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He hadn't ever seen anything like it before, it was indescribable. His whole life, Levi had learned what colour was. They said it looked like light itself turned solid. He'd never seen it of course, in kindergarden they learned the difference between black and white and everything in between. From soft to hard greys, gainsboro and silver and dimgrey and gunmetal, he knew them all. But he'd never seen anything like this.
It had been sudden, he'd just brushed up against this man, which was odd, he'd been on dates with plenty of girls before, and he'd thought he liked them. And suddenly, that little brush had flashed him with something he understood as colour, he didn't need explaining. The whole soulmate principle people drilled into your skull as a child worked that when you found it, you knew.
So many things.
He learned grass was a lively one, like the sound of tree leaves in the wind, something incomparatively discreet and unnoticeable, but likable. He learned what sky was, rain pattering on the roof and the wind that snapped in your ears, the feeling of heartbreak. He saw flowers, too numerous to count, turn bright and round and joyful, light and bouncy, while some were more sombre and deep.
And then in an instant, he saw only jet and taupe and charcoal again.
The man behind him stared awkwardly, as though the same thing had just happened to him, and in that moment, Levi turned around to speak.
"Hey, have we met before?" he asked.
The man squinted. "No, I don't think so." His hair was an ashen grey, and his eyes were almost white. "But you seem familiar. Like I know you from somewhere, or I should. Erwin Smith," he said, offering his palm.
"Levi Ackerman." He extended a hand to shake it.
And it all went perfectly.
They were watching the wind maneuver through the blades. Levi still couldn't understand how something so complicated could be called only "green" or "teal" or how such simple names held such meanings. It was boring really, but he loved it all the same and gripped Erwin's arm tighter.
"It's breathtaking, isn't it?" he asked.
And it all went wrong as Erwin stared at him blankly.
"What is?"