Chapter Text
After Petra has finished speaking, the table of dining recruits is dead silent. She’s smiling at Armin, but the smile is definitely strained. She knows exactly what news she’s had to deliver.
Armin was cold a minute ago, but now he feels sweat on his palms and underarms. He pushes a flyaway strand of hair behind his ear and swallows loudly. “Sorry, w-what? I don’t think I quite caught that,” he says, praying that he misheard her.
“Lance Corporal Levi has requested you in his office in twenty minutes,” repeats Petra softly.
“Um… ok. Alright. I’ll be sure to be there promptly.” She smiles and turns away. Before he can lose all of his courage, Armin says hurriedly, “Do you possibly know why the Corporal would like to see me?”
“Well…” says Petra, looking antsy, “He mentioned something about, uh, ‘discipline’ and ‘controlling the brat’?”
Armin can practically feel the blood drain out of his face. “O-okay.”
“Good luck!” she says in a forced bright voice as she makes her escape to the Levisquad table. Armin tracks her movements, but looking at the Levisquad is a huge mistake, because Armin can’t help but slide his gaze slightly to the right and see the Corporal himself. Levi is staring straight at him. Armin nods to him meekly, and he gets a grim nod in return. Levi is the first to break eye contact. Armin looks to the left and sees Eren look at Petra, then Levi, then Armin himself, and then frown.
Turning back to his friends and fellow recruits is not encouraging. They all look exactly how Armin feels. “Dude,” murmurs Connie, “What did you do?”
“Nothing!” Armin yelps, his voice cracking. He clears it gently, and repeats, “Nothing. At least, nothing that I know of.”
Reiner shakes his head, “Well you must have done something.”
Sasha nods, “And whatever it was, you fucked up, man.”
“Guys!” interjects Krista, “Don’t make him feel worse. Maybe he just… wants to review the rules with Armin or something?” Her tone of voice is less convincing than Petra’s.
“Good joke, babe,” Ymir says cheerfully, wrapping an arm around Krista’s shoulders. “Shorty over there is gonna tear Armin a new one.”
“Just let him try,” hisses Mikasa, putting a hand on Armin’s own shoulder. He flinches. Mikasa means well, but her grip is like iron. “I’ll crush the squirt between my hands.”
“Don’t, Mikasa,” mutters Armin. “Whatever it is, I’ll be fine.”
“Really?” Jean says doubtfully. “What if he pulls the same stunt you told me he did on Jaeger in court?”
Armin remembers the thud thud thud of Levi’s boot on Eren’s face and feels sick. He glances over at Levi’s table again, only to find that Levi has gone. Probably waiting in his office. Waiting to kill Armin.
He wants nothing more than to speak to Eren before the twenty minutes are up. But as Armin leaves the table and passes by, Eren is in a deep conversation with Erd about a specific move for the 3D Maneuver Gear and doesn’t see Armin walking by. Armin has no choice but to begin to make his way towards the Lance Corporal’s office. He’s a little early, but he’d much rather be early than late. Maria only knows what Levi would do to him if he were late.
On his way, he passes by Hanji, who beams at him. Hanji is fond of him, has been since Armin’s first day in the Corps when he listened to their incredibly long story of Sawney and Bean, and not only remained awake through the whole tale but also asked many clarifying questions on the way. When Armin has free time, he often makes his way to Hanji’s office and listens to them talk about experiments. Sometimes he even gets to help out. “On your way to Levi? I was just in his office!” they say happily. “If he ever lets you out of there, I just got some new books on Titan regeneration. Fascinating stuff. I thought you of all people would enjoy them.”
Armin is very tempted to hug Hanji's waist and beg them to save him, but he simply gives her a weak smile, says, “Thank you, I’ll stop by if I can,” and walks on towards his doom.
Levi’s door is shut. He gently knocks on the wood three times, and waits. Just as he’s about to knock again, he hears a low voice. “If this is Arlert, come in. If this is anyone else, fuck off.”
Armin takes a last look around, drinking in the sounds of laughter coming from the hall. He will never hear laughter again. Inhaling deeply, he composes himself. He’s not going to give Levi the opportunity to mock his cowardice. Armin Arlert is no longer a coward. He opens the door and walks inside.
