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“Here,” Levi said, dropping a folder on Erwin’s desk. “Reports from Hange.”
Erwin nodded his appreciation. “Great.” Levi turned to leave when Erwin’s voice stopped him. “Do you mind going over these with me?”
Levi paused, hand on the doorknob. “Why?”
“I still have a lot to plan before the expedition tomorrow, but I’d like to go through Hange’s reports before we leave. There could be something important that we need to know,” he explained. “It’d be quicker if the two of us split the work so I could get it done before we leave.”
Levi had only been with the scouts for about two years, but he had quickly risen through the ranks. He had earned himself a squad of his own just a few months ago, the respect of his colleagues, and hardest of all, Erwin’s trust. Levi had proven himself to everyone, the Commander included.
All that considered, Erwin had no qualms about letting Levi near the documents. He’d grown quite fond of the man, and he was certain Levi could be helpful in this situation.
However, he could sense Levi’s hesitation. Levi glanced at Erwin over his shoulder with narrowed eyes, as if assessing his options.
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Erwin said simply, opening the folder. “But I’d be grateful for the help… and the company.”
Levi’s hand dropped from the door. “Fine.”
“Thank you.”
Levi pulled up a chair to the side of the desk, Erwin splitting the papers in half and placing one pile in front of Levi.
“So what do you want me to do?” Levi asked.
Erwin handed him a pen. “Just go through and see if there’s anything that seems important. Underline or circle things that we should look into later.”
“…Right.”
Erwin immediately began, pen scratching at the papers as he read through the reports quickly. Hange’s titan experiments hadn’t yielded too much information yet, but Hange had high hopes and Erwin was willing to try anything. He trusted their judgement; if they were certain they could uncover secrets about the titans by studying them, he’d give them the reins.
As he was about halfway through the reports, he noticed Levi hadn’t gotten very far. He hadn’t noted much either. Was he just a thorough reader?
Erwin cleared his throat. “Let me see what you have so far.”
Levi covered the papers with his arms and glared at him. “No. I’m not done.”
Erwin cocked an eyebrow.
Levi huffed, but Erwin could see something in his eyes. He was nervous. But what about? If there was something interesting in the reports that had Levi looking that way, he definitely wanted to see it.
“Levi. Show me.”
Levi frowned but showed him the papers. He had only gotten through a few pages, and what he had deemed important was nonsense.
“You circled the word ‘titans’ six times, the word ‘squad’ four times, as well as half a sentence about how titans can’t digest food, which we already knew,” Erwin observed. “Also Hange’s description of their new assistant, Moblit. A few other words are underlined too. Levi, none of this is what I told you to note.”
Levi didn’t say anything, just pursed his lips and stared at the desk. Erwin didn’t understand why Levi was so uncomfortable, until he realized—
“Levi,” he began softly. “Can you not read?”
“No! Okay?” Levi snapped. “It’s not like education was big in the underground city, who the hell was gonna teach me?!”
“Easy,” Erwin said smoothly. “I’m not judging you.” That calmed Levi down a bit, giving him the chance to take a few deep breaths. “Sounds like circumstances out of your control. But you know, plenty of people can’t read. There’s so few kids that can go to schools like they have set up in the interior, a lot of them just learn the basics from their guardians and that’s it.”
Levi looked up at him, still glaring but with no real bite to it. “Really?”
“Yes.”
“How did you learn? Did you grow up in the interior?”
“I went to school for a bit, yes. But mostly my father taught me. He wanted us to be able to read books together.”
“Must’ve been nice.”
“It was… while it lasted.” Erwin continued after a moment’s consideration, “You mentioned you were raised by a man while living in the underground city. He didn’t teach you, I assume?”
“No. He found me when I was five, after my mother died. He took me in. I’m not sure why. He still raised me though, until I was old enough to fend for myself… doesn’t mean I wanted him to ditch me though,” Levi mumbled the end of the sentence bitterly.
“I’m sorry. You don’t mention your time underground much, but… I figured it wasn’t something you liked to reminisce about.”
“Yeah. Not a lot of great memories attached to my past there.” Levi looked down.
Erwin knew he was thinking about Isabel and Farlan; Levi had talked about them very briefly since their deaths, that they were his family. But Erwin didn’t want to bring it up, knowing it was a sore spot for both of them.
Apparently neither did Levi, because he said no more.
Erwin waited for a second, then asked, “How did I not know this until now? You’ve read our battle strategies with no problems before.”
Levi shrugged. “They’re all laid out on maps, so it’s mostly pictures and shapes. Plus you always point out the positions of each group during briefings. It’s easy to figure out. It’s just all the words in the margins I never look at.”
Erwin felt like Levi wanted to say something else but was trying to work up the nerve, so he waited.
“I want to be able to read, but I felt like it was too late when I tried to figure it out myself,” Levi eventually told him, his voice a soft grumble, like he didn’t want to admit it.
“I can help you, you know.”
Levi’s attention snapped back to Erwin at his words. “What?”
“I can help you,” Erwin repeated. “You’re never too old or young to learn a new skill.”
Levi shook his head. “You’re busy enough as it is.”
“I’ll make time.”
Levi blinked, seemingly surprised at the offer. Then a small, nearly indiscernible smile curled at his lips. “Fine.”
“We can start now, if you want,” Erwin offered.
“But… the reports?” Levi asked, gesturing at his barely touched papers.
“I’ll just ask Hange if there is anything I need to know,” Erwin said dismissively. “They’ll probably be happy to talk to me about their latest experiments, I’ll find out more than enough as we prepare to leave tomorrow. I can finish the papers after the expedition. This is more important right now.”
Levi cleared his throat. “Okay, if you’re sure.”
“I am.” Erwin scooted his chair closer to Levi’s, picking up the pen and writing the alphabet on a scrap piece of paper.
“Erwin?”
“Hm?” Erwin continued to write the letters. He stopped briefly when he felt Levi’s knee nudge his outer thigh. His heartbeat sped up at the small action, and he urged himself not to look too deeply into it.
“Thank you,” Levi whispered.
“Anytime,” Erwin replied. And he meant it.
Erwin could have sworn Levi’s cheeks tinged pink, but it disappeared just as quickly as it had graced his face.
Erwin smiled at him. If this was an opportunity to get closer to Levi, he would gladly take it.
“Let’s get started then.”