nerd

check cw labeled at the top of each story !!

DNI:

• homophobes, transphobes, racists, sexists, MAGA, ereri shippers, bigots and creeps in general ✌️

this is a safe space, be chill

levi ackerman x mauri (oc) fanfics:

• losing isabel and furlan

• rebellious

• rough day

• reminiscing

• idiot

• return from shiganshina

• liberio

• before heaven and earth - chapter 1

• after heaven and earth - chapter 2

levi ackerman x mauri (oc) art:

• cuddling

• these dinguses ❤️‍🩹

aot art

• levi

• more levi

• wings of freedom

art in general

• character design: angel

emotionally preparing myself for ep 8 today by drawing my little chudling jax

mauri and levi 💕

cw: references past events from the no regrets ova so death and grief are involved. hurt/comfort kinda stuff. also very slight cussing.

levi shivered alone in the scout graveyard, knees tucked up to his chest and eyes just barely peeking out from the cover of his arms. rain pelted mercilessly against the now weathered headstone levi was curled up behind labeled “isabel magnolia.” he remembered when it was new and clean.

water droplets gathered at the headstone’s edges and the tips of levi’s hair like jewels, before falling from grace and returning to muddied earth. it was the eighth anniversary of isabel and furlan’s death, and the skies never failed to strike a ruthless storm upon the land. levi didn’t care, he never missed coming out here. it was a personal obligation for him.

levi felt filthy. so damn disgusting, he could throw up. why was he the one allowed to live, to gather public admiration and worst of all, to fall in love? his friends had wanted those things too. what made him so deserving?

it was cold and levi couldn’t feel his body anymore. it wasn’t his body anymore. a familiar sickness clawed at his chest and threatened to burst through his ribcage with the ferocity of a wild animal. he gritted his teeth and swallowed it down before it could escape.

“i’m sorry,” he uttered out into the curtains of fog surrounding him. he felt so, so small.

“levi?”

levi shot up and swiveled to look behind him defensively. mauri stood at the foot of isabel’s grave with a black umbrella leaning against their shoulder and a black trench coat clutched tight against the vicious wind.

“what are you-“ they stopped mid sentence. they knew what he was doing there. it was the same thing that they were.

“didn’t like being inside all day,” levi grunted. he turned back around to curl into a ball of rain-soaked clothes. mauri moved to stand beside him so that their umbrella was hovering over.

“is this spot taken?” they gestured down with their eyes to where their shoes were planted in the ground.

“you’ll get mud on your ass,” levi answered. mauri stared at him blankly. “it’s not,” he added.

his partner slumped beside him, back against the headstone and legs outstretched. levi’s posture opened up a bit, an invitation for them to loop their arm around his. mauri’s thumb brushed back and forth over his bicep soothingly.

“you’ll catch a cold,” they spoke.

“tch. that’s not how colds work,” he said flatly.

“you’re impossible.” mauri shot him a glare and nudged his side gently with their elbow. a couple minutes of comfortable silence passed before levi broke it.

“eight years and there’s still new graves like this every mission. it hasn’t gotten any better.” his eyes shifted to meet mauri’s, which had noticeably saddened. they hesitated for a second before answering.

“i think it has,” they began. mauri took a small breath and smiled at him. they had a tragically beautiful smile. “they’d be proud of you, captain.”

levi’s eyes widened just barely before he averted his gaze and huddled a little bit closer to them.

the two didn’t say much after that. the storm eventually let up and mauri hopped to their feet.

“it’s dinnertime and i’m hungry,” they declared. levi’s eyes were focused on the ground as they had been for a while.

“there hasn’t been anything appealing on the menu for weeks, but you can check,” he responded.

“we are not going to eat in the shit in the mess hall. it’s inedible,” mauri insisted, appalled.

“you haven’t been gone from the scout regiment long enough to forget that, huh?” levi scoffed. there was no malice behind his banter. he looked up to find them offering their outstretched hand.

“i don’t think i ever will,” mauri shuddered. levi took their hand, pulling himself to his feet. a dash of color out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. on the other side of isabel’s headstone, beneath the writing rested a small bouquet of purple and white flowers. furlan’s had one as well.

“so you’re the one who’s been leaving these,” he murmured. mauri chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of their neck.

