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Halloween. Christmas. Valentine's Day. These were the top three holidays Levi absolutely despised.
Halloween wasn't that bad until he took up an office job, really. Before, he didn’t mind kids screaming around in silly costumes and asking for sweets. It was okay. Bearable. But when he found out that apparently it was an ongoing tradition in his new workplace to dress up (they’re adults, goddammit), he gradually started hating it. Especially after Hange decided it would be hilarious to glue fucking cat ears on top of his head. Yes, glue.
Christmas – well, Levi really didn’t need to elaborate on this one. A purely commercial holiday reserved for lovers or family, and Levi didn’t have either. The fact that it was also a day of his birthday didn’t help much. Usually, he spent the whole free period doing absolutely nothing, away from people.
And then, Valentine’s Day. Does it even need to be explained?
“And you're single anyway.” Hange summarised eloquently, dropping a stack of papers on Levi’s desk. He blinked, unaware of zoning out.
“I don’t get paid for overtime.” Levi grunted, sending the most disappointed look he could afford in Hange’s direction. As expected, he was met with a shrug, ten years of friendship unfortunately making them unaffected by Levi's glares.
“Neither do I,” Hange commented, already making their way to the door. “But Erwin said it needs to be done by either of us by the end of the week, and you already owe me for the last time.”
“I’m pretty sure I’ve returned the favour about five times already.”
Hange only nodded with a smile. Of course.
“Listen. I have a date tonight. Do you have a date tonight?” Hange raised their eyebrows at Levi, and, before he could open his mouth, they nodded with a stupid smirk. “Yeah, I thought so.”
“Get the hell out of my sight.”
“Thanks, Levi!”
And that’s how Levi found himself in an emptied office, probably being the only loser in their company to work overtime on a stupid Valentine’s Day. No, he didn’t have a date (he wished he had, honestly, but it’s not like he could force his stupid crush to reciprocate, or at least acknowledge his feelings), but he’d already planned an evening with some stupid romcom dramas and unhealthy take-out. Possibly with tons of ice cream, just in case.
Half past six, he finally gave up. Nothing in these damned papers made any sense to him. Levi was hungry, tired, and the prospect of getting to bed early was more appealing than ever. He sighed with resignation as he put on his coat, heading out of his private office.
And then he stopped in a half-step, his heart clutching almost painfully in his chest for a second or two.
He was almost right about being the only person left in the office. Almost, because there was one desk remaining occupied, lit by the weak light of an office lamp. One desk that has been catching Levi’s eyes for the past year, voluntarily or not.
Closing the distance between his office and Eren’s desk, Levi noticed a few things.
One, Eren was asleep. His cheek was squished against his arm, which was resting in an awkward angle on his desk. Eren’s back was twisted and there was no way the man would walk out of their office without limping at least a little. Two, he fell asleep in the middle of writing, a pen barely holding still in his slim fingers, a thin trail of ink smudged across a white sheet of paper. Levi hoped it wasn’t anything important, or else Erwin would be furious.
And three, Eren was a fucking adorable sleeper, with his eyebrows furrowed and lips in pout. He looked so stupid and so… cute, Levi couldn’t even think straight anymore. As in a trance, he beelined to his desk, allowing himself to smile as he monitored Eren’s chest moving slowly with deep breaths. Thank gods nobody was in the office, otherwise he would miss this sight. Bless Hange, after all.
Trying to excuse his actions as simply waking the man up, Levi let his hand through brown hair, gently brushing it back. The action did not do anything; of course it didn’t, Levi knew it all along.
“Hey, dimwit. Wake up.”
As in slow motion, brunette opened his eyes, first glancing around them and then resting his eyes on Levi. He straightened his back sluggishly, wincing in pain.
“Pack up, Yeager,” he said, smirking for a split second as the other man jumped and almost fell off his chair, managing to stay seated in the very last second. Did he notice him just now? “Can't have you late for your date.”
His words didn’t seem to process in Eren’s head just yet, his eyes still half-opened as he glared at Levi, blinking slowly. He’s actually glaring, Levi thought with surprising enjoyment. He has never seen the younger one glaring at anyone, let alone Levi, who on usual grounds seemed to terrify everyone in his team. Eren included.
