"In my defense she offered in the first place."

WOW... BETRAYAL

"AND YOU ACCEPTED-"

"Y/N- what was so important that you allowed an outsider to steal from your father's office?" Mikasa was currently standing over Levi and I as we answered for our crimes.

oh uh

"To be clear- he never stole anything- I just gave him the opportunity to look around."

STOP WORRYING

I WAS SUPERVISING

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT

"And why did you think that was a good idea?"

"She-" I quickly cut Levi off with an elbow to the gut.

"Do you want us to get murdered?"

"What was that Y/N?"

"Nothing Mikasa-" I hummed, smiling up at her. "We're very sorry for looking around the office- can you let us go now? It's been a long time since I was home- I want to greet everyone."

FREE US

"Looking like that?" Eren scoffed, rolling his eyes at me.

WTF

"You're supposed to be on my side-" I grumbled.

listen we got yelled at enough for sneaking out earlier- i don't need to be given the same lecture again

"Y/N-" Mikasa threatened.

OK OK OK

"In exchange for-" I glanced over at Levi, "an experience- I agreed to let him look around the office- BUT IT WAS AN EVEN EXCHANGE! I GOT A LOT OUT OF IT."

calling it an experience sounds-

weirdly suggestive?

yes-

"What did you-" Eren gasped, his eyes moving wildly between the two of us.

uhoh

"It would be easier to tell the truth," Levi grumbled in exasperation.

"Alright but-"

how do i twist this to make it sound like a positive thing

bc if you really think about it

i allowed levi to look around the office in exchange for- sneaking out and getting yelled at???????

"I traded her information about the Ackerman Duchy," Levi answered calmly before I could say anything, "it was an equal exchange."

is that what we're calling sneaking out and getting yelled at?

"Is he telling the truth?" Mikasa glared down at me.

you know i'm getting a little tired of not being trusted

"Yes- we wouldn't lie," I nodded, glancing over at Levi for help.

"How do we know the information is of equal value?" Eren interrupted.

JUST STOP ASKING QUESTIONS YOU STUPID BOY

"Is the security of the Duchy not of equal value to you?" Levi scowled over at him.

the secret passages really were a huge security risk- did i really badger him into sharing all of that?

"Just believe him Eren- no one will benefit if we continue to argue."

just let us go

"You're just letting him get away with this because you don't want to be yelled at-" Eren fired back, a little more aggressive than before. An odd look of hurt pooling in his eyes.

well yeah

"I think that you're giving me a hard time because you don't like our guest," I glared over at Eren, "not that you should like him but- he's telling the truth right now so just believe him."

"You've changed-" Eren continued to scowl.

wow

"I've been away for months-" I rolled my eyes at him, "spoiler alert- yeah- I have changed- the biggest among them being the fact that I have switched bodies with someone I historically despise. Of course I've changed- it would be stupid to not."

i don't need to talk to someone who is only going to stress me out more

"You-"

"Just leave me alone- I don't want to talk to you if you're just going to accuse me of things that aren't in my control," I snapped, standing up. "I'm leaving- we can continue this lecture another time- I just got home- give me a fucking break."

this is exhausting

"You ca-"

"Shut the fuck up," Levi looked over at Eren, before gesturing for me to leave the room.

thank you

As quickly as the argument had started I had fled from the scene, my heart pounding in my chest until I reached the safety of my room.

i don't think i've been truly alone apart from sleeping for a long time-

"If Eren wants to throw a tantrum then he can- I need some time to myself anyway," I murmured to myself- flopping down on the bed.

i missed this

From outside the partially opened window I could hear the distant sound of the training grounds and could smell rain on the horizon.

i really missed this

The sound of the knights training brought old memories up to the surface, summer afternoons spent sneaking out of tutoring sessions to watch the cadets train, running around courtyards playing pretend (in those games Jean was always an evil dragon who had stolen the princess (Armin) and the rest of us were the heroic knights coming to her rescue), and daring each other to run 10 feet into the forest without getting caught by an adult.

isabel and farlan had no problem accepting that levi and i had swapped bodies- despite the fact that he clearly hadn't spoken kindly of me either

perhaps i had unrealistic expectations

it isn't like eren has ever been particularly receptive to change

and- he had a couple poor encounters with levi while acting as my escort

even then- why can't he just accept this? why can't he just be happy for me?

i thought that we were closer than this

i thought that he would be happy for my sake

"Can I come in?" Levi's voice, now a familiar and welcome one, called out from the other side of the door.

"Suit yourself," I muttered back, not bothering to sit up.

"You look like shit," he started.

"Oh shut up."

"That kid is an asshole," he grumbled, taking a seat in a large armchair, "go talk to him."

"What?" I scoffed, "did you miss the entire argument we just had? He doesn't want to talk- you of all people should be on my side."

"Just trust me- it won't be the same- he'll listen," Levi sighed. "He's probably just as confused as you are dumbass."

"How do you know that I'm confused?"

"So you are."

"You make it sound like it'll be easy," I glanced over at him, uncomfortable with the way that Levi's gaze lingered on mine- a look akin to concern reflected in his eyes. "He isn't like Farlan and Isabel- he's stubborn and stupid."

"You make it sound like the two of them aren't the same," Levi chuckled. "Just try."

"If this blows up in my face I'm killing you."

"You wouldn't."

"Oh but I so would Levi Ackerman," I rolled my eyes at him, "I am a woman of my word."

"Whatever, continue to hate him forever- I don't give a shit- but don't say that I never tried to help you," Levi shook his head.

oh you're so evil

"Stop doing that," I sat up, frowning at him.

"What?"

"Stop telling me to do things so that doing what I want to do will mean going along with your advice-"

"Is it working?"

"I hate you."

"You wish."

"Asshole."

"Fuck you too."

"You wish."

"So?"

"Fine- but not because you told me to-"

"Whatever makes you happy."

___________________

eren is and will always be so little brother coded to me. also fr the hardest thing abt writing levi fics is sometimes wanting him and eren to interact and having to read everything like 50000 times to make sure tht it can't be misread as ereri

- ami