Place Your Bets
ā Summary: The Scouts bet you that Captain Levi wonāt respond to your flirting. Youāre determined to prove them wrong, but Levi has never been the kind of man to let someone else control the game.
ā Pairing: Levi Ackerman x Female Reader
ā Genre/Tags: Canon Compliant, Aged-Up Characters (20's), Flirting, Humor, Fluff, Smut
ā Content Warnings: Explicit sexual content, oral sex (f. receiving), fingering, light dom/sub, marking, power imbalance, unprotected piv
ā Word Count: 9.8k
ā AO3 Link
ā a/n: This was the winning poll option for the 400 follower celebration! THANK YOU TO THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AMAZING WONDERFUL @slaytherinthoughts FOR BETA READING <333
[ Art by Pixiv Id 49949467 ]
Your favorite part of the day has always been dinner time. The dining hall always gets loud, exhaustion loosening everyoneās tongues so laughter spills easier and smiles come brighter. Itās usually the same thing every nightāSasha trying to barter food from everyone, Eren and Jean arguing about something stupid and menial again before Mikasa cuts in and threatens to kick both of their asses, and Ymir showering Christa with love and affection.Ā
Youāre halfway through your stew, watching how Mikasa has slowly been moving the carrots she doesnāt want into Erenās bowl while he talks too passionately to realize it. Your conversation had somehow shifted from your last assessment scores to which superior officers would be easiest to flirt with. Not exactly the most appropriate conversation, but hey, it should be expected of a group of twenty-something year-olds.
Jean suddenly snorts into his cup and says, āCaptain Levi is incapable of being flustered.ā
Connie barks out a laugh. āCaptain Levi? Yeah, no. I think if you flirted with him, heād just tell you your posture was shit.ā
āHe might blush if someone compliments his cleaning,ā Sasha says.
You laugh at the thought of Levi turning pink over you complimenting his polishing of the floorboards. Itās almost charming. But youāre pulled back into the reality of things quickly, reminded by the sure fact that Levi would be the type to make you run sixty laps for even breathing wrong in his direction. At least he would look irritatingly beautiful barking orders at you.
āMaybe he just needs someone hot to compliment him,ā Connie says.
Ymir, sitting beside Christa with one arm draped over her shoulders, rolls her eyes. āPlease. That man could walk through a brothel and find the mop sexier.ā
The table erupts into laughter. Armin drops his face into one hand, already checked out of the conversation. Christa turns scarlet but presses her lips together, very clearly trying not to laugh. Jean wheezes, and even Mikasa lets out a small, polite laugh. You shouldnāt laugh as hard as you do, because if Levi heard your conversation right now he would probably bury you all six feet under.
Then Eren, who has never met a stupid idea he couldnāt charge at headfirst, leans forward with bright eyes and says, āSomeone should test it.ā
You pause, nervously playing with the charm of your necklace. Jean is the first to look at you. Then Connie. Then Sasha. Then Ymir, a little more wickedly.
āNo,ā you say immediately, because you know that look, and you know yourself. āNo.ā
Jean grins. āCome on.ā
āAbsolutely not.ā
āYouāre the only one who could pull it off.ā
āI donāt know if I should be flattered or insulted.ā
āYou say things to the officers that none of us would ever say,ā Connie points out. It would be rude if it werenāt true.
āMaybe you could only do it for a week?ā Christa offers.
āA week?ā you echo, already feeling the dangerous little spark of interest light inside you. The worst part is that theyāre not entirely wrong; you are bold, you are blunt, and you have secretly spent far too much time wondering what it would take to make Levi Ackermanās perfect composure crack, even if only by a little. āYouāre giving me a week to flirt with humanityās most emotionally repressed man?ā
āGet a reaction,ā Jean corrects.
āDefine reaction,ā Armin says.
āBlushing counts,ā Eren says.
āStammering counts,ā Jean adds.
āLooking away counts,ā Christa says.
āNo it doesnāt,ā Ymir scoffs. āThat could just mean he hates you.ā
You cock your head. āTo be fair, I think he does hate me.ā
āHe hates everyone,ā Mikasa mumbles.
āWhat if he flirts back?ā Armin asks.
Eren scoffs loudly. āCaptain Levi? Flirt back? Be serious.ā
Your stomach twists at the thought. You canāt even imagine Levi doing anything as human as flirting. But what if he were to step a little too close, lower his voice to a smooth cadence, fix his eyes on yours and then your lips and then smash his mouth againstā
Nope. Youāre not going down that mental road again.
You set your spoon down and touch your necklace again. Everyone is watching you intensely. The best move here is to refuse. Itās the most sensible move. Captain Levi isnāt a toy for your entertainment. Making a game out of a man who can kill Titans like swatting flies is going to land you in deep shit. You know that.
And yet, you still smile. āA week?ā you ask, leaning back with a confident half-shrug. āGive me three days.ā
Jeanās grin widens. āThat confidence is exactly why we picked you.ā
Ymir snorts into her cup. āNo. We picked her because she has no sense of self-preservation. And sheās a fucking idiot.ā
The worst part is you canāt even argue with that. Game on.
.
Day one, you begin with too much confidence and nowhere near enough strategy, which, in hindsight, is probably the natural consequence of accepting a bet over dinner while surrounded by idiots.
You see Levi just after breakfast, walking through the corridor with a stack of reports in his arms. He looks somewhat more annoyed today, but because Eren and Jean are watching from around the far cornerānot very subtly, might you addāand because you refuse to lose your nerve on the first attempt, you slow your steps just enough to pass him shoulder-to-shoulder and say sweetly, āYou look good today, Captain.ā
Levi doesnāt stop or look at you. He doesnāt even blink in a way that could potentially be considered meaningful, unless youāre desperate enough to start seeing romantic symbolism in basic human functions now. He simply keeps walking, the scent of his soap trailing behind slapping you in the face. Youāre left standing there in the middle of the corridor with your mouth still curved into a smile. Meanwhile, at the end of the hall, Jean presses a fist to his mouth to stop himself from laughing and Eren mouths, Nothing?
