Work Text:
1.
Levi knows: songs are for people with something to sell, something to entice before the grand disrobing, that songs are to remember how to breathe with their cadence and rhythm and the beauty of a melody.
His mother would hum when she was nervous, cleaning and cleaning until she was sure everything was spotless, would ask Levi to look hard and try to find any stains. And then she would hum as the she worked, the creak of the door and then the mattress singing a mournful off-key tune.
2.
Levi learns: songs are for people with something to sell (weapons in a jacket), something to entice before the grand reveal (violence that comes from the pocket), that songs are to remember how to breathe (heartbeats mean you're alive).
He hums as he works, cleaning up blood stains from the wood floor as Farlan keeps an eye on the door. It creaks as they leave, bounty in their hands, blood on Levi's palms, and he thinks that stains can't be seen unless you search for them.
3.
Levi realizes: songs are for drunkards with nothing to sell (mortality numbed), something to distract before the grand reveal (giants ripping limbs), that melodies are to remind soldiers beauty isn't a fever dream (it is).
He hums as he works, the melody strained as he lets the bodies of his men be barriers (numb), something to soothe the big reveal (trudging through mud and jeers).
Sometimes, songs are the only things that can articulate sorrow.
4.
Levi confirms: songs are for fraudulent unseen salesman unseen (terrifying truths), something that only happens in private (violence that comes in the shape of hope), that melodies are nothing more than distractions (Erwin can weirdly sing on key).
He hums as he works, cleaning Erwin's wound where his arm is missing, when Erwin can only gasp flat notes of pain for no one else to hear, when melodies are something they've both forgotten.
5.
Erwin is still and Levi hums into his shoulder, a song that he'd only ever heard from his mother when she was happy.
He's quiet as he clings and the world is still, humming a lullaby. And somewhere between tears and war, Erwin finally joins him.