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“I need Levi to cover drills for me in the morning. I have to go to town to pick up our last order of horse tack.”
Erwin looked up from his dinner tray as Miche sat down across from him, knocking Erwin’s cup with his own tray. Erwin quickly grabbed it up before it could topple. However, he was unable to avoid the ale from sloshing over the side and onto his shirt sleeve. Erwin gave Miche an exasperated look, which the other man shrugged off apologetically.
Erwin sighed and said,” And you’re telling me this because…”
“I haven’t been able to catch up with him all day, and figured you could pin him down for me,” Miche replied before taking a bite of boiled potato.
“He’s helping Hange with something. Maybe you should talk to them or Moblit. I haven’t seen him either, and, knowing Hange, it’s unlikely that Levi and I will cross paths at all today.”
“But you’ll see him tonight, so you can tell him then. He already agreed to do it, but I didn’t know what day. Just let him know he’s got to report to the training grounds after breakfast, instead of the armory.” Miche sounded so certain that Erwin would have an audience with Levi for some unknown reason. He could only look at his friend in confusion.
“I don’t understand,” was all Erwin could say.
“Are you sick? Did you hit your head? What’s not to understand, Erwin? Just tell Levi when you see him tonight. It’s not that hard.” Miche almost sounded exasperated by Erwin’s confusion. “You’re going to catch flies, close your mouth.”
Erwin did as he was told, brows knitting and lips pursing. He attempted to say something a couple of times, mouth trying to form words before closing again. He scratched at the underside of his jaw, feeling the scratch of a patch of stubble he missed while shaving.
“Just why are you so certain that I will see Levi tonight?” he finally managed to ask.
“It’s hardly a secret that you two are sharing a room, Erwin.”
“What? That is to say-“
“Erwin, it’s none of my business what you two do in the privacy of your quarters. I could care less if you are just bunking together or screwing each other’s brains out. All I need is for you to relay a message. No big deal.” Miche looked perfectly certain in his assumption.
“We are not roommates,” Erwin muttered, still in shock of this new tidbit of information that apparently spread itself throughout the regiment.
“Hey, no judgment from me. Personally, I’m glad you found a connection with someone.” Miche held up his hands.
“I’m perfectly serious, Zacharius,” Erwin continued to protest.
“Of course you are,” Miche huffed with amusement. “He just sleeps in your room every night, and keeps all of his personal items there, too.” Miche patted Erwin on the shoulder and said, “I don’t know why you’re being shy about this when you are never shy about anything, and it’s hardly a secret when the whole regiment knows, but I’ll play along and keep it hush-hush.”
“Miche-“
“Oh, there’s Nanaba. I got to go.” Miche didn’t bother to wait for Erwin to respond or take his tray as he rushed toward Nanaba like a lost puppy.
Erwin sighed as he poked at his potatoes. Miche had to be joking, giving him a hard time just to tease. That was the only explanation. It wasn't possible that everyone thought that he and Levi were sharing quarters, right?
“Commander?” Erwin looked up to find Gelgar standing in front of him, saluting.
“At ease. What can I help you with, Gelgar?”
“Levi dropped this in the stable earlier,” the man explained, placing a pristine, blue handkerchief on the table.
It looked strangely familiar. Erwin picked it up and saw his own initials embroidered in the corner. He recalled handing Levi this very handkerchief just a few days prior. They were inspecting a new shipment of rations when Levi came across a broken bottle, cutting the back of his hand.
“If you could give it back to him, I would be grateful.” Gelgar’s voice dragged Erwin from his memories. “I know he’s with Hange right now, and I don’t want to interrupt anything Hange is doing, so I thought you would be able to return it to him tonight.”
“Tonight?”
“Yeah, you’ll at least see him at lights out l, right? Seeing as how you two are bunking together.”
Erwin could just blink at the man in response.
“Thanks, Commander!” Gelgar saluted again and took his leave.
“My head hurts,” Erwin muttered to himself as he pressed the little blue square of fabric to his face in exasperation. All he got for his trouble was the soft scent of Levi’s laundry soap. His headache worsened by the acknowledgment of the fact that he was familiar enough with Levi’s laundry soap to even recognize the smell.
Sighing, he stood and crumpled up the handkerchief before shoving it in his pocket in an uncomfortable wad. He was going to lock himself in his office with a pot of peppermint tea in hopes that it would lessen the pain behind his eyes and the tension in his shoulders. And maybe, just maybe, he will find that the past few minutes was a hallucination borne from lack of sleep and a migraine.
The clock was verging on ten when the throbbing pain in his head began affecting his ability to focus on schematics and supply lists. Funding and operations ledgers were completely out of the question as the rows and columns of numbers just blurred together in nonsensical scribbles. Erwin messaged his temples with a groan and decided to call it a night. He winced as he stood, the scraping of his chair seemingly echoed in the emptiness of his office, making the pain in his head sharper.
‘That’s right,’ he thought to himself, ‘my empty office.’ If he had felt better, he may have hunted down Miche just to gloat in his face. ‘See? Levi isn’t here. He’s not here every night.’