“i like to come a bit earlier in the day,” they explained. “you know, when it’s not fucking pouring outside.” they raised an eyebrow at levi. he stared back at them. had they really both been coming out here on the same day every year without noticing? levi supposed it wasn’t really something that either of them talked about much. especially him.

cw: the villains of the story (other scouts) are transphobic and physically abuse mauri when levi isn’t around to defend them (they can defend themself on their own, but it’s still nice to have their ally bf to help them out when people are being awful). there’s also slight references to childhood sexual trauma regarding mauri’s backstory.

it had been an unfortunate day. training was absolute hell and mauri had taken a solid roughing-up from some particularly unpleasant scouts.

levi was out on a separate assignment with erwin and hange, so there were no scary dog privileges to hold back the “comrades” who were less than accepting of mauri’s identity. true, they could defend themself decently well, but it was an upsetting experience nevertheless. especially because they had been up against four much bigger guys completely alone. needless to say, it wasn’t a fair fight.

fall leaves rustled in the breeze outside. mauri slumped in their seat at the scout base’s bar, lazily tracing shapes on the wooden counter with their finger. there was no more alcohol to steal, and their secret stash was completely empty. they truly were in hell.

levi, erwin and hange miraculously returned from their adventures at that exact moment of misery. mauri’s mood lifted a bit at the sound of three horses’ hooves clattering. hange brought back cool bugs for them sometimes. they turned to look out the window, eyes instantly landing on the another person they had been waiting to see all day. they really needed one of his hugs right about then.

mauri and levi were in the earlier stages of dating. they were both awkward people and the concept of a healthy relationship was new for them. even so, things felt surprisingly easy with levi. mauri didn’t feel like they were performing some kind of parody of themself around him like they had with past boyfriends.

the couple liked to surprise each other with sudden acts of affection when one found the other alone somewhere. mauri tended to be more animated about it, grasping levi’s hand in theirs and twirling him around as if they were dancing, or bombarding him with cheek kisses (all with his consent, of course). levi typically stuck to sneaking up next to mauri with his unnervingly silent walk, gently bumping shoulders or grazing fingers. he always made sure that they were aware of his presence before touching them because of their childhood (which can be unpacked later), and mauri did the same for him.

as soon as levi found them sitting alone at the bar counter, he did so as usual. he was a bit taller than them when they were sitting in a stool and he was standing beside them. even after nodding permission, mauri flinched at his touch. hard. the two of them froze, levi in confusion. his partner mumbled a “sorry,” their face twisting into a look of shame.

“don’t be,” levi reassured them. mauri laced their fingers with his and gave his hand a light squeeze in response.

“rough day?” levi queried.

“you could say that,” they sighed. levi noticed a ring of bruises around mauri’s wrist, which they hastily concealed with the sleeve of their shirt. his eyes drifted to a similar ring of bruises around their throat, as well as scrapes on their knuckles and chin. mauri was abnormally tense.

“who?” levi’s voice was mostly monotone, but there was an undeniably soft edge to it.

“i took care of it,” mauri turned their face away from him. anger began to burn beneath levi’s ribs. mainly towards the perpetrators, but partially towards himself for having been away.

“what did they-“

“i said i took care of it,” mauri snapped. their hair covered their eyes, but not the quiver of their bottom lip. the hand that wasn’t holding onto levi’s clenched into a fist. they felt humiliated.

mauri shifted their eyes back up to look at him. he had practically wilted at the tone of their voice, and guilt tied a knot in their stomach instantly.

“i’m sorry. i’m not mad at you,” they mumbled.

“i know.” levi was about to release his hold on mauri’s hand when they tugged him closer. they looped their arms around his waist, snuggling up against his chest. levi was so wonderfully warm despite the chill outside, and the rhythm of his heartbeat in mauri’s ear quieted their mind a bit. he sighed and slid his hands up to their shoulders from their collarbone. levi drifted one hand to cup the side of their neck, his thumb soothing over the edge of their jaw and the spot below their ear. when mauri released the embrace and looked up at him, he brushed their hair out of their face before making his way to the other side of the counter. it was a small gesture, but it meant a lot coming from levi.

“green or black?” he asked. he began rummaging through the cupboards for the shitty tea the base bothered enough to provide.

“green,” mauri answered. they leaned forward in their stool, resting their chin on their palm.

“tch, i question your tastes,” levi huffed. mauri grinned.

“opposites attract.”

