Chapter Text
You hated him from the moment he walked in that day.
“Name’s Levi.” He’d said, meeting your gaze with that arrogant face. In front of the whole army, with all the superiors looking at him, with Commander Keith standing just beside him and that’s what his introduction was.
“Name’s Levi.”
The rhythmic tapping on your desk filled the quiet room as you stared out the window absentmindedly.
Fall had barely begun and the world was already changing, the colors shifting into different ones. It was less yellowy now and more orange. The breeze carried a slight chill with it, one that sent goosebumps over your skin everytime it slipped through the window and hit your face, a stark contrast to the hot summer air that lasted even last week.The sun was still bright though, even if it was less warmer. It was still early, the clock had barely hit eight on the clock but the day was already clear.From here through squinted eyes, you could just catch a glimpse of the bright orb high above, casting golden rays through your window and scattering soft patterns on the polished surface of your mahogany desk.
Outside, there stood a maple tree, right by your window, already filled with vivid orange leaves, the trademark of fall. As if aware of your yearning, one of them flew by the wind, landing delicately on your windowsill, bright orange against the wooden brown. It reminded you of home somehow. In a pleasant way.You almost reached out to touch it, to hold that fleeting moment in your hand when a knock interrupted your thoughts.
The door creaked open slightly, revealing a familiar head of silvery hair peeped in through the slight gap, soft hazel eyes meeting yours as you looked up. The girl at the door shot you a wide grin.
“Breakfast, m'lady?”
.
When you step into the canteen, involuntarily, you make a face.
It was a small room in one corner of the hall, packed with uniformed soldiers as they took their fill for the day. The room was quiet, unusually so. During lunch or dinner, you can barely hear yourself talk in the same room. But breakfast has always been quieter, recently even more. You glanced around the half asleep cadets with pity. There'd been this new thing, and now morning training was obligatory before breakfast for each cadet. It's goal was to knock the drowsiness out of them, but from what you were seeing, you strongly suspected it wasn't working. Now the kids were not only sleepy, they were fucking exhausted. As you passed by the tables, you could see some of them straight out snoring. Can't blame them, you would too if you could.
It was rude. You knew. It wasn't their fault. They did the best with what they were given and technically speaking, they weren't given much in the first place. Scouts regiment was a broke regiment and it's all on you if you expect 5 course meals.
“Hi,” You smiled apologetically to a dark haired girl with ashy eyes. She was glaring at you from the counter, clearly had not missed the face you made.
”Can I help you with anything?” She asked coldly. You can tell exactly what she was thinking from the way she was looking at you. Privileged noble born bitch. Fair. Can't escape the stereotypes if you act like one.
“Can I have some stew please?” you smiled, trying your best to undo the damage but her face doesn't change. “A cup of coffee as well. One sugar.”
Her face darkened more. Sugar was a luxury and only superior ranks were permitted to have them. People did not like others casually having things they can't afford. But hey, you were a higher rank, and her attempt of guilt tripping you was not going to stop you from getting what's rightfully yours.
You feel someone behind you just then.
“Nice to see you decided to grace us with your presence.”
The voice was low and unmistakable. You grimaced before you even turned around.
“Morning Levi.” You grumbled. And there goes your day.
Levi pretends not to hear the bite beneath the words. He never did. Instead he turned his focus to the girl on the counter instead, who, by the way, did not appear to share the same feelings with you at his appearance. She looked simply thrilled when she noticed Levi, all signs of previous irritation at you disappearing in a second.
“Good morning, sir!” She smiled happily, a flush rising to her cheeks. “How can I help you?”
Damn. The blatant discrimination in treatment.
Levi however, gives no reaction. Either he's too clueless or he's dead set on ignoring her, which you suspected was the case. Every other girl in the room had stopped in their place, watching him with moony eyes. He paid no heed.
“Get me what she's having.” He said nonchalantly. “Grab a tea as well. no sugar. No mi—”
”No sugar. No milk. Plain green tea, isn't it, sir?” She asks pridefully, as if flexing her memorization skill if Levi's orders. “I'll get back to you in a minute.” With one last glare at you, she exits to the kitchen.
Almost immediately, she comes back Managing two trays in her arms, handing them to the two of you. You couldn't help but notice Levi's steaming drink, compared to your long-gone-cold coffee.
Levi did not look pleased at the special treatment. He takes his tray, then looks at her. “For future references,” He tells her icily. The girls smile wilts.“Refrain from interrupting me.”
”Yes, sir.”
He turned away, leaving the dejected girl standing heartbroken. You followed him right on his heels.
”Has anyone ever told you you lack manners?” You ask casually. He looks at you questioningly.
Of course he's going to pretend he doesn't know what you're talking about. You suppressed the sudden surge of irritation. “She was being nice. Was it necessary to treat her like that?”
