Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/1697255.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Choose_Not_To_Use_Archive_Warnings, Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      Shingeki_no_Kyojin_|_Attack_on_Titan
  Relationship:
      Levi/Eren_Yeager
  Character:
      Levi_(Shingeki_no_Kyojin), Eren_Yeager, Krista_Lenz_|_Historia_Reiss,
      Connie_Springer, Mikasa_Ackerman, Armin_Arlert, Jean_Kirstein
  Additional Tags:
      This_is_supposed_to_be_funny, shower_humor, Ass_Ogling, Alternate
      Universe_-_Canon_Divergence, Mutual_Masturbation, Oral_Sex, Shower_Sex
  Stats:
      Published: 2014-05-27 Completed: 2014-08-29 Chapters: 8/8 Words: 35522
****** Warm Water ******
by KeroseneShowers
Summary
     Levi's shower breaks. Desperate measures ensue.
Notes
     Sometimes I think I'm funny. Also, please accept my headcanon for
     Levi's masturbatory habits.
***** Looking You Over *****
Levi’s never been one for hyperboles. They’re too dramatic for his taste,
suited more for people like Hanji and Eren Jaeger. But the moment that his
shower faucet starts groaning in staccato, Levi automatically thinks this might
be one of the worst mornings of his life.
He toys with the faucet over and over again. Denial is controlling him at this
point, but the more effort he puts into turning on his private shower, the
louder the gurgles resound in his bathroom. It’s an ugly noise, like clean
boots slapping against muddy terrain; like a supply cart’s wheel trapped in
mulch; like swine eating slops from the trough… ugh. The hairs on Levi’s arms
are standing pin-straight.
“Shit,” Levi mutters. “Fucking work.” But after five minutes of trying, all he
can get is a sliver-stream of brown water to splash on the shower’s tile floor.
The sight gets him turning the faucet left immediately. When the mud-water is
off, he leaves the bathroom, closes the door, and leans on it with a sulk.
His shower is fucked. One of the few material privileges he actually enjoys as
a ranking officer in the Scouting Legion, and it’s been ripped out of his
hands. Just like that. He doesn’t know how, or why, and with his fucking luck,
even if he assigns someone the task of fixing it, they probably won’t know what
to do with it.
This is bad.
Skipping a shower isn’t an option. He’s just finished his early morning run and
his body’s damp from sweat. He only misses a morning shower on extended
expeditions anyway, and even then he makes sure to have enough water with him
to wash his face, armpits and groin. That could be an option here, but Levi
dismisses it immediately. He feels barbaric doing it out there, and doubly so
here, especially when there are other alternatives.
Except that leaves him with…
Levi shudders.
“No,” he says to himself. “No.” I can’t. But what other choice does he have? He
starts rationalizing his decision, which he often does in his life, though this
time it’s to convince himself that his bad idea isn’t nearly as awful as it is.
Who the hell is he now, Erwin?
There might be a possibility that his shower can be fixed by the evening. Maybe
he can threaten one of his squad members hard enough to make sure that happens.
So that means he would only have to do this once. And it’s still early; the
sun’s first rays aren’t even creeping upward to the horizon yet, and he knows
not one of those brats would wake up for another hour, at least. And he does
order them to do a rigorous cleaning of that area twice a week, so it really
shouldn’t be as dismal of conditions as he surmises.
Still, he fleetingly touches again on the prospect of skipping his shower
altogether. No. No, he can’t. They would know. Everyone would just know, and
that thought alone gets his skin crawling.
It would be this one time, he thinks, and when his shower is fixed, he would
put the awful memory behind him. Just this once. And he’ll never think on it
again.
Levi sighs, loudly, picks himself up from his leaned stance and re-enters the
bathroom, reluctantly getting all the things he needs for his visit to…
The communal showers.
 
===============================================================================
 
The long, murky room on the first floor of their HQ is dark and nippy with the
morning’s chill that’s crept inside. Levi suppresses a shiver and takes a step
further.
Along the wall are five flimsy-looking shower heads, with a faucet underneath
each of them, though all the showers connect through pipes against the wall
that lead outside through a small window above the center shower. Opposite the
showers is a row of hooks, and Levi assumes they’re to hang towels. Next to
those are two toilet stalls, and in the farthest wall in the back are two
sinks.
Aside from all this, the room is bare. Levi presses two fingers to the nearest
stones on the wall and wipes downward. There’s no dust, but it’s wet.
Everything is wet, and at least two of the shower heads are dripping water. The
drops echo in the room and it irritates the shit out of Levi. If the hot water
runs out on him because two fucking shitheads couldn’t be bothered to make sure
the showers were fully off…
He takes another step. He’d figured there wouldn’t be a place to set his things
aside, so he’d undressed in his quarters and only brought his shampoo and soap
down with him. He’s wearing nothing, save for his forest-green towel wrapped
tightly around his body, and two spare handkerchiefs that he’d used to cover
his sandaled feet. There’s no telling what the hell’s splattered on the shower
floor. Grime, hair, old suds, and a fuck-ton load of body fluids Levi would
rather not get in contact with. Like hell was he going to chance it by not
wearing protection for his feet.
He tightly closes his eyes for a moment. He can do this, he reassures himself.
Fifteen minutes maximum. So he braces himself and removes his towel, hanging it
on a hook, and shuffles over to the right-most shower head. The cool air filing
in from the window clamps around his body. He grits his teeth and tries to stop
himself from shivering, at the same time watching his feet to make sure he
doesn’t brush against anything questionable.
Levi sets his bathing products down and precariously turns the faucet on.
Finally, finally, Levi’s greeted with scalding water that’s been eluding him
for the entire morning. Levi forgets himself, forgets where he is, and
everything he’s had to endure before reaching this particular near-euphoric
moment. He raises his arms, and the water rushes down across his skin and taut
muscles, trailing down his back and the curve of his ass, past his legs and
swirls through the drain by his covered feet. He lifts his head and lets the
water hit his face; the stream is soft enough for it not to sting, but holds
enough force to keep him alert.
When his entire body is fully wet, he bends down to grab his shampoo. He opens
it and squirts a generous amount of the gel-liquid in his palm, and starts
working it into his hair.
Levi exhales with content, and allows himself a large smile because really, a
hot shower is probably his favorite pleasure in the world. That, and a nice
orgasm, but that’s out of the fucking question. In fact, the thought reminds
him of where he is, and his smile fades.
The communal showers. The communal fucking showers. He remembers his days as a
subordinate, being forced to give up all of his privacy by bathing with other
men and women. The shower rooms were always loud, with everyone scrambling to
finish washing so they could get out of there and snag the best bread rolls for
breakfast; towel-snapping each other and boasting about having the better body
out of the crew. On the awful days, Levi would find traces of a sexual romp,
most likely from his comrades that snuck out in the middle of the night for
their liaisons.
He’s certain not much has changed between then and now, and he gives another
glance down at the drain, and at the shower’s drain next to his, but all he can
see are his own shampoo suds, still too clumpy to disappear through the drain’s
holes. On the drain next to his, however, he can faintly see strands of black
hair and he almost retches. He scoots farther, while still maintaining his
stance right under the stream of hot water.
He hated having to share such an intimate activity, like showering, with other
people. It wasn’t the scrutiny of his anatomy, per se. What he lacks in height,
he knows he makes up for in his body. Training and combat in the Scouting
Legion will do that for anyone – but communal showers felt like an intrusion, a
prodding into his personal bubble that he didn’t invite. No pissing by himself,
no bathing, no shitting. No jerking off without anyone watching.
Eventually, he shifted his schedule, waking up earlier than all of the others
to allow some peace of mind. No one dares wake up at this ungodly hour without
intent. With Levi, the reward was steaming water that fogged up the room enough
to hide him in it, in case he decided to jerk off at the crack of dawn with
some semblance of privacy.
Which he often did.
The thought makes Levi stop his movements; hands tangled in his scalp despite
the fact that most of the suds are rinsed out by now.
He thinks about that again. He’d woken up early, earlier than the rest of his
squad, to shower and jack off. Who’s to say a member of his squad now wouldn’t
do the same…
But who would…
It’s then that the voice breaks through the room.
“Ca-Captain?”
Levi tries to hide his surprise, but his body stiffens regardless. His ass
clenches as well, and he hopes Who-He-Thinks-It-Is doesn’t notice.
Slowly, he turns around and when he meets the boy’s face, he frowns.
It’s Eren. Eren Jaeger. Eren fucking Jaeger looking like a doe facing the
barrel of a hunting rifle, with soap and a toothbrush in one hand, and his
other hand clutching the ends of his towel to keep it from falling.
Time seems to freeze -- what is with him and these fucking hyperboles this
morning? Both of them stay still without a word to each other; the only sound
in the room is the shower stream. Levi knows he should be the one to break the
silence and the intense eye contact they’ve sustained for longer than should
ever be allowed between two people, ever, but for the first time in a long
while…
He just doesn’t know what to say.
Levi swallows. “Eren,” he says flatly.
Eren’s eyes shift away from him, and he looks around the room. His cheeks are
turning pink. “Um…. What… what are-“
“My shower’s broken,” Levi offers. His frown grows larger; he didn’t want to
offer that piece of information to him. His next words are more aggressive to
make up for that. “Never mind that. What the fuck are you doing up so early?
Are you meeting someone here?”
Eren’s eyes widen. “What? No, sir!” He goes into subordinate mode, and does his
best to offer Levi a salute while still holding on to his towel. “Captain. I- I
like taking advantage of the hot water, and waking up before anyone else makes
sure that I can do that. Sir.” The upper portion of his towel wilts then,
revealing a sliver of Eren’s chest, though Eren quickly shifts it back to cover
himself.
Levi resists the urge to roll his eyes. “There’s… no need for that, Eren. Stand
down. We’re in a damn communal shower after all.”
Eren relaxes his stance, but Levi notices Eren’s gaze is trailing downward. He
remembers that he’s very much naked, and when Eren’s eyes reach a certain
point, they grow large again and he eerily resembles the Braus girl when she’s
at the mess hall and in the middle of a full dinner -
“Eren!” Levi calls. “Eyes up here!”
“Sorry, sir!” Eren offers apologetically. He’s tomato-red now. Levi just hopes
the steam that’s been building around him is enough not to have given Eren a
full show.
Regardless, now Levi’s feeling a lot more embarrassed, but he hopes he can play
it off. “Just get in the shower,” he says, and turns around to continue
cleaning himself. “Don’t make it uncomfortable.”
“Yes, sir,” he hears from behind him. It sounds like Eren is shuffling around,
most likely situating his towel and other things. Levi can’t be bothered; at
this point, he needs his shower – hell, he needs his morning -- to be over and
done with, and the faster that happens, the better.
Suddenly, Levi hears the shuffling right next to him and he scoots out of the
way.
“Oi!! Eren! Are you dense?” he angrily yells. “Two shower heads away from me,
at least!”
“Shit,” Eren breathes, practically in Levi’s ear. The naked teenager retreats,
or at least that’s what Levi assumes. He can’t exactly tell; he’s looking
straight ahead at the stone wall in front of him lest his eyes accidentally
land on any part of Eren’s body, which is hopefully on the other side of the
showers by now. Because that would just be weird.
He hears the squeak of a turning faucet and it sounds a safe distance away from
him, so Levi calms down again and tries continuing to wash.
“So, your shower’s broken, Captain?” Eren calls from his location. Levi winces.
“Yes,” he responds curtly, hands still combing through his hair. He hopes
that’s all Eren has to say.
But of course he doesn’t. This is Eren Jaeger, after all. Eren’s always got
something to say, even when he’s in danger; even when he’s sharing an awkward,
unwanted bonding moment with his superior in a fucking shower room. “What’s
wrong with it? Maybe it’s a matter of just replacing a pipe-“
“Eren,” Levi sharply says. “I don’t usually have anyone in the shower with me
to talk to, and I’m not planning on changing that. No talking.”
“Oh,” Eren responds. “Right. Sorry, Captain.”
Eren finally shuts up and Levi revels in the silence for a couple of seconds,
focusing on the heat of the water. It’s still so hot, running down his body,
the steam enveloping him like a blanket. He sighs quietly, bending down to
retrieve his personal bar of soap. He flips it around in his hand a couple of
times before pressing it against his chest to start lathering up his frame. His
pacing is quick, but he’s thorough, ensuring that every inch of him will smell
clean and remain so for most of the day. He washes his arms, his back, his abs,
stomach, and ass, and ends his soaping with his legs.
 In a matter of a couple minutes, he almost forgets he’s not alone.
“Um… Can I ask one more question, Captain?”
Levi’s eyes narrow into a glare despite his avoiding turning in Eren’s
direction. “What?” he asks. There’s a drip of annoyance in his voice.
“Why are you wearing slippers?”
The question implies a lot of things, including the possibility that Eren may
have been staring at him this entire time. He decides to ignore that fact for
his own sake. “Tch,” Levi responds, and shifts under the water so any remaining
soap on his body starts running down. “I’m a little concerned that you’re not
wearing slippers. It’s a communal shower, and fucking disgusting.” He pauses to
lift his head and exposes his neck to the water. “I know what you kids do or
don’t do in here. I was young once.”
After a while, Eren responds. “It’s… actually not too dirty in here. At least,
I take my cleaning duties seriously. It’s not bad, really.”
Levi doesn’t respond. He runs a hand through his wet hair again for good
measure.
“But you know,” Eren starts, “If your shower isn’t working, you could also use
Squad Leader Hangi’s bathroom. I know she and her team aren’t here right now,
but…”
This brings back Levi’s full attention. He blanches. In fact, he’s scowling.
That option completely evaded him. Eren was right. Hangi did have her own
private quarters as well, and unlike Levi, she doesn’t lock her doors when
she’s out on assignment.
How the fuck did he not remember?
He turns to offer a retort, because he’s so offended at both himself and Eren
that the idea didn’t come to him first, but realizes his folly when it’s too
late.
Eren was looking at him, or at least when Levi inadvertently turns to face him,
Eren turns his entire body back to his shower. But Eren’s action provides Levi
a full view of the teenager’s backside and…
The look of anger on his face is replaced with an amused one. Eren is actually…
toned, or at least it looks that way judging by the view of his perky, firm
ass, currently tight and clenched, probably from nervousness. Still, Levi’s
always thought Eren was too lanky for his own good, but it turns out Eren’s got
a more athletic frame than Levi had ever thought. He watches Eren for a couple
more moments, entertained at how the teenager is furiously scrubbing soap on
his back, tanned flesh that simultaneously looks firm and  supple –
Is he really ogling one of his squad members right now? Levi turns back and
aggressively pulls at the faucet, effectively stopping the stream. The morning
chill hugs his body almost immediately. He shivers, but this time Levi doesn’t
try to stop his body from shaking.
“How the hell are you even up right now, Eren?” he hears himself asking,
hostility in his voice rising. Because now he’s just mad. It’s cold again, he
still doesn’t feel as clean as he’d like to, and he’s just admitted to himself
that Eren Jaeger’s got a nice ass. What the fuck.
He glances again at Eren’s direction, anyway.
Just like the last time, he catches Eren’s gaze on him before Eren looks
elsewhere.
“Oh, well…” Eren says. He’s looking down at his feet, it seems. “Like I said,
it’s for the hot water.” He bristles under the water, which has his unkempt
hair clinging to the sides of his face. “I’m actually kinda glad I’m not locked
in anymore. I was only left with the cold water when I was allowed in here,
so…”
Levi wraps his arms around his sides to keep warm and starts shuffling to his
towel, little by little, with his eyes downcast at the stone floor. He felt
ridiculous doing this when he was by himself; he really hopes Eren’s little
staring problem is fixed now because he’ll feel even more ridiculous if Eren is
watching his sluggish pace to the other side of the room.
Before he covers his body with his towel, Levi uses it to dry his hair, jerking
it back and forth on his scalp. “Eren,” he starts. From this side of the room,
Eren can’t see him, and he doesn’t turn around when Levi calls his name.
“Captain?”
“I don’t have to say that you never saw me in here. Right?”
Eren turns off his faucet, and Levi frowns at this. Eren’s shower time wasn’t
nearly enough to clean his entire body, was it? Kids these days and their
shitty hygiene…
“Understood, sir. I won’t tell anyone.” Eren is more obvious with his shivers.
The teenager’s head tilts downward and his hands fling to his front while he
sprints to his towel hook, all while adamantly refusing to look over in Levi’s
direction.
It’s a little funny, actually.
Levi keeps his eyes on Eren until he’s covered, and then turns to leave. But he
abruptly stops by the doorway. “Eren,” he says again. He’s not used to
addressing him so frequently this early in the morning.
“Yes, Captain?”
Levi says it before he gives it a second thought. “If I catch you staring at my
ass again, I’ll cut your limbs.”
He leaves before getting a reaction.
He still has to wash his feet, after all.
***** Come Closer *****
Chapter Summary
     Eren wants to impress Levi. Showers are fixed. No. WAIT A MINUTE –
Chapter Notes
     FIRST OFF, I'M NOT A PLUMBER. *said in "I'm not a rapper" voice*
     Thanks a lot for the comments and kudos. SERIOUSLY. I'm a little late
     with when I wanted to update, but it's a pretty long chapter. Eren's
     POV. I feel like I have to apologize for what you're about to read
     too. idk. don't look at me.
     Also, this takes place after the formation of Levi Squad 2.0, so
     probably spoilers or something. I meaaann
Okay.
That was, by far, the best morning of Eren’s life.
Never mind the fact that his usually long shower was cut in half, or that he
couldn't rub one off since he hadn't been alone, or even that he had been
caught staring at his Captain’s ass and reprimanded for it.
Because the sight of that ass alone, the pale but firm cheeks that glistened
with water that had trailed down Levi’s backside, was enough masturbation
fodder for at least a month.
When it comes to Eren’s opinion of Levi, the lines between infatuation,
irritation, and idolization have always been blurred, ever since Eren joined
the Scouting Legion. Fuck, even before that, when Levi had joined the Scouting
Legion and everyone in Shiganshina started gossiping about an alleged
“strongest” soldier that managed to kill a dozen Titans within his first year.
Eren had always simultaneously hated and liked his captain, for being the blunt
and resolute leader for his squad, but for beating the crap out of Eren in
public (which, yeah, he’d gotten over, but come on); for being completely
unafraid of Eren’s Titan power, but often demanding a burdening load that Eren
wasn't sure he could carry.
With all that said, Eren had still suspected that his feelings for Levi might
just be bigger than reckless hero worship. The developing ache in his chest
that thrummed when Levi used his name, and the buzzing feelings in his stomach
when Levi praised him for following orders in his Titan form confirmed it. It
drove Eren and his decisions, and suddenly the need to impress his Captain
became a pressing urgency that was far less controllable than his shifting
powers.
And then. The ass.
Eren couldn’t deny it now, and he’d spent the rest of his morning thinking
about what happened in the showers. It excited him, to have shared such an
intimate moment with Levi, and being ordered to keep it under wraps made Eren
feel like he and Levi were in on a secret. No one else among the new squad had
come close to the camaraderie they were sharing.
He replays the images again in his head, now, seated at the dining table in the
mess hall with the others. Eren’s sure he’s just missed Levi; his Captain was
often the first to eat breakfast and the first to leave, meanwhile Eren was the
opposite. The man’s seat is empty but it doesn't matter. Eren closes his eyes
and focuses on the burnt image of Levi naked, backside pale and perfect; Levi
naked, turning around when Eren had called his attention; Levi, naked, his
chest, wet and chiseled, and how Eren’s gaze eventually moved down, down to the
man’s stomach, and the faint happy trail that led to Levi’s glorious-looking --
The sound of something dropping down on his plate startles Eren enough to open
his eyes. It’s a tall and thick loaf of bread. Heat rises to his cheeks.
“I grabbed it for you earlier,” Armin says next to him, and smiles. “Sasha
started to look like she wanted seconds.”
“Hey!”
Eren ignores Sasha’s cry and stares down at the phallic-shaped food.
“I’m fine, Armin. Thanks. Sasha, you can—“
The loaf of bread is off his plate before Eren can even finish his sentence.
“Took you long enough to get here, Jaeger,” Jean sneers from across the table.
“How the hell do you manage that? Waking up in the morning isn’t a hard thing
to do.”
“Fuck off, Jean,” Eren says. “I wake up earlier than you, I just… fall back
asleep again.”
Jean snorts mockingly but Mikasa shoots him a glare that prompts his silence.
Eren admits to himself that Jean’s right, though. He should really stop lying
back down on his bed after showering. But he couldn’t help himself this time…
Oh. There's the ache again.
Because he’s the last to arrive for breakfast, he’s the only one left with a
sizable portion of porridge, and since Levi’s not there anymore, he’s missed
the chores and tasks that they’ve been assigned for that day. He stabs a
spoonful of porridge into his mouth and chews. “What are we doing today?
Shifting exercises?”
“Don’t talk with your mouth full, that’s disgusting,” Jean says. Eren opens his
mouth to show him his barely chewed food in response.
“Captain Levi said that Squad Leader Hanji won’t be back for a couple more
days, so the experiments will be postponed until then,” Armin offers.
“It’s just endurance drills,” Mikasa adds.
“And the usual chores,” Christa chimes in. “It’s my turn for laundry duty
today, so if you need anything washed...”
Eren nods in her direction, and then a groan from the other side of the table
catches his attention.
“You guys are so lucky,” Connie says. There’s a sadness in his eyes, and it's
reminding Eren of a lost puppy, begging to be taken in to a person's home. “I’d
give anything right now for those drills.”
Eren furrows his brows and takes another bite. “What are you talking about? And
don’t you hate endurance training?” Jean makes another repulsed noise and Eren
opens his mouth for him again.
“Captain Levi gave me a ‘special assignment,’” Connie says. He runs a hand over
his face. “Whatever the hell that means.”
Eren feels a pang of jealousy. Special assignment? Would he be running personal
errands for Levi? And why did he choose Connie? He tries thinking back on what
Connie might have done earlier in the week to piss Levi off.
“He said something about repairing something in his quarters, didn’t he?” Armin
asks.
“Oh, right,” Connie says, and slumps his head down on the table. “Why me? Why
would he think I’m any good at fixing anything?”
“What do you think it is?” Christa asks.
“His desk,” Mikasa offers.
“His toilet!” Sasha says. Crumbs of bread from her mouth spill on the table.
“His gear?” Armin guesses.
“His shower!” Eren says definitively. His outburst is more confident than
usual, and the entire table looks over to him, giving him a strange look. Eren
swallows and tries to play it off. “Maybe?”
They continue bickering, meanwhile Eren just listens quietly. It has to be
Levi’s shower, and he probably didn’t specify what needed fixing because he
didn’t want the entire table to know. Eren supposed it made sense. For a brief
moment, he tries piecing together why Levi had chosen Connie, but he realizes
he’s still pretty clueless as to how Levi makes certain decisions.
Connie exhales loudly. The worried look hasn’t left his face since he's brought
up his task. He must really not be looking forward to it. “Like, is he going to
be watching me while I work? I already hate when he decides to watch us train.
And I’m only half-clueless when we’re doing that.”
Eren and a couple others give him a sympathetic look. Connie continues. “What
the hell did I do, though? I haven’t royally fucked up in days! It should be
this guy who’s always running late!” He gestures toward Eren and then offers a
sheepish smile. “Sorry, Eren.”
Eren gulps down another bite. An idea flickers in his head, and it isn’t even
fully formulated yet before he opens his mouth.
“You know what, Connie? You’re right.”
“What?”
“If you want, I’ll do it,” Eren says. The strange looks are on him again.
“You serious?” Connie asks, hope evident in his voice. Eren nods and smiles.
“Jeeze, you really are a suicidal bastard,” Jean quips.
“Eren,” Mikasa says. Her eyes are narrowed, eyeing him suspiciously. Eren feels
like he’s shrinking under her gaze. “I get that you want to impress Levi, but…”
“No, no,” Eren says, a little too quickly. He’s sure she catches it, because
her stare gets harder, but she lets him continue. “It’s not about him. I just…
I feel bad.” Mikasa still doesn’t look convinced so he lies some more. “Plus, I
used to help my dad a lot with bathroom repairs, or at least I did, once. And I
bet it has something to do with his bathroom.”
Mikasa blinks. “I don’t remember you helping your dad with anything.”
Fuck, Mikasa can be an asshole.
“You must not have been around yet then,” Eren says and turns back to Connie.
“So? Gonna take me up on my offer?”
“Hell yeah!” Connie replies automatically.
“You’ll both get in trouble,” Mikasa cuts in. “That’s defying one of Levi’s
orders. And you think he wants more than one other person in his room? Think
about this.”
“Mikasa’s right,” Armin says. “He obviously wants Connie to do this, not you,
Eren. Uh, no offense, Connie…”
Not Armin, too. Eren suppresses a frown and ignores the both of them with a
shrug. “We just won’t tell him then. Seriously, how hard can it be? I’ll be
done before dinner, and the Captain’s got enough to do than watch someone fix
his shower. It’s not a big deal. Right, Connie?”
“Uh, right.”
“This idea is stupid,” Mikasa says with the biggest eye-roll Eren’s seen in his
entire life. She gets up from the table and whips her scarf into place. “Come
on, let’s get to our drills.” Everyone follows suit with Jean in the lead,
trailing inches behind her.
When they’re out of earshot, Connie offers Eren a grin. “I really owe you one
if you can do this for me. He said to head to his office when I was done with
breakfast. Maybe meet me upstairs in an hour?”
“Yeah,” Eren says, and watches Connie leave the mess hall. Eren stands and
picks up his bowl to start washing it.
He’s not entirely sure why he’d just sacrificed his day to fix Levi’s shower.
Mikasa might have been right; it’s definitely an obvious attempt to kiss the
Captain’s ass. But if he can do this, and if it impresses Levi…
Well. If anything, it wouldn’t hurt if it gets him closer to his Captain.
 
