Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You hated crowded spaces, specifically on Friday nights when everybody was looking for some fun.

But a promise is a promise.

So you put on your bra and started toweling off the lower half of your body, to start getting ready to go out with your friends. You had just turned to the mirror when a loud bang set your entire body into a flight or fight response. Somebody had just crashed through your window. One of your hands had instinctively covering your chest, the towel was loosely wrapped around you but wasn't doing you any favors.

“Fuck…”

The man, a soldier clearly, judging by his attire, groaned on the floor. Before your mind even recuperated, another guy just flew through the broken window with his ODMG and started yelling.

“KIRSTEIN! I WILL MURDER YOU FOR THIS! HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU TO LOok whe..”

His voice trailed off when he realized he was in the company of a very much naked, very much confused you.

You knew who he was, everybody knew.

Captain Levi Ackerman.

He was even more confused than you were, his brain didn't even cooperate with him at the moment.

“Uh- you’re.. you-”

He stuttered. You could see that his heart was beating too fast, face flushed, breath hitched, you were kind of worried he was having a heart attack.

The other soldier, Kirstein had gotten up by now, and was staring the same as his captain. Finally, you found the words.

“Captain! You broke my window!”

That seemed to have pulled him out of his trance. He looked away in an instance, averting his gaze. He examined the window and looked around the room. It took forever, you felt your lower back in knots since you were clenching so hard to keep your composure with all the staring from one guy, and the fidgeting of the other. Finally the captain turned to your bed and pointed vaguely.

“Can I take this?”

“This does not spark confidence.”

She spoke looking at where he pointed which gave Levi the heart attack he was putting off by force. He followed her eyes. He was pointing at the white lace panties on the bed instead of what he wanted, the bedspread. Horrified, he looked back at her, who was barely covering her chest and looked back at the bed, and closed his eyes momentarily. fuuuucking hell.

“That’s definitely a matching set”

Levi was mortified that he just said what he thought out loud. But it wasn't him, thankfully, it was Jean Kirstein being the icon of perversion Levi was trying to hide.

“Kirstein, How’s your gear?”

“It’s fine, Ca-”

Levi pushed Jean out the broken window and wiped his hands.

“Wouldn’t he fall?”

The woman asked. Levi shook his head, looking anywhere else but at her.

“Has the gear. He’ll survive. Doc, I need the bed cover.”

Levi had finally calmed himself down enough to talk properly. This woman, standing in front of him half-naked, was not a stranger to him though he only knew her in a professional capacity. She was a doctor of the Central Hospital who usually got involved with the trauma bay where he and his squad frequented. They’ve never talked unless it was about treatments, he had a couple of healed scars that was a monument to her abilities but that was it. But right now, he knew too much about her, about her curves, about her breasts, about her choice of lingerie and about a peculiar scar on the side of her stomach.

“Take it.”

Her voice was tight.

He hesitated, wondering what to do with the ‘lace panties’ that was on the bed, any other woman would have snatched it by now, but the Doctor just stared at him without a clue how agitated he was about the situation. He didn't know how to ask her to take it.

Why won’t lightning just strike me.. come on, do it right now. I’ve done fucked up thing in my life. Dude, god, you listening?

He slowly walked towards the bed, and the glass crushing under his boots made a sound. And he realized the reason why she wasn't moving an inch from where she was. Her feet was bare and there was no place to step without getting cut by glass.

“Fine, I’m gonna take the bedspread and cover the window. I’ll be back tomorrow to fix it.”

He grabbed the underwear and promptly threw it onto the table, but even that miniscule touch was enough for him to register the softness of the lace. He clenched his teeth, focusing on the task at hand.

Under her intense gaze it was hard to do anything right but he persevered until the bedspread hung lopsided, covering the window.

“Right..”

He whispered to himself, gathering his thoughts.

“Do you have a.. broom or something?”

He asked, looking around the room.

“Captain, no.”

She replied, clutching the towel hard.

She doesn't have a broom? Witch!

“..I’ll clean up the shards later. I have other commitments tonight, I cannot have you cleaning my room for hours.”

She said as a matter of fact, as if she knew Levi had no time limits when he started cleaning.

‘Tsk’

He clicked his tongue.

“Then?” He asked.

“Get my shoes from under the bed, will you?”

He nodded, peeking under the bed scared out of his mind because he didn't want any more lustrous surprises tonight. Thankfully there was nothing under the bed except for three pairs of shoes, and a box. He grabbed the nearest pair of shoes, black heels (?) and brought them over to the doctor and placed them in front of her on the floor. All that time he fixed his eyes tightly on the shoes to distract himself, he could feel the faint smell of floral soap that was coming from her skin, with the glances which were purely accidental he saw the beads of water on her skin. She stepped onto the shoes without caring he was still partly crouched in front of her and he regretted choosing those shoes. There were a good couple of inches on the heel and with them, she was almost as tall as him. He took a couple of steps back to feel less intimidated.

Why am I scared of a half-naked woman? I could take her. I could definitely take her. One drop kick and an upper c-what the hell am I thinking of punching my doctor?

“That’ll be all, Captain.”

She didn’t even thank me!

Levi nodded, walking towards the door. He didn’t turn back again, it was quite enough to see her front, if he sees an unsolicited naked back tonight, he might lose it.

“I’ll come in the morning to properly fix it.”

“Noted.”

He left. He wondered whether he could have said good night, or maybe ‘Have a nice rest of the night, doc’ or something. But then again, she didn’t say that either. Come to think of it, Levi had never heard anything unnecessary come out of that woman’s mouth. At the hospital he definitely liked that, if he had to get touched all over on a bed being all vulnerable and shit, small talk was the last thing he would want to be doing.

But tonight, the lack of talking made it more awkward. If she was also awkward, then it might have been better but he was the one who was turning and fidgeting like a chicken taken for a sacrifice. His ear-tips were still burning and his cheeks were still hurting from the flush that he tried so hard to hide. Then he suddenly remembered the lace of her underwear. If he didn't share this with somebody, he would have actually lost his mind, but thankfully light was still burning in Hange’s room fighting against the darkness of the stormy night.

—------

“Fuck— I am fucked”

Levi slammed the door open into Hange’s door. Erwin was also there sitting at Hange’s table going through some reports while sipping tea, Hange was at her work-desk tinkering with a gear. She didn’t even look up.

“If it's another Eren losing control of his titan story, even I don’t wanna know Levi.”

But Levi just panted.

“I saw.. I saw the doctor- naked..”

Prrrrft!

Erwin choked on his tea.

“WHaT! WHo?! What!!!”

Hange dropped the hammer, jumping over the desk. Levi had collapsed on a chair nearby, wiping away his sweat.

“Yeah..”

He whispered like even he wouldn’t believe that actually happened. The curves on that woman should be outlawed.

“Which doctor? What do you mean?????”

Hange grabbed Levi by the shoulders and shook him. Levi weakly pushed her away.

“The doctor. Trauma one.”

“Misstoic?!?!”

Hange and Erwin both said at the same time, surprised at the protagonist of the story. Levi didn’t know what they were on about.

“The what?”

“Misstoic, the doctor. No expressions. Tight hair. Yay high.”

Hange showed some accurate measurements of the Doctor’s height. Levi should know, he just walked up to her and helped her stand taller with those stupid heels.

“Yeah but what does misst-aaah.” He realized mid-question. Miss Stoic, perfect nickname.

“That’s stupid.” He muttered.

“You can’t just drop news like this, Captain. Think about my age, my bloodpressure. What do you mean you saw her naked. Are you two dating? One night stand? What?”

Erwin had fully turned to the conversation, dropping all the reports.

“Crashed through a window-”

“You?”

“No. Kirstein. I followed. She was… very.. Very.. naked.” Levi groaned again, covering his face with his hands. God… This is so confusing..

“What happened next! Tell the damn story, Levi”

Hange insisted and Levi gave a brief summary of the day’s embarrassing events. By the end of it, Hange was clutching her stomach laughing.

“This is no laughing matter. I’m not gonna go anywhere where there’s the slightest possibility of getting injured. I can’t face the doctor ever again.”

Levi shook his head.

“Ah but you have to. Didn’t you promise to fix her window?”

“Fuuuurrrck.” Levi gritted his teeth mentally preparing himself to live through that all over again tomorrow. “Foureyes, you go. I’ll pay.”

“Hell no. I’m kinda scared of her.”

“Please.”

“Nope. Even if you get on your knees and bark, I won’t accept.”

“Erwi-”

“Nope. Good Luck.”

Chapter Text

Swirling the drink in your hand, you thought of the events that took place tonight. It was going to be a hazard cleaning up all those glass shards. And you’d have to stay up late doing that. And then you’d have to wake up early to let the Captain in to fix the window. This was not how you had planned your free day to go. Tomorrow was definitely gonna suck.

“Something wrong?”

Your friend asked you.

“Yes. I have to clean the apartment.”

“Ah.. that..s a bummer”

She replied. You nodded, matter-of-factly.

“Why are you wearing heels, by the way? I distinctly remember you despising them.”

She changed the subject. You squinted.

“I don’t despise heels.”

“You said, Heels are fucking tragic. My legs cry when I wear them, verbatim”

“I didn't say that. I definitely didn't swear.”

“Agree to disagree.”

She got distracted by another friend talking. You looked down at your heels. You weren't particularly sure why you wore them tonight, the Captain had dug them out from under the bed and presented them to you, literally placing them in front of your legs. It had just been for you to protect your feet against the glass on the floor, but you never took them off again.

‘Captain Levi.’

You whispered to yourself. One day, you would have liked to cut him open and see what had made him so different from everybody else. From what you had observed and heard, he was.. quite capable, physically. Which should be true cause he had earned the name Humanity's Strongest. Maybe his blood contained the secret to immortality. With the line of work he is in, you thought you might soon get a chance to study the innards of his corpse.

That would be a shame.

You thought again. If he is one of a kind as they say, having him as a corpse wouldn’t help humanity, or you. What use is an experiment if it cannot be reproduced? Captain should definitely reproduce before he dies.

—----

The bed felt worse without the bed sheet on it. You hadn't gotten enough sleep when you heard the knock on the door. It was early, wayyyy too early with the alcohol giving you a brain aneurysm.

You padded to the door, and opened it, cursing the light that was coming through the corridor window. You saw the captain first, clenched as usual, but there were more people.

His squad.

“Captain.. You brought people..”

You muttered.

“Yeah. They broke it, they are fixing it.” Captain said and everybody collectively groaned looking at Kirstein, the real culprit. He mouthed an apology at his comrades. The captain pushed the door open and walked past you into your room.

“..I’m not lifting a damn finger.”

But he did. The only thing Levi didn't do today was a murder. He was yelling at the cadets, hammering down wood, aligning the glass perfectly along the frame.

What he couldn’t bear the most was her watching. The doctor had an aura. He could feel her as if she was breathing down his neck, criticizing every move he made. She had never done that, not outright but the thought of her watching made him more of a perfectionist than he already was.

He did more work than everybody else combined, his sleeves were pulled up, he was sweating while he put the final nail in her window hanging off the wall with his ODMG. That should do it. He looked into the apartment through the window.

“Fuck!”

He swore loudly seeing her standing right in front of him on the other side of the window. He almost stumbled backwards but the grappling hooks kept him in place. She was just staring. He pulled the window pane outwards and stepped into the windowsill and jumped in, releasing the hooks.

“Captain, tea is ready.”