“i suppose so.”

new oc for a story i’m writing ‼️

i haven’t named her yet

cw: spoilers for no regrets ova

oc context: mauri was a scout and best friends with hange when levi joined. a few years after furlan and isabel died, levi became captain and mauri dropped out of the regiment to found their volunteering relief organization.

the scouting mission that day could not have gone more horrifically. mauri spent their evening in the med unit. their injury was nothing too serious, but it was enough of a gash to leave a nasty scar on their arm. the smell of blood clung to their nostrils, but who they were really worried about was their friend levi. or whatever they were to each other. mauri was in no rush to have that conversation with him yet.

they hadn’t received any news about who in the group had died yet, but they knew he was alive because they saw him in erwin’s squad during the ride back to wall maria. mauri had always been one to pay attention to body language, and something was clearly off about his.

whatever was wrong with levi, they figured it couldn’t hurt to bring him some tea. they paid enough attention to how he liked it to ensure that it would taste adequate.

the longer mauri scoured the regiment base, the more anxious they became. levi was nowhere they normally found him. his uniform and gear were sprawled across the floor in front of his bed, which was something he would never let happen on a regular day. finally, mauri stepped out onto a balcony where he sat alone on the ledge.

“mind if i join you?” they asked.

“no,” levi replied quietly. he didn’t look at them. worried, they scoffed to break the tension.

“it took me so long to find you that this tea started cooling off.” they took a seat beside him and nudged a teacup towards him as if they were coaxing out a stray cat with food. levi turned to stare at it.

“thank you,” he mumbled. he reached for the cup, stopping himself for a second before taking it in his hands. he typically avoided accepting drinks from people because of his time spent in the underground. the warmth sunk into his palms. a moment of thoroughly awkward silence passed.

“so…where are the other two?” mauri inquired, casually kicking their feet that dangled off the balcony ledge. a little voice in their head whispered an answer that they didn’t want to listen to yet. the way levi stiffened at their question made the voice louder and more difficult to ignore.

“they…i-“ levi stuttered. his lips quivered and he turned away to hide his face. mauri stilled. they understood.

“i see,” they whispered. they thought for a moment. “there’s not much i can say that’ll make you feel better right now, huh?” they prodded gently, watching the distant view of the mountains before them.

“no.”

furlan and isabel were dead. just like that. mauri had been wrestling isabel over the last of the butter that very morning and furlan had chuckled as he watched. that was only hours ago, and now both were gone. slaughtered by titans like so many scouts before. the feeling constricted their lungs mercilessly.

mauri turned their gaze to levi, who’s shoulders had begun to gently shake. they froze, stunned. he was crying. it was subtle, almost silent, but levi was definitely crying. his body was slightly hunched forward and his hands gripped the ledge like his life depended on it. the feeling in mauri’s chest twisted deeper.

they extended their hand, palm facing the stars as an offer for levi to take it. he saw out of the corner of his eye and intertwined his fingers with theirs without hesitation. he shifted closer to them ever so slightly, still hiding his face by keeping his head turned away.

“are you cold?” mauri asked, watching levi’s chest rise and fall with quiet heaves. all he had on were his pants and uniform undershirt. he was visibly shivering from the night air clawing at his skin.

he wiped his eyes hastily with his forearm and nodded. he had no energy to put on any sort of tough front after everything that had just happened.

mauri unclasped their emerald cloak and draped it over levi’s shoulders. he clutched it tighter around himself, snuggling into the warmth. it smelled like them.

“what’s stopping you from freezing now?” he asked, eyes shifting to meet theirs. he looked utterly devastated and exhausted.

“i run warm,” mauri replied. they didn’t. they ran quite cold, actually. levi responded with a short “hm” as his expression softened. the moon cast a heavenly glow on his sharp features, and mauri couldn’t help but stare.

“what?” levi broke the silence, which had been more comfortable for once that night.

“i’m just glad you came back safe,” they replied with a small smile.

“that’s sappy.” levi was blushing.

“well, it’s true,” mauri shot back, elbowing him gently. now they were both blushing. “drink your tea, idiot.”

“yes sir,” he sighed.

cw: there’s light cussing but otherwise it’s all fluff!

photo below posted by n0th1ba_iprom1se on pinterest

the strategy meeting levi had been dragged into finally ended after an agonizing amount of time spent watching a ticking grandfather clock and brooding. the dumb shits in the military police stormed out of the room and slammed the tall wooden doors. they had evidently been prodded by erwin’s monotone passive aggression one too many times.

levi was in a particularly foul mood. he was running on two hours of sleep (granted, this was the typical amount of sleep he got) and it was catching up to him. somewhere close in front, hange prattled on about their newest titan experiments to erwin at painful decibels. levi couldn’t keep his eyes open for long before his vision started to blur. he was utterly miserable.

the loud slamming of a door jolted levi from his thoughts, his eyes flying open in startle. the tension in his shoulders relented when he saw mauri barging in, holding up a brown paper bag in their grasp.

