Hello again. It's been a while. And because it's been awhile, I feel the need to remind you of one key thing: I haven't read the manga. I saw the anime originally two years ago, and I think I rewatched it last year, maybe? So, I'm definitely not up on cannon, and so this doesn't really follow canon. As in, Eren and Levi's past relationship is not based on their relationship in canon (honestly I have seen people foaming at the mouth over how Eren and Levi's relationship in canon is not abusive so I just want it to be very clear that the past relationship I'm writing is not my interpretation of canon). Also, my characterization is based mainly on the anime I saw forever ago, things I have seen on Tumblr, and other fanfictions, so I'm kind of playing a really long game of telephone with these characters and some things might get lost in translation.

All that said, I should be back to updating more or less regularly now. It won't take me over three months again (any time soon), that's for sure.

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Eren was the biggest idiot to ever exist on the face of the earth. He had denied it for so long, told himself that it couldn't possibly be true, but now he had to face it. He was a moron.

"You never learn, do you?" he asked himself scathingly, though he aimed the question at the pack of oreos he held in his hands. "Insanity is doing the same things over and over and expecting different results. Stupidity is doing the same thing over and over and not even realizing that you're doing it because you're too dumb to notice."

Mikasa and Armin had started their classes, and were currently attending some English nonsense or something, and Eren had gone out to get some food, and he had left his keys on the counter. His phone, of course, was next to them, because Eren was one of those rare members of his generation that was actually capable or forgetting the device (Eren blamed the fact that there hadn't been any phones in Shiganshina). So, here he was, with a thing of Oreos, a bag of Skittles, and nothing to do but sit on the floor of the hallway just like he did last time (at least this time he didn't have two tubs of ice cream that would be gooey messes by the time he got back into his home).

And, just like last time, Levi found him there. The dejavu was almost overwhelming, and Eren wondered for a moment if he had developed the ability to see the future alongside his ability to remember the past, but the illusion of sameness was shattered when Levi bent in on himself, shoulders shaking. Panic flashed through Eren, hot in his chest for just a moment, before he realized that Levi was laughing, fucking laughing those quiet, muffled laughs.

"Oh my god," the man gasped, "this is a little too familiar." Eren gaped at Levi, who smiled easily and closed the distance between them. He lowered himself to the ground next to Eren, stretching his legs in front of himself, and shamelessly helping himself to one of Eren's Oreos. With a scowl, Eren moved the Oreos to his other side, and placed the Skittles between them instead.

"Seriously?" Levi asked, shaking his head. As uncomfortable and shocked as Eren was, he took his food very seriously, thank you very much, and he had no plans to share his Oreos with anyone that hadn't thoroughly ingratiating themselves to him, not even his commanding officer. He nudged the pack farther away, eliciting another laugh from Levi.

"Cute," Levi said wryly. Eren stiffened, throwing Levi a thinly veiled look of suspicion.

"What are you doing?" Eren asked, even though his body was screaming at him not to, that it wasn't his place to question his superior officer. In the chain of command, Eren was hardly high enough to breath the same air as Levi, was only allowed to because of some weird blessing that spared his life in favor of weaponizing him. He reminded himself that Levi was no longer a corporal, that they were no longer soldiers, that now Eren could do whatever the hell he wanted to.

"Eating your Skittles," Levi answered casually with none of the hostility Eren had braced himself for. "You offered them up in place of the Oreos, so don't expect me to spare them." With a small smirk, he rifled through the bag and popped a handful of the colorful candies into his mouth.

"That's not what I meant," Eren said, shaking his head and snagging some of the candy for himself before Levi could obliterate it.

"Well, you're going to have to elaborate. I'm trying here, kid, but I can't read your mind."

"Why are you sitting here and eating my food," Eren expounded, failing to keep the sarcastic bite out of his voice. He tensed instinctively, but told himself to relax for the umpteenth time. His caution had already proved itself to be unnecessary, but he couldn't keep it out of his veins.

"Last time I caught you here I had places to be, shit to do, but I don't have anywhere to be right now, so I figure I might as well spend my time with you in this charming hallway. I must admit that I'm curious as to how you managed to get stuck out here twice. And also - hey, free food."

"I left my keys on the counter," Eren sighed. Levi raised an eyebrow, and it used to be that he would have said something scathing and derisive, but now he just laughed lightly.

