Chapter Text
Chapter 4
It has been about two weeks since that odd encounter with Corporal Levi and things have been quiet… too quiet for Leo’s comfort. Things had gone back to normal for the most, training was rigorous, friendships were still lacking (liked Leo really cared) and he has gotten fewer chores but, still more than his fellow cadets. He was sure Levi got into some type of trouble from making him work so late causing him to pass out, after three days of the ridiculous schedule, during 3D maneuver gear training causing him to slam headfirst into the ground, but not before getting scraped up by tree branches on the way down, after that fall he was no longer just asleep he was truly unconscious and didn't wake up till after dinner that night, it was late morning when he fell. He still had to thank Armin for noticing earlier that he was having trouble staying awake and for informing the commander about his insane amount of work given to him from the Lance Corporal. The good thing about knocking yourself out for so long is that you get at least one day off to make sure there was no serious injury, which there was not so he was back to his usual schedule after the much-needed rest.
Walking into the mess hall for dinner is usually a fun event for most, signaling the end of the day and time to talk, relax with friends and a bit of unwinding before bed. For Leo, it was quiet time he would grab his food and sit alone at his little table. Most would think that the cadet was made an outcast from the others and that he was actually lonely but in reality he was just your typical anti-social that required very little socialising to avoid loneliness and was very happy with just making up stories to play out in his head. There use to be a lot of people that would try to talk with the odd cadet when he first joined military and was still in training but everyone that tried got scared off by his lack of response, inappropriate laughter (which you already experience), morbid point of views on most things, the accidental menacing tone that sometimes comes through his voice or trying to come up with the perfect response and it just comes out completely wrong and discombobulated leaving people to think he was insane which is not completely wrong just not one hundred percent true yet.
Except there was one person he quickly became his best and only friend a shy girl who had trouble talking to people and was often forgotten about so they got stuck together at one of the two people tables in the dinner hall at the training ground and they became friends in a matter of days. She didn't mind the weird thing that came out of Leo’s mouth and he didn't mind her quiet nature or the way her shyness would quickly disappear when talking about something that interested her greatly, like Armin for example she had a major crush the mushroom hair boy but she will never get to tell, but that is in the past, back to the current event, shall we.
Leo was currently revisiting the events of that night trying to find out if he was so tired that maybe, just maybe, he had imagined the whole thing but every time he locked eyes with the raven-haired man in the mess hall or out in the training field the older man raise his thin eyebrows in an almost suggestive manner telling the redhead otherwise. This brought him to his next question why was it every time the little corporal did that he would blush and look away. Leo has never been interested in making friends, with the exception of the one, much less ever thought of having any type of a romantic relationship with anybody. He was sure that the awkward feeling he got from the captain was something he heard from the others call a crush, but he wasn't sure.
The kid was so deep in thought that he didn’t realize that someone had chosen to sit down in front of him. “Oi, what are you thinking about to make that kind of face. It's rude to ignore your higher up when they take time out of their busy schedules.”
‘Speak of the devil and he shall come.’ Leo really wants to say after jumping out of his skin before realizing who it was but he couldn't say that because that will give away way what he was thinking about, so he settled with singing “Corporal~” He grinned as he notices the lance corporal’s steel color eyes narrow ever so slightly “My apologies, I didn't notice you sit down. What may I do for you this fine evening?”
Levi cocked his head to the side as if studying the strange man in front of him, which he was, he had spent these past two weeks trying dig up some kind of dirt on the boy only to find there wasn't much said about the kid before he joined the 104th trainee squad then after that there only good things said about him. He tried to cause bring the redhead up in the few conversation he had with the titan shifter only for Eren to tell him he didn’t talk to Leo much and it was also obvious that the boy had no friends or at least none that he talked to on a regular basis. So Levi was at his last option for trying to figure out the boy, talk to him. “Why don’t you ever talk to any of friends over there.” He said pointing his head towards the table full of cadets.
Confused Leo followed the direction of Levi's head to see who he was talking about “Oh, them?” He asked the man in front of him and received a nodded “Ha, that's laughable really those people aren't my friends I hardly talk to them.” He exclaimed slapping his hand onto the table louder then he attended to making a few people look at them and glare at said redhead.
“Damn kid you don't have to be so loud.” Levi rudely informed him.
“whoops” He cutely giggled while covering his mouth trying to stop the giggling.
Levi stuck his index finger into into his right ear and twisting his fingers back and forth in an attempt to get rid of the sweet sound that the came out of the boy’s mouth the lingered too long in his ear and making his heart jump uncomfortably in his chest. Levi wasn’t sure if he liked what this little odd cadet is doing to him. The raven haired man looked up and noticed that Leo was staring at him confused making him realize he had been staring at the kid for a while now with a finger still in his ear. “So…” Levi said awkwardly and slowly as he removed his finger from his ear “You don't have any friends?” he finished with the only question he could think of at the top of his head.
