Chapter Text
A young raven-hair man that was relatively shorter than the average male was sitting at his desk, sewing together the trimmings, waxed fruit, and various ribbon materials on the hat in his hands while the remaining unfinished hats sat neatly stacked on his desk. Being the perfectionist that he was, he liked to remain focused with the work in front of him. With him being the son of a hat designer, Ms. Ackerman, he felt obligated to continue in the work his mother left behind.
Petra, the shop assistant, knocked on the door to his alcove, forcing Levi out of his thoughts. "Levi, we're closing the shop and going out. Why not have some fun and come with us? You've done enough work."
Levi turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow. In the years that the two have known each other, she of all people should know that Levi didn't get out much. It's not so much he didn't like the people he worked with, he just felt he was too socially awkward and didn't exactly fit in with the crowd. Not that he complained much, he did enjoy the solitude. Sometimes, however, he did feel a pang of loneliness – not that he would admit it out loud of course.
"Can't, got some work to do. You guys have fun though."
Petra gave a sheepish smile, "Well, alright." She turned to face the remaining employees of the shop, "Let's go guys. See you tomorrow, Levi."
Oulo, an employee at Ackerman's Hat shop, caught something in his peripheral vision. He turned his head to look and froze for a moment before running to the window. "Look! It's Hange's moving castle!"
The remaining employees raced to the windows, hoping to catch a glimpse of the famous castle moving along the hillside. Smoke and balls of fire shot out from various pipes and chimneys that seemed to be barely hanging onto the castle. Levi peered up from his work, curious to see what the big deal was. For a brief moment, he saw the castle moving hastily across to hide in the clouds of the foggy hillside. In the next moment, planes of the royal military came flying by to possibly look for Hange and other alchemists or to fly into enemy territory.
Levi went back to work to finish the remaining hats that were stacked before him while still listening to the chatter that went on in the room next door. They were talking about Hange, the famous alchemist and sorcerer. Based on what he picked up from the gossip, apparently a girl got snitched up last month and her heart got stolen by Hange.
Oulo gave a mocking laugh, "Ha! Get out of here! Don't you know that Hange only preys on beautiful people. Why I wouldn't be surprised if I was their next victim – just look at—CHHK!" Oulo continued in a posh tone as he walked to the door to exit before tripping on the steps leading out and causing him to accidentally bite down on his tongue.
"That's what you get for being so full of it..." Petra muttered to him with a smug look on her face.
Growing up, Levi's mother and uncle always told him, his siblings, and his cousin to never wander by themselves at night, in fear that Hange will steal them away to eat their hearts. Also to them to be careful of Hange. Hange had the ability to take on many forms, one day they could be a beautiful woman and the next day they could be a too-good-to-be-true handsome fellow. What was so appealing about Hange was the charm that they possessed.
Levi snapped out of his daze and looked at the remaining hats for a moment, counting to see what was left to be done the next day. He picked up a hat, thinking he would do one more, only for him to put it back down. He was burnt out for the day and ready to leave. He had to go visit his sister and his cousin. He grabbed his cravat, a piece of cloth that was a piece of a dress his mother wore before her untimely death, and wrapped it around his neck. He looked at the mirror, rolling himself on the front heels of his feet to appear slightly taller before dropping back down flat on his feet. He then tried flashing the smile his mother claimed to have loved but once he saw it, he dropped it. He loved his mother, but she must've been delirious when she told him he had a lovely smile. He did one more look over on himself and left.
He ran across the street to quickly reach the crowded trolley that was close to departing. Making it just in time, he stepped onto the railing and held on as it took off. As he moved closer into the center of the city, he noticed how packed it was. He was trying to remember what the occasion could be when the sound of the trumpets began to play in the distance. He looked in that direction and saw that a parade was occurring. Not just any parade, but a parade to welcome the royal military. When he finally reached downtown, he hopped off and went straight to the route he would normally take when visiting his sister and cousin at the bakery where they worked. It had been a while since he had visited them so he took his time to remember certain landmarks and such that would help guide him to where he needed to be.
Not paying attention to what was directly in front of him, he almost bumped right into a soldier that was much taller than him, sporting a uniform from the Garrison, a branch from the royal military. He looked up at him, caught off guard for a brief moment, only for his face to scowl up at the man in front of him.
"Hey there, little man! Are you lost?" The soldier peered down at him, looking at him as if he were a piece of meat.
"Tch, clearly I'm not lost. I just didn't see the tower that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere." Levi was not in the least amused by how he was being addressed. He nudged the soldier as he attempted to pass only for him to be pushed back.
"Ha!" The soldier chuckled out while he looked at his partner as the second soldier came more into view, crowding to the other side to block Levi's way of passage. "Little man looks thirsty. We should take him for a cup of tea."
Levi looked at them both, squinting his eyes as he tried to make sense of the boldness of their stupidity. "What? Fuck no. Get out of my way, I have somewhere to be."
"He looks cute for a little man." The second soldier finally spoke, with the same look in his eyes as the first soldier, it was almost predatory. Levi shifted to ground himself firmly to keep his guard up. If they were planning on attacking him, he wasn't going to go down without a fight.
"How old are you anyways? Do you live around here?" The first soldier was practically drooling. Perhaps he didn't get enough action.
Maybe he's desperate, Levi thought. It was almost comical. Normally his face gave the impression to others that he was not one to be bothered. That's why he mostly kept to himself when he was at work.
"Would you kindly fuck off? I got places to be. If you don't move in the next 30 seconds, you won't think I'm so cute then."
"You see, your mustache scares all the cute little things that we come across..." The first soldier jest.
"So? He's even cuter when he's getting worked up and mad. I like them feisty, you know. Just makes that much more satisfy-" The second soldier lustfully countered before being cut off by a shrill voice in the distance.
"Ahh! There you are, Darling!" An eccentric and womanly voice was heard behind Levi, advancing toward him before he felt a slap of hand against his shoulder, startling him for a brief moment and causing his eyes to widen. "I was looking everywhere for you."