She pointed at the table, there were several tea cups, most of them were empty. The squad had already taken the liberty of ransaking the teaset and the cookie jar. But there was one cup, untouched, away from all the others. She was pointing at that teacup. Levi nodded, walking over to the table, Sasha was wiping cookie crumbs off her face and Eren was kneedeep in the cookie jar. These brats have no manners.

“Captain, is it.. Is it okay if we leave now?”

Jean asked him, seemed like he was forced by the squad. It was Saturday after all, and the whole reason for this mess was Levi trying to squeeze in one more drill last night even though he knew they were all exhausted.

Levi grumbled. “Fine.”

And they just all got up as if they were waiting for those words. They hurried out, he could hear Eren mutter some good lucks, though he didn’t understand what it was about. When he breathed in the scent of the tea, he realized he was all alone in the apartment with the doctor.

Oh fuck no. Wait, brats-

But the soldiers have all disappeared. Levi gulped.

He heard her footsteps nearing and every step made his heart beat a little faster. Suddenly all he could think was that if he turned she would be wearing only that lace bra and panties.

“Captain-”

“I should leave too.” He replied without turning. From the corner of his eye he saw her pressing her waist onto the table picking up the tea cup. She was not naked at all. The silk robe was tightly wrapped around her, his fears were just fears. He frowned at the floor.

“You haven’t taken your tea, would you prefer something else?”

“Tea is great!” He said almost too fast.

“If you must leave, please take it. Would be a waste.”

She walked over and handed him the teacup.

Take the teacup with me??

He took it, because he could not come up with an excuse. Besides, the tea smelled expensive. He walked towards the door, still had not made any eye contact with her. He turned the door knob.

“Captain Ackerman,”

“Yes?” That time he turned. It’s the way she said his name. He couldn’t read her face, it was analytical. She had her head slightly tilted, as if she was studying him and she slowly opened her mouth.

“Do you have children?”

“What!”

Levi entered without knocking and the first thing Hange noticed was his pale face. It matched almost perfectly with the white porcelaine cup he was holding.

Wait, did he get a new tea set?

Hange and Erwin made eye contact. Something is wrong.

“Levi?”

Hange said curiously as Levi slowly descended to a chair in Erwin’s office.

“She.. is a piece of work.”

He muttered and took a long sip of the tea he was holding. Hange could observe him getting even paler with that sip. Is he drinking poison or something?

“Assuming you meant your doctor, what happened? Did you fix the window?”

Erwin rested his chin on his hand.

Levi nodded.

“I did. And she asked me whether.. I have reproduced.”

“What?!”

“Yeah.. children. She asked me if I have any.”

“Like unprompted? Or because you were sooooo good at fixing windows you two just went right into the baby-making phase? What’s the context?”

Hange couldn’t understand how their conversation might have gotten there when Humanity’s Strongest was famously single.

“That’s the thing. No context whatsoever. Just, hey, have you ever successfully fucked a baby into a woman?”

Levi finished his tea, but instead of placing the cup on the table, he was staring at the bottom like it was a void. Levi looked as if he was devastated by the implication that he had a spawn or two running around somewhere.

“Why is she questioning you spreading your seed?” Erwin asked.

“Spreading my seed? Up your ass, Erwin. What the fuck!” Levi snapped and flipped off Erwin.

Hange scoffed at Levi’s reaction but when Erwin said “I hope that’s not you coming out of the closet or something, cause come to think of it, women are not your thing and I understand that my ass is quite attractive for whatever seeding you have in your mind.” Hange lost it. She started howling at Levi’s horrified face. Erwin joined in.

“Fuck the both of you, I’m here having an existential crisis and you’re making jokes at my expense?”

“Fine okay tell us. Hange get the bottle.”

“It’s 11 AM!”

“What, it’s not like you have kids to be a role model for, hahaha”

Erwin continued the joke while Hange pulled out the whiskey.

Levi: “So I said 'huh? no.' and you wouldn’t believe this, she said 'oh. Shame.'”

Hange: “Sounds to me like she wants your baby in her.”

Hange smirked. Erwin nodded, raising his glass. Levi frowned.

Levi: “She said shame like she was disappointed.”

Erwin: “Maybe she thinks it’s a skill issue, hahaha”

Hange: “HAHahah yes!”

Levi: “I dOn’T have AnY iSSues!”

Hange: “Wanna bet?”

Levi: “No! I can’t make a baby to prove you wrong, foureyes!”

Erwin: “Maybe our idiot didn’t pick up that she was flirting. Maybe it went like 'ohh Captain, do you wanna make a baby..' and Levi is like 'What babies! I want no babies!' when what he should have said was 'ohh Doctor.. I hate babies.. But I looove the process..', cue some horizontal negotiations!”

Erwin was acting out the voices.

Calm down Levi, Army cannot function without a commander.

Levi gripped the teacup tighter. He was already regretting coming here to tell these two fuckers his problems but after all, he would always end up here.

He sipped now whiskey from the teacup, studying the pattern on it. A vine of pink cherry blossoms ran across the cup, and the rim was decorated in gold.

Hange: “Did you get a new tea set?”

Levi: “No, this is the doctor’s”

The moment words left Levi’s mouth, they started teasing again.

Hange: “OH MY GOD! First date gift exchange!!”

Erwin: “No no no. That tea cup is probably an excuse. 'Ohh captain, you can return it later.' Translation, I’ll be waiting till you come back for naugh-tea time”

Levi: “NO idiots! She said to take it because I hadn’t finished my tea.”

Erwin: “Well it’s not like you couldn’t have gulped it in one go. Or finish it at her place and leave the cup.” Hange shrugged.

Levi: “I didn’t wanna be alone in that place.”

Hange: "Oh I bet."

Erwin: “Because you’d lose yourself in her eyes?”

Levi: “Because it’s awkward! SO fucking awkward because I keep thinking about last night”

Erwin: “Ohhh Do-”

Levi: “Erwin if I hear one more Ohh doctor or Ohh Captain come outta your mouth-”

Erwin: “You’d break the window to my heart?”

Hange: “hahaha good one”

Levi: “Erwinggghhh!”

—--

You stumbled through the corridor, cursing yourself for getting an apartment on the top floor. You felt the height of the building with every step you took after an exhausting day at the office. When you finally reached the door, you saw something in front of it. A parcel.

Cautiously, you picked it up and started unwrapping it. If it were a ear or something somebody left on your doorstep for revenge, you didn’t want it inside your apartment. Your thought process wasn’t necessarily weird; that had happened to you before when you worked at a rural hospital and failed to save an aristocrat dying from his injuries. Their family was rather upset about it, hence the parcelled human remains that were left on your doorstep.

I never learned where they got those fingers and ears from.

You shrugged, uncovering the teacup you had given to Captain Ackerman inside the parcel with a note. Thanks. it was written in neat handwriting. You opened the door and stepped inside. The cup was placed gently back in the cupboard, but a bit away from all the other cups of the tea set. You put the note in the cup and closed the cupboard door.

Wind was gushing past Levi as he soared through the air. He had done this a thousand times, his body automatically maneuvered everything, he was just lost in thought. Kirstein flew past Levi and something he said clicked in Levi’s mind.

It was the other day, when they were repairing the window, Levi was still yelling at Kirstein for crashing through it.

As the excuse, Kirstein said ‘Yeah, well, I wouldn’t have gotten distracted if she wasn’t toweling off butt naked for the entire world to see.’

Levi finally understood the gravity of that claim.

She didn’t have any fucking curtains!

Levi almost stopped midair.

“Eren!” he yelled.

“Captain?!” Eren yelled back.

“I have a thing to take care of. Continue drills until I’m back!”

“Yes Sir!”

Chapter Text

The ruckus that was happening in front of the hospital came to your ears through the corridor. You could hear yelling and shouting and kicking. You wondered whether somebody let loose a horse.

“What’s the noise?”

You asked a nurse and got just a shrug as if there was nothing to worry about. “Just some soldiers being macho idiots. Don’t worry, they’ll eventually make it in.” Another nurse filled you in. You were still clueless. So you walked to the front entrance and found Captain Levi, Commander Erwin and Squad Leader Hange-san (?) engaged in what seemed to be exchanging headlocks.

“Levi come on! One more step!” Hange-san was yelling, trying to drag the Captain inside. Commander Erwin stood there, with his arms crossed, his right foot planted between the Captain's legs, threatening. “Captain, go get that checked out.”

“Let me go!” Captain was struggling, but maybe not wholeheartedly, because you all knew, if Captain wanted to, he would just obliterate Hange-san.

“Levi your rib is poking out! You’ll die!”

“It’s just a bruise!”

“Captain, that is NOT a bruise. You fell three stories.”

“Levi!! If you die who's gonna test m-”

“Excuse me, you’re waking up the coma patients.”

You interrupted their scuffle with your usual dry wit. All three of them looked at you, Hange-san and the captain from the ground and the commander towering in front of you. Captain immediately looked away.

“Doctor, Perfect timing. Please admit him!” Hange-san grabbed the Captain’s hair and turned his face to you. You just noticed the Captain’s undercut.

“He fell. Hange thinks he has a broken rib. Please take a look at his chest.”

Commander Erwin requested. You nodded.

“Can you walk, Captain?” You looked at the captain.

“Not with that bo-”

“Foureyes!” Captain roared to silence whatever Hange-san was going to say. You guessed it was something crude and inappropriate. Soldiers were often like that.

“Captain, please come with me.” You turned. You could hear the Captain groan, and was that the Commander giggling with Hange-san?? You kept your eyes forward.

—

“Oh that looks bad..” Hange-san commented from the background. Commander and Hange-san stood there like concerned parents as the Captain removed his shirt. “..Right over his heart too.” She said, you could almost hear something cheeky in her voice but you couldn’t quite put your finger on it.

“Does this hurt, Captain?” You pressed gently over his bruised chest. It didn’t look as bad as his friends made it out to be. But the Captain’s reaction said something else. He was tense, and he clenched his teeth when you pressed.

Maybe it is worse than it looks.

“Not terribly.” His reply contradicted his reaction.

“Is it hard to breathe?”

“No.”

“Captain, it is important that you tell me what you feel.”

“Wh-what?”

—--

What the fuck does she mean how I feel?

Levi’s head screamed. Does she know what I’m thinking right now?

Truth was, the slight scent of her soap was triggering memories in Levi’s brain. It was the same smell that was coming from her skin when she was standing in front of him, mostly naked. He couldn’t get the image out of his head. And when she had her fingers pressed over his chest, he was scared she’d recognize his uncontrollable heartbeat.

“Captain, if you are hurting, please be truthful. I cannot treat you properly otherwise.”

“Oh you meant that.” Levi couldn’t help but sigh in relief.

“What else could I have meant?” She asked, and he went right back into the frenzie.

“N-nothing. Nothing hurts, just let me go.”

“Levi listen to the doctor.” Erwin ordered. Levi didn’t know why they insisted on staying in this room, and why the doctor hadn’t kicked them out.

Her fingers slipped lower on his ribs.

Holy shit why is she touching me like that!

He wasn't sure if he had ever thought anything of the way a medical professional touched him. It was mundane, and cold. But today he could feel that coldness to his bones.

Thankfully, the doctor retreated her hands momentarily and told the nurse to wrap him up and send him his way.

“Captain, no getting wet.” The doctor instructed. This woman is just feeding those idiots!
Levi frowned because Hange started cackling. “Oh that’s gonna be hard..” she shook her head laughing. Doctor gave her a curious look, pressing her lips together. Levi buttoned his shirt up and jumped down the bed. He hurried Hange and Erwin out the door.

