#coordinate0

Summary — Being on the same rank as levi was supposed to be easy. You were the same age, he couldn't boss you around anymore, and you were in just as much control as he was. Levi, however, still always got what he wanted. It didn't matter what he had to do or who he had to speak to. Levi Ackerman always got what he wanted — and this time, he wants you.

Word count : 2.3k

Chapters : 1/? (pt2) (pt3)

CW : canon universe, harsh language, mentions of drugs/drinking, inaccurately aged characters, mentions of sex, mentions of death, non-canon information/events, mentions of violence, eventual explicit sexual content

Authors note : First actual chapter of a story on tumblr. It's been a while so potential to be kinda bad.

You tapped your foot under the table, arm supporting your head as you stared across the room. Your goal was to look out the window on the other side of the mess hall. Your food sat untouched on one of the tables, fingers fiddling with the edge of your tray.

Smack!

The back of someone's hand hit the side of your head. You picked it up, glaring at Hange. They just narrowed their eyes, "If you keep staring at him, he's gonna catch you eventually." Their glasses slipped down their nose gently and they pushed them up with their index finger, dragging their eyes toward the windows you'd just been staring at.

You tilted your head in confusion, allowing your eyes to move back in the direction they came from. Not very far away from the window you'd been looking at stood Levi Ackerman. The tips of your ears turned red as his eyes flicked over to you for just a moment before lolling back to his feet.

The lids of your eyes pressed together tightly, trying to escape the fact he just caught you staring at him. Slowly turning back to Hange, you opened your eyes again, "I was not staring at Levi." You stressed, fidgeting harder with the edge of your plastic tray.

Their grin got playful, eyes flicking all over you before landing on your hands. They were as smug as they were smart, always wanting to tease you for anything you did. Moving their own hand to pull your tray away from your nails, they glanced around, "Right, right," they said quietly, "You sure that's not why you're so nervous? I saw he caught you."

You shoved your tray away, turning your full body to face Hange. They backed away slightly, straightening their back. You went to say something but your words died on your tongue. You opted to bite the inside of your cheek instead. Hange only elbowed your side, "I'm just messing with you," they stressed, "He probably didn't think anything of it. Sees people staring at him all the time, i'm sure." They said and shrugged casually like they hadn't just embarrassed you in front of— well, no one. All they'd done was embarrass you to yourself.

You'd only been promoted recently, being put in charge as a Captain next to Levi. You didn't even know that was an option. But now, you were in with some of the higher ranked people in the scouts. Levi had always been hard on you when you were further below him. Most of your interactions were spent with him bossing you around and telling you everything you'd ever done wrong.

Even being grouped in with Hange felt wrong. Despite them being your friend, you'd always seen them as your superior. Well, they were your superior, but had always been imagined as being so far out of reach and in a position nearly impossible to obtain. Even now, with them as one of your closest friends, being put near the same level as them felt insanely wrong. Being Levi's second in command was even worse because you were on his level.

Your leg bounced violently under the table, "What if he like, thinks i'm obsessed with him or something?" You stressed, avoiding looking at his side of the room at all. Hange just raised an eyebrow at you, sighing at your thoughts. They tapped their nails on the cup they had sitting next to them.

It was quiet between the two of you for a moment. You and Hange never really got that quiet when you were together. Next thing you knew, they were sitting up straighter and facing forward. They glanced over at you quickly, "I guess you're about to find out because he is coming this way." They said quickly. You didn't even need to look over. Joking or not, he couldn't know you'd been talking about him. Then he'd really think you were obsessed with him.

His footsteps stopped behind you and he spoke your name firmly, void of any emotion. You turned slowly to face him, humming in acknowledgment of his call. He just stared down at you for a moment before huffing and looking past you, "Come to my office after dinner. We need to fill out reports from our latest expedition." He grumbled out, clearly uninterested in the responsibility as much as you were.

You nodded quickly, looking back down at the table, "Uh, yeah, i'll see you after–" You looked up and he was already walking away, "dinner." A final mumbled word exited your mouth as you watched him loop around the room and leave out the nearest exit. The urge to slam your head against the table was almost irresistible. Not only was he making you go to his office to help, but he also walked away in the middle of your sentence.

Hange sighed next to you, "Can't win them all." They murmured.

You kicked their foot under the table.

Dinner rolled around in what felt like ten minutes. You spent the entire meal sat next to Hange again, complaining about Levi again, while they teased you again. Your interactions with one another were very predictable, usually ending in banter like it was now.

As the minutes ticked by, you could feel the dread washing over you. You hated being alone with Levi. His presence was so intimidating and being under his gaze was arguably worse. No matter what you did, you always felt like you were being judged by him. Nobody had seen him in a good mood. It seemed like all he had was a bad mood and okay mood. What if he had a bad mood when you went to his office? What if he gets so irritated with you that he kicks you out?

"You're doing it again!"

Hange's voice snapped you out of your head. You turned your body to look back at them, mumbling out a small, "what?" Hange sighed and shook their head. Their eyes told you they knew exactly what you were thinking.

"He's not gonna kill you." Hange reassured.

"No, he's just so-"

"Intimidating?" They cut you off, angling their fork at you accusingly. You nodded quickly and they huffed, pulling the fork away to pick back at their food. After a moment they put it down and rested their chin on their palm thoughtfully, "He's not as bad as you think."

