In Between The Ends

Chapter Eighteen

     The days began to pass into one another more quickly as the company fell into a routine of preparation.

The handful of recruits they had gathered were improving nicely with their ODM training as well as their general knowledge of the island. Jean seemed pleased with their progress, having taken a keen interest in several of them: a sandy-haired young man named Alexi, a dark man called Orin and a blonde woman with short hair who went by Quinn.

Armin continued to gather any and all information he could from his two sources until he felt reasonably confident in their ability to both navigate the rough terrain north of Wall Maria and anticipate the Jaegerist's behavior.

He conferred with Mikasa as often as he could, relaying his findings and keeping tabs on the enemy's activity. As far as she could tell after a weeklong excursion into the Capitol, Historia and her daughter were still both alive and ultimately uninjured, though she did discover that they had been moved from their imprisonment in the Capitol to some other facility in the Northern reaches of the city. This was their first real stroke of luck, now that they wouldn't have to make it through to city center. Mikasa had done a few scouting missions but had come up empty, much to her frustration, though she remained confident in their ability to carry out their plan: Armin wished he felt the same.

Thanks to Levi's swift moving recovery, his demeanor towards Arya had warmed significantly (as much as Captain Levi was capable of such a thing) to the relief of everyone in the complex. The two of them could be found outside in both the early morning and late afternoon almost every day, working to regain strength in Levi's leg and a mastery of the hand prosthetic, both of which were coming along well. This had become Arya's condition for him being able to start some light ODM work, which she had agreed to reluctantly. Levi had the tendency to push himself too hard in all aspects of his rehabilitation, which was too be expected, and this left Arya often frowning at the training grounds in concern.

Connie and Jean worked with him as often as they could, much to their amusement. The role reversal struck them as rather funny; a term the captain certain didn't consider it to be. Levi's natural skill remained intact; all he really needed to work on was regaining his strength and balance, as well as the subtle differences in movement due to his brace and prosthetic.

Oz was still spending most of his time in the communications room, though he stopped by their compound frequently as he went back and forth between the parliament building and Kardif. On one such occasion three weeks into their stay, he brought along with him a handful of options himself and Arya had been working on to counter Levi's lack of vision on his right side.

Most of these he turned down immediately due to either their ridiculousness or their likelihood of becoming more of a hindrance than an aid. The only one Arya had been able to coax him into accepting was a reflective band with one flat side that wrapped around his left bicep. This would allow him to simply lift his arm to get a basic visual of his other side without having to turn his head.

Levi was still being quite obstinate about the whole situation, certain that his partial blindness wouldn't be an issue (he was probably correct) but it seemed to Armin that even he wasn't completely immune to Arya's influence: she was a hard person to say no to. A fact that he knew all too well.

It was very late into the evening of their fourth week when Armin heard a soft knock on his door. The compound was eerily silent after the rouse and commotion it usually held during the day, so the gently knock seemed to amplify in his small room. He had been trying very hard to fall asleep for several hours, but his mind had refused to settle enough for that to happen.  The summer air was still blowing in his window, warm and damp, bringing with it the thrumming sound of crickets as he padded quietly across the wooden floor. Grabbing the door handle, he eased the door open and peered into the hallway.