“i brought lunch!!!” they boomed. they shared hange’s lack of volume control. mauri leaned forward against the meeting table, sleeves rolled up to their elbows as hange tore open the bag like it was the first meal of their life. everyone and everything was so fucking loud.

“levi, come eat with us,” hange mumbled between comically large bites of their sandwich.

“yeah,” levi sighed in response. he wasn’t annoyed with them, just exhausted. sometimes people confused the two. he made his way from his chair in the corner of the room.

“you look lively,” mauri commented, tossing levi a sandwich. luckily, his reflexes weren’t so dulled that he couldn’t catch it.

“thanks,” he murmured groggily. mauri studied his face for a second before giving a small nod of understanding and beginning to unwrap his sandwich for him. levi was a picky eater (though he would never admit it) so his partner had to master the intricate art of ordering food for him through observation.

“open wide,” mauri grinned. they pushed his sandwich towards his face. levi blinked at them, glanced at hange and erwin, and then blinked at them again.

“i am not doing that,” he said flatly.

“why won’t you let me be nice to you,” mauri groaned. they slumped dramatically in their chair.

“there’s a difference between kindness and coddling,” he shot back. it came out a bit harsher than he meant for it to, and mauri cocked an eyebrow at him. they had also learned not to take his moods too personally, but they’d be damned if they didn’t give him a little pushback.

“sorry…” he muttered, looking to the floor.

“eat your sandwich, idiot,” mauri nudged his foot with theirs under the table. “idiot” was a word of endearment coming from them.

hange watched the lovers banter further with cheeks full of sandwich. sometimes they would throw in an “oooh!” with crumbs flying out of their mouth. this was more entertaining research for them than their titan experiments. erwin had gotten bored and was scrawling things on some map.

levi felt a lot better being by mauri. after the four finished lunch they moved to sit on the sofa in erwin’s office to do some paperwork. that was when he did something only a truly delirious man would do.

mauri had taken their hair out of their usual braids and was focused on embroidering something to another one of his old shirts. holding a document with one hand, levi lifted his other to absentmindedly play with mauri’s hair. this wasn’t an unusual occurrence for the two of them, and mauri quite liked the way his calloused fingertips sometimes massaged their scalp. what made this instance unusual is that he never did it in front of people.

mauri had told levi before that if he changed his mind about public affection, the offer was always open, but they weren’t going to require that of him. apparently today was the day he changed his mind. he didn’t even know that he had until he looked up and saw hange and erwin watching him with wide eyes. mauri had a small smirk on their face but didn’t look up from their project.

“what are you looking at,” levi chided at his coworkers. his ears and cheeks turned bright red, but he didn’t take his hand away from carding through mauri’s hair. erwin and hange slowly turned their gaze back to their paperwork in unison without a word. the corners of hange’s mouth twitched, suppressing a smirk of their own.

cw: smoking weed, mildly suggestive

(i couldn’t find credits for the photo but it was posted by lelesako on pinterest so 🤷)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

oc context: mauri and levi met when they were both scouts, but mauri dropped out a few years later to set up their volunteering relief organization. this fic takes place when levi was a relatively newer scout.

“i figured you’d be out here,” levi’s voice caught mauri’s attention, coming from the top of the balcony spiral staircase. they were leaning on the same ledge he usually found them at after missions. it had become the unspoken place for them to meet since the day isabel and furlan died.

“i figured you’d follow,” they grinned. levi strolled towards them, and they hopped onto the ledge, legs crossed, back to the mountain view. they much preferred to look at him.

“what’s that?” levi tilted his head slightly, voice tinged with curiosity. mauri was holding what resembled a cigarette lazily between their pointer and middle finger.

“what’s what?” they goaded, taking a hit of their blunt with a knowing look on their face. they held eye contact as delicate tendrils of smoke rose into the air.

“do you suppose you’re being rebellious?” levi deadpanned.

“i try to be,” they retorted. “but no, it’s just weed.” levi let out a huff in response that mauri had picked up on as a sign of mild endearment from their time knowing him.

“so that’s how you use it,” he murmured.

“wanna try?” mauri’s grin was still plastered to their face.

“i’m okay, thanks,” levi replied, eyes lingering on the blunt between their fingers. it wasn’t judgmental. he seemed more shy than anything else, they thought.

