Author's Note: And here is part II of my new series, The Bucket List. The first part is First and Foremost, and both of these are posted here and on AOW3. Enjoy!

Corporal Levi had a real problem. A problem so vast and yet so irrelevant up until this point that he'd never realized how detrimental it was. As Humanity's Strongest, head of an entire group of soldiers, in charge of training and directing brats and seasoned fighters, the best of the best, the most skilled with a set of 3-D Maneuver Gear, Corporal Levi had one gigantic flaw which was causing him a lot of distress as he sat at his desk on a cold Tuesday evening, sucking on the end of a quill – something he never did for sanitary reasons.

Corporal Levi suffered from a complete lack of imagination.

This was true for both battle planning and the rest of his life, small as that part may be, as he rarely ventured outside of his army command. Erwin had always been the one to outline their missions, and Levi just supplied the brawn to his Commander's brain. Levi was not a bad strategist, he just had a hard time thinking about the future. As far as Levi was concerned, the Survey Corps had no future – they could be killed at any moment in time, so looking ahead, even to the next day, was a pointless waste of time.

Now, however, he was sitting over a blank sheet of paper, his mind working on the task of writing a bucket list, of all things. He had cursed himself sevenfold already for having agreed to the brat's plan, even having gone as far as encouraging such foolish behavior. Things normal people did. How would he know, having not had a normal day in his entire life? From the very beginning, he had slaved for scraps in the underground, engaging in questionably legal activities, and then, after Erwin had forcibly torn him out of the gutter, all he had done was killing titans on a near-daily basis. There was nothing normal about Corporal Levi, and it had been foolish to think that he would be able to come up with something.

With a frustrated sigh, Levi put the quill down and glanced out the window. He had tried to envision a life without the Survey Corps, but to him, there was no such life. That was the deal: either he goes back to the underground and continues to steal and sell his body for food, or he joins the Scouting Legion and never goes hungry again. Either, or.

He'd heard other soldiers talk about their plans for the future; wives and children and homes beyond the walls and such, and he'd just brushed them off as idiotic. None of them would live to see a future without the walls. He tried hard to picture himself with a faceless young woman, doing pottery and plowing the garden near a thatched-roof house. The very idea made him huff in annoyance. Slowly the woman merged into a slighter, taller figure with longish brown hair and blazing green eyes. As sad as it was, the best Levi could hope for was what Eren Jäger had to offer. Great.

He supposed he had just felt vulnerable when he had offered the deal to Eren, after having heard that the brat was aware of his past conduct. He had wanted closure. Humanity. He had wanted humanity from the only non-human living in the castle. On the other hand, Eren had proven himself to be trustworthy. So far nobody had suspected of their little tryst, and Levi trusted Eren to keep it that way. If only because the brat had nobody else to turn to either. The two of them were completely alone in their world, isolated by duty and image. Which was probably why Levi felt like he owed the kid something.

He picked up the quill again, brushing it over his fingers before putting it to paper once more.

"Come in," Levi called as soon as he heard the first knock on the door. He knew it was the brat, who else would dare pay him a visit this time of the night, especially since Erwin was back in the inner wall, trying to get another mission approved. It was nearing December, and the snow was ideal to spot titans before they spotted them – after all, their reddish, burning skin stood out against the white like a sore thumb. He watched Eren step inside his room timidly, a piece of paper clutched in his hand. The boy was an open book, so easy to read. His nervousness permeated the very air Levi was breathing, and he curled his lip in distaste.

"Either you sit down and quit sweating all over my floor or you leave, Jäger."

Eren nodded nervously before sitting down on the awkward, uncomfortable stool Levi had thoughtfully placed next to his desk for him. He'd had a hard time taking the stool from the kitchen, as he had not wanted there to be any questions regarding where the stool was to be placed. So the brat had better appreciate the amount of effort Levi was willing to put into this… whatever it is that they have.