===============================================================================
 
 
The door to what Eren had always assumed was Levi’s quarters is open when he
arrives to meet Connie, but he creeps toward it just in case. He clears his
throat and calls his friend’s name.
Immediately, he hears shuffling coming from the room and for a fleeting second,
he’s sure it’s actually Levi that's inside. But Connie’s head pokes out of the
room, and he gives a beckoning gesture to Eren, calling him in. “Finally,” he
says. “You were right, it is his shower. How’d you know?”
“I didn’t,” Eren says, as casual as he can muster. He hesitates as soon as he
walks in. The fact that he’s just entered a place as private as Captain Levi’s
bedroom is suddenly daunting, and he needs a moment to survey the room, but
Connie stops him when he turns around and eyes him with confusion.
“Come on, Eren,” he says, and enters the bathroom. It doesn’t matter much
anyway; aside from a pristine bed, desk, and chair, there isn’t much to see.
The bathroom is an entirely different story, however.
“Shit,” Eren mutters, his reaction knee-jerk and genuine. The room is quaint,
but fancier than any other part of their head quarters, with real, tiled floor
as opposed to the stones and wood that runs along everywhere else. And it looks
even cleaner than the bedroom, than Levi’s office, than any other place or
thing that Levi’s touched and cleaned in the place. The color scheme of the
room looks to be green and white; Eren spots a rack of green towels above the
toilet, and the toilet cover looks like it’s made of green fuzz. Who the fuck
covers their toilet seat? Is that a thing?
“Oh, I know right?” Connie breaks his thoughts. “How the hell did he manage to
get this approved? He’s kinda my hero now, actually.”
“Yeah,” Eren says, still looking around. There’s a line of bath products on the
sink, including soap and shampoo. Connie must have moved them out of the
shower.
“I even tried to figure out what was wrong with the shower,” Connie continues.
“You know, in case he wants to let me use his bathroom as a thanks or
something.” He shrugs. “I have no clue though. Neither does he. I cleaned the
shower head, thinking it was that but it still won’t run.”
Eren doesn’t respond, but takes a step closer to the shower. The shower head
did look clean. In fact, if he hadn’t known the situation, he wouldn’t have
guessed that anything in this room was out of place.
“Well. Have fun,” Connie says behind him. When Eren turns around, Connie’s
already bolted out of the door.
Well, all right.
Eren stares at the shower for five minutes, hands on his hips and regarding it
carefully. Part of it has to do with not knowing how to start; and some part of
him hopes that maybe it will be fixed without him having to do anything. He can
dream, right?
He gets closer, leans over, and turns the faucet. Nothing happens. But he keeps
turning it anyway, and after twenty seconds of fiddling with the handle, he
hears a soft stream of water above him. A splash in his hair follows, and he
aggressively shakes it off when he notices the dismal, brown color of the
water.
“What the hell?” he mutters to himself. It definitely shouldn’t be that color.
But he’s at least got some water going, so he’ll take it as a win.
He turns the faucet some more to strengthen the shower stream, but it only does
so by a margin. The color doesn’t change at all. Eren knows he’s only just
started tinkering with the shower, but he can already feel a hint of anger
building inside him.
“Okay, what’s wrong with you?” he asks himself, avoiding the stream but
maneuvering himself to take a closer look at the shower head. He touches the
neck of it, wraps his hand around it and twists. The shower head wriggles in
his hand, so that must mean… it’s loose? Did it move out of place, and is that
why the stream was so weak?
He twists his hand again, and the shower head moves again, but the stream isn’t
changing. He turns the head with more force this time, and he swears he can
feel it loosen up. But he’s not sure which direction it needs to face to
properly work again. He turns it left, and he hears a click; momentarily, he
thinks he’s done it. But the stream is still small, slow, and brown.
Eren has to be making progress though. He turns the head left again, and this
time pushes it so it faces left as well. The head feels looser, and more fluid
in its movement. Maybe with just a little more strength…
Eren smacks the shower head with such force that it breaks off.
Suddenly the stream’s strength is like a hose. Brown, mucky water shoots out of
where the shower head used to be attached and splashes against the shower
floor. Some of it gets on Levi’s bathroom tiles, and the disgusting-colored
water is so dark and ugly against the tiles that all Eren can think to do is to
cover and wipe it off immediately before Levi can ever see it.
Eren panics, but he’s not out of his head yet to think of throwing Levi’s
towels on the floor. So, with haste, he takes off his shirt and flings it on
the ground. The shirt seeps up the mud-water quickly, but that’s only one
problem out of the way. He’s still got a stream that’s not slowing down to
worry about.
“Fuck!” Eren yells. “Shit!” His eyes frantically track the room. He looks at
the shower, the stream, and then finally focuses on the pipes that no doubt
lead outside to the water access. He has to shut the water off, and fast,
before Levi’s entire bathroom is filled with mud.
Eren runs out of the room as fast as he can. He bolts through the hallway, down
the stairs, and nearly trips out the door that leads to the grounds. He’s
panting, but he rapidly makes his way to what he thinks is Levi’s window, in
hopes of finding where Levi’s water access leads to. He eyes the pipes that
travel down their HQ’s walls, and sure enough finds that they lead to a well
not too far from where he can vaguely make out the forms of his friends running
laps.
He runs over to the well, heart still clamoring in his chest. There’s no way he
can just get rid of the water in the well, but he looks down to the pipes on
the grass. This specific well undoubtedly gives the upper floor access to
water, and if Eren fucks with it, he’ll be in trouble. But if Levi sees the
state of his bathroom right now, dirtied and getting dirtier with every second
that the stream is on, Eren will be dead. He knows this.
He tries to find a weak spot on the pipes, and when he does, he kicks. He
curses, because his toes are now throbbing in pain, but he kicks again. The
pipe budges, and he gives one final rough kick before part of the pipe breaks,
and water starts shooting upward, hitting Eren in the face.
The stream dies down after a minute, and trickles back down on the grass. Eren
plops himself on the ground and catches his breath. He looks over the area
where he’s cracked the pipe, and groans in disgust.
At least he knows what the problem is now. The eyes of a dead mouse look up at
him from inside the broken pipe and he grimaces.
From out in the field, someone yells. “Hey, thanks again Eren!”
Eren barely registers the voice. From his position on the ground, he shoves his
leg outward, in an effort to kick the pipe and its gross contents away from
him.
“Yeah, you’re fucking welcome.”
 
===============================================================================
 
Eren spends the rest of the afternoon doing a rigorous cleaning of Levi’s
bathroom. There’s a pool of mud-water when Eren makes his way back in there,
and his shirt might be fucking ruined forever. So he finds Christa in the
laundry room to see if she can salvage it, and comes back with rags and
buckets.
For the most part, it’s only the area around the shower that made contact with
the dirty water, but for good measure, Eren cleans everything. It takes him
double the amount of time as well, because now that the upper floor is
completely fucked without water access, he has to make several trips downstairs
to retrieve clean water. Because of this, Eren is completely exhausted when he
finishes, which is a little before dinner time.
Not that he’s done working; he’s still got a pissed off Levi to worry about. In
fact, Eren’s still not entirely convinced he won’t get his ass kicked for the
shenanigans he’s pulled today.
But he’s got a plan. Well, half of a plan. So he heads to Levi’s office before
the man can head down for dinner. He has to confront him now, or else he’ll
find out that he and Connie had switched tasks today, and having to find out in
that way will no doubt leave him in the worst moods. From experience, Eren’s
learned that Levi prefers solutions and admitting responsibility, as opposed to
just an apology.
Eren will gladly admit responsibility. Providing a solution, though… Well. He’d
see about that.
“Come in,” he hears Levi say promptly after Eren’s rapped on his office door.
Eren takes a deep breath to prepare himself for what’s to come, and opens the
door.
“Captain,” Eren greets, and it’s not until his fist hits his chest with the
salute he gives Levi that he’s aware of how still-shirtless he is. He’d been
moving in and out of the head quarters that he had just gotten used to it.
Eren’s blush is instant.
“Is there a particular reason you’re not wearing a shirt right now, Eren?” If
Levi is at all amused by this, he’s not showing it. Eren’s a little grateful
for that, actually.
“Uh, yeah,” Eren stammers. He curses himself for sounding so nervous. This is
very unlike him. He exhales and braces himself again. “Captain, I… have a
confession to make.”
“And you had to do it without a shirt on?” Levi snorts, and this time Eren’s
sure he hears a playful tone in his words. Whoa. “I think I’ve seen enough of
you this morning that will last me a lifetime, so thanks.”
Eren really doesn’t know how to respond to that. “I…”
“That was a joke, Eren. Don’t be an idiot. I joke sometimes.”
“Right,” Eren manages. It’s really unfair how consistently casual Levi always
appears. He tries steeling himself for a third time. Seriously, when the hell
did he get like this?
Crushes fucking suck, he thinks.
“I’m not wearing a shirt because… I was trying to fix your shower.”
That catches Levi off-guard. His features narrow, looking angrier than he had a
moment ago. He leans further into his desk, away from his chair’s back, and
glares. “What?”
Eren offers a second salute, this one as a symbol for an apology. He tries
looking genuine and the least ridiculous as possible, though it’s unlikely he
can do so with no shirt on. “Captain. I offered help to Connie this afternoon
so he could do his endurance training. At the time, it seemed like a good
idea.”
“I assigned Springer to that job. Not you, Jaeger. So which one of you two
can’t follow orders? Because right now it sounds like neither of you can.”
“I pressured Connie into switching tasks, sir. I thought it unfair for him
to...” He needs to word the rest of the sentence carefully; he doesn’t want to
make it seem like running an errand for Levi was a known punishment among the
squad. “…Unfair for him to take on the hardest task for the day, especially
when I was late to breakfast. It’s entirely my fault, sir.”
“You’re always late to breakfast,” Levi mutters. Eren doesn’t think he was even
meant to hear it. There’s a lapse in their conversation. Eren watches Levi’s
face; he seemed to be mulling over everything that Eren had just said. Finally,
Levi folds his hands in front of him, on his desk, and speaks. “So it’s fixed?”
Okay. Here comes the hard part.
“Not exactly, Captain…”
“Eren.” The word cuts like a blade. Eren unconsciously steps back. “What was
that? You better hope I’m prematurely losing my damned hearing, or I need you
to rethink your next words. Is my shower fixed?”
“Sir, I…”
“Is my shower fixed, Eren?” Eren’s sure he’s never heard Levi’s voice as lit
and loud as it is now. His heart is racing, and he knows he’s only got one shot
at this. The next strings of words come out in a rush.
“The shower head needs replacing, and so does one of the pipes that gives the
upper floor access to water. The water’s shut off for the entire second floor,
sir. I checked-“
With quickness that Eren’s only seen Levi use out on the field, Levi makes his
way up from his chair and darts across the room in front of him. Levi places
his hands on Eren’s shoulders and shoves him backward. Eren tries not to fall
back, but with nothing to support him, he lets Levi’s strength push him all the
way to the back of the office door. He gasps when his back hits the cool wood
of the door, but fear soon catches up to him when he glances at the murderous
look in Levi’s eyes.
“Where the fuck am I supposed to shower, Jaeger?” Levi says through gritted
teeth.
Eren’s words push through. “I had to check all of the rooms in the upper floor-
“
“Where the fuck am I supposed to shower, Jaeger?” Levi repeats the question,
the acidity practically stinging Eren’s flesh. Or maybe that’s because Levi’s
grip on his shoulders has grown so tightly, he can feel the man's nails dig
into his skin.
“They don’t work but we have buckets and-“
“Jaeger!” Levi yells with a push against the door. The force pulls words out of
Eren’s mouth.
“Hanji has a bath!” Eren yells, abandoning the officer’s rank in desperation to
get his half-assed plan out for Levi. “A tub! I can prepare the bath every day
until the pipe and shower head is replaced, and no one will have to know!”
It seems to take a couple seconds for Levi to register what he’s just said, and
then another moment or two before Eren starts to feel the hold on his shoulders
loosen. Not that Levi’s eyes are softening as well; he still looks ready to
exert the violence he’s used on him before. Eren can’t exactly blame him
though. If there’s anything Levi values, it’s cleanliness.
And solutions, Eren reminds himself. He hopes his is enough to assuage the
Captain.
Even though Levi’s hands are no longer digging in to him, they’re still on
Eren’s shoulders. The proximity between them is finally taking a toll on him.
Eren darts his tongue out to wet his lips because his mouth suddenly feels very
dry. The silence isn’t doing much to calm him either.
But he swears he catches Levi’s gaze flick to his tongue’s movement.
What he thinks he sees is gone in an instant, replaced with the usual,
unreadable expression on his face. But Levi looks like if he’s thinking,
ruminating on what’s just happened. Levi looks up and catches Eren’s gaze and
speaks slowly. “Did you just offer to draw me a bath?”
“Yeah,” Eren says. His voice cracks and he wants to crawl into a hole and never
leave. Yeah, that’s what he’s just offered. The way Levi’s repeated it makes
him very aware of how ridiculous his plan is, and now he’s certain –
“Okay, Eren,” Levi says. “Do it.”
“Sir?” Eren can’t hide the shock in his voice.
Levi lets him go and brings his arms in to cross them in front of his chest.
“You’re skipping dinner.”
He'd expected as much. “Yes, Captain.”
“I take two showers every day. I don’t want to skip out on my second tonight.
And I’ve never used Hanji’s bath before.”
“Would she mind…”
“Get it prepared. If you do it right, you’ll only have to skip tonight’s meal.”
Eren nods eagerly. “Yeah, of course. Yeah. I’ll get started.”
Levi stands in front of him, unmoving, and stares at Eren for several moments.
Eren’s not sure what else he’s supposed to do. He hasn’t been dismissed yet,
technically…?
Levi sighs, rolls his eyes, and places a firm hand on Eren’s chest. Eren gasps
at his touch but Levi finishes the move with a rough shove. “You’re in my damn
way, Jaeger.”
“Right, sir,” Eren says, “Sorry.” Levi opens the office door and Eren follows
suit. He watches Levi travel down the hallway, presumably to the mess hall for
dinner, and lingers on the man’s sway of his hips as the distance between them
grows.
Eren sighs. And then he groans.
Okay. He can do this. And maybe…
With another sigh, Eren walks back into Levi’s quarters to retrieve buckets for
the make-shift bath he’s just agreed to make.
***** You don't know my name yet *****
Chapter Summary
     Bath time.
Chapter Notes
     edit: this chapter now comes with FANART! no one is happier about
     this than me. THANKS SO MUCH, NELLY!
     GUESS WHAT, EVERYONE. MY SHOWER BROKE THIS WEEKEND. Or something
     about a busted pipe in my complex, the point is, I had a Levi crisis,
     then the lights went out so I had to shower in the dark. I’m
     convinced I can predict the future through fic now, so I’ll be
     writing about Eren winning the lotto after this.
     This story keeps getting weirder and weirder and slightly fluffier
     and I’m sure Levi hates me for it. 2badtho. If you stick around for
     it, I’m impressed. I lost the point to this.
Levi has no clue why he’s agreed to Eren’s stupid suggestion.
No, he’s lying. Levi knows exactly why he’s agreed to Eren’s stupid suggestion,
and why Eren is currently setting up a bath for him upstairs while he and the
rest of his squad eat in the mess hall in awkward silence.
Judging from the tension in the room, he wouldn’t put it past the squad to know
as well. He resists the urge to sigh.
Levi thinks about Eren. A lot. That’s something he can’t, and wouldn’t think to
ever deny because his days are spent plagued with the looming responsibility of
being Eren’s charge. He’s the kid’s Captain after all, the one meant to take
him down should the unthinkable, worst-case scenario occur. So when he’s not a
constant, hovering presence over Eren, chastising him for being unable to
transform, unable to control himself, or on the off-chance that the kid
deserves some praise, Levi spends his time in his office running various
situations involving him and Eren so they can both be prepared for the future.
Levi is always thinking about him… in the professional sense. Honestly.
Except for today. Fuck today. Today is bullshit.
It isn’t so much that the veil had been lifted from his eyes when it came to
Eren Jaeger’s ass. It’s not like he’s never checked out any of his fellow
officers before. He reports to Erwin fucking Smith, for shit’s sake.
But what had piqued Levi’s curiosity, what made him think about Eren all day,
rather unprofessionally, was that Eren had been checking him out, too.
Levi had figuratively run circles in his mind, over and over, for hours in his
office, trying to come up with a plausible explanation. Eren’s a teenager, with
probably double the hormones thanks to his titan-shifting powers, so Eren most
likely checks out everyone who crosses his path. And since Levi had been the
only one down in the showers, why wouldn’t Eren be staring?
Levi had to admit it was a convincing theory, but then he’d remembered the week
before, when Connie and Jean had been outside in the courtyard, sparring to
blow off some steam or another equally stupid reason. And Levi remembered it
getting heated, not that Levi was entranced or aroused by the overt display of
teenage masculinity; he was more annoyed that they chose to spar right after
receiving their just-washed uniforms.
Regardless, it was something that he’d assumed would entice someone their age
to look. He knows without a doubt Mikasa and Armin had been watching, and Sasha
had practically joined in the altercation with the way she had been adamantly
cheering Connie on.
But Eren…
Well, Eren had actually been right by Levi’s side. In fact, all Eren did was
roll his eyes and mutter, “Yeah, of course. Right on laundry day. Great
thinking over there.”
The comment was so uncharacteristically Eren, but at the time Levi hadn’t given
it a second thought. He had just snorted, nudged Eren on the shoulder and said,
“I’ll make a clean man out of you yet.”
Why the fuck had Levi said that?
And when he really started thinking on it, Eren had wanted to spend a lot more
time with Levi recently. Levi just hadn’t noticed it because he’s in close
proximity with everyone, and spending the time joined at the hip with Eren was
a duty he’d gotten used to by now.
What really confirmed his growing suspicions though, was remembering the other
day when he pulled Eren aside to congratulate him for the extra effort he had
put into his shifting exercises. Eren had visibly swallowed, turned pink, and
then recovered by flashing the biggest grin (and the biggest salute) at him.
But again, it hadn’t been strange at the time; it reminded Levi of when he was
younger, a new recruit grateful to have had an opportunity to leave the walls.
Not strange at all. He respected the adoration, in fact.
But after hours of rumination in his office, Levi couldn’t ignore it.
There… was a possibility that Eren… might… hold a deeper affection toward him.
A crush.
The thought was so ridiculous, Levi had laughed to himself for a minute in his
office.
He has to resist the urge to snort even now.
“Sir?”
He might not have done a good job with that, actually. Levi clears his throat,
musters the strongest glare he can and shoots it in Sasha’s direction.
“What?”
“Uh, nothing,” she says weakly. She looks back down at her emptied plate and
digs her fingers in, no doubt looking for crumbs she might have missed. What a
fucking personality.
“Where’s Eren?” Mikasa speaks up. The hostility behind her words doesn’t go
unnoticed. She really has trouble letting things go.
Still, Levi thinks about his next words carefully; he doesn’t need a pissed-off
Mikasa to go along with a might-be-infatuated Eren. “Upstairs,” he says.
“Doing what? Is he going to eat dinner? Should we bring him some-”
“He won’t be having dinner tonight. No.”
Anger flashes in her eyes, and the hand she’s placed on the table curls into a
fist. Levi keeps his cool and continues.
“I think you know why,” he says, and this time glances at Connie, who flinches
under the eye contact. His mouth opens but he quickly closes it and slumps in
his seat.
Silence falls at the table, but only for a moment. Mikasa speaks up again. “I
told them it was a stupid idea.”
Her words are quiet but sharp. If she didn’t hate him as much as she did, Levi
would like her. Not that he doesn’t already. But he’d like her a lot more if
she made it easier for him. “It was,” he agrees. “He should listen to you
more.”
It’s subtle, but Mikasa perks up at the words. Levi can see her cheeks turning
pink and she brings her hand up to her face to readjust her scarf to hide her
reaction. It’s amusing. Her feelings toward Eren have been obvious since day
one, and Levi wants to rethink his theory again –
No. Eren’s never made a move. He’s always seemed completely oblivious to how
the girl feels. Tch. Absent-minded teenagers.
With hot bodies. Shit. He could definitely use a bath after all his thoughts.
A bath that Eren Jaeger is setting up as they speak. Levi doesn’t bother trying
to stop the sigh from leaving his mouth.
“Sir?” Armin asks.
“It’s nothing. So, I’m going to need two people to travel on horse tomorrow and
send for some replacement items….”
 
