A/N: What?! You mean to tell me that this has been updated?! *flails* No but seriously. I am really sorry for this late update. I was at a convention last weekend, and... Wait for it... Wait for it...
I got lost on the path of life. *shot*
This chapter was a little hard to write, because the subject is coming up about people with disabilities of any kind being subjected to bullying. This chapter hits a little close to home I guess. ^^'
-Misty
Song of the day: Beautiful
By: Amber (Anyone else ecstatic that she has her own debut?)
The Change You Wish to See
(Original summary, but screw the stupid character limits) Levi's never put much care into things. He doesn't put much care into things at all. Nothing ever peaks his interest. Well, that's until he meets Eren Jaeger. Levi isn't sure what it is that's so interesting about him, and it irritates him to feel these feelings he's never felt before. Regardless, he goes to talk to the boy. When he doesn't receive an answer, he just thinks that the boy is rude; however, he understands why when Eren doesn't answer him. Eren is deaf.
Rated M for sexual content, adult language, some violence, mild character death
Main pairing: Riren with some side pairs
Anime: Shingeki No Kyojin (Attack on Titan)
Chapter Twelve: Now You Know
Levi suspected that, for a brat like Eren and his first real job, he'd be good for a few days, and then the fatigue would work its way into him later.
He had no idea what he was thinking.
Every day for the past two and a half weeks, Eren woke up bright eyed and clean, his mood always beaming with energy that Levi didn't understand (Eight hours of sleep could only do so much), and a determination to do his job to the best of his abilities, and he was good at it. Sure, Eren's job was to organize books, put them back in their proper places, and help dust the place with them. With their third helping hand, Hanji and Levi found that work was done a lot sooner than it usually was, and then the three of them ended up goofing off for the rest of the day. When a client was around, their attitude was as professional as book store keepers could be, but when they were gone, they were back to tossing jokes and jumping off of the ladders like monkeys. At least Eren and Hanji were anyway. Levi thought that would be annoying, but somehow, the little bit of sound was a little more liberating than he thought it would be.
Maybe this change of pace was good for everyone besides Eren. Maybe this was something that everyone needed. Even Mikasa agreed that Eren was happier now, that he was more carefree and relaxed when home. It wasn't like he was edging to get out and live a life. She knew he'd start asking for more and more of that taste of freedom now that he had it, but for now it was nice to see.
When Eren's first paycheck came in, both she and Armin agreed that Eren keep it. Spend it, save it, whatever it was he wanted to do with it, they wanted him to use it for something for himself. It was his first paycheck, and they wanted to make sure he appreciated it. So what did Eren do? On a day when both Armin and his sister had a day off, he forced them into going to the grocery store so he could buy junk food. Popcorn, chips, and soda's; anything that wasn't classified as "healthy" was in that then went and rented a few movies off the television, and the three of them spent that night watching sappy love comedies, horror movies, and action packed adventures.
When Levi came to pick Eren up from work the next day, the image of them all laying on the pull out bed that was once a couch, out cold and brain dead from a night of sugar packed soda, was adorable to say the least. He hated that he had to wake them up, but Armin and Mikasa were late for school, Eren probably hadn't even thought about his school work, and he needed to be at work. That was the only time he was ever late and groggy for work, but he cleared it up after a good shower.
It was going well, far better than he expected it to. Just this one little change was enough to start something up that was making everyone's lives a little easier. Though Levi wouldn't admit it, he liked having Eren around more and more. He was finding out all of the little details that made the brunette "Eren," and all of these little details were intriguing. He didn't know when he started thinking that way; it just suddenly happened, but he couldn't say that he hated it.
However, with Eren around all of the time, Levi was beginning to see what Armin previously meant. When he said that people weren't kind to people with disabilities, he wasn't kidding. Levi didn't think anyone could lose their cool around someone who couldn't hear, though Levi considered himself an exception after their first encounter, but he was proven wrong on a day in December when it first started snowing.
It was just a week before his birthday, and it looked like it was going to be a white Christmas after all with the way the snow was coming down and the forecast for the rest of the week. Eren and Hanji were in awe of the snow outside, standing by the windows and blowing hot breath that fogged up the glass as they jumped up and down in excitement. Levi could tell that Eren just wanted to go out and run around in it, but he couldn't. Levi definitely wouldn't let him if he could either. He wasn't dressed for it after all.
Despite the snow, they had a customer in the store. She was sitting in the far corner of the building at a table, quietly reading a book to herself. Every time Levi checked though, he saw the way she'd look up and glare at the brunette every time he made a sound louder than one decibel. It wasn't like he knew he was doing it. He couldn't hear himself at all to know that he was getting loud, but it wasn't like he was blatantly doing it. Eren was just excited, and he had a right to be.
