DISCLAIMER: Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan doesn't belong to me, nor do any of its characters.
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It is almost the night of his 21st birthday. Levi is in his small flat, throwing himself a pity party. Cheap beer on his hand and feet on the coffee table. The lights are all out, he only wanted to be left in the dark, but the room goes from blue to red and then to yellow, the white walls reflecting the lights coming in through the windows: it is fucking Christmas out there. Levi doesn't remember the last time he had a proper Christmas-birthday celebration, and has enough beer on the fridge to make sure he won't.
He turns on the radio to muffle the sounds coming from his neighbors' happy homes and when his phone chimes, announcing it is midnight, he raises his bottle to himself: "Happy fucking birthday, Levi, and a merry fucking Christmas."
He isn't sure if it is the alcohol, or the loneliness, or his stupid neighbors shoving their happiness in his face, or even the cold his skinny body can't seem to shake off, but right now, he doesn't feel like getting drunk enough to pass out on the couch, and then spending the next morning just as silently as he cleans up the mess he made - now, this is something he actually looks forward to. Cleaning makes him feel like he has some sort of control over something in his life. It helps him keep focused. It is the never-ending silence that weighs down on him.
Levi doesn't have many friends, really, - or any friends, for that matter - and takes another long gulp from his bottle, emptying it, to try to forget the ones he once had. It isn't like he can simply text someone to come over. And even if he could, the mere thought of telling someone else he is so desperately lonely he doesn't have anyone to spend Christmas Eve with makes him sick. He needs to do what people do whenever in need of temporary, unattached attention: get in on a dating app.
He takes the few steps that separate the living room and the kitchen, grabs another bottle from the fridge, throws his body heavily on the couch, and browses for a while before finding an app that suits him. No one has business knowing what he does in his free time, - or maybe he is embarrassed, but will never admit to it - so he chooses an app which has a gallery of pictures to choose from a large variety of animals and objects, and no other pictures can be taken or sent. He taps on a picture of a raven to select it, an animal much like himself: it stands alone on a leafless branch of a tree, cold dark eyes staring into nothing. He writes 'Raven' where a nickname is asked. No need to bother thinking about a better one for a one-night chat with a stranger. He then writes a short description and takes another long gulp before pressing Register.
There is a brief introduction to the app's interface - swipe right to like, swipe left to dislike - and soon enough he is swiping left on every single one for all the possible reasons. Too much misspelling, too clingy, has a wife, too near, too far, likes to brag, chooses a vase for his profile picture (who would do that?), offers money for sex, wants a threesome, has a foot-fetish... Although a bit disappointed, he enjoys silently judging strangers. It's the most fun he has had in a long time. He just wishes he could see their faces. Could any of those weirdos be someone he actually knew?
He goes on: a lightbulb. A panda. A wolf. Another wolf. A lion. He has seen more pictures of wolves and lions than his tipsy mind can remember. But there is something different about this particular one: it isn't aggressive at all. The huge feline is solemnly lying on a rock, one big paw on top of the other, its deep blue eyes piercing through the screen. The man under the nickname 'Dillion' doesn't reveal much about himself. Levi can't even see how far he is. But from what he could gather from his short and well-written description, he thinks that this is his best shot.
He swipes right.