Nothing. Not a twitch, not a glance, not even a disgusted little sigh. Fine, you think, watching Levi disappear around the corner. Eren and Jean shoot upright and pretend to engage in conversation, though itās horribly broken and awkward from what you can hear. The moment Leviās footsteps fade, Jean shoves Erenās shoulder, and Eren shoves him back.
First shot missed. Happens to the best of us.
.
By day two, you decide subtlety is the cowardās way.
You happen to run into Levi again in the supply closet. While youāre searching for a specific cleaner, the door opens behind you and he steps inside. Suddenly the cramped room seems to shrink even further. Thereās barely enough space for both of you to stand without brushing elbows. He doesnāt acknowledge the fact that youāre so close, naturally.Ā
Instead, he reaches past you for a rag on the shelf above your shoulder. He leans close enough that you can feel the warmth radiating off his body. Your muscles lock momentarily. Damn him for being so attractive. Still, you manage to tilt your chin up and say, āCareful, Captain. Any closer and people might start talking.ā
He pulls back and looks at you. For a second, you think youāll get something. A stammer, a blush if youāre lucky, but Levi only looks unimpressed. Itās the exact same look he gives soldiers when he manages to find a speck of dust after three straight hours of cleaning.
āPeople already talk,ā he says flatly. āUsually because you give them material.ā
You swallow a laugh. Damn him. You lean your shoulder against the shelf, trying not to focus on the fact that your pulse has just spiked dramatically. āOh, we can give them plenty of material.ā
Levi takes the rag, steps back, then leaves.
.
By day three, youāre beginning to suspect the bet is cursed.
Youāre gathered in the yard for ODM training. Your friends have formed a not-so-suspicious circle across the field. You see them gathered with a false innocence, sneaking glances at you, favoring the potential spectacle awaiting them over doing anything useful.
You check your gear and realize one of your straps at your thigh is loose, the buckle hanging awkwardly against your leg. Before you can crouch down to fix it yourself, someone approaches.
āHold still,ā Levi says.
Youāre almost embarrassed by how quickly you obey. He crouches in front of you and grabs the loose strap before you can object. Thereās nothing intimate about it, nothing that should make heat rush to your faceāand yet it does. You look down at his dark hair and the concentration on his face and think to yourself, this is fine. This is normal. Heās just fixing your gear. Youāre not going to die.
Then you remember the bet. Nowās your chance.
āYou always this good with your hands, Captain?ā you ask, nervously toying with your necklace.
Across the yard, Connie visibly folds in half. Eren grabs Mikasa by the sleeve. Sashaās mouth drops open. Levi tightens the buckle with one tug and looks up at you, his expression so blank itās almost hostile in a way.
āOnly when someoneās done a shit job and I have to fix it,ā he says.
You stare at him as he walks away, unaware of the others across the yard silently screaming into the void.
.
By day four, your pride is no longer bruised. Itās limping, bleeding, and asking whether anyone saw the driver of the carriage that hit it.Ā
Youāre cleaning one of the common rooms with a scrub brush in hand and a flicker of annoyance in your heart when Levi comes to inspect the progress. He steps inside, surveys the floor, the windowsill, the table legs, underneath the tables, and even the door handle.
āDo it over,ā he says.
You slowly turn your head toward him. āExcuse me?ā
His gaze flicks to the windowsill. āDust.ā
You look behind you at the window. Tragically, thereās dust. It wouldnāt matter to a normal person, but Captain Levi is far from normal when it comes to cleanliness. āYouāre very hard to impress, Captain,ā you say, forcing your voice to carry a teasing tone instead of something that makes it clear how badly you want to throw the rag at his head.
Levi looks at you, and he doesnāt look away. Standing under his intense gaze like this makes your stomach clench in ways you donāt even want to think about. āAnd youāre very easy to ignore.ā
Your smile twitches before you can stop it. That one stings a bit more. You know Levi isnāt above personal insults, but were you really that forgettable to him? You manage to muster up a bit more courage and say, āYou know, Iām more skilled in other areas.ā
Levi only quirks an eyebrow and tilts his head. That was enough to pull him in, it seems. Success. āHow so?ā
You smile, because finally, youāve found the opening. āYouāre not the only one whoās good with their hands.ā
Silence. Such deep silence that you could hear a pin drop. Levi holds your gaze for exactly one second before he says, almost bored, āKnock it off and get back to work.ā
And just like that, he moves on with his day, leaving you standing in the room with a rag in your hand, a burning face, and a grim realization that you may have underestimated both his composure and his commitment to making you feel like an idiot.
.
The moment you sit down at dinner that night, Connie leans across the table and hides his mouth from the view of the superiorsā table with his hand. āNothing?ā
You drop your head into your hand. āNothing.ā
āNot even a blink?ā
āHe has eyes, Connie. Heās going to blink,ā Mikasa says without looking up from her bowl.
Sasha groans and slumps dramatically over the table, one hand still clutching her apple. āWeāre doomed.ā
You groan too, louder. āNo, just me.ā
Jean makes a sympathetic noise thatās ruined completely by the fact that heās smiling. āYou still have three days left.ā
āThree days to accomplish the impossible,ā Eren mumbles.
Armin, kinder than the rest, tilts his head. āMaybe you need to adjust your approach.ā
āMy approach is fine,ā you say.
āYour approach is dogshit,ā Ymir says.
Christa gives you an almost apologetic smile, which makes you feel even worse. You stab at the softened carrots in your stew with one hand and toy with your necklace with the other. Every time you touch it, you remember your motherās hands in yours, the cold metal in your palm, her soft words wishing you safety and prosperity. You long to see her again. Soon, you think. Soon.
You force yourself to not look toward the officersā side of the hall, where Levi sits with Hange and Erwin, drinking tea without a care in the worldāas if he hasnāt spent the last four days ignoring your best efforts. It should be funny. It was funny, at first. But now his lack of a reaction has begun to get under your skin, turning challenge into irritation, then irritation into a feeling thatās far more embarrassing, because itās one thing for Levi to ignore the flirting and another thing entirely for him to make you feel like heās ignoring you.
Itās personal now, you decide.Ā
.
Levi thinks this is the most irritating week of his life, by far.