"Why don't you just put the key on a necklace or something?" he suggested.

"That's not a bad idea," Eren granted thoughtfully. It wasn't something Eren had considered before, but it really wasn't a bad idea. He was pretty sure he had some twine in the closet that he could string a necklace with, though it would have to wait until he actually got inside.

"Thanks." Levi grinned (god damn it, it was still weird). "I got it from Zoey 101."

For a long moment, Eren stared blankly at Levi's serious, smiling face, and the next thing he knew he was laughing so hard he couldn't breathe. He wasn't sure what it was, really. It was at least part hysteria, because he still didn't really know how to feel about the fact that this was Levi, and the thought of that man watching some frivolous TeenNick show was almost beyond comprehension. Levi's laugh joined Eren's, softer and more controlled, but just as genuine.

"What? It's a good fucking show," Levi said, the joke obvious in his voice. "Hanji makes me watch that shit all the time."

"You can't be serious."

"Well - Hanji really does make me watch it all the time. But really, I just wanted to make you laugh." The way Levi says it - jovially and with exaggerated pride and bravado - makes Eren laugh again, and the teasing smile on Levi's face softens into something else.

"Your eyes really light up when you laugh," he says boldly, tone paired perfectly with the look on his face. It sent something warm through Eren's stomach, immediately chased by the realization that this was Corporal Levi and Eren was not allowed to get butterflies because of Corporal Levi, no matter what life they were in.

"Are you flirting with me?" he blurted, words tangled and unconscious, slipping from Eren's lips before he could snatch them back. He made a choked noise in response to his own question, because honestly, he didn't want to know. If Levi was flirting with him, everything would be better off if Eren just ignored it and played dumb. He could become one of those ridiculously dense protagonists who never knew when they were being hit on until someone outright confessed their love to them in no uncertain terms. If Eren knew Levi at all, he knew that the man wouldn't put up with that shit, and would sooner avoid Eren then deal with it, and Eren was 90% certain that that would be the best option for everyone involved. A panicked heat rose to Eren's face as Levi looked at him oddly.

"Yeah," the man confirmed after a moment that felt like a lifetime. "I was trying to, anyway. Now that that cat's out of the bag, I'll cut right to the chase." He popped some more of Eren's candy into his mouth as if they were having the most casual conversation conceivable. "Eren - I don't know your last name - would you go on a date with me sometime?"

"My last name is Jaeger," Eren responded blankly, earning another little laugh from Levi (that Eren hadn't asked for because Levi laughing was making this way harder than it should have been).

"Noted. So: Eren Jaeger, would you go on a date with me sometime?"

"I don't even know your last name." Admittedly, Eren was stalling now, because he couldn't say yes to Levi, but he felt like he would bite his tongue if he tried to say no. To be fair, he thought his point was a good one. He didn't know Levi's last name, and he never had. In their past life, he was always just "Levi," or "Corporal," but no one ever said his surname, not around Eren, at least.

"It's Ackerman. So: Will you, Eren Jaeger, go on a date with me, Levi Ackerman, sometime?"

He wasn't giving up, apparently. He didn't even look annoyed, smirking at Eren with a cocky lopsided grin that said he could do this all day. With that in mind, Eren gathered (some) of his wits about him and changed tactics.

"We don't even know each other." Levi didn't bother pausing to consider Eren's point.

"That's why I want to date you," he explained. "To get to know you. I mean, we're not going to see much of each other if we don't have a reason to. I teach at a fucking high school and you do your teenager-finding-their-way-in-the-world-thing. Our paths aren't going to cross often, and you're too cute for me to only get to see when you lock your dumb ass out of your apartment. So, what do you say, kid? Date me?"

Eren stared dumbly, throat moving convulsively as he swallowed down several "yes"s that tried to escape. He knew he should say no, of course he should, because that was, without question, the smart thing to do. But there was the soft smile on Levi's lips and the softer one in his eyes, and really, what he was suggesting didn't sound bad at all. Getting to know Levi. Eren had always wanted that, even when he was terrified. He wanted to know things about the man sitting next to him, and he didn't really care in what form they came, but dating?

"Can I think about it?" he asked weakly, and Levi's smile was surprisingly bright for someone that had just been half rejected.

