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Levi squinted at the whiteboard in front of the classroom, stifling a yawn as he wrote down another bunch of scribbles that were supposed to look like notes for that class. He dragged his arm tiredly over the paper, barely being able to read what the words said. Hanji, who was beside him, looked him over with a worried stare, but they said nothing and turned their attention back to the lecture Levi wasn’t listening to anymore. Levi couldn’t find himself to care – he was far too tired to.
Nightmares had been invading his sleep and as he was already an insomniac, it was really taking a toll on his body. He found himself feeling incredibly sluggish and grumpy. In the state he was in even coffee could sadly only do so much for him.
“ – Levi Ackerman and Eren Jaeger,” his professor said all of a sudden, making him focus back on the lecture, a confused expression on his face as he glanced around to try and get what was happening. He caught sight of Eren, who was a few rows ahead of him, and the other smiled at him widely, giving him a thumbs up. Levi’s heart started pounding a little faster in his chest.
“What –?” he started, shifting his gaze to Hanji, only for them to interrupt him with a mischievous grin settling on their lips.
“Project. The professor chose the pairs,” they explained, turning fully toward him as they wiggled their eyebrows, “And guess which one of us just got their crush as their partner!”
Levi’s eyes widened and he rubbed at his face. Hanji cackled and leaned in toward him, mockingly shielding their mouth with a hand. “Hint – it’s not me.”
Levi flushed and swatted their hand away half-heartedly before turning around and looking toward Eren again, who once more smiled at him. Levi nodded back and glanced away, adjusting the collar of his shirt with a tug.
“I need more coffee,” he muttered, slumping onto his desk while Hanji laughed beside him.
As soon as the class was dismissed Levi tried to make a beeline toward the door.
The keyword here being tried.
He was almost out when a hand tapped him on his shoulder and Levi breathed in, swallowing nervously before turning around.
“Hey,” Eren said softly, scratching at the back of his neck. Levi followed the motion with his eyes and all he could think of was cute. Eren Jaeger was just too fucking cute.
“Hello,” he replied, adjusting his bag on his shoulder.
“So, uh, I was wondering – do you want to talk about the details of our project? I have a break now, so –“
“I’m sorry,” Levi quickly jumped in, glancing to the side to avoid the temptation of looking into Eren’s eyes, in fear of losing the ability to talk. “I actually have another class now.”
“Oh,” Eren replied, visibly deflating.
“But we could discuss it later on?” Levi hurriedly continued, not wanting to see Eren being anything close to sad. “At my place, maybe?”
“Oh, yeah, sure!” Eren said with a radiant grin and Levi felt his heart beating hard in his ribcage again. Damn boys with their stupid sunny smiles.
“Great,” Levi managed to get out, shuffling on his feet slightly.
“Uh, erm what time do you want me to –?”
“Is six okay?”
“Yeah, six if fine,” Eren hurriedly agreed with a nod. Levi nodded back and glanced at the time.
“Okay, I have to go now,” he told him, taking a step toward the exit reluctantly.
“Oh yeah, you should go – don’t wanna miss class or anything,” Eren said with a laugh and Levi quirked his lips. He honestly just wanted to stay. He couldn’t though, sadly.
“Yeah. See you later.”
“See ya!”
Hanji was waiting for him outside of the classroom, but he ignored them in favour of marching forward and turning the corner, where he abruptly slumped against the wall and rubbed at his face.
“Shit.”
“Booooy, you have it bad,” Hanji said from behind him, patting his shoulder.
“I bloody know,” Levi groaned, pushing off of the wall and continuing his walk to his next class with Hanji right beside him.
He had no idea how he was going to survive that night.
Levi was nervous. It was 5:45 pm and Eren was going to arrive at his place soon. He glanced at the clock once more and sipped at his tea, trying to give himself something to do in an attempt to ease his nerves.
He had been thinking about the meeting the entire day, not really listening to any of his other lectures because he was too preoccupied by the fact that in a few hours Eren would be in his place, studying with him, talking about things with him, and they would alone. Those thoughts made him flush in embarrassment every time, and Hanji always seemed to know why he got so red, if the amused smiles they sent his way were any indication.
By the time he got home he had been anxious to start cleaning his apartment, even though he logically knew it was as clean as it was going to get with him as one of the owners. Still, he had cleaned. By the time Erwin and Hanji got home the place was more than spotless and Levi was on his fifth cup of coffee that day. By the time both of his friends once more left the place to do their own thing, Levi was scrubbing down the last part of the living room. When he finally stopped his work he was tired, sweaty and dirty – so, naturally, he took a shower.
And then all of a sudden it was 5:45 and Eren was on his way.
