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Returning soldiers took what many called their walk of shame. Crying mothers and fathers and family members of all connections would call out to the commander of the Survey Corps for some kind of hope that their loved ones were alive but they were always met with silence.
The crying annoyed a certain captain, but not because of the noise. He was sick of this always being the result, coming back from an expedition with more losses than gains and more dead each time. It was draining and him and the other captains and the commander were always blamed. His horse huffed as it walked, shaking its head as if to grab Levi’s attention and draw him out of his thoughts. He focused his attention on his surroundings and noticed that they were around the stables and he sighed in relief. Finally, he could get some rest. At least, before the paperwork came in, anyway.
He remembered that his gear had malfunctioned on the trip and inwardly groaned. He was not excited to have to expend more energy into fixing the issue with his gear and doing paperwork. He rarely got enough sleep on a normal night, but with all of this he was certain he wouldn’t be getting any, maybe an hour if he was lucky.
After getting his horse settled, Levi put his hands on his hips and looked to the mildly broken gear that he’d removed and placed up against the wall of the stable nearest to his horse. It stared at him, as if taunting him, reminding him of yet another cause to not get any proper rest.
“What are you looking at, Captain?” Eren’s voice came from behind the shorter man and he had to suppress a groan of annoyance. It wasn’t Eren’s fault, so there was no point in letting it out.
“Something in my ODM gear ruptured while we were out so now I have to fix it,” Levi complained, moving to cross his arms over his chest as he kept his eyes on the metal contraption.
“Well, that shouldn’t be a problem for you, right?” Eren asked hopefully. His faith in Levi and his skill was never a question.
Levi sighed and pinched the space between his eyebrows, closing his eyes, “It wouldn’t be but I’ll be swamped with paperwork for the next day or three at least and it’ll just keep bugging me until I get the time to fix it.”
“Y’know, I heard Hanji talking about a new hire,” Eren started, smiling at his captain and hoping that the news he would soon bring would alleviate some of Levi’s stress, “Erwin apparently thought it might be a good idea for them to bring in a mechanic for our gear. I guess in case of times like this!”
Levi opened his eyes again and folded his arm back into the other resting over his chest. Of course he would, Levi thought to himself. Erwin was always the type to consider everyone’s issues and if he had seen enough people without the time or skill to fix their own gear, it only made sense to get someone whose job it was to do just that.
“Looks like you do have some good ideas after all, Jaeger,” Levi joked, but of course, it came out blunt and as serious as he always was. After gathering up his gear, he left Eren, who was confused at whether what his captain said was an insult or a compliment, and made his way out of the stables to ask Erwin where this mechanic was located.
~
With a swift knock, Levi announced his presence outside of Erwin’s door, “It’s me.”
“Come in,” chirped the commander and Levi did so.
He opened the door and closed it behind him, “I had a question for you,” he said simply, which caused Erwin to chuckle.
“Not even a hello,” he teased with a small smile. Levi raised an eyebrow at the man across from him which only elicited another laugh, “I’m only joking, Levi. What did you need?”
“Jaeger said you’d hired a mechanic?”
“Ah, yes I did. Why do you ask?”
“Because my shit is busted and I’m gonna have a mountain of papers to work on for the next few days so I can’t fix it myself.”
“Oh?” Erwin’s smile changed into a look of confusion, “Where is your gear?”
“I left it in my office, didn’t wanna bring the whole damn thing here just to lug it out again,” Levi explained.
Erwin hummed in acknowledgement, “In any case, I’ve stationed our new mechanic in the warehouse that we keep our repair tools and spare parts in.”
“So, where we usually do our repairs, then?”
“That’s correct.”
“I’m going then, thanks,” Levi said as he turned around and headed for the door.
Erwin chuckled once more as Levi left the room, the shorter man’s bluntness never failing to amuse him.
~
Hanji was an interesting person to talk to outside of her arguably concerning fascination with titans. You both had an interest in mechanical science and had a lovely chat as you worked to repair a tool she’d been having trouble fixing for ages.
