A/N: you may have noticed this is part 3 and not part 2! there is very good reason for that. part 2 is explicit, and as such, i didn't want to post it and get banned from here |D so if you'd like to read it, it's posted at archive of our own under my account there, ghosty!
"Oi. Oi. Levi!"
"What is it?"
"C'mere. Got something to tell you."
Reluctance. But, Levi abandons his seat at the head of the table and wanders over to Hanji, who is seated at the other end, surrounded by books and papers.
"Is it important? I'd like to drink my coffee in peace without having to hear about the consistency of titan shit..."
"It's about Mikasa."
For a split second, he felt his heart miss a step, and his morning coffee nearly swallowed wrong as he pulled the porcelain from his lips.
"And?"
He put on his voice of most feigned disinterest and hoped to god Hanji would not decide on being perceptive today about his... interest in the girl.
"I got something terribly intriguing to tell you about," Hanji whispered with barely-contained excitement. She sounded like she had a secret, even, and Levi couldn't deny even he was curious. In a nutshell, he was captivated by the girl, and while he did everything in his power to only view her as his equal and underling he was... failing. Miserably.
It kept him awake at night. Plagued him. Her obsidian eyes were incomprehensible and her mouth was beautiful and nothing in the world made him feel the way he felt when she fought him tooth and nail and then...
"So? Wanna hear it?"
"Hanji!"
The heads in the room all snap to the entrance - it isn't often that Mikasa Ackerman storms in sounding so... friendly...? And even Levi's attention is now fully on her, slight dumbstruck by the faint smile on her face and the peculiar brightness of her eyes.
He feels sick.
"Ah, Mikasa! How are you?" The fuck?
"Great. Can I talk to you?"
Levi perked a brow as the pair abandoned the room. Mikasa had barely bat an eye at him, and Hanji looked marvelously pleased. In fact, Hanji looked like this secret had been something Levi really, really wanted to hear.
Well, what could he say? It was true.
Levi stood at the table a moment longer, lingering on his hot cup of coffee and musing on the thousand possibilities. Titans. The Jaeger brat. Garbage. Other things he didn't care about, nor care to think about.
And then a stone dropped in his stomach. Clear as day, it hit him. Mikasa seeming pleasant for one of the first times he'd ever seen? Mikasa looking for Hanji. Mikasa Ackerman, cold and calculating, quiet as the dead and strong as a hundred soldiers. Mikasa Ackerman, the only person to still be alive and keep him laying awake at night.
"Fuck," he breathed out under his breath, running a hand over his eyes.
She was in love with Hanji. They were together.
Fuck.
Corporal Levi downed the rest of his coffee in his mouth in one swallow, slammed it on the table, and strode out of the room in a temper seldom seen.
It wasn't that hard to follow them; Hanji's voice traveled like cannon fire, and it was only a minute before he had navigated the halls to them. When he was close enough, his footsteps turned muted, light. The corridor dwindled into infrequently-used rooms, and before he rounded the last corner, he heard the quiet sound of a door clicking shut.
He crept closer. He didn't make a sound, even though he felt heavy.
"...So? How was..."
"Good. Amazing. I... ...tingly... like nothing I've ever felt... ...and warm, and wet, too, like you said..."
"Ahhhhh Mikasa! I'm so happy for you! What about..."
"Corporal... vi?"
What?
Levi's heart stopped in his chest. He stepped closer, tense as a pulled bowstring. His jaw was set hard and his palms felt hot and itchy. The thought begins occurring to him - maybe they aren't together...
"...thought of... ...touching... ...telling me... things?"
"Oh? Things? What sort of things?"
"...embarrassing..."
"Aww, you don't ha... ...tell me if... ...want to!"
No, Levi wanted to snap. No, no, no you awful vixen, you want to tell Hanji. In fact, you're going to tell Hanji whether you want to or not, and I am going to...
Going to what?
Press her pliant body to the wall, ravish her mouth with his own? Tangle his fingers against hers, bite her lip, roll his hips into hers and speak venomous words about his mortifying puppy love for her?
"...call him 'sir'..." Levi's gut throbbed. "...do as he says..."
His hand absently went to the stone wall beside him, fingertips dragging harshly against it to steady himself. His heart was pounding generously in his ears and erection was unsurprising.
Little Miss Red Scarf, on the other hand. It was the surprise of a lifetime. Levi hadn't the faintest idea if he was really hearing this conversation correctly, but God in heaven if he was, he wasn't sure he'd be able to look Mikasa in the eye again.
Intuition struck, and he decided it was time to retreat. Go take care of his 'problem'. He nearly made it to his barracks, taking the long way to try and cool down and burn some energy, and it was just enough time for Hanji to come exploding around the corner from the opposite end of the hall. Well, he called it exploding, but it was very quiet - an implosion. It was never a good sign was Hanji was excited and being hushed about it. Also, he did not... not... not want to face the eccentric fool right now.
Gritted teeth, Levi tried to look uninterested and busy as he angled away from her to hide his still-swollen problem, and said, "I'm busy right now, this can wait."
"Liar. You're welcome."
That was it. Hanji floated by, the most conceited and coy smile he'd ever seen in his life going along with it. The blood ran from his face.
It's not the first time he's masturbated to Mikasa Ackerman. But, it is the first time he has knowing she's done the same.
He nearly punctures his lip he bites it so hard when he comes. His breaths are ragged and dry, and his hands are shaking hard, and he makes an embarrassing noise when it happens. And it's embarrassing how messy it is.
And it's a bit cliche, but after he cleans up, he sits in bed, shirtless and morose, with his face in his hands. He thinks about the sexual stuff, a lot, admittedly - pulling her hair, talking down to her, fucking her against the wall - but sometimes he thinks about the other intimate things. The embarrassing things.
Untangling her hair for her, brushing it. Holding her. Having tea in the morning. Teasing her in French.
Kissing her, simply and softly, before they fall asleep. A world without titans, where he can be the bastard who wins her over and doesn't have to accept every morning when he wakes up, it may be the last time he sees her and that stupid red scarf.
"Fuck," he says under his breath, for no one but him to hear. "Fuck."
