FicWad

The dining hall was filled with the sounds of chatter, laughter, the clinking of silverware, and the mastication of sloppy eaters. The noise spilled out onto the attached deck and staircase, following the yellow glow cast by the lanterns. Lia sat with her food in her lap and legs dangling over the edge of the porch.


She still hadn't really made any alliances, and a lot of the time it felt like everyone else seemed to fit in right away. For better or for worse, this was her life now. She had unknowingly married a bunch of action-loving science freaks.


Still, she found herself loving them. Hange, with her crazy obsession of Titans, and pursuit of finding out how they functioned. She was loud, in people's faces, and extremely eccentric, but that's what Lia liked about her. Watching her interact with less-willing individuals was amusing.


Erwin, always the upright commander who was eternally approachable. He was the big brother Lia never had, even though they had never spoken. Kikka, with her spiky black hair and big green eyes, forever acted like she was the toughest cat in the den. Prudence, Michael, Jonathan, Adal, Dedrick...she sketched them all, laughing together in the commons, soaring on cables, and poised for attack.


It became a nightly thing for Lia to sit outside and document their memories because they made up her world. She captured the way the light danced in their eyes and the joy of a good throaty laugh. She grinned as her pencil flew across the page while she drew Hange's daily attempts to befriend an annoyed Levi. No matter the nightmares that befell them, Lia wanted proof that they were a family.


That night was different. It was a few weeks beyond her chin injury, which had healed to a scabby mess. She found herself wondering how the scenes she captured in art would look if she were in them. As usual, she saw Hange clap Levi over the shoulders and take a seat next to him.


Lia took a deep breath, scooped up her plate, and entered the room. No heads turned as she made her way across and quietly sat down on the other side of Levi, assuming that was her best chance of interaction. Zoe Hange's face lit up and she gave a loud greeting. Levi turned his head to see what the commotion was about, fixing Lia with a steely gaze.


The young woman laughed nervously under the pressure and shifted a few inches away. Hange smacked Levi on the back so hard, he sputtered and coughed before setting his teacup - which he had just been lifting to his lips - back down to the table. He sighed audibly and looked positively miserable.


"Come on, Levi! She doesn't talk to anybody; don't scare her off! You're Lia, right?"


"Yeah, that's r-"


"I'm Hange, or you can call me Zoe. I noticed your nose is always in a book. If you're interested in studying Titans, I'm your lady!"


"You people are obsessed," Levi drawled, stuck between them.


"He acts like he's not curious," she joked.


"I see no good in discussing it further until we've made a new discovery."


"What kind of things do you study?" Lia asked. Levi promptly stood, plucking his teacup from the table as Hange's face lit up like a crazed psychopath. She shoved him back into his seat. He sighed and glared ahead, sipping his tea in annoyed silence.


"Ideally, I want to study a captured Titan," Hange said excitably. "There are so many things we have yet to learn about them." Once again, Levi stood to leave, and this time, she allowed him to, following him with her bespectacled eyes.


"He's so grumpy," Lia observed. "I have never seen him smile or enjoy himself."


"Levi has had a bit of a rough life. He's a criminal from the underground. He lost his friends soon after joining the Corps."


"He had friends?" she asked incredulously. Hange laughed and Lia said meekly, "Sorry...that's terrible though. I had no idea..."


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"If you don't know the basic fundamentals for this, you're a hopeless cause and your ass will be kicked. That's a promise." Lia and Levi were standing a few feet apart, about to practice hand to hand combat.


Lia had been coming along in 3D Maneuvering skills. She wasn't great, but she had at least stopped swinging wildly into objects. While she saw little point in lingering on fighting with fists as they were useless against a Titan, she had to admit that she couldn't have a better coach. Someone from the Underground would undoubtedly have a higher chance of surviving in a fight.


This, of course, also meant that Levi would be true to his word. Slowly, Lia shifted one leg behind her other, and lifted one fist in front of her face, and the other in front of her chest. After a few shaky breaths, she let out an anxious noise similar to, "hehmehmehmehmehmehh..."


Levi considered her for a moment, not moving. After a while, she relaxed position; his eyes hadn't so much as moved from a locked gaze on hers. The moment her guard slackened, she was screaming, high and shrill, as a fist flew at her shoulder.


She cradled it and winced at the effect of the punch. Her glare held steady on her mentor, burning with suspicion. He had waited specifically for her to drop defense. Levi went back to a casual stance and quirked a brow.


"Did I mention fundamentals? Don't let your guard down, idiot."


"You weren't moving! I thought I'd done something wrong!" she screamed back, still clutching her throbbing joint. In a flash, he had struck her other shoulder from the back. "What the hell?!"


"You're still standing there like a moron," he said simply. She growled and got into position, trying to ignore both sides of her body that were now pulsating angrily. Once again, they stared one another down for a lengthy period of time.


Lia breathed deeply, concentrating on his arms and bracing hers. She was not about to let another punch through her defenses. Levi observed her momentarily, and before she could react to his sudden movement, she felt her ankles swept out from underneath her, and her back was to the ground with a heavy thud.


"Damn it, Levi!"


"You have to be ready. Do you expect to be able to anticipate an opponent's movements each time? Do you think they're gonna pause like I am?"


"Well then, don't pause!"


"I'm holding position so as to be unpredictable. You never know when a strike is coming."


"Oh, you're so sneaky," she shot back, voice laden in sarcasm. Slowly, she began to climb to her knees before yet another kick struck her flank and knocked her back down. "Are you kidding me?"


"When are you gonna start taking this seriously?" he responded as once again a hit thwarted her second attempt to get up. Her face was covered in a layer of clumping, sweaty dust. She stayed down to see how it would play out, quickly discovering it was a bad idea. She doubled and coughed as his foot found her stomach. "I'm not even trying," he drawled.


"You're going easy on me, but you've said you wouldn't," she wheezed.


"Well if it bothers you..." Suddenly, Lia was trapped in a whirlwind of strikes. She realized immediately that her mouth had gotten her into trouble. She twisted in agony as pain arched through her body.


Finally having had enough, she screamed and rotated her hips to let out a shin swing to the back of his knees. Levi dropped forward and landed on his palms directly beside her. Lia found herself staring into a pair of analytical blue eyes that were laced with a shimmer of vengeance.


Lia panted, blowing hair that was sticking to her filthy lips. She smiled in victory and grunted as she forced herself to unsteady feet. He mirrored her actions, though in a far more composed fashion.


"I think that's good for today."


"What? I only just got the hang of it!" she whined, leaning on her knees.


"Exactly." She looked at him incredulously.


"I get a hit in, so you're finished. That's it, isn't it? You're being a sore loser!"


"Loser? I clearly won. One hit does not compare to..." Levi frowned and motioned to her absolutely squalid body.


"Well then fight me again, you coward!"


"I got nothing to prove," he stated briskly, and started walking toward the barracks.


"Chicken!" she yelled, charging with an awkward limp. He sighed, squared his shoulders, and spun on the spot, connecting the side of his leg with her head and sending her sprawling across the ground. "Okay, I give up. You win. I forfeit."