Levi sipped at his tea again and paced around the room, tracing his eyes over every single surface in sight for any dust, before he checked the coffee table where all the snacks and his notes were. Everything was placed neatly – there was nothing more for him to do besides watching TV, which he really had no desire to do. He was just about to go make himself another cup of tea to keep himself busy, when the doorbell chimed that annoying, weird chime Hanji insisted they had.
Levi breathed in once, twice, three times, and walked to the door, opening it after affirming it was Eren through the peephole.
“Hey,” Eren greeted, a smile on his face as always.
“Hello,” Levi said back, stepping aside. “Come on in.”
“Thank you,” Eren returned, walking inside with a few quick steps.
“Take of your shoes – I’ll give you some slippers. I think we have them here somewhere…” Levi trailed off, closing the door and walking past Eren so he could get to the slipper drawer. Their shoulders brushed. Levi’s heartrate quickened. It seemed like nervousness was going to be the emotion of the day for him because it was like it was almost constantly among his feelings.
Levi quickly crouched, opening the drawer and searching through it. He had hosted Eren in their apartment before, so this wasn’t really anything new – except it was, because previously they were always surrounded by their friends, but now they were alone. He felt awkward and tense, and he felt like he didn’t really know what to do.
“Here,” he said while clearing his throat, flopping some slippers in front of Eren’s feet, “These should fit.”
“Uh, thanks,” Eren replied, slipping them on.
“Yeah,” Levi said, immediately wanting to smack himself. What the hell was wrong with him?
They stood there, looking at each other for a few seconds, before Levi realized that he was supposed to be the host.
“Right, so,” he started with a shake of his head, motioning for Eren to follow him, “I set up our study space in the living room cos it’s roomy and cool.”
“That’s totally okay,” Eren quickly assured while shuffling behind him, glancing around as he did. “Is this place even more clean than usual, or am I just imagining things?”
“… Today was cleaning day.”
“On a Wednesday?”
“… Yes.”
“Okay then,” Eren replied as they walked into the living room, flopping onto the couch. “Well, it looks as nice as always either way.”
“Thanks,” Levi muttered with a flush, turning away. “Want something to drink? Juice? Soda? Coffee? I was just about to make some tea for myself if you want that?”
“Tea would be great actually,” Eren returned, pulling out his notes and books. Levi nodded and went to put the kettle on, rubbing at his forehead once Eren was out of sight, feeling the start of a migraine coming on.
“Fuck me,” he sighed before focusing his attention on finding his tea, easily slipping into the, by then, very familiar ritual.
Soon, the kettle whistled and he quickly set it aside, soaking the tea leaves in and placing everything on a tray. He carried it to the living room and carefully set the delicate china onto the coffee table.
“So, to be honest with you, I have no idea what this project is supposed to be about,” Levi started to break the awkward silence, “I, uh, wasn’t really listening to Pixis at all.”
“Oh, yeah,” Eren replied with a laugh, “I noticed you sleeping on the table.”
“I wasn’t sleeping –“
“Sure, sure.”
Levi rolled his eyes. “Could you please just explain the assignment to me?”
“Will do,” Eren said with a grin, arranging his notes around him. “Okay, so basically …”
Two hours later found them sitting on the floor next to one another, two cups of now cold tea and a bunch of notes on the table in front of them.
“Alright so this should be the centre point from which we go,” Eren said, circling a bunch of text with a pencil in one of their textbooks. Levi nodded, squinting his eyes in concentration as he tried to focus on what they were discussing. He was so tired.
“And this part is a good supporting point,” Eren continued, pointing out another part of the textbook. Levi hummed in response.
“And then we should re-enact the landing on the moon.”
“Yeah…” Levi breathed, rubbing at his temples.
“Levi, are you alright?” Eren asked with a worried frown on his face, head tilted to the side so he could look at him. “You look exhausted – maybe we should continue this some other time.”
“No, no, I’m fine,” Levi muttered, grabbing his cup of tea and sipping on the cold liquid, “I can go on.”
“Really? Because you just agreed to re-enact the landing of the moon with me.”
“What?”
“Yeah,” Eren sighed, slumping against the couch. “Look, you don’t need to force yourself to stay up because of me; you honestly look like you’re about to fall unconscious any second now. We can meet up some other time, really –“
“No, we should really finish the outline today,” Levi argued, straightening his back so he appeared more alert. Eren eyed him and sighed again, scratching at his cheek.
“Fine, let’s continue.”
Levi nodded and tried extremely hard to focus on the task again, and it worked. For a very limited amount time. Not even a full half an hour passed before he was once again barely listening and Eren closed his notebook, turning to face him fully.
“Levi, seriously, you need to sleep – you’re not even taking anything in right now.”
“Listen, I don’t want to stop before we get at least the basics done, so let’s just –“ Levi started to protest, blinking tiredly.
“But you’re not taking anything in at all, it’s pointless –“ Eren replied, refusing to step down this time around.
