Work Text:
‘No, I said no.’
‘But –’
‘I said I don’t want to fucking go, Hanji,’ Levi sighed for what seemed like the millionth time.
Pouting exaggeratedly, they relented with a peeved, ‘Fine.’
But Hanji wasn’t deterred. The messy haired friend had already formed another plan in their head and quickly suppressed a smirk from the man rapidly typing away on his laptop. Hanji strode purposefully to the front door, a slight spring in their step.
‘Levi, I’m going out for a moment,’ they called out loudly, hoping the male wouldn’t question their sudden departure. ‘Don’t miss me too much!’
The ravenette only grunted in reply.
*****
Levi swiftly punched Hanji in the stomach. He didn’t even try to hold back.
‘Fucking- shit!’ Hanji gasped, doubling over and clutching their stomach. ‘How can you be so short and hit so hard?’
‘Comes naturally,’ the male growled lividly, glaring over his now completely filthy car, courtesy of Hanji.
The beautiful black paint of his old BMW could barely be seen under the muddy dirt and filth covering almost all of its entire exterior. The windshield and windows were strategically grime-free, the intention of his idiotic friend strikingly obvious.
‘I can’t believe you actually fucking destroyed my car,’ Levi hissed, ‘Just because you want me to go to some stupid fundraising car wash? Why the hell do you want me to go to this fucking car wash so badly?’
Immediately, Hanji straightened up, their pain seemingly forgotten and their eyes lit up elatedly.
‘I can’t tell you yet, my honey bun!’ they chirped sunnily. ‘But don’t worry, it’ll be worth it!’
Gripping Hanji’s hair harshly, he shoved them into the passenger seat while mindful of not touching the handle more than necessary. He slid into driver’s seat and speeded out of the driveway, uncaring of the speed limit.
‘Directions,’ the ravenette ordered, a furious atmosphere rolling off him in waves.
But Hanji remained unperturbed, already immune to their friend’s frequent murderous auras. They bounced in the seat, energetically delivering the directions to the car wash.
‘You hate me now, but you’ll love me after this!’ Hanji confidently assured Levi as he maneuvered the BMW into a large car park with a large light blue sign displaying ‘Trost University: Fundraising Car Wash!’ in white block letters.
The car wash was doing quite well with already several cars currently being cleaned.
Why is it so popular?
As Levi cruised forward more, he could see young college students diligently washing cars, many of which the males were soaking wet or shirtless.
And that’s why.
Levi rolled his eyes. Of course having energetic males flounce around, dripping with water and shirtless would attract customers. He couldn’t deny it was good marketing though.
‘Drive over to that one, Levi!’ Hanji excitedly slapped his arm and the male complied only so they’d shut the fuck up and stop hitting him.
‘Hanji, this is the fucking longest line of all of them,’ he remarked irritably. He didn’t give a single flying fuck at the numerous stares his car received, but every minute that passed, the dirt was further solidifying itself on his car and it was making him grumpier than usual.
After an annoying 4 cars later, it was finally his BMW’s turn. Grumbling under his breath, he slipped out the vehicle and eyes seeking for the poor soul who’ll have the pleasure of cleaning his car. His gaze fell on a tanned brunette who was fiddling with the hose. No shirt adorned his torso and Levi could definitely appreciate the golden lean muscles tracing his back, flexing slightly as his arms moved.
‘Someone caught your eye?’ hummed Hanji’s annoying voice gleefully.
Levi snorted, ‘As if horny college kids do anything for me.’
‘Sure, Jan,’ they laughed loudly, which attracted the attention of the tall brunette student.
He smiled widely when he saw them and broke in a half-jog as he headed towards the pair.
‘Hi! Sorry for the wait guys, but the hose was messing up and I had to quickly fix it,’ the brunette explained apologetically. ‘Oh, I’m Eren.’
His eyes sparked green as he talked animatedly. Wait- green? Or blue? Maybe both? Are those tinges of gold?
Christ, would the kid’s eyes just set on one colour.
There was a pause in the conversation and Levi realised two pairs of eyes were turned expectantly at him.
