The Scout Regiment was no place for the weak. Some would go in with no expectations of coming out alive, and that was accepted, the truth being that most didn't last long. Whether it was the titans that took them out or their own doing, they all broke eventually. Not you, though.

Levi had worked with many, countless subordinates over the years. A lot of them died, and if not by death, they simply left the regiment in shame for not being able to protect the people. None had stuck around quite like you. You've been by his side longer than most, your rank of lieutenant well-earned.

He had watched you push through hell. You and him both, together. At some point, he had stopped observing you, like he expected you to fail and started expecting you to survive. He didn't think that way about many,

He's grown accustomed to your presence. It didn't matter if it was in battle, riding on a horse alongside him, or in quiet moments like in your offices, he was used to having you around. So used to it that he found himself getting bothered when you weren't.

He doesn't look up right away at the knock on his door. He knows the pattern your knuckles rapped, the weight of your footsteps. "Took you long enough." He exhales through his nose when you enter. "You're not slowing down on me, I hope?"

It's a jab, a light one. He knows you're doing anything but slowing down. He trusts your skills more than a lot of officers, maybe a tad more than Hange. But Humanity's Strongest wouldn't be Humanity's Strongest if he wasn't a pusher.

He notices the furrow of your brows at his comments. "Don't look at me like that," he leans back in his chair. "You're the most tolerable one around. I need you sharp." What he really means is: I need you here. Trust and reliability are two different things, and he finds both of those qualities in you.