Archive of Our Own

First Incident

Seemingly endless amounts of paperwork lay strewn over his desk, two dirty and one half-full cup of coffee were half concealed under various Formation plans, and the fire in the fireplace behind him had long turned to ambers, the oil lamp to Erwin’s left shinning just enough light for him to work.

He knew he should leave it all for tomorrow, if only to get some rest, but Erwin was never one to neglect his duties, no matter what waited for him.

Even though that what was his lover as of two months.

To say their relationship changed would be a lie, and while Erwin wanted nothing more than to have a real relationship with Levi, the younger man was all too reluctant to actually come right out and say that they were together, even if it would be only to Erwin.

But beggars can’t be choosers, and Erwin settled for the occasional night with Levi and pretending that there wasn’t anything going on between them when the younger man would get dressed immediately after they were done to go back to his own chambers.

Now, Erwin hasn’t touched Levi for days and it was showing in the slowly growing frustration the Commander could feel piling up like a big, slimy ball of need stuck somewhere between his vocal-chords and his throat.

Right now, Erwin’s goal was to finish this thrice damned paperwork as soon as possible and think of a good enough reason to monopolize Levi’s attention for at least 24 hours once the Commander got some much needed rest.

There. He had a plan.

‘Now where is Hanji’s re-’ in the next moment Erwin’s head snapped up, the Commander almost grabbing the knife sheathed at the side of his belt, spurred into action by the door of his office being slammed open. Erwin’s eyes widened when he saw Levi marching towards him, the door almost falling out of its hinges with the force of the Lance Corporal’s hit intended to close them.

“Levi, is there something-”

“Shut up,” Levi bit out, obviously grumpier than usual as he rounded Erwin’s table, small feet all but stomping on the hard floor, and the Commander froze up and grabbed the armrests of his chair when Levi pulled the chair together with Erwin back a bit, grumbling unintelligible things into his chin (something about ‘stupid commanders’ and ‘unnecessary, shitty paperwork’ and how something - which sounded dangerously close to ‘shitty people’ - should ‘burn in the lowest pits of hell’).

Erwin’s eyes went almost comically wide when Levi all but threw himself into Erwin’s lap, sneaked lean legs under the Commanders right arm so they hung over the armrest, crossed his arms over his chest and hit his head against Erwin’s left breast, leaving it resting there, almost stubbornly closing his eyes before he blew out a gust of air through his nose.

All the while Erwin sat there, eyes wide and jaw hanging open, quite aware that he was witnessing the realization of his dreams (well, some of them), yet not entirely certain if this was really happening or if he had fallen asleep somewhere between signing Mike’s report and searching for Hanji’s.

“Levi…” Erwin stopped to clear his throat when his voice came out hoarse, “excuse me, but what-”

“Shut up and let me sleep!” Levi bit out, nuzzling closer to Erwin in an action sharply contradicting the tone of Levi’s voice with how (and Erwin knew Levi would castrate him if he were to say this aloud) absolutely cute the action was.

“You can’t sleep?” Erwin spoke with a frown, knowing full well that Levi usually slept for no more than two hours (three on a good day), instantly feeling worry grip his heart because after everything Levi lived through, everything he faced on a daily basis, it was extremely difficult to throw the raven-haired man out of the loop enough to make him lose sleep.

“I haven’t slept for three days, you bastard, so shut up and let me get some rest!” Levi pressed out through his teeth, turning his head into Erwin’s chest while the older man stared down at him blinking rapidly.

Three days, three days, three days, kept running through Erwin’s mind as though trying to stir a memory and a shiver of something unnamed passed up Erwin’s spine when he remembered that he hasn’t had sex with Levi in… four days?

A small smile tilted Erwin’s lips as his body slowly relaxed, and a low, content chuckle passed his lips as he carefully grabbed the edges of his desk and pulled it closer. He glanced down when Levi let go of a short, hardly audible ‘hn’, catching the opening of one silvery-blue eye before the Lance Corporal rested his head more comfortably against Erwin’s chest, his right ear pressed right over Erwin’s strongly beating heart.

The Commander wrapped his left arm around deceivingly delicate-looking shoulders (because he knew those clothes hid a very well built body) and carefully rearranged the paperwork on his table, suppressing a sound of achievement when he found Hanji’s report, immediately recognizing the woman’s hectic, chicken-scratch handwriting.

Erwin looked down, breathing out in pure content when he realized that Levi had already fallen asleep, and careful as not to jostle the younger man, Erwin bowed down to lay a loving kiss on top of the Lance Corporal’s head.

Somehow, paperwork didn’t seem like such a chore anymore.