Itās not distracting enough to matter, and certainly not enough to affect his work, but itās definitely irritating. And persistent. You are persistent. Youāre always there. In hallways, in supply rooms, in the training grounds, always pushing and pushing, waiting for him to break at the seams.Ā
Levi doesnāt crack. Heās survived this long by being difficult to shake. Still, he thinks about itāabout youāmore than he should, and that annoys him the most.
Levi walks into the stables. Hay bales are stacked neatly against the wall. The tack is all lined up and organized in the storage room. Heās only searching for a harness clip, nothing more, because apparently grown soldiers canāt keep equipment where it belongs. He barely passes the first row of stalls before voices reach him from the far end. He recognizes them. Eren, Jean, Armin. Levi stops before they see him.Ā
āTold you,ā Eren says with a hint of smugness. āCaptain Levi doesnāt flirt.ā
Leviās brows shift by the smallest degree.Ā
āShe still has two days, Armin says, a little quieter. āAnd honestly, heās been looking at her more than usual.ā
āLooking annoyed doesnāt count,ā Jean laughs. āHe looks at everyone like that.ā
Levi freezes for a moment, then swallows. Then Eren speaks again, painfully unaware of the grave heās digging with both hands. āDoesnāt matter. The bet was to make him react. Sheās been flirting with him for five days and he hasnāt done anything.ā
Levi doesnāt know what to feel at first. Then annoyance practically slams into him. Of course the sudden compliments, the lingering looks, the suggestive comments delivered with too much confidence and nowhere near enough survival instinct are not lapses in judgement but a coordinated effort by the loudest collection of children to ever survive to adulthood.
He almost steps out. He almost makes them regret every syllable. He almost assigns all three of them stable duty until their hands smell permanently of horse shit. He almost leaves to go find you and drag you into his office and inform you that if you have enough free time to treat your commanding officer like a tavern dare, you have enough free time to scrub every inch of the barracks.
But he doesnāt. He remains where he is, half-shadowed beside the tack shelves, and thinks of you when you were in the supply closet with him, your chin tipped up and your mouth spilling smooth words you clearly expected to land, of the flash of irritation in your eyes when he refused to give you anything back.
So, youāve been trying to break him in front of an audience. Bold. Stupid. And mildly interesting. You want a reaction from him. No. More than that. You want proof that he can be moved, that thereās something you can reach underneath all the discipline and deadpan remarks if youāre reckless enough to keep trying.
Fine. Letās see how well you handle it when he stops being polite.
He turns without a sound, leaving the missing clip for someone else to find and the three idiots still talking at the far end of the stable, none of them aware that the terms of the bet have just changed.
Two days then. If you wanted a reaction that badly, he could give you one.
.
Day six begins badly, which, considering the trajectory of the week so far, should not surprise you. The morning vanishes beneath papers and one disaster involving Connie dropping a crate of replacement gas canisters. Youāre on the last thin shred of your patience. By the time late afternoon rears its ugly head, youāre tired and hungry, having spent five days throwing stones at a wall. Youāre considering whether you should just run headfirst into it. But you canāt give up. That would be mortifying. Also Jean would never let you hear the end of it.Ā
So when you turn the corner into the east corridor and nearly collide with Levi himself, you decide the universe has not abandoned you entirely. He stops before you can hit him, and you catch yourself with one hand against the wall, your heart giving a stupid little kick as you look at him. He looks as he always does: composed, mouth set in a flat line, irritatingly clean despite the hour.Ā
Fine, you think, dragging your confidence up by the collar. One more time.
You let your smile come slowly, forgetting how the last few days have been consistent public humiliation. āI was starting to think you were avoiding me, Captain.ā
Normally, this is where he would keep walking. Normally, he would ignore you and tell you to find something useful to do. But Levi stops beside you, close enough that the corridor feels smaller, close enough that you can smell the last cup of tea he had still lingering on his lips. He turns his head, eyes meeting yours from the side. Your smile falters.
āWhy would I?ā he asks. Your breath hitchesāstupidly. The words themselves are nothing, barely a response, but itās the way he said them, in a way youāve never heard from him before, that makes the world stop for just a single second. Then his gaze drops, briefly, and he says, āYou wanted my attention, didnāt you?ā
You forget how to answer. Your mind produces absolutely nothing. You canāt find a single comeback or tease. You technically got him to react, and you should be celebrating, but you can only focus on the fact that Levi has just taken the same game youāve been playing all week and held it against your throat.
Before you can recover emotionally, he turns and walks away. Just like that.Ā
You remain there, your hand now nervously touching your charm necklace, staring at him while your heart nearly explodes out of your chest. The worst part isnāt that he answered, but that he answered like he knew exactly what it would do to you.
No. Absolutely not. This is not happening. You are the one flirting with him. Youāre the one with the bet, the plan, the reputation for saying things no one else dares to say, and Levi is supposed to be an immovable force. He is not supposed to look at you like that.Ā
And you are not supposed to feel this way in return.
.
Dinner approaches, and you almost manage to convince yourself that you imagined it.Ā
He was probably being sarcastic. Youāre tired and frustrated and maybe starvation has you seeing seduction where it doesnāt exist. Leviās voice is always low, his eyes are always intense, and your imagination just lost its grip because youāve spent too many days thinking about him.Ā
The mess hall doors open onto chaos. Everyone is trying to leave and enter at once. Soldiers are pressed shoulder-to-shoulder in the crowded corridor, laughter and complaints tangling with the clatter of dishes from inside. Youāre caught near the doorway, half-turned as Jean calls to you from the table and Mikasa waves to you.
You start to step aside when you feel a hand settle at the small of your back. Levi moves behind you, close enough that his chest nearly brushes your shoulder as he guides you smoothly out of the flow of traffic. His palm rests low on your back for a moment longer than necessary. Your lungs practically stop working.
āYouāre in the way,ā he says.Ā
You turn your head, because apparently youāre feeling particularly self-destructive tonight and want to look directly at the weapon killing you. You find him already watching you. Your mind tells you to take the mercy of silence and leave with whatever remains of your dignity.
