"Nice to see you again Nile," Erwin says, holding his hand out for Nile to shake.
From what Levi has gathered, they've been friends since their Cadet years, but Erwin has refused to explain it any further. Not that Levi feels entitled to know anything more about Erwin, but Levi wonders what must have gone down between the two of them to end up in different military branches.
Levi salutes. "Commander Dawk," he says with a slight undertone of sarcasm. It will be a cold day in hell when Levi greets Nile as nicely as Erwin does.
"Captain Levi," Nile acknowledges, although refuses to look Levi in the eyes. He rarely does, as if Levi is less than a human being and more like a titan.
Anger boils in the pit of Levi's stomach.
"I'm here to talk business, Erwin, but not as the Commander of the Military Police," Nile explains. "For your ears only."
Levi's fists clench at his sides. The need to punch Nile in the face has never been stronger. But instead, he lets Erwin do the talking, knowing that anything an Omega says will just fly straight over Nile's head anyway
"Whatever you have to say you can say in front of my Captain, Nile." Erwin says, still sporting his trademark charismatic smile. "It's imperative he is up to date on any information that is potentially detrimental to the Survey Corps." His voice dips and he narrows his eyes, "That is why you're here, right?"
Erwin, ever the manipulator, changes the subject and Nile obliviously follows. "To put it bluntly, the Survey Corps' funding is thinning out again."
Erwin nods, "Of course. Many people have tried to bring down the Survey Corps before. I'm not surprised."
"But this time it's not one person," Nile says. "The Wall Cult has been rising in favour and influence ever since the fall of Wall Maria, and their first order of business is to bring down the Survey Corps."
"I see," Erwin muses. "So our next expedition beyond the walls has to bring results, I assume?"
"Correct," Nile says. "I must be off now. But I would be careful about your plans for the next expedition. Don't do anything too radical. Go out and come back with as many soldiers as possible. It's the only way to get the Wall Cultists to back off."
"Thank you for the warning, Nile."
Nile takes his leave without so much as a glance in Levi's direction. Fucking typical.
"What do you think, Levi?" Erwin asks, taking his position behind his desk while Levi sits in the chair opposite.
"I think Nile's an asshat," Levi says candidly. "And I think the Wall Cultists are a load of rubbish."
A small, genuine, smile graces Erwin's lips and he nods. "I'm sorry about Nile."
"Whatever," Levi says, waving it off. "Nothing I haven't had to deal with before."
Erwin hums, before clasping his hands together and resting his head on them. Levi knows Erwin well enough to know when he drifts off into deep strategic thought, and at the moment Erwin's right in the thick of it.
Levi also knows Erwin well enough to know the general idea of his strategy. Erwin is a risk taker, and brutally so. He'll do whatever it takes to ensure that the Survey Corps survives until he's either killed or the titans are wiped out.
"You're not going to play it safe on this next expedition, are you?"
"No, I'm not."
"Levi's got a mate!" Hanji teases.
"Shut up, Hanji," Levi snaps. "We're not mates."
"But you live with him," she says. "For what it's worth, I think it's cute."
Levi rolls his eyes and continues to eat his food. He's too hungry to be arguing with Hanji over the state of his relationship with Erwin.
"Attention soldiers," Erwin's booming voice calls out. Levi's hairs stand on end when he hears the Alpha's strong and dominant voice. "I'm here before you to announce the commencement of the 39th Expedition Outside the Walls in a months time on the 28th of November, 846."
Mike walks up beside Erwin and holds up a map with red markings showing their route. "The main objective of the Expedition is to reach the town of Walden about half of the way into Wall Maria. From there, we will aim to set up a permanent route to Walden and a base. This is so that we can easily reclaim it on future expeditions and hopefully, in the near future, make it to Shiganshina."
There are few hushed whispers from within the mess hall, but most people are stunned into silence. Even Levi, who knew that Erwin was going to try and pull something off, is fairly shocked. Most of their expeditions into Wall Maria barely reach the quarter-way mark, let alone the half-way mark. Levi can't imagine what kind of tactic Erwin has planned to try and reach Walden.