===============================================================================
 
When Levi opens the door to Hanji’s bedroom, he catches her bathroom door
slamming shut. Eren’s voice calls from the other room. “Give me a couple more
seconds, Captain!”
Levi rolls his eyes and leans on her bedroom door, crossing his ankles and his
arms while he waits. He looks around and notices how shockingly tidy her room
looks tonight. He’s been in here before, usually to grab one of her jackets he
especially favors, and it’s always looked like the barracks of an all-male
squad. She throws her clothes around (save for his favorite jacket, she at
least does that for him), eats in her room without bringing her plates down,
and works on her titan research in bed. Tonight there are no plates. Her notes
are placed on a desk by her bed and while there’s still a mountain of clothes
in the center, it’s at least piled as opposed to haphazardly strewn on pieces
of furniture.
But Hanji never cleans. Did Eren do this? There’s a knot in Levi’s stomach that
he doesn’t want to explain to himself.
The bathroom door opens. When Levi looks over at Eren – who’s wearing a shirt
again, thank the walls – the teenager smiles and beckons him closer. “Okay,
it’s ready.”
Levi says nothing as he slinks off the door, hoping his stride looks as
indifferent as he’s aiming it to be. He thinks shoving Eren out of his way
would be a good measure, something that shows Levi could care less about all
this, but Eren scoots back before he has the chance to do so.
When he reaches the doorway, he stops.
He…
There…
“Candles.” It’s not even a statement. Just a fucking word. Levi knows how
incredibly stupid he probably sounded, but…
….There are candles.
Eren pushes past him as gently as he can, turns around to face him and gestures
around the room. “Well, yeah. Bathing in the dark at night is a little scary,
right?” He points to a fat yellow candle placed at the edge of the round tub –
which Levi will get to in a moment, because what the fuck – and continues
talking. “I guess I overdid it with the candles, but once I found Squad Leader
Hanji’s private stash, and then smelled them, I couldn’t help myself.”
“You went through her stuff?”
“Yeah,” Eren says sheepishly. “No big deal, right?”
Silence. “I could kiss you right now, Jaeger.”
More silence.
“I’m not going to.”
Eren laughs then, or at least he makes a noise meant to come across as
laughter. It sounds more like a goose honk than anything. “I – I know, sir. It
was a joke, you… do that… sometimes? I just figured given the situation, it
would be okay to look through her cabinets and –“
“I could give a fuck if you used her toilet to take your shits when she’s
gone,” Levi says. He stares at her tub while he deftly removes his cravat.
“That Four-Eyes has been hogging this tub to herself. Hell, this bathroom looks
better than mine. She only bathes like three times a week. Don’t tell her I
said that.” But it’s true and he’s fucking pissed about it. He was Humanity’s
Strongest, wasn’t he? And he didn’t ask for much, but he couldn’t be spared
scented candles and a large damn tub for his troubles? He’ll interrogate her
when she’s back. He needs to know how she’s managed to get a bathroom sent down
from the heavens.
He leans over the large wooden tub filled with water and dips his hand in to
check the temperature. It’s lukewarm. Of course it is; only the upper floor
gets constant warm water pumped to their bathrooms. He frowns.
“Yeah, sorry about that,” Eren says from behind him. The teenager takes his
cravat from Levi’s hands and folds it. “But I can wake up early tomorrow and
grab hot water from downstairs. I’m also thinking maybe I can boil the water in
the kitchen for your evening bath? It still won’t be hot but warmer than it is
now.” Eren places his folded cravat to the side.
Levi always complains about Eren being unable to think when he’s supposed to,
but this Eren…
Has he met this Eren before? Eren Jaeger? Titan-shifter? Suicidal bastard, is
what they called him? Determined little brat?
It’s getting to be too much, Levi thinks. This is weird.
“This will do for now,” Levi says in a rush. “You’re dismissed.”
“Oh, I was actually planning on staying here.”
Levi had thought nothing that Eren can say or do at this point can surprise
him, but he’s wrong. Of course he’s wrong. He swears he hates Eren Jaeger, he’s
always hated him, he’s the bane of his existence, in a bigger, grating way than
Hanji or Erwin have ever been—
“What?” Levi looks over to him.
If Eren’s nervous, it only shows when his left hand moves to rub his right arm.
“Uh, I heard that in the Capital, the King and higher officers have people that
tend to them when they bathe. At least, that’s what Jean told me once. Or was
that something he made up? Oh, man, I’m sorry—“
“No,” Levi says. Why didn’t he lie though? He pinches the bridge of his nose as
he speaks. “Your friend is right. But I’m not sure if I’m comfortable with that
idea, Eren.”
“Oh,” Eren says. “Right.”
The boy looks crestfallen. Levi sighs.
“Did you seriously want to do it?”
“I wouldn’t have minded,” Eren says with a shrug, though he’s avoiding meeting
Levi’s eyes at this point. Now he’s embarrassed. “But it’s fine. It was a weird
idea, sir. Sorry. I’ll, um, see you tomorrow morning and have this ready when
you wake up. Good night, Captain.” Eren salutes him and starts picking up some
things to start heading to leave.
Meanwhile the knot in Levi’s stomach is back.
He’s not sure what would make him feel worse: rejecting Eren, or… having Eren
around while he’s bathing. He has to admit that the second option might,
possibly, not end catastrophically like he’s expecting. And the way that Eren’s
slumped shoulders look as he walks over to the door is doing strange things to
Levi’s chest.
The little shit head.
“Eren,” he calls. The teenager turns around.
This all feels like an out-of-body experience. Levi may as well relinquish all
control. It’s not like he has it anymore. “If you really don’t mind. You can…
stay.”
“I don’t mind,” Eren says. There’s that annoying but admirable determination in
his voice.
“Turn around while I change,” Levi mutters, defeated. Eren nods, makes his way
across the bathroom by Hanji’s sink and places his hands on the counter. He
hangs his head low, his stance obvious that he’s not planning on stealing
glances.
Levi steals a glance of his own though before he undresses, tilting his head
and staring at Eren’s back.
Not bad.
He removes his shirt first, slowly, and folds it in his hands. He steps over to
where Eren’s placed his cravat and sets it down. He continues undressing,
pulling down his pants and boxers, and removes his shoes. Eren stays silent
through it all, his frame unflinching and stoic. When Levi’s completely naked,
he shivers.
Getting into the bath is going to be rough, given the less-than-warm
temperature of the water. Had he known, he would have foregone the second bath
in favor of scrubbing rigorously in the communal room again the next morning.
But he’s already here, naked, and Eren’s patiently waiting for him to get on
with it so they can both be done with this.
This is such a weird situation.
He steps over the tub’s rim and dips one leg in. He hisses and the chill
reaches his back and shoulders in an instant.
“I know,” Eren says from his position in front of the sink. “Sorry again.” The
noise Levi’s just made must have been louder than he thought.
Levi’s other leg crosses into the tub, and he braces his entire body before
submerging the rest of himself in the tepid water. He sits and tries to relax
as best he can. Hanji’s circular tub is massive, like a giant wooden bucket,
and with his height, he feels like he’s being swallowed. He hisses again
through his teeth, body adjusting to the feel of the bath. He dips his hand in
the water and then rubs it over his face and hair.
“Eren,” he says. He watches Eren turn back around, and catches his gaze as soon
as it hits him. Something flashes in Eren’s eyes, he’s sure of it, and whatever
it is forces a soft smile on Eren’s face. Levi is convinced it can’t be the
sight of himself; he’s probably looking pretty idiotic right now.
“Is it comfortable?” Eren asks, stepping closer.
Levi gives him a curt nod. “I feel like I’m washing in a fountain, but yes.”
“Can I wash your hair?”
“Eren…”
“I guess not.” But Eren still grabs a metal bowl from the floor and approaches
the tub. The water isn’t translucent enough to showcase his body, but Levi
moves his left hand over his crotch regardless. He also moves aside, barely
hiding the flinch when Eren dips the bowl into the tub of water and fills it
up. “I hope I’m doing this right,” Eren mutters to himself.
“Aren’t you embarrassed to be doing this?” Levi bitterly asks. Because he
certainly is. But deflecting sounds better than admitting that right now.
Eren takes a second to answer. “I’m more embarrassed that I broke your shower
and the entire second floor, to be completely honest. I’m just trying to make
up for that, sir.” He lifts the bowl over Levi’s head and pauses. “Do you
really not want me to wash your hair? I’m not looking this time so you don’t
have to worry.”
“This time?”
“Uh, I meant…”
“I know what you meant. You’re going to wash my hair or give me those stupid
puppy eyes again so we might as well get it over with. Just hurry.”
Eren nods and lifts the bowl again. Levi can smell him when he’s this close;
the shirt he put on is clean, but it doesn’t mask the scent of sweat from
Eren’s exertions from the day. Levi hates the smell of sweat on others. He
finds it rancid, but he doesn’t mind it right now, especially knowing it’s the
result of an attempt at trying to impress him—
Levi gasps when the water rushes down on him. His hair and face are drenched
now, and some of the water gets into his mouth. He curses, and hears the same
word fall from Eren’s mouth. He looks up at Eren and glares.
“Sorry, Captain. That was supposed to be a lot smoother –“
“I feel like a fucking drowned cat.”
“Here, let me—“
“No, Eren. This is weird. Just pass me my shampoo, I can do it myself.”
Eren bends down to retrieve his shampoo but he doesn’t fall back. In a couple
seconds, there’s a sizable goop of gel in his hand, and he shoves it through
strands of Levi’s hair, massaging his scalp, though his movements are rough and
clumsy. Typical Eren-style. Levi curses again, and when Eren hears it, his
hands soften their gliding across Levi’s head.
Levi tries moving away again, and tilts his head from the teenager, but all he
manages to do is get Eren’s fingers more entangled in his hair. Eren sighs, and
it almost sounds frustrated. “Captain,” he says, and his tone confirms his
annoyance. “Seriously, I’m trying. Stop moving.”
“Is that any way to address your superior?” Levi harshly asks.
Eren continues lathering Levi’s head. “I don’t know, how else am I supposed to
talk to someone when I’m trying to wash their hair?”
“You’re the one that keeps calling me Captain.”
“Levi, then.”
The sound of his name suddenly creates thicker tension between them. Levi feels
Eren’s fingers hesitate in his hair for a moment before they start wriggling
again. “Just hold still,” Eren quietly says.
And Levi tries. Once he really stops fidgeting, stops resisting the situation
before him, Eren’s touch starts feeling comfortable. When Eren tugs too hard,
he apologizes softly. When Eren needs to wash off the suds out of his hair, he
taps Levi on the shoulder, trails a hand to the top of his head and whispers:
“The water’s coming. Close your eyes.” And when it rushes down, it’s gentle.
Levi only feels cold for a second.
Eren goes for a second lather, which Levi appreciates since he didn’t have to
ask. Again, Eren is careful, and at one point he leans closer to ensure he
cleans every part of his head. Eren’s smell is back, and this time Levi can
also hear his slow, steady breathing. It hitches every couple of seconds. Levi
isn’t sure why, but he likes it. He closes his eyes and sighs.
“Oh, was that—“
“No,” Levi says. “Feels nice.”
There’s a pause, but Eren keeps his hands moving. “It’s nice to see you
relaxed, Levi.”
There’s his name again. Levi tries not to react. “Well, I needed this. It’s
been a fucking weird day.”
“…You didn’t think this morning was just a little bit funny? Water’s coming,
Levi. Hold on.”
Levi tilts his head upward this time, like he’s under a shower head instead of
Eren’s arms. He hears Eren take a deep breath, and then the trickling of water
past his ears. Some of it does get in his ears. He grimaces.
“Levi, I won’t get all the suds out if you do that again,” Eren says. He tilts
Levi’s head forward, and Levi lets him.
After a while, Levi speaks again. “It was a little funny. In the morning. The
way you were staring." He snorts. "Like a lovesick teenager.”
Levi can feel Eren freeze behind him. “Love? Levi, I wasn’t – I don’t –“
Levi doesn’t have to be facing him to know he’s probably blushing. He teases
some more. “You’re not a subtle person, Eren. You never have been.”
He means for his words to be light-hearted, but Eren falls silent. He pours a
little more water on his hair, but then drops his hands away from him. There’s
movement behind Levi and then Eren is in Levi’s line of sight, grabbing a towel
from the side of the tub and drying his hands. He doesn’t face Levi as he’s
doing so.
“Eren, it was another joke. Laugh.”
“Yeah I know,” Eren says all too quickly. “I’m just…”
Eren looks in every direction except toward Levi. This is getting ridiculous.
“Okay, cut that shit out, Eren. It’s annoying me. You’re not a submissive
person. Neither am I. What the hell’s on your mind?”
“When you joke, it sounds like you’re flirting.”
The statement is so matter-of-factly, it takes Levi by surprise. Eren doesn’t
give him a warning, and so he can’t stop his jaw from dropping. Quickly, he
composes himself and narrows his eyes.
“What?”
“I’m not sure how to react when you do it though.”
“Do you want me to stop?”
“Joking? Or flirting?”
“Joking. I’m joking.”
“Are you sure?”
Levi is starting to prefer the bumbling, infatuated idiot, to be honest.
He rubs the back of his head with his hand, and smooths over the areas that
Eren’s hands had just massaged. He’s not sure what to say, except…
“I’m your Captain, Eren. Why would I be flirting?”
“Why would I be lovesick?”
“For shit’s sake, I was joking –“
“You know what? It’s getting late.” Eren moves across the room and grabs a
towel from Hanji’s rack. “I have to get to bed, I gotta wake up early to draw
your bath, right?” He hands Levi his towel, and then a bar of soap placed next
to his shampoo. “Here. Good night.”
For a second, Levi thinks this outburst is caused by embarrassment. But when
Eren slams the door, he knows.
The kid’s angry.
The kid is angry… why? For his words? For implying that he knew about his
crush? For flirting? Had he been flirting?
And why does he feel bad?
Levi spends another hour in there, until his skin is raw and wrinkled, thinking
about Eren.
***** Swimming Down *****
Chapter Summary
     Levi is Cedric Diggory. Author shoots any semblance of plot out the
     window.
Chapter Notes
     This update is late because 1) I still have two weeks of school left,
     2) I had writer’s block because 3) I started working on the multi-
     chapter ereri fic I’m posting after this one. Two or three chapters
     left here. I /DID/ say I originally wanted a PWP right? Anyway.
     Thanks so much for the support. I mean it. Alternate name for this
     chapter is "Chapter 4: The Trainwreck."
Time and time again, Mikasa has warned Eren about his temper. Armin too. The
topic is so frequent, so obvious and offensive, that when it’s brought up
between them, the discussion unfurls into a heated argument with Eren storming
out of the room. Because while Eren knows his flaws and weaknesses, he hates
talking about them for longer than he needs to. Eren knows he’s hot-headed. No
use in pointing it out to him.
This current incident with Levi serves as a reminder of that. Eren heads
straight to his room after abandoning Levi, hoping to shove his thoughts about
the day in favor of sleep, but all he can hear in his head are Mikasa’s and
Armin’s voices.
I told you it was a stupid idea.
She did tell you. You let your temper get the best of you, Eren.
Ugh. Shut up.
It had all just been really embarrassing for him. He’s never really liked
anyone romantically before, except maybe for the short-lived infatuation on
Armin when he was younger, and that one night with Jean in the barracks that
he’d rather not remember…
Regardless, Eren had sincerely thought he was doing a great job hiding his true
intentions behind his offers to fix Levi’s shower and bath. It was to get on
Levi’s good graces – his Captain’s good graces. It was a believable excuse, of
course! But Levi had seen through it all.
Lovesick teenager. Fuck, was he that obvious? And how long did Levi know? Did
anyone else know?
And what the hell did Levi think about it all? Eren swears Levi had been
flirting with him all day. He’s certainly lightened up these past weeks with
the new squad, but that was as much as Eren could decipher. And that fucking
frustrated him.
Eren sighs in his bed. There was no use brooding over this, he realizes. That’s
what he’s learned from being part of Levi’s squad these past couple of weeks as
well. No use brooding. No use regretting. Find a solution. It’s what he’s
adopted from the man he admires.
Maybe he’ll ask Armin and Mikasa what he should do. Considering how Levi had
been teasing him, the two have probably gathered that he’s been pining for
their Captain this entire time. But he can’t exactly ask them at the moment…
It’d have to wait for tomorrow during their chores.
So Eren tries getting some sleep, which isn’t much considering he has to wake
up an hour earlier than usual to set up Levi’s bath again. When he wakes up,
the darkness is still so prominent that it may as well still be midnight.
Their headquarters is cold and dark, but Eren pushes through the discomfort it
causes and travels upstairs, back and forth, with buckets of hot water from the
communal shower to fill up Hanji’s tub. It takes double the effort than it did
last night, and Eren can only guess it’s because he’s tired, and every step he
takes precedes a shiver through his body. He needs a break when the tub is
half-filled, so he sits at the edge of it and catches his breath. At least the
stairs are enough exercise for him to minimize the morning chills through his
body.
His gaze falls on Hanji’s window, a tall pane of glass on the farthest side of
the bathroom. There’s a ledge by it so he walks over to take a seat but
something moving outside catches his eye.
He isn’t expecting to see someone running laps around the yard this early in
the morning. It’s still night, after all. He squints his eyes and after a
couple seconds, he notices it’s Levi. Recognition takes a while because Levi's
wearing his green Scouting cloak with the hood on.
From what Eren can tell, the man looks like he’s concentrating. His pacing is
steady, and it doesn’t seem like the temperature outside is bothering him in
the slightest. Is this something he does daily? It might be likely. Maybe
that’s why he takes two showers a day, Eren thinks.
Watching Levi run for a couple minutes instills a new burst of determination
within Eren. If Levi can wake up this early every day to keep himself in top
shape, then Eren can certainly handle a little cold in favor of filling the
rest of Hanji’s tub with water. Eren gets back to work with a faster speed, and
at one point he considers lighting Hanji’s scented candles again. He decides
not to; those things seem like they’re reserved for events far more intimate
than a brisk morning bath.
It’s only when he’s finished preparing the bathroom that Eren’s nerves start
creeping in again. It’s not so much the bath part – he’s actually pretty
excited about that – but he’s going to have to apologize to Levi for leaving so
abruptly the night before. He’s not sure how Levi had felt about it. He didn’t
chase him down to his room so he can’t have been furious at Eren’s
disobedience, but that doesn’t mean Eren’s off the hook yet. Levi was probably
upset. Levi was probably annoyed, and that means Eren might not even have the
chance to explain or say anything. He might get kicked out of the bathroom
immediately and instead be forced to --
 “Oi.”
Eren nearly jumps out of shock. His back is facing the door, but after
recovering from the fear, he turns around to salute his superior.
His words fall short, though.
He’s got a much better view now than he had through Hanji’s window. Levi is
sans cloak now, and what had been underneath is a shirt Eren’s never seen him
wear. He certainly would have recognized it if he had though, because the way
it’s clinging to Levi’s damp, muscular frame right now… Fuck. He even looks
good when he’s been sweating. How is that possible? Add this to the list of
reasons why their world is so damn cruel.
 “Oh, wow,” Eren breathes. He can’t stop his reaction even if he had tried.
It’s only when Levi’s eyebrow twitches upward that he realizes he’s said
something out loud. Right. Back to reality. He clears his throat and offers a
salute.
“Captain,” he starts. “Your bath is ready.” He steps forward in front of the
bath, pauses, and takes a deep breath before he continues. “Sir… I just want to
apologize for disrespectfully leaving you last night. I… let myself get carried
away again.” He maintains eye contact with his words. That’s good. Eren’s hands
drop down from the salute and he waits.
Levi doesn’t react at first. The lack of expression on his face is making Eren
nervous about how his words are being taken, but then Levi closes his eyes and
exhales. Eren notices the small bags under Levi’s eyes then, and he quietly
notes how much more tired Levi looks this morning compared to other days.
Levi moves and closes the distance between them. He walks over to Eren, but
promptly leans against the tub with both of his hands to brace himself against
the wood.
“Don’t apologize,” Levi says, eyes to the ground. Eren takes a spot against the
tub as well and leans against it, though he’s careful not to intrude on Levi’s
personal space.
“Sir?”
“I think we need to talk.” He looks up at Eren with a passive expression.
It’s hard for Eren to hide his confusion. “Oh. Okay.”
Levi crosses his arms in front of him. He hesitates before he speaks. “I don’t
need you to apologize. But I do want to know what it was that pissed you off
last night.”
Eren visibly swallows, and thinks fast about how to word his next statements.
With the way Levi asks, and the way he’s patiently waiting for his answer, Eren
can’t lie. It’s not in his nature to anyway. But this is an entirely different
matter.
“Um. I was embarrassed,” Eren finally says. “I thought you were making fun of
me. Like, I know you weren’t. But it just…” Here it comes. Here it is. Is he
ready? Deep breath. “Fuck. Sorry, sir. Uh, Levi? I just didn’t realize you
knew.”
“Knew what? I need you to say it.”
“About…. How I feel. Towards you.” By this time Eren is looking anywhere but in
Levi’s direction. He laughs nervously and rubs the back of his neck. “Uh. Wow.
Too early to be having this conversation…”
There’s more hesitation. Eren can’t determine if this is a good or bad thing
since he’s looking down at his shoes. Seriously. He hates how this crush is
making him act.
“Are you sure?”
“Well, yeah,” Eren answers. “The sun isn’t even up yet.”
“I mean, about your feelings.”
“Oh.” This time Eren chances a glance at Levi. It turns out Levi’s also been
staring at the floor. His eyes are hidden by his hair. “I think so.”
“Hmm.”
Levi doesn’t respond after that. The silence weighs heavy on top of them,
adding further discomfort on Eren’s part that it makes him want to squirm. But
he’s at least regained control of himself by looking over to Levi. The man
still looks contemplative, or at least from what Eren can see. Large chunks of
his hair are running askew… Cowlicks, is what Eren remembers them being called.
Levi looks so vulnerable in the morning. Eren decides then that morning-Levi is
his favorite version. Hands down.
 “You’re right,” Levi softly says, breaking Eren’s thoughts. “It’s too early
for words.” He lifts up his head and looks forward, face still looking like
he’s heavily ruminating something.
“I prefer actions to words myself.”
What the hell does that mean? Eren’s not sure what to make of it. He’s about to
ask but then Levi shifts and his eyes are on Eren. The traces of sleeplessness
in his eyes are eclipsed by a concentration that was missing moments before.
“Thank you for the bath, Eren. You’re dismissed.”
Whoa. Wait, so… “Oh, um. Do you – I thought –“
“No. That’s fine. You should go shower.”
Eren would have assumed that he’s been rejected, or that his confession has
angered Levi somehow, except Levi’s voice lacks hostility. He sounds… calm. No.
He sounds airy. Eren doesn’t move from his spot.
“Hey.” Levi’s arm suddenly hooks around his neck. His hand snakes and digs into
his hair, and with a soft tug, he turns Eren’s head to face him. He cups the
other side of Eren’s face with his other hand, his fingers stroking Eren’s
front fringe. Eren forgets how to breathe.
He thinks they’re about to kiss – Are they about to kiss? His face is that
close to Levi’s; he can feel Levi’s steady breath on his lips. Eren’s tongue
swipes at his own bottom lip in anticipation.
“Did you hear me?” Levi asks, and his voice sounds huskier, if that’s even
possible, wow. Levi’s fingers start massaging his scalp and face, though his
grip is still strong enough to keep Eren’s gaze in place. “Go take a shower.
Relax. Let off some steam.” The last word is a whisper, and it stirs something
primal inside Eren. He can feel his pants growing tighter. Fuck. Levi’s eyes
are half-lidded and the way he looks should be fucking illegal, completely
banned from his life.
Eren lets out a shaky sigh. “Okay. Yeah.” But he doesn’t necessarily want to
leave right now. Levi’s hands are still in his hair, and he hasn’t broken eye
contact. Something’s different now, but Levi thinks faster than Eren so he’s
having trouble figuring out what that change is.
Levi lets him go and his hand goes back on the tub’s edge to support his
leaning on it. “Go.”
Eren opens his mouth in protest, or to ask a question, or maybe he’s about to
lean in and kiss Levi, but he closes it immediately. Instead he nods, gets up,
and performs a half-assed salute. It’s not out of disrespect; Eren’s just gotta
get out of there, fast, because he’s still sporting a semi-erection in his
pants and he’d rather not draw Levi’s attention to it. But fuck, Levi has
probably seen it already.
He gives Levi one final look before heading out the door. He swears Levi is
smirking.
 