You widened your eyes, not expecting that sentence out of them. They didn't stop there, though, continuing on like you weren't panicking, "Yeah, he's cold and closed off. He's also kinda mean," They admitted, making you roll your eyes, "But, he's not a bad person. He's definitely not as bad as everyone makes him out to be. You just haven't been around him enough, yet. You'll learn."

That didn't make you feel any better.

"So, that's the problem, Hange." You laughed painfully, "I don't want to be around him enough to find out. I have to go to his office in like 5 minutes. I especially don't wanna be around him alone." You complained, pushing away your empty tray.

Hange's eyes followed the movement, "What is it with you and that tray? Also, you're overthinking it. Drastically overthinking it. He isn't gonna yell at you. I'll be surprised if he even talks much. He avoids talking to people unless it's to ridicule them."

They set down their fork and pushed their tray away, too, mimicking your actions. They stood up to throw away their trash, but paused, "I didn't make that sound much better, did I?" They questioned with a sheepish smile. You shook your head aggressively and they just laughed under their breath. With one final sigh, they walked away from the table, leaving you to sit there and think on it before you had to go.

You had about forty-five seconds to 'think on it' before you stood up from your table, throwing away your trash and dragging yourself down the hallway. The walk felt agonizingly long as you forced yourself up the stairs and to his office door. You hesitated before you rapped your knuckles on the dark brown door.

He didn't answer by telling you to come in, but instead just said, "What?" in a raised voice. You pushed the door open, stepping inside and shutting it behind you. You glanced around the room, standing awkwardly in front of the doorway.

All Levi did was sigh and hand you a few papers, nodding his head toward a chair on the opposite side of the desk. You sat down quietly, looking around for a pen to write with before one was tossed on top of the papers. You pressed your lips together, heart beating harder and quicker from being alone with him.

You could easily admit that he was attractive, but anyone could. He had black straight hair with an undercut, narrow eyes, deep eyes, and a sharp jaw. Only thing he lacked related to his height. He had a very precise face, but it was also very plain. He rarely showed emotion to go with his features, so it was hard to imagine him looking any way other than how he did all the time. It made you wonder if he ever showed his emotions normally when he was alone.

A heavy sigh came from the other side of the desk and you picked up your head. He was glaring down at you, "Stop thinking," he said flatly, "Write." Before you knew it, he was looking down at his own documents and you realized that you hadn't written more than two words on the papers he stacked in front of you.

You'd been so consumed in your thoughts, which were about him, you forgot to do what he had told you to. Now you were just humiliated, face flushing pink as you begged in your head for him not to look in your direction at your embarrassed state. Thankfully, he didn't, and if he did, you didn't notice it. He didn't speak any more for the next twenty minutes.

"Why did you join the scouts?" Levi's voice came from not far away, making you pause your writing. Hange said he rarely spoke. Why was he making small talk? You cleared your throat, "Uhmm..."

"Don't know?" he asked quickly, eyes still on his paper. You quickly moved back to writing on yours. His eyes flickered up to you occasionally, catching your embarrassment and confused reaction.

"I- I do." You argued

"Then say it."

You swallowed harshly, pausing your writing, "I spent my whole life watching soldiers come back with carts full of bodies. The remaining soldiers always looked so defeated. I thought that maybe if i joined the survey corps, then i could fix it. I figured i could save more people, even if it cost me my own life. Nobody wants to watch their child come home in a cart full of the deceased." You pressed your lips together in thought. Levi listened carefully.

"I mean, over the years, i've saved soldiers, but just about everyone else has, too." You admitted, "Maybe joining was pointless, but i'd rather stay in hopes of potentially saving a life than leave knowing i was useless to the people of the walls."

Levi nodded carefully, a soft hum escaping him. It was a rare sound from him. He usually stayed silent or grunted in response to people. A hum was simple, but unexpected, and it made your heart jump, "Why?" You asked carefully, scratching at the papers with your pen.

Levi didn't even glance up at you, still focused on the papers in front of him, "Am i not allowed to ask?" He questioned suddenly. You thought carefully. He just answered your question with a question. You didn't know whether to stay quiet or continue the conversation with him. It was painfully awkward already and either option might've made it worse.

With all the thoughts in your head, you blurted out, "I mean, i just want to know why you're asking." You regretted saying it almost immediately, tone coming out harsher and more accusatory than you meant for it to.

He finally looked up at you, leaning forward slightly in his chair. His expression didn't change much but he narrowed his eyes, brows knitting together in a way you wouldn't have noticed if you weren't so focused on trying to see if he was angry or not. He didn't speak for a few moments, but that was normal. He typically took a moment to calculate his answer when he wasn't just being witty.

"I just want to keep that information to myself." He shot back. Oh- never mind, definitely witty. He inched his fingers back toward his pen, streaking his hand across the surface of the wooden desk and back toward his papers.

"Okay, then." You muttered bitterly to yourself as you continued to fill out the reports as well.

Once finished with your papers, you pushed them to Levi. He picked them up, flipping through quickly to make sure you got everything before putting them under his stack, "You can leave now," He said quickly.

You stood immediately, pushing the chair back to where you found it and heading toward the door. Once you opened it, you turned back around to face him for a moment, "I'm sorry about how i said-"

"I said you can leave now." Levi repeated firmly, tapping the top of his pen against the desk now, keeping his eyes glued to the white sheets of paper spread across his desk. You didn't argue.

Summary — Being on the same rank as levi was supposed to be easy. You were the same age, he couldn't boss you around anymore, and you were in just as much control as he was. Levi, however, still always got what he wanted. It didn't matter what he had to do or who he had to speak to. Levi Ackerman always got what he wanted — and this time, he wants you.