To claim Walden is another step towards getting to Wall Maria, and if they can make it Wall Maria, they might be able to seal the hole made by the Armoured Titan. An impossible task, for sure, but if Erwin can manage to convince the Wall Cultists that they've taken a step in that direction, the Survey Corps might just be saved.
After all, the Wall Cult loves nothing more than their fucking Walls.
"Any questions?" Erwin asks, but the room remains fairly silent. Either they're too afraid to ask, or they know they won't get an answer.
Erwin then exits the stage with Mike at his side.
"Well that's just great," Hanji retorts, abandoning her food. Everybody in the mess hall is probably abandoning their food at the thought of another expedition. "I think your mate has finally lost his marbles, Levi. He's trying to get us to accomplish the impossible."
"Not my mate, Hanji," Levi says. "And he has his reasons."
"Aw," Hanji sighs. "You're protecting him. That's adorable."
"Shut. Up."
Levi immediately flops onto Erwin's bed after dinner. He's exhausted from restless sleep and he's highly strung out from the drama of the day. Erwin's still in his office, finalising the details of the expedition, so Levi figures it's a perfect time to have a bath in private without the awkward bonus of Erwin being around.
Levi runs the bath scalding hot and fiddles around with Erwin's soaps. He picks up one bottle, and the smell immediately hits his nose as being distinctly Erwin. He guiltily dunks a generous amount into the bath.
Once the bath is full, Levi steps in and sighs at the way the water tingles on his skin, finding comfort in the fact that the water washes off the dirt and sweat that has accumulated on his body throughout the day. He lies still as his mind drifts off, the warm water soothing his aching muscles.
He blocks out any thoughts of the expedition or Nile or Erwin or anything else, and just lets his mind rest for a while.
"Levi!" A voice yells, breaking him from his light sleep. Erwin stands before him panting, his scent stinking of worry and protection. "Thank God you're okay."
"What? Why wouldn't I be?" Levi asks, confused over Erwin's word.
"You weren't responding to me and I thought… I don't know… Something happened…" Erwin mutters.
It's then that Levi realises he's stark naked in the bathtub.
He fell asleep in the bathtub.
Levi refuses to blush this time. "Are you done sulking yet?" He asks. "I'd like privacy."
"Oh, yeah," Erwin says, before leaving the bathroom and closing the door.
Levi steps out of the now cold bath and wraps himself in a towel. He feels a tiny bit guilty for treating Erwin so harshly. It was quite dangerous to fall asleep in the bathtub, and the man was only looking out for him.
Levi sighs and exits the bathroom, towel covering his hips.
"Look, Erwin, I'm sorry-,"
But his words are lost as he is pressed up against the wall. Erwin's hands are placed on either side of Levi's head, but his body doesn't make contact. Erwin takes a deep breath, and sighs. "You smell like me."
"Uh," Levi mutters, still confused by the sudden movement. "I might have used your soap."
Erwin nods, and Levi can visibly see the Alpha try to reign in his instincts, but his eyes are darting down to Levi's uncovered chest, which distract him from the task at hand. Levi rests as far into the wall as he can and takes deep breaths to calm himself down.
But it doesn't work, and it's not too long before he finds himself just as worked up as Erwin, heat clinging to his body as craves Erwin's touch.
"Erwin… We should… You should…" Levi tries to find the words, but they're caught in his throat. Erwin runs his fingers lightly down Levi's jaw and Levi shivers on reaction. "Stop."
Erwin instantly breaks from the haze and steps back, freeing Levi from his position on the wall. "Levi I-,"
"It's fine, Erwin," Levi says, tightening his grip on the towel covering his body. The way Erwin immediately stopped what he was doing when Levi told him to means a lot more than any apology he could spill from his mouth.
"Shit, I'm so sorry," Erwin says, regret painted all over his face.
"It's fine, Erwin," Levi says again. "I'm not entirely blameless either. Let's just leave it at that." In other words, he actually really liked it, but he's just too broken for actual intimacy.
Erwin nods, "Okay."
That night, while Levi tosses and turns, unable to sleep, he wraps his arms around Erwin's stomach and prays to God that Erwin is too deep in sleep to notice.
Unbeknownst to Levi, Erwin smiles.