This is probably one of my favourite headcanons of Levi, so I've put a lot of work into this and I hope it comes through in my writing.
Please note:
1. I've purposely set the time somewhat ambiguously, since this doesn't really fit into any timeline (manga & anime) for now, so I'd like to know what age you imagined Eren as (because to me setting Eren's age affects his 'looks' in fics).
2. There is a saying 'A way to a man's heart is through his stomach (i.e. cooking)' but with our Captain's case its tea and great skills in cleaning
3. Any paperwork Eren sorts aren't confidential
4. If you see any grammatical or spelling errors, sorry about that, the only proofreaders of this work are auto-correct and me... Please don't hesitate to point them out :D
This is also on AO3, so if you prefer reading there my account link is on my bio!
Enjoy!
Names were funny things.
For most of his life Levi's never really thought about how 'special' names are. He wasn't the type of person to get all sappy with; for one thing he was terrible (a complete understatement) with his words. His sentences, phrases, metaphors, jokes and even his punch lines all consisted of a human's bowel movement. He literally has a 'shitty' way of talking. He's pretty sure that other than his self-proclaimed best friend Hanji, no one would ever 'get' his sense of humour and way of thinking.
So he's always thought that names were just words attached to refer to people, animals, places or things. Names were labels to help people remember things. A thing of convenience. So he really never thought that a name would become something to dear to him.
"Eren, could you fetch me hot tea?"
"Yes sir!"
"Eren, your job today is to weed out the courtyard."
"Yes Captain Levi!"
"Eren, run this over to Erwin."
"Yes Captain!"
"Eren, help me buckle this."
"Yes Captain Levi sir!"
Eren Jaeger, a name of convenience, a name he uttered when he was in need of something done (chore-wise of course), became a name close to his heart. Not that he'd admit it out loud.
Levi didn't really know when or how it happened but Eren became his little (not so little-when compared to him) errand boy or personal assistant. But ever since Levi took a certain titan shifter under his wing, both of them were rarely seen without the other.
So his day felt somewhat felt off since he hadn't seen his subordinate all day. This didn't happen often since no one could really order the boy away from his side other than the Commander and a certain shitty glasses of a researcher (if they had a permit of course).
He hadn't received a single word about Eren since the brief note he read this morning. So to describe his mood as 'angry' right now was a complete understatement. It's not like he was attached to the boy or anything but throughout the whole day he'd been making mistakes left and right.
It started with him having to release Eren from his shackles in the dungeon. When he walked down the stairs yawning as he alerted the boy with his presence, he didn't get his normal 'good morning captain'. He immediately thought something was wrong and quickly sprinted towards the cell. Once he could see inside the cell, he saw that there was no sign of the titan shifter and was about to alert the guards. But that was when he noticed that the bed was made, indicating no signs of struggle, then noticed a note on top of the bed.
The cell door groaned as Levi swung it open to walk towards the bed. Although there were no obvious signs of trouble he still didn't let his guard down. Bed made or not. He grabbed the note that was placed in the middle of the bed and started reading it.
To a certain grumpy midget,
Good morning my little midget, sorry if I scared you! This is Hanji.
But I'm sure you can tell by my handwriting that it's me!
The corner of Levi's eye twitched. He was going to murder a certain brunet by the end of the day.
Anyway you don't need to worry about Eren, I have a permit to experiment on him from Erwin! If you don't believe me just look behind this note.
Levi did just that, he saw the Survey Corps emblem inked on top of the note. He soon read the first line that said...
'I Commander Erwin Smith, give permission to Squad Leader Hanji Zoe, to experiment on-'
Levi stopped reading after that; he then flipped the permission note back to continue reading the rest of the message.
You looked didn't you? Can't believe you don't trust me… 'insert sad face here'
Well I kind of forgot to tell you yesterday, so I really don't blame you. Anyway just in case you thought this note was forged (which I highly doubt, since hardly anyone can copy my handwriting) I made Eren write on this as well!
-Hanji
Good morning Captain Levi,
Sorry if not hearing me greet you this morning surprised you, if it makes you feel any better I nearly fell off my bed when I woke up and saw Squad Leader Hanji instead of you this morning.
Levi chuckled; he could imagine the boy's frightened face when he woke up to Hanji's face probably a few centimetres just off his face. He continued reading.
It kind of feels weird not to accompany you to your office sir.
Please ignore what I just said wrote.