‘What?’ Levi asked. It’d be rude to say ‘Sorry, I wasn’t listening’ or even creepier to say ‘Sorry, I was distracted by your eyes’.
‘I was wondering if you’d also like an interior clean as well?’ the kid- Eren repeated patiently.
Levi knew his interior was always completely spotless but who know what else Hanji did to his precious baby.
‘Sure,’ Levi shrugged.
‘It’ll take around 20 minutes, probably 30 actually considering the state of your car,’ Levi cast a dark glare to Hanji. ‘If you want, you can buy drinks at the coffee booth and sit down at the tables while you wait.’
With a murmur of thanks, Hanji and Levi walked off in the direction of drinks stand. It wasn’t until they bought their drinks – iced chocolate with whipped cream for Hanji and ice tea for Levi – and sat down, did Hanji squeal hysterically and clap their hands.
‘Well, Levi?’ Hanji nudged him and non-too-discreetly gestured towards Eren.
‘Well what,’ he replied flatly, knowing exactly what his friend was talking about but he wasn’t going to give in so easily.
Hanji crossed their arms and huffed exasperatedly, ‘Well, Eren! What do you think of him?’
Weirdly pretty eyes. Hair looks soft. Is his skin naturally that tanned?
‘I said two words to him.’
‘Doesn’t matter! His appearance, hmm?’
‘Young.’
‘But isn’t he cute?!’ Hanji’s eyes were sparkling.
‘It seems that you like him more,’ the annoyed ravenette quirked an eyebrow.
‘Leevi!’ they whined sadly. ‘I wanted you to come because I know he’s your type.’
‘What, broke and younger than me by 10 years?’ Levi scoffed. ‘Oh yeah, that really turns me on.’
Unfortunately at that moment, the raven haired man shifted his gaze to the particular brunette and felt his breath hitch embarrassingly at the sight.
Eren was leaning over the hood, scrubbing insistently and Levi could see water droplets dripping down the arched back. The sun even glowed on his honey skin. With his ass pushed out exquisitely, it proved to be quite the picture and the short male had the perfect view.
What the fuck. No. I can’t deal with this.
With great willpower and much regret, Levi forced his eyes away from the glorious display and focused his attention back to his friend.
His friend who was now smiling knowingly and gleefully.
Oh fuck.
‘I knew you thought he was cute!’ they shouted, banging the table with their hand.
Levi made a hasty hushing sound, quickly glancing around to see out if anyone heard. Luckily, the tables surrounding were also pretty lively and loud.
‘Don’t you try to lie to me, Levi!’ Hanji exclaimed again, this time at a thankfully quieter tone. ‘I knew it, I knew it! I can’t believe you tried to tell me that cutie was not cute. ’
Opting to stay silent, he looked at them dryly when they had finished their short rant.
‘Yes, I find him attractive-’ Hanji made a happy squawking sound, ‘but that doesn’t mean anything,’ Levi shrugged.
‘Well, then go talk to him,’ reasoned Hanji immediately.
‘What? No, what the hell.’ The ravenette looked at them disbelievingly.
‘You said it yourself, Levi,’ they had changed their voice to an annoying matter-of-fact tone. ‘It doesn’t mean anything. But you actually don’t know him at all, so maybe he’s actually a sweetheart.’
Levi couldn’t find a logical reason as to why he shouldn’t.
Goddamnit, they pushed me right into this one.
‘Maybe I don’t want to,’ Levi rebutted almost childishly.
Hanji’s face was half exasperated, half don’t-you-give-me-that-bullshit, but they let it go for now.
After a minute of silence between them, Levi screeched his chair back while hissing to Hanji, ‘Not one fucking word.’
While they attempted to quieten their delighted satisfaction behind him and failed, Levi approached the brunette as slowly as possible without it seeming strange to others around him. He kept his mind carefully blank, only allowing his mind to take note of the distance left to walk to his car and Eren.
‘So is this your fundraiser’s marketing scheme?’ Levi asked nonchalantly, leaning against the hopefully clean car door and making Eren twist around in surprise.
‘Levi! Hi!’ The boy’s lips curled upwards and his eyes brightened. ‘Wait, what’s our marketing scheme?’
Levi gestured to the other students also currently washing cars.