But because your survival instincts are apparently the worst and will always lose to your mouth, you say, āYou always touch your subordinates like that?ā
His hand slips from your back, his eyes holding yours as he answers, low enough that the noise swallows it before anyone else can hear. āYou always like getting touched by your superiors, or is it just me?ā
Your mouth parts. Nothing comes out. Leviās eyes flick, very briefly, to your lips, then he steps around you and walks into the mess hall like he didnāt just completely make you short circuit. You stand there in the doorway, heat rushing to your face so fast it nearly makes you dizzy. You reach up to touch your necklace again. You still feel the burn of his palm against your back.
No, no, no. That did not happen. Captain Levi did not just say that to you in a crowded hallway. Captain Levi, who has spent five days ignoring your every attempt to flirt, did not just choose now, now, in front of the open mess hall doors where your idiot friends are sitting within view, to say that.
You turn slowly toward the dining hall. At the table, every single one of them is staring. Eren has a spoon halfway to his mouth. Mikasa is watching you calmly, as she always does. Ymir is smiling widely. Jeanās eyebrows are raised to his hairline. You walk to the table on stumbling legs and sit down shakily.
Jean speaks first. āWell?ā
You reach to pick up your spoon, then you realize there is no spoon. You havenāt even gotten your food yet. āW-what?ā
āWhat happened?ā Connie demands. āWe saw him stop.ā
āDid he react?ā Eren asks. āDid he blush? Stammer? Look away?ā
āNothing happened,ā you say a little too quickly.
Armin tilts his head. āNothing?ā
āNothing,ā you repeat, trying not to spontaneously combust from the inside out.
Eren squints at you. āWhy do you look like you just ran thirty laps?ā
āBecause I hate all of you.ā
Sasha gasps softly. āEven me?ā
āEspecially you,ā you joke.
āOh, come on. Something happened,ā Jean laughs.
āNothing happened.ā
āYouāre flustered,ā Christa says gently. Damn it, of course it had to be her who noticed.
āItās hot in here.ā
āItās winter,ā Mikasa says. You glare at her.
Ymir leans forward, elbows on the table as she rests her chin on her linked hands. āOh, something definitely happened.ā
āIt didnāt,ā you insist, even though your skin is still burning where his hand touched your back.Ā
The bet was supposed to be simple. You flirt. Levi refuses to react. You keep pushing until you either win through charm or lose with enough grace to pretend you never cared. At no point was he supposed to turn around and make you feel like the bet had never belonged to you at all.
You stand up and grab your food, your cheeks still hot and shoulders stiff. When you sit back down, Ymirās gaze follows you. She knows. She absolutely knows. But you tell yourself again that nothing happened as you stab a potato hard enough that it breaks apart in your bowl.
Nothing happened. And if thatās true, then youāre in far more trouble than you thought, because apparently Levi can do absolutely nothing and still ruin you.
.
Itās the final day. The day you either make Captain Levi blush, stammer, or lose composure, or you lose the bet and spend the rest of your lifeāhowever short that may beālistening to Eren and Jean taunting you and becoming the most smug humans to ever exist on this earth. Youāre much less confident than you were when you started, and truthfully, youāre ready to take the loss and humiliation.
The training yard is blue with the early morning, fog clinging low to the ground while the first soldiers trickle in with their gear half-fastened and their faces pinched against the chill. You stand near the equipment racks with your ODM harness hanging around your hips. Your fingers feel slightly clumsier than usual as you tighten the buckle at your waist. Itās not that youāre nervous. Youāre just tired and cold. Youāre aware that Levi has spent the last twenty-four hours looking at you as if he knows something you donāt, touching you where he doesnāt need to touch you, speaking in a voice that, franky, should be illegal, and then walking away like nothing ever happened.
You tug the buckle too hard and it nearly pulls the breath out of you. Then it falls loose, and you mutter a low, āShit.ā
You feel someone move behind you. Your heart reacts before the rest of you does.
āYour waist buckle is loose.ā
You close your eyes for a brief second. Damn the universe for sending him. If youāre going to lose, you might as well go out strong. āIāve got it,ā you say.
āYou donāt,ā Levi says.
Before you can argue, he steps in behind you. His hands rise to your waist, grabbing the buckle you were fumbling with, and your spine straightens so fast you might as well have been pulled up by a wire. Heās so damn close. Too damn close.Ā
There are people in the yard. Not many, but enough. Enough that you canāt turn around and ask him what the hell he thinks heās doing, enough that you canāt grab his wrist, enough that you canāt do anything except stand there and pretend him correcting your gear isnāt an act of psychological warfare.Ā
His voice lowers near your ear. āYouāre distracted.ā
āIām not,ā you say a little too fast.
Levi pulls the buckle tight, enough to force a little āmmphā out of you. You swear you hear him scoff in amusement. āYou are.ā
āIām perfectly focused.ā
āYouāre slower.ā His knuckles brush, barely, against your stomach as he tightens the leather. āYour breathingās off.ā
As if your body is eager to prove him right, your breath hitches. You hate him. You hate him so much you want to bite him. You angle your head just enough to speak over your shoulder. āDid you come over here to critique my breathing?ā
āNo.ā He leans in just enough that his next words touch the edge of your ear. āIām wondering whatās on your mind.ā Your first name falls from his lips. You despise how much you like to hear him say it.
Your brain, which has faced Titans, blood, death, and the endless exhaustion of military life, simply abandons you. āIānothing,ā you say, the word catching in your throat.Ā
Levi freezes for a breath, then finishes buckling your gear. He withdraws his hands, but he doesnāt step back immediately. The absence of his touch feels somehow worse than the touch itself.Ā
āSave your filthy little thoughts about me for later,ā he says.
You freeze. Thereās no possible response. Nothing clever nor dignified. Nothing that doesnāt immediately reveal your thoughts, filthy or otherwise. But you realize theyāve already been dragged into broad daylight and inspected by the one man you least want to have that power.
Levi steps around you casually with a perfectly neutral expression, acting as if he hasnāt taken your last functioning nerve between his teeth and smiled around it. You stand there, frozen, your entire body burning.Ā
Maybe this bet was a bad idea.
.
By midday, youāre coming to terms with the fact that youāre no longer trying to win the bet. Youāre just trying to survive the damn thing.
