Dusk settled outside the little apartment complex. The sun was huge in the sky, swaddled in heavy layers of colour, almost like cloth blankets made of a rich material. The blushing rays that escaped being smothered cast their colours through blossoming spring trees, turning them to a patchwork of stained glass leaves that stretched across the horizon; shattered every now and again by the shadows of houses and the silhouettes of life going on, unaware and uncaring of this daily phenomenon.

Sitting on the wide sill that framed a tiny piece of glass the designers of the place had decided to call a window, Levi watched the lives of strangers unfold below him. It was cramped, but if he curled up he could just about fit his legs in and still be able to call it 'cosy' rather than crushing. He even managed to throw in a few blankets and a pillow to make it slightly warmer in his makeshift window seat, and so the window seat was where he spent most of his evenings. It was always the same: ass going numb as his legs crushed his chest and a sweetened cup of tea burned his feet from where he balanced it between them.

There wasn't enough space anywhere else and when he'd tried leaving it on the floor he always forgot about it and sent it flying whenever he got up which was extremely frustrating when you had cream carpets. There was nothing, absolutely nothing quite as bad as stains on carpets. Especially tea stains. They had a habit of looking like puddles of piss that hadn't been cleaned up yet.

It was quite an impressive balancing act Levi preformed to just sit comfortably in his window seat, as well as the tea and his own legs to be careful of, he kept an old book with a thoroughly creased spine splayed open over his leg, keeping his page while he gazed out the window with his forehead pressed against the glass. He had tried this once before he had completely mastered his circus skills- his neighbours still didn't completely believe that the desperate pleas they had heard that night were in the hope of a certain type of stain coming out of a carpet.

Rain fell in torrents, hitting the window like mercury bullets and making Levi jump in surprise, hitting his head against the glass with a less than attractive grunt.

It looked like a sheet across the sky, blocking the sun like a blackout curtain and bringing a new kind of beauty to the sunset. A scene of grey and blue, stormy and brewing and writhing and turning like a heated tango thrown onto ice; steaming up as hot meets cold in a silent battle of the skies.

The air was full to bursting and thick to breathe even with the window closed but this was what he loved, it reminded him of the piss poor weather at a Christmas party he'd been dragged to not too long ago and, as much as he denied it, Christmas was his favourite time of year. It was always a perfect opportunity to get drunken pics of Hanji. Once Erwin had even let them stick googly eyes to his eyebrows to make them look like fat, wriggling caterpillars. Levi knew his friends were weird but that's what made them fit him so well. Their idiocy could compensate for his not so sunny personality.

The fond memory was cut short by a clammy feeling against his skin.

Damn crappy building job, Fucking leaky window; Penthouse apartment my ass.

There were only three things Levi actually liked about his apartment; one was that it was dirt cheap yet still cleaned up nicely, two was that through the window he could use any moonlight that got through to read from, the final thing was that from its position at the end of the road he could see the entire way down it. At night the view was lit up by the bright lights coming from the houses and shops that ran up each side of the Window as they followed the street, almost like a frame, before getting cut off at a junction. He could even see his little flower shop from here and that made it so much easier to grab lunch or a packet of cigarettes from home if he ran out of them at work.

This also meant that right now he saw a certain bright eyed boy huddling under the flower shop awning, a dull green stretch of plastic sporting a huge sunflower that beamed merrily as it announced the shop as "Colossal Blossoms". God Levi hated that bloody flower. Having to wear its stupid smiling face all day on his apron, getting teased by Hanji for not being as jolly as a fucking flower. They don't even have mouths! How can he smile less than something that biologically shouldn't be able to smile!?

Eren stood almost flat against the shop door, knocking hurriedly whilst trying to keep dry. It was pointless, the rain misted as soon as it hit the ground, turning into a fine spray of water that soaked through clothes and hair and chilled down to the bone. It leeched any and all warmth and even from here Levi could see his ears turning red as the rain sucked heat away as quickly as it was pouring down.