‘Shirtless college males bent over cars and ‘accidently’ spraying water over themselves,’ Levi pointed out teasingly.
‘Oh,’ Eren laughed warmly, throwing his head back. ‘Yeah, you got us. They didn’t actually tell us to do it, but it does bring in a lot more customers.’ He winked playfully.
‘I don’t remember telling you my name.’ Levi didn’t recall much from their previous conversation except him inwardly admiring the boy’s appearance.
‘Your friend told me before when you weren’t listening,’ Eren explained. ‘Are they the reason your car’s completely brown?’
‘You guessed it,’ grumbled Levi, his expression slightly souring.
‘Not trying to be rude but, why the hell?’
The ravenette couldn’t actually tell him what the actual reason was so he settled for muttering, ‘Beats me. They’re fucking crazy.’
Gloriously, Eren laughed again and already Levi was close to combusting. The brunette’s laugh wasn’t tinkling and musical like wind chimes. It was obnoxious, rich, and honestly quite dorky. It was gorgeous.
‘You two sound close,’ Eren hummed while unravelling the hose.
‘Unfortunately,’ Levi sighed, but the undertone of affection was evident. He glanced over at where Hanji was and that bastard had their phone out and was vigorously taking photos of Eren and Levi. The short male scowled warningly at them but they persisted, no doubt wanting to file away the pictures as blackmail.
Eren saw Levi’s glowering face and turned to where it was directed at. At inhumane speed, Hanji slid their phone out of view just before Eren’s eyes landed of them. Hanji offered an enthusiastic wave to which the college student just as enthusiastically reciprocated.
‘Don’t encourage them.’ Levi rolled his eyes.
The Caribbean eyed student just grinned beamingly and began spraying the soapy suds off the hood of the BMW.
‘What’s this car wash fundraising for anyway?’ Levi questioned.
‘Well, actually, one of my close friends recently was in a serious accident and he became paralysed in the right half on his body,’ Eren disclosed, a clear note of grief in his voice. ‘His family isn’t that wealthy and he’s on a scholarship at Trost. Our friends want to raise money to help his parents pay for medical bills and physiotherapy.’
The ravenette was impressed. The lengths these friends went for were note-worthy.
‘He’s lucky to have friends like you,’ the older male murmured.
For a few short seconds, Eren stared at Levi, smiling slightly and his head tilted to the side thoughtfully.
‘Hey, Jaeger! Stop making googly eyes with the shortie and get your ass back to cleaning!’ An obnoxious voice called out.
Instantly, Eren’s face turned pissed and he twisted around to shout back, ‘Fuck off, horse face!’
Eren turned back around to Levi to apologise for the sudden outburst, but was met with the sight of completely drenched and very shocked Levi.
‘Why are you wet -’ Eren suddenly remembered the still spurting hose that he was currently gripping.
Levi found it quite amusing how the colour drained from the boy’s face and instant sputtering of messy and jumbled apologies spilled from his pretty lips.
Abruptly, Eren was interrupted in his ramblings with a sopping and soapy sponge smacking into his face. The sponge slid down with a flop, leaving behind a flabbergasted and soap suds covered brunette.
‘Oops,’ Levi’s lips were twitching from the effort of trying not to laugh, ‘My hand slipped.’
‘You wanna play?’ The dazzling brunette’s mouth tilted into a mischievous smirk. ‘Alright, I’ll play.’
Soon all eyes at the carwash were on the yelling pair chasing each other around the cars. The laughing student weaved clumsily between the vehicles but his longer legs allowed his to keep up with the agile ravenette. Water flew in every direction from the hose and soap suds splattered innocent cars.
Jean was gagging, Mikasa was glaring daggers, Armin looked worried and Hanji was ecstatically snapping pictures and sending it to their friends.
‘Goddamn, why are you so fast?!’ Eren yelled in mock frustration.
‘Maybe you’re just unfit!’ shouted back Levi. That was a lie. Levi could tell Eren was indeed very fit judging by his toned torso.
‘I am very fit, excuse you!’
Levi rolled his eyes at the indignant response and just to show off, he jumped and slid smoothly over the hood of a car. He turned around to see a slack-jawed Eren, astonishment evident in his expression. The smug male smirked before ducking off again.