It wasn't like anyone wasn't telling him either. Hanji would sign to him every now and again to tell him to lower his voice some, and Eren would nod his head in understanding. He couldn't possibly know how to make it lower though when he didn't know how loud it was to begin with.
"Come on, Eren. Let's go in the back and get those silly papers filled out." Hanji told him with an empathetic smile.
"But snow," Eren whined, his tone sounding a little congested. Hanji patted his back before leading him toward the office, because she knew that Eren was on the receiving end of a glare, and she didn't want Eren knowing. She gave Levi a specific glance, and with a nod of the head, the older man confirmed that he was aware of it to.
The woman didn't look like she planned to leave anytime soon, and in this weather, she may have just planned on staying for a few hours. Eren couldn't stay in the back for a few hours though. He wouldn't be able to hold out for that long. They were going to need to find something for him to do, and it needed to last until she left. What could he do though? Anything and everything that Eren could have needed to do was done, and there was nothing left to do in the store. Technically, Levi could create a mess, but Levi making a mess? The chances of seeing Bigfoot get struck by lightning were higher than that.
Levi sighed to himself as he closed his book. He needed to find something for the brat to do; anything really, even if it meant Eren could run down the street to a fast food place and grab food for them. Mikasa would never approve, but it was right down the street. How much trouble could he possibly get in for fifteen minutes?
Levi turned to go get Eren, but stopped short when he heard the bells on the front door ring. He looked back to see a person walking in, a heavy jacket covering them and a hood hiding their head. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know who that was, not when he heard the teen's chattering teeth and muttering something about how cold it was.
"Don't track snow through the store." He instructed the new body. The boy looked up at him and smiled, snow seeming to drop off of him like it was outside.
"Sorry about that. I'll wipe my feet first." He said and took off his hood.
"Relax, Arlert, there isn't much to do here right now anyway." Levi told the blond. "In fact, make a small mess. It'll give us something to do."
"Oh, well I wouldn't want to do that." Armin said and hung up his coat on the nearby hangers.
"You and I can get along very well if you continue to think like that." Levi said and walked behind the counter. Armin laughed as he followed, though he stayed back to avoid walking into personal space.
"So how is Eren today?" Armin asked and looked around, a small frown taking place of his smile. "Speaking of which, where is he?"
"He's in the back organizing things with Hanji." The older man told him. Armin hummed as his answer, his eyes already all over the books. Levi barely held down any questions he had about the boy and his fascination towards them, such as, "Are books like porn to you?" Armin probably wouldn't appreciate a question like that. "So what are you doing here so early today?"
"Ah, well my teacher had to pick his kids up from school, so our classes were let out early." Armin explained.
"Are schools closing because of this?"
"Mhm," Armin mused.
"Why...? It's just a couple of inches of snow." Levi grumbled to himself.
"It got me out of school, so I won't complain." Armin joked and pulled a book down from one of the shelves.
"So do you want me to go get Eren for you?" Levi asked, watching the boy flip through some pages.
"Oh no, if he's working, let him be. I'll just sit here for a while and read." Armin assured and walked over to one of the tables.
"You sure...?" The older man inquired.
"Yeah, I'm sure." Armin said, and Levi shrugged his shoulders in agreement.
"Alright then. You want anything to drink? We've got hot chocolate in the back." Levi offered.
"Yeah, that'd be great." Armin said with a smile. Levi nodded his head quietly before going to get what he had offered. When he came back, he found Armin sitting at one of the nearby tables, his eyes deeply imbedded into the book he had picked up not too long ago.
Levi never found himself to be so immersed in a book before, so he could never understand how Armin could do it, and do it so fast. He envied him though. He wished so many times in his life for something that could distract his mind, and books were just barely one of those things.
"Here you go," Levi announced and set the boy's cup down on the table. Armin seemed to jump in surprise, as if those less than two minutes were enough time for the world around him to go blank and for the book to do its job.
"Oh, thank you," He said and picked up the cup, almost as if he forgot that the offer had even been made. Levi sat down beside him, his fingers working through his own cup of hot chocolate to keep it warm as the teen went to sip his. "Mh, it's warm," Armin mused happily.
"Must be a nice change from outside, right?" Levi asked and took a big gulp of his own.
"Very, thank you again." Armin said, his fingers clutching the cup tightly to warm up his hands.
"Not a problem." Levi leaned back in his chair, but he opted to keep his feet off of the table. He needed to keep them clean, although the thought of work for Eren did pop up into his head. "So, how's work been?" He asked the blond.
"Okay, I guess. If it keeps snowing like this I won't have any." Armin joked, though his eyes were drifting to the book like he was trying to put his attention back on that instead of the older man talking to him.
"That'd be nice." Levi mused. "What would you do if you got that opportunity?"
"Umm... I guess stay at home with Eren. Probably play some video games or something." As he spoke, Armin's eyes did fall back into the book. Levi knew what this was about though.