The realization comes to you somewhere between drills and the deeply inconvenient moment when Sasha asks why you keep looking like you expect someone to sneak up on you. Because thatās exactly what it feels like right now; like every corridor has become a battlefield and every corner might contain Levi with another clever line ready to slide under your skin and make its home there.
Heās only doing this because he knows, somehow, because heās figured out the bet or sensed weakness or simply decides that torturing you is a productive use of his time. Thatās what you try to tell yourself, anyway. But none of those explanations quell the heat in your stomach. None of them make you stop remembering the low cadence of his voice. None of them help when you take the stairwell after grabbing a stack of reports to deliver and find him descending from the floor above, eyes already fixed on you as if he knew exactly where you would be.
Your first instinct is to step aside. Your second is to flee. Your third, which is unfortunately the one you choose, is to fight.Ā
Levi reaches the landing and moves as if to pass you, not stopping, not granting you so much as the satisfaction of another look, and you feel your pride explode in your chest. This is reckless, but when have you ever not been reckless? It led you here, after all.
āIf I didnāt know better, Captain, Iād think you were coming onto me,ā you say.
Levi stops. Slowly, he turns. His face is unreadable, but his eyes are not empty. They are darkened, focused purely on you and filled with so much control it feels more dangerous than if he had simply smiled.
āYouād know if I were coming onto you,ā he says.
A warning. A door. A line on the floor with your toes already over it. Leave it alone. Let him go. Remember that there are only a few hours left in this ridiculous bet and the safest thing in the world would be to stop poking at the man whoās already proven he knows exactly how to make you forget your own name without even touching you.
Stupidly, you say, āWould I?ā
For a moment, nothing happensāthen Levi steps closer. A single step that takes the distance between you and closes it. His boots echo quietly against the stone. Your back doesnāt touch the wall yet, but every part of you understands that it could. He leans in and you go still. Itās just enough room to move away. But you donāt. His breath brushes your ear as he speaks.
āYouād know,ā he says, voice so low the words barely survive the air between you, ābecause Iād have you backed against this wall and make damn sure you remembered who you were teasing.ā
You swear you feel your knees give out. Thereās no other way to describe it. A part of you dips, a violent little swoop of heat and shock and want that leaves your fingers tightening around the reports until the papers bend.
Levi draws back just enough to look at you, almost patiently, able to see every ruined thought passing across your faceāand he has all the time in the world to watch you suffer through them. You force your mouth open, but nothing coherent arrives. His gaze drops once to your hands clenched around the reports, then he steps past you, the sleeve of his jacket brushing your arm.
You nearly pass out when his footsteps finally fade away.
.
Hours later, after dinner, you and your friends gather in the yard, warm with lantern light and the fading noise of the day. The sky above the barracks deepens into a royal blue. You sit on the grass with your friends, trying to look as normal as possible and most likely miserably failing.
The bet is nearly over. Youāve technically won it, but for some reason, you donāt want to admit it, because if you do, the things Levi said and did become real. Still, you donāt tell them anything. Connie is looking at the stars, Sasha is finishing the last of her crackers that she snuck out of the mess hall, Jean is laying down with his hands behind his head, Mikasa is watching the yard, and Ymir keeps glancing at you with an expression that suggests she knows thereās blood in the water and sheās simply waiting for you to admit youāve been bitten.
Eren is the one who finally breaks. He waits until the last bell rings from somewhere inside the barracks, marking the end of the day. He smiles and looks at you so smugly it makes you want to slap him.
āThatās it,ā he says. āTold you. Captain Levi doesnāt give a shit about romance.ā
The others groan, laugh, and argue, immediately debating technicalities, because Jean insists there may still be time if Levi walks through the yard in the next thirty seconds, and Connie says you should just sprint inside and say something ridiculous in case it works.Ā
You hear it all from very far away, because you know with certainty that Levi didnāt blush, nor stammer, nor look away. He didnāt lose. Not where anyone could see, at least. Eren is right. Jean is right. Everyone is right.Ā
But they donāt know about the corridor, about his hand at your back, about the training yard and the filthy little thoughts he somehow spoke into existence just by naming them; they donāt know about the stairwell, about the way his voice lowered just for you, about the wall that never touched your back but has been haunting you for hours anyway.
You sit there in the grass with your face turned toward the darkening yard, letting the others mourn and gloat around you, while the memory of his words presses insistently at the forefront of your mind.
Youād know.
You press your lips together and say nothing, because the truth is yours nowāand Leviās.
And that might be worse than losing.
.
Several days pass, and in that time, Levi Ackerman becomes a ghost. Heās somehow everywhere and nowhere at once. In the courtyard while youāre sharpening your blades, standing at the edge of the formation while you run drills, passing through the dining hall with a cup of tea in one hand; and every time you see him, every time his eyes flick over you, your mind drags itself to the stairwell again.Ā
You try to be normal about it. Privately, you fail, but in public, youāre a master of composureāor at least thatās what you tell yourself every time you miss a cue or spend a full three seconds staring at Leviās mouth during morning briefing. You spend too long trying not to think about him, and the act of thinking about him suddenly becomes the only thing you know how to do.
Then the summons comes, delivered after dinner by a junior soldier, who says, with a nervous little glance over his shoulder, that Captain Levi wants to see you in his office.
āDid he say why?ā you ask.
The soldier clears his throat. āPerformance issues.ā
The others at the table look at you with a mix of confusion and pity, but you donāt look back at them. You simply stand, smooth down your jacket, and walk out of the dining hall while desperately trying to ignore the fact that your heart is about to explode.
Outside Leviās office, you lift your hand to knock, but you pause when you become aware of the warmth gathering underneath your collar. This is ridiculous. Youāre a soldier. Youāve faced Titans. Youāve bled, trained, survived, laughed in the face of exhaustion, taken orders from men twice as loud and half as terrifying, and you are not going to break down just because Levi asked to speak with you behind a closed door.
You knock.
āCome in.ā
You open the door. Leviās office is exactly as it always is; painfully neat, the shelves orderly and every stack of papers aligned neatly. A single lantern burns on his desk, where he sits with a report open in front of him and a cup of tea sitting near his right hand. He doesnāt look up immediately, and it makes the knot in your stomach tighten.