"I assume you have your list ready, then?" Levi asked casually, his own list burning a hole in his top desk drawer. He was ashamed to admit that he had written very few things down, and all of them were so generic and uninteresting that Levi had come to realize he was not a very interesting person. The shroud of mystery that surrounded him was nothing but the consequence of his complete lack of involvement in anything but the army. No wonder the brat thought Levi had much more to experience. He just didn't know what exactly.

"I do, sir," Eren said, offering Levi the list. The Corporal took the sheet of paper from him and scanned it, his eyes narrowing. With a sigh, he looked up at Eren.

"I see you and I have the same problem." At Eren's questioning gaze, Levi reached for his desk drawer and handed the paper to the boy. The younger male looked over the small number of points on it and, instead of throwing a tantrum like Levi had thought he would, he broke out into a huge grin, which was oddly reminiscent of his titan-form scowl.

"This isn's too bad. If we put them together, we'll definitely have something to occupy our time with," he said encouragingly.

"You mean, the time that we theoretically don't have?" Levi questioned. The acerbic tone of voice did nothing to discourage the brat. He was positively thrumming with energy. With a sigh, Levi sat back in his chair. "What do you propose we do first, then, Jäger?"

"Actually…" Eren's face lit up with an undoubtedly crazy idea. "I think I just added another thing."

"That being?"

"I want you to call me Eren. Not just here, but outside of this room. So that's my number one, have Corporal Levi call me by my first name."

"Consider it done."

"Huh?"

"I will call you Eren if you really think it makes that much of a difference."

"It does to me."

"Eren it is then."

"Could I–,"

"Don't even think about it. I have a reputation to maintain outside of here," Levi said sharply before softening at the disappointed look the brat gave him. "Fine. But only in this room. If you call me that outside, the deal is off. All of it. So you better not slip up."

"Fine," Eren sighed and rolled the name around his tongue experimentally. "Levi… Levi… Levi… Levi–,"

"Jä-, Eren, were you dropped on your head as an infant?" Levi asked irritably, even though he was amused deep down inside. Trust the brat to entertain him with his antics. He had to admit he liked being called by his first name, nobody ever did that except for Erwin, the rest of his squad were too scared to even think of it. His old team had been bold enough to venture doing it once or twice, but ever since that fateful day in the forest… It had been nice to have Eren call him that in bed, if even for a short time. Of course, the brat would never find out he'd thought that. "Please do not waste the privilege."

"I shan't, Corporal," Eren promised quietly before looking back down at his list. "Levi… Will we ever do what we did again?"

"I thought the whole point of this was doing things for the first time," Levi deadpanned, ignoring the pang of desire he felt as he thought back to what he'd shown Eren a few days back.

"Oh."

Levi hated himself instantly.

"Well, luckily for you, Eren, I am quite experienced in such things, and open to experimentation. And tutelage."

"Does that mean–,"

"Only if you keep it secret."

"Of course!" Eren exclaimed. It did make him bitter to cover up his relationship with the corporal, but he knew that the man had a reputation to uphold, and both of them would get in a lot of trouble if they were to be discovered. After all, their relationship was wrong on so many levels: Levi was older than him, and his commanding officer, and Eren was an out-of-control shapeshifting monster that it was Levi's sole duty to kill. He could see how publicizing their relationship would be a problem. "

"And don't expect roses and serenades and all that girly shit," Levi said as an afterthought. "I'm a professional. If you want that, go to your blondie–,"

"Armin is just a friend!" Eren cut him off. "I promise there is nothing happening between us."

"Not like I care." Levi did his best to sound casual even though Eren looked hurt. Whatever. He would not allow the brat to foster any kind of illusions that he felt anything but protectiveness and contempt for him. Despite the small trickle of guilt he felt at that. "Look, Eren, you and I are both absolutely free to go do whatever we want at our leisure. I will not demand exclusivity from you, and I will ask you for the same courtesy."

"Wait-,"

"However, I would also ask you to be honest with me. If something happens between you and someone else, I would like to know what horrible diseases I am potentially exposed to," Levi said with an air of finality. He watched Eren's mouth open and close like that of a fish, and for a second the guilt was almost overwhelming, before his control took over. He did not promise to show the kid the moon and stars, so that neither of them would be disappointed in the long run. They were just… living through experiences together. That was that.