He laid there, eyes closed, feeling the shivers of his orgasm still trailing over his body, sated and yet internally dreading what will now happen. He opened his eyes and clumsily reached over to the nightstand, doing his best to ignore the beautiful body beside him, trying with all his might not to hear the deep intakes of breath, forcing his senses not to pay attention to the heavy scent lingering in the air despite the opened window, and suppressing the desire within him to curl around the smaller body to soak in its warmth and comfort.

He made the fire in the oil lamp burn just a bit brighter as he moved up to sit against the headboard of his bed, concentrating all of his attention on the book he prepared earlier because he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep once Levi left the Commander’s chambers.

So focused in his dejected thoughts, Erwin failed to notice dilated icy-gray eyes following his every move squinting slightly when the light became just a bit brighter, thin, black eyebrows narrowing when Erwin took the book and covered the lower half of his body with a thin, cotton sheet.

Erwin opened the book on the page he marked when he had last read it five nights ago, although he knew that he would probably be stuck on the first sentence for the following 15 to 30 minutes as he did his best to ignore Levi systematically getting himself dressed.

Apparently Erwin became so good at this game of his that he noticed nothing, so when Levi sighed gravely and sat up, Erwin merely continued staring at the pages in front of him only to lose sight of them when a small, callused hands wrapped around Erwin’s wrists and tugged on them, the book falling with a muffled ‘thud’ into Erwin’s lap.

The Commander stared wide-eyed and holding his breath as Levi flopped into his lap, tugging the covers up to wrap them around himself before he rested his head on Erwin’s left shoulder with a content sigh, tucking his feet under Erwin’s right thigh and shifting around a bit until he settled comfortably, the book having slipped to rest on Erwin’s knees while Levi nestled in the Commander’s lap.

“You read your damn book. I’m getting some sleep,” Levi muttered, either completely unaware of Erwin’s shock or ignoring it on purpose.

“Levi, what are you-”

“I said,” Levi bit out, although his voice lacked both malice and harshness, although it wasn’t as dull as it would have been if he were addressing someone that wasn’t Erwin, “I’m getting some sleep as should you, stupid old man,” he finished in a mutter and Erwin cocked an eyebrow at him, remembering the incident almost two days ago when Levi barged into his office.

Not willing to test his luck, Erwin carefully reached over Levi to take the book into his hands, settling against the headboard, arms wrapped around his slighter lover, and he cleared his throat before squinting at the book, trying with all his might to concentrate on the lines of small letters.

Huffing in annoyance, Levi moved one arm from the cocoon of the sheet around him, blindly reached behind himself to the nightstand, tapping around until he grabbed Erwin’s reading glasses.

The Commander stared at the younger man in obvious shock while Levi straightened, threw the leather strap around Erwin’s neck before placing the glasses over Erwin’s eyes, the Lance Corporal’s nose wrinkling in obvious distaste.

Levi then settled back against Erwin’s chest, tugged the sheet he wrapped around himself closer, and closed his eyes, muttering words Erwin couldn’t understand under his breath.

Erwin was certain his brain received some damage on the last expedition, because he couldn’t wrap his mind around what was going on. He was sure his heart would either burst or beat its way out of his chest, and he tried his damned best to calm it down because there was no doubt in Erwin’s mind Levi could hear it, and he really didn’t want the younger man to leave.

So Erwin took a deep, calming breath, settled against the headboard and focused his attention on the book.

Although, if his eyes strayed to the calmly sleeping man in his lap more often than his mind understood the words he was trying to focus on, could anyone have really blamed him?

Third Incident

Erwin laughed quietly into his chin as he observed his underlings sitting around tables in the dining hall, chatting away, drinking and eating, from his place in one of the not-so-comfortable couches they placed in the hall to make it feel a bit homier.

Their latest expedition outside the walls went almost unexpectedly well all things considered, and that night they were all taking a breather, no one talking about Titans, for once simply letting go.

Erwin allowed himself to get lost in the chatter, catching random words from various conversations, memorizing the faces around him, yet not allowing himself any dark thoughts. It was not such a night.

Since he wasn’t thinking about formation plans or anything else concerning their commonly shared goal, Erwin’s thoughts immediately strayed to his raven-haired lover, his heart immediately clenching within his chest.

He hasn’t had a chance to be with Levi for over five days since the Lance Corporal - under Erwin’s orders of course - took a team for a short scouting expedition not even a full day after the night Levi surprised Erwin by staying in the Commander’s bed (better yet his arms) until early in the morning.

Erwin didn’t remember when Levi left because he had fallen asleep, waking up alone with nothing but lingering warmth telling him that he hadn’t imagined any of it.

Levi and his team returned earlier that day, but the Lance Corporal has been so busy writing his report that he didn’t have time to meet up with Erwin, the only moment when they had seen each other being the one when Erwin caught sight of Levi walking down the street under the window of Erwin’s office, glancing up in time for steely eyes to meet the sky-blue gaze of the Commander.