āYou wanted to see me, Captain?ā you ask, stepping inside and closing the door behind you.
Levi lifts his eyes and says, āSit.ā
Your spine reacts to the order first as you enter the room and sit in the chair opposite his desk with as much grace as you can muster, which isnāt a lot under the circumstances.
āAm I in trouble?ā you ask.
Levi leans back slightly, his fingers resting against the edge of the report. He studies you carefully. āDepends how honest you plan on being.ā You smile despite the cold chill running down your spine. He narrows his eyes at you. āYour focus has been shit.ā
Well. Not the line you expected, maybe, but the tone is familiar enough to turn into irritation, and youād rather deal with irritation than the other feeling gathering in your stomach.
āMy focus is fine,ā you say, more meekly than youād like.
āNo, it isnāt.ā Levi closes the report. āYour turns were wide during drills yesterday. Your reaction time was slow this morning. You checked your gear and didnāt realize your gas pressure regulation valve was broken.ā
Your lips part, then close again. Damn him. āThat was one mistake.ā
āSeveral mistakes.ā
āI was tired.ā
āYouāve been tired before. Youāre sloppier when youāre distracted. And youāve been distracted.ā
Heat starts rushing to your face. āIs that what this is about? My form?ā
āItās about performance issues.ā
Your body locks up. Leviās expression doesnāt change, and thatās the worst part, because his face remains perfectly neutral while the words crawl under your skin, dragging every memory of the last two weeks with them. His hand at your lower back, his voice at your ear, his proximity in the stairwell, his near-command to save your filthy thoughts for later. You try to breathe through your nose.
āMy performance is fine,ā you say.
āItās shit,ā he says.
You grip the arms of the chair a bit tighter. āDid you just call me in here to insult me?ā
āNo.ā
āThen what?ā
Levi sits in the silence for a moment, then he says, āNext time you make a bet involving me, pick a group of idiots that wonāt talk about it loudly.ā
You swear your stomach drops so fast that the whole room spins around you. Your vision blurs and your mind scrambles backward through every report, every hallway attempt, every bold little comment youād thrown at him. He knew. Levi knew.
You stare at him, completely frozen, shame flooding through you before anger surges to meet it. Not only did he know, but he had let you keep going, watched you struggle, and taken the game from your hands and turned it against you.
āYou knew?ā you say.
āSince day five.ā
Your face burns. The air in the office suddenly feels suffocating. āAnd you just let me keep going?ā
You swear you see Leviās eyes glint with amusement. āNo. I started playing.ā
You stand suddenly, chair scraping back against the floor loudly. āThat was petty, Captain. Were you trying to embarrass me?ā
āYouāre the one who was trying to make me blush in front of half the regiment.ā
You open your mouth, but nothing comes out, because heās infuriatingly, humiliatingly right, and he knows it. āThat was different,ā you say weakly.
āHow?ā
āIt was a bet.ā
āMm.ā Levi steps out from behind the desk. āThat makes it better?ā
You hold your ground as he rounds the desk, though you become increasingly aware of the closed door, his desk behind you as you turn around, how his shoes make almost no sound against the floor. Your pulse skips.
āIt was harmless,ā you say.
āIt was stupid.ā
āYou didnāt seem to mind.ā
His eyes lock onto yours. āNo. I didnāt.ā
Your back suddenly meets the edge of the desk. You hadnāt even realized you were stepping back. Levi doesnāt touch you, but he steps close enough that the space between you becomes a silent dare, and when his hands come down on either side of you, palms braced against the desk, youāre caged without being held. Trapped only because neither of you has chosen to move.
Heās left you room to step away. You could step away. But heās so close. Heās close enough that you can see the shadows beneath his eyes and the faint scar above his eyebrow. Your breath thins. Leviās gaze sharpens on you.
āYouāre very bold when thereās an audience,ā he murmurs.
You swallow, but your throat feels dry. āAnd when there isnāt?ā
For the first time, something almost like a smile threatens the corner of his mouth. He cocks his head slightly. āThatās what I called you here to find out.ā
The office goes silent. It presses around you, filling the space between your faces, making you conscious of every small thing surrounding you: the desk biting into your thighs, the faint scent of tea gone cold, the lantern flame shifting in its glass, Leviās hands braced on either side of you, close enough that your own fingers could reach his wrists if you dared.
Your anger is still there, and your embarrassment too, but beneath both, beneath the humiliation of being caught and the fury of being played, something else opens its eyes, a recklessness thatās starving for touch. Itās been alive since the corridor, since the stairwell, since the first time Levi turned the game back on you.
His gaze drops to your mouth. Yours drops to his. Neither of you moves. You can hear your heartbeat thundering in your ears now, unsteady despite your best efforts to calm it. Your hands grip the desk behind you. The urge to say something snarky leaps to your lips, but you have nothing. Youāre completely, utterly speechless.
But you feel the smallest flare of courage. And with that courage, youāre able to whisper three simple words.
āI dare you.ā
The kiss is nowhere near gentle. Itās controlled for a single second, just a firm press of his mouth against yours, like heās giving you exactly one moment to pull away; and when you donāt move, when your hands leave the desk to grab his cravat and pull him deeper in, his restraint breaks. He kisses you like heās been waiting for this, like heās been counting every reckless word you threw at him and has finally decided to answer all of them at once.
Your legs press into the desk as his body leans in, one hand leaving the wood to rest on your waist, the other sliding to your jaw. You make a small sound against his mouth that you would absolutely deny under oath, but Levi hears it, feels it, and answers by tilting your head exactly how he wants it. Your thoughts turn into complete static, but only one breaks through.
This is the reaction you wanted. Not a blush or a stammer. This.
Levi pulls away to breathe, his mouth still close enough to brush yours. His hand is still firm at your waist. You donāt speak, and neither does he. You notice the darkening of his eyes. Yours are fixed on his mouth. Then his thumb moves along your jaw.
āYou wanted honest,ā he says quietly.