Word count : 4.1k

Chapters : 3/? (pt 1) (pt2)

CW : canon universe, harsh language, mentions of drugs/drinking, inaccurately aged characters, mentions of sex, mentions of death, non-canon information/events, mentions of violence, eventual explicit sexual content

Authors note: Chapters will probably slow the more we get into the week but i will try to write whenever i can. I'm also starting a tag list so anyone who wants in can be added.

The sun was too bright.

You felt like you could barely see the ground in front of you as your horse took off through the field. You didn't know if the sun was actually bright enough to cause a problem or if it was because you woke up late and your eyes wouldn't adjust.

The more time you spent one on one with Levi, the harder it was to sleep. He stressed you out. Being around him felt like permanent judgement and it didn't help that he decided to go with your plan. If anything went wrong today, it would be your fault.

You knew that was something he wouldn't let you get past. Every mistake you make, every move that's wrong, and every single thing you do will lead back to him lecturing you. You could be ranks above him and he would probably still lecture you.

A smoke signal fired to your right, signaling a titan. You saw the puff of smoke go in the air, grabbing one of your own flares to shoot off the same signal. Red flares shot up all around you before green ones started going off to your left.

You and the people around you started easing left to reform in that direction. You hadn't seen any titans so far. All you had seen were smoke signals, but it didn't shock you since you were located in the center rear. Most of the titans were covered by the front and sides.

Your team rode all around you , leaving you in the center of your small pod of people. Levi was next to you, leading the group just as much as you were.

He glared over at you the second he felt your eyes flick to him. Blank faced, he nodded his head back to the grass in front of you before pushing forward on his horse. The rest of your group followed his actions, attempting to catch up to be in correct formation with the other squads. A black puff of smoke shot up toward your left. An abnormal.

You watched a titans head rise over a small line of trees before falling down to its knees, seemingly having its ankles sliced. Your shoulders relaxed and you continued forth when you saw it raise back up with a soldier in hand, small bursts of blood shooting every way as his skull crunched beneath the monsters teeth.

You widened your eyes, mouth opening slightly as more black puffs of smoke rose up into the blue sky. A person shot across the span of sky, slicing a clean cut through the back of its neck and it fell.

Levi held his firm expression, "Focus," he said loud enough to hear over the sound of the horses galloping, "They have it handled."

You knew the comment was directed to your group, but you couldn't shake the feeling it was targeted toward you specifically. You were a captain, and technically, his second in command. You needed to focus and not distract yourself on distant threats.

You nodded, and the rest of your team shouted, "Yes, captain!" It was hard to hear over the constant pounding of the horses hooves, but it was clear enough for him to direct his focus back to clearing the field. The trees weren't far from where the formation currently was, and if this success was kept up, you'd be home a lot quicker than expected.

The ground felt like it started shaking more than usual, and not because you were on horseback. A titan was approaching from your right toward your rear. You turned back toward Levi, "Captain!" You shouted until he turned.

His expression was immediately annoyed and he pushed on toward your destination, "How did those idiots on the right rear miss that?" He questioned, turning his head to the side so everyone could hear, "Speed up! We'll handle the son of a bitch when it gets here."

You fumbled for a smoke signal, shooting a bright streak of red into the air and watching as nearby soldiers mirrored your actions. Since it was the center, there wasn't many places to move left or right that wouldn't end up with all soldiers out of formation.

No green flares were shot. You kept pushing forward as Levi told you to, turning back occasionally to gauge how close the titan was to your group. As it approached, Levi shot off of his horse and toward the titan. Your eyes followed him, confused. He usually didn't do stunts like that without informing the squads, but as expected, he was back within a minute and the titan was on the ground with blood flowing out of its neck.

"What was that?" You demanded as he returned to his horse and he cinched his eyebrows together, "You did that with no warning. You can't just shoot off and expect us to know what to do!"

Levi just huffed, "I handled it."

"None of us knew what you were doing."

"I said I handled it."

You just clenched your jaw and looked ahead as the trees started to get closer. You could see the groups to your sides start splitting to go around since there was no trail for their squads. Your group, however, went straight into the trees.

You forgot how large this forest was. Not necessarily the size of the area itself, but the height of the titan trees. You hadn't done a recon mission into any forests in a long time. The shade provided from them would've been peaceful if you weren't aware of how many titans could be hidden behind the giant pillars of wood.

Everything felt eerily quiet as you entered, which you figured to be due to the scenery change, even though just as many people were around you. Above you, some soldiers had been switched to ODM gear as they were instructed. You hoped this plan would go well. You didn't know how you'd be able to face Levi if anything went wrong while using your plan.

Why were you worried about Levi? If anything, you should be worried about Erwin. He is your commander, after all. Levi was a captain, practically your equal, but you still yearned for his approval. You didn't know why. You argued with him regularly, getting into meaningless fights just because he was too closed off and sarcastic.

No matter how irritated his personality made you, you'd always wanted his attention. You just wanted him to approve of you. He'd always been the soldier to look up to. Even being on his level, you still felt so far behind him. The closer you got to his rank, the more irritable it seemed he became. He was quicker to scold you and glare at you, forcing you to sink back into a shell you'd forced yourself to come out of.

It got to a point where you'd just started talking back, and that was what always got you in trouble. He never really yelled at you for how you spoke to him, but simply went back and forth until he won. You'd almost think he enjoys it if he weren't so grumpy all the time.