Armin could easily disperse his mind within a book, but it wasn't just that. While Armin had some interest in it, it wasn't his goal to read the book. As they spoke of Eren, Levi saw the boy become uncomfortable. Just bringing him up made the blond fidget in his chair. He was trying to read to move away from the topic, but Levi wasn't going to let that happen.
"I've got a question for you." Levi spoke up. It almost looked like Armin was regretful to look, maybe even a little scared. He must have known it was coming.
"Yes...?"
"What do you think about this whole set up we have right now with Eren?" Levi asked, as if he were ripping off a band aid. It just needed to be done.
"... What do you mean?" Armin asked hesitantly.
"I mean with Eren now working with Hanji and I, and then getting to spend time with you guys at home, what do you think?" Levi asked. Armin looked away, his eyes passing over the book this time.
"Uhm... I think it's great. I mean, yeah, of course it is. This is really good for him. Eren finally gets to go out and work, he's making some money, and he's got important people with him. So yeah, I'm really happy about this."
"Are you sure about that?" Levi asked with his cup up to his lips. Armin looked up at him this time, eyes wide and lips parted with a look that resembled anxiety, like he knew he had been caught. That didn't seem to be Armin's plan, however. He wasn't giving up without a fight.
"W-What's that supposed to me-"
"I saw your face at dinner when this whole thing started. I'm not blind and I'm not dumb, so you can drop the good guy act for a minute or two and tell me how you really feel." Levi sat forward in his chair, any traces of "being nice" gone from his expression.
"I'm not-!"
"Armin...!" The two of them visibly jumped when Eren's voice rang through the store. The stiff atmosphere was destroyed, making way for a kinder and friendlier approach so Eren wouldn't catch on to anything.
"Hi, Eren," Armin said and signed, a sigh of relief leaving him with a smile stretching his lips. Levi turned his head and rolled his eyes, figuring as much from the blond.
He had been right. It was all just an act he was putting on. Without Eren around, Armin wasn't the same happy and carefree teen that he acted to be. Levi almost saw the person who was always concerned, who was always worried for his friend and never wanted to let him leave his sights, but Eren had such a terrible sense of timing.
"Armin...!" Eren yipped with joy, his fingers a blur as he signed to the blond. Once again, Levi was questioning how he could possibly follow Eren or anything he was trying to say when his fingers were so fast.
"Calm down, Eren, it's getting hard to understand what you're saying." Armin told him and laughed. Eren audibly whined before doing as told, his fingers slowing down until even Levi was able to pick up some things.
"Today has been- But the snow- To the ground and cars...!" It wasn't perfect, but Levi found that he could understand more and more. That was only thanks to Hanji and her updated lessons, which now took up most Levi's free time while Eren was working.
That lasted almost all day.
"That's really great, Eren." Armin said, his smile widening. "What are you going to do tomorrow?"
"Excuse me...?" A voice asked behind them. Levi felt a chill go up his spine, like his body knew something bad was about to happen without it happening. Eren was oblivious to the woman, to the client who had once been sitting, but was now standing beside them to address Levi directly. He kept signing away to Armin like nothing was wrong, but even Armin was aware of her presence and attitude she was letting off.
"Yes...?" Levi asked and looked at her. If her hip cocked to the side and raised eyebrows were anything to go by, then it should have been obvious that she was annoyed. "Do you need help with something?"
"Yes," The woman said, and Levi felt his eyebrow twitch. Armin peeked over Eren's shoulder as he signed, trying to focus on her and Eren at the same time. "I'm over here trying to read, but it's really hard to do that when he can't be quiet." The woman said and gestures towards Eren.
That caught Armin's attention quickly. Levi didn't need to look to hear him stand up from his chair, and he didn't need to look to know that the "nice guy" exterior wasn't operating properly. Levi felt the need to hold an arm out and keep Armin from getting too close, but Eren was doing a good job about that. Without his hearing, he had no idea that any of this was directed towards him, so how could he possibly know that Armin was mad for that reason?
"Armin...?" He asked in a mumble.
"I mean, I've heard you and your other employee tell him multiple times to quiet down, and he still talks like he's the only person in existence." The woman continued.
"You don't know anything!"
Even to Levi, Armin's sudden outburst was surprising. Hearing him bark at someone he didn't know, a stranger, who was minding their business for quite some time up until now, was a shock. In fact, Levi had never seen the blond lose his cool yet. He'd always been the peace keeper, the one to settle disputes, not make them. Having him do it was just unsettling, and he could see it even in Eren's eyes.
It didn't take hearing to read body language, and to see that Armin was mad.
"I know that I cannot concentrate when he won't quiet down. I mean, what kind of place are you running here? You sell books here, sir; not cheap entertainment."
"That's not how that is! You don't get it at all!" Armin fumed, but Levi stepped in front of him, cutting him off and ultimately blocking his direct eye contact with the absurd woman.