===============================================================================
 
Eren’s head is still spinning by the time he gets down to the shower room.
His movements had been automatic since leaving Hanji’s bedroom. Somehow, his
feet had taken him to his quarters to grab his towel and to remove his
clothing. He had focused on the menial tasks, not allowing himself to think
about his Captain yet. But having finally arrived to shower, to do what Levi
had practically commanded him to do, Eren flings his towel over one of the
hooks (and misses), rushes to the closest shower head, turns it on and exhales.
The noise he emits is loud enough for it to echo within the stone walls.
What the hell had that been about? He still doesn’t understand it. But the way
Levi had touched him, had casually mussed his hair and lowered his voice
several octaves had gotten Eren struggling to breathe, that’s for sure.
Eren places his hands in front of him, braces himself against the wall and
lowers his head. Hot water cascades down on his body. He’s still breathing
heavily; he’s not at all relaxed. Didn’t Levi tell him to relax? What the fuck
did he mean?
Relax. Let off some steam.
There’s only one thing that can ease his tension. He hasn’t done it in two days
at this point, which is a record for him because he alwaysdoes. But Levi was in
there with him yesterday and…
Eren groans and releases his right hand from the wall. His fingers start
rubbing along his hipbone and the memory of the morning prior rushes to the
forefront of his mind. Levi had looked so good. His ass and back muscles looked
so taut and firm. If Eren had his way, he would have snuck behind him and
pressed his dick along the curve of his ass. What would Levi have done about
that?
Reject him, Eren thinks. Hadn’t he been rejected upstairs anyway? Isn’t that
what happened? But fuck it all; Eren will deal with those emotions later. Right
now his growing erection needed tending to. There’s no time to waste. Eren
grabs his cock and sucks in air as he does so. He closes his eyes and thinks
about Levi’s body again, the glances of the man’s cock he’d seen since
yesterday morning. Levi had been flaccid but Eren could tell he wasn’t small.
He at least had girth, and when Eren finally moves his hand along his shaft, he
thinks about taking all of Levi's dick into his mouth.
“Fuck,” Eren hisses, eyes still tightly shut. He quickens his pace instantly.
He can usually take his time, especially now with how early he’d woken up, but
he’s craving the release. It’s not for the pleasure this morning; it’s for the
necessity, because Levi grabbed his face moments ago, because Levi’s grip on
his hair had felt so strong and utterly masculine, and because Levi had teased
him and it was a pain in the ass but Eren found it fucking hot for some reason.
Eren jerks himself with fervor, and when he goes this fast he can’t help the
noises that leave his mouth. But who the fuck cares. No one is around.
Another groan escapes him, and his left hand forms a fist against the wall,
bracing himself to keep his balance. He thinks about how soft Levi’s hair had
been when he was washing it, and the arch of his neck when Levi had glanced
upward to the water Eren had been pouring on him last night. Levi’s face had
looked expectant, and Eren uses the image to fantasize about Levi waiting for
Eren’s release. Come on, brat. Come for me.
“Levi,” Eren moans. The name bounces across the room's walls. Eren leans
forward and presses his forehead against the wall while he brings his left hand
in to cup his balls. His grip twists around the head of his cock. “So hot,” he
mutters through gritted teeth.
Eren suddenly hears padded footsteps from behind him and the hair on his neck
stands. His hands retreat and he presses them close to his chest, as if
touching his dick had just scalded his palms. It’s so early – who the fuck –
Armin? He usually wakes up second. Eren can feel his heated cheeks and he looks
over to his side. “Fuck, sorry, I didn’t think you’d be awake right—“
But it’s not Armin. It’s not Armin who casually strides over to the adjacent
shower head. It’s not Armin who gives him a less-than-expressive look while he
turns on the water. It’s not Armin whose eyes travel down to his body,
observing the softening but obvious erection that Eren had just been stroking.
Eren can literally feel his brain disintegrating.
His mouth is dry, which is ironic since water is still pouring on top of his
head and shoulders. “Was –“ he clears his throat to get rid of the
scratchiness. “Was there something wrong with the bath?”
Levi says nothing. In fact, his gaze is still way south of Eren’s eyes, a small
hint of curiosity within the grey. One side of Levi’s mouth is curved upward.
That’s definitely a smirk. His eyes return to meet Eren’s for just a moment,
and then Levi looks straight ahead at the stone wall.
“Sir?”
Then Eren sees it. Levi’s arm moves to his front while he presses his other
forearm against the stones. From Eren’s angle, the view is obscured, but
there’s no denying what it is that prompts the drawn out sigh from Levi’s
mouth. Levi hangs his head low, his body now wet from the shower, and he’s
touching his dick right next to Eren this is insane.
Eren freezes because he’s afraid if he moves, he’ll wake up from his dream and
he won’t get to see Levi masturbate. But his mouth is open. He’s pretty sure
his jaw will never work the same again. No, he can’t disturb what’s happening.
Is he supposed to watch? Is he supposed to be here? What the fuck is happening?
Why isn’t Levi talking?
"Is-"
“Keep going.” Levi’s voice sounds strained and his tone sends blood to Eren’s
cock.
He doesn’t have to be told twice.
Eren starts touching himself again, starting with both hands this time even
though it’ll ensure he’ll come very soon. This time he presses his back against
the stone wall, and the new position provides a better view of Levi’s naked
frontside. Levi's face is still hidden from the way he’s looking down at the
floor but Eren can see his hand work his cock, albeit in a slower pace than
Eren’s.
Eren finally closes his mouth and swallows a handful of water that’s pooled
into the corners of his lips. Fucking his hand feels so good and he wants to
close his eyes but he can’t take them off from Levi’s own masturbation session.
His cock looks thick, just like Eren figured, and it takes every ounce of
resilience not to reach out and touch Levi. But Eren's not fucking sure of
anything at this point – what happened with Levi's bath?– and he’s not going to
risk destroying it because he can’t keep his hands to himself.
Levi’s strokes look rough and his pacing is still steady, though a little
faster than what he had started with. Levi probably likes it rough. He probably
edges himself when he masturbates, because Levi is fucking hot and that sounds
like it’d be right up his alley. Eren continues watching him, and when he sees
Levi’s thumb flick across the tip of his head, Eren moans. Levi surprisingly
moans afterward and it almost sends Eren to the brink.
Eren continues making the noises again, hard groans that pierce the sound of
the two shower streams in the room. He slowly starts sliding down the wall. He
makes sure not to outright fall, and somehow manages to sit on the shower’s wet
floor without stopping from pumping his cock. There’s a dull ache starting to
form in his forearm but he also feels something tightening in his lower
abdomen. He’s close. But he’s not sure if Levi is. Should he say something?
Levi beats him to the punch. “Eren,” he groans, eliciting a strangled noise
from Eren’s throat. Fuck, he sounds amazing. “Say my name.” His eyes are still
glued to the floor.
“Levi,” Eren automatically offers. His voice cracks from the heat building
within him. “Levi, I’m gonna –“
The last word never makes it out of his mouth. Levi swiftly tilts his head
upward and their eyes lock. There’s fire in his eyes, looking as animated as
Eren can ever remember. His eyes are half-lidded; he’s high off the pleasure of
his strokes and almost instantly, Eren cries out, his come spurting out and
landing on his fist, the shower floor and his thighs. He cries out again, and
his eyes shut as he rides out his orgasm. “Levi,” he says, sounding pained and
hoarse, though he’s anything but.
When he hears a grunt next to him, Eren’s eyes flutter open and he catches
Levi’s face, his lips formed into a thin line, eyes clenched shut, and dick
steadily spilling white strings of come that stick to the man’s fingers. Fuck.
Even when he orgasms, he’s in control. Not like the enthusiastic bursts that
Eren’s body seems to prefer.
Eren’s heavy breathing dulls to something sounding less rigorous after a
minute. So does Levi’s. Levi’s orgasm looks like it’s diminished him of all his
energy. He slumps forward onto his forearm still pressed against the wall. Eren
notices he’s not wearing sandals like yesterday. He doesn’t even have his
shampoo with him. He looks over to the towel rack and sees one of Levi’s, but
that’s it. What the hell?
Seriously, what the hell had just happened? Levi was just about to bathe... He
has to ask. Eren opens his mouth and --
“Wow,” Eren says. Wow? That was it? Really?
There's a long silence, and then, “Yeah,” Levi surprisingly responds. “Wow.”
He’s hiding his face with the help of his arm. When he straightens up and turns
off the shower, he avoids his gaze and walks over to the rack to grab his
towel. Levi graces Eren with a view of his ass for only two seconds before he
leaves as quickly as he entered.
What.. the fuck… just happened?
Eren sits there on the floor for several moments before his hand grabs his cock
to start round two.
***** Give me some time *****
Chapter Summary
     Calm before the storm. Levi prepares. The ladies help out in their
     own special way.
Chapter Notes
     This was meant to be a long(er...ish) chapter, but instead of posting
     it by the end of the week, I made the decision to split it and post
     this now since IT'S TAKEN ME FOREVER WOW. I hope that's aiight.
     Really sorry that I took so long. I've been busy with cons and stuff.
     And SDCC is next week. I WILL TRY TO POST THE NEXT CHAPTER BEFORE
     THEN.
     I also started posting my new fic up on here, it's a modern AU, so
     this is my half-assed promo for it. Check it. Or something. idk.
     ANYWAY. Did y’all read the new Q&As about Levi, and bathing in the
     SNKverse in general? There go MY headcanons within this fic. Shiiit.
Are you sure?

Well, yeah. The sun isn’t even up yet.

I mean about your feelings.

Oh... I think so.

It’s certainly a confession, but Eren doesn’t sound very convincing. And for
anything more to happen between them, Levi needs a definite answer.

He spent nearly the entire night thinking about this, about the next step he
should take with the situation between him and Eren, if there was a situation
at all. Ignoring it isn’t an option. Not in their world where a life can be
snuffed out as quickly as the quiet flame of a candle. The possible mutual
attraction entered Levi’s life without warning and he was riding on the
momentum of it, something he was finding to be dangerous. He’s never been the
type of person to act on impulse.

By morning, Levi had decided. He had to ask Eren about his feelings. And if
Levi was just imagining Eren’s crush, problem solved. He wouldn’t think of it
again, shove the lewd thoughts about his subordinate that have been creeping up
in his mind aside, once and for all.

But if Eren did like him that way, well…

But Levi was still unsure. “I think so” was hardly a “yes.”

And Levi’s not very good at deciphering affection.

Levi is still leaning against the tub, with Eren right beside him and silence
squeezing into every available space between them. He needs to make a decision.
He’s older, he’s Eren’s Captain, and he’s probably had more experience with
romance than Eren. Though that wasn't saying much.

Fuck.

But Levi starts thinking about the two people he trusts the most in his life.
What would Hanji do in this situation? What advice would she give him? She’s
the impulsive one out of them all, her bravado more brazen than Eren’s own
thick headedness. If she were in Levi's shoes, she’d latch on to the
opportunity, and take it without hesitation. And she’d make light of the entire
situation too, enough to make her suitor comfortable enough to give her a
straight answer about their feelings when she asked.

Levi clearly hasn’t done that for Eren.

Erwin is different. Everything he does involves strategy, weighing out his
options and often choosing the one with the biggest gamble. People often called
him manipulative, but his choices reflected the greater good. Erwin then, would
push and push at the risk of driving his suitor away until it’s his suitor
that’s confessing about their feelings without being prompted. And Erwin would
smile, ruffle their hair and say, “I know.”

Levi's not sure he can play games as well as Erwin does. And he wouldn't want
to with Eren.

But Levi has no ideas left. He's just tried talking to Eren about this and it's
made them both awkward. Sitting here in silence.

He can feel Eren staring at him, waiting for Levi to do something.
There, that's it. Do something. What Hanji and Erwin have in common with the
way they handle situations, is action....

I prefer actions to words myself. Thank you for the bath, Eren. You're
dismissed...
 
===============================================================================
 
Levi sends Connie and Mikasa to head back inside the walls so they can relay
the messages about the broken plumbing at their headquarters. He chooses
Connie, because he's still upset about the shower repair assignment he had
failed to do, but he sends Mikasa as well because really, it's not Springer's
fault that Eren is a dumbass. So if he runs into trouble, Mikasa will at least
save their hides.

He had told them the night before, and Mikasa hadn't look too thrilled when she
received her assignment. She’s still frowning the next morning, huddled close
to Eren and staring at her bowl of porridge. Armin is on the other side of
Eren, and when Levi enters the mess hall, all three raise themselves higher in
their seats and focus their gazes on him.

It's pretty obvious they've been talking about him.

Levi spends the rest of that morning thinking about what this could mean. He
passes his eyes frequently over to where they're seated, and each time they
look wrapped in a heated, intense discussion. He catches Eren's eyes more than
once as well, but Eren had quickly looked down at the table when it happened.

What had happened in the showers was... intimate. And even before Levi had
traveled downstairs to the communal showers, he'd concluded it'd be far too
intimate for Eren to casually share with his two closest friends. Maybe Levi
underestimated their friendship. Maybe he underestimated Eren and his sense of
privacy. Even more alarming though, is if Eren had told them about their
morning shower, would that mean that it meant nothing for him? Maybe the
approach Levi stuck to wasn't the best idea.

He tries not to let it get to him. Levi rushes his eating and heads to start on
his paper work as quickly as he can.

An hour before midday, however, Mikasa raps on his open door and enters his
office.

“Ackerman,” he greets, his eyes flicking over to her for just a second before
looking back at the papers laid in front of him.

“Connie and I are about ready to leave, sir.” She salutes him.

“Good. As I said, I expect to see you back in a couple days. But per usual
protocol, if I don’t hear from you in a week, we’ll have to assume the worst.”

“Yes, Captain.”

He continues his writing but Mikasa doesn’t move from her position. He lets a
handful of seconds pass before he looks up again. “Is there anything else?”

“I don’t like you," she says. There's heat in her eyes that wasn't there
before.

This is all unfortunate, he thinks. Levi is surprised both by her words and how
hard an impact they make against his chest. He sighs.

“I explained to you yesterday why I chose you to accompany –“

“I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about Eren.”

Oh, shit. Mutiny. Levi’s going to have mutiny on his hands. He looks down at
his desk. All he’s got is a letter-opener, meanwhile Mikasa is fully dressed in
her gear. She’s got the advantage here, if she were to do anything. Which she
might. Everyone knows how protective she is of her friend.

“What about Eren?” he coolly replies, feigning ignorance and hiding the small
sliver of fear creeping up his back.

Mikasa huffs and takes a step forward. “You know why. And I’m not Eren. Playing
dumb won’t work with me. You can’t manipulate me like you’re doing with Eren
either. So stop.”

Were it anyone else, Levi would have had their food privileges revoked for a
week. No. Suspension. For talking down to a superior. But this is Mikasa,
feared warrior and one of the few people that Eren devotes his heart to. And
her words grate him. He doesn't know what Eren's told her about him, but if
this is what it's led to, he hates it. Levi takes a deep breath before
speaking.

“I’m not manipulating him.”

“You’re his superior. You’re older. Eren doesn’t know better.”

“Yeah, I agree,” Levi says. The volume of his voice raises an octave. “He
doesn’t know better and makes more stupid decisions than I can count on my
fingers daily, but he’s also free to do whatever he wants.” He pauses. “When it
comes to his personal matters, that is. You and I can’t stop that.”

Mikasa opens her mouth again but Levi cuts her off, the level of his voice
rising again. “I meant it when I said he should listen to you more often. I
don’t know how, or why, but this situation exists because Eren wants it to
exist. I’m not manipulating him. I’m sorry that you feel that way and I’m sorry
he doesn’t feel... the way he feels, toward anyone else, but this is none of
your concern and you need to leave my office now.”

Mikasa casts a sidelong glance at the floor. Heat is on her cheeks, but her
face is contorted in a deep grimace. She looks constipated. Submissive, even.
But she doesn’t leave.

“Sir," she finally says. She hesitates. "Do you like him?”

There’s the question. Her words travel slowly over to him, hover in front of
his face and demand an answer. All he wants to do is push them away. He
suddenly empathizes with Eren. “I think so” is a lot easier to say than “yes.”

He crosses his arms, shifts his gaze away from her to the windows, and curtly
nods. He’s sure he looks like a child.

She huffs again and from the corner of his eyes, Levi sees her mimic his arm-
crossing. She, too, looks out the window, and they stay like that for a minute
in silence, with static tension in the room. No doubt the rest of the squad is
out there training and tending to the horses.

No doubt that Eren is out there.

More seconds pass.

“You are my Captain, sir, and I’ve respected you ever since you helped
recapture Eren in the forest. But I don’t approve of this. Wait,” she says when
he’s about to tell her to leave again, and turns back to face him. Mikasa
Ackerman is certainly demanding. She’ll make a good superior in the future. “I
don’t approve, but I’m here because I love Eren and the sooner he gets this out
of his system, the better. So... Eren wears his heart on his sleeve and needs
others to do the same, so he won’t know you like him unless you tell him. My
advice is to... make a grand gesture. A gift or a date. He’s ticklish behind
his ear and he likes being held. Don’t bring up his mother. Don’t bring up the
war or titans, or he’ll think it’s just a war meeting.”

She pivots on her heel and starts walking toward the door.

Meanwhile Levi is… shocked, to say the least. This can only mean that Eren
hadn't been deterred from what they did in the showers. Levi hadn't scared him
off. That's good. But more importantly, Mikasa had just given him permission to
continue, albeit in the typically hostile, Mikasa-like way. Still, Levi can’t
imagine what it must have taken for her to come in here and say all of this –
wait.

Did he just get courting advice from Mikasa of all people?

“Don’t hurt him,” she says sharply when she glances back. The rest of that
sentence is implied. It reflects off her blade and hurls itself at Levi’s face.

He should thank her. “I won’t hurt him,” he responds. A full beat passes.
“Thank you.”

Mikasa pulls her scarf up to her mouth, closes her eyes and takes in its scent.
After a long moment, she speaks. “Connie and I will return in a couple days,
Captain,” and she walks off.

The war is certainly the more imperative matter in their lives. Levi knows
this. But still, he only feels an ounce of guilt when he pushes his reports
aside as soon as Mikasa leaves to start brainstorming on his next steps to
wooing Eren Jaeger.

===============================================================================


Contrary to his opinion on hyperboles, Levi is actually a fan of the metaphor.
So while the most obvious idea for a date is a private dinner in his office,
Levi goes for the more symbolic option, the arguably more "romantic" one.

Ugh. What the hell has gotten into him?

As luck would have it, it’s Sasha’s turn to manage the kitchen today. He pulls
her out of training early (and the long stare Eren gives him when he does so
goes unnoticed). He leads her into the kitchen, by the sink so they can wash
their hands, and he can proceed in making a deal with her.

“We have chicken stored,” he says as he scrubs his hands. Sasha lets out a
half-squeal next to him. He ignores it and continues. “Serve it tonight. But
start preparing it now. I also want you to make three dishes of sweets. You
know what dessert is, right?”

“Yeah,” she says. She grabs a rag to the side of the sink to dry her hands, and
turns back to Levi. Her eyes are practically twinkling. She licks her lips and
loudly exhales, sounding exhausted. “Yeah, it’s like… something you have after
your supper and-“

“Good. Three dishes. Send two of them to my room. The third is for you. But I
can't have anyone knowing about this. So consider it a… Uh…”

“Oh!” She covers her mouth and looks around furtively, though there's no one
else inside the castle right now. Always animated, this one. “I get it. So this
is like... a secret or something? Are you… bribing me, Captain?”

Levi sighs and shakes his hands out to air-dry them. “I suppose you can say
that.” He shoves his hand in his right pocket then, and takes out a key ring.
“Here. This is the only time you’ll be allowed into the locked food cabinet.”

“The PRIVATE one?” Her eyes are large, and her body starts shaking. “Captain! I
can’t believe... This only happens in my dreams, I –“

“Pull yourself together, Braus” Levi says, raising his tone. By now, he’s taken
the storage key out of the ring and he hands it over to the girl. “Do you
understand your assignment?”

“Yes, sir!” She gives a valiant salute and takes the key from Levi's hand
afterward. “But, what specifically should I make? I’m not very familiar with
dessert… I’ve never really had it. It's more of a prestigious thing, you know?”