“your call,” they shrugged, taking another puff. mauri drifted back into their thoughts, gazing up at the stars contentedly. this was how the two of them often ended up out here. a comfortable, quiet kind of peace. mauri had actually begun to look forward to expeditions because of this little tradition they had going. after a moment they noticed that levi was watching their fingers not-so-subtly. his curiosity was honestly pretty cute.

“you want to try, don’t you,” they sighed.

“uh… if you don’t mind…” he grumbled, looking at the floor with embarrassment.

mauri looked him up and down and extended their arm to hand him the joint. they decided to spare him their teasing for once.

“i- uh… how do i-“ he stammered.

“oh for goodness sake, do you want me to do it?” mauri quipped, suppressing a laugh. his cheeks were dusted pink. levi always had that stupid blush on his face around mauri that he thought he could hide. it drove them insane for various, partially unholy reasons. levi nodded, defeated.

“may i?” they gestured to the collar of his shirt. he nodded again.

mauri grasped it with one hand assertively. they tugged him closer, placing the joint between his slightly parted lips with their other hand in one swift movement. if he had been blushing before, it was nothing compared to the state he was in now. he was practically crimson.

“inhale,” they instructed. he did as they said, sending him into a fit of coughs. mauri let out a cackle, earning a glare from levi. they pulled the joint out of his mouth, trying and failing to hold back their amusement.

“okay, okay, now exhale,” they mustered out between giggles. mauri’s laugh was possibly levi’s favorite sound. a cloud of smoke drifted from his mouth towards the sky, his eyes twinkled for a second and went half-lidded. it was a lot easier to admire how attractive he was when he wasn’t talking shit.

“not bad,” he murmured, earning a small, surprised sound from mauri. “this stays between us. i don’t even drink around the others,” levi continued hurriedly. his eyes darted to the side to look at them.

“works for me,” they concurred. the clatter of something falling at the end of the balcony caused the two to swivel their heads. hange stood, dumbfounded, their jaw absolutely floored. the pen and notebook they had been carrying laid at their feet. mauri and levi groaned in unison.

“that rule applies to you too, four eyes,” levi grunted, crossing his arms with a scowl. hange straightened their posture and saluted enthusiastically. moonlight glinted off of the lenses of their glasses, obstructing the view of their eyes. they turned around on their heel and marched down the spiral staircase they came up from.

“they forgot their notebook and pen…” mauri observed, blinking. they glanced at levi and met his gaze, which was equally as perplexed.

chapter 2 - after the battle of heaven and earth

cw: mildly suggestive

(i’m pretty sure the photo’s filter was edited by someone but i couldn’t find any credits on pinterest, so lmk ✌️)

word got back to paradis that the sc was coming home. eren was dead and the battle of heaven and earth was over. mauri was at the port as soon as they caught the drunk, bitter murmurs between jeagerists in a pub.

it was late at night and the freezing coastal air bit mauri’s skin when they arrived at the harbor. they hated the helpless feeling twisting in their stomach. they hated it more than anything in the world.

a couple hours passed and there was no sign of the sc’s ship. mauri began to wonder if they had only eavesdropped bullshit regurgitated by washed up fascists when rows of tiny lights in the distance caught their attention.

they were so small that they had to squint to see them at first. but as they waited, the dark silhouette of a ship took form. mauri sat completely still, lights glimmering in their eyes. they didn’t know if what they were feeling was hope or horror. either way, it was suffocating.

the ship arrived at the dock, causing ripples in the tide. at the first sight of a human figure, mauri scrambled to their feet and sprinted harder than they ever had before. the distance felt agonizing as their hair whipped behind them in the wind.

“oi! mauri!” connie echoed. the crashing waves muffled his voice, but it was definitely him.

“connie! jean!” they cried back. adrenaline coursed through their body, their limbs numb to the bone from the cold. connie and jean stumbled down the ramp off of the ship and mauri pulled connie into a tight hug. this was the last time they would wonder if the people they cared about had survived another mission.

“mauri?” a quiet, familiar voice broke mauri away from their thoughts. they looked up to the top of the ramp where people exited the ship. levi watched them with a loving eye. mauri realized that tears were streaming down their cheeks, but they couldn’t be bothered to wipe them away. they released connie from the hug and stared back at him. the breeze combed through his hair. he looked so beautiful.

levi was sitting in a wheel chair with one of his legs wrapped in a cast. mauri’s breaths were short, heart pounding in their chest. they couldn’t move. the love of their life was alive, sitting in a wheel chair in front of them and they couldn’t move.

