Chapter 9: Questions
Back in Ward B-13, the room was shrouded in unease tension. With nothing better to direct his frustration at, Levi put on his best 'fuck-everything' expression and scowled up at the ceiling. With any more force, he could probably bring down the whole infrastructure.
What the fuck was wrong with him?
Why in the fucking universe did he act as if he was still asleep?
There was no need for that. He could have easily snapped awake the moment he felt Eren's breath hitched, when Eren's soft touch landed on his bare arm to angle him onto the bed. But he didn't.
Maybe it was the fact that the incessant brat has finally sealed his trap after yapping all day. Levi had just wanted the peace to last. That's it.
Despite having the need to focus at their surveillance, throughout the day, Eren had tried to initiate shallow conversations when the silence dragged out for too long. It wasn't that Levi hated making small talk, but he fucking hated making small talk and for that, his reciprocation was ultimately limited to simple hums of acknowledgement or total nonchalance.
Eren Jaeger was not deterred by the indifference shown by his superior, which was quite the pity. Or was it?
Cue the flashback to the light-hearted chat Eren had pretty much forced Levi into, roughly 3 hours ago.
Eren stabbed the stray broccoli on his plate with his fork and he probed, "So, Cap'n, what made you join the force?"
"What's it to you, kid?" The man in question impassively dealt.
Eren popped the overcooked green blob into his cavity and almost choked on the blandness. "Ugh this tastes like wet tissue paper." Next, he tapped his fork on the tofu to watch it jiggle. "It's just a question. Y'know, I wasn't joking about having your picture pinned up on the wall of my bedroom."
"Chew with your mouth closed, you're fucking disgusting."
Eren willed himself to swallow and noticeably cringed. "I mean, yea, you're an asshole."
Levi clicked his tongue to counter, "Tch." Honestly, that probably wasn't much of an opposition because Levi knew he could be a dick and it wasn't like he gave a shit as to what the new guy thought of him anyway.
"But," Eren raised his fork as truce and said with the most shit-eating grin, "You wer-, are my hero. Granted, we've never met before yesterday." Haven't they?
"You might not have known who I was, but I knew you, Inspector Levi of the Maria's CID. You were the talk of the city and the Academy, hell your name even came up often from the Madams back in dispatching. You've been quite the successful detective, Sir." Eren's tone had adapted to one dripping with respect, "At such a young age too. You've been my goal since I was set to get into this line of duty. Mikasa, that's my elder sister, told me that I'd never make it at first. She hated the idea of me in uniform, risking my life for nothing. I didn't give up though. I said to her, 'If this guy, Levi, can do it, I don't see why I can't.' And before she could object any further, I showed her my offer of acceptance to the Police Academy. That shut her up." He chuckled at the memory.
"Then, she decided to come after me. She didn't trust me to tackle this by myself, so she enrolled too. But to be fair, I didn't trust myself either, so I'm glad she did what she did."
"I don't remember asking for a backstory, brat." Levi deadpanned.
"I-I-," Eren ducked his head and mumbled, "You're still an asshole." The brunette stuffed the entire chunk of the white stuff into his face to hide his embarrassment. Oh shit that's the cursed Tofu, he gagged, and he hadn't meant to go so deep into the story. What came over him?
"Never said I wasn't one." Levi smirked without sparing his companion a look his way. "But I'm not as heroic as you picture me to be, kid."
Eren snatched the glass of water from the table and downed the Tofu. Okay, that was horrible, he hated Tofu, but more importantly, "What do you mean?"
"It's nothing." His face fell back to something more emotionless.
"It's never 'nothing' when someone says that."
"You're better off not knowing." Levi was looking at Eren now, and Eren thinks he might be hallucinating, but for an instance, Levi's eyes were pleading, pleading for him to not push for an answer. So Eren did just that, he changed the topic to something about Auruo having a really good Captain Levi impression (not really) and they went on with the night in the comfortable presence of another.
Levi was and is still amazed, at how Eren picks up the tiniest of hints from the slacks in Levi's pretence. He hadn't expected the brat to drop it as easily as that. Eren, seemed to be a curious one, he must have wanted to clear things up. He must have wanted to know what Levi really meant. Surprisingly, he let it go and for once in his life, Levi might actually have enjoyed the presence of a company. This is bad.
The questions forming in Levi's head are many yet none of them had answers. He swung his free arm across his forehead and let the weight rest in that position; his head was starting to feel light and dizzy from all the, the thinking. This is fucking bad.
How does he have the same exact look?
Why does he feel so familiar yet distant?
What makes him so special and different from everyone else?
Levi battled these overwhelming thoughts to sleep that night after coming to a conclusion: to keep his sentiments for Eren Jaeger as far away as possible. He cannot be compromised like that; not by a brat he'd met for only a little over 2 days.
A/N: I know I said longer chapters and this was definitely not long at all. Unfortunately, I'm facing an ordeal, or more like a curse known as Writer's Block... which is a terrible feeling! I have my chapter planned and I'm writing, I'm deleting, writing again and nothing seems right. I'm not ready to post something I'm not happy with so I hope everyone who's still with me bear with this a little bit more. Enjoy this short chapter for now, something bigger is coming up next :)
As always, thank you for reading and I would love to read your comments!