“Levi, thank the doctor.” Erwin stood his ground.

“Stop babying me.” Levi pushed him out. He looked over his shoulder and saw the doctor watching.

“Thanks, doc.”

She nodded. Levi stepped out.

—---

It’s been two days, Levi couldn’t sleep a wink. At first he blamed it on the pain on his chest, but it was getting duller and duller but he could only stare at the roll of fabric he had purchased a couple of days ago but never used it for intended purpose. Looking at it made him think back to the way the Doctor’s naked body was glistening slightly post shower, even in the moonless, stormy night she was just shining under the glow of her lantern.

Why would she just flaunt those.. those.. weapons into the busy streets!

He groaned. It was late. Too late, but he knew he couldn’t sleep without doing something to get his mind off of her body and how it would look through that damn brand new window he installed for her.

Fuck this!

He got out of bed.

—---

“Captain, it’s 3 AM.” She stood at the doorway squinting. Her hair was a mess, the robe loosely draped over her shoulder, the lace of her nightgown was not doing Levi any favors because he was having flashbacks to the window crash. He had chosen the worst time to do this, but he had to choose a time when he knew she would be at home.

“Listen, I do not wanna be here more than I’m needed to. But I wanted to give you these.”

He handed over the roll he was carrying.

“What are…”

“Curtains. You don’t have fucking curtains.”

She looked surprised; it was the first time he saw some emotions on her face. So she’s human after all.

“Captain, why are you giving me these..?”

“Are you stupid?” Levi asked and immediately regretted it. But he pushed through. “You are a military grade hazard!”

“A what?”

“Because of you, my men get distracted. I’m putting an end to it before you kill anybody.”

There you go Levi, perfect excuse, hammer it in.

“...Listen Doc, I don’t know why you think it's a good idea to.. walk around like that when everybody and their dead grandmas can see you. But my cadets train around here and Kirsten is not the only horny idiot in the military who would fly into a wall getting distracted by a.. a..”

Don’t say a beautiful woman. Don't be cheesy. Say something else! Anything else!

“..a pair of tits”

Moron!!!!

The doctor just stood there, lips parted open, probably wondering what had gotten into him to march over to her apartment in the dead of the night to yell at her about her tits.

“Military Hazard, you say.” She tilted her head, tightening her robe around her. Maybe his words made her self-conscious.

Don’t be stupid Levi, if she was self-conscious, she wouldn’t have had you kneeling in front of her naked body with her shoes in hand like she was fucking Cinderella or some shit.

“Okay Captain, I see your point. I’ll get them installed.”

She tried to take them out of his hands. But Levi tightened his grip around the roll of fabric.

“No. I’ll do it. I don’t trust you to get it done soon enough.”

—-

Levi was installing the rods with military precision while the Doctor just stared, sitting on her bed.

She is sleeping in that bed right across from this huge ass window? Was she tryna get raped?

“Tch” Levi clicked his tongue, drilling the first hole into the wall.

“Seems odd.” She said.

“What?” Levi hissed without looking at her. You’re odd.

“That the Captain himself would lose sleep over a soldier’s depth perception.”

Levi frowned at the hole he just made.

“It’s protocol.” He said in a low voice half hoping she wouldn’t hear his half-assed excuse.

“Curtains are protocol?” She asked very curiously.

“They are now.” Levi grunted, making the hole a bit bigger by eyeballing the measurements.

There was silence again.

“To be honest, Captain..” She started after a while, her voice calm but sharp. There was slight amusement in it too, but maybe Levi imagined it.

“Hmm?”

Levi inquired when she didn’t continue.

“I think it’s good to have distractions. For soldiers, I mean.”

Is she flirting with me??? Levi’s head screamed. Maybe Erwin was right, maybe the baby talk was her flirting. Levi decided to give it a beat and keep an open mind.

“What do you mean?”

“The world is full of distractions. Outside walls I assume its more so. Wouldn’t you want your soldiers to learn how not to get distracted. What if the titans had… tits.”

Levi could NOT help the chuckle that jumped out of his throat and escape through his lips. He heard her laugh a little too.

“You make a good point.” Levi got down from the table he was in, and then dragged it to the other side of the window and got on it to drill the other hole.

“Captain, how’s your bruise?”

Suddenly, Levi was thinking how her hands were touching him to examine his ribs. He knew it was wrong to think of her that way, she was just doing her job, but he just couldn’t help himself. Maybe tonight after this window thing is done, she might ask him to take his shirt off and she’d examine the wound and touch his chest and he would feel that tingling nerve burning sensation agai-

“Captain?”

He had forgotten to answer, with his mind going round and round.

“Ah it's fine. All healed.”

Moron, could have said not good! So she’d look again. Levi, you are a moron.

“How did you get injured?”

“Fell down a building.”

“Yes but how, were you installing windows in another apartment?”

Levi looked over his shoulder, hopeful. Are you jealous, Doc? She was looking up at him, same stoic expressions. Levi sighed.

“Hange’s experiment. Tested a gear. It gave in mid-way when I was so high in the sky that I had enough time to get in a prayer and a half while falling. Would have gone straight to heaven.”

Levi didn’t know why he wanted to make her laugh, and thankfully he did manage to get a chuckle out of her. Otherwise he would have just jumped out of this window too.

“Maybe you should do your experiments closer to the hospital.” She stood up from the bed while he got the rod for the curtains.

Is she inviting me to be closer to her? Levi’s grip on the rod tightened.

“As a doctor, shouldn’t you tell me to stop the experiments?”

She thought for a moment, standing at the foot of the bed. Her robe was loose again, and he could see the satin nightgown with the lace hems.

“No.” She said firmly. Levi rolled his eyes, turning towards the window with the rod. “..Experiments are necessary. Let me get you some tea, Captain.”

Levi yanked the rod into place and started putting the curtains on, muttering under his breath.

Is she doing an experiment on how long it would take for me to lose my mind guessing whether she’s flirting with me or not?

Chapter Text

Levi tried to just focus on the task at hand… at least until he noticed that she pulled out two teacups from the cupboard. From the angle he was in he could see that there was something inside one of those cups.

What the fuck… she… why did she..?

Levi’s mind went blank as he didn’t realize he was very obviously staring at her retrieving that cup…. the one that she’d set aside… the one he used?..

Wait… did she actually keep the freaking note too?…

Levi shook his head roughly, trying to force away the images of her naked body that was hardly covered… the feeling that burned in his chest seeing that she’d set aside that one teacup he used…everything made him think of her in those lace underwear; he couldn’t figure out why the hell it made him feel like this. All he knew was the doc was fucking dangerous for his health, to say the least.

He forced himself to turn back to the curtains, hanging it one hook at a time. He used every bit of strength he had in him to just focus his eyes and keep them forward. He even started humming inside his head.

“Tea’s ready, Captain.” her voice came from right under him.

Levi nearly fell off the table from how her voice pulled him outta his reverie.

“Shit!!” Levi growled out as his instincts thankfully let him balance himself again on the table.

The doctor had pressed her hands onto his hip to stabilize him, and it made him blush bright red for a moment before clearing his throat. The moment stilled but her hand remained on his body, he looked down at her and she was looking up, tea cup in the other hand, her robe was open and he could see right down her night gown.

“I… I’m fine Doc. Won’t die if I fell from a table.”

Fuck why did I say that?! Her hands were already on me for fuck sake!! Stupid so fuckin stupid!! Levi growled at himself in his head.

She instantly released her hold on him and took a step back away with that stoic expression on her face.

“I’m well aware Captain; I’ve patched you up from far worse; two days ago, case in point.”

Levi flushed at the memory of her hands touching over his ribs and chest as he tried to fight down the way that was making him feel. She was intimidating to say the least.

Levi grunted as he pushed down the fluttering in his lower stomach.

Come on man get it together!!

“Fair enough.” He said curtly. She seemed to be the only one who actually didn’t mind his short and curt demeanor. It wasn’t like Hange and Erwin who’d simply gotten used to it… no, she genuinely never seemed to even flinch at it.

Levi finished hanging the curtains and jumped down the table, making damn sure to pull them completely closed. He knew the little brats in his squad were now very well aware where the doctor’s window was and considering Kirstein’s big, perverted mouth… EVERYONE KNEW.

Levi really didn’t like the feeling that gave him of how vulnerable and shit she was just lying here under that damn window for anyone to see… that was just a disaster waiting to happen.

“It looks good, Captain. Not sure why it was needed at three in the morning… but regardless, I appreciate you coming to… make sure I was covered.”

He assumed that she was thanking him.

“Yeah. Don’t mention it. Beside, st’s not about you, it’s about the squad” Levi muttered, somewhat under his breath.

“Here, Captain.” She said, handing him the small cherry blossom teacup… the one she’d set aside which was still making his head spin with questions.

Do I have my own teacup at the Doctor’s now? Am I the only one with a special teacup?... Why do I kinda hope I am?...

“Looks like you found the hardest, thickest fabric possible Captain.” She stated stoically as usual while gathering the fabric between her fingers studying it but there was something else in her tone as if she had questions in her mind she wasn’t going to ask unless she couldn’t figure it out for herself.

Levi opened his mouth. Closed it again. Then opened again. Why not regular lace curtains?

“Because.. lace.. is deadly.”

“That’s.. not.. accurate” The Doctor whispered more to herself than anybody else. “..lace is soft. I really like lace.”

Oh I do too. And I know you love them because of those matching lingerie numbers you w-nope. Stop.. stop thinking about her underwear again.

Levi smirked to himself and immediately smacked himself in his head.

“Captain? Is there a reason you’re hitting yourself in the head?” She asked with a furrowed brow that screamed of confusion.

Levi froze at her question.

FUCK!! How the hell am I supposed to explain that shit?! Oh yeah I was just trying to stop myself from thinking about you in those lace underwear.

“To wake myself up. I haven’t slept tonight.” Levi wasn’t lying, technically.

“Obviously.” She nodded. “Your tea is getting cold.”

He nodded, taking the cup to his mouth.

Why the fuck is she looking at me like that?? Feel like I’m under a damn microscope or some shit…

She then suddenly turned around, walking to where she’d set down the pther cup of tea, and the tea pot and he noticed she hadn’t touched hers yet.

What, was she waiting for me or something?

They sipped in silence. Levi knew from day one that her tea was the real deal, it smelled and tasted so fucking expensive. The type of tea that was meant to be sipped slowly and enjoyed. But if he did that, it would have taken time. But if he gulped it down, he was scared she would judge him for being a brute ass himbo without taste. He was torn between gulping it down like Hange suggested, and bolting out the door, and sipping it like a civilized human being.

“Captain, you can take the tea and leave if you want. It’s almost five, and I have to get ready for my shift.”

“Great. I’ll return this later.”

“Understood.”

Levi took a deep breath thankfull for the outing she gave him and left her apartment.

—-

He reached his room, the tea warming up his insides and filling his nostrils with the aroma. There was still a little darkness outside. These days, the nights were long. He sat down on his bed, placing the empty teacup on his table, kicked off his boots and fell backwards onto the pillow.

A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. The hours of not sleeping had finally caught upto him and he fell asleep thinking of how the curtains just absolutely blocked everything including sunlight from entering her room.

At least now she is not nude-modelling for the general public.

As usual, the three had gathered in Erwin’s room. Hange, Levi and Erwin had a habbit of finishing off their daily work at one place, if they could find the time. Erwin was knee deep in status reports, Hange was sketching new schematics for a long range weapon and Levi just lounged on the sofa, closing his eyes.