Erwin’s self-realized victory was short lived as the pain in his skull pounded relentlessly, making him dizzy and slightly nauseated. He grabbed his oil lamp before slowly and carefully making his way through the door leading to his quarters, stripping his uniform jacket off as he entered. Feeling a bit worse for wear, he carelessly tossed it over the back of a chair before loosening his bolo tie as he approached his chiffonier, setting the lamp on it. He pulled the thin leather strip over his head and laid it on the wooden tray that sat next to the lamp, ignoring his pallid complexion in the mirror. Beside the tray laid a crisp, blindingly white piece of fabric that could only be one thing…
One of Levi’s cravats.
Erwin blinked a few times, making sure he wasn’t imagining things, but the neatly folded linen just stared back at him. Erwin shrugged. So what if Levi had a cravat in his quarters? Erwin had left many things in Hange’s lab in a moment of haste. Hell, Miche’s old, worn pair of boots were still sitting in the corner of Erwin’s office from last week when he changed them out for a new pair. Levi was human and was bound to have the same fallacies as everyone else, as evidenced by the now crumpled handkerchief Erwin had just pulled from his pocket. He laid it beside the cravat and attempted to smooth out the wrinkles in the fabric to no avail.
Not that he was really concerned about it as he leaned against the chiffonier to toe off his boots, afraid that bending over would make the dizziness worse. Once his boots were off and somewhat pushed out of the way, he turned to the wardrobe and opened the door before starting the tedious task of unbuckling his gear straps. He messily hung them in a tangle on a hook, knowing that they would be a pain to deal with in the morning, but that was a problem for morning Erwin…hopefully an Erwin that wasn’t fighting a headache.
He pulled one of the two towels off one of the hooks on the back of the wardrobe door, making sure it was his and not Levi’s before shutting the door and walking to the washing table. There was enough water left in the pitcher for both him and Levi to clean up before bed. Erwin poured the cool water into the bowl, almost knocking Levi’s shaving mug off the table in the process. Thankfully he was able to catch it before it tipped off and into the floor. He quickly washed his face, the cold water feeling almost heavenly against his pounding head.
Erwin patted his face dry, haphazardly folded his towel, and laid on the wash table beside Levi’s razor. He stripped down to his underwear and piled his discarded clothes in the same chair as his jacket. He laid in the bed with a groan, pulling the blankets up to his chin. He let out a childish and completely uncharacteristic whine when he realized that he left the lamp setting on the other side of the room at full brightness.
“Oi, are you already in bed?” Levi’s voice could be heard from the other room before the sound of his footsteps led him to the bedroom. A moment later, he crossed the threshold, shutting the door gently behind him. He had an amber jar in one hand, loosening his cravat with the other. Erwin could only peek over his blanket in pain.
“Why is it such a mess in here?” Levi asked, putting the jar on the nightstand beside Erwin. He finished untying his cravat and went about the room, picking up after Erwin, putting his dirty clothes away, hanging up his towel, and emptying the water from the wash basin.
“Levi, you don’t have-“
“Tche, someone has to clean up in here. Maria knows that you are in no condition to do it. Really, Erwin, you know not to overdo it when you have a headache.” Levi opened the wardrobe as he continued to undress. “And what the hell did you do to your harness? That mess will take forever to untangle.”
“Leave it,” Erwin croaked.
“I planned on it. I’m not fixing that mess for you. You won’t learn your lesson that way.” Levi shut the wardrobe and walked to the washbasin in his underwear before cleaning up. Once he was done, he approached Erwin and handed him the jar from the nightstand.
“What is this?” Erwin asked as he took it from Levi.
“Feverfew. I had Hange make a tincture when I heard you asked for peppermint tea. You can’t stand peppermint tea and you only drink it when you have a headache.” Levi leaned down to help Erwin sit up enough to take the medicine without choking.
“Awful,” he choked after swallowing the viscous liquid.
“You’re such a child,” Levi accused, fondly.
“Do you want to know something?” Erwin asked as he laid back and moved to make room for Levi.
“I’ll bite, sure.”
“I just realized that we are living together,” Erwin sighed.
“Wow, aren’t you observant, Commander.” The sarcasm in Levi’s voice was laced with amusement. The was a long pause as Levi went to grab the lamp before making his way back to the bed. Then there was a softly whispered, “Does it bother you?”
“Hardly,” Erwin said with a snort. “I’m more upset by the fact that the rest of the regiment figured it out before I did.”
“Figures that would be your problem.” Levi turned off the lamp and slid in bed beside Erwin.
“Miche said you need to cover for him tomorrow. And Gelgar found your handkerchief,” Erwin murmured into his pillow.
“Technically it’s your handkerchief, but I’m glad he found it. I was worried it was lost somewhere in Hange’s lab. However, I did find your green cuff link in there this afternoon, but, judging by the pile of goo that it was resting in, I’m afraid it is lost to you forever.”
“Better the cuff link than something of importance, I suppose.”
“Go to sleep, Smith. It’s getting late.”
“Yes, sir,” Erwin breathed as he was already drifting off to sleep now that the warmth of Levi’s body was pressed against him.