#levi ask

“It hasn’t been that long.” He grunted out the words through tight lips. Hange howled with laughter. 

“It’s been five years Levi! Who knows how long we’ll live! Five years makes all the difference.” Hange bent down to collect their pen as they spoke, their words muffled as they ducked under the desk. 

“It has been a long time.” Erwin agreed, not even sparing the two a glance. Levi felt his stomach twist and fold as he thought about you, was he doing wrong by you? The two of you had never discussed marriage before, the thought hadn’t even crossed his mind. But he could see himself living the rest of his life with you, even if that was only five more years. 

___

Two years passed, and Hange was still pestering Levi about proposing to you. He had held fast, not sure if this was something that you wanted, but the badgering was starting to get to him. Plus the fact that now his squad was dead, and he had a gaggle of greenhorn teenagers to care for. There hadn’t been much time to discuss such trivial things. Levi knew that marriage was no small deal, but in comparison to the work the two of you did, it wasn’t a priority of his. Until he saw a couple in Trost, the man bent down in the center of the market and pulled out a modest ring. He paused, pulling back on the reins of his horse taking a moment to appreciate the love radiating off the pair. 

He bought a ring that afternoon. It cost him all of the change he had on hand, roughly eight hundred coins. But he left with the small velvet box in his pocket, and he was pleasantly surprised at how light it felt. He had expected it to weigh a thousand pounds, but it felt feather-light. That had to mean something right? He rode back to base and was extra nice to the kids, they had been through so much as of late. The government had collapsed, and there were people outside of the walls plotting their demise. They did deserve a night off, so he let them stay up late, chatting in the common space. It was winter anyway, there wasn’t much work to do besides chopping kindling and keeping the castle clean. 

He was regretting this now, as you were too busy enjoying the kids' company, doting on Connie in particular. You were pinching his rosy cheeks, he had just come back inside with an armful of kindling. Connie wasn’t complaining for once, he leaned into your warm hands, and Levi noticed that the kid looked the happiest he had been in months. Sasha was sneaking biscuits, Armin was flipping through Erwin’s old journals, Hange was in the corner with him, marking up the pages and making notes. Levi could never touch Erwin’s books, he would rather preserve the ink that the previous commander had left. But he commended Armin and Hange for their drive for knowledge. 

Eren and Mikasa were doing their usual dance, fingertips brushing, knees knocking together occasionally. Jean was preoccupied with stopping Sasha from eating too much venison. Levi stepped into the room and the weight of that tiny box hit him like a truck. In this room were the last of his loved ones, he should want to share this moment with them. But he was too fearful of your response. Would you cry as that woman had earlier? Would he laugh and smile at the right time? Would the others lose respect for him if you said no? He sat down next to you, casually throwing his arm over your shoulders. He ignored the box in his pocket, he would come back to it in the morning. For now, he was here, with his favorite people in a warm clean home, surrounded by laughter. 

______

You loved that Levi was a clean freak. Most of the time. Now was not that time, after you had agreed to move into his quarters with him years ago, he constantly moved your things. Normally it wasn’t an issue, but you were missing your favorite pen and his desk was a maze to you. You pulled out the bottom drawer, the one place that he allowed to be messy. Old sketches that he had commissioned from Moblit, your face, Hange’s, Erwin’s, Isabel, Farlan. Your fingertips grazed over the neatly stacked pages carefully, Kuchel, Kenny, a rough outline of Eren and the other cadets. Your fingers grazed something soft at the bottom of the drawer and you gently pulled the papers back. A tiny black box, curiosity killed the cat as they say. You opened it, it was foreign to you, new and exciting. A ring, not large or flashy, with a small diamond anchored onto a golden band. An engagement ring. You swallowed thickly before quickly shutting the box and placing everything back exactly as you had found it. 

You would ask him where your pen was. You left his office with your heart racing, from excitement? It must be, there was no one else he could be giving that to. Was it his mother’s? No, she had no jewelry, maybe Erwin had left it to him. No, Erwin was a workaholic, his romance days were well behind him. It had to be for you, from him to you. 

You didn’t see him until later that day, at dinner in the vacant mess hall. The kids were rowdy and he was agitated, you were anxious. Your knee wouldn’t stop bouncing, your heart had never beat so fast. He was sitting next to you, but he seemed to be too busy telling the kids to settle down to notice your distress. It was frustrating, you wanted him to comfort you, reassure you. But you also wanted space, time to sort your thoughts. Of course, you wanted to marry him, you want a life with him, with the kids, with Hange. You want to be happy, you were happy before he brought the ring into the picture. 