“She wasn't being nice. She was being disrespectful.”
“Sure.”
You didn't even have a chance to step into the mess hall when the loudest voice in the room greeted you so enthusiastically you felt your ears jolt.
“Hey! Heyyyy!!”
Hange's shout rang through the room. A few of the cadets startled and dropped their forks, snapping their head to the source of sound. The rest, however, looked unphased as they kept eating. They've been here for too long. They've been witnesses to Hange and their antics for too long.
“Come sit here! Over here! We kept a seat for you!!” Hange continued to yell, completely unaware of the looks they were getting as they wildly flailed their arms around impatiently to capture your attention. You sighed, hurrying your steps to move towards where they were sitting before they started shouting again.
When you reach the table, you see other familiar faces, all of them looking at Hange with a mild irritance on their faces.
“Hange,” Nanaba sighed. “We sit here everyday. She knows where to find us.” She turned toward you, offering a smile and giving you a nod of acknowledgement. “Glad you came down today though.”
“Right? It's been so long since you'd last joined us!” Hange ignores her, too excited to see you. Her voice was muffled from the food in her face.
“Hange, you're gonna choke.” You tell them warningly. “Also, you're acting like you haven't seen me for a decade or some shit,” Grinning, you took a seat on the chair beside them which they were patting furiously, urging you to sit down. “We eat lunch and dinner together every day.”
“Not the same.” They squeezed the words out between chews, waving you off dismissively. You shrugged.
You rarely ever come down for breakfast. Generally, you weren't a picky eater. But just for breakfast, you'd like to be careful about your options. Not being a morning person, you've always suffered from feeling queasy in the morning. On top of that, if you have the misfortune to come across the miserable looking food so early in the morning, it does nothing but only succeed in making you feel miserable for the rest of the day as well. Therefore, you did your best to keep some extra stash of fruits and dry foods in your office and avoided going down there at all. Some days, however, you made an exception and today was one of them.
”Levi!” Hange added happily, when they noticed the figure behind you. “You're here!”
”Unfortunately.”
He muttered under his breath as he set his tray down and pulled out a chair. It was only then you noticed the lack of them in the table.
Oh no. You kicked Hange under the table. “Switch.” You hissed. But they looked gleeful. They shook their head. What a traitor.
”I can hear you.” He scowled. “Do you expect me to eat at the stables or some shit?”
”Your words, not mine.” You glared at him as he sat down. He let out an annoyed huff.
Meanwhile, Nanaba had been watching Levi with a smile. “Did she bother you today as well?” She asked.
”Every fucking day.
”You were confused at first, who was the she they were talking about? But your confusion cleared when Nanaba speaks again.
”She never gives up, does she.” She tsked sympathetically.
You gaped, appalled. “Seriously,” You looked at Levi. “Is this about the girl in the cafeteria? You treat her like this every day?” And she stills simps like that? Unbelievable.
Levi had no repentance. “I'm not the asshole here.”
"No. You're an angel.” You muttered.
You will never understand Levi and his fangirls. What is it that they see in him? In the 4 years you'd spent with him, you'd yet to see him ever treating any of them with the basic decency. Hell, he doesn't even treat his own colleagues nice. It's the impression that everyone had of him, that he just had a ’rough mouth’ but you strongly disagreed. Levi was plain out mean, and that was that.
It's like he could hear you thinking. He turned to you with an annoyed expression. “I'm not the asshole here.” He huffed
“I didn't even say anything.” You scowled back.
“Your face did.”
Right. “Well, why don't you—”
“Why.” Nanaba interrupted with a dramatic sigh. “Why must you two always act like this?”
You think. Where'd this rivalry begun? No one knew. It was just one of those things, where one takes one look at the other and thinks hell no. .
Some things are like that. You and Levi were like that. There was no fixing this. You knew because you tried, you really did. There was a time you used to wake up and stand before the mirror regularly and do actual literal affirmations. Today I will get along with Levi. Today, I will not fight with him. Today, I shall be zen. Safe to say, it didn't work. Eventually, you accepted it.
It's the way he was, you think, like now, that pissed you off so fucking much. Acting like that, like he was so high and mighty, all cold and stoic. Talking to him was like talking to a wall. You can scream, you can yell,you can curse and all he'll do is sit there with that infuriatingly blank expression, staring at you like you were nothing more than a minor inconvenience and it pissed you the fuck off. You hated how unfazed he was. You hated that his unbotheredness bothered you. You hated how easy it was for him to get under your skin, how easily you'd get riled up when it's him and he knew. That motherfucker absolutely knew. Sometimes, during arguments, just when you're done, just when you finally started to calm down, he'd subtly add an indirect insult, just to throw you off all over again.