Is that.. a smile?

“Something’s different.”

Hange immediately clocked.

“I noticed too. He looks satisfied and mortified at the same time.”

Erwin didn’t even need to know any context to see what Hange meant. He had noticed too.

“Hmm?”

Levi turned his head slightly at Erwin.

Erwin: “You.. are happy.”

Levi: “So?”

Hange: “Did someone die?”

Levi: “No.”

Hange: “Did you kill someone?”

Levi: “No”

Erwin: “Did the squad perform perfectly on drills?”

Levi: “I wish.”

Hange: “Then what is it?”

Levi: “It’s nothing. Can’t a man be well rested.”

Erwin: “A man can. Not you.”

Hange: “You’re going to tell us what’s going on.”

Levi: “Nothing’s going on.”

Hange: “He was late to training today.”

Hange turned to Erwin.

Erwin: “He was? Levi what is the meaning of this?”

Erwin was mock serious.

Levi: “Nothing’s going on, I told you. And even if, that’s none of your business.”

Hange: “Oh it IS our business. And we will get to the bottom of it. Tell me or I will start dosing Eren on Ketamin.”

Levi: “You wouldn’t dare.”

Erwin: “She will dare if I order her to.”

Levi: “That is abusing your power, Erwin.”

Erwin: “That wasn’t me abusing my power. This is, tell us or I’ll have you assigned to the military police duty for an entire month.”

Levi: “Fuck you.. But fine. I installed curtains.”

Hange: “That’s it?”

Levi smirked.

Levi: “Not on my windows. At the doctor’s”

Hange: “Holy.. shit..”

—-
Maybe half and hour passed but the teasing hadn’t stopped. They made him tell the entire story in detail, where she was, where he was, how many nails, color of the curtains, when did he buy them, where did he buy them, what was the length of the rope he was gonna hang himself with after all this teasing. Now they had started making everything into a dirty innuendo or a joke.

Erwin: “What did she say while you were drilling her walls at 3 AM?”

Levi: “You are a perver-”

Hange: “Good one. Hahaha.”

Erwin: “The doctor is like Ohh Captain, these curtains are so hard.. And thick..”

Hange: “Ohh Doctor.. I’ll show you something hard.. And thick..”

Levi: "Stop acting it out!"

Erwin: “Hahahahah! Ohh Captain.. So naughty… wanna test out how dark it gets when we close these curtains..”

Hange immitated the motion of closing the curtains. Then she started to just touch at the air.

Hange: “prrfft.. Ohh Captain.. I can’t see anything.. Is this.. Captain.. You have three legs. It’s a medical marv-”

Levi: “I SAID DROP IT!”

Levi sent a book flying through the air and it hit Hange’s stomach. She crouched laughing so hard that she fell to the ground and continued to laugh.

Erwin: “Okay Okay, We haven’t gotten to the psychoanalyzing part of the night”

Levi: “I’ll analyze your guts!”

Hange: “Somebody call the doctor!! Hahahahahah! Oh my god hahahah”

Erwin: “Okay Levi. Why?”

Levi: “What do you mean why?”

Erwin: “Why did you get her curtains?”

Levi: “The fuck? Because her flaunting around her boobsYOUR soldiers distracted and killed, Erwin.”

Hange: “Were they really that distracting?”

Levi: “They were so fucking distracting!”

Erwin: “So you looked.”

Levi: “I- I.. Of course I loo- Well I saw! I saw!”

Hange: “Oh he definetely looked. Intentional.”

Levi: “I.. I may have. What am I gonna do when I’m fucking standing right fucking in front of her!”

Erwin: “Nobody’s blaming you for having feelings Levi”

Levi: “I don’t have fucking feelings. I just saw her breasts. And they were huge. Considerably. And.. and..” He groaned, pulling his hair.

Hange: “And now you don’t want anybody else to see.”

Erwin: “There goes my closet allegations.”

Hange: “Hey, his denial could still give you a chance.”

Levi: “You two are assholes!”

Hange: “Woah woah woah. Don’t insult your food.”

Erwin: “Oh my god this is way too many gay jokes for one night, hahah”

Levi: “Then fucking stop!”

Hange: “We’ll stop when you admit you like the Doctor. Not in a oh she easy on the eyes way. In the Captain Levi has a medical emergency in his pants and Misstoic is the only one with a cure kinda way”

Levi: “I will NEVER admit such a thing.”

Erwin: “Let’s see how long you last, my friend.

Chapter Text

Seeing the small parcel again at your doorstep made you smile even after the exhausting day you just had. You knew what it was this time so you didn’t bother opening it right in the corridor.

Sitting down on the bed, you started to slowly unwrap it and you could feel something different. Not about the parcel, it was the same neat wrap as before, but something inside you was fluttering so to speak. With the parcel in one hand, you took your other hand to take your pulse.

Slightly elevated.

The note this time was slightly longer. You read it, each word making your pulse jump a little faster. You could feel it under the two fingers you kept at your wrist.

‘Thanks for the tea. Close the fucking blinds.’

---------- Levi’s PoV ----------

Its been a while without any incident. Hange and Erwin had kind of stopped teasing levi about the Doctor thing, since he insisted that there was nothing more to it. Levi had disciplined himself into not thinking further into the naked shenanigan.

It was late when he was coming back from some bureaucratic bullshit meeting Erwin made him participate in. Because he was so annoyed, he decided to fly back to his room instead of travelling with his friends.

The stormy season hadn’t ended just yet. Cold drizzling wind gushed pass the Captain carving the coldness into his bones. He was shivering. For whatever reasons it felt colder tonight. Lonelier and Soul crushing. Levi didn’t particularly like the rain, it was damp, dirty and full of memories that he didn’t want in his head. Rain reminded him of tears, and blood that covered him battle after battle. Tonight, Levi was depressed.

The moon barely shone through the thick clouds even when it was supposed to be a full moon tonight. He swung past the bell-tower, cutting across the town to reach his quarters and in the darkness of the sleeping city, he saw one familiar window illuminated. His window, the one he made.

He turned his head, wondering why the doctor had not closed the curtains he so tiresomely put on, and instructed her through his note, and he saw her silhouette. She was looking out the window, watching the rain, a tea cup in hand, lost in thought. The room was filled with light and looked warm, but her face didn’t reflect the same softness. It was tight as always, calm and composed but not relaxed. Her eyes were fixed at the horizon, he could even see the steam of her tea fogging up the glass slightly.

He moved almost without thinking, adjusting his path. Drifting through the air, he landed right on the outside of her windowsill and looked into her eyes without a sound.

Her lips parted, not enough to be a normal human reaction, just slight surprise. She didn’t move, didn’t take a step back, didn’t curse, nothing. Just stared back.

Levi was almost.. mesmerized. The light glowed inside her apartment, and her silky nightgown made a halo around her body. Dark hair fell around her, lips were wet from tea and cheeks warmed pink. He saw his own reflection next to her, staring back at him. It felt like a serene eternity that he didn’t know how to describe.

She mouthed. ‘Captain.’

It wasn’t a question, just a statement. There was barely any sound, as if she was just whispering it to herself like a chant.

A cold wind passed him again. With the soaked clothes clinging to his body, he shivered slightly.

That made her look at the latch. She hurried, unlocking the window and pushing one pane outwards.

“Captain, Come in, Are you injured?”

She stepped back to let him enter but pierced his entire being with a look.

“Uh… No..” Levi whispered, cursing himself for dripping on her floor. She closed window and THE CURTAINS.

“Then why are you here?”

Don’t be so direct, Woman!

“I.. I don’t know, Doc. Because it rained I guess.”

She didn’t question further, at least not just yet. Instead she started walking away, and opened a door to a small closet.

“Captain, dry off before catching hypothermia. Here.”

She handed him a towel. White. Everything’s white. He took it and started toweling off his damp hair and neck. And he was about to hand it back to her.

“Change.”

She said.

“Huh?”

“You can’t stay in those clothes. Change.”

“No, it’s fin-”

“Are you leaving now?”

“What’s that got to do with anythin-”

“Its fine if your flying back to your place. But if you’re planning to stay a while, do as I say.”

Levi was speechless. Am I planning to stay a while? Fuck, just say youre waiting out the rain Levi. It’s less suspicious than just ogling at her like a dumbfuck

Before he answered, she spoke again.

“Change, I’ll give you something to wear.”

“What, a nightdress?”

That made her laugh deep in her throat as if she was mocking him. He looked at her, frowning. Instead of answering, she went back to the closet again and crouched. She came back with a pair of grey pants, and a long sleeve t-shirt that were definitely not hers.

What, she has a man hidden in the closet too?

“Here, change.”

Levi started to count how many times she said that word, almost wondering whether she meant change everything about him. Her gaze was not being averted, suddenly he felt like he was the one standing in her apartment naked.

“Change here?”

“Bathroom’s that door.”

She showed another door in the corner of the room. He started to walk towards the door, like a dead man out of his grave, mindlessly obeying.

“Shower.”

He turned.

“What?”

“Shower, better for Hyperthermia.”

Levi closed the door behind him without a word.

—--

Levi studied everything in the bathroom. There wasn’t much, a bar of pink-ish soap, a tub, a shower, a couple of bottles that smelled like herbs, a jar of little stones that were of different colors. It was clean, and smelled slightly of lemon.

He turned the shower, expecting the cold water to hit him but warm dribbles started to fall on his naked skin like a warm hug, he almost moaned.

Holy shit, hot shower? How rich is this woman?

Even he couldn’t not enjoy it. He started opening the bottles one by one, guessing what they do, hoping what he used on his head was a shampoo. And finally he picked up the soap.

His entire body jolted when the smell hit his nostrils.

The scent was like a trigger.

Thousands of her images started running in his head. Her body, laced curves, barely covered breasts, the first time he smelled it.

And then the way her fingers ran on his body, her tight hair, her composed posture, at the hospital.

“Oh.. god..”

He slammed his hand onto the wall, staring at the water running down his face and falling off from the tip of his nose. His body was tensing up and heating, and he was getting hard.

Stop… Ackerman, get it together. You cant go out like this you dont even have your fucking underwear!

Levi tried so hard to think of something else. Something that would distract him. Something that wasn’t erotic.

Blood, titans, tea, parliament, military police, drills, training, grass, horses, guts, dust, broom, glass shards, legs, her legs, no.. no.. fuck.. Erwin, reports…

After a while, it started working. His body calmed down enough, and he panted as if he fought a war in the shower. He dried himself off and put on the clothes she gave him. They were soft, and warm and Levi never wanted to take them off again.

When he stepped out of the bathroom, towel around his neck, he smelled the aroma of good tea filling the room.

What the fuck is this domestic fucking feeling.

Chapter Text

“Captain, your tea.”

She pointed at the table, she was sitting on the bed cross-legged. He went ahead and sat down in the one chair she seemed to own. On the table, right next to the teapot, the two notes he had written her were poking out from under a book she had placed to secure them from floating away. A strange feeling nagged at Levi’s throat.

Hello, cup. We meet again.

Levi took a sip of the tea, and it warmed up his insides instantly. Warm shower and warm tea after a tiresome day when it's raining outside, while he was wearing soft cotton clothes, Levi rarely got this comfortable.

But, as a man who wasn’t used to it, he opened his mouth to ruin it.

“Why did you let me in?” he turned to the Doctor.

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Because it was raining.”

“Only slightly. It was dead of the night. Do you let in every dude who lands on your windowsill?”

“If they were shivering, yes.”