Hanji interrupted herself in the middle of a rambling speech about her recent experiments, “Oh, hi Levi!”
You looked up from the item you were fiddling with and watched a man walk into the warehouse, his ODM gear held in one hand like a grocery bag. You mused to yourself about how strong he must be. Even on the hips, it was a heavy piece of machinery and this guy was holding it like it was nothing.
Hanji turned to you, smiling brightly, “This is Levi, I was just telling you about him.”
“Oh right!” you exclaimed as he placed the ODM gear on the table next to you, “Well, hello there, I’m the new mechanic.”
“So, I’ve heard,” Levi said bluntly, which caused Hanji to react quite boisterously.
“Oh, come on, Levi!” she said, smiling widely, “Be nice, this is gonna be a new friend of ours!”
He chose to ignore her, looking at you instead and putting a hand on his gear, “Something with the gas propulsion is broken. It was acting up towards the end of our expedition and I don’t have the time to fix it myself. I assume you can do something about it?”
You had to shake yourself from the trance his blue grey eyes had put you into. They were just so unlike anything you’d seen before, so shiny and dull at the same time, “Of course! That shouldn’t be a problem at all.”
“Great, I’m off to start on the paperwork I have to do so just bring it to my office when it’s fixed,” Levi instructed, turning around to leave. He looked over his shoulder as Hanji, “You should probably get on it too, don’t you think?”
She whined, “But it’s more fun here! Plus, I’m getting my tool fixed right now so I have to stay!”
Levi wanted to argue that she very much didn’t need to stay but he didn’t have the energy for it, electing to sigh and leave to get started on the stack of papers he was sure was already waiting on his desk.
~
It had been a few days since Levi had first visited and you had to admit, you had forgotten to return his gear. It wasn’t any trouble to fix, just some mud and dirt build up had caused a piece to rust away and it needed replacing. But, with the influx of requests to fix all sorts of gear and tools for people, you had only had the time and attention to fix it and move onto the next project that needed tending to.
Levi walked to the warehouse, ready to question you and what you’d been doing with his gear. When he reached the door however, he changed his mind. You looked exhausted. Still working as skilled as ever, but the bags under your eyes were a telltale sign that you hadn’t been getting proper rest. Levi knew it all too well.
“Hey,” Levi greeted as he entered the warehouse.
You looked up from your current project and smiled, a tired smile but still as bright as usual, when you realized who it was, “Hello, Levi! I guess you came for your gear?”
He thought your sheepishness after asking your question was amusing, maybe even cute if he was willing to admit it to himself, “Yeah. I finally finished all that damn paperwork so I came to get it.”
“Give me a second to grab it then!” you said as you walked off to a part of the room farther away to a shelf with all sorts of things on it, all with a piece of parchment tied to it with twine. You looked between a few sets of ODM gear, checking the papers until you smiled, satisfied with what you saw.
You pulled the gear off the shelf and placed it in front of him, taking the tag off as Levi saw that it said his name.
“You’re quite the skilled organizer,” he mused, still eyeing over your shelf of fixed items and gear of all kinds.
You felt your cheeks warm, “Thanks. No one’s really even mentioned it, so I appreciate the complement.”
He looked at the gear in front of him and inspected it. He was surprised, you’d even given the thing a clean and it looked as shiny as the day he got it, “What was the issue?”
“Just a rusted part. It's good that you caught it when you did, though. Any longer use and it might have been a much more major issue,” You explained, your previous flustered state forgotten as you gladly talked about your area of expertise.
Levi hummed as he picked it up to look at it, “Well, thanks. Definitely took one extra stressor off my shoulders.”
“You’re welcome!” you said cheerfully, “It was no problem at all!”
To even his own surprise, Levi struck up conversation. You talked about your more recent projects, even showing him some of the more fun things you’d gotten to fix like tin toys for the siblings of cadets and more of Hanji’s strange tools. He talked about the younger recruits, 'brats' as he liked to call them most commonly, he had interacted with, some you had come to acquaint yourself with as they came in to see their new mechanic, the paperwork he had to deal with in the time between the last time he came to see you and now.
