A/N: For Elivra26 who requested a Levi/Erwin interaction fic :)

He walks into the room and it stinks of liquor. He's never really seen the appeal of it. Soldiers in the Scouting Legion would drink it by the keg on their nights off, claiming that it helps them take their mind off of the nightmares outside, but he's tried drinking glass after glass of that stuff and he'd just feel hollow inside and somewhat disgusted. He just leaves the drinking to everyone else – give him tea or coffee instead – and he usually sees Erwin do the same. The commander is typically too engrossed in new theories and plots to bother with drinking so it's strange stumbling into Erwin's room and seeing the usually busy man just sitting at his desk and staring deeply into a corner of the room, an empty glass of wine in his hand.

"Are you drinking?" It's even stranger to him that Erwin's drinking because the loss of his right hand has made things like pouring bottles of wine so difficult. It seems he's gotten the hang of drinking by himself though because Levi doesn't see any spills on the commander's desk.

Erwin turns lazily, a contrast to his usually sharp movements, and gives Levi a broad smile. "Levi! I didn't even notice that you entered the room." He gestures to the half-empty bottle of wine on his desk. "Care for a glass? I was about to pour another one for myself just now."

He's had wine before at the military balls. Those were the few occasions where he allowed himself to get drunk. It makes it easier for him to deal with Nile Dawk and the rest of the military assholes that way, but the taste of it makes him want to gag. It always tastes like expired grape juice and grape juice isn't even good to begin with. "That shit's disgusting," Levi says. He leans against the edge of Erwin's desk. "I'd rather face a fleet of Titans."

"I'll take that as a no," Erwin says. He pours himself another glass; it's so full that it looks like it might spill over but he takes a large swig of it without spilling a drop. He lets out a content sigh. "You really should consider having a glass, Levi. It's very rare that we get to celebrate successes. Historia taking up the throne is possibly the most hopeful thing to happen within these Walls."

"Hmm." He can't say he's not happy about that but there's no telling how long this period of good luck would last.

"You did an impressive job with your squad, Levi," Erwin continues. "Not many could pull off a successful mission on such short notice with a newly assembled team."

He shrugs. "The brats are more capable than they look, I suppose."

Erwin hums to himself and takes another sip. He looks thoughtfully at the corner of the room again before turning his gaze to Levi. "Who do you think would win a fight in your current squad? Excluding yourself, of course."

Levi has to pause for a moment and check that he isn't dreaming. These types of questions are what he expects from Hanji, not Erwin. Sure enough though he's wide-awake and Erwin really is the man that has uttered the strange question. "Are you fucking serious?"

"Humor me."

Levi sighs and crosses his arms across his chest. It wouldn't hurt to answer at any rate. "The Ackerman girl then, although I doubt she'd fight Jaeger willingly."

Erwin seems to play around with this in his head, summing up all of Mikasa's strengths and weaknesses against the others. While Erwin's never seen her abilities up close, Levi's sure the commander has kept a close enough eye on the members of the Scouting Legion to know how to use them effectively, Mikasa included. "What if they had weapons?" Erwin asks. "Would that even the playing field?"

"Does Ackerman get a weapon?"

"No."

"Yes, but only if Braus has a gun or a bow and arrow," Levi answers. Armin also has also made a kill with a gun but Levi isn't sure exactly how much of that was skill and how much of it was luck and fast reflexes.

"Could be dangerous even if Sasha doesn't have a bow and arrow," Erwin muses. "Arlert has a good head on his shoulders after all. He could surely come up with a plan with the rest of the squad that would give Mikasa a run for her money."

"True. His self-doubt is the only thing getting in his way."

"Jean has some pretty impressive leadership skills as well," Erwin says.

"Hm. Haven't really thought about that very much. You're not wrong though." What Armin lacks in decisiveness and confidence, Jean has an abundance of. The two can be a rather formidable leadership force in the future. "Although we should mention Historia if we're discussing leadership skills. She has the whole kingdom bowing to her now."

"Ah, Historia. A woman fit to lead our nation in these dark times." Erwin lifts his glass as if to toast the new monarch. He downs the rest of his drink and smacks his lips. He does always tend to get a little sloppier when he's drunk, Levi remembers. "And Eren?"

"Jaeger?" Levi scoffs. "Only if he has Arlert with him or Ackerman on his side."

"You don't think he can go toe-to-toe with Mikasa? You don't seem to factor in his Titan shifting abilities," Erwin says.

"Ackerman can beat the kid in her sleep. Changing him into a fifteen meter tall monster wouldn't affect anything."

Erwin looks amused. "Is that all you have to say about his abilities after working with him so closely these past weeks?"

Levi sighs and looks up at the ceiling as if it would hold a lost compliment somewhere for Eren. "He's a hard worker," Levi finally says.

Erwin smiles. "A good word for everyone on your squad all in one conversation. Are you fond of them, Levi?"

He rolls his eyes. "You're just so drunk you're imagining things."

"Perhaps." Erwin doesn't seem insulted at the tone his subordinate has taken with him. He's used to it from Levi. Instead he holds out the bottle and shakes it a bit. "There's enough for both of us to have a glass."

He's about to decline but what the hell. It's late and he can't let Erwin drink alone like a sad sap or worse – have Hanji stumble on the drunk commander which would inevitably lead both of them to engage in a drinking contest this late at night. (Hanji has a pretty unsavory habit of stealing alcohol from the military police and stashing it away to drink with other soldiers.) So he sighs and walks towards Erwin's cabinet, pulling out his own glass. "Sure, why not?"

Erwin fills their glasses and sets the bottle down. He lifts up his glass towards Levi. "To Queen Historia's new reign, the future successes of the Legion, and the hope that all the secrets will soon be revealed."

Levi clinks his glass against the commander's. "A lot to toast for," he says after taking a sip. It still tastes disgusting, he finds.

"We have a lot more to look forward to now," Erwin answers, taking a sip as well.

Levi likes to be cautious. The celebration seems a bit premature, he thinks, but then again they rarely ever have anything to celebrate so he takes another swig of his drink. It's only for one night after all.

A/N: I asked my boyfriend what he thought Erwin and Levi would talk about if they ever had free time and he said, "Which one in the 104th squad would win in a fight."

I also don't really know what drunk people are like. My family just kind of gets really loud and then pull out all of the musical instruments in the house and try to form a band. Weird stuff.

Listening to Lorde's Melodrama atm (which is amazing although really sad) and just finished Voltron s3 right before I finished writing/editing this.

Thanks again for the requests and reviews :)

Word Count: 1,204