“That’s stupid.”

“I’m a doctor, shouldn’t you expect me to be kind?”

“Kind doesn’t mean stupid. Don’t you have any sense of self-preservation?”

“Would you rather I didn’t let you in, Captain?”

“Yes! … No!.. I mean.. I don't know..”

She looked down at her teacup, avoiding Levi’s eyes. It was probably not intentional; she never avoids eye contact. But Levi was thankful because he didn’t want her to see his flushed cheeks.

He saw her taking her own pulse and biting the corner of her bottom lip with intent.

What is she doing?

“Self-preservation..” She echoed. “I once stabbed a teacher at med school.”

It was said so unprompted, Levi took time to process.

She did what!

“The fuck you said just now?”

“That I stabbed a teacher at m-”

“Yeah, I heard you the first time.”

“Then why did you ask me to repeat?”

“That was me losing my fucking mind, Doc! The hell do you mean you stabbed someone? Didn’t we just talk about Doctors being kind!”

“Well, I wasn’t a Doctor yet, and he said I had frail hands. Stabbed him, and patched him up to prove him wrong.”

“And they didn’t kick you out?”

“They did suspend me, but they couldn’t fail me when my sutures were that good.”

“They passed you because the sutures you did on your VICTIM were good?”

She nodded with a serious look in her eyes. Suddenly, Levi was laughing. He was not caught this off-guard since forever by anything anybody said.

“Captain, you still look pale from the rain. Would you want something stronger? I have some whiskey.”

Is she tryna get me drunk?

“No.” He shook his head slightly. “..I can’t get drunk,” he added an explanation since he felt he owed one.

“How do you mean?”

“I can’t get drunk. Never have, no matter how much I drink, nothing. I wish I could, just have some peace of mind. I see all these fuckers having way too much of it by downing one glass. And I’m there sober out of my mind.”

Levi ranted. It was past 1 AM, and he was feeling a bit drowsy with sleep so the words just started flowing out of his mouth. Besides, she was easy to talk to, once he got over all his nerves about her, it helped that she had her robe wrapped tightly around her again, too.

“Fascinating.” She nodded.

“You don’t say..” He sipped sarcastically.

“Why do you think that is?”

“Foureyes' theory is that it's because of my genes. Apparently, us Ackermans have the ho-”

“Holy grail of genetics, I’m aware.”

“How do you know that?”

She was in no hurry to answer the question. She drank the rest of her tea; Levi assumed it might have gone cold by now. She was drinking it when he got here too. She slowly got up from the bed and started walking towards him, and leaned onto the table next to him. Now they both smelled the same. Levi was on the verge of going crazy again while she silently poured some more tea into her cup from the teapot that was on the table.

“You are famous in certain circles, Captain.”

She turned and leaned back onto the table again. Instead of looking up at her and seeing her face eclipsed by her breasts, he continued staring at the bottom of his cup.

“What circles?”

“Scientific. Research.”

“What am I, a guinea pig?”

“We’d love to have you as a specimen, Captain.”

Levi just had to look up because he was surprised. And his earlier calculations were right, he could only see half her face in that angle. He cleared his throat.

“You science nerds are weirdos, you know that? What would you even talk about me in your weird little book clubs?”

“A lot, honestly.” Suddenly, her voice was a pitch higher. She was excited to talk. “..You speed, your strength, it’s not in vain people call you the Humanity’s Strongest.”

“Tch”

“We wonder what your blood, or genes might consist of. If we can recreate, replicate or even transfuse some of it to somebody else. Humanity’s cause could benefit from you, Captain.”

“Gods, sounds like you’d like to tie me up and poke me with needles.”

She laughed at that. Not her usual one deep chuckle. This time, a full laugh made its way out of her lips. The unfamiliarity of it made Levi assume something evil. He looked down at the empty cup again. He thought about how his muscles were relaxing. How was he feeling drowsy?

“Oi.. did you..” he looked back up at her. She met his gaze, smile still visible on her lips. “..did you poison me?”

Tonight had been quite entertaining. Instead of your usual insomnia episodes on the most exhaustive days, today you had company, albeit he landed on your windowsill like a mildly domesticated crow asking for crumbs.

Captain was better company than most of your friends. You didn’t know exactly why you thought that way. Everything that was coming out of his mouth was either profanities or insults. He asked a lot of harsh questions. Criticized without mercy. But it was enjoyable, and intentionally or not, he made you laugh.

He was still looking up at you asking whether you drugged him or not. You observed him blinking slowly and his voice deeper than usual.

“No.”

You answered his question.

“I feel.. kinda blurry.”

“Captain?”

“Tireder than usual.”

“Might be because of just that, Captain. You're tired, and your body’s catching up.”

“I should go.”

You didn’t like the idea of him leaving into the dead cold night again. If he gets wet now, he might catch a cold.

“You shouldn’t, Captain, you could fall ill.”

“It’s just a bit of rain.”

“But-”

“Didn’t you just say I have strong genes, Doc. I’ll survive a little bit of drizzle.”

“Well if you insist on leaving Captain, take the umbrella.”

“Oh fuck no.”

“Captain-”

“I’m flying back.”

“I’d advise against it.”

“Noted and ignored, Doc.”

He stood up, placed the tea cup on the table and went to collect the gear he had discarded in a corner of your room. He put it on and the tight leather belts started to show the muscle definition.

Definitely a specimen of humanity, huh.

He went into the bathroom, got his wet clothes and came back, holding them in one arm.

“I can give you a bag to put tho-”

You started but he refused, walking towards your window. He opened the curtains, and the room got a bit darker, with your lamps fighting against the darkness of the outside world and failing.

Before he opened the window, you walked over and stood in front of him.

“I’ll return the clothes when they dry.”

He looked at himself.

“That’s not necessary, Captain.” You shrugged slightly. “You can keep them.”

He looked at you with an amused smile, maybe even a bit sarcastic.

“Well what are you gonna give to the next poor wet bastard that comes through your window?”

“I thought we established that I was not gonna let any poor wet bastards in.”

“We did?”

“Yes, we did.”

That dragged a smile into his face that he reluctantly let shine. Captain had a pleasant smile when he was not being all commanding. He reached and opened the window. The noise of rain was filling the silence between the two of you as you just stared into each others eyes, both unable to understand what to say to make this moment less… taught.

Instead of talking, he turned and climbed onto the windowsill, grabbing the window frame for support.

If I pushed him right now, would he survive?

You had an intrusive thought. After all, he survived falling three stories with just a bruised rib. But you pushed your thoughts back in instead of the Captain.

“Thanks for taking me in, Doc. Will try not to bother you again.”

He turned to you one last time tonight.

“Be careful, Captain. I wish you didn’t have to go.”

He jumped into the night. ‘I wish too.’ you heard him whisper or maybe you imagined he said. You weren’t sure with him.

Levi spent an entire night hung up on three words.

‘Be careful, Captain.’

Levi always questioned it in his head when the doctor didn’t wish him goodnight after their late-night rendezvous.

But tonight she gave him that.

And he was.. thinking about it nonstop.

And things to think kept piling up on his head.

Her soap, the clothes she gave him, doc, and her weird little gremlin friends dissecting his anatomy over expensive tea and notebooks.

When the earliest sun rays hit the ground, Levi was up, and walking fast towards Erwin’s office. The door was open, and both of his friends were inside, he guessed they hadn’t really parted ways after last night’s meeting. Hange was asleep on the couch, Erwin seemed to not have slept at all, ink smudges on his cheeks as he buried himself in reports, but Levi didn’t care.

He announced himself loudly, startling them both.

“Alright, you FUCKS! You might be right.”

Chapter Text

“So what, you realized you have feelings for the woman during your Slumber Party, and you did nothing?”

Hange was fully awake now. These people were eating up Levi’s gossip like moths to the flames. Instead of doing his usual fake denial, Levi nodded.

“What would you have me do, huh?”

“Coulda kissed her.”

“Are you crazy?”

“Hange’s right, Captain. It was raining. You were alone. There was a bed. She was in her nightdress. It was a romantic moment you could have seized.”

Erwin agreed thoughtfully, while sipping his tea.

“I don’t want your tea-leaf wisdom, Erwin. The doctor is the epitome of unreadable. One minute it looks like she’s asking me to come closer to the bed and the next minute its because I’m blocking her view of the moon. What if I read the signals wrong?”

“Oh you definitely are.” Hange cackled. “If she is the epitome of unreadable when it comes to emotions, you are an illiterate simp. Honestly, have you gotten laid within the last decade?”

“My conquests are not the issue here, Foureyes.”

“So what are you gonna do?”

Hange’s question silenced the three for a moment. The sound of Levi’s restless steps filled the room as they began to ponder how to set Levi up with the Doctor. In any other case, Levi being Levi would have been either an obvious pro or a con. Women loved powerful men, and Levi’s reputation spoke for itself. On the other hand, Levi being an unreadable, hardass, repelled women. In either case, it was obvious and easy.

“Misstoic doesn’t care for your rank or title, Captain.” Erwin thought out loud. Levi rolled his eyes at Erwin for stating the obvious. But Erwin continued. “Maybe you should just be direct, ask her out.”

“What if she says no. I’ll be humiliated.”

“Why would you be?”

“Because it's embarrassing, Commander. Unlike you, I have shame.”

“Just do it in private.”

“If she says no, how would I even face her again?”

“You mean when you land on her windowsill again?”

“Hrrgh”

“Don’t growl at me, save that for your bedroom.”

—---

After arguing with his friends for another hour or so, they had collectively agreed that Levi should go ask her out. No bullshit. To motivate him not to wuss out, Erwin had inflicted a condition: either Levi ask her out before tomorrow, or else Erwin was going to ask her on behalf of the Captain.

Erwin’s threat was serious. He would have taken the opportunity to embarrass Levi like a birthday present from God himself.

Levi grumbled, putting his cadets through strenuous drills just because. He could hear the scouts talk when they thought he was out of earshot.

“Captain’s extra grumpy today, isn't he?” Connie was panting through the push-ups. Jean scoffed as if he knew some insider information.

“What?” Sasha asked.

“Seen that look before.” Jean replied to her question and elaborated before anybody asked. “When we crash landed on that Doc’s apartment floor and she was hella fucking naked, Captain looked like he was about to bust a nu-”

“Kirstein, Jeager! Drop me and give me twenty!”

Levi roared at his cadets. Everybody shut up really fast but Kirstein ran his mouth.

“Already dropped Captain.” He did a push up.

“FIFTY!” Levi yelled.

“I didn’t even say anything.” Eren mumbled.

“SEVENTY FIVE!”

—--

By the time Levi gathered his courage and went to her apartment (flying to her windowsill of course), the apartment was still dark. She hadn’t come home yet. Since he knew he had only so many hours left before Erwin and Hange started taking things into their own hand, he decided to go to the hospital. Captain reached the hospital, soaked in rain and dismissing the nurses who thought he was injured. He found her walking down a corridor of the hospital holding a lamp.

Fuck.. Why you gotta look like that right now..

“Doc, wait!”

He caught her attention, walking fast towards her, trying to gather words to ask her what was on his mind.

“Captain Levi, are you injured?”

“No. Not today.”

“Did you forget something at my place?”

“No.”

Well, maybe my dignity.

“Then are you visiting a friend?”

“Friend? No.”

“Then ar-”

“Would you shut up and let me tell you why I’m here?”

“Go ahead.”