The forest was quiet for most of the ride through, but about 3/4 of the way, a titan slumped through the trees and toward your side of the squad. Looking up, you saw no soldiers directly above you on ODM gear. They were all behind you or way in front of you.

You snapped your head toward Levi, "I got it." Nobody had a chance to respond before you shot up into the trees, landing on a high branch before dropping down toward the 5 meter. It looked up suddenly and shot its hand out toward you, but you started to maneuverer to the side and out of its line of sight.

Before you could completely move, you heard another zip and the titans entire hand was gone. It didn't take long before Levi was beside you. He didn't say anything until he landed on a branch next to you.

"You were gonna get yourself killed." He stated flatly, flipping his blade back to the correct hold.

You watched the movement of his wrists. He always held his blade backward when using it. It was so strange. You didn't even respond before hooking onto a tree above the titan, wire snapping straight before you swung down and put a gash in its neck.

The thud of its body was loud and satisfying. A tree nearby made the perfect landing as you located Levi, who was still on the last branch. Shooting another wire, you landed next to him, "I had it under control on my own."

"Did you? Looked like a fly buzzing around ready to get swatted from where i was sitting." His voice was clearly one of annoyance. He'd already put away his blades, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I was getting out of the way. It missed me and then you cut its hand off!" You exclaimed, "You- I just-"

He stared at you distastefully. You breathed out deeply, "I killed it."

"You did." He admitted and your eyes widened. You weren't used to him saying you did anything well or even getting any comment that wasn't negative. He saw the look on your face and glanced toward the rest of the squad, moving ahead safely.

Your horses were both in the hands of Eld and Petra. Levi huffed, "Get that dumb look off of your face. Be grateful you're not dead."

"I wasn't gonna die!" You stressed, but only half the sentence met his ears as he moved through the trees and back toward your horses. You took a deep breath, relaxing your shoulders.

"I'm not gonna kill him. I'm not gonna kill him." You repeated to yourself like a mantra, trying to move your irritation aside and focus on the mission. He looked behind him as he settled back onto his horse. You were still in the trees.

Levi took your horses reins from Petra and held it up. It was a request to come back into formation. The gesture was more of a command but it was easier to convince yourself that he wasn't demanding you do anything.

In a few seconds, you were back on your horse. Levi just sighed, "Took you long enough. I was waiting for a titan to snatch you out of that tree." He handed the reins back to you.

You snatched them back, readjusting the hold on them in your hands, "You're so funny, Levi."

Levi's eyebrows raised after you said his name, used to you calling him 'captain.' Whatever he was thinking, he didn't speak on it for once and just turned back forward, "I'm serious. You're gonna get yourself killed by being an idiot one day. Then i have to find someone to replace you with."

"I love how much you talk about my death. It really makes me feel valued as a person." You said firmly, ignoring the stares you could feel from the rest of your squad. Levi didn't answer, riding along the trail in his usual silence.

You sighed, "Would it kill you to just be nice to me for once?" You weren't frustrated now, voice raised and directed at Levi.

"Probably," He grumbled, "What might really kill me is you being so distracted. Get it together."

As much as you hated it, you knew he was right. You were overreacting and unfocused on the task at hand. If you didn't get your head in the game, there would likely be consequences for everyone.

"Whatever." You grunted, pushing forward into the forest. Part of you hoped that another titan would emerge from the thick trees and try to grab you. At least then you could direct your anger onto that instead of killing Levi.

Fortunately for everyone, no more titans busted out of the dense woods and into your group.

Unfortunately for you, your frustration wasn't able to be deflected onto a titan. This meant that every time Levi spoke, you were nothing less than infuriated.

Every time your thoughts drifted, he called you back with, "Stop being an idiot and focus!" or, "If something runs up onto us and tries to eat everyone, you're going to die."

It was a miracle you made it back to the castle the scout regiment operated out of without attempting to hurt Levi in some way. You were already angry, but the way he looked so unbothered just made you want to pound a fist into his head even more.

The second everyone's horses were back at the stables, he stormed over to you and practically demanded that you come with him.

Whatever it was for, you just hoped it would make you want to punch him less. However, you knew Levi. You knew that it was likely going to be a lecture about something.

You followed after him and into the place you had found yourself more and more over the past weeks. That place happened to be where Levi was most— his office.

Levi pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned back against the hard surface of his desk, "Do you just want to die, brat?"

You blinked rapidly, staring at him as he sighed, "I'm starting to think you just have a plan to die out there by being an idiot. Honestly, I don't feel like putting in the effort it would take to bury you. If we had a body left, that is." He said, bringing his hand back down to grip the edge of his desk.

There goes any hope you had that he actually liked you.

You clenched your fists, attempting to keep a straight face, "Okay, yeah, i get it. I keep getting distracted and you don't care enough about me to give me a funeral. Whatever." You took a deep breath.

"I do care."

Levi's eyes shot up to meet yours, the room going uncharacteristically silent for the both of you.

You had no idea what he was talking about. Cared about you? Doesn't he insult you all the time? He's always been way easier on everyone else, including people he actually does hate.

He huffed, "I don't want you to die because i don't want to bury you. There's no way you're this dense. I'm starting to think you're just stupid." He said plainly but you just tilted your head in pure confusion.

"Starting?" You questioned, "You've been calling me stupid since the day you met me." You were unsure on what to say about him telling you he cares.