"I'm going to have to ask you to leave now." Levi said, his arms crossing over his chest.
"Excuse me...?" The woman gaped, her eyes widening in disbelief. "This one won't be quiet, this one is yelling at your customers, and you're telling me to leave?"
"You're the one accusing someone of being too loud when he can't even hear himself talk." Levi told her.
"And what does that mean?" She asked.
"It means that you're yelling at a person who's deaf." He explained. "Deaf, as in Eren can't even hear this argument let alone himself." He made sure to pronounce each syllable correctly, just to get his point across.
"Does that even matter?" She had the nerve to ask.
"Miss, it's good timing that you have to leave." Levi said and moved to take her coat off of the coat hanger. "The snow is getting bad out there, and we wouldn't want you getting into an accident."
The woman was no less than appalled. She was disgusted, disgruntled, and in disbelief, but who's fault was it? The only one to blame was her.
Without having another word for argument, she snatched her coat from Levi. She looked as if she wanted to ask about her books, but Levi simply stared at her with his usual cold and apathetic expression, which was enough of an answer. Like that, she was gone in a huff of rage and snow storm.
By this point, Hanji had heard the commotion from the office and came out to see what was going on. Levi had settled back to where he once was at his table, hot chocolate back in hand, though he hated it that it had cooled. He'd have to charge that woman for compensation later.
Eren and Armin were standing by, though Eren was simply confused. No one had told him what had just happened, but Levi didn't bother, because he expected Armin to, and because he thought that he couldn't sign it to the teen.
Armin, however, was still fuming with anger. His hands were bawled into painful looking fists by his sides, his nails digging away at his palms. His face was actually red with anger, all of the way from his ears to his neck, and he couldn't seem to control his breathing. He was trying, but he was losing it easily. He couldn't pick up what was falling apart.
"What just happened?" Hanji asked while stepping further into the room.
"The one client we just had was upset with Eren for being too loud. She voiced her thoughts, and I told her that the snow was getting bad and that she needed to leave." Levi said and sipped at his slightly cold drink.
"Oh boy..." Hanji sighed, her shoulders slumping over. She must have known that something like this could happen, but Levi couldn't have fathomed it.
He couldn't imagine that someone would have the galls to complain about someone with a disability. He knew the world was cruel, and he had heard about it plenty of times from other people, but hearing about it and seeing it happen in front of him were two totally different things.
What had Eren ever done to deserve that?
"Armin..." Eren mumbled, trying to pull the blonde's attention to him. "What's wrong...?"
Levi couldn't find it in himself to be happy that he understood that.
"Nothing," Armin huffed and tried stepping away. "I need to go."
"Go, but you-" Eren moved to grab at Armin's hand, but the blond roughly pulled away, shocking both Eren and the two other adults in the room. Armin looked regretful from it, like he hadn't thought the idea through, and as soon as he acted on it, he felt immense guilt. He truly hadn't meant to spook Eren, but the damage had been done, and he knew it.
"I'm leaving," Armin said, the words directed more towards Levi than Eren, and without hand motions. He didn't doubt that Eren read his lips though.
"Armin, wait," Eren tried, but his friend was already shucking on his coat. He even tried grabbing at him, but Hanji stopped him short, leaving him only to watch as Armin stormed out of the building like there was a fire.
"Should we let him go by himself...?" Levi asked, skeptical about letting the teen walk around by himself when he was in that kind of mental state, or even in this kind of weather.
"He won't go anywhere but home I'm sure." Hanji assured. "It's too cold out to be anywhere else, and he doesn't want to get stuck anywhere if the snow gets worse."
"Hanji...?" Eren asked, his big, golden eyes wide and sad. "He's never done that before."
"He's probably upset. It's best to let him have some time to himself to calm down."
"Shouldn't I go after him?" Eren asked. "If he's mad at me, I want to know why."
"I don't think it's you, sweetheart. I think he's upset with the customer, and I think he just needs to let off steam."
"By himself...?"
"By himself," Hanji told him. Eren only walked over to the window to look outside, to see if Armin was anywhere nearby, but he wasn't. Even his car wasn't parked anywhere, but Eren could see the tracks from where it once was.
Just knowing that he had some part to Armin's pain wasn't helping him any.
"He's never acted that way before..."
Once again, Levi forgot to be happy when he realized he understood what Eren signed.
A/N: I know I'm missing a mistake somewhere in here, and I can't find it. e-e One free one shot to the person who finds the grammar/spelling error and destroys it (AKA telling me about it so I can get rid of it).
P.S. While I was at the convention, I met Mathew Mercer, the English voice actor for Levi. As a present for my friend and myself and all Ereri fans, I had him say "I love you, Eren," as Levi.
The video is on my tumblr. You're welcome. :3