Levi looked at his boot to see if he is stepping on the words that were supposed to be on his lips because he just couldn’t speak now that he had the chance. The doctor waited patiently, silently, glowing under the yellow light of the lamp which made it even harder. He tightened his grip on the handle of his blade. Now or never, Levi. Just do it.

“Would you.. Can we.. would you wanna goOutwiThmE?”

He said it fast, so that it’ll be over and he could brace for an answer.

She blinked, looking to her right, and then back at him. He waited; he had forgotten to let go of the breath he held.

She pursed her lips, as if she was considering and she was considering for so long. She looked to her right again, at the darkness of the night through the window.

“Out..? Captain, I’m sorry but it’s raining outside.” She sounded quite worried. Levi’s brain lagged.

Wha- what– what???

He squinted. Did she not understand?

He couldn’t ask again, maybe it was her way of rejecting him without outright saying it. He was dangerous after all. But her face didn’t have any of those expressions. It was genuine concern, genuine worry that she had just been asked to step into the rain with him.

"Why would you want us to go outside?" She asked again.

Levi was in chaos, would he double down and try to explain that what he wanted was to go on a date, or make up an excuse and bolt outta there or..

“After an exhausting day, its kinda soothing to step into the rain. I do it often. Wanted to check if you wanna do it too.”

Way to go Levi, absolutely fuck everything up. Soothing? Are you fucking kidding me?

“Captain I don’t think that is healthy.” The doctor’s concern got worse. He was kinda scared whether she thinks he is suffering from some psychosis.

“Who cares..” Levi shrugged. “It’s rain. It's fun.”

“Captain, I’m sure your line of work is very stressful and you must find relief in any way you deem fit. However, I advise you.. that playing in the rain is prone to making you sick. But then again, as you said, your genes are strong so maybe you don’t get sick as much as normal people.”

“Yeah maybe” Levi didn’t know what else to say.

“I suppose it’s good to have fun Captain, but I must attend to my patients. Thank you for asking me to join your.. activity, maybe some other time.” She turned and left, her footsteps echoing in the hallways while Levi stood there pulling his hair in utter shame.

“Furrrrrrck”

—----

“HahHahAHahahahaha” Hange could not stop her laughter, hearing about Levi’s latest antic with Misstoic. He looked like a kicked puppy, brooding and cursing at every turn.

“fuck my life.” Levi cursed.

“Oh my god I can’t.. Hrrrgh hrrrrgh hahahahHaahaha” Hange continued to laugh, despite Levi hitting her with a duster.

“She literally said, but its raining outside like what woman doesn’t understand what going out means? Is she a psychopath?”

“She is just.. a little different, Captain.” Erwin, who was silently laughing under his pile of books and reports finally let himself known.

“Yeah well, her ‘little difference’ made me wanna fucking burrow myself into a grave and never come out.” Levi rubbed his temple.

“Listen, jokes aside. I think Misstoic just.. What works with her is honest to god straight up facts. You being coloquiel with your ‘going outs’ is not gonna work. Just tell her that you like her, and is romantically interested in her and would like to see her reciprocate or something. Sounds direct enough, right?” Hange asked Erwin. Erwin nodded.

“Well, both of you are delusional if I’m gonna try again.”

“Oh come on Levi, don’t give up. You were this close” Hange pressed her index and thumb together.

“I’m this close to hanging myself.” Levi imitated her gesture.

“Okay fine, if you’re too much of a pussy to do it yourself, why won’t you let me try to tell her on your behalf.”

“Foureyes I will kill you if you even breathe in her direction about this!”

“No Levi, Let one of us try. I mean Hange’s a researcher, I’m an academic, maybe we can speak her language.” Erwin said, closing the report that he had open.

“That’s an elaborate way to call me stupid.” Levi frowned.

“Well, if the tiny shoe fits-”

“Erwin do NOT test me I WILL destroy you-”

“Don’t be so testy, Levi-”

“Then stop TESTING ME!!!!!”

Erwin and Hange both cackled at Levi’s destraught. He got up, cursing himself for even trying to do something as stupid as date a woman. He cursed himself for catching feelings. It was stupid, him of all people should have known, Ackermans didn’t deserve to relax and feel happy and go on stupid fucking dates and share feelings and...

“You know what..” His voice sounded smaller than he intended to. “..just forget it. Forget the Doc, forget I ever wanted her, forget that I even tried.”

“Capt-”

“No Erwin I mean it. If either of you bring her up again, I’ll… I don’t know what I’ll do. But I’m done, just leave it alone.”

“Levi, we are just kidding man, come on..” Hange looked worried, just like the Doctor did at the hospital. He hated that.

“Let it go, Foureyes. I’m leaving.”

Chapter Text

“Did we just.. fuck up?” Hange looked at Erwin to break the silence left by Levi.

“Levi’s just being Levi.”

“Shame. I thought this was gonna go somewhere, honestly.”

“Yeah.”

“So do we let it go or..”

“You mad? When have we ever let something like this go. We need to get our man laid.” Erwin sounded like it was a mission to save humanity, and maybe it was, with Levi single handedly driving the survey corps forward, his sanity was important.

“Need to clear those cobwebs of celibacy” Hange agreed. “So.. who takes who?”

—--

“Commander?”

You stood infront of the Survey Corp Commander that had been waiting in your office until you completed rounds.

“Ah doctor, here you are.”

He said, standing up. You signaled him to sit back down and walked around the table. He waited until you were seated.

“Are you here for treatement, commander?”

“No. Well, treatment for a broken heart, maybe.”

You squinted. What is he talking about?

“A heart attack, you mean?” You asked to clarify.

The commander chuckled deep and mumbled to himself. “Levi wasn’t kidding.”

“Commander, are you having a stroke?”

“No, no. I’m actually here to ask for a favor from your medical staff.”

“Oh?”

“My soldiers.. aren’t particularly keen on getting their smaller injuries treated. And its my responsibility to keep then in shape. So, I thought, if they are not coming to the hospital, I’ll take the hospital to them.”

“You want to do a medical camp?”

“Precisely.”

“Why not order them to come to the hospital?”

“Doc, come on, I’m trying to motivate my soldiers to spend some time in a private tent with an attractive nurse, or a doctor.”

“I see..” you whispered. Commander was using positive reinforcement. You really didn’t have a problem with this approach, other than that this even was gonna cost you an entire day that should have been spent at the hospital treating patients. But after all, your hospital was almost always filled with soldiers, which meant you are just doing the same thing in a different location.

“I think your request is reasonable, commander. So when are you planning to do this? And I expect your soldiers will help us carry the equipment back and forth?”

“That can be arranged. It’s settled then, I’ll decide the date and let you know, doctor.”

Commander got ready to leave. You thought whether you should ask the commander about Captain Levi. You knew they were close friends, and you hadn’t seen the captain around in a while. You didn’t really think anything of it, other than your mind wondering about him once every night before bed.

“Commander,”

“Yes?”

“Will all the squads be there?”

Your question made the commander smirk. You didn’t know why you decided to phrase the question that way, when you wanted to ask about Captain Levi and his squad. Somehow it felt harder to do, with your cheeks burning a bit hotter. You touched your cheek softly.

“Yes, everybody will be there, including Hange’s and Levi’s”

His reply felt targeted, as if he was doing an experiment. Your lips stuttered slightly but his keen gaze told you that he caught it and that he was satisfied with the result.

“See you around, doctor.”

He left without ever letting go of that smirk.

—---

It was the day of the medical camp, which was happening at Military head quarters. As per the Commander’s strategic planning, the nurses and the doctors were dressed a bit more attractive. You did try to have an argument with the commander about him trying to sexualize your profession, but he counter argued that ‘the soldiers do not care.’

You didn’t waste much time thinking about it. Your whole job revolved around treating soldiers so on the agreed date, you and your colleagues set up camp at military Head quarters. The first half of the day went by without anything significant, except for soldiers who’d occassionally ask you to come join them for dinner and you refusing firmly. The very first ‘incident’ happened when the tent door opened wide with a loud soldier entered your tent.

“Hey doc, remember me!”

It was the soldier that crashed your window, Jean Kirstein.

Before you even warn him not to talk that loudly inside, a hand came through the parted tent door and yanked him out by the collar.

“Shoo. The adults are doing a thing.” You could hear Hange-san’s voice. Your forehead wrinkled curiously when she entered, dragging Captain Levi by the hand. Commander Erwin followed as usual.

“Hey Doc,” Hange-san greeted, without releasing Captain’s hand. He looked mortified and about to pass out.

“Is he okay?” You asked.

“I’m fine if I can kill these two fuckers!!” Captain growled, trying to twist his arm but Hange-san held on.

“Don’t worry about him, Doctor. We are actually here representing him.” Commander Erwin stepped up as the ‘dad’ of the group to explain.

“They kidnapped me. I was walking and they just dragged me in. This whole thing is an ambush and you..” Captain growled again at you. “..you are a pawn in their twisted game.”

“What twisted game?” You questioned.

“Doctor it’s not a game. We are-” Hange-san was talking with much interruptions from the Captain.

“Foureyes shut up!”

“- just trying to communicate you-”

“I’ll fucking kill you!”

“-that Levi here would like-”

“Please dont”

“-to Fornicate with you.”

The room went silent. You stood there, baffled by the request while the Captain just collapsed in shame when Hange-san let his hand go. Captain had all his blood drained out of his face, Commander Erwin looked as if he was about to explode into hysterical laughter at any given moment and you.. felt your cheeks burning up.

What did she just say..

For the first time in your life you didn’t trust your own senses. You weren’t sure if you heard them correctly, or whether this was reality. It felt like a bizarre dream. You were speechless, frozen.

“F- F- Fornicate?”

You stuttered at the word. Hange-san was blunt and to the point. You couldn’t get yourself to look at the Captain who was now just deadweight on the floor, given up on life. Hange-san spoke again.

“Yeah yeah, of course there would be the whole date, dinner, hand holding shebang but the end goal-”

“-to bang, yes.” Commander intercepted, and even you could appreciate his timing. If you weren’t so hung up on the meaning of this invitation you would have laughed.

“Can you prescribe me death” Captain whispered from the ground, still making no effort to get up.

“Doctor we have other things to attend to. Could you hurry with the answer?”

Commander urged, slightly jabbing his shoe into Captain’s back. You finally looked at the Captain who looked at you with helpless eyes.

“Okay.”

Her voice seemed to have sucked out everybody’s life out. Levi could not believe anything that was happening. Did she just.. Did she just say-

“Yes, I’ll go on a date with the Captain. But he does seem like he is being forced into it. In that ca-”

“No. no.” Levi stood up lightning fast. “I was just- nevermind. So tonight?” Levi didn’t want to miss this opportunity where Doctor had finally come out of her weird, misinterpreting shell. He could overthink everything later.

“No. Not tonight. Tomorrow.”

She replied.

“Great. That works. I’m leaving now.”

Levi turned fast to drag his friends outta there.

“Captain, wait.” The doctor called after him.

“Y-yes?”

“Aren’t you going to get yourself checked out?”

Levi now only remembered what this camp was all about.

“Ah no. I feel perfectly fine. Let’s go.”

He grabbed Hange and Erwin and stepped out.

—---

Levi dragged in a deep breath thanking gods for keeping Hange and Erwin’s mouths shut for the last bit of his conversation with the doctor. But his relief didn’t last when they started laughing like maniacs outside the tent.

“Stop! Stop laughing she’d hear you idiots!” Levi hissed, dragging them further away.

“It worked, it worked!” They were high-five-ing each other, and patting each other’s backs for a job well done. Even though Levi would never have admitted it out loud, he was kinda happy about their meddling that got him the opportunity to take the Doctor out on a date.