"No problem kid," he replied, lifting himself off the floor. "Whenever you decide, you know where to find me." He winked and jabbed a thumb at the door next to Eren's. "I'm right next door." He moved to leave, but stopped a step away and turned back, stooping and picking up Eren's skittles with a cheeky grin. "I'll be taking these. Don't try to stop me. I need comfort food. You know, for my poor, wounded heart." With a laugh at his own joke, he disappeared into his apartment, once again leaving Eren to wait out his roommates.

When Armin and Mikasa returned from campus, Hanji was with them, bouncing excitedly up to Eren when his roommates had barely made it out of the elevator. She leaned over him, hair falling over her face after coming loose from her ponytail, an expectant look on her face. He couldn't say exactly what she was expecting, especially considering that this was Hanji, who Eren sometimes suspected wasn't even human because she made so little sense at times.

"So?" she prompted.

"So what?" Eren asked, when she failed to provide clarification.

"So, I know Levi asked you out! He did, didn't he? How did he do it? What did you say? When are you getting married? Can I be the best man?"

"Hanji, I don't think-"

"Eren! You owe me this."

"What?" Eren asked, baffled. Hanji had done him a number of "favors" in their past life, though it was debatable whether or not he owed her for any of those, considering that most of them were actually favors he did for her, and most of them ended with him injured, exhausted, or both. In this life though, he had only known her for a week or so, and had had maybe a total of four conversations with her in that time.

"You owe me," she insisted as Mikasa and Armin finally joined them. "You do. You just do. Really."

"I don't," Eren told her, but resigned, continued. "He did ask me out. Three times. Technically. And we won't be getting married considering I didn't even say yes."

"You didn't?" Hanji and Armin asked in unison, both sounding vaguely offended.

"No, I didn't."

"Why not?" Hanji asked, a fake looking scowl on her face, though Eren knew from past experience that it was very much real. "I know Levi is a little bit rough around the edges, but he's a nice guy - I can vouch for him, I swear. Why wouldn't you say yes?"

"If we're going to have this conversation," Eren sighed, "can we at least have it in the comfort of the apartment. My ass is sore from sitting on the ground so long."

"Maybe this way you'll finally remember to take your keys with you when you leave," Mikasa piped in, pulling out her own and unlocking the door.

"I'm thinking about stringing it on some twine and wearing it as a necklace," he told her as he stood, momentarily ignoring both Hanji and Armin, who were still sending him very stern looks. At his statement though, Hanji brightened slightly.

"Like in Zoey 101?" she asked, obviously fighting off a smile as she tried to keep a grip on her annoyance towards Eren.

"Yeah, actually," Eren confirmed, rubbing the back of his neck to hide the redness that probably rose there as he remembered who exactly had given him that idea. He followed Mikasa into the now open door and threw himself down onto the couch. Hanji and Armin followed, Armin taking his seat on the couch next to Eren while Hanji pulled a chair over so it was directly across from Eren. She straddled it and leveled a comically serious stare on him. Mikasa, apparently indifferent to the conversation they were about to have, retreated to her bedroom.

"So. Levi. Why did you break my best friend's heart?"

"I didn't," Eren said, raising his eyebrows at her exaggeration. "He really didn't seem to mind much. Just told me that I knew where to find him when I made up my mind."

"Wait," Armin interrupted. "When you made up your mind? Does that mean you didn't reject him, then?"

"Well, no - I mean, yeah? I didn't actually reject him. I told him I'd think about it, but I don't really … I'm not going to say yes."

"Why not!" Hanji demanded loudly, while Armin simply groaned.

"Eren," he said, "you haven't been on a date in a year. You haven't had a steady relationship since we were juniors in high school. I have met Levi, and newsflash Eren! He is seriously attractive!"

"What's your point?" Eren asked, shifting under the weight of Hanji's gaze, which wasn't getting any less intense as time went on.

"My point is: a hot guy asked you out, why can't you at least give the guy a chance?"

"It's - It's complicated, Armin."

"How can it be complicated?" Armin questioned, rolling his eyes in frustration. "You've had two conversations with the guy in a hallway. It's only complicated if you're making it complicated. If you don't even know the guy, it can't be complicated."

"I do know him, though."

A moment of silence followed, Armin's eyes widening and a soft sound leaving his lips. Hanji's expression fell slack with confusion, and she tilted her head. A second later, a realization seemed to come over her as well, and she gasped loudly, jolting her chair back onto two legs where it balanced precariously before falling back onto it's four feet.

