He had missed this. The ephemeral existence of spirithood made everything duller. He couldn't hope or want for anything, just observe. Everything now is so wonderfully bright and sharp, almost painfully so, but it's simply the exquisiteness of life. Erwin laughs at the odd imitation, nods along with Hange's alternative name for a creature he's never seen.

"I agree, water scorpion is quite evocative." He's imagining something spindly but with fins, and manages to only be about halfway correct by the time he actually sees one. At the mention of Levi's famous anger, Erwin's gaze softens, both from fondness and empathy (having been both a victim and a witness to it). "Yes, I know."

They really kept him on his toes in their own ways, hadn't they? And then...

Erwin happily listens, nodding or making appropriately (and genuinely) impressed and interested noises along the way, but when they finally stop at the stall, blue eyes go wide with amazement. He takes it all in, and then systematically looks at each thing, spying the crabs and water scorpions and all the different kinds of shellfish (literally in shells).

"This is incredible..." He picks up a large creature with a wavy shell - a scallop, apparently, examining it from all sides before putting it down.

"Ah, there are your water scorpions, I take it? They're much larger than I expected." They look like overlarge insects, truthfully.

"Can all of these be found on the shores of our island, too?"