Neither Levi nor the Lance Corporal’s team was there that night, and Erwin assumed that they had gone to their rooms to get some much needed rest. And even though Erwin wanted to leave the hall and go to Levi, he couldn’t help but think he would be breaking some of the boundaries the younger placed on their relationship, so Erwin forced himself to make peace with just sitting there for as long as it was necessary before he could make his way to his (empty) bed.

So lost was Erwin in his thoughts that he didn’t hear the door open, nor did he notice some of the people around him quieting down, staring in avid curiosity at the man monopolizing Erwin’s thoughts as he made his way towards the Commander, offering minute nods to those staring openly at him.

Only when the lean body of his lover stood in front of him did Erwin look up, not managing to hide his surprised reaction at the sight of Levi.

Earlier when he caught sight of his lover, Erwin was too far to see the few cuts on Levi’s left cheek and the white band-aid above Levi’s right eye concealed by the Lance Corporal’s fringe. Erwin didn’t see that Levi’s right hand was wrapped in bandages, only tips of thin fingers visible above lines of thin white cotton.

Levi stood in front of Erwin, left eyebrow twitching in obvious annoyance, arms crossed over his chest, and Erwin was certain that he hasn’t seen Levi in nothing but the white trousers tucked into military issued boots, the gray shirt untucked and following the hard lines of Levi’s torso and arms outside of the Commander’s bedroom. The fact that Levi wasn’t even wearing his cravat told Erwin that the man must have been getting ready for bed.

All in all, it was quite a peculiar sight, and Erwin quickly became aware of the deafening silence that settled over the hall, but the only thing he could do was stare up at Levi, blue eyes wide and lips slightly parted as he faced the infamous glare, silver eyes staring at him unreadable and dark.

“Levi-”

“Tche,” the sound cut Erwin off and his lips slammed shut, eyes widening when Levi took a step forward, making Erwin recoil, reflexively raising his arms.

Erwin didn’t exactly know what he was expecting, but it sure as hell wasn’t this.

He sure as hell wasn’t expecting Levi to take a sideways seat in Erwin’s lap, arms still crossed over his chest.

Levi crossed his legs, feet resting on the couch, and laid his head on Erwin’s right shoulder, silver eyes slipping closed.

Now, this shouldn’t have surprised Erwin as much as it did because he knew very well that Levi cared about everyone’s opinion of him as much as he cared about last year’s snow, but Erwin thought they were keeping their relationship a secret!

There was absolutely no way that Erwin could have predicted such a show!

Quickly glancing around Erwin saw a number of stunned faces staring at him and Levi, and the Survey Legion Commander looked down, his arms still spread to the sides and whole body frozen.

Levi huffed and opened one eye, looking up at Erwin with lips tilted in the smallest pout imaginable, unnoticeable if you didn’t know Levi really, really well.

But before either could say anything a loud ‘HA’ echoed through the room, starting everyone, and Hanji jumped to her feet, grinning insanely as she pointed at the two.

“I knew it!!” she screeched and while Erwin got ready to come up with an excuse (one no one would really buy - let’s be real here), Levi scoffed and curled towards Erwin just a bit, no one except the commander really noticing the small movement.

“Hanji,” the Lance Corporal spoke slowly, not deigning the woman worthy of him opening his eyes, “sit down and shut up. You’re too loud.”

“Hai, haai!” the eccentric woman sang, saluting Levi mockingly, and she flopped into her seat, bursting with excitement, everyone pointedly looking away, although the silence in the room was strained, every single man and woman stealing glances towards the two commanding officers, most carrying heavy blushes on their cheeks.

Erwin looked down at Levi, feeling the tenseness of the younger man’s body, and Erwin’s eyebrows narrowed, because - seeing the tended injuries he had missed before - he suddenly couldn’t help but wonder how many more were hidden by Levi’s clothes.

Someone started conversation again while Erwin was busy studying his lover's body, and although it wasn’t as easy going as earlier, and many were still stealing glances towards them, soon the air was filled with quiet chatter.

But this time Erwin paid it no heed.

“Stop it,” Levi muttered into his chin, only loud enough for Erwin to hear him.

“Stop what?” Erwin asked, still trying to wrap his mind around what was going on.

“Stop thinking. Stop fidgeting. Stop,” Levi muttered, not even deigning Erwin with a glance as his shoulders hunched. “I haven’t seen you in days and you expect me to go to bed without you?” Erwin’s eyebrows met the line of his hair. “You’re a bastard, old man.”

“I thought you’d want to get some sleep,” Erwin answered, voice dripping with confusion, and this time Levi opened both eyes and looked up at Erwin with a dull expression.

“You really are a dumb blond,” Levi concluded dully, such utter indifference in his voice that it finally snapped Erwin out of the state of confusion.