“I’m sure you’ll improvise. Your meals always taste good.” He walks past her to
leave her to her tasks. He hears a gasp from behind him though; he doesn’t have
to be facing her to know she’s blushing out of some sort of embarrassment from
his compliment.

The next couple steps are harder. He has to finally face Eren, for one. But
Levi also has to keep his plan a secret, at least until dinner is served.

It’s late in the afternoon, the time when the sun is starting to set, when Levi
finally runs into Eren in the middle of the first-floor hallway. Eren had
probably been heading to the showers to start preparing Levi's bath.

“Eren,” Levi greets. His voice comes out steady. So far so good. Though the
conversation with Mikasa had assuaged him of the possibility of receiving any
negative reactions from Eren, Levi is still a little curious as to how Eren
will react after what they did this morning.

“Captain!” Eren replies with a salute... and a bow? That’s strange. Maybe Eren
is just as nervous as he is about this conversation. “How – How’ve you been? I
mean – Do you… need anything?”

“Not particularly,” Levi says. An awkward silence. Eren rubs the back of his
neck.

Levi clears his throat. “So, about my bath tonight.”

“Oh, I was just heading to the showers now to get it ready, sir.”

“No, that’s… that’s okay. I’ll be taking care of it myself.”

“Oh,” Eren replies. He looks down at his boots and then to the side, suddenly
fascinated with the smooth stones that make up the corridor walls. “Oh,” he
repeats with inflection.

It doesn’t take long thankfully, for Levi to understand the sadness settling on
Eren’s face. “No,” Levi says, a little too fast, almost uncharacteristically.
His voice sounds foreign to him. Frantic. “No, it has nothing to do with… Uh.”
Fuck. He really didn’t want this to be awkward.

Eren looks at him expectantly. Mikasa’s words ring inside his head. You’re
older. Eren doesn’t know better.

Right. He’ll have to cut through the awkwardness for both of them.

“You… There’s nothing wrong,” Levi slowly says. “There’s just a special dinner
tonight. I didn’t want you to have to skip it.”

“What kind of dinner, sir?” Eren asks.

“Chicken,” Levi lets himself say. Eren’s jaw drops.

“Chicken?” he asks loudly, eyes widening like saucers. His reaction is rivaling
Sasha's. “Like… chicken? But – is there an expedition soon – what –“

Levi shifts in his stance, crosses his arms and looks down at his boots now.
Eren’s genuinely honest reactions to news about dinner are suddenly hard not to
act on. A smile threatens to tug at Levi's lips. Levi won’t allow that.

“Yes,” he says with a cough, still looking downward. “Chicken.”

“But—“

“Sorry, Eren. I can't answer any more questions about it. I’ll speak with you
later, I still have papers to go through.” He pushes aside, makes sure to bump
into Eren’s shoulder to remind them both that he’s still in charge, still a
superior, still in control of his emotions even if they feel slightly
adolescent at the moment. But he stops in his tracks after a couple steps.

“Eren,” he says with his back turned to him.

“Yes, sir?”

“Come to Hanji’s quarters after dinner.”

Levi swears he hears Eren exhale softly, almost out of relief. At least that's
what Levi hopes.

“Yes, Captain.”
***** I've been treading water for your love *****
Chapter Summary
     Dates.
Chapter Notes
     I've been naming all these chapters from lyric snippets of "Warm
     Water" by Banks. But I realized AlunaGeorge's "Your Drums, Your Love"
     is a more appropriate song.
     I am thirstyasslevi on tumblr if you need me.
     ....yeah.
Eren slams his dinner tray against the mess hall table. The peas from his plate
spill across the top and up to Armin's tray from the impact.
"He wants me to meet him upstairs after dinner."

Armin calmly picks up some of the peas and places them back on Eren's tray. He
looks up thoughtfully at Eren, though his reaction to Eren's statement isn't as
urgent as he had wanted it to be.

"Eren," Armin says. "We're having chicken."

Eren glances at his plate and settles himself down at the table. "Yeah I know.
Levi told me earlier. I wonder why. But did you hear me, Armin?" He lowers his
voice for the next sentence. "He wants to see me after-"

"Mm," Armin moans as he takes a bite. "The flavor is so good! Did Sasha make
this?" Armin looks around to find her but she isn't in the room. "Wow." He digs
his fork into his chicken breast and stuffs a bite of poultry into his mouth.

"Armin!"

Armin swallows his food. "Yeah, I heard you, Eren." He dabs his mouth with a
napkin. "He probably wants you to set up his bath. Seriously, Eren. Try it. How
long has it been since we've had chicken? Two months?"

"Something like that," Eren mumbles, feeling disappointed - and a little
shunned. Though he supposes if it's between choosing to listen to Eren's
trivial problems about his crush on his Captain or eating Sasha's cooking,
Sasha's cooking would win every time.

Conceding defeat for now, Eren digs into his plate -- his pieces of chicken
look a little darker than Armin's -- and starts eating. A moan similar to
Armin's escapes his lips and he closes his eyes to savor the taste. So good. So
fucking good.

"I can't believe Mikasa's missing out on this."

Armin mutters an agreeable noise around the food he has in his mouth. When he's
finished chewing, he speaks. "I just want to know what the special occasion is.
We haven't been on an expedition, or conducted experiments since Squad Leader
Hanji left. So..."

"I don't know either," Eren says with a cough. He always forgets to swallow his
food before talking. "All Levi said was not to worry about his bath because
there was a special dinner."

"Oh," Armin says. Finally, Armin looks like he's actually listening to what
Eren has been saying since he arrived at the mess hall. He piles food on his
fork and eats, though the contemplative look on his face stays put. "He doesn't
want his bath done tonight?"

Eren nods.

"But he takes two showers a day..."

Eren nods again eagerly. He leans in, hoping that the next sentence from
Armin's mouth is advice he could use for tonight.

Armin's gaze floats up to the ceiling and he taps a finger to his lips in
thought. But after a few seconds, he shrugs and goes back to eating. "I don't
know, Eren. I'm sorry. But I don't have experience with this kind of stuff."

Eren groans. "Come on, Armin! You're smarter than me!"

"But I'm not wiser."

"Doesn't that statement prove you are though?" Eren asks, his voice sounding
pressed.

"I can only give you what I've already mentioned in the morning," Armin says.
"Be upfront and confident. The Captain seems like he would appreciate that
in... um. A partner." He pauses. "But don't be too disappointed if he rejects
any advances. Romance seems a bit out of place within our circumstances...
Sorry."

"No, I get it. But I don't... I don't think he doesn't like me." Eren starts
pushing his food around his plate. He sighs. "Okay. Remember when I said we ran
into each other in the showers?"

Armin nods; he's got a rather large bite of food in his mouth.

"Well. It happened again this morning. Only..." Eren looks around the room. The
rest of the squad, Jean and Christa, are seated at the same table, though
they're giving him and Armin the courtesy of having their private conversation
uninterrupted. So Eren leans further in and whispers the rest of his sentence
into Armin's ear.

Armin's fork clatters to the table and he looks horrified. The others turn to
look.

"E-Eren..."

"Calm down."

"I... I really don't think you should be asking me about this. I'm sorry! H-
Here!" Armin points over to Jean as he frantically gets up from the table. "Ask
Jean, he should know!"

Then he grabs his plate and leaves.

That all... happens too fast.

"What about me? What should I know?" Jean asks. Eren looks over to him and
finds Jean staring back. But there's no sarcasm in his questions. No malice or
taunting. The chicken is treating everyone well, apparently.

Jean and Christa are staring at him now, and it's too small a moment to make
something up on the spot. Eren sighs. "I... Um. If someone that might be
interested in you invites you somewhere alone, what... what could
that...mean...?"

"Oh. Easy," Jean says. "They want to fuck." He casually stands and follows
Armin's example, picking up his completely empty tray before he walks off to
the wash basin. Christa, however, is still seated, and scoots closer to Eren
until she's opposite him.

"Hey, Eren?"

He looks at her, eyes still reflecting shock from Jean's statement. But really
- he hopes Jean didn't think that was an invitation or anything...

"Hanji once asked me to feed the horses with her," Christa says. "And she kept
talking... You know how she is."

"Uh huh?" Eren says, slightly confused at her timing of conversation.

"She started talking about weaknesses, how to suck up to the commanding
officers. Like... She told me Erwin has a sweet tooth, so when she wants one of
her proposals to pass, she brings him sweets."

"Yeah....?"

"Well," Christa continues. "When she moved on to Levi, she told me that a
genuine compliment toward him goes a long way. He likes animals... He's
actually really shy when it comes to romance. Oh, and he's got a small scar on
the left side of his ribs that he's self-conscious about."

"He does?" Eren asks. "I've never seen -- Wait. Christa, wh-why --"

"I put two and two together," she says with a smile. Eren is about ready to
deny it but she reaches out and touches his hand. "Don't worry. I don't think
anyone else knows. I just noticed you two working better lately, sticking by
each other more... The thought crossed my mind a while back."

Eren looks at her small hand placed over his, and then straight into her eyes.
"Christa... Er, Historia? I don't... really know what to call you these days.
But I just need you to know... You're a fucking queen."

Christa brings her hand back to cover her mouth while she laughs. "You're
welcome, Eren. If anything, it'd be nice just to see him smile more often and
make our jobs easier."

When she gets up, she looks back over to him and smiles. She really is an
angel.

"Good luck."

===============================================================================

Eren's first reaction is to laugh when he heads upstairs, knocks on the door,
and hears Levi automatically chirp, "Give me a minute."

Eren's nervous. Of course he is, but hearing Christa's/Hanji's confirmation
that Levi will probably be just as nervous and clumsy as he is assures Eren a
little more.

Though he's still not sure what to expect. The irony around the evening isn't
lost on him either. It had just been the day before when it was Eren who had
been running around Hanji's room, cleaning and preparing a semi-intimate night
for the other male.

Though some things are different tonight. Especially after what happened this
morning. Tonight holds a lot more sexual connotations to it than what they've
been...

Okay, yeah. He was nervous.

"Come in," he hears Levi say on the other side of the door. Eren opens it
quickly.

Armed with a slew of new advice, Eren's plan is to greet his Captain with a
firm salute and compliment him on anything he's wearing: his cravat, his shirt,
his shoes. Anything. Everything.

But he doesn't expect to find Levi dressed in... a towel. And nothing else.
Levi's chest is bare, firm, and open for him.

Eren can't help staring.

After a couple seconds of silence, Levi clears his throat and crosses his arms
in front of his chest. "Eren? How was dinner?"

Eren swallows. "Dinner? Dinner was nice. Good. Really good."

"Did everyone enjoy it?"

"Oh yeah," Eren says. "We haven't had chicken in so long, so... It was, yeah,
great."

"That's good to hear," Levi says. A long stream of silence follows.

"So, if you'll follow me..." Levi says, with another clearing of his throat,
and walks inside Hanji's large bathroom. Eren follows suit.

There are candles, again. The ones that give off fragrance. The room smells
like outside, by the trees in the forest. Pine or something. Eren closes his
eyes and takes in the scent.

When he opens them, he takes in everything else. The room's lighting is dim,
and the tub is prepared for a bath. It looks very similar to last night's
preparations. Meanwhile Levi is standing in front of the tub, rubbing his hands
together and looking like he's waiting for Eren to give the atmosphere a proper
assessment.

He's not sure what to say though. Eren coughs. "Levi, your... your hair looks
nice today. Sir."

Levi doesn't give a response to this.

"Eren," he starts, hands still running over and along each other
absentmindedly. Eren tries not to stare at his chest again. "If it's all right
with you, I thought it'd be... nice if we could... enjoy each other's company
tonight."

"Oh!" Eren says, a knee-jerk reaction. Each other's company.

Jean was right. This is really happening.

And suddenly the room feels very hot and Eren feels incredibly underprepared.

"Okay, well," Eren manages to say. His voice feels hoarse. "I'll just... Do you
want me to..?"

In all honesty, he has no clue how to answer Levi.

Luckily, Levi catches his mistake then. "No, Eren! I meant..." He reaches a
hand outward to Eren, stops his arm in mid-air, and brings it to the back of
his neck with a sigh. "Sorry."

He moves suddenly, and takes a couple steps to the right by the counter next to
the tub. It's then that Eren notices the two plates of food. He watches Levi
pick them up in his hands and turns around to face Eren again.

"I meant it... literally. We can enjoy each other's company. I arranged for
Sasha to make us dessert - Have you ever had dessert, Eren?"

Oh. Eren nearly laughs, he's so relieved. Though the other option might have
been nice...

He shoves his thoughts aside and nods in response to Levi's question. "When I
was younger, yeah. A couple of times."

"Good," Levi says, and sets the plates down. He hesitates for several moments.
"I also thought we could take a bath together."

Eren stays silent, but his mouth parts.

"It's supposed to be romantic," Levi says.

Eren stares at the tub and then back at Levi.

"Like a date.Eren," Levi says, voice growing frustrated. "Any reaction to this
would be helpful. Say something."

"I'm sorry," Eren slowly says. "I'm just... Yeah. I'm so... flattered? Levi,
I..."

"So, this is a good reaction then?" Levi asks, interrupting him. He takes a
step closer.

"Yes!" Eren responds more confidently. He's slightly wary about the bath; it
seems like an intimate activity to do with someone. But then again, knowing
this will get them even closer -- knowing that Levi wants them to get closer,
has Eren wanting to jump in already.

It's hard to hide his enthusiasm. He lifts up his shirt and casts it aside,
which Levi doesn't look like he appreciates.

"Shit, Eren. At least fold them," he mutters in jest. Eren follows his
suggestion but pauses to take a look back over to Levi, who turns to the tub
and finally, thankfully, removes his towel from his waist.

There's the ass, Eren thinks, looking just as taut as he remembers it. He's got
dimples, oh walls, he's got dimples. How is Levi's body even possible? Eren
keeps his pants on for a little while longer to hide the semi that starts
forming.

When he's finally undressed, he takes a deep breath to calm his nerves, which
are still lit and calling for Eren's attention. He's not as anxious as before,
but he's still afraid he'll somehow fuck this up. Fall while on the way to the
tub or getting food in Levi's hair, or something.

He turns and heads for the tub, pivoting quickly enough to catch Levi looking
away from his own backside. Levi casually plays it off by turning to the
dessert plates and wading across the large tub to move them closer.

Eren surges with pride, knowing Levi had been staring at him.

He gets in to the water and gasps. It's warm, more on the hotter side than
cool. Levi must have boiled the water in the kitchen. It feels nice. Levi wades
back over, next to him, carefully making sure not one crumb tumbles into their
water.

"Eat carefully," he orders roughly, sitting on one of the steps inside the tub.
"There's a reason bathing and eating don't work well."

Eren nods and sits next to him. "What did Sasha make?"

Levi hands him his plate, and then stares down at his own with a small frown.
"Some type of sweetbread, it seems."

They each have two slices of bread, glazed with what looks like syrup and
coated with a thick layer of powdered sugar. Sasha also placed a couple of
strawberries to the side of the bread.

"Oh," Eren says casually. "This is usually for breakfast, I think."

"Breakfast?" Levi asks with a sneer. He looks pissed. "She fucking made us
breakfast?" He sighs, hands Eren his plate and starts getting up. "I can't
believe --"

"Levi? Wait!" Eren's hands are tied since he's holding both plates, so instead
he tries hooking his leg around Levi's before he's fully standing in the tub.
The movement actually does stop the older man in his tracks, and he turns back,
giving Eren a full-frontal view.

Eren talks fast, though he takes mental photographs of the sight before him as
he does so. "I've had this before, and it's really good. Honestly, it's okay.
Sit down. Trust me!"

Levi looks like he's not about to listen, and eyes the bathroom door. But to
Eren's relief, Levi sits back down with a sigh. Good. He really didn't want
Sasha to get in trouble for this. The dish is sweet enough for dessert anyway.

He's determined to keep Levi's anger at bay and away from the other squad
members, so when Levi grabs his plate back from Eren's hand, Eren makes haste
in ripping the syrup-soaked bread into several pieces. "Here," he says, trying
to prove his point. "Try it. It's really good, like I said." Eren balances his
plate in one hand, while his other hand hovers over Levi's hands and plate,
reaching for his mouth.

Levi looks long and hard at Eren's hand, and the piece of bread he's offering
at Levi's mouth.

Eren recognizes how the situation looks like, and for a second he does think
Levi will allow himself to be fed. But the older man grabs the food from Eren's
hand and eats it himself. He chews silently, eyes averted from Eren's
direction.

After a couple seconds, Levi speaks. "Not bad."

Eren gives him a small smile. "Yeah, I know."

Eren's attention is back on his own plate, now that it seems Levi won't be
heading downstairs to scold Sasha for her cooking choices. He exhales
contentedly, in triumph, and grabs a piece of his sweet bread. His eyes close
when he pops it into his mouth, reveling in the sugary taste.

He grabs another piece, this time making sure it has enough powdered sugar and
syrup in the bite, but there's a swish of water to his side, and Levi is
suddenly closer, his left shoulder grazing Eren's right.

"Eren. Take this," he says, lifting his hand to offer a similar piece of bread
that Eren has in his hand. The look of confusion might be obvious on Eren's
face because Levi adds, "You gave me a piece of yours. Take one of mine."

Eren looks at Levi's hand. Levi's fingernails are clean and trimmed. They're so
very close to his mouth.

"Can I... just...?"

Levi takes a moment to respond. "Do what you want. Just don't drop anything in
the water."

Eren tilts his face forward, just a little, opens his mouth, and takes the food
from Levi's hand. He means to maintain distance from Levi -- he really does -
- but Eren miscalculates, and his tongue accidentally swipes at one of Levi's
fingers. When it happens, Eren instantly looks over to Levi, afraid of what he
might see. Disgust? Surprise? Should he have just grabbed it with his fingers
then?

Eren can't tell what Levi's thinking. He doesn't react. But his fingers still
linger there, inches from Eren's mouth even when Eren backs away and swallows
the bite Levi offered him.

"Um. Thanks, Levi," Eren says. It's his voice that makes Levi finally recoil
his hand, bringing it against his chest like if he's sprained his wrist.

"Sure."

Returning the favor suddenly feels like a good idea.

Eren's still got a piece of syrup-sogged bread between his fingers. "You want
another of mine, Levi?" He doesn't wait for a response before his hand hovers
by Levi's face again.

Eren is smiling, but Levi looks... strange. Eren tries discerning the emotion.

Frustration? Fear? A mixture of both? Wait. It's called intimidation.

Levi stares at Eren's hand a little longer before sighing and plucking the food
out of Eren's fingers with his own. He looks a little defeated, made clearer
when Levi gives him a side glance and apologizes.

"Sorry."

"For what?" Eren asks. Levi doesn't respond.

They eat in silence for a couple minutes until Levi's hand is back, in front of
his face. Eren doesn't hesitate this time, and puts more effort into making
sure he won't graze Levi's fingers with his tongue.

This continues as they get along further with their plates; Eren offers up
pieces of his dessert to Levi, who grabs them with his fingers, and Eren picks
them with his mouth off Levi's hand. Eren is clumsy in his actions. With every
other offer, his teeth graze at Levi's skin, or he accidentally ends up licking
patches of his hand. He apologizes after the fourth time, but Levi shakes his
head. "It's all right," he says. "Just eat."

Levi uses his hands at all times, and Eren eventually realizes that's what Levi
was apologizing for earlier. But this is Levi. Eren is used to his abnormal
cleanliness by now. He takes no offense to this at all, because when Levi eats
what Eren gives him, he gives a soft, appreciative noise that claws at Eren's
belly. And Eren... wants to hear more of it.

Their desserts don't last that long, and it might have to do with the fact that
neither is trying to make conversation. Like both of them are preoccupied with
the silent ritual they've created. Eren enjoys the feeding between them both,
but he starts second-guessing himself again when they've both cleared their
plates. What's supposed to happen next?

"I'll take your plate if you're done," Levi says. Eren hands him the dish and
watches Levi set them off to the side. "I'm a little amazed we kept that pretty
clean."

Eren nervously laughs. "Yeah."

Levi quietly resettles next to him.

Eren thinks he should strike up conversation.

"Did you enjoy the food?" Levi asks first.

"Oh," Eren says. "Yeah, I did. Thank you for that, Levi."

Levi runs a wet hand through his hair. "Thank Sasha. She cooked it."

Eren laughs again, and when he hears it, he hates himself. How does he get rid
of the weird quiver that's suddenly developed in his voice? He hopes Levi
doesn't notice it. "She was always... the best out of us when it came to
cooking."

"Yeah?" Levi turns his head toward him and coolly regards him.

"Yeah," Eren flatly says. Levi nods and the awkward silence returns between
them.

Not cool, Eren thinks. He should have continued that train of thought with
Levi. This is so weird. He hates it.

"She -"

"I -"

Eren chuckles and Levi looks apologetic. "Sorry," Levi says. "Go on."

"Oh, um," Eren says, losing face. "It was nothing. I wasn't saying anything."

"Oh."

Eren can hear the sounds of insects coming from outside. He looks around the
room, to the candles, to the sink. The opposite edge of the bathtub. Hanji's
personal row of hygienic products are neatly laid in a line, so to distract him
from the penetrating, stifling tension among them, Eren squints his eyes and
tries reading the labels.

He's on the third bottle when he feels something behind his neck. Eren stiffens
for several moments until he realizes it's Levi's arm - whoa - Levi's arm
casually splayed behind him, on the edge of the tub, his hand barely touching
Eren's left shoulder. Eren turns his head right, towards Levi, who's taking the
time now to admire the water. He can't see Levi's face in this angle, but he
does see how physically close Levi's gotten to him again.

This is... interesting. He likes this. Eren starts to grin and with his left
hand, he grips Levi's fingertips and pulls down, until Levi's arm is fully
wrapped around his shoulders. Levi moves even closer, closer, and Eren sinks
further down to adjust to Levi's height, until Levi's mouth is by Eren's ear,
until half of Eren's body is against Levi's chest.

Eren can hear Levi breathing in. Breathing out. His breath touches his ear
and... Fuck.

"Tell me about your day," Levi murmurs. Eren is so close that he feels Levi's
chest moving up and down as he talks, and he can hear the soft shaking in his
voice that reminds Eren that even Levi is still nervous about this entire
ordeal.

Eren awkwardly licks his lips. "It was okay." He takes a moment to steady his
own voice. "After, um... well, this morning, I had breakfast. Did some training
with Mikasa, said bye to her before she left."

"Was that right before she and Connie left?" Levi asks. Meanwhile Eren closes
his eyes to focus better on the vibrations in Levi's chest.

"Yeah," he eventually answers. "She gave me a huge hug and everything. Not that
I was worried about her... you know."

Levi sighs and his breath tickles Eren's ear again. Eren lets out a small
snort, much to his embarrassment.