"Fine," Eren's voice sounded tiny as he said it, his eyes hidden beneath his long fringe. He breathed in noisily through his nose and then looked up, his eyes clear if not a bit on the shiny side. "So, I guess we should get started, then?"

"I suppose."

"Good." With that, Eren lowered himself to his knees and put his arms around Levi's thighs, his fingers traveling over the leather stretched around his legs. "I want you to teach me to suck cock."

"For the love of the Walls, brat, don't you have any finesse at all?" Levi sighed, but did not push the boy away. He had promised, after all. And it was on Eren's bucket list.

Slowly, he buried his fingers into Eren's hair, running them through the thick tresses.

"Listen very carefully, and take note. If you can't keep your teeth to yourself, I will make sure they do not grow back this time."

They lay on the roof of the castle, a thin blanket covering their heated, bare bodies. After their little session in Levi's room, Eren had insisted that they do something from the Corporal's list, and they had ended up going for the easiest, most accessible item: go stargazing. Sure, Levi had seen the stars before, it wasn't as though he'd never been out at night, but it had never been intentional. The stars had always been there, under-appreciated by his person, and for some reason he'd thought he was obliged to rectify that. Eren turned out to be a good stargazing companion, after he'd insisted to screw Levi on the roof under those very stars. Their clothes had been strewn all over, something that made Levi cringe inwardly, however he could not help but admit that Jäger was a damn good lay and a fast learner to boot. With lots of determination.

"Do you know any constellations?" Eren asked idly, looking up at the clear sky with thousands of stars.

"Any what?"

"Constellations. You know, groups of stars that look like stuff," Eren explained.

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

It was then when Eren remember where he'd seen that word. Where he'd learned that the stars could comprise entire figures, pictures, that people had used them to predict their own futures back in the day.

"I read about it in a book Armin found," he admitted quietly.

"You can read?"

"Oi. Of course I can, I went to school and everything," Eren replied with no real acidity in his tone. "Armin found this book at his parents house back in Shiganshina… It had stories about what the world used to be like, before the walls, I mean. And it said the people used to look at the stars and see figures in them. Like dogs and sheep… And there was this thing called a lion, it was like a giant cat… And then these figures would tell them the future."

"That sounds like a load of crap to me," Levi laughed derisively. "Stars are just shiny rocks in the sky, there's nothing special about them. And they definitely don't make up pictures."

"Who knows?" Eren sighed.

It was silent for a moment before Levi said what Eren had expected him to.

"You know such books are illegal."

"You don't have to worry, Corporal," Eren said softly. "The book was left behind in Shiganshina on the day the titans attacked… We didn't have time to take anything. I guess it was probably destroyed or lost in the panic."

Levi hummed.

"Do you remember it?"

"Not really," Eren replied with a shrug, scooting closer to Levi as a gust of chilly wind travelled over his heated skin. "I remember Armin standing there, frozen on the spot, when we first saw them come through the wall. I remember trying to get to my house, because my mother was there and I had a huge fight with her before, because she wouldn't let me join the Survey Corps–,"

"You wanted to join the Survey Corps?" Levi raised an eyebrow. "Damn, Eren, you are suicidal."

"Maybe so. But then… What happened next is what actually made me know for sure that I wanted to join."

"Let me guess, a titan ate your mom before you very eyes."

Eren looked at him in surprise.

"How did you know?"

"I've heard the story many times before. You're not the only kid here with a tragic past. I'm pretty sure anyone who joins the Survey Corps is either untalented cannon fodder or a screw-up."

"Why did you join, then?"

Levi paused, looking at Eren with a calculating gaze. Finally, he decided that it wouldn't hurt. After all, Erwin had told the brat his worst secrets.

"I had no choice. That was the deal. Either I join the military or I go rot in the underground where I came from. And I decided it would… be better to have food and shelter regularly, instead of scrambling for leftovers in the sewers. Plus, Erwin fucking stalked me until I said yes."

Eren laughed.

"Well, you're pretty special, and that proves it."

"Special, huh…"

I guess we both are.