Levi’s eyes followed with mild amusement Eren’s arms, stretched high above his head, and down his white (now, after a whole day of office work – wrinkled) shirt riding up just a little, enough to reveal a glimpse of younger’s red underwear. Levi immediately turned his head away. Inappropriate.
“There's no date.” Eren finally said, apparently finished with his stretching. Levi looked at him again, a tiny seed of hope blooming in his chest with the younger’s words.
“No? It’s Valentine’s Day.” He said, as if prompting Eren to change his answer. Levi tried not to cringe at how much he hoped it wouldn’t.
Resting his head on a hand, Eren glanced over at Levi with a small, resigned smile on his lips. What the hell. “Nah. Got dumped last month.”
Single. He’s fucking single.
Levi couldn’t help but chuckle. “Terrible timing.”
Eren shrugged, a lazy smile that made Levi’s toes curl still playing on his lips. “Better than spending money on stupid Valentines and then getting dumped. Didn’t like the guy that much anyway.”
Single and into guys. Single and into guys. It was too good to be true. Levi couldn’t help the smile that appeared on his lips without his own permission. Eren smiled back at him and then, in the bat of an eye, his expression morphed to a terrified one, his pupils going wide, mouth wide open in anxiety. He immediately jerked up from his chair, repeatedly bending his head in Levi’s direction.
“I’m sorry, Team Leader, sir! I- I didn’t know- I thought it’s another dream-No, I mean, I’m sorry, please don’t fire me!”
Levi could only blink in confusion.
“...What?”
“What?”
And now Eren stared blankly at him, finally stopping his ridiculous bowing.
“What are you apologising for?” Levi asked, brows twitching. He thought, he hoped, he could finally have a normal conversation with Eren, but apparently – no.
“For… Speaking informally… I think?”
Oh. Levi sighed, shaking his head. He had no idea who was more hopeless – Eren, for thinking a normal conversation with him is regarded as inappropriate behaviour, or himself, for making Eren feel that way in the first place.
“I’m a human too, you know? You can speak like a normal person to me.” He said, scowling internally at Eren’s confused face. “I can’t even fire you, for fuck’s sake. Being a Team Leader is just a useless title on reports only, anyway.”
“It’s not,” Eren said, abruptly sounding confident. As Levi looked at him with raised eyebrows, his cheeks went crimson in seconds. “I mean-You’re a true leader, for us. Without you, half of us would get fired a long time ago. Sir.”
Hell. Levi was officially in hell. All Eren said was a mere praise, a statement, really, but it suddenly made Levi feel all warm and fuzzy inside. He hadn’t felt like that in years. Shifting uncomfortably, he smoothed his wrinkle-less coat a few times before adjusting his eyes back to Eren.
“It’s Levi. Stop calling me sir, it makes me feel old.”
“Yes, sir. I mean, yes. Yes, period.”
Leaning on Eren’s desk, Levi surveyed the younger man, now carefully packing his stuff into his bag. He should leave. He had no business with Eren, they were just co-workers. All he wanted to do was to wake him up, nothing more. He did it, so he should leave. Eren didn’t even like him; his reaction just now confirmed all of Levi’s fears. His presence alone probably only stressed him out, honestly, he should just get fucking over these damned feelings, it’s not like him anyway–
“You’re always the last one to leave the office,” Eren said unexpectedly, putting a stop to Levi’s spiralling thoughts. “Being a Team Leader must be tough, after all.”
It’s tough having stupid friends, Levi wanted to snarl, but the soft tone of Eren’s voice made him halt. He was still fidgeting with the same papers on his desk, putting some documents inside his bag only to take them out and rearranging it all over again a second later.
“I know what I’m capable of,” Levi said, not unkindly. It was true; he never took a commission he was uncertain of completing. “And I have zero social hobbies. I don’t have anything more useful to do.”
Eren chuckled, finally zipping up his bag. Pushing his luck, Levi started walking towards the elevators, trying not to throw his fist in a victory gesture as Eren followed him, continuing their conversation. “At least you’re popular. It’s a bit surprising, seeing you working so late even today.”