The Commander finally relaxed, a quiet, close-lipped laugh escaping him as he wrapped his right arm around Levi’s shoulders and rested his left hand on one muscled thigh, feeling the shiver which spread over Levi’s body.

“Finally,” Levi blurted under his breath, eyes slipping closed as he rested his head on Erwin’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry for assuming anything,” Erwin apologized, although really - Levi had only recently started to acknowledge this thing they had as a relationship (although he had yet to actually say something about it) - so who could blame Erwin for being surprised by every little show of affection, especially one such as this?

“Assumption is the mother of all screw-ups,” Levi stated in a quiet murmur, and Erwin was almost a hundred percent certain that his everything-but-delicate lover was practically half asleep already. “You’re not stupid enough to assume anything.”

“Is that a compliment?” Erwin teased, his heart beating slower and all tension leaving his body, completely forgetting about the people surrounding them who had by then stopped paying attention to their commanding officers and went back to their night of relaxation.

“Idiot,” the word left Levi’s mouth hardly audible and mumbled, and it became apparent to Erwin that his lover was too tired to even engage in one of their usual squabbles.

With a light chuckle and a shake of his head, Erwin tucked his left arm under Levi’s knees and stood up, hardly feeling the younger man's weight. Erwin caught sight of Hanji jumping to her feet and running towards the door, nodding at her in passing as she held the door open for him and Levi.

Erwin took a deep breath as he stepped out into the cool night air, making his way towards the barracks. He looked down when he heard Levi mumble something unintelligible, a smile tilting his lips when the smaller - albeit stronger man - curled closer to Erwin to ward off the chill of the evening.

Reaching the barracks Erwin stopped in his tracks, trying to decide where to go, Levi’s or his own rooms. Coming to a quick decision, Erwin made his way towards his chambers.

After all Levi was sleeping in his arms after he came looking for Erwin knowing that there would be people around.

Maybe Erwin wasn’t as alone in his thoughts of them being a real couple as he at first believed.

Fourth Incident

He had just taken a seat after placing the reports and writing tools on the high, round tea-table to his right when the door opened and Levi walked in, only to stop mid-step when he saw Erwin virtually waiting for him.

“What is this about?” Levi asked in that usual monotone although he closed the door behind him.

“Nothing,” Erwin answered, offering a small smile. “I just thought I could just as well finish the reports here,” he said and patted his left thigh with his hand.

“Hoh?” hummed the Lance Corporal as he made his way towards Erwin, the older man gifting his lover with a small smile as he relaxed into the backrest when Levi casually straddled Erwin’s lap, callused hands coming to rest on Erwin’s broad chest. “And it has nothing to do with the fact that you heard me coming,” Levi stated, head tilting to the right and straight bangs falling into his eyes.

The left corner of Erwin’s lips curled upwards as he raised his right hand and tucked the strands of hair behind Levi’s ear, caressing one pale brow with the tips of his fingers.

“And you knew I was waiting for you,” Erwin concluded, looking straight into those harsh, to most people unreadable eyes.

“It’s been two days,” Levi shrugged, sounding indifferent, but Erwin knew his lover was everything but. His thoughts were confirmed when Levi slipped his hands up Erwin’s chest, slowly, ever so slowly wrapping his arms around his lover’s shoulders until he hid his face in the Commander’s neck, the smaller man relaxing with a long, content sigh.

Erwin’s eyes slipped closed as he wrapped his arms around him, feeling Levi’s heartbeat against his own chest, loving the sweet sensation of the younger man’s warmth seeping into his body.

“Will you be doing paperwork?” Levi’s muffled voice reached Erwin’s ears and he nodded his head before he rested his cheek against soft, black strands.

“I have to turn it in by tomorrow at noon,” he answered, rubbing soothing circles in the small of Levi’s back. “You can sleep. I’ll carry you to bed when I’m done.”

“Good,” Levi mumbled and nuzzled his forehead against Erwin’s neck, and the Commander didn’t need to see to know that the younger man’s eyes were closed, feeling the way Levi purposefully slowed his breathing, the muscles of that lean body growing lax, although Levi’s arms remained wrapped around Erwin’s shoulders.

Even though this position could in no way be comfortable to the younger man, Erwin felt Levi fall asleep within minutes. Lips curling in the smallest of smiles, Erwin raised his left hand and caressed Levi’s cheek with the back of his fingers, pressing a lingering kiss against his lover’s brow.

Careful not to jostle the sleeping man, Erwin took one of the remaining reports, fixed his glasses and settled to finish what he had started.

And even if he never said this to Levi for whatever reason - either forgetting or not finding a moment to do so - Erwin realized that he worked best with the smaller man curled in his arms like that.

And even though Levi would never admit it, the best sleep he has ever gotten was when he would sleep in Erwin’s arms.

You two are ruining my life, and I just can’t find any fucks to give. 

Inspired by this cavities-inducing headcanon.