Was he not happy with your relationship? What brought on the dramatic change? There was no discussion of marriage before? You stood up and walked briskly to the kitchen, where Hange was brewing the evening pot of tea. 

“You’re pale darling, you aren’t pregnant are you?” They teased, spoon clinking on porcelain. You rushed to the sink and vomited. Hange recoiled and gasped, they loved to tease you about pregnancy. What if you were? When was your last period? This was too much. You slumped to the ground, chest heaving as tears threatened to spill from your eyes. 

“Hey, hey breathe” Hange sat beside you, rubbing comforting circles on your back as you tuck your head between your knees. You peeked up at them, but all you could see was their empty eye socket, Erwin’s body lifeless on the roof. Armin is nothing but a burnt corpse, Levi limp with dread and the biggest decision weighing down on him. 

“I can’t.” You yelped, training your eyes on the floor again, the visions didn’t stop. Eren was screaming, so was Mikasa. Sasha was out cold, Historia was locked up in a tower, Connie was speechless, Jean was holding you back. You shrugged Hange off and turned around to throw up in the sink again. 

“What’s happening?” Hange hissed, it wasn’t normal for you to break down so severely in front of your peers, even Levi had only seen you this way a few times before. 

“I’m so scared Hange” You sobbed, leaning onto the sink your hair falling over your face and clouding your vision. 

“Why? Are you actually pregnant?”

“I don’t know! I saw the ring, and I just…I want to be enough for him.” You whimpered as Hange scooped you into their arms, squeezing you tight. You focused on their heartbeat, the steady thump thump thump. 

“What ring (Y/n)?” Hange spoke softly and you sniffled against their cotton shirt soaked in your tears. 

“The ring in Levi’s drawer, I think he’s going to propose.” You craned your neck up and Hange beamed down at you, their eyes wide and filled with glee. 

“The bastard finally grew a pair,” Hange said smugly and you furrowed your brows in confusion. 

“Explain.” You wiped the tears from your face and stepped back, they let you go, but not far. Their hand still held onto your bicep, keeping you close. 

“Ever since you two began dating, Erwin and I put a fire under his ass about getting you a ring.” Hange winked and you sighed, somewhat relieved that it was for you, that he had thought about it to some degree. 

“Now, are you pregnant?” Hange pressed and you shrugged. 

“Who’s to say.” You sighed and smiled. 

“I feel better now, thank you.” 

“Don’t tell him that I told you!” They called after you and you waved back at them with a cheeky wink before slipping out of the kitchen.

_______

Two more weeks passed, the winter was harsh and you had been snowed in for a few days. The pipes were frozen, it was a constant fight over who went out for firewood. The stew was good, Hange had it down to a science. You weren’t as worked up, and you definitely weren’t pregnant. You could only wait for Levi to make his move now. The fire crackled and the conversation slowed as the night wore on. Armin and Hange had shared their findings in the notebooks, Sasha had made some of the best soup, and Jean was picking up where Moblit left off in his drawings. Levi was sitting close to you on the sofa, his thigh pressed against yours. You snuggled closer, pressing your nose into the column of his throat, he huffed in annoyance. He was ticklish. 

“No that’s not how it went.” Connie insisted, Jean’s pencil scratched against the paper. Eren rolled his eyes and Mikasa smiled softly as Connie and Eren fought about a long-forgotten memory. Levi shifted bending at his waist and you frowned, following him before he pulled you to your feet. You didn’t want to go to bed yet, the kids were so sweet tonight, not too rowdy but still entertaining. The fire popped and all eyes turned to you as Levi sank down to the floor, his hand still in yours. Your heart skipped a beat, you heard Sasha gasp, and Connie and Eren stopped bickering. Jean’s pencil paused, Armin, inhaled sharply, and Mikasa’s eyes grew so soft. 

“(Y/n),” Levi cleared his throat, calloused thumb brushing across your scarred knuckles. 

“Y-Yes?” You squeaked out, squeezing his hand back with enthusiasm. You could feel them shaking, see his pulse racing through the veins in his neck. 

“Will you do me the honor, of being my wife?” His voice shook on the first few syllables before an evening out into a low timbre. Your cheeks ached from smiling so hard as he pulled the ring from his breast pocket.