What he receives in response is a hand tousling his hair. Eren's breath
hitches, and afterwards, so does Levi's.

"Sorry," Levi immediately says. The arm around Eren's shoulder suddenly loosens
up, and Levi tries retreating, but Eren quickly grabs it to keep it in place.

"No, it's fine," he responds. "You just took me by surprise."

Levi still doesn't look convinced but he stops trying to add distance between
them.

Come to think of it, Levi's looked uncomfortable this entire time that they've
been together. Eren can't help but take this personally. Not that he's upset
about it. He's probably just doing something wrong. But what is it? It could be
the lack of conversation, though he's doing a better job at holding them now...
Is he being rude? Or is he being... a prude? Shit.

They just finished dinner. What's there to stop them now?

"Levi," Eren says. Levi looks down at him expectantly.

"Did you want... to have sex... now?"

That time, Levi recoils faster than Eren can stop him. The look of disbelief on
Levi's face is staggering.

"What? Why would you say that?"

"Because isn't that... next? On the date's agenda, I mean?" Eren asks as he
straightens himself up. His voice sounds incredibly small. He's aware of this.

And as if the moment couldn't get weirder, Levi laughs.

It's a snort at first, not really sounding like a laugh at all. But then Levi's
eyes brighten, his mouth widens, and he laughs. Genuine laughter spills from
his lips as he looks off to the other side of the tub. He runs his hand through
his hair and then starts covering his mouth with the back of his hand, a means
to stopper the curt, deep noises he's letting out.

"Eren, what the fuck?"

Eren is embarrassed. So fucking embarrassed. He tries hiding it with anger.
"What?! It's not like I know what to do here - I thought - This morning you -
!"

"This morning might have been a mistake," Levi says quietly, though a ghost of
a smile still remains on his face. "Shit, Eren. It's the first date. Really?"

"I... A mistake?"

"Mikasa would have my head if she found out we fucked," Levi continues. "And
she would find out, shit. She's worse than Four-Eyes sometimes."

"Wait, what do you mean by a mistake?" He can't help the fragile tone in his
voice, so he glares to hide that as well.

"I mean, I'm sorry," Levi says. "If this morning made you feel uncomfortable.
Or if that made you think that I would want more this evening. I should have
thought it through."

"I enjoyed it though," Eren is quick to say. "I wasn't uncomfortable... and I
just... I don't know. This is my first date? I'm not sure what's required of
me."

"You're not required to do anything," Levi responds. He absentmindedly cups
water into his hands, and lets it spill between his fingertips. "If you enjoy
yourself, you're welcome to ask for a second date. If you're not, you can leave
early. I won't be offended if it's the latter choice, by the way." He pauses.
"I'm pretty awful at this."

A wave of sympathy rushes over Eren, and he suddenly understands the uneasiness
he's noticed in Levi's movements all evening. What Hanji told Christa was right
then. Levi is extremely shy when it involved dating.

Thinking about this flares up Eren's eager determination. When Levi brings his
hands up to the surface of the water in a cup, Eren grabs his left and forces
it around his shoulders again. He huddles closer, re-positioning himself to how
he was before. It might be too straightforward, but it'll at least be a clear
indication of what Eren wants.

It might be what Levi wants too, because he doesn't resist when Eren moves them
closer. "Heh," Levi says. "So you do like being held."

Eren's not sure why Levi says it like that, but he doesn't respond.

"So you're enjoying yourself, I take it?"

Eren nods against his chest. "Tell me about your day, Levi."

It takes several moments, but when Levi answers, Eren can feel Levi's body
relax. He can hear his heart beat.

"A lot of paperwork," he answers. "And then I had to prepare for tonight. I...
didn't realize how grueling it was to walk up and down the stairs to fill this
tub."

"Wasn't so bad," Eren says, but he doesn't sound convincing. It was bad.
Walking up and down the stairs so many times left him exhausted. But it was
okay. "Might have been worth it, anyway," he adds.

Levi makes an appreciative noise.

"I heard you have a scar on the side of your body. Is that true?"

"Only Hanji and Erwin know about that," Levi says, looking down at Eren
suspiciously. When Eren doesn't offer up how he found out, Levi continues.
"Yes. It's true. Accident when I was living under the capital. That's all
you're getting for now. Next question."

"Do you remember your first Titan kill?"

"I was explicitly told not to discuss Titans while on this date," Levi says
with a smirk. Eren looks up at him with confusion.

"What? Who - Where are you getting this information from?"

"It was on my first day outside of the walls," Levi casually answers. "Thirty
minutes out. I had two friends assist me."

Eren asks three more questions. Favorite food. How long he's known Erwin and
Hanji. If Eren annoys him as much as he lets on.

Levi answers them swiftly and succinctly. Beef stew. Too long. Meanwhile his
hand trails to muss Eren's hair, which he doesn't seem to mind. He's especially
soft in toying with strands of hair when he answers the last question, sighing
softly and offering a simple "No. You don't." Levi must have thought twice
about his short answer because he adds, "My sense of humor and teasing are just
hard to understand sometimes."

"How do you think this date is going?"

Levi contemplates this. "Well. You're still here, aren't you? Can we get to
bathing now?"

Eren nods and he reluctantly pulls away. Levi takes a second to pull his arm
away from Eren as well, or at least Eren thinks he does. That's exciting. Eren
is all smiles when he grabs the shampoo and soap for both of them, though Levi
grabs them from his hands and gives him an authoritative look. Levi is in
charge of the actual bathing part, it seems.

Levi works on lathering his head first before moving on to Eren. Eren patiently
waits, watching the muscles in Levi's arms move and ripple with each scrubbing
movement.

When Levi instructs Eren to turn around, Eren complies, and Levi quickly gets
to work on his hair. Eren remains still and sinks as low as he can so Levi can
reach the top of his head.

"I do have a couple questions for you, Eren," Levi says as he lathers. Eren
tries turning around to look at him but Levi jerks his head straight back,
fingers holding his cheeks tightly to keep him in place.

"What are they?"

"Is any of this too fast for you? Uncomfortable?"

"I told you I wasn't --"

"I don't just mean tonight," Levi says. Eren can feel him move away, most
likely to grab the pail off to the side. "Think about it, Eren. We only just
revealed our feelings this morning."

Levi pours water on his hair and Eren gasps. It takes him a couple seconds to
recover from being doused in water.

"So?" Eren asks. "Normal people don't act this quickly?"

"Not exactly," Levi answers. "But we're also not normal people." He tugs at
Eren's hair, making sure every strand is clean and clear of suds. "We're
soldiers. Relationships and sex don't end up working out among soldiers. Hm. On
second thought, one-off occurrences of sex do. But I've never been a fan of
those. If that's what you were looking for."

Eren hasn't really thought about that. "I don't think so," he softly responds.

Levi puts a hand on his shoulder and turns Eren around to face him. "I didn't
think so either," he mutters. "My point is, Eren. I'm moving fast because
that's the only option. People inside the walls have the luxury of debating
labels or scheduling a fourth date." He looks up at Eren, an unreadable
expression in his eyes. "This is what you'll get from me. If you don't like it,
don't be hesitant in telling me. The sooner this is... out of your system, the
better."

Eren's too slow in stopping the frown from forming on his face.

"Have I upset you?" Levi calmly asks.

"You just... killed the mood, is all," Eren grumbles. He might be upset. But he
understands. Maybe.

Actually. No, he doesn't. He suddenly remembers how Levi thinks ahead, unlike
himself. Eren lives in the moment. Right now, he wants to continue asking Levi
questions about his life. What does he mean he's never been a fan of one-night
romps? Has he done them before? And with who? After that, Eren isn't sure. Fuck
the second date. Fuck the fourth date. He'll get there when he gets there.

"You don't have to answer right now," Levi says, interrupting his thoughts. "I
wouldn't want you to." Levi suddenly gets up from the tub and stretches. He's
so short though, and the tub so deep that the water reaches just below his
belly button. But Eren can't see his lower half. What a shame.

"I'm getting out now. My skin is getting soft."
 
===============================================================================

Levi walks Eren back to his room, which is a nice touch to the romance, Eren
thinks. On the way down, he considers grabbing Levi's hand in his, but it
somehow feels... adolescent to him. Immature. And he wants Levi to see him as
mature, and attractive, and capable of making important decisions.

Though he may not be able to change Levi's mind about pursuing all this. The
speech Levi had just given has settled in Eren's head and now he's feeling
discouraged. Did Levi even like him?

"Don't be upset," Levi tells him in a whisper as they walk down the stairs.

"I'm not," Eren assures him again.

"Hm."

They stop a couple feet away from Eren's new quarters, whom he shares with the
other guys. At this point in the night, it's late and past lights out, but Jean
or Armin could easily still be awake.

"Thank you for tonight, Levi," Eren whispers first.

Levi nods, looking upward. "I hope you enjoyed it."

"I did."

Levi nods again. Looks around. Hesitates. "Let me know if you decide to pursue
this in a couple days. Before the end of the week, at least."

"You make it sound like an order," Eren says bitterly.

"It's what I have to -"

"Right. Okay. Good night."

Eren knows he's not acting like he should. He can see it on Levi's face too.
The older man might have something to say but ultimately decides not to.

"Good night," he mumbles, and starts walking away.

No.

That's not right. Eren doesn't want it to end like this. This is dumb.

Impulsively, he grabs the sleeve of Levi's shirt and pulls. He only sees the
flash of anger in Levi's eyes before he moves forward, leans down, and brings
his lips to meet Levi's.

Within seconds, Levi goes from shocked to receptive, slightly parting his lips;
though Eren by no means takes the kiss further, more out of lack of experience
than anything. One hand finds its way in Levi's hair and the other is still
tightly holding on to Levi's sleeve, as if it were afraid Levi would leave,
would walk away and end it.

It's a soft, innocent kiss, and Eren thinks he's accomplished what he'd meant
for it when he pulls back. But Levi suddenly grips both sides of his head and
pulls him back down.

"Open your mouth," he whispers. When Eren is about to ask why, Levi crashes his
lips on him, his tongue swiping at his lips until the kiss is wet, rough, and
clumsy. Eren's not sure how, but at one point Levi is sucking on his tongue,
both parts painful and pleasurable, something so intense he involuntarily lets
out a soft moan that he hopes no one hears from inside their quarters.

Levi pulls back and wipes at the corner of his lips. "All right," he says.

That's all he says.

When Levi finally walks away, Eren's left with a wide grin on his face.

He hobbles inside his bedroom.
***** I know we'll go far *****
Chapter Summary
     Life resolves itself.
Chapter Notes
     One more chapter after this. I THINK YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS HEHEHE
     But, aww. Well at least I can focus on my AU slower build fic... and/
     or probably write all-out trashy ereri stories. (PROMPTS ANYONE?
     lololol)
     Anyway. Shout out to Bjork's discography for helping me write this. I
     think it shows... Also, I've been alternating POVs but I /might/ have
     the last chapter be in levi's POV instead of eren's. not sure yet.
Levi avoids Eren for three days.

He thinks it's the best decision, to give Eren enough space and time to
consider what his next move should be in regards to their relationship.

Levi had enjoyed himself on the date as best he could. There were moments when
he had unfortunately second-guessed himself, he'll admit it. But when he did
let himself relax, when he stopped seeing the evening as a date and more of
just spending some time alone with Eren, everything had started to feel...
natural.

Certainly not in the sense of skills or behavior. Levi had made mistakes. Eren
had made mistakes as well. But just being with Eren in that intimate of a
setting, touching him, bathing him, feeding him, had cleared everything else
out of his mind. For a couple hours, Levi had forgotten that they were in the
middle of a war, that he was a ranked officer in an army with little-to-no
chance of survival.

Being with Eren had felt like what his life should really be, in fact.

Ha. Hyperbolic statements. Levi has found new sentimentality in a matter of
days, and he's not entirely sure how to interpret it all.

Avoiding Eren would help him as well, then. Because Levi had certainly made up
his mind on what he'd do if the decision rested on him instead. That much is
obvious. Levi would pursue it. File the necessary paperwork, discuss the
importance of discretion with Erwin, and try to maintain a relationship with
Eren while keeping their heads in the war. It sounded difficult, of course. But
not impossible.

This world was impossible. Avoiding death was impossible. But the intimacy
might make it worth it. Hell, it might even be necessary if they both wanted to
keep their sanity. They arguably have the heaviest burdens to carry for this
war.

But he's left it all for Eren to decide. And it's unclear how Eren feels about
it all. He had seemed angry as their date ended. What could that have meant?

So Levi avoids him. Which isn't an easy thing to do, considering how Eren's
devoted his mornings and nights to dote on Levi and his personal hygiene. But
Levi skips his morning laps around the courtyard to take an even earlier
shower, and leaves a note for Eren stating not to worry about his baths
anymore.

He takes an early breakfast and a late dinner. He works in the library where
Armin and Christa usually study to avoid being cornered in his office. In the
castle's corridors, Levi makes sure to carry a stack of papers with him so that
if he runs into Eren, which he does, he can pretend to be engrossed in the
files.

Levi bats him away when Eren gets closer. "Not now, Eren, I have to read
through these reports by this evening."

"Really? Do you need help then, sir?"

"I'll see you at dinner."

Which he doesn't. But this is for the best. It'll hurt less when Eren says no.

Or, it might actually make it easier for Eren to say no.

Regardless. Levi carries on.
===============================================================================

To everyone's silent relief, Mikasa and Connie show up on the fourth day, with
Hanji and her squad leading the way, and a carriage of supplies in the back of
their convoy. Levi's the first to greet them, though he does that just to make
sure the proper supplies for his shower are stored in their carriage.
Hanji knows this. She laughs and casually hops off her horse to follow Levi.
"Yes, Levi, don't worry! It's all there! It should take a day to get everything
fixed with the right amount of people working on the pipes. Hey, where's Eren?
I want to do some research today with him if it's okay."

"He should be round back with the others," he idly says as he whips the blanket
to the left, revealing the supplies underneath. She's right. It's all there.
The nightmare is almost over. "But fixing the water supply is imperative,
Hanji. That has to happen first."

"But, Levi!"

"No," he sharply cuts. "Your experiments are postponed until tomorrow. Tell
everyone."

Hanji looks ready to protest again, but another glare from Levi stops her. She
loudly groans and trudges off with her horse, her squad following suit. Connie
and Mikasa stay behind.

"Did you run into any trouble?" Levi asks them. They both shake their heads.
"Good. Connie, you'll be in charge of the repairs today." He pauses and
bitterly adds, "That shouldn't be a surprise."

"Yes, sir," Connie weakly answers. He gives a salute before stepping back and
leaving. But Mikasa lingers on her horse, looking like she's waiting for
something. Levi knows what it is.

"Did you... talk with him?" she asks, once Connie is out of hearing range.

"Yes," Levi answers. "We spoke."

"Well?"

Of course Mikasa would want a recap of what's happened since she's been gone.
Why wouldn't she? Levi hides his face and grits his teeth in annoyance. He
turns back to her, and aims to give her as little information as he can.

"I left everything up for him to decide. Though if it makes you feel better, he
hasn't approached me in days." The words are blunt and unfriendly, but Levi
can't help it. Getting this out of his system. Mikasa's words had offended him
back then and he still resents them now.

Mikasa doesn't say anything, which he finds a relief. Not that there's much
left to say. He hears her sigh and Levi swiftly pulls the tarp on top of the
supplies back into position. "Let's go. There's a lot of work to do today."

"Leave the carriage here, sir. I can unload it," Mikasa offers. He looks at
her, and she holds his gaze for several moments before turning away and leading
her horse into the stables.

Instinctively, Levi thinks this might be her way of apologizing. But he quickly
snuffs those thoughts out.
===============================================================================

Everyone has a task assigned to them today.

Connie is the main over-seer for the repairs as a continuing punishment, though
Levi's fearful that the tasks will be accomplished incorrectly under Connie's
orders. So he assigns Armin as a second coordinator as well -- who, thinking
back now, would have been the best choice for repairing Levi's shower in the
first place. What had Levi been thinking? Ugh.

He doesn't regret anything in the past week, though. Not really.

Mikasa is the strongest, so Levi positions her by the well to replace the
broken pipe outside. He assigns Sasha there too, in case Mikasa needs
assistance. Christa, meanwhile, is upstairs in Levi's quarters to replace his
shower head. It's an easy task. Apparently all that needs doing is twisting it
in place, but Christa is second-best at cleaning, and he wouldn't mind someone
tidying up in there. He hasn't been using his restroom much except to shit,
anyway.

Jean has food duty today, which proves crucial since Hanji's entire squad has
come back starving and exhausted. Most of them are waiting in the mess hall as
he prepares them meals. A few are in their quarters, choosing to rest first
instead. That's wise, Levi thinks, because they'll certainly be cleaning and
wiping the floors of the castle for most of the day.

That just leaves Eren and Hanji.

Levi pulls Hanji aside in the first-floor corridor and confesses he's been
using her bath for the past couple of days. She laughs, gripping her knees as
she doubles over with cackles, listening to his hurled insults about why the
hell didn't you tell me about your bath, you fucking four-eyes? and how the
shit did you get scented candles approved?

"Wait, you used my candles? Why? They're artificial, you know. I didn't think
you'd enjoy them."

Levi sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "It's been a strange week,
Hanji."

"Oh, really?" she says, her tone interested. "Pour us some tea, tell me all
about it. We have a lot to discuss about the next mission as well. Oh, here
comes Eren! Good!"

Levi hears approaching footsteps from behind him and tries not to show any
discomfort or awkwardness on his part. He shifts his weight casually and keeps
his eyes on Hanji, even when Eren stops right next to him.

"Captain! Squad leader!"

Eren salutes.

Tch. Levi shifts his weight between his legs again and crosses his arms.

"Eren!" Hanji exclaims. "It's been too long, are you well-rested? I wanted to
start today on the shifting experiments since I'm back, but your boring Captain
here would rather I sit in my office and do paperwork - which I've been doing
the entire time I've been inside the walls."

Eren gives her a small, nervous laugh that makes Levi feel odd. He's tired of
trying to avoid Eren in all situations, but Levi doesn't think now's the time
to put an end to it. He tries to think of a way to get out of there, fast. Levi
clears his throat.

"That's right," he calmly says. "I think the next round of experiments can wait
until tomorrow. But that shouldn't mean you two can't start discussing what you
have in mind right now."

He catches them off-guard. Eren turns to him, confused, and Hanji's face drops.

"What?" she asks.

"By all means, you two should have a meeting to discuss and schedule the
following week's worth of experiments," he continues. "I know you're eager to
get started. Seems like the best idea for today."

Hanji's face is scrunched up into an expression Levi can't decipher. She
scratches her head and brings her face closer to his with a tilt. "What?" she
asks again.

"Captain," Eren interjects. "Shouldn't, uh... shouldn't you be there too, for
this meeting?"

Levi quickly shakes his head. "I would, but I have a mountain of work to do." A
mountain?

"A mountain?" Hanji asks incredulously. All Levi can do is nod. But he's lying
obviously, which he's already feeling guilty for. Avoiding Eren for four days
now just seems pointless and tedious. A little cowardly. Why is he doing it?
Why is he continuing to do it?

It's pride. Wracked with guilt, wracked with embarrassment. Levi is only good
at war, at being a soldier. Not a lover. Not a partner.

"I should get started, actually," Levi says. He swears he sees a flash of anger
on Eren's face. Levi turns to head upstairs. "Let me know what you've come up
with tomorrow."

"But - sir!"

"Levi?"

Levi quickens his pace to his office before they chase him down.
===============================================================================

Levi takes off his jacket as soon as he enters his office and sets it behind
his chair. He doesn't have any paper work to do, not really. He's been diligent
in the past couple days to ensure that. He thinks of what he can do to pass
time in his office, but after several minutes of organizing and re-organizing
the paperweights on his desk, he thinks he's better off heading outside to
check that the plumbing gets fixed properly.

He opens his office door and takes two steps into the hallway when he sees him:
Eren, furious, gritted look on his face, stalking straight toward him.

Shit.

For a brief moment, Levi considers slinking back into his office and pretend to
immerse himself in a report, but before he can move in any direction, Eren
growls out: "What the hell is your problem?"

...Shit.

Levi looks over behind Eren to make sure no one else is coming up in the
corridor. He's not sure what to say. He asks what he thinks is the most
nonchalant, casual question. "Where's Hanji?"

By then, Eren's reached him, and he shoves Levi hard on the shoulder with
enough force to push Levi fully up against the wall. "Why the fuck are you
avoiding me?" he spits out. There's white-hot heat in his eyes.

Levi reacts fast and glares as he flings Eren's hand off him. "What the hell do
you think you're doing?"

"Me? What are you doing?" Eren asks frantically. His voice is loud and echoing
across the walls now. Anyone could easily hear him, even if they were at the
foot of the stairs. This isn't good. Levi grabs Eren by the wrist and pulls him
into his office before he continues ranting out in the hall. He pushes him in
and closes the door behind them both.

Levi turns and faces Eren, who's still fuming by the looks of it. Levi can't
play dumb right now, not that he necessarily wants to. And Eren's got every
right to be upset. He rubs the back of his neck and moves past Eren to the
front of his desk, trying to figure out a way to start this conversation as
normally as possible.

Eren doesn't appreciate this. "Hello? Can youtalk? You're still gonna avoid me
even when I'm right in front of you?"

"No," Levi responds as he looks down. There's dust on the floorboards, he
notices. He crosses his arms and leans against his desk, crossing his ankles as
well.

He knows what to say now. It's the only way to start.

"I'm sorry." For acting like a child. "For avoiding you."

Levi looks up and finds Eren standing still, features frozen in aggravation.
Levi goes on. "I wanted to give you enough space to make your decision. Without
any influence from me."

Eren doesn't say anything. He's still breathing heavily from his outbursts, but
his face is gradually sofening. He looks a lot less furious now than when he
had stomped toward him just moments ago.

But the silence continues. Levi wants to break it.

"Where's Hanji?" he asks again, as casually as he can muster.

Eren must have been thinking about what he's just said, because the question
looks like it surprises him. After a moment, he regains his composure, licks
his lips, and sets one hand on his hip while the other scratches behind an ear.
"Uh... Outside. She dismissed me and told me to come look for you." He pauses
and suddenly looks sheepish. "I think she knows, by the way."

That's... not good. Maybe. "What did you do?"

"It wasn't me," Eren says. "It was you. The way you willingly gave me over to
her. You've never done that." He takes a step closer. "She said I must have
done something huge, the way you ran off like that."

Of course. He was pretty obvious. Levi ignores the embarrassment building
inside him. "I see."

There's more uncomfortable silence. Levi uncrosses his arms and settles them on
the desk behind him, bracing himself. "For the record," he eventually starts.
"I'll respect whatever decision you've made. Don't think I'll take offense to
your choice."

"Wait, what?"