—-

“You should be grateful.” Erwin sat down at his office chair.

“Yeah Levi. You owe us a round or ten.” Hange agreed.

“Not a thing until I actually go on the date. If she ditch me I’m coming for your throat.” Levi tapped the blade he was cleaning.

Erwin: “You screwing up is not an excuse to kill us.”

Levi: “Of course it it, you two practically arranged-marriaged me”

Hange: “Because you were too much of a pussy to do it yourself.”

Levi: “I wasn’t being a pussy. I wasn’t interested in her.”

Hange: “He lies.”

Levi: “He doesn't.”

Erwin: “Just don’t fuck this up. We’d like to have more Ackerman soldiers in the army.”

Levi: “You know thats a fucked up thing to say. What man would want his children in the military at this day and age.”

Hange: “Glad to see you not having a fit when your future children are brought up.”

Levi paused. The thought to throw a tantrum never crossed his mind. He was even imagining not sending his kids to war.

Levi: “Fuck that shit. Just tell me what to do tomorrow and for the love of god, don’t bullshit me.”

Hange: “Excuse you, Have you met us?”

Levi: “Good point, I should just leave.”

Erwin: “No no. Wait, we'll brainstorm Levi’s first date.”

Levi: “It’s not my first date.”

Erwin: “Levi’s first date this decade”

Levi: “fuck your eyebrows”

Erwin: “Maybe later.”

Hange: “How’s your tongue game?”

Levi choked on air. He sighed loudly for subjecting himself to this freaking torture. But after all is said and done, sometimes they have surprisingly good insight.

Levi: “For kissing?”

Hange: “Haha.. Yeah sure. For that.”

Levi: “I dunno, shitty eyes. That sounds disgusting.”

Hange: “You prehistoric virgin.”

Erwin: “But you shouldn't go straight to shoving your tongue down her. Just.. start slow. Kiss her neck first.”

Hange: “Go straight for the throat, very Levi-like.”

Levi: “Sounds like a teenager’s monster fucking nightmare.”

Erwin: “You are way off base. Where are you even getting these notions from? I meant delicately, a nibble here, a kiss there. You should definitely practice.”

Levi: “Are you volunteering?”

He knew the moment that question left his mouth that he was fucked. Erwin looked far too pleased with the opportunity to reply to that.

Here we go again.

Erwin: “Levi you know how I’d do anything for you. Tongue or no tongue-”

Levi: “Please no.”

Erwin: “But you gotta do something for me. Just close your eyes and imagine me as a tall, obsessive-”

Levi: “You ARE a tall, obsessive-”

Erwin: “Oh.. yeah.. there you go”

Levi: “-idiot”

Chapter Text

The night didn’t go fast enough, and slow enough. Levi had counted every crack on his ceiling and walls, twice.

“Maybe Erwin is right.” He talked to himself, sitting down on the bed. “Maybe I do need practice.”

No human could ever make him this nervous. He worried that the Doctor was just doing this for whatever bullshit reason that was concocted in her weird brain and not because she actually wanted to spend time with him. If that was the case, Levi’s mind reacted to the situation in the worst way possible. He was gonna make her like him, whatever the fuck that meant.

This is so fucking stupid. Why would I want her to like me? He groaned.

Don’t start. You like her and you want her. Simple as that. Another voice in his head replied.

“Want her, what does that even fucking mean?” He argued with himself until dawn.

—-

He had sent the doctor a note on where to meet him and when, a tea shop tucked away in the outskirts of the city where he knew nobody and nobody knew him. It was quiet and dimly lit, and Levi knew he was way too early when he checked the time before entering the shop.

He didn't want to seem so eager, so he took off again, forcing himself to fly around the city once more. He assumed it would take up a reasonable time, and by the end of his impromptu trip, he entered the shop 4 minutes later than he had mentioned on his note. And she was already there, sitting at a table, reading the menu.

His knees wobbled slightly as he walked towards her, sitting at a corner table, lit enough for Levi to notice the slight red color on her lips. The doctor has worn makeup for her date.

“You’re late, Captain.” She looked up at him and said flatly.

“I know. I was here before and- never mind. Sorry, I’m late.” He sat down, pushing his gear under the booth.

“You ordered yet?” He asked. She shook her head, handing the menu to him.

He went through it, not because he wanted to, he already knew what he was going to get. He couldn’t think of anything to say and her silence wasn’t helping either. Suddenly, Levi was hoping either Hange or Erwin was there to make a joke.

“How’s the hospital?” He finally looked over the menu and met her eyes.

“Same as always, Captain.”

“So.. Grown ass men thinking a little cold is the Death waving at them?” he tried to make a joke, make it less awkward.

“Well, men are more susceptible to bacterial infections.”

He couldn’t understand if she was adding to the joke or just spitting facts as usual.

“How’s your squad, Captain?” her question was more of a forced attempt than real interest, he could tell. But he humored her anyway.

“Kirstein’s annoyed that I didn’t let him into your tent.”

“Oh? Why didn’t you?”

“Because he is a brat. They are all brats.”

She smiled politely. Levi was thankful that the waitress interrupted.

“Black tea, please.” The doctor looked up at the waitress.

“Same for me.” Levi nodded.

“Will be right back.” She left.

Another thick patch of awkward silence started to smother Levi. The doctor didn’t seem the least bit bothered. She just stared ahead, at him, while his eyes darted everywhere but he couldn’t avoid her gaze for too long. At last, he had to look at her.

“Nice.. um.. Nice color..” He pointed at his own lips.

“Your lips?” She also pointed at his lips. “Ah no you meant mine. I see. Yes, thank you. A friend chose it for me.”

“You have friends.” Levi stated it with mild disbelief. She didn’t seem the type of person who hung out with anybody outside work. Maybe it was the research geeks she was talking about that day.

“I do. A few.”

“What do they do?”

“Scientists.. Doctors”

“I knew it, the geeks!”

“You know my friends?”

“Not in the literal sense, no.”

“Mm..”

The conversation was going nowhere. He could not think of a single thing that would pique both their interests. And just when he thought things couldn’t get any worse, she decided to start the conversation again.

“Captain,”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t think this works.”

“What?”

“This.. date.” she said as if the word was so unfamiliar. “We are supposed to talk, and understand and such, are we not?”

“Yeah……” Levi sighed. “That’s how it usually goes”

“I’m aware that I am a poor conversationalist.” She tapped the table.

“I’m not so great either.” Levi imitated her and tapped the table. Her eyes fixated on his hand.

“It seems as if we aren’t compatible for companionship.”

For some reason, Levi thought that her words were getting increasingly professional. He wasn’t sure if he had imagined it, or if that was the way she always talked. But with the silence around them, and the downward spiral the night was going, he couldn’t think straight. It hurt. Levi wanted this to work. After what felt like a century, he had finally given himself a chance and it was going down the drain, possibly due to him being the worst person to talk to.

“It seems we are, Doctor.” he muttered, looking at a scratch on the table. He pressed his soles to the floor to stay grounded. From the corner of his eyes, he saw her checking her own pulse. He remembered her doing the same when he was at her apartment.

“You okay?” He voiced his concern.

“Yes, I am. Though every time I meet you, my heart rate elevates.”

With that one, clinically accurate sentence, she lit hopes back up in Levi’s heart.

“Really?” He tried to lower his voice, but it came out way louder than intended.

“Truly.”

“I uh.. Me too. I mean.. mine too.”

“Your heart rate elevates when you meet me?”

“I wouldn’t put it exactly like that, Doctor.”

“Oh?”

“My heart beats a little faster when I see you.”

“That’s the same condition I mentioned.”

“You sounded like you are diagnosing some illness.”

“And you?”

“I sounded like an idiot.”

She chukled at that. The waitress interrupted them to place two cups of steaming tea in front of them and left. This time it was unfortunate; they had a flow going on that was broken and seemed to stay broken. But with this newfound hope, Levi was gonna try again.

Ask her something, fast.

“The clothes you let me last time..when I was.. That day when I..”

“When you came through my window the second time?”

“Yes, that day. God, that sounded like I have a habit of doing that, didn’t it?”

“Twice isn’t a habit.”

“My friends don’t think that way.”

“Your friends being Squad Leader Hange-san and Commander Erwin?”

“Yeah, those little shits. Anyway, what I was gonna ask is, the clothes you let me that day, whose were they? Just curious.” Levi added to reel in some of the dignity he was losing, sounding all jealous.

“Ah.. an old lover’s.”

Levi’s brain went numb. More than jealousy, it was the over-analyzing part of his brain going haywire.

She said LOVER. Not ex, not ex-boyfriend. Not even ‘an old boyfriend.’ Lover! Who says LOVER! Okay I’d never go that far. This is never gonna work. I’m doomed. Should just give up.

“Lover?” He whispered.

“Yes. I hope it was alright. They were properly cleaned, if that's what you were worried about.”

“Yeah… right..”

“Captain, are you okay?”

“Yeah no.. yeah.. I’m fine. Kinda surprised to hear you had an ex, Doc.”

“Are you trying to say that I’m so repulsive that nobody-”

“What, repulsive? NO! No. Dammit, you seem like a workaholic, doc. That’s what I meant.”

“Ah.. I see. Yes, that I am.”

Levi let out a long sigh, took a sip of his tea and calmed his nerves.

“Tell me about this lover of yours.”

“Ex” she corrected.

“Ex-lover”

His plan was to simply learn who this ex was, and be better than him.

“He was a noble.”

Fuuuuuuuuuurrrck.

—--

By the end of that conversation, Levi had learned more about himself than he did about the doctor’s ex. He hated that she talked about this man like he did the greatest fucking things on earth. Like he was such a philanthropist. Like he volunteered entire weeks at hospitals. Like he single-handedly built her mausoleums. Like he invented gravity.

Fuck Gravity, I can fucking fly.

Levi was bothered to his very core. It was just the fact that he thought she wouldn’t be interested in such stupid things like relationships. He was supposed to be the exception. But apparently, he wasn’t.

“You have been staring at that same scratch on the table for two and a half minutes now.”

The doctor grabbed his attention back. He realized she had finished talking about her ex-lover quite some time ago. He regretted asking her about this topic, so he decided to redirect the conversation to soothe his aching heart a bit.

“Before the city, where did you work?”

“In a remote hospital, near the wall. Small village.”

“That’s a big jump, isn’t it? From a small village hospital to Central Hospital in Trost?”

“You could say that, yes.”

“Why?”

“I received an ear.”

“A year?”

“No, ear.” She pointed at her ear. Levi was still lost.

“Explain.”

“I was tasked with saving a guy’s life. I could not save him. He was… a bit of an influence in that area. And because I failed to save his life, though it was obvious that even a miracle would have been ineffective at that point, his supporters decided that my incompetence should be rewarded with a severed ear and fingers. They were wrapped in a parcel and left at my doorstep as a warning.”

“Ear? And fingers? Whose fucking fingers?”

“Didn’t quite figure that out, actually.”

“Your life is weird as fuck, doc.”

“Yes, it would be quite abnormal to receive such a threat, wouldn’t it? Somehow, it made me rethink my life a bit more. Thought my skills would be more appreciated in the city.”

Levi nodded. Even though she was dubbed Misstoic and generally identified as a hardass, Levi himself has heard soldiers refer to her as an angel. He imagined it was nice to see her face when you are recovering from surgery. With that face, she could have been knee deep in his organs and he would have said thanks.