Levi stared at you for just a small moment towards the end of your talk, confused as to why you of all people didn’t annoy him as much. You were as loud as the commander, as energetic as the brat, as bubbly as Four Eyes. So, why? What was it that made you more bearable than the rest? He decided he would figure it out later. He did still have some minor work to do and a training session later that afternoon to supervise. So, he said his goodbyes and was about to leave, gear in hand, when you stopped him.
“Uh, you don’t have to come if you don’t want to, but there’s a new tea shop near my house that opened recently,” You told him, hoping your nerves didn’t come through in your voice, “Hanji told me you like tea so I thought maybe you’d like to go.”
Levi looked at the table in between you both and his face remained the same as always, blank and always vaguely angry and no tell as to what he was thinking. His silence was anxiety inducing, you were nervous he would say no or even do something so cruel as laugh at you. but it thankfully only took him a moment to decide, “I have shit to do the next few days, but Erwin gives me Sundays off. We can go then.”
“Really?!” you asked, surprised. You mentally kicked yourself at how overly excited you sounded but if Levi noticed, which you were sure he did, he didn’t say anything about it.
Levi smirked just the slightest bit at your enthusiasm, a curve of his lips that was rare for anyone to see. It made your heart thump in your chest so hard you were certain he could hear it, “Sure. I’ll meet you here at noon. We can get lunch, too.”
You were practically vibrating with anticipation but did your best to compose yourself for a small moment, “Great! Yeah, I’ll do that!”
~
Sunday couldn’t have come any slower, but it was finally time. You were so excited for taking the captain to the tea place that you had arrived at your meeting spot a half an hour early. After readjusting your clothes for the millionth time, you caught sight of a form walking towards you and when you saw who it was, you felt your heart leap into your throat.
Not only was it Levi, but it was the first time you’d ever seen him outside of uniform. He had his trademark cravat wrapped around his neck and a white long sleeve dress shirt with black slacks and a nice pair of shoes, all topped with a black blazer draped over his shoulders. It was such a different look from every other time you’d seen him in the warehouse up until now. He had gone through the trouble to visit you at the end of his day in the days leading up to your planned meeting, which you appreciated because it usually also meant a break from staring as metal parts for hours on end.
He finally reached you, his face still unchanging and seemingly emotionless, “You’re here early.”
“Oh, yeah. I just read the time wrong and got here a little while ago,” you laughed nervously, knowing that the truth was you were just too excited to leave the house earlier and left without even checking the time.
“Well, being early is better than being late,” he said, taking his hands out of his pockets, one hand holding a small package. He held the package out to you, “It’s a thanks for inviting me. Take it.”
You did as you were told, gently taking the item from Levi and not failing to notice the quick instance where your fingers brushed against his. Looking at the package, you noticed it’s clumsy method of wrapping, paper folded over a long, slender but thick rectangular box and tied closed with twine. You laughed inwardly, the idea, the widely admired and undoubtedly skilled Captain Levi wasn’t the best at wrapping presents but who really expected him to be?
You pulled at the twine, letting the messy knot come undone and the paper unfolding just a bit. Pulling the paper off, you found a blank white box. You pocketed the wrapping and looked at the box from all sides, inspecting it like Levi had seen you inspect every small little gadget that was brought to your attention.
He watched you pull the top of the box off and let himself smile just a little bit at your reaction.
“It’s a new screwdriver!” You said as you stared at the beautiful wooden handle, noticing the engraved swirling patterns and shapes that were painted a lovely bright gold that complimented the dark brown of the wood.
“You were telling me your best one broke. I was in town and saw that so I thought you might like it,” Levi explained, his smile now gone and unknown to you that he’d even smiled at all as he put back his nonchalant façade.
Your face flushed with happiness and you practically beamed at Levi, thanking him multiple times even on your way to the tea shop.