Levi wasn't a liar. He was being genuine, but it was just confusing. What were you supposed to do? Tell him his feelings were wrong?

His expression didn't change, "Then it looks like neither of us have changed much," His eyes trailed back to the dirt on his boots, "Are you gonna answer my question or are we gonna stand here in silence?"

Your eyes widened slightly. Right, the question...

"What question?" You asked quietly.

Levi sighed once again. When would he stop doing that? He tapped a finger on the wood of his desk, "Do you want to die out there?"

Taken aback, you uncrossed your arms, "No? You were just irritating me."

"I was protecting you."

"I don't need you to protect me, Levi!"

Levi ran a hand down his face, "If i didn't protect you, you'd be dead right now." He dragged his hand down to his face before slapping it back against the desk.

You shook your head slightly, "That isn't true and you know it."

"It isn't?" He snapped, "What about when a titan grabbed your wire and you only didn't hit the ground because i caught you? What about when a titan almost grabbed you but didn't because i cut its hand off? Even today, that bastard would've at least sent you off balance."

You clenched your jaw, "i would've been fine." You forced out.

"No. I'd be standing in front of your grave right now." He snapped again. You could tell he was frustrated, and rightfully so. You were being difficult and you knew it, but he was being difficult, too.

You rolled your eyes, "Like you'd visit my grave." You watched as he shut his eyes, breathing deeply out of his nose.

"For once in your life, could you just not be difficult? Is it impossible for you to have a conversation with me without accusing me of hating you or being irritated?" His hands gripped the edge of the desk, fingers not tapping anymore.

You started rocking back and forth on your heels, "Fine. Say whatever you need to say. I'll shut up." Your hands were behind your back, holding onto each other.

Levi took another deep breath, "You need to be more careful or you're really going to die out there one day and i really want you alive."

You paused. His tone was normal, but his wording was what you needed to pay attention to. He said want instead of need. He wants you alive.

He shook his head slowly, the movement so minuscule it was almost unnoticeable, "I trained you better than this for a reason. I'm not watching you die out there." He wasn't looking at you, eyes fixed on his shoes.

You stayed quiet, as promised, while he continued, "I've spent way too much time wondering if you're ever going to come back from some of the missions we go on. I taught you better than this so you won't die on me. I need you to be the best of the best and if you keep letting your emotions mess with you, you'll end up just like one of the other brats who I have to mourn every day."

Your eyes were wide, body tensed as you stared at him. What was he saying? He actually cared? At this point, you weren't even angry anymore, just confused.

You opened your mouth to start asking questions but he cut you off, "Dismissed. Don't be an idiot," He said sharply, turning toward his desk chair, "Are you going deaf now too? I said you're dismissed."

All you did was shut your mouth and open the door to his office, "Yes, Captain." Those words were the last things you mumbled before stepping into the empty hallway.

Confusion clouded over the previous irritation. You didn't know what to do anymore. He clearly doesn't hate you, so what does he feel? He just admitting to caring more than he ever let on.

A lot of things were unusual about his behavior recently, but that one easily took the cake. Your footsteps echoed down the hallway, and you went straight for the showers, determined to wash away the filth of the day.

Standing under the water didn't help. All it did was give you silence to think about Levi's words.

'I do care.'

'I don't want you to die because i don't want to bury you.'

'i really want you alive.'

'I taught you better than this so you won't die on me.'

'you'll end up just like one of the other brats who I have to mourn every day.'

All of his confusing sentences echoed in your head. Did he care that much? Were you overthinking it? Maybe you should just stop talking to him in general.

You shut off the water and stepped out, getting dressed and heading back to your room.

Dinner came and went in short time. While Hange attempted to get you to talk, they made no progress. You still spoke, but were just quieter than usual. It worried them.

What especially worried them was how you went completely stiff when Levi passed your table.

Hange nudged you with their elbow, "Hey, what's wrong?" They asked, concern lacing their voice as you picked off of a piece of bread.

You tilted your head toward them, "Nothing. I'm just not in the mood. Got into another argument."

"Levi?" They guessed and you just nodded, "Again? When are you two gonna shut up and just get along! You two would be great together!"

You glared at them, "I don't like the way you worded that."

They raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?" When you didn't answer, they pestered you non stop until you stood up, "Come on. Did something happen?" They questioned.

You walked off, not looking back. You would talk to Hange, but not about this.

After throwing away your trash, you dragged yourself back to your room, throwing yourself into bed and attempting to go to sleep.

Sleep did not come.

The sun dipped below the trees and you were still wide awake, staring at nothing in the dark. It was useless, now. Your sleep was already bad and about to be worse.

You flipped back the covers, sliding on shoes and stepping out of your room. You made your way to the front of the castle, sitting on the steps as you watched the trees blow in the breeze.

"What are you doing, brat?"

You almost jumped out of your skin at the unexpected, sharp voice from behind you. However, you didn't turn around. You already knew who it was, "Sitting."

Levi's boots clicked against the stone as he approached, moving to stand at your side, "Get back inside. It's cold out. I'll kill you myself if you get sick."

You rolled your eyes again, bringing your knees up to your chest, "You're so dramatic. I'm fine. You should be the one all tucked into bed. What are you doing out here, anyway?"

He crossed his arms, as expected, "That's none of your business."

"But what i'm doing is?" You questioned.

"It should be." He responded quickly.

You groaned, resting your chin on top of your knees. The two of you sat in silence on the steps for a few minutes, "I was looking for you." Levi said out of nowhere.