Levi watched for a second, feeling sorry for the kid who resembled a panicking puppy whose owner had left it tied up outside for just a few minutes too long. Flicking the lock on his window, Levi inched it open but soon everything started to get damp. The pages of his book were already crinkling with moisture and the steam from his tea curled into intricate lace twists where the cold air hit the hot currents around the drink. The sugar Levi had mixed in earlier added a sweetened scent to the normally earthy mixture as it rose up around him. Well at least he thought it was the sugar, it could just be that fucking flower smell lingering around.

'Oi, kid! Get your ass over here'

Eren jumped at the voice that seemingly came from above, but before he could even begin to question if he had been called to ascend the golden escalators to heaven, he spotted Levi.

'Oh, hey! I was actually just looking for you, I needed to talk about the plans and also times got changed so-'

'How about you come out of the pissing rain to tell me. You could have just called, my phones linked to the work number'

'I would have but I didn't know the shops number either, I forgot to take a business card.' He smiled bashfully from below, crossing the street and stopping underneath Levi's window.

'But why now? It's a Sunday, the shops always closed on Sundays… you know what forget it for now just get inside. The number's 104 just press the buzzer and pull the door. I trust you're not some kind of axe murderer or some shit like that?'

Why was he doing this? This brat was an almost complete stranger, an attractive stranger, yes, but still a stranger. On top of that he was already engaged but… he felt drawn to the kid. He had a feeling that even if they could never be together in that kind of way, they could be good friends. He just seemed like the kind of person who would be devoted and loyal and the kind of friend that would drive you home when you got a bit too drunk and cooked for you and would wipe the sleep from your eyes for you in the morning and maybe the line between friends and boyfriends was getting a little weird and confused inside Levis head but it was understandable, right? He was trying to use logic to battle away a small crush that had developed far too quickly for his liking because there just had to be logic involved somewhere. Otherwise it was just plain unfair.

'I'm fairly certain I'm not, number 104 right?''

Despite the kids uncertainty the buzzer rung as loud and annoyingly as ever and Levi cleared his head and got up to let him in, giving his apartment a quick glance to check it was clean enough for visitors, not that he could do much now anyway, but he had always been a neat freak and a closet hoarder of cleaning items. A fact that never failed to entertain Hanji, especially when it ended in Levi actually keeping the studded feather duster from a French maid set she and Erwin had gotten him for his birthday. Ha ha because you're French and always cleaning! Isn't it funny? Hanji was a little… erratic. Or maybe the best way to describe his best friend would be just really fucking weird. Either worked.

'So, Levi, is it normal for you to invite customers into your house?' Eren asked almost as soon as the door had opened.

Levi went to close it in his face, but the kid managed to slip in, already shrugging off his coat as if he were at home.

'Harsh.'

'What did you need to tell me?' Levi questioned, giving him a slight glare but it was easy to see the lack of real anger behind it.

Taking Eren's coat he hung it up and continued, 'Plus, as an employee it's my job to make sure the customers are fully satisfied.'

'If you want to "fully satisfy" me' yes the dork even air quoted with his fingers, 'then could you get me some tea?'

'You cheeky little shit.'

'It's what you said! I'm only using it to my advantage like a smart person.'

'A smart person? That's the best you can do?'

'…'

Levi smirked at his meagre victory, and left the kid standing in the doorway whilst he went to make some tea purely because he wanted tea too. It was completely his own decision to have tea, a decision that was separate from Eren's request completely.

'Do you take sugar?'

'Half please' Levi wrinkled his nose slightly, he couldn't stand most drinks unsweetened but only stirred a half in, making sure to put extra in his own.

After pouring a generous amount of milk in both, he brought them over to the small coffee table in the centre of the room, and sat on the floor with his legs crossed under it. He found it amusing to see that Eren hadn't sat down yet either, instead he was hovering between the entrance and living room looking confused and perhaps a tad uncomfortable.

'What do you want kid? Sit down.'

'Do you want me to sit on the floor or on the sofa or what?'

