"If I had a nickel for every time you looked less like an asshole, I'd be dirt poor without a penny to my name. With that being said, mind telling me what's going on?" Farlan asked, slipping into the empty seat next to the almost reclusive man on the wooden stool. Levi didn't bother to glance up at his unwanted company; neither paying the chance to come up with a witty comeback like he usually did. Instead, he sat unbothered and continued to stare at his drink in the respected silence he forced to get.

He had asked— or practically begged on his part— for Erwin to give him a day off because truthfully, that the only way he could escape from his wandering thoughts. And it wasn't like he was going to get anything accomplished in his office, so he thought what better way to keep his mind off of pointless bullshit, then to chase it away with strong tasting alcohol.

Naturally, he wasn't the type of man to go about from his duties and head off into the deeper districts of town, but what choice did he have? He was losing sleep, his mind was constantly draining the living hell out of him, and he was drowning in either alcohol or Ackerman—which he we opted to go for alcohol instead, because that was the closest damn thing to being available then that hardheaded recruit of his who was deeply—annoyingly— in love with Jaeger.

The kid who deserved her love more than anyone else on this damned planet.

Levi was spent, and it was because this jealousy of his was getting out of control. There was plenty of times where he had to restrain himself from breaking anything that was within close distance of him, and if it weren't for his better judgement—if he still had any of that left— he would have most likely been stripped away from his title or worse yet: get thrown into prison for being the cause of a homicidal incident involving a junior half his age.

So yeah, he wasn't particularly sane at the moment, but who could blame him?

He was head over heels for a girl much younger than himself.

And if that didn't make matters worse, someone nearby— much to his latter distaste— had begun to notice right away.

That someone being Farlan; the man having the reputation of being too observant for his own damn good.

"You're making the booze taste bad." Levi replied icily, still choosing to ignore eye contact from the all too vigilant man beside him. "Usually it's women who tamper with my company at this time of hour. Can't say that I'm all too keen with having you near me." He sighed heavily, beckoning the bartender to hand him another drink.

Farlan rolled his eyes in response, as if kindly telling him to go fuck off with the movement of his gesture.

"Best to have bad company than no company at all." He shrugged.

"I don't know about that," Levi retorted. "I'm more of a privacy guy. Something you still have yet to figure out."

It never sat well with him whenever he was around other people. Of course, he wasn't an anti-socialist who confined himself from the comfort of others or anything. He just disliked the idea of having to engage into pointless conversations.

For him, a simple hello and how are you doing was enough of a greeting. Straightforward and to the point. But as always, it seemed society thought otherwise of his preferences. Because nowadays, people just spent most of their time on explaining their whole life story, then to actually go about their ways and live it.

It was annoying, and Levi was glad he wasn't the victim of such discourses.

Well, not yet, anyways.

"S'not like you to be out here drinking man. Usually you're in your office with a stick up your ass."

"Yeah, well, seems my ass preferred a more secluded place this time," replied Levi, who took another respectful sip of his drink. "With alcohol." He added with another long sigh.

Farlan glanced at him thoughtfully, observing him without meaning to push any further into his statement. "Says the man who chose an open bar." But of course, he did anyways.

"I see you have a lot of free time."

"Clearly not enough. How about you change the hours of my schedule? Training in the morning seems a bit too harsh."

"You're just fucking lazy."Levi pointed accusingly. "Meaning I need to add more hours because of that disappointing trait of yours."

"Joy kill. Why don't you just kill me while you're at it? I'm good as dead anyways."

Levi chuckled in response, waving a silent hand to the bartender. "Get this bastard here a drink as well. It's on my tab." He ordered promptly. The bartender nodded reluctantly and filled another glass cup with the same amount of alcohol as his own before sliding it towards Farlan with a low grunt.

"Seems my company isn't slightly as popular as I thought it would be."

Levi shrugged, mulling over his drink before turning to face him. "How's Isabel?" The question itself left Farlan with a scowl on his face, leaving him to wonder what could have possibly happened between the two.

"Same. More or less." He replied, indifferently. Levi just left it at that, knowing far too well that the man wasn't going to provide any more information to the subject at hand.

"And you?" asked Farlan. "How's the woman in secrecy?"

He paused. In secrecy huh?

"There's no such woman." Yet, he wished there would be. At least someone who wasn't Ackerman. "There's no one." He affirmed with an air of finality.

Farlan laughed, not believing any of it. "You were never good at lying, Levi. You were just good at avoiding."

He had a point. Whether he was avoiding it or making excuses, it was all but the same in the end.

"Do you recall anyone by the name of Mikasa Ackerman?"

Farlan paused. "Your recruit?" Levi nodded, and the man beside him managed a low chuckle. "She's the one huh?"

Luckily, he hadn't noticed the way his shoulders sagged at the mere mention.

"I never said that."

"But you never denied it either," said Farlan. "I know you better than you know yourself, believe or not."

His brow quirked up briefly. "That's quite the disappointment."

He nodded, allowing another sip of his drink before heaving a long sigh.

"Why don't you go for it?"