“I had one she was really nice and weird but um” He paused breaking the eye contact, that Levi didn't know they had, and a look of grief formed the once grinning face “She didn't make it through the battle off trost, so yeah” He finished with a bitter laugh leaving his lips and eyes glossing over as he tried to hold back tears.
Levi declared the sad tone and bitter laugh did not suit the unusually happy person but yet he understood exactly what the Cadet was going though for he went through the same thing time and time again. “I’m sorry.” He said with such sincerity that it surprised him and Leo as the boy locked eyes with Levi, He then noticed that a few leaked from the corner of his eye as he silently cried.
“It's alright I'm used to being alone it's just hard going back to it once you gain a friend,” Leo said voice cracking slightly. Then it clicked for Levi, the boy was always alone but he wasn't a loner his personality screamed of one that enjoy to socialized but he lacked practices and would make a fool of himself, his only friend and she had died in what he figured was a horrible way, like many of the others from the 104th training squad. The poor thing didn’t have anyone else to lean on in his time of grief with his only friend gone. It has been over a month since trost as the cadets had three weeks off to recover from the amount of stress they suffered and this time was use to recover from the grief and lost the survivors had to deal with, but they all still had someone. Not Leo, the corporal already check into his family records and knew his family have been dead for many years now. He has silently crying this whole, but not with tears he tried to hide his pain behind the goofy smile like Levi did with his disinterest.
Levi completely understood the boy now or at least more than before and for some unknown reason he felt the need to stop him from feeling anymore of this pain but he could couldn’t do anything here there was to many people here yet at the same time Levi couldn’t let the boy sit here and cry people were starting to stare wondering what the captain did to make him cry, even the table of higher ups were looking the two shaking their head in disapproval, most likely at Levi with the exception of Oluo who was shaking his head at the cadet for crying in front of the corporal. So what did Levi do well he grabbed the sleeve of the cadet jacket and dragged him out of the mess hall, of course.
“Heichou?” He vaguely heard the shorter man question as he struggled to keep up with Levi’s pace but, Levi had no intention to stop not until they got to a place where no one can see them. After a few minutes of twisting and turning Levi suddenly stopped at a huge door causing Leo to slammed right into him almost knocking them over. Levi glared at the younger man for a second before unlocking the door revealing that they were actually at Levi’s office. the raven hair man pushed the red-hair boy into the room before walking in and locking the door.
It was safe to say Leo was scared out of his wits about suddenly being lock in the room with humanity's strongest soldier, but nothing happened not at first anyway they just sat there staring at each other then. Then after ten minutes or so of silence Levi finally broke the silence “You can cry now.”
“What??” Leo asked confused about what was going.
“You heard me, I said you can fucking cry now without a hundred people staring at you wonder what I did to make you upset.” Levi replied.
“I'm sorry Captain I didn’t realize I was crying.” He said a blush forming on his face if he wiped away the half-dried tears.
“It okay to cry you know. I have lost countless numbers of people and lots of close friend but I never let anyone see me when I'm down or weak and I have ignored my emotions to the point I find it hard to express myself. I will not sit by and watch the another person do the same thing so cry if you want to, hell if you want start breaking things go ahead I don't give a damn just don't hide your emotions from me.” The man exclaim.
A number of minutes went by as the redhead stared blankly at the raven head but soon enough his face contorted into one of the ugliest crying faces Levi has ever seen and started sobbing actually scaring Levi who knew the boy was going to start crying but was not expecting the choking and strain sounds to leave the little cadet whose whole body shaking with each sound and breath that left him and hand clenched at his sides. This made Levi want to cry too thinking back to all the time he lost someone important to him, but he didn’t this wasn't about him. Instead, he walked over to weeping cadet and pulled him into a hug, even though, the snot dripping from his nose along with the tears was utterly disgusting. Leo returned the awkward sad hug nuzzling his head into the crook of the older man’s neck, hands gripping the back of Levi’s military jacket as if his life depended on it and to Leo it did. He had never cry this hard in his life just trying to play off any sadness or pain that he felt and it was finally backfiring the dam of tears that's been held back for years broke and there was nothing he could do to stop it now. Five minutes into crying Leo's legs gave out thankfully Levi planned this and lowered the two of them slowly to the floor allowing the crying one to particle straddle Levi. Levi didn't care not at this moment as he brought one hand to cradle the boy’s head and the other one to rub what he hoped were soothing circles on his back mumbling quiet words of comfort letting Leo cry till his last tear.