“..besides, all your reckless soldiers and their injuries are paying me well.”

Levi could not agree more. She earned more by treating the injuries of the soldiers than he did by leading them to get those injuries. And her shower had hot water, which was the epitome of wealth.

All this finger talk had hyper-fixated Levi on her fingers that were rhythmically tapping on the table. Her other hand was covering the teacup. He moved his own hand an inch.

“Why are you covering the cup? There’s a ceiling, you don’t have to worry.” He initiated another point of conversation.

“My hands have poor circulation. The steam helps.”

“Ah. I see. Are you always very literal? Or is it just you trying to keep me off balance?”

“I’m always literal, yes. But I do see that you’re agitated slightly. You have been for quite a while now.”

“That’s because you just blurt out unhinged things, straight cuts, no warnings”

“I do like clean incisions.”

“Was that.. Was that a pun?” He moved his hand an inch again.

She thought for a bit and chuckled.

“It was, but it was not intentional.”

“With all this fuckery, I think you’re more dangerous than a titan.”

“Against you, I do have a better survival rate than them.”

She looked at him directly. He laughed, he just couldn’t help it.

“You should do that more often, Captain.”

“What, laugh?”

“Yes. It makes you look better. I think your facial muscles would thank you.”

Levi snorted. “Ouch. Okay, I look old.” He took another sip of his tea and moved his free hand an inch again.

“Not at all. Your features are very..” she paused to find the right word. “..attractive.”

He choked on his tea but forced himself not to make the slightest indication. Jaw clenched, he gulped down the tea that was stuck in his throat.

Should I tell her that she is beautiful too? No, what if I messed it up again and say some shit like the last time I blurted out about a pair of tits? Say it but slowly. Slooooowly. No messing up.

Levi opened his mouth, nothing came out. He cleared his throat. Thought a bit more. Opened his mouth again. Cleared his throat again.

“Are you ill?” She asked, Levi could see the metaphorical stethoscope ready on her hand.

“No.”

“Then why are you making sick noises?”

If Levi could, he would have melted to the floor.

“I’m tryna start a sentence and you keep diagnosing me.”

“You could start the sentence.”

“I could.”

They stared at each other while Levi internally reassembled his courage.

“You said your hands get cold, right?”

“I said, I have poor circulation”

“Same thing”

“Not medically.”

“Fine..h” Levi gritted through his teeth. “Poor circulation.”

He looked at her hand. Looked at his hand which he was slowly inching toward hers for the last ten minutes.

“So uh.. You want some help with that?” He stuttered, and cursed himself. The silence stretched.

“Are you offering medical assistance or physical contact?” She was calm, as if she was asking if he wanted tea, or coffee. Levi’s heart was racing against his rib cage.

“The second one.” He regretted not putting a blade through his own heart and killing himself the moment he caught feelings.

“Okay.”

“Okay as in okay I understand what you're saying or okay you can-”

“Okay as in, Captain, you should put your hand in mine.”

Chapter Text

Captain’s hand had enveloped your cold fingers. You could see and feel that his touch was unsure and unsteady, you were skeptical about his ‘titan killing abilities’ when he trembled this much at the mere touch of another human being, but the warmth.. Oh, the warmth.

These cold, rainy days had your hands in a constant state of unusability. Every day, you consumed an insane amount of warm fluid and kept your hands covered so that you wouldn’t make mistakes at the hospital. Even then, sometimes patients audibly groaned when your fingers touched them. You didn’t care that deeply about their discomfort, not when your cold dead hands were the ones keeping them alive, but right now your right hand was jealous of your left.

You didn’t need to take your pulse anymore; you could hear your own heartbeat as if you were nearing some kind of a medical emergency. You stared at the skin-on-skin contact between you and Captain Levi, taking deep breaths to loosen the knots tightening in your stomach, observing while the world around you blurred into the distance.

“Your hands are small” You whispered, still not taking your eyes away.

“The hell is that supposed to mean!?” the Captain hissed, tightening his grip a bit as if his body was contradicting itself. You tilted your head, not understanding why he would be mad over a simple observation. But you explained anyway.

“Hands like yours are meant for subtle things. They are efficient. I’ve seen similar features in competent professionals.”

“My hands are.. competent?” there was a smirk tugging at his lips.

“I assume so. ODM Gear requires much control, does it not?”

“That’s not the only thing my hands are good at.” He said, moving his thumb slightly over your knuckle. The stiffness of his fingers had reduced. Your heart felt like it was going to come out of your mouth. Stomach felt like you had swallowed a bug. A huge bug.

What is happening to me?

“What else, then?” You questioned and you could see him swallowing a laugh but the stutter in his voice had returned as he tried to explain to you what he meant.

“It’s.. its just an expression. Um.. innuendo..technically.. just forget it.”

He grabbed his cup and sipped. You had noticed he says that a lot. Just forget it. Nevermind.

But you couldn’t. Captain Levi had a way of staying in your mind. Besides, you had a hunch what he was trying to do.

“Were you flirting?”

Your question made him pause his movements. The cup hung midair as he stared at you, half-surprised. Half-amused.

“What if I was?” He settled the cup down. You were going to question him later about the peculiar way he held his teacup. Right now, you have to give your honest opinion.

“Then I’d say you aren't really good at it.”

“Tsk” he looked away and looked back at you. “Cut me some slack, I wasn't issued a manual for this.”

“If there was one, I’d have gladly requested a copy for tonight.”

“Was that you flirting back?”

“That was me expressing that I’d like to, but lack the ability to properly do so but in a nutshell, yes, Captain.”

He laughed again. The same pleasant smile that seemed to brighten up the dim empty shop. He seemed more relaxed now, leaning back on his seat instead of his rigid military posture, and his thumb had started idly tracing a back-and-forth pattern over your knuckle. No matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t get over that sensation, but instead of setting your skin on fire, this time it was soothing you. You knew why it was; it was activating a primal feeling inside of you. Understanding that silently staring at his hand would be unfitting for the occasion, and could result in him stopping what he was doing, but unable to still get away from the aforesaid trance, you decided to talk about it.

“Humans…” you started. “..have this thing built into their skin.” you were searching for the right words.

“What thing?”

“It’s primarily used by mothers when soothing young children. We are sort of naturally accustomed to being.. calmed and soothed when somebody brushes our skin at a certain frequency.”

“Frequency?”

“Every stroke stretches about 3 seconds. Mothers do that while breastfeeding their babies. But.. It works on adults too.”

“Why are you suddenly telling me about moms stroking their babies?”

As the answer, you looked at his hand, absentmindedly brushing your skin, guiding him to look too. The stroking stopped for a moment.

“Oh..” He exhaled. His fingers tightened slightly again. “Do you not want me t-”

“I do. I want you to.”

You knew your answer was eager. But the smile on his face was worth it.

—---

The rest of the hour Levi was playing hide and seek with his courage. Sometimes he was relaxed, sometimes he stressed so much about what to say. He chose jokes he thought she would laugh at, tiptoed around innuendos and avoided crass shitty veteran jokes.

—

“Aren’t you gonna fly back, Captain?”

She asked when they stepped out of the shop. He had his gear in one hand which he hadn’t put on.

“I’ll walk you.” He didn’t wanna say goodbye.

“It’s only a couple of blocks.”

“I’m aware.”

She didn’t argue further as they fell into step with each other. Now she had both her hands tucked away in her coat pockets and Levi didn’t really have an excuse to hold them without directly expressing his desire to do so. But he wasn’t there yet.

“Thank you for tonight, Captain.” The doctor said unprompted.

“Wasn’t a favor.” Levi was worse at taking compliments than at taking insults.

“Didn’t take it as one. I just like your company.”

Levi smiled at the wind.

“Enough to do it again?”

She didn’t answer straightaway. They walked, the sound of their footsteps echoing in the street pavements and old walls. He had just noticed her shoes, the heels. He realized that they were slowing her pace significantly, and she just stopped and started to take them off.

“Yes.” She finally answered his question while bending over to take off her other shoe. He sighed a breath of relief, mentally forcing himself not to be too hasty about it. He should let her breathe before setting another date. She stood up, taking her heels in hand.

“Why did you wear them?” He questioned because he didn’t think she would be the type of person who would choose fashion over comfort, not that he disliked it. Her slender legs benefited quite well from the black heels.

“Because you chose them.” She answered, continuing to walk. Levi worried about her bare foot gracing the rough pavement, but she didn’t seem to mind.

“I chose them?” He was confused for a moment and then remembered that those were the shoes that he pulled out from under her bed the day Kirstein crashed the window. He felt like everything she did had a memory attached to it.

“Yes, the day-”

“I remember.”

“Mmm”

He wondered why she thought he chose them for her. It was simply the closest thing there was. She needed shoes not to get cut by the shards. But she treated everything as special. The tea cup, the note, the shoes.

Am I just imagining things?

“We are here, Captain.”

Levi turned to her, tightening his grip on the ODMG.

“Thanks for going out with me, Doc.”

“Wasn’t doing you a favor, Captain.”

They both smiled, but she continued. “..And sorry for misunderstanding what going out meant, when you asked me first.”

“At least you are learning.”

“I am.”

“Okay yeah.. So..” he hesitated not knowing what he should say before parting. There was a drizzle, indicating that it was gonna rain hard tonight. If he wanted to make it in time, he would have to leave right now. But still, he wanted to stay one more moment. So he started putting on his gear, asking her to hold onto the blades.

“I had a good time.” She muttered, keeping the blades away from his face as he leaned to fasten the belts on his thigh.

“Me too, doc.” He straightened.

The breath was misting the air between them and glowing under the streetlight. He grabbed the blades from her hands, one she let go without much resistance, but he accidentally brushed her hand, getting the blade that was in her left. They both froze, staying so damn still as the heat from Levi’s fingers radiated into the Doctor’s skin. She was gazing so deeply into his eyes, he couldn’t pull away. She was roping him in with that look.

Without thinking, he leaned, closing his eyes and hoping to meet her lips for a kiss but his aim had been wrong. His lips braced the corner of her mouth in an uncoordinated, quick mess of a kiss before he pulled away fast.

“Cap’n-”

“Sorry ah.. I- fuck.. Goodnight, Doc.”

Levi yanked the blade from her hand and took off, flying past her with the embarrassment creeping onto his face and burning his eart-ips.

Levi’s heart was beating too fast as his thoughts were screaming at him for being a fucking disappointment. When he finally made it to his room, unable to avoid the rain, soaking wet and cursing, he unlocked the door. Keys jingled as the background music to his self-hating rant.

“Levi you are an incompetent fucking idio- What the fuck!”

He drew his blades to the two figures inside, only to realize it was Hange and Erwin waiting for him in his room.

“How the fuck did you get in?! I locked my fucking door!”

“That’s not the issue here Levi, how was the date?” Erwin had somehow gotten into Levi’s teaset and had made himself a cup of tea.

“GET THE FUCK OUT! OUT! BOTH OF YOU!!” Levi yelled at his friends. All he wanted to do was to get out of his wet clothes and smother himself with the pillow thinking about the embarrassment he had caused himself.

“Woah, that bad huh?” Hange nodded but made no effort to exit the room.

“I FUCKED UP, OKAY? ARE YOU HAPPY? I FUCKED UP! The date was great, everything was perfect, and she was great, and I fucked up tryna kiss her!”

“You tried to kiss her? What happened, did she slap you?”

“WHY ARE YOU ASKING THAT WITH A SMILE IN YOUR FUCKING FACE FOUREYES! HUH????”