Levi almost choked, quickly regaining his composure before giving him a hard glare. "She's my recruit." As if that alone wasn't an obvious enough reason. "And above all, my duty as captain strictly—"

"Ah," he interrupted, smirking. "So it's duty over personal affairs is it? Seems a tad bit too old fashioned if you ask me."

Was it? Because last time he checked, having indecent relations with a woman much younger than the age of nineteen was almost as bad as singlehandedly murdering a whole nation— If not, more— Levi thought, rubbing his face repeatedly.

Such acts were prohibited by law. Confirmed and stamped.

There was no question about it.

"No." Levi replied coolly."I could never do that to her." Because that meant stepping out of boundary lines, which he had no intentions of doing. He was perfectly fine with the relationship they had now. As superior and subordinate. That was all there was to it. Nothing in the world could possibly change what fate allowed them to be. And Levi wasn't about to go against it either.

"That's not how I used to remember you by." Farlan stated blithely. "You were never this accepting when it was just us three. Kinda sad how a title and a high ranking position could change you so much."

If a statement could ever sound so insulting to his ears, this one in particular would have to be it.

"So then what?" Levi shot back, offended at most. "I take her like a goddamn prize and accept the punishment of being a defiled man? I knew you were an idiot, but I didn't take you to be so simple-minded." He clicked his tongue, waving a hand in the air. "No thanks." He spoke with finality.

Farlan pushed back from his chair immediately, departing from their conversation. "Beats being a loser." He pointed out dimly before reaching the doors of the establishment.

Levi sat there, speechless. His hands moving restlessly over his drink as he brooded over their whole conversation.

"You were never this accepting when it was just us three. Kinda sad how a title and a high ranking position could change you so much."

"Idiot." Levi spat out in disgust, before resuming back to his drink.

Because that word alone was enough to describe just how incredibly foolish he was right now.

"Another glass will do. Better yet, make that two glasses."

"Are you sure?" asked the bartender. "You've already had six glasses." He pointed out.

But of course, he was never a practical man from the start.

"Rest assured."

The sound of disoriented music and blurred objects was just enough to drive his lingering thoughts away.

Of her, mostly.

And it was a damn good place to start, Levi thought drunkenly.

—

—

—

"We need to have a word."

"I assure you, we don't."

"You've been ignoring me, sir. If that weren't obvious enough."

"Great. Your intuition has improved. That being said, mind leaving my office Ackerman? I have paperwork that requires my full divided attention and I'm sure having you stick around won't be that much of any help." He detached himself from any further eye contact— having no faith in himself to continue on with this conversation. It was hard enough to have a measly hangover, but to have the woman in question for being the main cause of his headache showing up so early in the morning? It was just a fucking train wreck waiting to happen.

And he wasn't about ready to start off his day like that.

"Captain." Mikasa crossed her arms, indicating she was fixed on staying and had no intention of leaving.

The Gods were truly testing him from above. "What?" He groaned out tiredly.

"I'm not leaving."

"I can see that." He rubbed his temples. "But it'd be best if you did." He unintentionally let out.

She stared at him, confused. Most likely trying to figure out why he was acting so indifferently towards her.

"But why? Did my training leave you unsatisfied?"

Hardly the reason. She wore the most perfect form when it came to sparring, but he opted to keep his mouth close and stared at her through hooded eyes before beckoning her to come closer.

"That's not it. I just had a few too many drinks last night."

"Why?" She asked.

Because your existence alone is enough for a man like me to find solace through the wonders of alcohol. "Complications." He replied dryly. "Nothing that concerns you, of course."

She looked unconvinced, leaving him to wonder just how bad of a liar he was.

"Where's Jaeger anyways? I need to brief with him before..." Levi glanced up in time to see the slight cringe of her face, as if he pushed a button he wasn't suppose to. "Did something happen between you two?" He'd be lying if said he wasn't particularly interested in knowing.

"Nothing that concerns you." She repeated his latter statement with a mocking tone.

He rolled his eyes. "How old are you, ten?"

"Eleven, actually."

"I wonder about that," Levi crossed his arms. "You're too mouthy for a eleven year old."

"And you're any better?"

Well, she had a point.

"To answer your question, yes. But that's not what I want to hear."

"Then what do you want to hear?" She leaned in all too suddenly. He caught his breath for just a moment, inhaling the sweet scent of her hair like it was the next best thing to oxygen.

Did she understand what type of effect she had on him? Had it ever crossed her mind? Because he was nearly restraining himself from wanting to shove her up the wall and—

"We just had an argument." Mikasa stated flatly, thankfully interrupting him from going any further into his dirty thoughts.

"Is that so? replied Levi, clearing his throat which sounded more like a strangled grunt if anything. "About what?"

She hesitated, but proceeded on with a frown. "He told me I was being pushy. Or something along the lines of being too overprotective. "

Well he did have a point, at least. She literally had him in shackles.

"I agree, you can be suffocating at times," she shot him a cold glare. "But that doesn't make you wrong by any means." He quickly added with a shrug.

Her soft lips cracked into a lovely smile, and Levi swore his heart could have suffered from bursting series of frenzied palpations, if it weren't for his forced need to gain composure.