~
After arriving at the tea place, ordering, and receiving your respective drinks, Levi expressed to you that he was surprised by the quality of his tea. He told you how picky he usually is when it comes to how his tea was prepared and you were happy you had managed to pick a good place to take him. Long after you two had finished your tea and the pastries you’d bought to go along with your drinks, you talked. When you had decided to leave, you both simply wandered around town looking at shops and talking. You even dragged him into your favorite alley to play with the cats that had made their home in it.
It started to get dark when you finally started to head home in a comfortable silence. You insisted on walking the stoic captain home but he refused over and over, telling you he could handle himself just fine. You eventually caved and let him walk you home instead.
Arriving in front of your door, you stopped, telling him that it was the place you lived.
“Thanks again for inviting me,” Levi said. To the untrained eye, his composure was the same as usual but because of your years of looking at the smaller details, you could tell that he was acting different and in a very good way. He was more relaxed, his posture upright and proper like always but less forced. His face was still nonchalant, but his brow had a wrinkle or two less than he usually did.
You smiled, now also finally more relaxed and less nervous around Levi, “Of course! If you’d like, we could go again sometime?”
In the approaching night, you couldn’t tell if Levi’s smile was a trick of the light or the real thing. You decided to believe it was real.
“Sure. I tend to like making my own tea but sometimes it’s nicer to get it handed to you,” was what he said, but in actuality, he just wanted to spend more time with you. Your demeanor was refreshing instead of irritating like it usually was with other people, though that didn’t mean he wasn’t ever annoyed. Your rambling did get on his nerves from time to time, but somehow it took more to get him frustrated with you than anyone else and he wanted to keep someone like that around for as long as he could.
~
It became a weekly routine of sorts. Every Sunday when the sun was at its peak, you and Levi would leave the barracks to get lunch at the tea place near your home and then spend the rest of the day together until it got dark.
You were unaware of it, but Levi was getting teased (all in good fun of course) by his fellow captains, even his own commander! All because he chose to spend more consistent time with you than most anyone they’d ever known him to even want to be around.
Mike would catch a whiff of you on his jacket on the cold nights when he would lend it to you, knowing your smell very well now after also going to chat with you frequently, and would nudge Levi with his elbow and smirk. It never got anything more than a glare out of Levi, but Mike still found it amusing.
Erwin was more subtle in his jabs, referring to Levi nice places to take you or an item he saw that he thought you might appreciate if it came from Levi instead of him. Every time, Levi would usually shoot down his offers of advice but on occasion, he would keep one or two in mind. Whenever he took you to a place Erwin had mentioned or brought you another small gift at Erwin’s suggestion and you liked it, which was always, he would smirk to himself and think, ‘Maybe he had a point.’
Hanji would notice when he got some late and perk up, knowing that meant it was Sunday and she knew suddenly exactly where Levi had been. She would ask him all sorts of questions, some general like ‘Where did you go this time? What did you do today?’ and some… less serious. Questions like ‘So, when are you gonna propose, Levi?’ and ‘Would you like me to plan the wedding?’. Levi would ignore her and go to bed, but the thought of even asking you to date him did things to his heart he hadn’t ever felt. A tightness around his chest, but not the kind anxiety and near death experiences brought. It was tight like a hug instead of barbed wire, a feeling he was more used to for more reasons than one. He thought he might like it if he could feel like that more often.
~
You held your cheek in surprise and watched as, for the first time maybe ever in his life, Levi blushed brightly. His composure was unchanged, like he hadn’t just given your cheek a quick kiss. The only thing giving him away was his bright red cheeks.
You didn’t say anything, but you felt your cheek heat up under your palm.
“Just another gift,” he said. Levi had become quite prone to giving you gifts. This was by far your favorite.
With an uncontrollable smile, you spoke up, “Then let me give you something in return.”
For once, Levi thought someone was worlds more brave than himself. You kissed him right on the corner of his mouth, not wanting to overstep but still wanting to return the favor in a more extravagant way.
His face flushed more and he cleared his throat, closing his eyes and looking away, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” you replied. And then you walked inside of your home, missing the way Levi touched the spot you kissed as he walked away.
It was time for many firsts for Levi. His first blush, his first confession (wordless, but love doesn’t always need words), but most memorable of all, his first kiss.