#canonverse

Oh Robin, you aren’t so far away from the truth.

contains: I continue to share my hc that Erwin loves a good gossip session, this time in a new setting. Levi willing to accept ridiculous things if it means he gets to be around you longer. His thoughts in bold. Just fun and whimsy. SFW

wc: 1.5k

Levi’s steps were barely heard throughout the quiet, empty hallways. As part of his usual night routine, he had been looking for you.

Not for any reason in particular. He simply enjoyed having you be the last person he speaks with before he retreats for the night; something about it made it less difficult to sit in the stiff wooden chair in his quarters and lull himself into a solid four to five hours of sleep, maybe it was the fact that it made it easier to picture you were there with him, because your voice was still fresh in his memory.

But for a couple weeks now—six weeks to be exact. Yes, he was counting—there would always be a least one or two nights out of the week where he wouldn’t be able to find you anywhere, not the mess hall, nor the stables, you weren’t out on a walk, not stargazing in the main building’s attic, and whoever was on guard duty that night always swore not having seen you leave base at such late hours.

He never questioned you about it. He barely had it in him to keep you around for long enough to speak about things outside of work, and the fruitful days he was able to talk to you like a normal human being never lasted enough for his liking. He still needed to think of ways to get closer to you without ruining it by being, well, himself.

Usually he’d give up after exhausting his options on where you could be and go test the bounds of his imagination to find something soothing that’d help him close his eyes long enough to let sleep take over. But tonight, that plan wasn’t working as well as it tends to do. He felt restless, exhausted, yet he lacked any actual desire to be stuck in his room until the sun rose and come out the next day pretending he got any rest.

That’s how he found himself here, knocking on Erwin’s quarters after not finding him in his office. If he could count on someone whose company he didn’t mind after such a long day to still be awake at this hour, it’d be the commander.

He heard some rustling behind the door after his knocking, first quiet murmurs and then someone being shushed, followed by a soft laugh that felt all too familiar. But that can’t be, right? He’s just insane because of his lack of sleep.

"Who is it?" Came Erwin’s gravely voice from the still locked room, an eerie quiet falling after as if the voices he heard prior had been locked away.

“Levi.”

He waited, impatiently. The sound of more murmuring starting again, unnerving him to no end. Then came the small, quick sound of the lock being turned before the door screeched open. He was first met with Erwin, the usual immaculate look of his uniform long gone by now, parading instead the relaxed sight of only his slacks and his white button up shirt, the top button undone.

"Come in. Is there anyone else around still?” Erwin moved out of the way to give space for the shorter man to step into the room.

“No.” Levi didn’t have time to feel through his suspicion over the question, he was too busy trying to remember which arm tingles when you’re having a heart attack, because he’s immediately met with the sight of you laying under the covers of the commander’s bed. Maybe this is it, maybe he should head off outside the walls without gear and let nature run its course on him.

He considered turning back and doing just that, if it wasn’t for the way you were smiling at him as if this was the most natural encounter in the world, and if it wasn’t for…

"Leviiii!" That.

“Shhhh, wait until the door is closed.” You scolded Hange without moving away from your place under the covers.

"Right, sorry. I got excited."

Erwin chuckled at his visible confusion, patting him on the shoulder to gesture towards the chairs next to the bed, "Take a seat, we're chatting."

“We’re handling important business.” Both you and Hange interjected in equally serious tones, making each other laugh. You had practiced.

Alright, so this definitely wasn’t what he originally thought. Levi took a seat across from Erwin, a small coffee table placed between them with a teapot and three empty cups, a small pile of papers, and a pen.

“Alright, Hange won this round. What’s her prize?” You sat up slightly, enough to face everyone in the room, the top of your shirt showing you were very much still dressed unlike he was imagining. Thank God.

Hange hummed in thought, sinking back into her seat of choice, the ledge of the fully open window behind her. It was both good and terrible that Erwin’s quarters were at the top floor, good because no one could see her from the dark empty grounds outside, but one wrong excited move and she could count on at least three broken bones from the fall, at best.

"You guys let me do that experiment where I said I'd need at least half a pint of your blood?"

“Forget it.”

"No way."

"Well that's what I want, and that's what I'm getting! Thank you for that by the way, Levi." Hange grinned, mind already half out of the conversation and into how she was going to get you and Erwin to draw up blood.