"He's the one you told me about!"

Another moment followed her declaration, this one far more tense. Eren sat up straighter and took a moment to breathe before he spoke. Everyone always told him that he should breathe and think before he spoke, especially if he was angry, but it never seemed to help much in his case. He always tried anyway.

"You fucking told her?" he questioned, and his voice was steady in reward for his effort.

"I - well, she double majored in biology and psyche," Armin stuttered. "She's super smart, and she's into - into weird stuff like this, Eren. It was only hypothetical, I never said your name or anything like that, I just - I just wanted to know if she thought it was possible."

"And she doesn't, right?" Eren sneered. "I've heard it enough, Armin, I really don't need my neighbor saying it, too."

"Actually," Hanji interjected, "from what Armin's told me, your story sounds more than plausible. There's actually a lot of lesser known mythology, you know. About the things you call titans." Eren cringed to hear another person say the word.

"Yeah, well." He didn't know what else to say.

"You said you knew Levi? How did you know him?" she asked, excitement obvious as she leaned closer to him.

"I'm really not comfortable talking to you about this," he bit out between gritted teeth, fighting the urge to actually bite something (a habit of frustration he had never gotten rid of).

"But Eren," she insisted, her voice suddenly sounding far too loud in the small apartment, "this is for science. Science!"

"Hanji," Armin called, meeting her eyes with a loaded look. He shook his head slightly. "It's probably best if you leave." She pouted and they engaged in a momentary battle of wills, which Armin seemed to win quickly, if Hanji's huff and prompt exit from the room were anything to go by.

"So," Armin began when the echo of the closing door faded. "How did you know him?"

"He was our commanding officer," Eren explained haltingly, glaring at Armin guardedly. It wasn't really that he didn't trust Armin, because he probably trusted Armin more than anyone, but their past life wasn't something Eren enjoyed talking about. Maybe it was a side effect of being told he was crazy a few too many times.

"I thought our commanding officer's name was Erwin?"

"It was," Eren confirmed. "Erwin Smith was our Commander. But Levi was our Corporal. He was Humanity's Strongest. He was amazing." Eren swallowed, shuddering slightly. "He was terrifying. I've already told you how training worked, right?"

"Oh," Armin said in realization. "So he…?"

"He kicked my tooth out of my head on our first meeting."

"So he hurt you a lot, then?" Armin asked, frowning intensely. Eren had done his best to explain how training worked, but Armin had never really understood. He couldn't remember any of it, so it all seemed completely inhuman to him. He didn't understand how Eren didn't hold a grudge against their superiors.

"No, not really. He hit me a few times, but not nearly as much as Shadis," Eren explained. But he was so intimidating. Unapproachable. He never smiled or laughed. Sometimes it was hard to believe he was human."

"Eren, I've met Levi, and-"

"He's different," Eren interrupted. "I don't know how, because everyone else is basically the same, but he's different. He smiled at me, Armin. I made him laugh. Do you know how many times I wished I could make Corporal Levi laugh?"

"Well, today you did. Isn't that a good thing?"

"I - It's a complicated thing," Eren groaned, not knowing how to put his feelings into words anymore.

"It really doesn't have to be," Armin told him with a fond smile. "Here's what you do: you give him a chance. If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out, and you don't have to worry about going on expeditions with him or anything like that. You just need to worry about running into him when you get locked out of the apartment. And if it does work out - well, maybe you'll finally get some closure for your crush on this Corporal Levi, yeah?"

"I don't have a crush on Corporal Levi," Eren spluttered.

"Maybe infatuation is a better word?"

"It's just as bad!"

Armin laughed, shook his head, and retreated to their shared bedroom without another word. Eren flopped back into the couch, hating that it was their shared bedroom, which meant that he couldn't hide out in there, too.

Armin was right. Eren did have a bit of an "infatuation" with Corporal Levi. He had since his past life, when he was young. The man was so strong, brave. When he was little, he fancied himself in love with the soldier, but he was quickly disillusioned when he actually met the man. But there had always been a lingering … yearning? Curiousity? Enthrallment? Eren couldn't think of the right word for it. Complication.

But Levi - this Levi, who stole Eren's skittles with a cheeky smile and watched Zoey 101 with Hanji and - didn't seem all that bad. And apparently, he used cheesey pickup lines. Eren didn't think he would mind hearing one or two of those.