You picked up your head to look at him immediately, "What?"

"You heard me." He shot back for seemingly no reason, sitting down next to you on the steps.

"I know that. I meant why? Why were you looking for me?" Your voice was softer than it usually was toward him.

He tilted his head back to look at the sky, "Hange said something was absolutely wrong with you and that i needed to come find you."

Your hope vanished again, "So you went looking for me because Hange told you to. Great." You murmured, chin resting back on your knees.

"That's not what i meant," he sucked in a breath, releasing it slowly, "I didn't realize i said something that bothered you enough for you to stop talking to Hange."

You moved your eyes over to him. He was still looking up at the stars, "You say that like you're gonna apologize."

"I'm thinking about it," He admitted, "Didn't think you'd get this upset over me telling you i want you not to die."

You put your face in your hands, "You're reading this all wrong. I'm upset because you're confusing me."

Levi moved his gaze back down to you, blinking slowly, "How?" he asked with genuine curiosity.

"Is that a serious question?" You removed your hands from your face, turning toward him quickly, "You're hard on me. You yell at me, You criticize me. You make me feel incapable. Then you say you protect me and you care about me and don't want to have to mourn me. I'm really confused!" You finally shouted.

Levi stayed quiet for a moment, "I'm hard on you because I need you to be the best. I'm not letting you die right in front of me because i didn't train you good enough."

"Why me?" You demanded.

He looked back at the short span of steps in front of him, "I don't think that's something you're ready to hear yet," He stood, going up a few steps, "I'm serious. Go to sleep soon. Be smart."

Levi walked a few more paces, then added, "Please." to his sentences. His voice wasn't soft or harsh. It was just a request for you to come inside.

You sat on the porch for another half hour before you finally brought yourself back to your room.

Sleep came easier that time.

Summary — Being on the same rank as levi was supposed to be easy. You were the same age, he couldn't boss you around anymore, and you were in just as much control as he was. Levi, however, still always got what he wanted. It didn't matter what he had to do or who he had to speak to. Levi Ackerman always got what he wanted — and this time, he wants you.

Word count : 3.1k

Chapters : 2/? (pt 1) (pt 3)

CW : canon universe, harsh language, mentions of drugs/drinking, inaccurately aged characters, mentions of sex, mentions of death, non-canon information/events, mentions of violence, eventual explicit sexual content

Authors note: I came up with the idea for this fic quite literally less than 24 hours ago so just bear with me as i publish these chapters because i have no idea where im going with this

A headache pulsed strongly behind your eyes, pulling your eyelids back closed just a few seconds after you woke up. It had been a long night, being glared at and looked down on by Levi.

It didn't matter if he was ranked as your equal anymore. He would always be ahead of you. His demeanor itself was enough to put just about anyone in their place. Blunt remarks he spat at everyone without a second thought didn't help. You could typically know exactly what he thought of you.

That's why you were so confused with the situation from the evening before.

Hange had insisted that Levi wouldn't speak to you and that you had nothing to worry about, but they were wrong. Levi did speak to you. Once to snap you out of your thoughts to work, but the other was almost as if he was trying to make small talk.

Levi wasn't the type of person to ask unnecessary questions. There had to be a reason that he'd asked why you joined the scouts. That thought kept you up the previous night, and now you were facing the consequences of not getting enough sleep. The light coming through the small window seemed too bright for your eyes. Sounds of people walking down the hallways echoed into your room, bouncing off the walls in a way that made you want to rip your ears off.

Everything was simply irritating. You couldn't tell if it was because of the headache or because of how absolutely humiliated you still were from the interactions you'd been having with Levi

You stared at the ceiling angrily. You were going to kill Hange. You really wanted them to be right, but unfortunately for you, Levi decided to act differently. That only led you to the embarrassment of his dismissal and criticism of his gaze. You knew you had to face Levi again. He was one of your peers, somehow. Part of you almost held a grudge against Erwin for making you a captain with Levi. Couldn't he have pulled some strings and grouped you in with Hange instead?

The ceiling above you held no answers, firm and quiet in a way you despised. Who could you even tell all of this to without sounding crazy? Hange? They may just laugh at you, rambling on and on about how he's not that bad until it eventually leads to something science related. No, you weren't particularly interested in the titans they called their 'babies', but it was Hange, so you'd manage.

With a final disappointed sigh, you pulled yourself out of bed and flicked on the overhead light, temporarily blinding yourself. You managed to pull yourself over to get your uniform, even though you were rubbing your eyes like you'd just gotten chemicals in them, and started to change. You pulled on the uniform you and all of your peers wore every single day.

You didn't even manage to do anything with your hair, telling yourself it looked fine enough as you pulled your fingers into it, fixing it slightly. Your jacket was draped over the back of your desk chair and you grabbed the sleeve, walking toward the door without even putting it on.

The hallway was mostly empty, with the exception of a few young soldiers on their way to the mess hall. They didn't speak to you, most simply nodding their heads in respect as you passed. You didn't think you'd ever get used to that. You were so accustomed to being walked past without a word by the people around you. Being a higher rank was so much different. Being respected felt weird. You just pressed your lips together and pulled your jacket on, continuing into the mess hall.

It didn't take you long to find Hange at your usual spot. As you approached, you could see Levi standing closer to your table than usual, clearly speaking with Hange. You clenched your jaw. This was just your luck. The last person you wanted to see was engaging in conversation with the one person you actually wanted to talk to. How delightful.