“How did I help?” Levi wondered if maybe he had fallen asleep and this was some half-assed nightmare his mind had come up with.

“We bet on who would find our secret gossip cult first. Erwin and I said Miche.” You explained while getting up to serve yourself a new cup of tea.

Levi’s gaze was stuck on you, feeling more relaxed than he had been all night now that he was in your presence. “Secret gossip cult?”

"They used my office to divulge any new happenings around the scouts, or anyone for that matter." Erwin explained, setting back against his chair while going through the stack of papers he had in front of him.

"But Erwin said we were distracting him so we stopped." Hange added, joining along to refill her cup before walking back to the window.

“And then he hated being out of the loop, so we started meeting here when he finishes work ‘early’” You added air quotes to the last word, it was well past midnight now. “Which only happens once a week, if that.”

“So you three meet here once a week to speak about others.” Levi questioned the room, eyes briefly drifting to his other colleagues before turning back to you, tight lipped smile coming out when you handed him a cup as well.

"We also talk about other things." Erwin remarked, ever so sheepish about his particular fondness for gossiping.

“Like today, we’re weighing on the pros and cons of helping Erwin get laid.” You laughed when the commander sent a glare your way, settling back down on your spot in the bed.

The captain snickered, barely. But it counted. “About time.” He murmured as he took a sip of his tea, still watching you. How hypocritical of him to say.

Hange’s overly excited tone snapped him out of his thoughts. "And it's my turn now. I had a list prepared."

—

Levi mentally cursed himself before knocking on the door in threes like Hange told him. Was he really going to do this.

"Captain's here." Erwin announced while letting him in, locking the door behind them.

“Told you he’d come back!” You whisper-yelled, clapping your hands in excitement. Yes, yes he was. 

“I have to ask.” He said as he walked in, gesturing to your regular seat of choice. This time you were fully sat up, yet still had the sheets wrapped around you like a cocoon. It was cute. 

“Oh, Hange likes opening all the windows and I get cold.”

Hange nodded, this time sitting on the bench below the window. "I run hot."

“You wanna join?” You asked, tapping the space next to you.

God, yes. “I’m good.” Levi took the same chair as last time, a fourth tea cup now added to the items on the table, and set next to his seat already. “What are you on today?”

“Thank you for asking, Captain. I bring forth fresh news. Anna and Thomas have something going on.”

To everyone’s surprise, it was Levi the first to respond. “I thought Anna was in a relationship with someone from a separate squad.” His tone was disinterested and stoic as usual, yet he couldn’t help but crack the smallest of smiles at how utterly excited you looked at his participation, smiling brightly at him. Maybe this won’t be so dreadful.

"Yes, wasn't it that young man from Trost? Arthur, I think." Erwin chimed in, pushing his reading glasses higher on his nose.

“Well I heard it from good source. I was walking by the stables earlier and she was speaking with Martha, and you know how Martha’s voice carries—"

"Someone should speak with her about that." Look who's talking.

“Do you know why we most often wear our nation’s banner on our foreheads?” Temari asked Shikamaru. He looked at her, shrugged, before casting his gaze at the knife in Temari’s hand. It was almost enchanting, the blade, with the rainbow colours and infinitely sharp edges.

“For fashion reasons? Protection?” He smiled to her. This was teasing. Flirting. She knew he knew what the answer would be.

Temari snorted and carelessly almost blinded herself by the rainbow light coming from the sharp blade.

“To hide our marriage status,” she said, blinking rapidly out of pain in her eyes. Shikamaru nodded slowly.

Final chapters written and coming out soon. Maybe tomorrow! This story spilled out of me like a waterfall. I hope you enjoy!

Summary:

Hermione is Cupid, trying to get Tom to fall in love, but failing. Her job is even harder than Death's job at killing him. She has to change her bow to a sword, a sword to an axe, and axe to a chainsaw...everything increasing in severity just to pierce into his heart.

What she doesn't know, is that her magic leaves traces. Traces a dark wizard like Tom can see. Soon, he becomes obsessed with the Lady of Light. 🏹🏹💘💘

https://archiveofourown.org/works/84754226/chapters/223666761

I love writing AUs for Destiel. It is honestly one of my favorite things, letting them find each other and fall in love across different worlds, different lives, and different versions of themselves.