“I’ll go get myself another cup of coffee and I’ll be ready to go –“
“This is not the point here, you need to sleep –“
“I’ll be fine –“
“Levi, please –“
“No, I want to finish this today,” Levi groaned, rubbing at his forehead to try and calm the enormous headache pulsing through his head. He cracked an eye open and saw Eren eyeing him with a furrow of his brow. Eren bit his lip and crossed his arms, staring at him with a hard stare – Levi supposed he was trying to look intimidating.
“Okay fine, but at least take a nap now.”
Levi glowered at him. “What? No –“
“I’ll go over the rest of the material while you’re sleeping and then we’ll discuss the outlining and who gets to research what.”
“I can’t let you do that,” Levi argued once more, embarrassed because Eren was being so damn considerate. “You’ve done so much already; I couldn’t honestly let you do more.”
“Levi, please, just go sleep, you honestly look like you will pass out at any second. I don’t think I’ll be able to prevent you from cracking your head open if you do.”
Levi cringed, the image of blood everywhere popping into his mind and he sighed, grunting. “Fine.”
“Thank you,” Eren said with a soft smile, standing up, “Okay I think I remember where you guys keep your blankets in here, let me just get them.”
“I can just go to bed you know.”
“Yeah, but then you might actually pass out till morning, and then you’d get angry with me for talking you into taking a nap,” Eren said, opening up a drawer below the TV. “This way you can rest your eyes a bit but you won’t be comfortable enough to actually sleep through the night.”
Levi tilted his head. “That’s actually pretty smart.”
“Thanks, I’ve been doing a lot of that lately so I’m practically an expe – a-ha! There we go,” Eren said with a satisfied grin, his hand clutching a fluffy blanket. He walked back to Levi and flopped down, the blanket landing in his lap.
“Alright, well, you should –“
Levi sighed and tilted forward, head burrowing into the blanket.
Which was still in Eren’s lap.
He pretended to himself that he did it because he was extremely tired, and not because he had wanted to do it for ages. Yet even that thought couldn’t stop the heat from spreading inside him. He was glad his face was hidden from view.
“Erm, o – okay, I’ll just, I’ll – uh, I’ll just go do the thing then,” he heard from above him, making him smile to himself sleepily. He heard the shuffling of papers, and soon he was lulled to sleep by the sound of tea being sipped and a pen scribbling across paper.
Levi slowly woke up because of the gentle swaying of his pillow. It felt like his head was lying on a boat on the sea, lifting and dropping with the rhythm of the waves. He hummed and cracked an eye open, groggily observing his surroundings as best as he could while still lying down. He saw the notes spread over the floor and the empty teacup under the coffee table. He also saw an arm stretched out next to his moving pillow, lying there limply. He furrowed his brow and lifted his head, propping himself on his elbow and looking to the side – and then he saw him. Eren was spread out on his back, an arm thrown over his eyes to block out the light. His stomach – which turned out to be Levi’s “pillow” – was moving up and down in a deep, steady rhythm of sleep.
It seemed that Eren had also been tired.
Levi’s eyes trailed over Eren’s chin and lips, and he swallowed, licking his lips. He slowly lowered himself back down, resting his cheek on Eren’s belly as he closed his eyes and let himself enjoy the moment; Eren’s stomach moving under his head, the faint heartbeat he could hear from his position, the subtle shift of muscles in Eren’s legs on both sides of Levi’s hips. It was silent in the room – it was a nice silence though, a silence Levi appreciated.
He sighed contently. He felt so relaxed and warm. Even with the tiredness still coursing heavily through his body, he somehow felt at rest. If he could describe that moment, he’d say homey.
All of a sudden Eren groaned, interrupting Levi’s musings by throwing his arm away from his face and smacking it against the couch.
“Ow,” Eren groaned, grasping at his wrist.
“Oh my god, are you okay?” Levi asked as he pulled himself up into a sitting position.
“Yeah,” Eren mumbled while rubbing his wrist, squinting at Levi. “What time is it?”
“I have no idea,” Levi replied, shuffling around a bit, “Let me just get to my –” his arm slipped from under him, curtesy of a piece of paper lying on the floor, and he smacked heavily onto Eren, chin hitting the man’s shoulder.
“Ow,” Eren groaned again with a cough.
“Ugh, I’m so sorry,” Levi muttered in utter embarrassment, willing the ground to swallow him right up. He moved to sit up, cheeks radiating heat, when he was stopped in motion by Eren, who placed a hand on his shoulder. Levi looked at the side of his face, confused. “What are you –?”
“Levi.”
“… Yes?”
Eren’s throat bobbed in his line of vision and Levi realised that the man was nervous.
“What’s –?”
“I like you.”
