiny pairs of shorts on them, and I was only wearing one of Levi's already-oversized shirts that I stole from him last week.
After hesitating for only a second of hesitation I walk up to my door and peek out of it, and when I don't see anyone walking down the halls I creep over to where I knew Eren's room was. I slowly turn the door handle and tiptoe inside, closing the door behind me with a soft click.
"Hello?" I turn around to see a slightly disoriented Eren sitting up in his bead, his hair ruffled up on the ends and his green eyes droopy. "Y/n?"
I padded over to his bed in the moonlit room and slipped inside of the covers, Eren's body heat warming me up in a flash. He immediately makes room for me, laying down on his side like I was now.
"I couldn't sleep," I whisper out. Eren doesn't say anything, he only lifts his hand onto my face, caressing it softly. My eyes close on their own accord and I sigh softly to his touch.
He does this for a few moments until he stops all of sudden. I peek my eyes open to see Eren looking at my shirt in distaste.
"What?"
"Whose shirt is that?" Eren bites out, trying not to get too agitated.
"Levi's." Eren's face goes blank at this then climbs over me and out from under the covers.
"What are you-" I question out but am stopped when Eren flings a shirt into my face.
"You can wear this instead." I look down at the shirt to recognize it is one of Eren's. My cheeks heat at the thought of even touching it right now.
"But..." I trail off, embarrassed at my sudden realization.
"Do you not want to wear it?" Eren asks, a glum look on his face.
"No! No, I do, but I'm... I'm not wearing anything under this." Eren's body goes taut and his eyes immediately go to my chest, but once he realizes that he was looking at my braless chest he avert elsewhere and his cheeks blush red.
I go to hand him the shirt back, lowkey sad that I couldn't wear it but Eren pushes it back towards me and turns around.
"You can still wear it- I won't look." I smile at Eren's actions and slip off Levi's shirt and replace it with Eren's, taking a big sniff out of it for good measure. It smelt just like him. And it was huge. The shirt, if I was standing up, would've come all the way down to my knees, and it hung off my shoulder blades loosely.
My cheeks are dusted with a blush when I tug Eren on the back of his shirt, signaling I was done changing. He turns around slowly and I see his breath visibly halt in his chest. Actually, it looked like he wasn't breathing at all.
I poke him in the chest, making him break out of whatever daze he was in. He blinks one and shakes his head lightly, making his hair brush over his forehead.
Tugging him down by his shirt he places his hands on their side of me, making our faces leveled. I don't look at his eyes that were glued to mine as I brushed his hair off his forehead, making it part to the side again.
"You know, I kind of like your hair long," I say softly. He just hums in response and continues to look at me, his gaze dragging over all my face's features, pupils widening. I stare into his eyes as they meet mine again, and I can't help but get lost in them like I always do.
After a few moments of just being in each other's presence Eren kisses me once on the forehead, then my nose, then my cheek, and then my lips.
"C'mon, let's go to bed," he says softly in a hushed tone. I absentmindedly nod and climb back into the covers, my body facing Eren as he scoots in next to me. He places his arm around my waist and drags me in close, letting my head rest against his muscled chest. I could hear his erratic heartbeat in my ear, making me let out a tiny grin.
I snuggle deeper into his chest, my nose nuzzling into him. "Eren."
"Hm?"
"I love you." Eren pulls me in closer if that was even possible and kisses me lightly on the head again.
"I love you too," he whispers with affection clear in his tone. "Now, get some sleep."
I listen to him and close my eyes, going into a deep slumber filled with no nightmares, only tranquil peace.
𝐚/𝐧
𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐲'𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞'𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐬 🙃🙃