A/N: Forgive me if I unintentionally misinterpreted/glossed over/ignored many manga moments. I don't read the manga but I got spoilers all the time anyway because of my AoT moots on Twitter lol. Anyway, this fic was inspired by this tweet: #aot139spoilers /levismoon/status/1380176613225168902?s=20. I was surprised that my reply to that tweet (kinda) blew up lmaooo. So I feel like I need to include that joke inside the fic too.

A sudden weight on his right shoulder jostled Falco awake from his sleep. He glanced to his right and immediately blushed when he saw Gabi dozed off with her head resting on his shoulder. His blush deepened when he remembered that they were not alone in the cramped train compartment. He nervously looked up. Levi was sitting quietly in front of him, but Falco relaxed again when he realized that the old man was unaware of the casual intimacy he shared with Gabi. His attention seemed to be directed only to the emerald bolo tie he was caressing with his remaining fingers. Falco couldn't help but be curious.

"It was beautiful," he said.

Levi looked up in surprise. "What?"

"The bolo tie," Falco pointed at the object with his left hand so as not to wake Gabi up. "Where did you get it?"

"It isn't mine. It belonged to the Commander before Hanji. I don't think you know him." Falco was intrigued by Levi's change in tone. It was much softer and quieter.

"I see... What was he like?"

Levi glanced to the passing scenery through the large window, one corner of his lips turned upwards just slightly. He took his time before replying, "a crazy yet brilliant bastard whom I owe my life to. He believed in me so much that I think he'd invest in my tea shop if he's still alive."

Falco laughed at that. "Your business just started. It's normal to have a slow start. It'll get busier in no time."

"Tch. Erwin would've come every morning from day one for a cup of peppermint tea. It helps with digestion."

Falco chuckled. "You seem close to him."

Levi looked at Falco and then to the bolo tie. When he returned his gaze at Falco, his expression was closed and guarded, but his eye alone spoke a thousand emotions that made Falco shivered slightly.

"He's the most important person in my life, but I don't think even that's a good enough description."

Somehow, Falco silently agreed. He felt like there's something else hidden between the lines and that facial expression that even Levi himself couldn't properly articulate.

Before Falco could say anything, Levi smiled warmly at him, "Erwin would've loved to meet you brats. He didn't tell me, but I could tell he loves kids. What a big sap."

Falco grinned. "You mean like you?"

Levi's face scrunched in disgust, making Falco laughed out loud.

Gabi was awake instantly from the noise and from how hard Falco's shoulders shook. "What's going on?" She looked around in confusion, still half asleep. "Are we there yet?"

"Oh no," Falco stopped laughing and turned to Gabi guiltily. "Sorry, we didn't mean to wake you up."

"You mean you didn't mean to wake her up," Levi added, deadpan, to which Falco responded with rolling eyes.

Gabi stretched his arms and legs before standing up. "It's fine, I need to go to the toilet anyways. Be right back," and with that, Gabi excused herself out of the compartment.

"So..." Levi started, making Falco's attention turned back to him. "You and Gabi, huh."

Falco knew he was blushing from the way his face heated up. "Wh-where did you get that idea from?"

Levi shrugged nonchalantly. "I may only have one eye, but I'm not blind, kid."

For some reason, Falco felt like it'd be pointless to hide his feelings from Levi. The man wouldn't believe him if he lied, anyway. So he merely said, body slumped into the comfy seat, "I don't think she likes me back. I already confessed to her before."

Levi hummed. "During the war? Did she rejected you?"

Falco scratched his cheek nervously. "Uhh... yes, during the war and... not quite. She didn't say anything about it."

Levi looked at him with sympathy. "Gabi is tunnel-visioned, especially when it comes to the war. I don't think the brat's got any time to think of anything else back then. That was her priority."

Falco listened carefully. Something told him that Levi's words were based on his own experience as well.

"But you both have all the time in the world now," Levi added. "And you'll never know when you'll suddenly be running out of time, so you might want to give it a go again before you lose the chance."

There it was. That quiet and soft tone again. Falco glanced at Levi's fingers just in case and saw the man absentmindedly caressing the bolo tie again. At this point, it wasn't only Falco's feelings that were exposed. He had a good idea who Levi was talking about just now. It wasn't entirely about him and Gabi.

"You know... hearing this might make you cringe," Falco said. Levi raised one of his eyebrows at this, intrigued. "But your words remind me that we've never properly thanked you for everything you did for us. I think Gabi feel the same too. And as you said, we might never get any other chance to say this. So... thank you, Levi."

Falco expected Levi to cringe, but the man looked surprised instead. Scratch that. He looked absolutely shocked. Was it really shocking to hear him say thank you? Or was it because of something else? Falco had zero ideas.

After a few seconds, Levi recovered from the shock and coughed into his fist to dissipate the tension. "...no worries. Maybe I'm just destined to babysit homicidal brats. That's what I've been doing all my life, anyway."

Falco choked hearing Levi's dark humour. But before he was able to respond, Gabi opened the compartment's door and sat back down next to Falco. She glared harmlessly at Levi. "Don't you think I didn't catch that last one. What was that about homicidal brats, again?"

"Nothing." Levi shrugged, feigning innocence. "Anyway, have I ever told you that I used to be a criminal before I joined the Survey Corps?"

"What? Really!?" This seemed to distract Gabi from the previous subject entirely. Falco couldn't say that it didn't distract him either. "How did that happen?!"

Levi crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned back in his seat before telling the story to them both. "I used to live in the Underground with Farlan and Isabel. They're my friends but feels more like a family. Anyway, crime is normal in the Underground and stealing is part of our daily life. But one day I met... well..." Levi cut his story to turn to Gabi, "I already told Falco about Erwin just now but basically he's the Survey Corps' commander then." Levi returned to his story again, looking at the two teens in front of him. "One day, Erwin and his squad went to the Underground. He—"

Levi continued his story with eyes full of nostalgia while Falco and Gabi listened in awe. Falco realized that it's probably the most they had heard Levi talk, but Falco didn't complain. In fact, he hoped that Levi would talk so much more about himself in the future to him and Gabi and perhaps they'd get to know the deeper meaning behind that bolo tie.

Maybe Levi would even become that stereotypical grandpa who loves to tell past stories to the youngsters repeatedly, again and again until the youngsters complained annoyingly.

Falco smiled. He wouldn't complain in the slightest. He'd sit and hear every little thing Levi had to tell. He knew Levi deserved that and he hoped that Levi, at the very least, knew too.

End.

A/N: This is supposed to be just a cute one tweet meme about Falco realizing Levi's attachment to a certain bolo tie, but I ended up making it as a twt fic ( /neolavender123/status/1380274564610019332?s=20). At first, I thought it'd just be until 500 words but it became 1k words, so I figured I might as well post it in AO3 hehe.

It's interesting coz whenever I planned to write fics, it ended up never being published. But this impulsive writing made me publish my first fic in about 5 years. Human brains, amirite?

Anyway, if you like eruri and don't mind BTS-related tweets/RTs, let's be mutuals on Twitter!

PS. Can anybody guess why Levi was so shocked when Falco thanked him?