Knock knock knock
Someone was at the door. Levi's watch marked 5:15 pm. The sun was setting behind the gray clouds, so his office was darker than usual. The late summer sunsets were typically bright and beautiful, and made his furniture reflect the golden light. Although, he loved cloudy days and the peace they brought him. "Come in", he demanded. The student from the café stepped in, his hands shy inside the pockets of his hoodie. The office wasn't big; it was a corner of the building, for it had two large windows that almost made up the entire respective wall: one behind the oak desk and the other on the right wall facing a small coffee table and two armchairs. The wall to the left was covered by a huge bookshelf with glass doors with locks, there were books over a century old.
Levi was sitting with his elbows on the desk and his lips touching his intertwined fingers. "Sit", he gestured to the old chair across from him. The boy did as told. A small "hi" left his lips that quivered into a smile. "You're late." Eren shifted in his seat under Levi's intense gaze.
"I'm sorry," the boy explained "professor Hange Zöe was very excited about the class… and didn't have a watch." Eren giggled hoping he'd get a reaction from the professor, but he got nothing. He sighed, feeling discouraged, it was like talking to a wall.
"So, you want to join my team, is that correct?" Eren nodded in anticipation. Levi rolled back in his chair and brought his right ankle to rest on his left thigh. "Convince me." He witnessed the boy's expression change from an excited grin to something indistinguishable, it could have been apprehension. His viridian eyes glistened as if they were trying to communicate, and the soft skin of his cheeks grew pink. The dark-haired man would have paid to know what he was thinking. The boy drew his hand to his nape, tangling his finger on the hair that couldn't be secured by his elastic, and bit his bottom lip. Levi uncrossed his legs and got closer to the desk, leaning forward, interested in Eren's body language. After a second, he finally spoke, "I want to get some experience in the area for now, but my ultimate goal is to eradicate the disease that killed my mother." The information was dropped like a bomb, Levi could tell how uncomfortable the young man was. He looked at his fingers that gripped onto his black jeans and then at the professor "I am a goal-oriented person, and I'm persistent and hard-working. I'm sure you won't regret having me in your team." Eren was staring directly into coal eyes, Levi liked the determination. "I will have no regrets, I'm certain." The older man glanced out the window and back at the boy. He got up on his feet, walked toward Eren looking down at him, "Grow up, brat." He followed the raven man with his eyes as he made his way to the door "Come on."
"Does that mean I'm in?" Eren asked confused getting a single nod in response "Really?"
"Tch," Levi rolled his eyes "just do me a favor and dedicate your heart." It was the second time that day he had heard that expression, Professor Smith had used it after asking everyone to introduce themselves and explain why they were there. It was a peculiar phrase, so it seemed strange to be spoken twice in one day by different people. However, the boy didn't give it much thought, he stood up and followed the man who was impatiently holding the door. They made their way out of the building through the back door that led to another much smaller one. Levi kept walking like the night, or the cold, or the silence between the pair didn't bother him. They entered a structure that consisted of several laboratories that belonged to each department. It was awfully quiet, only one lab at the end of the corridor had the lights on and Eren presumed it was where they were headed. As they walked in, there was a double-sided long bench in the middle of the room and behind it a red-haired girl taking her white coat off "Levi," she said in surprise "I was going to call you just now."
"Petra, this is Eren." They shook hands "he'll be helping us out around here" she placed her coat on the hanger behind the door.
"You're one of us, newbie." A cheeky grin appeared on her lips, but she quickly switched her attention to the older man. She let her hand rest on his shoulder and looked up at him "We'll talk later."
"No. Not tonight." Levi responded coldly, but she didn't show any signs of disappointment. Eren on the contrary felt irritated, though he couldn't explain why.
The girl smiled again, "Bye, Eren, it was nice meeting you." and left without a reply. The sound of incubators and orbital shakers filled the room, making the lack of conversation less awkward. "She seems nice." Said Eren, but the other disregarded the comment and approached the bench. From the shelf above, he pulled a purple nitrile glove and put it on. He slid his gloved fingers on the surface and brought them to his eye level rubbing them with the thumb. "Tch" he spat in disdain, "do yourself a favor and clean your damned bench when you're done, okay? Don't be like these imbeciles." Levi showed him his work bench, it would be right next to Petra's since she was probably the only one willing to cope with a kid. He showed him around the building, though the other rooms were all locked, and they settle a schedule – Eren would come in the afternoon when his classes finished at noon or 3 pm, which was only three days a week, for Levi didn't want to rob him of his academic life.
"Let's go now" Levi said as he turned off the lights of the laboratory and closed the door behind him. The dim presence lights of the corridor made the scene look like something out of a horror movie, like someone was about to get murdered. He always looks like he wants to kill me anyway, Eren thought to himself making the corner of his mouth twitch up. "I hope you enjoy it here" the professor spoke glancing up at the boy whose green orbs had turned black. He nodded but couldn't bring himself to say a single word. Eren thought maybe he should go away, but something stopped him from saying goodbye. Levi himself was speechless. This lasted only half a minute before Levi broke eye contact, but to both, it felt an eternity had passed.
The stubborn door didn't want to open completely, he had to squeeze through 40 centimeters to get into his apartment. He threw his keys onto the kitchenette counter and put a kettle with water on the stove. He set up his laptop on the table and pushed the ON button but regretted it right away. He couldn't care less about his emails, he would reply in the morning before his class. The urgent whistle from the kettle reverberated through the room. He poured the boiling water over a cinnamon tea bag, filling the mug to the top. He looked at his apartment through the steam, a small apartment with no separation between the kitchenette and the living room, and it still felt empty. He sat at the table, with the tea in his hands, doing a staring contest with his computer. He reached for his phone in his pocket, he hadn't picked it up since he turned off his alarm that morning. A few messages on the group chat, two missed calls from Petra and a text message from the ginger girl 'Levi, what's wrong?'. He read and reread those words but couldn't reach a conclusion. Nothing was wrong. Levi dropped the phone on the table, sipped his beverage and tilted his head back on the chair letting his black hair slip away from his forehead. He closed his eyes and saw green ones staring back at him.