Levi is seated behind his desk, leaning back in his chair with an arm draped over the back. Very casual, but that doesn’t fool Armin. He’s seen Levi go from relaxed to lethal in no time at all.
“Corporal? You asked to see me, sir?”
“Yes, Cadet. Sit.”
There’s a chair facing Levi’s desk, and Armin plants himself in it hurriedly. His spine is stick straight, his hands palms down in his lap. He presents a direct contrast to Levi. There’s a pause.
“You’re from the Zhiganshima district, right? You and Eren have been ‘bffs’ since you were in diapers?”
“Y-yes, sir.” Is Eren in trouble, too?
“Don’t piss yourself, brat. You’re not in trouble,” Levi drawls. Armin can see that the corporal’s wearing that slight smug grin of his. “I called you here for another reason. Commander Erwin and I have been talking about that raging bundle of hormones and anger that’s your boyfriend.” Armin opens his mouth to protest the term ‘boyfriend’, but he can only manage a sputter before Levi continues. “We may have avoided turning him over to the military police for the time being, but he’s still a fucking menace. While he’s proven easy to train here, in calm circumstances, there’s no guarantee of how much he’ll screw up when he’s watching his comrades dying around him. That’s where you come in, Cadet.”
“Sir?”
Levi sighs deeply as he leans forward. “Come on, Arlert, I know for a fact that you’re brighter than that. You’re the only one who’s been able to calm down the monster, yes?"
“If- if you’re referring to Trost, then yes, I was able to communicate with Eren through… certain methods, but-“
“I’m not asking you to stick a blade in him again. You two are close. We propose that you use that weird sexually charged bromance you have to soothe the savage beast, by staying close to him at all times.”
Armin’s eyebrows lifted. He was being offered a chance to be by Eren’s side at all times in battle? “Of course I’d be willing to do that, sir!"
“I appreciate the enthusiasm, Cadet, but not so fast. To do so, you’ll have to join my squad. Special ops. And look, I know you’re a genius, or whatever, and that your strategic planning and shit is way off the charts, but let’s face it. You’re physically incapable of keeping up with the best of the best. And that’s a problem, ‘cause Jaeger’s really going to lose it if he sees you slithering down a titan’s mouth.”
Armin remembers Trost and shudders. “I… I can manage, sir! If you’ll just let me work at it…“
Levi raises an eyebrow. “Oh, you’re going to work, all right. If you’re really on board for this, your private lessons with me start tomorrow.”
Armin’s mind is reeling. Not three years ago Shadis was calling him the weakest of the recruits, and now he’s being recruited to the Survey Corps Special Ops squad by Humanity’s Strongest. Even though it’s a death sentence, and Humanity’s Strongest is a scary, strange little man, it’s awesome, and more importantly it’s to help Eren. Armin would do anything for Eren.
He stands, snapping into a perfect salute and nodding his head. “What time would work best for you, Corporal?”
Both of Levi’s eyebrows are raised now, but all he says is, “After breakfast. 07:00 sharp, in the left wing courtyard. I’ve made sure that we won’t be disturbed.”
“I’ll be there, sir,” Armin says.
“Good. Oh, and one more thing: keep it a secret.”
“Why secret, sir?” Armin asks, confused.
“Don’t be dense, cadet. You can imagine Eren’s reaction to your being assigned to Special Ops, can’t you?”
Armin frowns. “He wouldn’t be very happy…”
“No shit. Tell Ackerman if you really want, but don’t spread the word too far. Make sure Eren doesn’t find out.”
“Yes, sir,” says Armin sadly. He hates lying to Eren, but he realises the logic in keeping the secret. Telling Mikasa is a good idea, though.
“Our first mission will be in about three months, and you need to be ready for it, so work hard. And don’t whine.”
The look Levi is giving him is a challenge, and Armin knows it. He replies simply, “Wouldn’t dream of it, sir.”
“Good. You’re dismissed.”
Armin carefully shuts the door behind him as he walks back into the hallway; his mind already spinning to find a decent lie to tell his fellow recruits.