Eren realised he’d have to go hard or the chase would only end when he passed out from exhaustion. And that would be totally uncool.
‘Hey, Levi!' Eren called out without thinking. 'Can I get your number?'
Crap, I didn’t think that through. Well, I did say go hard.
But the brunette was delighted when his words caused Levi to abruptly stumble quite ungracefully into a car. Eren whooped in victory and burst forward, caging the ravenette between his arms.
‘Well, that worked,’ the student puffed out between pants. ‘Also teach me how to do that cool slide thing over a car.’
The short male hadn’t said anything nor turned around yet and a confused Eren frowned.
‘Levi?’ His breath ruffled the strands of the ravenette’s hair. ‘You okay?’
‘Move,’ Levi’s voice came out rough and low.
‘Huh?’
‘I can’t move,’ His tone was strangely strained. ‘You’re too close.’
Finally, the college male realised how close they were standing and flushing brightly, he hastily stepped away.
‘Oh, fuck, sorry,’ Eren apologised embarrassedly, looking anywhere but Levi.
A few beats of awkward silence passed before Levi sighed.
‘We really made a mess, huh,’ he mused, silver eyes surveying the car wash.
‘Yeah, Mikasa’s going to murder my ass,’ Eren muttered forlornly, his gaze shifting to a pissed female at the drinks booth.
‘Mikasa?’ the ravenette questioned, gaze following Eren’s.
‘Adopted sister,’ Eren explained. ‘Asian chick that looks like someone pissed in their coffee.’
Levi’s lips twitched upwards and he hummed in reply.
‘We’re both soaking wet as well,’ Levi tugged at his drenched shirt, cringing as it clung uncomfortably to his torso.
Don’t see how that’s a problem, Eren pondered as his eyes roved approvingly over defined slopes of hard muscle.
‘Stop checking me out, kid.’
Immediately, the brunette snapped his head up, blushing profusely – holy crap, this kid is a full body blusher - and stammering his denial.
‘You should probably do that interior clean now,’ a smile tugged at the edges of Levi’s lips. ‘Then maybe I’ll give you my number.’
*****
‘That was like a fucking romantic movie in the space of 10 minutes!’ Hanji was squealing again, their voice reaching pitches Levi didn’t know were humanely possible.
‘Shut up,’ the still soaked male replied, slipping an apathetic expression on his face.
‘Oh my god, I got so many good shots,’ they babbled on. ‘Don’t worry, honey bun, I’ve already sent them all to you. You can thank me later.
‘I think everyone here is rooting for you two now, it’s adorable. Oh, and when he trapped you against the car? I think everyone just died then.’
Levi rolled his eyes. ‘Well I’m glad we provided so much entertainment.’
‘He’s even a full body blusher! I know you have some weird kink for that, he’s practically perfect for you.’
The ravenette decided not to dignify that with a response.
‘Are you going to give him your number?’ Hanji pressed, their eyes gleaming.
Acting nonchalant, Levi shrugged. ‘I don’t know.’
‘Ughhhhh, come on,’ His friend groaned, overly aggravated at the ravenette’s continuous vague answers throughout the whole day. ‘You are so frustrating.’
‘I hope you know that’s how I always feel when I’m around you,’ Levi retorted back.
Before Hanji could answer, Eren jogged over and sunnily – Jesus, does this kid just shit rays of sunlight or something - informed them that Levi’s car was done.
‘Clean enough for you?’ The shirtless brunette was already dry from the warm temperature and he was struggling to not laugh at Levi’s careful inspection of the vehicle.
Finally, Levi pulled out his wallet. ‘How much?’
‘Uh, exterior is $8 and interior is $6, so $14.’
Pulling out a crisp $50 note, the ravenette pressed it into Eren’s hand. ‘Keep the change.’
‘Oh, shit,’ Eren’s eyes widened at the other male’s generosity. ‘Thank you so much, holy crap.’
‘I hope your friend gets better,’ the short male responded, genuine undertones in his voice.
As Levi moved to open the car door, Eren interrupted him.