You smile against his mouth and whisper, āI wanted a reaction.ā
Levi scoffs. āYou got one.ā
His mouth crashes back into yours, tongue sliding against yours. One of his hands fists in the fabric at your lower back, pulling you against him. The other cups the nape of your neck, holding you exactly where he wants you. You feel the way his breath hitches once before he deepens the kiss even further. Heās done waiting.
He tears his mouth away again, voice low and rough. āBedroom.ā
āIs that an order, Captain?ā you tease.
Leviās mouth twitches into something almost resembling a smirk. āItās an invitation. Donāt confuse the two.ā
His fingers lace through yours and he leads you out of the office, down the short hallway to his private quarters. The door shuts behind you, and then heās on you again, mouth hungry, hands already working at your straps. You push his cravat aside and unbutton his shirt with equal urgency. Every brush of his hands against your skin sends sparks racing through you.Ā
You reach up to your neck and unclasp your necklace, setting it carefully on the small table beside his bed. Youāve never taken it off, so the absence doesnāt register at first. When it does, you feel more naked, despite already fully being so. Then you turn back to him. Levi watches the movement, then his hands return to your bare waist, guiding you backward until the edge of the mattress meets the backs of your knees. He gives you the gentlest push and you sink onto the bed, the sheets cold against your skin.
Levi follows you down, bracing on one forearm as he kisses you again. His free hand trails along your side, mapping the curve of your waist, the flare of your hip. He breaks the kiss to move lower, pressing his mouth to the hollow of your throat, then the slope of your collarbone, then lower still.Ā
When his lips close over once nipple you arch, a soft sound escapes you. He sucks gently at first, then with more pressure, tongue circling the sensitive bud while his thumb teases the other. The dual attention makes your walls flutter around nothing. You thread your fingers through his hair, feeling the satisfaction that rolls through him at every gasp you give.
He continues downward, kissing a path over your stomach and your hipbone. He bites gently, leaving a whisper of a mark. His hands part your thighs and then suddenly, without warning, his mouth is on you, tongue stroking slowly. At the same time two fingers slide inside, curling so perfectly that your vision blurs for a moment.
Leviās thoughts are focused on only one thing: he wants to feel you come apart, wants to hear every sound you make when thereās no audience left to perform for. He works you steadily, tongue flicking and sucking at your clit while his fingers stroke that perfect spot again and again.
Your own thoughts scatter now. The bet feels distant, ridiculous compared to the reality of Leviās mouth and hands. Pleasure builds fast, coiling tighter with every pass of his tongue and every thrust of his fingers. Your hips move without conscious thought, chasing the sensation. Leviās free hand presses your thighs wider, keeping you open for him. The quiet growl he lets out against you vibrates through your core. Your inner walls clench around him, urging him deeper.
āLevi, please,ā you whimper, hands tangling in his hair as you grind against his face. āNeed more.ā
With a low chuckle, he adds a third finger, stretching you deliciously as he picks up the pace. His tongue dances over your clit, sending a wave of ecstasy through you. He doubles his efforts, sucking your clit into his mouth and flicking it with his tongue. Your thighs close around his head. One hand flies from his head to the sheets, gripping tight.
In a moment of surprising tenderness, he reaches out for your hand with his free one, lacing your fingers together. His other hand is still preoccupied, fingers thrusting deep and curling against your g-spot. The tension inside you winds tighter and tighter. Your quiet moans fill the room, a symphony of pleasure that seems to drive Levi on.
Your orgasm comes so suddenly it catches you by surprise. Your body clenches around his fingers as wave after wave rolls through you. You cry out, back arching off the bed, your hand in his hair tightening its grip on his locks. Levi doesnāt stop until the tremors ease, drawing every last ripple of pleasure from you with careful strokes of his tongue. When he finally lifts his head, his eyes are dark and intent, lips glistening. He kisses the inside of your thigh once, then moves back up your body to press his mouth to yours.
Your heavy breaths turn into small, hitched inhales as your pulse races. Leviās weight settles partly over you, one hand stroking your side. You feel his cock twitch against you. You reach for him, pulling him closer, and he comes willingly, his chest pressed against yours as he grinds his hips down to meet yours, his length sliding over your wetness.Ā
He then pulls back, eyes searching your face. Thereās a softness in the way he lifts his hand and brushes his thumb across your cheek. He feels the rapid flutter of your heart through your chest. Heās been denying it for days now, but heās wanted this. He wanted it since the first time you tried to make him react, but he needs to know you do too.
āAre you sure about this?ā he asks.
You nod without hesitation. āYes.ā
Levi watches you for another second, looking for any signs of doubt, then he settles between your thighs. His hand guides himself to your entrance, and the first press of him stretches you in a way you never could have prepared for. Heās thicker than you expected, the tip parting you slowly. The sensation is overwhelming at first. You feel every inch as he sinks deeper. Your body yields around his solid girth. A quiet sound escapes you, half gasp and half moan. Levi stills once heās fully inside you, giving you time to adjust.
He takes both of your hands in his and lifts them above your head, pinning them gently to the mattress. His fingers are laced through yours. He begins to move, slow rolling thrusts that you feel the full stretch each time he pushes in. The push of him inside you is deep, hitting places that make your toes curl.
Sensations layer one over another: the slickness, the pressure against your inner walls, your hips tilting to take him deeper. He lowers his mouth to your neck, lips brushing first. Then his teeth graze in a light bite, the sensation racing down your spine. You feel the sting melt into heat, and he soothes it with a slow kiss before biting again, a little harder this time.
Against your skin he murmurs, āYou feel so good.āĀ
The words spread through you in a rush of heat. He shifts your hands and grips both of them with just one of his, while he slides his now free hand down to grip your hip, steadying you as he thrusts again, deeper. You kiss him when he lifts his head, mouths meeting in an open exchange that still tastes faintly of you. He pulls back enough to speak, still moving inside you with long strokes.Ā
āIs this what you wanted?ā
You nod, a moan threading through the motion, your body arching to meet each thrust. The stretch is constant, a fullness that blanks your mind. Levi feels the way you clench around him and the small tremors in your thighs. He slows deliberately, hips rolling in a lazy pace that keeps him buried deep but denies the hard friction youāre starting to crave.