'Are you kidding me? The reason I'm getting a aching ass right now is so you could sit on the sofa- or would you prefer an aching ass?' he regretted his word choice when he saw a slight blush stain Eren's cheeks.

'You know what I think I'll take the sofa… but you do know there's generally enough room for two people on sofas, right?'

'Yeah but I don't really fancy getting all close to a guy I just invited in off the streets.' He really did fancy it, but it probably wouldn't help him get over his stupid crush, 'plus, you're soaking.' that was a better excuse.

'Ah, sorry about that. If I had known the shop was clos-' He stopped; face contorted in an almost pained expression.

'…Eren? Are you okay?'

'Holy fucking shit that's way too sweet!'

Oh. And here he was getting all worried about the brat.

'I only put half a sugar in just like you said. Don't even try to blame me, idiot.' he realised his mistake as soon as he took a sip of his own, surprisingly bitter cup of tea. He'd accidentally swapped the drinks.

'Oh now that's just gross.'

'Serves you right!' Eren's expression had changed easily from one of disgust to an open smile and a hint of amber had entered his implacably coloured eyes. He looked sweet and adorable and Levi just… kind of… froze.

On second thoughts maybe he could do with something bitter right about now.

'Okay so the date of the wedding's been pushed back. If you don't mind me asking, why is that?' Levi noted it down quickly in a small notepad. It was easier to keep track of things this way.

'They need to all come over from Germany and hopefully after they come from the wedding my family'll have a place to move into.'

'So your families moving into Britain after the wedding?'

So it's quite probable that Eren's fiancé was in a whole different country... what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her and he doubted she'd find out if Levi maybe made a move on her guy…

'Yeah, so it might take a while for everything to be sorted out and final so I hope it isn't too much to ask for you to be fluid with timings and everything.'

'It's fine, but just remember flowers only live a few days at their peak and if it turns out timings have changed and the flowers die then I'm making you pay for them.'

'Sounds fair enough. So thank you so much for your help and, Levi?'

'Mm?'

'As an extra thank you I'm inviting you to the stag do… whenever and wherever it may be.'

'…I'd like that, thanks.' Levi was actually touched by the kid's invitation. People normally didn't bother with anything like this, it was just exchange money- forget the shop ever existed.

'Awesome, it's getting late so I should probably be getting back home. I'm lodging with a friend right now and he gets worried easily so we'll go over other plans and stuff soon?'

'Yeah but not at the shop, I'm allowed out of there to discuss things with clients and I need to get out and about sometime or I'm gonna go mad.' He was stretching the truth a little, but Levi was sure Hanji would cover him.

'So where did you have in mind?' Eren stood up, rolling his shoulders and looking around for his coat.

'It's hung up in the entrance hall and I was thinking a café?'

'Somewhere they won't switch up our orders, it sounds great.' He smirked slightly, waiting for Levi to stand up too.

'Yeah, yeah don't push your luck, kid.' Levi got up with, as he would describe it, all the grace of a falling turd. His knees complained at him in the form of several loud cracks.

'…are you okay?'

'I am but my knees really aren't'

'Jesus Christ, Levi you should get that checked out. A youngish guy like you shouldn't make noises like that'

'Ish?'

'Well yeah?'

'I'm only thirty four!'

'Oh. That's actually older than I thought'

'…get out of my house you little shit.'

'Now see when you say little I'm actually talle-'

'Finish that sentence and I will throw you out of the fucking window.'

Eren just nodded, looking slightly alarmed but still smug as he went to grab his coat and Levi followed to let him out.

'So when you get the bottom floor push the door whilst holding down the button. You have to do both at the same time or it won't let you out.'

'Thanks Levi. Remember to let me know what day and timings for the meet up and stuff.'

'Tomorrow at about three at café Maria? It's getting knocked down soon so I want to go there while I can'

'It's a date'

Eren said it in a purely innocent way but the smile Levi's lips curled into certainly wasn't.

'Yeah, a date. Have a safe trip, Eren'

'You too'

'…'

'Wait, shit I fucked up, I fucked up!'

'Just go home now, kid'

'I think that's a really good idea.'