Levi stares at him for several moments and speaks slowly. "You've made your
decision. Yes? I understand if it's not favorable-"

"Levi, what are you talking about?"

Levi doesn't respond.

"I want this. I want you. I thought by - by kissing you, that would be clear.
And... I thought you kissing back meant you wanted it too. I didn't need four
days to think about it. I didn't even need an hour. What a waste of time."

Relief. Disbelief. He's sure the emotions are all on display on his face. He
swallows. "Wait, you..."

"And even if you didn't want to continue," Eren interrupts, and as he speaks,
his right booted leg kicks at the floorboards like a nervous tic. "That would
have been... okay, too. Maybe."

Levi wants to cut in, tell him he's wrong, and that Eren would have probably
pursued him anyway, but Eren says it for him. "Actually, I might have tried
changing your mind," he adds with a small smile. "But I wouldn't have...ignored
you. That's just... stupid. You taught me that. You tell me all the time, that
communication is key among our squad. You always tell us that, so I don't know
why... Why would you avoid me?"

You taught me that. Eren, standing in the center of the room, looking bigger
than he is, looking older. It's a glimpse of the future version of him, one
with twice the confidence he has now, twice the strength, three times the
fortitude that he currently possesses. It's more than impressive. It's
remarkable. Metaphorical. Eren is a breath of air that Levi wants to keep
inhaling.

The world settles back into place, and Eren is waiting for an explanation. He
deserves the truth. Levi exhales. "I haven't held a relationship since joining
the Scouting Legion, Eren. I don't have to give you the exact amount of time
for you to know it's been a while."

Eren looks amused. "Really?"

Levi glares and Eren looks apologetic. "Sorry," Eren says. "I just find that
kinda hard to believe. Okay, so... You're bad at this."

Levi straightens up and crosses his arms in defense. "Tch. I'm not bad at these
things, I just-"

"Levi," Eren cuts in. "Levi, I'm bad at this too. I haven't had a relationship.
Ever."

"And you really want to start now?"

"Yes," Eren answers automatically. "Yeah." Slowly, he offers up a smile, and
then a soft laugh. "Do you know how long I've... had a crush on you? And you
might like me back? It's... I don't know. It's exciting."

He closes the distance between them slowly, though his clenched hands by his
sides give away his nerves. But it all feels okay now, somehow. The smile on
Eren's face doesn't disappear. He looks warm. "This might end badly, in a lot
of ways." Eren pauses and his features darken. The weight of that sentence
begins to implode inside the room, but he carries on. "But I think we can still
try. I want to try."

Levi can see that Eren's fists are still clenched. Still nervous. He doesn't
have to be. "Relax, Eren," Levi says, looking up. "I want to try, too."

"Really?" Eren's green eyes brighten. Levi gives him a firm nod.

"So then," Eren says, taking a final step in front of Levi. "Is it okay to...
kiss you now?"

"Huh. You didn't ask last time," Levi flatly muses.

Eren thinks this is rejection judging by the defeated look in his eyes, which
Levi finds a little comical. He reaches forward with one hand and pulls at a
uniform strap by Eren's side. Eren jerks forward and his waist knocks against
Levi's stomach, breath hitching as it happens. But Eren recovers, and though
there's a shy expression to his face, Eren utters a small, bemused noise, looks
down, and presses his forehead against Levi's.

Eren starts to grin, and his green eyes flicker with joy, which in turn makes
Levi want to smile. Levi tries to inconspicuously bite the inside of his mouth
to keep it from forming. It's no use though. Eren softly laughs again and
timidly places his hands on Levi's waist, gently shimmying their two bodies
from side-to-side.

It all feels juvenile, awkward even. "So can I?" Eren asks, barely above a
whisper. Holy shit, they're flirting. They're being coy, and this is something
Levi didn't think he'd ever do with anyone, let alone Eren fucking Jaeger, but
though it feels out of his comfort zone, Levi finds himself wanting to venture
forward.

These next kisses are meant to confirm a promise, unlike the hurried, desperate
one they shared at the end of their date. Levi takes it slow, carefully raising
his arms around Eren and links his hands together behind Eren's neck. His smirk
hurts from trying to keep it from growing.

"Hm," Eren lets out, eyes hooded in a silent concentration. He's looking at
Levi's lips now. His breath is shaky, but he leans forward and kisses him, soft
and chaste and slow. When Eren pulls back, he bites his bottom lip, and goes in
for another. He does this twice, three times, multiples times, planting safe
kisses that Levi returns with intent. Levi closes his eyes and affectionately
kisses back until, maybe after the seventh one, when he starts sensing an
urgency on Eren's lips very unlike the insecure, tentative way that Eren went
about it the last time.

Eren deepens his kisses of his own accord. Levi complies. He runs a hand
through Eren's hair and then pulls Eren further against him, consequently
crushing their lips together. Their movements are sloppier now, growing heated.
Levi opens his mouth and Eren is clumsy, his tongue lapping against the corners
of Levi's lips. But he's trying, and Levi can't fault him for that.

Levi roughly tugs at the lapels of Eren's jacket, and Eren responds with a
grunt. His hands snake around Levi's back, and he pulls him forward. There's no
space between them anymore, and Levi can feel Eren's bulge pressing into him.
His own cock is making him feel restricted, contained. He'll have to deal with
that soon. But right now his hands go back to combing through Eren's hair,
still kissing him, fingers tightening and twisting around strands of brown
hair. Soft. Clean. But Eren's grip around him is firm. Strong. So fucking
strong.

Levi pulls back from Eren's lips, and his tongue swipes at his own before
delving onto Eren's neck. Eren arches, granting him more skin to trace a wet
trail on. They've been silent thus far, save for the wet, messy noises from
their lips, but when Levi's tongue licks at a certain spot on his neck, Eren
gently cries out, and it feels like Levi's entire body hums with desire
alongside him.

Levi needs more. Quickly. He hadn't realized how much he physically needs this
to happen. He exhales against Eren's skin, and his hands pull down the sleeves
of Eren's jacket until Eren gets the hint and starts shrugging it off himself.

Eren meanwhile starts pulling at his cravat, loosening it fast and rough that
the fabric stings Levi's neck as it glides off. Levi is still kissing his neck,
sucking gently, earning him the soft gasps that send waves of arousal down to
the pit of his stomach. He pulls at the leather strap across Eren's chest and
utters a harsh "fuck" when he has trouble unbuckling it.

"Take it off," Levi mutters breathlessly, as his hands move to his own
harnesses. It's then he notices his hands are shaking from the way he struggles
with the buckle on his chest. He can't remember when that started.

"Everything?" Eren pants. His top straps come loose and they hang down, still
connected to his belt. Levi nods but he's impatient, and moves forward to claim
Eren's mouth again once he sees Eren barely unbuckling his belt.

"Wait," Eren says between the kisses, and then moans when Levi takes the
opportunity of Eren moving away to pry Eren's belt loose enough to manage a
hand down Eren's pants. Levi's fingers graze wiry hair, and then hardening
flesh that makes Eren nearly keel over and lose balance.

"Wait, let me - take it off -" Eren groans, but something primal is rising
within Levi, his own cock now rock-hard against his uniform pants. He wants to
fuck him. Damn it, he wants to fuck him, but this is something new and barely
blooming. There will be time for that later. Levi will make sure of that.

For now, Levi turns Eren around until it's Eren's back that's against the front
of his desk. Eren's body is writhing, and he's panting with exhaustion already.
His lips are plump and pink from the amount of kissing they've done thus far.
He looks like a fucking mess, with hair sticking out every which way, and Levi
can't believe how much of a turn-on it is.

He works on the straps on Eren's legs, and back to Eren's belt, stealing kisses
when he can. Eren tries to do the same for Levi and his uniform, but Levi swats
his hand away when he does.

This is Eren's day today, after all.

It takes Levi an agonizing minute before everything finally comes loose, and
they both set Eren's belt aside on the desk along with his harnesses and guard.
Eren laughs, sounding tired, and this time Levi allows the smile to overwhelm
his face. At that, Eren grabs his face for a long, hard kiss and Levi can only
half-concentrate on undoing the buttons to Eren's pants.

Finally,finally, they come undone and Eren looks like he's about to sit up on
the desk, but Levi holds him down. Eren looks confused for a second, but
realization dawns on his face when Levi takes a knee and starts bending down.

"Levi," he breathes down. Levi's eyes flick upward. Eren's bulge is more
noticeable at this angle. More prominent. Levi cups it with his palm and Eren
moans again. "Levi, you don't have to -"

"Shut up," Levi says, one hand trailing upward, through the inside of Eren's
shirt to touch Eren's abs. With his other hand, Levi shoves Eren's unbuttoned
pants down to his thighs, and then does the same to his underwear. Eren's dick
immediately springs up and Levi has time to stare up into Eren's face for a
brief second before taking the tip in his mouth.

Eren sounds like he's been punched in the stomach. In fact, he can feel the
muscles in Eren's stomach moving uncontrollably with the hand that's clutching
at Eren's skin there.

Levi hasn't done this in years, but it's not a skill you could ever forget. He
softly grips the base of Eren's cock and pumps with his hand, simultaneously
working the head with his mouth. He hollows his cheeks, and sucks lightly,
meanwhile trying to keep Eren from writhing under him too much.

Eren is loud. His cries can definitely be heard from outside his office, and
Levi gently smacks his hand against Eren's stomach. "Quieter," Levi says as he
pops Eren's cock out of his mouth. He goes back to work again, pumping faster.
It only stops Eren from groaning for a couple seconds.

He's squirming, bucking his hips like he's lost all control of his own body.
"Levi - " he cries, head thrown back, and hands clenched against the desk.
"Levi, it feels sogood. Fuck."

Levi tries to match Eren's thrusts, however erratic they are. When his jaw
stiffens, he takes a break to lick along the underside of Eren's cock, coating
it with enough of his saliva to pump Eren even faster. His grip twists along
Eren's shaft, and his mouth is on Eren's tip again, trying to take as much of
it as he can.

"Leeevi," Eren whines. Fuck, he sounds so hot, so good. So needy. "Please, I'm
not - I won't last -"

"I don't expect you to," Levi moves back and manages to say. He gives a small
swipe to the head with his tongue, causing Eren to briefly shudder. "Go," he
growls. "Do it. Do it for me, Eren."

Eren's cock is back in his mouth for only a few seconds when he feels something
warm hit the back of his throat. Levi looks up and Eren's face is scrunched in
a silent scream, body shuddering, hips thrusting with every spurt of cum that
he drains into Levi's mouth. Eren finally inhales, loudly, and Levi swallows
the bitter-tasting liquid.

Eren braces his body with his hands on the desk, but he slowly slinks downward,
down, down on the floor, legs spread, and bare ass touching the floor. Levi
will judge him for that later; right now, after he makes sure Eren hasn't
passed out, Levi works on his own uniform, belt first, detaching it just enough
to be able to comfortably undo his pants and finally touch the erection he's
been sporting this entire time.

He settles himself next to Eren on the floor, and jerks himself fast, eyes
closed, Eren's fucking great moans echoing in his head. This is fine, he
thinks. They'll have time to fool around more another day. But Levi needs
release. His pumping is automatic, and he makes his way to the edge in record
time.

He opens his eyes when he feels Eren's hand on his cock, gently trying to move
Levi's away.

Levi turns to look at him and Eren languidly scoots closer, and lolls his head
on Levi's shoulder. "Let me," he says quietly, still sounding like he's run a
mile. Levi won't argue. He plops his hand on the floor, and tries moving Eren
closer to his body.

"Faster," Levi asks in a whisper, and Eren obeys, his hand moving up and down
Levi's thick cock. Levi sighs deeply and rests his head against the desk. Fuck
yes. The feeling of someone else's hand on his cock feels better than he
remembers.

He opens his eyes when he feels Eren adjusting himself next to him. He finds
Eren looking at him, intensity in his eyes, and Levi moves in for a kiss. It's
a lazy one, but passionate, and it stays that way even when Eren's hand
quickens its pace, even when Levi feels the pressure in his balls building and
building.

Levi moans his orgasm into Eren's mouth, his leg tensing up as he comes into
Eren's hand. Eren catches his moans between his lips, letting out small,
appreciative noises of his own. When the waves of climax start dying down, Levi
pulls back and Eren rests his head on his shoulder again.

When he catches his breath, and his heart rate is back to normal, Levi looks
down to gaze at his spent dick. Eren's hand is drenched in cum. Eren pulls it
back and wipes it on his crumpled pants that are still slunk down to his
thighs.

Levi grimaces and instinctively shoves Eren off his shoulder. "Fucking
disgusting."

Eren chuckles. "What should I have done?"

"Eat it. Wash your hands. Use a tissue."

"Okay. I'll eat it next time."

"Tch," Levi says, and stops talking after that. He closes his eyes and rests
his head against the desk with a sigh.

Perfect.

"That was nice," Eren says. "Really good. Like... really good."

Levi smirks but keeps his eyes closed. "Yeah."

"I could get used to this, Levi."

"Mm. Me too."

Eren sighs and returns his head back on Levi's shoulder. Levi kisses his head
but makes no effort to move.

After several minutes, Eren speaks.

"Don't fall asleep," he murmurs. "I think you'd want us to clean this room now
that we just did all that. Don't you?"

Levi's heart starts to beat faster. He'll swear by it.

"Don't make me fall in love with you, Eren."

Eren laughs.
***** With you, I'm in warm water *****
Chapter Summary
     Levi gives in; Eren finds something he's really good at.
Chapter Notes
     This definitely reads more like an epilogue. An incredibly fluffy,
     GOOFY, epilogue.
     We made it, guys. This is it. Bless the support. BLESS. I know it's
     impossible to please everyone that reads this ending, but I hope the
     majority enjoys this.... *Nervously looks up at the "this is supposed
     to be funny" tag*
     also, whoops i should probably add some more tags like.... ?? shower
     sex ???? bottom!levi ..???? um. (sorry if you hate bottom levi.... it
     just... kinda happened)
So, that was it. In a matter of days, Eren had found himself a... boyfriend.
Partner? Lover? A relationship.

And their relationship is a little unconventional, to say the least. For one
thing, he and Levi are required to attend a long-winded meeting with Erwin
about it, like if it's just another matter of mundane business in their day.
But it has to be done, Levi had said, before they can break the news to the
squad. Before Eren can really consider his relationship "official."

Levi had told him that these kinds of things are recorded in paperwork, but
considering their critical positions in the war and as Scouts, Erwin decides
against this. Instead, Erwin lectures them for two hours about discretion, the
consequences of letting this development leak, lest their enemies use it
against them, and how love can cloud the judgment of even the best of soldiers.

"How did this even start?" Erwin asks at one point. Eren tries to think of a
way to answer, but Levi speaks first.

"Do you really want to know?"

Erwin sighs. "No. I suppose I don't."

To be honest, Eren had left the meeting feeling discouraged and a little
attacked, but Levi has a separate meeting with Erwin a couple days afterward.
Eren bombards him with questions as soon as he returns.

"Is he still mad? Does he want us to stop?"

"What?"

"Fuck... he's expelling us from the Scouts, isn't he?"

Levi rolls his eyes. "No. He was never upset with us. He just wants us to be
careful. No public displays. The war comes first. Stuff like that." Levi then
crosses his arms and looks to the side. "Actually, he said he's hopeful. Thinks
this is the best shit to happen for me."

Eren smiles. "Really?"

"Not you too," Levi says with a scowl.

Telling the rest of Squad Levi and Squad Hanji about his relationship proves
taxing, because not only is he physically tired from the experiments they ran
on him all day, but because Hanji - even though she had already guessed what
was happening - has too many questions about the origin of this development.
Seriously. She's worse than Erwin.

Armin, however, offers Eren a warm smile. Jean looks ecstatic for some reason.
Sasha and Connie look at each other, mouths agape, and Christa claps.

But Mikasa doesn't stop glaring at Levi for the rest of the night. The next
morning, it's Levi's turn to ask about his boyfriend's best friend, wondering
how long she'll stay upset at him. Eren just smirks and shrugs.

"She just wants us to be careful," he answers, mimicking Levi.

"Bullshit," Levi says. Levi doesn't pick up on Eren's mocking tone. "She hates
me. As her Captain, I can't have that."

Eren scoffs. "She's just being protective. It's annoying sometimes but...
that's just who she is."

Later that day, Eren spots Levi and Mikasa chatting heatedly by the stables,
serious looks on their faces. Eren doesn't ask, and neither ever bring it up to
him, but by that night Mikasa seems to soften up around them both.

And when Connie and Sasha bombard Eren at dinner about his new relationship
("Have you guys kissed yet?," "How big is his thing?," "Does Levi like to
cuddle?"), she crams bread into Sasha's mouth and threatens Connie by claiming
she'll tell everyone what happened in the forest when they traveled together a
couple days back.

Connie promptly shuts up.

After that, life goes on. But it takes some time for Eren to adjust to being
someone's boyfriend. He doesn't know what he expected, not like he ever
imagined any of his crushes would ever amount to anything. He and Levi can't
exactly go on romantic dates anymore, not with the constant titan experiments
that Hanji schedules, or the chores that Eren has to tend to daily. And despite
the astounding intimacy they had already shared, their private moments happen
infrequently, less and less.

Levi had warned him about this too, and Eren tries to be mature about it,
because it's what he should be now, responsible and self-assured. But two weeks
later of alleged dating, and Eren finds himself slamming Levi's office door,
irritated and ashamed of the fact.

"I want to hang out with you more," Eren grumbles. "This isn't how I thought
it'd be."

His presence doesn't look like it's surprised Levi at all. Rather, Levi
responds to his request with a deliberate sigh. "I didn't say this would be
easy," he says. "If this isn't how you pictured it, then maybe we should -"

"Don't even say that," Eren yells.

"Calm down."

"No! You... I just... I'm trying. Okay? I swear I am. I don't talk about us
with anyone aside from Armin. I haven't asked for anything until now. Can you
just... make some more time for us? Please? I know it's selfish, and I'm being
unprofessional about it, but..."

Levi beckons him with a finger, and Eren trails off as he leans his upper body
across Levi's desk. Levi scoots in, and he meets Eren half-way for a kiss.

"I'm sorry. You're right, Eren. I promise I'll see what I can do."

And Levi does. Levi tries, and in a matter of days, both their schedules have
been readjusted to place them on security watch at the same time, and to have
an hour-long break simultaneously. Levi organizes a private dinner for them in
his office every other day, and though public displays of affection are
forbidden, Levi lets Eren steal kisses when no one is looking. Once, when no
one is around, Eren boldly clasps his hand around Levi's as they leisurely
walk.

It startles Levi the first time Eren does it, but eventually it's Levi that
initiates the hand-holding (although once he does it without realizing Hanji is
in the area, and the squeals she emits ring in Eren's ears for the entire day).

Everything gets better.

But they don't have sex.

They kiss when they can. It often gets heated. One evening, they slip away
during security watch to the back of the castle headquarters, and Levi goes
down on his knees again in public, where anyone could have seen.

But they don't have sex.

Even when Levi permits him to sleep in his room a month after dating, and they
consequently begin to fool around more.

"You don't understand how good you look when you're moaning," Levi mutters,
hovering over Eren, two fingers curling deep in Eren's ass. Eren tries to keep
the sounds in, tries to be silent, but he cries out every time Levi's hands are
on him. Eren fists the sheets when he comes. He cries out Levi's name, but Levi
covers his mouth.

"Hanji will hear us again, idiot," he says. He uncovers Eren's mouth and plants
a long, needy kiss on him.

And Levi is so patient with him, even if Eren's past sexual experiences only
include awkward handjobs in the dark.

"No teeth. That's it, Eren. As much as you can have in your mouth. Don't make
yourself gag. Crook -mm- Crook your fingers in me like -there."

Levi lets out small grunts when Eren's pleasuring him. He throws his head back
and sighs expressively with his eyes closed. And Levi is always reserved, even
when he comes.

But they don't. Have. Sex.

Yeah, it pisses Eren off. He'll go ahead and blame his age, too, sure. Or maybe
it's just Levi's physical entity, his perfectly carved body that he must have
sold his soul for, that makes Eren want to touch him for days. Eren wants it.

Because maybe sex will help Levi lose control. Maybefucking will get Levi
screaming like he gets Eren to nearly every night. But when he brings the topic
up, Levi annoyingly shakes his head and dismisses him with a hand.

"You're not ready. End of discussion."

This, and Levi refusing to let him use his personal shower, are the only things
that Eren can't stand about their relationship (yeah, relationship. Five weeks
in and he's comfortable with the label now).

"Can we talk about you letting me use your shower again? The walk downstairs to
the communal ones is so inconvenient, Levi."

Hesitation. "It's just... a thing I have," Levi answers. " You can't use my
shower. Before you start, I won't argue about it. No. You're not using it. End
of discussion."

Ridiculous. Sometimes Levi acts like the 15-turning-16-year old.

But whatever. Eren just likes to complain.

It helps to distract him from how hard he's fallen. How fast.

"I like you," he mutters one night, after six weeks of dating. Levi's left arm
is wrapped tightly around his frame as Eren comfortably splays his head on the
man's chest, fingers tracing Levi's abs. Eren peers up at him, and Levi glances
away, softly chewing on his lip. By now, Eren knows that's a cue for Levi
trying not to smile.

"Obviously, I feel the same," Levi says. His embrace grows tighter, and it
warms Eren's heart.

He might as well say it.

"I think I love you."

"No," Levi responds instantly. "You don't."

Silence. "Don't invalidate my feelings, Levi," Eren bitterly says. "I love
you."

Levi doesn't say anything. Eren focuses on the rise and fall of Levi's chest.

"Do you love me back?"

"What do you think?" Levi suddenly snaps, and stares down at him. He looks
angry, and Eren can't help feeling stupid at his admission. Not that he'd ever
take it back. Not in a thousand years. Eren sets his head back down on top of
Levi and sighs. He closes his eyes and resorts to half-assed attempts at
falling asleep.

A couple minutes later, Eren feels Levi shift under him. He hears him exhale.

"Eren."

Eren looks up, just as Levi slinks lower onto the bed and onto his pillow. His
right hand finds its way to Eren's hip, and he tugs at Eren's waist, pulls him
into a position on top of him. Eren reacts accordingly and straddles him. He
lowers his upper body, closing the distance enough for Levi to reach a hand
straight up to run through Eren's hair.

Levi then grips both sides of Eren's face with both hands and stares. Eren
breathes in and out. Levi's eyes scan his face with scrutiny.

Eren watches Levi's throat move as he swallows before speaking. "Don't ever
change. Please. Don't ever change."

It's genuine. It's sincere. It elevates him. Eren's heart starts racing and
he's beaming. "Does this mean you love me?"

"Shut up. I didn't say that."