āYeah?ā he says, tilting his head. āWouldnāt like it if I stopped now, would you?ā
You shake your head, no words yet, just the desperate cling of your legs wrapping tighter around his waist. Your hands flex under his hold. You feel the strength in his grip. You couldnāt break free if you tried, and somehow, the contrast of tenderness and control makes heat flood through you again.
Leviās mouth curves slightly. āThatās right. You want me to keep going, pretty girl?ā He leans down, his lips barely ghosting over yours. āCome on, use your words.ā
You nearly crack under the weight of his words. Your voice comes out breathy and urgent. āPlease donāt stop. Keep going, Levi. I need it. Need it harder.ā
He obliges without hesitation. His pace shifts, thrusts growing harder, the bed creaking softly beneath you as he drives in with more force. His thickness fills you completely with each stroke. The wet sound of it mixes with the quiet moans he lets out against your neck. He bites there again, teeth sinking just enough to mark without breaking skin. He kisses the spot, tongue soothing the sting.Ā
A rush of emotion floods you through the physicality of it all, a mix of being wanted so thoroughly and the unexpected gentleness in how he holds you even while fucking you harder. The moment Levi releases your hand to brace himself properly, you drag your nails down his back, the urge to mark him back rising. The scratches start light but deepen with the next thrust. Leviās voice comes low near your ear.
āNot too hard, love.ā
You nod quickly, the word settling somewhere low in your stomach. You know why he said that. Marks like that would be impossible to hide in the showers. Questions would rise. Explanations you couldnāt give. You ease the pressure of your nails, letting your hands smooth over his skin instead. You feel the flex of his muscles beneath.Ā
Levi doesnāt falter, his hips snapping down in a rhythm that pushes you higher again. He kisses you to muffle the louder moans that slip out of you, his mouth claiming yours while he drives deep. The tip of him brushes your cervix with every stroke. You feel the tension coiling in him, the way his breathing grows rougher, the subtle tremor in his arms holding his body up. His own pleasure builds, the quiet sounds he makes rising in volume, murmured words of how perfect you feel around him, how much heās thought about this.Ā
The pace stays relentless, but he still holds enough control that he doesnāt get lost in the haze. You cling to him with your legs. He kisses your neck again. You feel the precipice approaching for him, the way his thrusts grow slightly erratic, his quiet moans turning into messier, louder groans.
When he pulls out at the last moment, itās with a low moan, and he shoots ropes across your stomach. The sight of it, the claim on your skin, the way his body shudders through his release, almost makes you cum again on the spot.Ā
Levi stays close afterward, breathing hard, his forehead resting against yours for a moment. He kisses you gently, fingers stroking over your wrists where he held them before to check without words that youāre alright. You nod silently. He suddenly stands on slightly shaking legs and crosses the room to retrieve a cloth. He sits beside you and wipes you carefully before lying beside you, one arm draped over your waist.Ā
You turn into him, closing your eyes, not worrying about what the morning will bring. Right now, itās just you and him, and the very distant thought that youāll have to thank the others for throwing you into this bet.
.
The morning after is painfully awkward.
Surely, you can survive sitting down with your friends after spending the night with Levi. Surely. Probably. Maybe, if no one looks at you too closely.
You slide onto the bench beside Sasha, trying not to remember Leviās hands on your waist, Levi speaking against your lips, Leviās breath finally turning uneven in the dark when your fingers dragged through his hair and pulled a rough sound from his throat that absolutely would have counted as a reaction if the rest of these idiots had been there to witness it.
Then again, fucking your captain probably counts as a reaction too.
Sasha looks up from her breakfast. āYouāre late.ā
āI slept in,ā you answer smoothly.
Ymir, sitting across from you with Christa close at her side, narrows her eyes immediately. āDid you?ā
āYes.ā
āThat sounded defensive.ā
āThatās because Iām being attacked before Iāve had tea.ā
Jean and Connie snicker. Then Connie sighs and shakes his head, saying with genuine disappointment, āI still canāt believe you couldnāt get the Captain to react. I was so sure you could do it.ā
Oh, you did it alright.Ā
āI did my best,ā you say.
Ymir props her chin on her hand and smiles lazily. āPlease. No one could ever make Levi blush or stammer. The whole thing was a waste of fucking time.ā She pauses, then adds, āA funny waste of time, though. That was pathetic.ā
Jean points his spoon at you without looking at you. āShe did get him to talk to her more than usual.ā
Armin suddenly says your name. All eyes turn to him. He tilts his head, eyes locked onto your throat. āWhereās your necklace?ā
Your hand goes to your throat and meets bare skin. Your heart drops through the floor, through the earth itself where it can lie down and die in peace. You know where it is. You know exactly where it is. But you cannot tell the truth, because you would absolutely never hear the end of it.
āI mustāve forgotten to put it on,ā you say, and immediately slap yourself in your mind because you have never forgotten to put on your necklace, because you never take it off except for showers.
Then you feel it on the hairs on the back of your neck. Someoneās approaching. But before you can turn around, a hand enters your vision and sets something down on the table in front of you. Oh gods, you know those hands. They were all over you last night.
You look up and your entire soul leaves your body.
āYou left this,ā Levi says.
You look down at what he set down. Itās your necklace. Right there, on the table, beside your hand. In front of everyone. No one speaks. No one breathes. You stare at the necklace and it feels like its staring back in disappointment at you.
Levi turns and walks away without another word. When you look up, every single head is turned to you. You look back down at the necklace, your face absolutely boiling with embarrassment and the memory of last night. Fuck, fuck, fuckā
āWhy did the Captain have your necklace?ā Connie asks.
You pick it up with slightly shaking fingers. āThat is⦠a great question.ā
Jean leans forward. āAnd?ā
āAnd Iām admiring how great it is.ā
Erenās eyes are now huge, both horrified and fascinated. āWait, did you manage to get him to react?ā
You look down at the necklace of your palm, remembering Leviās hands lacing through yours, his mouth lavishing attention on your neck, his body settled between your thighs, his praises and moans and whispersāall things you will be taking to your grave and beyond it.
Then you smile.
āYeah. Something like that.ā
thank you for reading, and for allowing me to reach this milestone <3
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