Lost Causes & No Regrets

The Chariot

Levi (thoughts) : just because I like you doesn't mean you can order me around

Erwin (in his normal voice but it kinda became erotic because of the phone) : Levi can you send me ten tons of dirt.

tooth-i //defeat

only to run right into a dead eyed Levi, who never left. (Hange told him to take his time. it was an order from his Commander.)

words are exchanged, none of them particularly kind.

"what do you want, Dok?"

"to pay my respects."

"why?"

"he was my friend, once."

"and then he was your prisoner."

"..."

(Nile will not take this. not today, not from him.)

"you're the one who killed him, Captain."

(of course he knows what happened on that rooftop. he's a Commander too. he gets to know these things before most others.)

what he doesn't know is what happened right after he said that. the next thing he knows, he's on the ground, the grey sky above him, fresh blood stains on his pressed and laundered uniform shirt.

alone in front of the cooling pyre.

the next day, the first official letter issued by the new Commander of the Survey Corps finds its way onto his desk.

"Nile,

you both got a good hit in. let's call it even.

Cmdr. Hange Zoë"

Nile touches his throbbing, reset nose.

:D

This one frankly is an easy "yes" to me. With the man used to leading and deploying troops, also the person who unravels plots in the blink of an eye being the one in charge of the instructions, aka the one who can figure things out quickly and is used to giving clear commands/instructions; and then the man with the dexterity in charge of the bomb, not to mention someone who is equally quick on the draw to figure things out in his own area of expertise (ex-criminal), plus the added bonus being used to each other's communication, this is definitely a yes.

I was thinking that more intriguing combis to consider include:

Levi has the instructions, Erwin has the bomb: If we throw into the mix the complication that Levi doesn't understand what the instructions are saying and Erwin doesn't understand the setup of what he's looking at, and throw everything into their ability to communicate, this will cause them to lose precious time, but again I think Levi will be able to communicate the instructions/diagrams enough for Erwin to work out what they mean and likewise, Erwin would be able to describe what he's looking at enough for Levi to tell him what he should be doing. Both are used to working under pressure and less than ideal conditions. They should make it.

Hange has the instructions, Levi has the bomb: Hange understands everything and more, the important thing here would actually be keeping Hange on track with the instructions and not start devolving into the history of bombs or some part of the mechanism etc XDD, but Levi should manage. Again, they should pass the test.

Levi has the instructions, Hange has the bomb: As long as Levi understands the instructions, this should be easy peasy, Hange will know exactly what to do. If he doesn't understand the instructions and needs Hange's feedback to work out what is going on, again, see the above point, but they should still make it XD

Hange – Erwin combinations:

Erwin instructions, Hange bomb: speed running it, Hange probably already has a good half of it figured out and just needs the confirmation from the instructions.

Hange instructions, Erwin bomb: probably a longer time than if Levi were doing it dexterity-wise, but I feel like Erwin would have better tricks to keep Hange in focus if needed XD, so it probably evens things out.

Any combi with Levi having the bomb, it's really the person giving the instructions that would be the weak link. Likewise any combi with Erwin having the instructions.

Which leads to the question: what would be the worst combi? And I was considering perhaps that it's:

Anybody not Armin or Mikasa has the instructions, Eren has the bomb: -_- I fear we're not making it

And so, I hope ye enjoy! :D

hey!! hope this will do, our king erwin smith chilling by the ocean, safe and sound 🌅