Eren laughs loudly, and Levi looks fucking annoyed until Eren lowers himself
even more and gives his boyfriend a sloppy kiss.
===============================================================================

Two weeks after that, Eren is almost taken.

He tries staying stoic despite his shaking legs, and watches as Mikasa strikes
the nape of the titan that was inches away from grabbing him, since his boot
had been caught between a pile of stones.

"Eren!" she yells. She's the first to reach him. There's another titan needing
tending to, who Levi and Jean are currently fighting. "Eren, what happened?
Tell me!"

Blood is rushing in his ears. Mikasa helps pry his boot out of its position.
She hugs him tightly.

A large thud nearby lets them know the other titan is dead now. Eren tries to
catch his breath again, and is silent when the other two arrive.

"What's wrong?" Levi asks.

"It almost got him," Mikasa answers.

Eren glances up to find what he thinks is fear in Levi's eyes. Levi looks over
to the large titan corpse, already disintegrating in front of them. He's quiet
for several long moments.

"Let's go," he finally answers abruptly. He pivots on his heel, his green
Scouting cloak billowing after him. He walks back toward the castle
headquarters, and he doesn't wait for the others.
===============================================================================

By sundown, Eren's fully recovered from his scare. Even Mikasa, who continues
doting and fussing over his carelessness, tones it down by supper.

Levi, on the other hand...

"You're being really touchy tonight," Eren points out, his fingers trying to
pry open the hands laced across his stomach. "Let go. I have to take my shirt
off."

Levi doesn't move, but sighs against Eren's back.

"Levi, come on."

Levi places his chin on Eren's shoulder and pulls him in closer. Eren can feel
his breath on his neck, and he smiles at the sensation. Eren lifts his hand to
muss Levi's hair. "Captain. Captain Levi, sir."

"I know I've said that annoys me," Levi says, his words tickling Eren's ear.
"But I can warm up to you calling me that in private."

Eren rolls his eyes and jerks away, strong enough to break from Levi's grasp.
As he walks closer to their bed, Eren peels his shirt off his back and neatly
places it on Levi's study desk. "Seriously," Eren says as he's doing this.
"What's wrong? You weren't really talking during dinner either. Are you sick?"

Levi watches him with uncertainty and sits down on the bed. "No, not sick."
When Eren approaches, he opens his legs wider to let him stand between them.
Levi snakes his arms around Eren's back, gropes his ass and then pulls him in
to kiss his stomach.

"Mm," Eren responds. Levi's kisses on his skin are wet and meaningful. Eren
contentedly sighs but presses forward. "No, really, Levi. What is it? Tell me."

"It's nothing," Levi says. "Come closer."

"I'm... right here. Levi. Are you done now? Tell me."

"No."

"Levi."

"I could have lost you today."

Oh. Eren feels his heart sink. He looks down and finds Levi's tentative gaze on
him, grey eyes masking whatever he's genuinely feeling. Eren's not sure. Eren
still has trouble reading what's on Levi's mind.

"This is what Erwin warned us about," Levi continues impassively. "Attachments.
They can blind a man. Leave him in crippling fear."

Eren hates when Levi starts spouting regret and skepticism. Irritated, he
shifts within Levi's arms. "Stop. You didn't lose me," he responds.

"What if I did?" Levi asks quietly.

"But you didn't."

"But what -"

"But youdidn't," Eren repeats more firmly.

Levi says nothing. That means he's listening. Because it's truth. Their lives
are in danger every day, and while today's threat was a close call, Eren is
still alive, still here at headquarters. He wasn't taken. So all that's left
for them now is to move on.

"I get so angry with you sometimes, Eren," Levi flatly announces. Eren knows he
doesn't mean it, knows that anger is easier for Levi to accept than everything
else he feels.

Which is why Eren needs to diffuse the tension in the room, for Levi's sake.
Something he actually knows how to do. "Yeah," he starts. "You and Mikasa and
Armin and Jean. Get in line." Before Levi can think he's offended him, Eren
nervously chuckles and pushes against Levi's grasp. "Can you let go of me now?
It's embarrassing."

"Tch," Levi utters, and lets him go as if repulsed. Eren laughs again and
starts settling himself on the bed.

"You know I can't die any time soon anyway, right?" Eren jokingly says. "There
are so many things I have to do before it happens. I haven't had sex with you
yet, for example. I can't die a virgin."

Levi snorts and lies down on the bed, pulling the sheets over his body. Eren
continues. "I haven't gone to the capital. I haven't found my dad yet. I
haven't killed every Titan around."

Levi says nothing to any of this, just moves his arm around Eren when he scoots
closer to Levi. Levi breathes him in, and Eren closes his eyes.

"I haven't used your shower."

"All right," Levi finally cuts in. "All right."

Eren settles himself so that he's spooning against Levi. "Just... don't worry
about me. Okay?"

Silence.

"Okay, then... Good night," Eren whispers.
===============================================================================

"Eren."

Eren hears his name, small and tinny in his head. But he doesn't open his eyes.

Someone roughly shoves the back of his shoulder. "Eren," the voice says, a
little louder.

Eren opens one eye. He groans.

"Wake up." Eren starts feeling more conscious now, and recognizes Levi's voice.
He opens his other eye and sleepily raises up from the bed with a forearm.

For a second, he thinks he's probably overslept. Eren's alarm clock these days
is the muffled sound of water running in Levi's bathroom, after the man's come
back from his morning run around the courtyard. Levi must have just gotten out.
But when Eren cranks his neck to the bedroom window and sees how dark it still
is, he's confused.

"What time is it?" he asks hoarsely, looking back at Levi. Levi looks sweaty,
presumably because he's just finished with his run. Eren's belly grows warm at
the sight.

"Early. Get up."

Eren clears his throat, still cautious about the situation. "Oh," Eren says.
"Do you... Should I go downstairs for my shower?" He stretches as he asks, arms
raised high to the ceiling.

"No," Levi answers. "You're showering with me today. Get up, let's go."

This gets Eren reacting fast. Any traces of sleep still on his face melt away.
"Levi? What are you talking about?"

Levi looks irritated. He frowns and glances toward his bathroom door. "I'm
letting you use my bathroom today. Hurry and get up before I change my mind
about this."

Levi trudges into his bathroom without another word, leaving Eren alone in the
main part of his quarters, mouth parted in disbelief. Did Levi just...?

But...

He never lets him...

"Oi," he hears loudly from the bathroom. That finally gets Eren to fling off
the blankets and get up, his bare feet padding across the room. When he enters
the bathroom, he finds Levi working on removing his pants.

"Levi," he says with hesitation. "Levi, why are you... letting me shower with
you?"

"It's on your list, isn't it?" he says while undoing his trousers. He keeps his
eyes on Eren as he strips, rendering Eren's throat dry. "Of things to do before
you die?"

Eren nervously scratches at his hair. "Uh. Well I was sorta joking."

Levi pulls his pants off by his ankles and then starts to fold them. "Join me.
Or don't. I don't care. I'm getting in now."

Eren's shock over the unfolding events still won't subside, but to hell with
it. He'll take the opportunity. He smiles and walks over to Levi with the
intent of giving him gratuitous affection, but Levi raises a hand. "No. Brush
your teeth first."

Eren frowns but the glare he gets promptly sends Eren over to the sink.

Another five minutes pass before Eren nears Levi's running shower and slides
open its door. By now, Levi's entirely wet and working shampoo into his hair.
Levi casually moves aside to give him room.

Levi scoots into the shower stream once Eren is inside to scrub out the
shampoo. He's moving naturally, nonchalantly, which makes Eren nervous and
feeling intimidated. He's seen Levi naked plenty of times at this point, but
usually at night, under the covers or around them. And Eren practically
worships the man's body as much as Levi dotes on his, but seeing Levi's
physique this early in the morning, plainly showcased as if it's something
normal, is making Eren antsy. He stares at Levi's back, observes how the suds
fall down and travel down his muscles. His gaze falls lower and he focuses on
the dimples on Levi's ass, breath catching between his lips.

He wants to grab it. Or smack it. Fuck, he doesn't know exactly what he wants
to do, but he wants to do something.

Levi turns around and Eren's face probably has guilt written all over it. Levi
stares at him strangely. "What is it?"

Eren licks his lips. "You're really good-looking."

Levi rolls his eyes. "Come here. Let me wash your hair."

Eren bends his knees so Levi can wash his scalp. It's as therapeutic as he had
remembered; they haven't done this since their first date, and though Eren had
been feeling self-conscious about his body on prominent display, after a couple
minutes of Levi running his hands through his hair, Eren thinks maybe he can
get used to these shared showers.

Unless this is just a one-time thing. It's time for Eren to suck up.

"Thanks for letting me do this," he says with his eyes closed. Levi removes his
fingers from Eren's scalp and moves him in front of the water. Eren then
roughly rubs all the suds out of his hair. "I guess I should have near-death
experiences more often, if it gets me stuff like this."

"Don't even joke like that," Levi harshly orders, though it just makes Eren's
grin grow wider.

He continues combing his fingers through his wet hair. "I'm serious, though.
Hey, Levi, next time I have a close call, can we have sex instead?"

"Shut up," Levi responds, and Eren softly laughs to himself. They revel in
silence, save for the rushing water, for a minute or two.

And then, Levi... speaks.

"Do you really want to have sex?"

Eren slowly removes his hands from his hair and turns to regard him.

Levi's face isn't giving him much. Damn. This might just be one of those off-
color jokes that Levi makes, the ones Eren never understands but have Levi
chuckling to himself for minutes.

Except Levi usually starts laughing by now. But he's not. Levi is still
staring. Eren dumbly stands under the water.

"Are you.... joking?"

Levi doesn't give him much of a reaction. "I'm genuinely asking."

Eren must be dreaming this entire morning. There's no way Levi would
proposition this. He's been preaching opportune moments and maturity and
patience since they've started dating. One close call can't be enough to tear
the final wall between them. Eren shifts his eyes. "Um. If I say yes?"

Levi moves forward to stand under the shower head. He lifts his head and runs a
hand through his hair, then shakes off the droplets at the ends of his strands.
"Then we get to talk about it," he answers with his eyes closed.

It's not a yes. The promise of a discussion isn't exactly a good sign either,
but Eren will take what he can get. He smiles widely, and hugs Levi from
behind. "Let's talk about it then," he says excitedly. "When can we do it?
Right now? Are you serious? I still think you're joking. Levi, fuck, I've been
waiting forever --"

Levi grunts but weakly struggles against Eren's grasp. "Calm down, Eren."

Eren kisses the side of Levi's face. "Let's do it now."

"Eren..."

"I'm serious," he says. Eren's words naturally fall out, threading a
surprisingly good argument, he thinks. He can't fuck this up. "Think about it.
It's early, so everyone is still asleep. We're in the shower, so it won't be
too dirty... and the water will probably drown out all the other sounds.
Levi... We've waited nearly two months. What if something happens later today
or tomorrow --"

"Stop saying that," Levi repeats. Eren stays quiet but he thinks Levi is
considering everything he's just spouted out of horny desperation. Shit, he's
never been so close to convincing Levi to finally do this. His heart is beating
fast and he holds in his breath.

He waits.

"Eren," Levi says in a low voice. Eren moves his head to listen closely. "Go
get the bottle in my night stand drawer."

Fucking. Success.

Eren nods against Levi's shoulders and tries to remain calm. "Yeah, okay. I'll
be back."

Eren barely remembers to dry his feet on Levi's shower mat, but he manages to
stomp on it a couple times before bolting back into Levi's bedroom to retrieve
the bottle of lubrication they've been using. Eren is freezing. He's wet and
bare-ass naked, and if anyone were watching, they'd laugh at how much of a
dumbass Eren looks like at the moment, but he doesn't even care. He's about to
have sex with his boyfriend Levi, finally. After fantasizing about it, wishing
it, wanting it, asking for it, he's finally going to do it. It all sounds
strange still, out of a wet dream he's had numerous times before, but fuck it
all. Eren's cock is hardening already, he's too excited. And it takes him less
than a minute to get back to the bathroom, and return into Levi's square
shower.

He looks around to gauge the amount of space they have and notices Levi's moved
aside all their shampoo bottles and soaps. Levi looks at Eren, eyes flicking
down, and amusement takes over his features as he looks at Eren's cock.
"Already?"

"Shut up," Eren says, the demand coming out as a whine. He turns Levi back
around and drops the bottle by Levi's feet. Eren can't hide how eager he is at
all; he kisses the side of Levi's face again, and his hands start roaming
across the expanse of Levi's chest. Levi's body starts responding, and he
crooks his neck so Eren's breath hits his ears, hot and heavy.

"Eren," Levi says. "How do you want to do this?"

Eren thinks he means positioning, so he moves them against the shower wall, his
cock pressing up against Levi's ass. He kisses the back of Levi's neck and Levi
chuckles.

"You're fucking me, then?" Levi asks.

Oh. Eren stops planting kisses on Levi's neck and pauses. "Wait, is that okay?"

"It's your first time," Levi mutters, half-turning his head to speak to Eren.
"I want it to be comfortable for you. So do whatever you want, I won't lead you
through this." Levi turns his head back to the wall but then swings back to
look at him. "But you need to prep me. Do you understand me, Eren? Use your
fingers and -- Mm."

Eren leans in to kiss him, long and slow and deep. When he pulls back, he licks
his lips and smiles. "I got it, Levi. Trust me."

Though if Eren were honest with himself, he might not have this. He bends down
and picks up the lubrication bottle, meanwhile Levi braces himself further
against the wall, slides his hands down along the shower wall and folds his
body in half, sticking his ass out.

It's on full display for Eren, and Eren unconsciously bites his lower lip at
the sight. He reaches out and grabs a cheek to roughly massage it, so firm and
supple. Levi leans in to the touch. So he wants this too, Eren thinks. He
exhales and tries to tone down his enthusiasm.

Eren opens the bottle, and coats his fingers with as much lubrication as he
can, until it's dripping off his hand. He has experience with this, so he
relaxes as he slowly wriggles one finger inside Levi. Levi reacts with a hissed
breath. "Good," Levi says. "Keep going, Eren."

Eren slides his finger in a couple times, but he knows he won't get a good
response from Levi with just one. He curls his fingers when he adds another
one, and when he hits the spot, Levi's lower body twitches. So far, so good.

Levi keeps leaning back into Eren's fingers, and when there are three inside
him, he rocks back and forth and tries to get them deeper. Eren notices this
and gives a short laugh.

"Are you hard, Levi?" he asks. His voice is obvious with desire.

"What do you think?" Levi answers with a slight buck of his hips. "Remember to
curl - mmm. Eren -- shit. When you think you're ready, you can -- start."

"Am I doing good so far?" Eren teasingly asks. He takes a step in and wraps his
arms around Levi's waist, hand reaching for his cock. Levi lets out a small
groan when Eren touches him, and arches his back, positioning himself until
Eren's cock is pressed into him.

"Yes," Levi utters. "You are. But don't go dragging this out, Eren. You hear
me? Everyone will wake up soon. We're wasting water."

"Are you saying this so I can start already?" Eren asks with a grin. Levi
manages to turn his head to glare but Eren starts sliding his cock between
Levi's cheeks, and Levi closes his eyes and shudders.

"Just hurry up," he groans, turning back around. Eren drips more lubrication on
his cock before letting the bottle drop on the tile floor. He sighs and braces
himself, closes his eyes and keeps teasing Levi for a couple more seconds,
slowly rubbing his dick along Levi's entrance. He's not trying to be cruel, not
anymore. But the tension is building again. What if he's not good at this? What
if he can't last? What if Levi doesn't like any of it?

Eren tightens his hold on Levi. Fuck it, Eren thinks, and presses his tip into
Levi's entrance, pushing it in.

Eren lets out a long, drawn-out moan and stays still for several seconds. He
curses and presses further, pushes until his cock fills up Levi. "Oh fuck," he
cries. "Oh fuck, fuck fuck."

"That's it, Eren," Levi grunts, and Eren is somehow still conscious enough to
notice how throaty the man's voice has gotten in a matter of seconds. "Go on.
Shit. Start moving. Move for me, Eren."

But Eren is already losing it. He knew it'd feel good. He knew it'd feel tight,
and he hoped it would unravel Levi, like he wanted it to. But everything is
warm, everything is hot and so fucking tight, and maybe they shoud have
switched to cold water because Eren's body temperature is quickly rising. He
moans again, and when he's sure he won't immediately start slamming into Levi,
he slides out.

"Now thrust back in, slowly," Levi grits.

"Is that - Levi, it -- "

Levi brings his right arm back in an attempt to pull Eren in. "Fuck me, Eren.
You're doing good. Come on, Eren. Push it in and fuck me."

With renewed determination from just hearing how bad Levi wants this, Eren
pushes back in with a groan. His fingers are pressing hard on Levi's flesh, but
Levi doesn't say anything. Eren tries to start a rhythm then, and thrusts out
and in, roughly, clumsily, crying out at how good Levi's ass feels around him.

Eren should probably try different angles, maybe, but he can't stop himself
from repeatedly slamming in, staccato, wet flesh against wet flesh as he fucks
Levi impatiently.

But Levi is enjoying this, at least he moves to meet Eren's thrusts when Eren
keeps slipping out, and he raises himself on the balls of his feet to, Eren
thinks, create a good angle for them both. Levi continues his encouragement,
albeit his delivery of his words gets gruffer, more curt, and at one point he's
interrupted when a sharp yell rips out from his lungs that figuratively makes
Eren's chest puff up.

"Do that again," Eren pants.

"Keep going, Eren. Eren, Eren, that's... Keep... Good."

All of a sudden Levi straightens himself up, and Eren slips out. He impulsively
moves to push Levi back down into fucking position again, but Levi turns
around, and kisses him.

"Get on the floor. Lie down."

Eren doesn't question it, but he looks at the shower floor and tries
determining how he can manage that in such a confined space.

"Sit," Levi orders, and he pushes Eren's shoulders down. Eren sits down against
the wall and Levi gets on the ground as well, crawling over Eren's body until
Eren finally understands what Levi wants to do.

Eren spreads his legs, and Levi straddles him until he's practically sitting on
his lap. Levi reaches around him and Eren tentatively holds on to Levi's waist
again. Levi's hand is on his cock, and he aligns it with his entrance.

Eren is looking at him when his gaze returns. Levi lowers himself, inch by
inch, slowly on Eren's cock and he sees Levi's eyes shut while his mouth opens,
wet hair clinging to his forehead that Eren is inclined to believe is sweat.

Eren is deep inside Levi in this new position. He licks his lips, tries to
stifle a moan. "Is that okay?"

"Perfect," Levi breathes. He ruts against Eren's stomach, his cock stiff and
swollen, trapped between their bodies. He lifts himself up from Eren's cock
then, only to sharply sit back down.

Eren groans and slinks down against the wall until heis laying down now, his
head the only thing propped up. His hands find Levi's ass again and he helps
lead Levi back up and down on his cock, slowly, then faster as they find their
momentum again.

Having Levi ride him is a more difficult position, and Eren is straining to
meet Levi's thrusts at this angle, but Levi....Fuck.

Levi is breaking, that much is obvious. He tries to hide it for the first
minute, but his jaw keeps dropping with every cry he accidentally emits. "Eren,
yes. Eren, right there. Harder. Harder!" Levi uses his name like a mantra, in
different volumes, between short cries of pleasure and one low, guttural moan
that Eren is sure Levi doesn't realize he releases.
Eren knows he's hit Levi's prostate when he downright yells, louder than Eren
often is, and flings his head back. He stills himself but Eren takes control
and keeps going, and Levi lets out two more consecutive cries, eyes shut
tightly closed as Eren thrusts. Levi's done. He's unraveled, and Eren starts
laughing, feeling incredibly pleased with himself.

"Fuck, that's so hot," Eren says. "You're so fucking hot, Levi, keep - keep
moaning and I'll - I'll - Fuck, I'm gonna come soon." But Levi doesn't look
like he hears him. Levi's in another world, head tilted to the ceiling,
fluctuating from silent screams to guttural yells.

All of a sudden, without warning, Levi's hand reaches between their bodies and
he starts pumping his cock, continuously letting out terse shouts of pleasure.
"Eren," he yells, and Eren knows what's about to happen.

"Levi, wait for --"

"Eren!"

Strings of clear fluid splash between them, on Levi's hand, his chest, Eren's
chest. Eren feels something hit his cheek as well, and he'd assume it's just
shower water if their current positions hadn't forced them out of the shower
head's stream.

Eren stops moving, and Levi slumps down, gently falling to his side. Eren's
cock pulls out, but before Eren realizes what's happening, Levi resettles next
to him, his head by Eren's hips and he takes his cock in his mouth.

Eren thrusts into Levi's throat, and Levi, still dazed from his orgasm, looks
up hungrily at Eren. His grey eyes look tired, satisfied, content, and the
heady stare along with Levi's swirling tongue around his cock get him to the
edge.

Eren thinks about Levi screaming his name as he came just now, and Eren does
the same.

His legs shake and Levi swallows him all, as he usually does. Levi pulls back
and wipes the corners of his mouth.

Eren pants and catches his breath while Levi lies down next to him, the shower
still running as if nothing clandestine had just happened in its presence. Eren
looks at the bottles, scattered around the area now. Eren hadn't even noticed.

"Sorry," Levi mumbles after a while. He sighs.

Oh. Right. That was.... Yeah. Eren turns to him and slowly starts to grin.

"What was that?"

"Hm?"

Eren doesn't get up from his position. "I've never seen you so... so... wow."

Levi starts to scowl and it prompts him to get up from the tile floor, albeit a
little reluctantly. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You were louder than me! Did you hear yourself? I don't think any running
shower could have drowned that out, Levi." Eren starts to laugh. "Look, you're
still shaking."

"No, I'm not," Levi defensively responds. He walks under the stream and wipes
down the remainders of sex still on his body. "Get up, or we'll be running
late."

"No," Eren says from the floor. Levi kicks at his spread out legs, but Eren
doesn't move. "I was good, wasn't I? It was my first time and I was great!
Admit it!"

"Eren..." Levi growls. "Get the fuck up."

Eren finally listens and picks himself up off the floor. He bear-hugs Levi from
behind, water hitting both of their faces. "Aren't you lucky to have such a
good lay as a boyfriend."

"I'm breaking up with you."

"Ohhh, Eren. Eren! Eren! You're the best!" Eren repeats in a high-pitched
voice. Levi pushes Eren off him and swiftly slides open the shower door. He
grabs his towel and leaves in a huff.

But Eren continues laughing. Even when they finish getting ready in silence,
and Levi storms out of the room. Even at breakfast, when Levi refuses to look
at him, and Hanji keeps giving them wolfish glances while the others tensely
eat their porridge.

Eren laughs.

Besides. Levi approaches him before dinner, and tells him they'll be skipping
it in favor of... other things.

Ha. He knew Levi wouldn't stay mad past five hours.
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