Levi's eyes flickered up to you as you approached, causing Hange to turn your way as well. They casted you a smile while Levi just kept his deadpanned expression. His eyes stayed cold, mouth stayed still, jaw stayed unmoving. You huffed out a quick breath through your nose and proceeded to your usual spot, which Levi was standing in front of.

You glanced at him and back to your seat, his eyes not leaving you. Your body swayed back and fourth, "uhmmm.." you mumbled out.

Levi shot back instantly, "Do you have a problem?" His words were quick and straight, showing no emotion other than a hint of annoyance. Your chest tightened. You really didn't want to speak to him right now.

You swallowed your worries, "You're in front of my seat." Your voice came out firmer than you'd expected. You'd gained confidence in your words around him every time you'd remembered that he wasn't your superior anymore. You almost flinched at his blank stare, probably hurting more than if he snapped back.

He glanced down at the spot you were talking about, eyes shooting back up to you. He didn't speak for a moment, watching you shift back and forth on your feet. He eventually opened his mouth, "Is that my problem?"

You were slowly getting more irritated with him, your impatient shuffling stopping as you looked down at Hange for help. They just shook their head and looked down at the table. Levi didn't move. You looked back up at him, "It kind of is." Your voice shot through the air. A few soldiers at the nearest table turned their heads slightly.

Levi narrowed his eyes at you, "Careful," He warned, then glared at them, "Maybe if you three spent more time focusing on yourself then you wouldn't get your ass kicked at training." He snapped at the boys, who turned back around, muttering things under their breath.

"Can you just, yknow, move? Like a normal person?" You asked, "Please?" Your voice was pleading but firm. He stared at you.

Hange spoke up, "Come on, Levi, don't be such a hardhead. You were about to leave anyway. Just let the poor girl sit down. You already treat her bad enough." They said, a small grin coming over their face as they looked up at Levi expectantly.

All Levi did was scoff and finally take a step back, letting you into your seat. You sat down, leaning your chin on your hand. Levi moved again to stand in his original spot, which happened to be right behind you.

You could feel his presence. He was in your space. You weren't used to him being in your space. To ignore him, you kept your back to him, but he didn't stay long.

Levi crossed his arms, looking down at Hange, "Just don't do any stupid shit out there," He grumbled before taking a step back to look at you. He said your name firmly and you turned to look at him, shoulders tense under his gaze. He stared down to you, "Mission tomorrow. Come to my office later so i can give you the rundown. It's none of these brat's concerns."

His voice was calmer than it was previously and he turned away, not giving you time to respond. You rotated your body toward Hange and they just smiled, "Two days in a row." You muttered bitterly.

Hange sighed, watching him stride across the room toward Erwin. They tapped their fingers on the table, pursing their lips in thought, "It's not like he made things weird yesterday." They blurted, causing you to groan.

"That's the thing, Hange. He did make things weird," You forced out, voice low in fear someone would hear, "He started asking me why i joined the scouts and then got an attitude when i asked why."

Hange, however, did not lower their voice, "Maybe he's starting to take a liking to you." They shrugged, biting into a piece of bread that they'd picked off their plate.

Your entire body tensed, shoulders going rigid and hands stilling on the table. Your nails dug into your palms as you tightened your fists at the thought of him treating you weirdly because he appreciated you as a person. Your neck slowly curled toward Hange, "Mr. WatchYourMouthAroundMe?" You questioned.

You looked in Levi's direction for just a second, "The one who just made a big deal out of stepping away two feet so i could sit down? The one I tried to apologize to for snapping at him last night and he cut me off by telling me to leave?" You asked, "But, yeah. Sure, he definitely likes me."

Hange rolled their eyes, more interested in the fact you hadn't gotten breakfast than the conversation, "Not gonna eat?" They asked and you grunted.

Popping your knuckles, you sighed, watching as Hange took another bite of their bread. You decided to cross your arms on the table, resting your head on them, "Is that what you're concerned about?"

Hange shrugged again, "Maybe. I'm always pretty hungry, so I just don't get why you aren't eating," They said between bites, "But aside from that, Levi doesn't really do small talk. If he was asking, he's interested in something. Maybe that something is you."

Hange grinned and you groaned, "You have got to be kidding me, Hange. You actually cannot be serious."

They just shrugged again, flicking crumbs across the table, "I guess we'll see."

The day passed as usual. You spent time writing reports, checking tack for the upcoming mission, and stressing out about levi.

You'd never been this stressed about a man in your life, which was actually quite surprising considering some of the demons roaming around inside of the walls. Levi was just so different and hard to understand sometimes. For once in your five years of knowing him, you didn't know what he thought of you.

Before your promotion, you didn't particularly care, either. He was your captain. He was harsh on everyone. You wouldn't necessarily say him being harder on you was motivating but it definitely didn't slow you down. In just a few years, you'd become a captain, after all.

The problem now was how close he was kept to you. Now, you were by his side. You two were sat together at briefings, expected to work together and get along. You two were supposed to work together, and well.

You tried, you really did, but it was just so difficult to get along with him sometimes. He was stubborn and difficult to talk to. Most of the times you watched someone try to engage in a genuine conversation with him, you just watched them embarrass themselves as he made comments.

That was another thing about Levi— he made so many snarky remarks. Whether it was about your stance, your skill, your looks, or honestly anything about you, he had something to say about it. His comments weren't what would be considered kind, either. But at the same time, you didn't expect them to be.