“…levi,” they mustered. armin was standing behind him and slowly began to push him down the ramp. levi’s gaze was locked on mauri, not breaking eye contact once.

armin must have decided he was in no mood to be a third wheel to this moment. he exchanged warm smiles and a pat on the shoulder with mauri as he walked passed.

once the two lovers were alone on the dock, mauri fell to their knees and took levi’s hands in theirs. they needed to hold them to be sure that he was really there. they gritted their teeth, leaned down and pressed their forehead to his knuckles, shoulders heaving. not a single sound escaped mauri’s throat. levi gently squeezed their hand reassuringly.

after a moment of quiet sobs, mauri took a deep breath and lifted their eyes to look at him.

“miraculously, the ring survived the battle,” he murmered. “but i’m not in much of a position to get on my knees and give it to you.” levi looked away. his expression shifted into something of embarrassment or frustration with himself.

mauri wiped their eyes and their lips twisted into a cheeky grin.

“that hasn’t stopped us before,” they cooed.

“tch. get your mind out of the gutter,” levi retorted with a subtle blush. there was not a single hint of irritation in his voice. after all this time they had been together, mauri could still fluster him just as easily.

his partner extended their hand with a look on their face that levi knew meant that they had an idea.

“ring please,” they prompted. without another word levi pulled out the golden band and placed it in their palm. mauri adjusted themself so that they were on one knee, gazing up at him with an unwavering determination sparkling in their eyes.

“i didn’t prepare any speeches for this,” they began. “humanity’s strongest soldier, clean freak, love of my life, captain levi ackerman,” they paused to take in the expression on his face. he really was beautiful. “will you marry me?”

levi blinked slowly and nodded.

“i will.” at his words, mauri lifted his right hand and slipped the ring on his ring finger.

“marry me.” levi’s voice was hoarse.

“please.”

mauri’s hand froze, fingers tangled in his hair from absentmindedly playing with it. the two of them were settled upon the edge of a small cliff overlooking miles and miles of forest. levi’s head rested in their lap, his good eye focused on the distant view doused in moonlight.

“i…” mauri started. their eyes were wide with shock and a bright blush painted their face. “did i hear that right!?”

levi only hummed in response and reached into his shirt pocket. he pulled out a small, cloth pouch.

“unfortunately, we can’t have a proper wedding at home because of those jeagerist brats,” he said. “this is the next best option before i leave for marley.” mauri’s brows twitched with worry, so subtle that even someone like levi almost missed it.

“being a fugitive sure has got you making sudden life decisions, huh?” they remarked lightheartedly.

“no, i’ve had this for a while.” levi pulled a thin, gold wedding band from inside the pouch. the moonlit glint reflected in mauri’s eyes. “i thought i would have a bit more time, though.”

a pit formed in mauri’s stomach at his words. he wasn’t expecting to come home. in his mind, this moment alone with them, under the stars, was his last.

mauri sighed. “of course i’ll marry you.” levi’s tense shoulders relaxed. he adjusted to lay on his back so that his eye could meet theirs and took their hand in his. he was about to slip the ring on their finger when he paused and looked back up at them.

“for someone who just accepted a marriage proposal, you don’t look too thrilled.” his voice was soft, his eye studying his partner.

“well, i’d like to be married for a bit longer than an evening.” mauri’s lips quivered. “as good as hange’s stew was, watching jean beat the shit out of reiner was hardly a rehearsal dinner.” their scoff did nothing to mask the pain in their voice.

levi released their hand and closed his eye with a nod and a small “hm.” after a moment of quiet, he opened it again, sharp yet exhausted.

“we both knew that it might come to this,” he murmured quietly. he averted his gaze from the look on mauri’s face. his words hung in the air like the sick scent of death after a scout expedition, years ago.

“i know.” mauri’s chest felt tight and repressed sobs clawed at their throat. they took a deep breath. “but it hasn’t yet.”

they reached for levi’s hand again, still clutching the ring. they took it, placed it in his palm, and gently closed his fingers over it.

“when you come back, we are going have the properest wedding this island has ever seen,” mauri said with a playful glint in their eyes. their voice was shaky. “and i am going to carry you like a princess through the front door of the home we’re going to buy together. so don’t you dare lose that ring when you go to marley, deal?

a peaceful expression settled on levi’s face, and the corners of his mouth twitched into what might have been a smile beneath his bandages.

“properest isn’t a word,” he replied.

“i mean it,” they asserted, nudging him. their hand found his hair again, fingers carding through the shiny locks as if they had never stopped.