Now, that’s a bold statement. “Popular? Are you sure you’re talking to the right person?” He asked, noting with amusement Eren’s offended expression.
“But you are!” He exclaimed, his cheeks colouring red with shame as he realised his sudden outburst. “About that, we, uh… We had a bet, actually. The whole team wanted to contribute.”
Instead of scolding the poor boy about having too much time to fuck around but not enough to focus on their deadlines, Levi asked with curiosity: “A bet?”
“Yes, sorry, sir!” Eren punched the elevator button a little too hard, slipping ‘sir’ probably without even realising. He shook his head, as if to get a grip, avoiding Levi’s eyes. “Team Leader Hange said it’s impossible for anyone to have a death wish and ask you out on Valentine’s Day, and we bet on that. Some people actually tried… But I don’t think you even noticed, though.”
Levi paused for a second, absently staring at the changing numbers on the elevator’s screen. What the hell? He hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary today. Who on Earth would want to ask him out anyway? Did Eren say some people? Plural? That had to be some really unfunny joke.
Noticing his confusion, Eren continued. “Well, there were some girls from upstairs that tried to. They kept coming back and forth the whole morning, and it made Jean jealous, and he scared them off.” They entered the elevator, Eren pressing the button of the ground floor. “Oluo tried to ask you out through the note, but then Petra confiscated it. Connie was seriously contemplating playing a guitar solo for you, but we managed to talk him out of it, for his own sake. And Sasha brought you coffee.”
Levi furrowed his eyebrows. He would at least notice Sasha with a coffee. “No, she didn’t.”
“Ah, she tried to,” Eren explained, smiling weakly. “But right before knocking at your door, she remembered you don’t drink coffee. She panicked and spilled it all over herself.”
Now that would explain the screaming he’s heard in the afternoon. Levi just assumed it was yet another of his team’s shenanigans that he stopped paying attention to a long time ago.
Still trying to wrap his mind around this whole situation, Levi didn’t notice Eren sending him nervous looks every now or then. The numbers on the elevator's pad were getting smaller.
“There was one more.” The other man said, his quiet voice eaisly audible in the empty compartment.
Levi hummed. Another person who should get a break from the office before going completely crazy? That was starting to be concerning.
“Someone wanted to… Well, to wait for you. And possibly ask you. Ask you out, I mean. Confess. Without any audience.”
Maybe that’s for the best they gave up, Levi thought bitterly. Having someone confessing to him would probably boost his ego a little, but he would have rejected them anyway. He was not interested in one-night stands, and going out with a complete stranger would be fucking weird, even for a single night. In any case, there was only one person that Levi had an interest in. Fortunately or not.
“Well, too bad. I imagine they got bored by waiting and went home a long time ago.”
“...No, I didn’t.”
A sound of the elevator announced the door sliding open. A woman bowed her head in a greeting as she came inside, pressing one of the numbers on the pad. After a long, long minute of complete silence the tune echoed once again, and the woman left, leaving them alone.
What the fuck.
There is no way he misheard. Just– no fucking way. The last time he had his ears checked was forever ago, but even then Levi’s doctor said his hearing was excellent. The elevator had no music on. The whole office was silent, emptied. He couldn’t have misheard it. Maybe it was a misunderstanding. Maybe Levi got it wrong. But he didn’t, right?
He turned his head in Eren’s direction. The man on his side kept his eyes right in front of him stubbornly, staring at the elevator’s door, as if praying for it to open faster. His entire face was pink, even the tips of his ears. His hands, clenched in slightly shaking fists, gripped his bag with unnecessary force. He was nervous. Very.
“Well, then? Where’s the confession?”
Levi’s voice was stable and calm, but deep inside he felt exactly how Eren looked. He wanted to scream, he wanted to grab Eren and just kiss him stupidly, but not before hearing these words loud and clear from Eren himself.
And Eren – well. All of a sudden, he looked determined. The blush was still covering his cheeks, but he was facing Levi now, looking at the older man properly for the first time since they entered the elevator. His eyebrows were furrowed, and his lower lip caught by his teeth and he looked so stupidly adorable, Levi wanted to cry. Literally.
“Will you be my Valentine, sir?”