‘So can I get your phone number?’ Hopeful and innocent, the student’s large ocean eyes blinked anticipatively.
The ravenette smirked. ‘Maybe tomorrow.’
Then the car door slammed and the now sparkling BMW sped down the street, leaving Eren dumbfounded.
Maybe tomorrow.
*****
Every day after that, a black BMW drove into the Trost University charity car wash and without fail, every day it would be covered with a new layer of grime – the only time the owner of the car was willing to get dirty. It’d always be washed by the brunette student with bronze skin and the owner of the car, a short, pale ravenette would make snarky, teasing remarks. More often than not, it’d end in an impromptu water fight and both males would be sopping wet again. A fresh $50 note was pressed into the boy’s hand every day as payment.
And every day, the student would ask the same question and the older male would have the same reply.
‘Can I please have your number now, Levi?’
A pause.
‘Maybe tomorrow.’
At the end the week, the college students working at the car wash huddled together as a group, all eyes locked on the strange pair - one young college student fidgeting from one foot to another, and one impassive, stoic and short male.
‘Do you think they finally kiss?’ Krista whispered to Sasha. ‘It is the last day of the car wash.’
‘Eren’s too pussy to, and that other dude seems too prude,’ a coffee skinned female scoffed, not very quietly.
‘Ymir!’ Krista scolded her, smacking her arm. Ymir just winked back.
‘I think this is seriously the real life love story you see in movies,’ Marco hummed from Ymir’s left.
‘Gross,’ Jean pretended to vomit, sticking a finger in his mouth.
‘They can’t not go out now,’ Connie reasoned. ‘They’ve literally been flirting all week.’
‘Damn, Connie. Why couldn’t we have this cute romantic storyline?’ Sasha joked, nudging the male with a buzz cut. Connie then proceeded to spout random lines from Romeo and Juliet – incorrectly, of course – and Sasha laughed affectionately at her boyfriend’s stupid ways.
‘Shut up, guys!’ Armin hushed them, his arms motioning for them to be quiet. ‘Eren’s asking the question!’
The whole group fell silent.
‘So, uh, Levi.’ Eren’s fidgeting increased when Levi tilted his head in acknowledgement. ‘It’s the last day of the car wash, huh,’ the brunette laughed awkwardly, his breaths slightly stuttering.
‘So can I finally have your number?’
The silence was stretched for longer than it was as the huddled students’ breaths paused together in unison while waiting for Levi’s answer. Their eyes were fixed intensely and somewhat creepily on the short male’s profile when-
‘GODDAMNIT, LEVI. JUST GIVE HIM YOUR GOD DAMN NUMBER OR I SWEAR TO GOD.’
Every head in a 50 metre radius swivelled to meet the figure of a red-faced and huffing Asian female with an annoyed expression and crossed arms.
Eren was looking at her in complete horror and mortification while Levi just looked amused.
Eren’s friends were trying not to die of laughter.
‘Well,’ Levi drawled out slowly, immediately gaining the student’s attention again. ‘Since your sister over there insisted so nicely, I guess I just have to give you my number.’
Still embarrassed by his adopted sister’s rashness, Eren fumbled to grab his phone in his back pocket and attempted to look less eager than he actually felt as he thrust it in the ravenette’s waiting palm. Levi quickly keyed in his number and returned the phone to Eren. The taller male laughed when he saw Levi had named himself ‘That really hot one’.
Smirking, Levi slid into his old BMW and said a casual bye before driving away.
Eren didn’t know how long he was standing there with a stupid grin on his face until Mikasa came up to him and sighed, ‘What’s with that stupid grin on your face?’
He jerked in surprise and then remembered how the female had embarrassed him before.
‘Mikasa! I can’t believe you shouted that out loud before,’ the brunette groaned, dragging a hand over his face.
‘I literally got him to give him your number,’ Mikasa huffed. ‘I’m sure he’s into you too, don’t be a whiny ass.’
‘Yeah, you’re right, you’re right,’ Eren conceded. ‘Wait, do you really think he’s into me or like, into into me?’
Mikasa rolled her eyes. ‘Oh my god, Eren. It’s a miracle that he even talked to you.’
‘Um, shut up.’