You'd heard him give out horrible comments and nicknames to soldiers while you were in the survey corps. Occasionally, you were one of many. He may have gone harder on you, but it wasn't anything that bothered you too much. All it did was make you think he held a specific hatred toward you for some unapparent reason.

Levi's behavior wasn't unexpected at all. He was a particular kind of person and whatever you perceived that description as didn't matter. He was simply particular. He was unchanging. He liked things a certain way. He always acted a certain way, so being unable to read him made you nervous.

You liked being able to know just about everything he was thinking by how he spoke, but that wasn't an option anymore, and now you had to deal with it again.

Right now.

You had gone back to your room to change into something more comfortable after dinner, and now you were standing outside of his office again. With a deep breath and a voice in your head screaming at you to think happy thoughts, you knocked.

Once again, he just yelled, "What?" across the room until you opened the door. You shut it behind you and sat down in the same way you had the night before, bouncing your leg from where you sat.

Levi glanced over you, making a face which you couldn't tell was either disapproval or acknowledgment.

Maybe you shouldn't have changed.

He looked back up at you, head tilted down slightly to look at a paper in front of him. A cup of steaming tea sat on the table next to them. Weird. Who drinks tea at this time?

He cleared his throat as he noticed you drifting off, "So, we have a mission tomorrow inside of wall Maria. Something about titans possibly being in a forest and some other details you don't need to concern yourself with," he trailed off, tapping his index finger on the surface of the wood a few times before looking back up at you, "What's our plan?"

You flinched backward in surprise. He was asking you? Levi always came up with plans himself, never asking for help and only ever taking orders from Erwin or Hange. You blinked at him a few times in silence and he raised an eyebrow, "Uhm, you're asking me?"

He took a deep breath, "Is there another captain in the room i'm unaware of, or are you just that bad at listening?" He questioned with a a glare, fingers tapping impatiently against his desk.

"Sorry," you muttered, "you usually do this part on your own."

"Hange said I treat you badly. I'm treating you nicely now. What's our plan?"

You widened your eyes, surprised he'd actually listened to Hange's words and taken them into consideration. Unbeknownst to you, he'd spent a concerning amount of time thinking about what Hange had said. He almost felt bad. Almost.

"I- uhmm, I say we ride out to the edge of the forest and send some soldiers up into the trees with gear to keep a birds eye view while the rest of us ride through on horseback." You said hesitantly.

Levi's expression didn't shift. Instead, he leaned forward in his chair, "Not your worst plan," He admitted, but still seemed unimpressed, "We can try it."

You, however, were very impressed at his compliance. You stared at him in silence. He stared back. It was an agonizing minute where neither of you spoke. You because you didn't know what to say, him because he didn't have to.

"Are we having a staring contest or are you planning on talking?" Levi finally spoke, crossing his arms over his chest as he usually did.

You blinked a few times, stuttering before forcing out a, "Sorry i was just thinking."

He still looked unimpressed, "Must not do that often." He said smoothly. Now you were just irritated. He responded so quickly you couldn't tell if he had been waiting for you to say it or if he was just that witty. You couldn't decide which one was worse.

"You're an asshole." You chided, leaned back in the chair in front of his desk.

"I thought i told you to be careful with your mouth."

"I thought you said you were treating me nicely."

Levi huffed. He couldn't really argue with that since he did say just moments ago he was being nice because of Hange. He stared at you with a clenched jaw, "You always have something smart to say?"

You mimicked his facial expression, "I guess i learned from being stuck with you." You were surprised he hadn't told you to get out already. Instead, he stood his ground, looking up at you.

You looked back to the cup of tea on his desk, "Do you ever plan on drinking that or is it just gonna sit there?"

He finally sighed, "Are you done being a smartass? We have a job to do." He pressed two of his fingers to the papers on the desk. You followed the movement with your eyes, moving your gaze up his fingers and arm until you eventually made it back to his face.

"Fine."

"Great." He huffed, "We go with your plan. Lose minimal soldiers since we're all spread out." He explained, gesturing around a small, old map he had of the area before the wall fell.

You crossed your arms, "Almost sounds like you're complimenting me." You remarked, tracing his features with your eyes, not looking at his gesturing.

"I thought i told you to lose the sarcasm." Levi pulled his hand up from the map, putting it on its side as he looked up at you.

You hoped he didn't realize you'd already been staring at his face when he'd looked up at you, "Yeah, whatever."

Levi went back to the plan, "We use the flare system on the way. Once we clear the titans, regroup at the edge of the forest. Flare system on the way back, too, but i assume you know most of this already." He glanced up and you nodded, eyes finally drooping down to the map.

"Great. We leave in the morning. Soldiers already know," He stacked his papers, pushing them to the side and pulling his tea toward him. He took a sip, then looked up at you, "Be careful of who you send up."

You tracked his movement, "I was wondering when you were gonna drink that." You admitted, standing up from the chair.

Levi did nothing but sigh, "Get out of my office if you're gonna have a smart mouth with me."

You didn't move from your spot and crossed your arms, "If i don't have a smart mouth?"

"I will still tell you to get out of my office."

"Yeah, I thought you might." You kissed your teeth, stepping out into the hallway.

This interaction wasn't nearly as awkward as the one before, or the one before that, or the one before that.. Point was, talking to Levi wasn't uncomfortable this time. Were you on thin ice? Probably. Aside from that, he'd taken your plan into consideration. He also let you choose who went up and who stayed on the trail.

Story is over everyone and i think this is the perfect conclusion 😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