"I care for him."

His hands froze. "You do."

"Were so close, I just have the need to protect him, you know?"

He nodded. "That tends to happen, I'm well aware."

"But sometimes I feel like that's the only thing that's keeping us apart." She let out with a distressing sigh. Her smile quickly faded away, and it left Levi to wonder just how alike they were in the sense of being in love.

Only, his was naturally one-sided, and Eren was one to return that sort of invitation from her.

Lucky bastard, he was.

"Do you think... we're good for each other?"

There was something that left him oddly unsettled. Perhaps it was the way her eyes probed deeply into his, or the way the question was being asked.

She was waiting for an answer, but Levi quickly found she was also asking for something much more. As if his answer was the missing lead in which she could decide her verdict on staying with the boy.

It made him feel uneasy in an unpleasing kind of way. So he answered in the best attempt of trying to lie. "I see no problem with it." He replied with a smirk.

She didn't smile, nor did she make any movement.

"I see." Was all that came out.

It took everything in him from reaching out. From wanting to tell her, 'No, I don't think you guys are good for each other. In fact, I think we're a much better fit. So give in to me already, and I can promise you a damn good relationship.'

But he didn't. Because the fear of losing her completely was more much more greater than the need of having her become his.

"Is that all?" He forced out in a rugged voice. "Are we finished here?"

She quickly glanced up again, her eyes remaining on his form for awhile longer. "I don't know sir, are we?"

He didn't say anything back. Neither did she.

The silence between them was as deadly as the growing fear in his chest.

It wasn't until he heard a distinctive voice at the door, did he divert his eyes away in curiosity.

"Levi?" He heard the muffled voice speak. "May I come in?"

Quick recognition struck him hard. "Come in." He replied only a second after.

The door to his office squeaked open immediately, revealing the woman he hadn't seen in almost five years. "This is a pleasant surprise." He spoke faintly, peeking out from the corner of his eyes.

Although when he did, he could have sworn he saw Mikasa glaring intently between him and the woman at the door.

But he must have been imagining things, because why would she?

There was nothing to be mad about, and as much as he wanted her to be jealous, there was no doubt she could care less about the relationship that stood between him and the woman he befriended over the years.

"Levi, it's been too long." Mel approached slowly, offering him a handshake before pulling him directly into a squeezing embrace.

Oh boy, Levi thought, feeling the cushions of her breasts pressing against him. This was nearly too close for his comfort. Especially when Mikasa was watching them from the corner of his office.

"Why don't you contact me anymore? You never try to visit." She pouted like a little child.

Levi pushed his hands against her shoulders, releasing himself before replying back. "Didn't think it'd be neccessary," he shrugged, indifferently towards the woman. "I'm not exactly free these days." He scratched at the stubble on his face. Clearly he had forgotten to shave this morning.

"That explains why you went out and got drunk last night," Mikasa retorted, glaring. As if she caught him in a horrible lie. "Seems like you have a whole lot of free time to me."

Did she just turn on him? Was he missing something?

"Is that true Levi?" Mel crossed her arms. "By the way, who are you?" She asked, turning to face the girl in question. "Are you his girlfriend or something?"

Mikasa hesitated before answering. "No," she replied all too quickly. "He's just the captain of our squad."

"Oh." Mel turned back around, uninterested. "Well anyways, I'm staying nearby headquarters. You should come visit when you're not busy killing Titans." There was something very seductive in the way she said it, and he was quick to pick up on it.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind," replied Levi, who found no interest in going."Make sure to find your way out." He waved a hand respectfully before giving her the chance to trick him into another tight embrace.

"Bye!" She equipped happily before taking her leave.

Levi was physically worn out at this point, and Mikasa was... she was angry?

"Who was that?" She demanded a second after the door slammed shut.

He stared at her as if she spoke a foreign language. "Why?" He asked.

"Just answer."

There was something oddly interesting in the way she was asking... as if she was...

"An acquaintance." Levi smirked, finding joy in this new sort of predicament. "She comes in handy from time to time." He reveled in the way her eyes widened and narrowed and found it all too pleasing to let it go to waste. "Jealous?"

Mikasa stepped back, startled. "Jealous?" She repeated, feigning innocence. "Obviously not." She answered with an air of finality.

"Must be the tea or something. Could have sworn it was..."

"It's not!" She flared, instantly. Levi cracked a smile, and found the new development between them so damn wonderful.

"Are you suggesting it was something else? You seem a little too interested in knowing."

"But I'm not."

"Could have fooled me."

"I'm leaving."

"You do that." He chuckled lowly. "I like this side of you, Mikasa." He didn't mean for it to come out. But once it slipped, he realized three things from that point on.

One: he was taking a reckless step towards something just way beyond his understanding.

Two: the color red suited her cheeks just as wonderfully as it did on her neck.

And three: he was falling deeply, dangerously for his recruit— and it didn't help at all when she responded back unintentionally to his slip ups.

Of course, he was an idiot for that matter.

But then again, he was never a practical man from the start.

"I think I may have fallen for you."

[TBC...]

S/N: Reviews are always appreciated :D