You were about to respond to Nanaba with something brash but Hange beat you to it. “Hey! Busy day! Chop chop!” They clapped loudly, breaking the argument before it escalated further. “You'll have plenty of time to chew each other out later. Levi,” They turned their attention to him. Levi raised a brow questioningly.
“You're on training duty today.”
“Seriously?” Levi looked pissed.
“Ooooh, can I watch?” You grinned delightedly as your irritation disappeared in seconds at the news. From the corner of your eyes, you could see Levi visibly restraining himself from saying something along the words off go fuck yourself as he opted to stab a potato with unnecessary force instead.
The morning just got so much better.
As much as Levi was displeased, you were just as pleased. Levi hated training the kids and it was absolutely lovely seeing him get frustrated and miserable, such a serotonin rush for you.
Hange, however, was a party pooper.
“No.”
Levi shot you a look, silently daring you to protest as you pouted, slumping back to your seat.
“Erwin told me to tell you to finish up the ration report today. He needs it by tomorrow.” Hange tells you with a sympathetic tone. You slumped even more. Not only do you not get the treat, you get the bad bite as well. Great.
Today would be miserable. Your morning just got so much worse. Why had you decided to come down again today?
Levi scoffed, rolling his sleeves up to his elbow as he reached for a piece of bread. “Weren't you supposed to turn that in last Tuesday?”
You glared. His face was impassive, only a brow raised as though it was mere innocent curiosity but you could feel the fucking smugness. “Um, none of your fucking business?”
“It is, actually. I think I have a right to call out on my lousy colleague.” He shrugged.
“Keep talking and I'll shove you face-first in the stable.” You threatened.
“Sounds like someone can't handle criticism.”
“I'll shove criticism up your a—”
“Uh uh. Uh uh,” Hange wrapped an arm around your shoulder, pushing you back to your seat before you could rise. Levi turned away from you, focusing back on his meal, like you didn't even exist. “Calm down, calm down." Hange says soothingly. "Tell you what,” They happily ruffles your hair. “You get your job done and later, I tell you all the details of Levi's misery today.”
The smile comes back. “Deal.”
“I hate all of you.” Levi mumbled, popping the last piece of potato in his mouth.
.
Bored.
Bored.
God, you were so bored. Bored out of your mind.
You sat in your office, staring blankly at the unfinished ration report in front of you, the pencil in your hand long since discarded. You were on the verge of going insane from the monotony. Three hours of writing the same dry numbers and details over and over again—it was torture.
You threw the pencil towards the wall, it spinned in midair before it hit the surface and fell to the floor with a soft clatter. Then sighing, you kicked your legs up on the desk, stretching them all up on your work scattered across the table. Screw the work, you thought bitterly. Screw writing shitty ass reports for 3 hours. Screw Erwin for giving you the job on purpose because he knows you hate it. Why doesn't he give Levi the job instead? He's the one with the fancy ass writing.
With a frustrated groan, you pushed away from the desk and spun your chair to face the window again. The maple leaf still lay there, though it had wilted slightly, no longer the stark orange you had seen in the morning. You flicked it, letting it fly out through the window. Then you pressed your cheek against the windowsill and watched it wearily as it floated down. You couldn't see the training ground from here, it was further east. You wished you could. It'd be nice to watch Levi trying to restrain himself from strangling down one of the kids. Not to mention, you'd do anything to be down there and torment him.
You sighed. You really wished you were down there. You loved training the kids, unlike a certain someone.
But alas, Erwin and his stupid ideas. According to him, it's good for the two of you to do what you hate, so you learn from it. By dealing with kids, Levi would learn to be 'nicer' and by doing scat work, you'd learn 'responsibility'.
It's good to get bored every once in a while, Erwin had told you.
Well, It worked. You were so bored. So very bored. Everything was boring here. Your walls were boring and your desk was boring and your work was boring and you were this close to losing your shit. You didn't join the scouts to be bored.
But in a way, you knew you should be grateful, you thought, sulking. Boring was good. Boring was safe. Where excitement is, there is danger. Boring meant no one was dying and you didn't have to fight for your life, right?
You kept your eyes on the green meadow. There, just across, you could see the cadet barracks. And then, further North, you could see the main gate. The metal bars were high and huge, it took up a huge chunk of the ground. After all, every month, hundreds of horses go out from here. Now it was so empty, it was so hard to believe how noisy it gets during expeditions.
Suddenly, you sat up straight. Your eyes narrowed as you looked closer. You were wrong. It wasn't empty. There was something around there. Someone was coming. Two someone's? Two horses. Two figures atop. The green cloaks were flying, but the familiar symbol of garrison still caught your eye.
You bolted up, a wild glint taking place in your eyes just as the guards opened the gate. You had a feeling your day was about to get less boring.