He stared at Eren. Eren tilted his head so he could catch Levi’s gaze and both of them flushed deeply.
“I – What?” Levi asked, licking his lips and giving the other a quick glance over with his eyes. He swore he could feel his pulse in his head.
“I like you,” Eren repeated again, releasing Levi’s shoulder and rubbing at his eyes. Getting no response from Levi, he sighed. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.”
Levi snapped out of his haze of disbelief at that. “You – shit, you’re fucking with me.”
He winced. It was not exactly what he planned on saying – not even close, actually. Eren looked at him with frantic eyes.
“No, no, I promise I’m not –“
“I know,” Levi quickly assured, finally sitting up. Eren followed him and they regarded each other apprehensively. Levi’s heart pounded in his chest. He swallowed deeply, preparing himself to confess back, but Eren was faster.
“So,” Eren started, breaking their eye-contact and glancing around, “I guess I should leave now –“
“Wait, no, don’t go,” Levi managed to get out, fumbling with his hands in his lap. Eren halted. They went back to staring at each other. After a few moments of awkward silence, Levi breathed in deeply. “I – don’t think you’re bad either.”
Again, it was not quite what he had wanted to say. Eren blinked at him in confusion and scratched at the back of his neck.
“Er, thanks?”
“Ugh, no,” Levi groaned, the urge to smack himself huge. He sighed and leaned into his hands, rubbing at his face. “What I meant to say was that I like you too.”
“O – oh.”
“Yeah.”
The blush that spread over Eren’s face was spectacular – Levi wanted to find out just how far it reached. That was for some other time though. It was far too soon for it.
“So, um, can I … ?” Eren started, shuffling closer to Levi, the redness still present on his tanned cheeks. Levi swallowed nervously and nodded, closing his eyes when Eren’s face neared his. Their breaths mingled for a few seconds, both of their breathing slightly more erratic. Levi’s heart was in his throat and he felt like he was experiencing his first kiss all over again. He clenched his fists and readjusted himself and then it happened – he felt lips brush against the corner of his; a nice, soft touch. It was nothing grand or deep, just a pressure that lasted for about three seconds. Yet those three seconds made him feel so incredibly happy and warm.
When he felt Eren pulling back he slowly opened his eyes, just in time catch the soft expression on Eren’s face before the man wrapped his arms around him, squeezing him tightly while his lips brushed over Levi’s jaw.
“Thank you for liking me,” Eren whispered, propping his chin on his shoulder and nuzzling his neck. Levi felt a fluttering in his stomach at the touch. He hugged Eren back and pressed his lips onto the other’s skin, breathing in the faint scent of soap lingering there.
“Same to you.”
Eren’s arms tightened around him and he pulled back a bit so he could press his lips on Levi’s cheeks, before he abruptly stood up, dragging Levi with him. Levi immediately clutched at Eren’s shoulders, completely off balance and disorientated.
“Eren, wait, what are you doing?” he asked bewildered when Eren flopped them onto the couch.
“We’re gonna nap some more,” Eren replied with a determined voice, reaching for the blanket that had ended up on the floor somewhere in between all their shuffling around.
“What? No we’re not, we still need to –“
“Nope, I’m tired just as much as you’re tired and I don’t want to be working with a headache.”
“Eren.”
“Levi.”
They stared at one another and Levi sighed, conceding. “Fine, but we’re waking up early tomorrow.”
“Brilliant! Glad you see it my way,” Eren replied with a grin, shyly eyeing him as he continued, “And besides, now we can snuggle up on here – er, if you want to that is.”
Levi bit his lip, eyeing the couch before his gaze settled onto Eren’s smile. He smiled back at him.
“That sounds like a good idea actually.”
Eren whooped and toppled them over, making Levi snort and chuckle.
“You’re ridiculous,” he stated, wrapping his arms around Eren’s neck.
“Yeah, I know,” Eren replied with a wink.
They shuffled around on the couch, tiredly arranging their limbs while sharing a few shy pecks every now and then. After a few awkward manoeuvres Eren ended up lying below Levi, the blanket tossed over them to keep them warm overnight. This time, Levi’s head was on Eren’s chest, right in the centre of the well-defined muscles he could feel underneath Eren’s shirt.
Levi listened to Eren’s heartbeat, feeling it pulse underneath his cheek in a steady, strong rhythm. Hands trailed softly up and down his back, making him feel like goo within minutes. That, along with the gentle rise and fall of Eren’s body slowly lulled him to sleep. It was the warmest Levi had felt in a long while. It made him so warm that when Hanji woke them up the next day, squealing in delight and taking pictures with a camera, he couldn’t even be bothered to try and make them leave. He just buried his face into Eren’s shirt and breathed in his lovely scent, before squeezing him a little more tightly.
Who knew he’d enjoy cuddling so much?