Anyway Squad Leader Hanji woke me up extra early today so by the time you read this there will be a freshly brewed pot of tea waiting for you in your office.
- Eren Jaeger
Once Levi finished reading the note he folded it in half and tucked it in his breast pocket. He turned around and made his way to his office somewhat looking forward to his tea.
Of course his day didn't go as smoothly as he originally thought it would.
An hour into working through his pile of paperwork he ran out of tea. He continued reading the documents in front of him but ordered Eren to fetch him some more tea. When he didn't hear his usual response of 'Yes, sir' he turned around to scold him. That was when he saw that there was no one in the room other than him; he became slightly embarrassed at his action. He had forgotten that Eren was going to be with shitty glasses for the whole day.
Levi then slowly stood up from his desk, taking his tea set with him and made his way to the kitchen.
Once he arrived at his destination in mind he placed the tea set on the nearest table and automatically put the kettle on the stove. As he got the stove going he asked Eren to grab his favourite blend of tea from the pantry. He paused mid-sentence and clicked his tongue at his mistake.
It wasn't even midday yet, this was going to be a long day.
Levi was sitting by his desk filling out his endless paperwork when he heard a familiar knock on his door.
"Come in." he greeted without looking up to see the person enter his office.
"Eren, just in time could-" Levi looked up from the stack of reports in front of him and froze mid-sentence when he recognised the person in front of him. Instead of that familiar messy brunet mop of hair accompanied by a pair of bright blue-green eyes, a tall muscular man with blond hair and calculating blue eyes shining with amusement greeted him.
"What the hell are you doing in my office eyebrows? Don't you have paperwork to do?" Levi silently clicked his tongue at his mistake. When Levi heard the two knocks on his door (Eren's usual way of knocking) he immediately thought it was him. Levi assumed that the blond knew the 'code' from the errands he sent Eren to the Commander. The smug look on Erwin's face said it all.
"I came here to have a chat with you during my break. I needed to get out of my office, with the amount of time I spend in there I swear I was growing fungus." Erwin smiled.
"That's fucking disgusting." The look of disgust on the short man's face was already making Erwin's day, just a little more and he would say he's had a wonderful day.
"Joking," the tall man chuckled. "You don't look like your normal happy self today, were you expecting someone else? Like a certain-"
"I don't fucking know what your talking about." The dark-haired man snapped.
From his seat Levi could see the blond's smile widen into a shit-eating grin. "Come now Levi, you don't need to hold anything back from me. You can tell me why you've been terrorizing my soldiers more so than usual."
"Like I said, I don't fucking know what your talking about." Levi looked back at his stack of paperwork determined to ignore the blond giant in front of him.
Levi himself knew that his patience had been on a very short fuse today, but he wasn't going to admit it out loud. Especially to Bushy Eyebrows who sat in front of him.
"Well I'll say, this has got to be the longest time I've seen you alone in a while. You must be lonely not seeing-"
"Finish that fucking sentence and I'll gut you." Levi gave Erwin his most threatening glare that didn't seem to work on the blond. It seemed that his friend had grown immune it, like a certain shitty glasses for example.
He'd been so defensive because it was true. Throughout the day Levi kept forgetting that Eren was spending the day with shitty glasses and experimenting on his shifting abilities. Ever since the brunet became his assistant-of-sorts, a helpful one at that, relying on him for those little things he need to get done became a habit of his. But he wasn't going to admit to anything, although chances are, eyebrows and glasses already know about his 'feelings' for a certain bright-eyed soldier.
"If that's all you have to talk about, get back to doing your work, Commander."
Erwin was silent for a few moments and said, "I'm sure hardly anyone noticed but why is it that you always call Eren by his name? Sure you call others by their names as well but you usually refer to them as brat, private, soldier or kid. Why is Eren different?"
Levi stopped moving, he couldn't look at Erwin in the eye as he whispered, "I don't know what you're talking about." then straightened the stack of papers in front of him.
Erwin didn't say anything until he was at the door looking over his shoulder. "It's not as one-sided as you make it out to be you know." Closing the door behind him.
Leaving Levi alone with his thoughts.
Two hours had passed since Levi's had his dinner at the mess hall. He thought that he'd finally see Eren but to his disappointment the brunet wasn't there. Although dinner was usually a chaotic affair in the Survey Corps, Levi couldn't bring himself to feel the same way for once. He quickly finished his dinner and placed his dirty dishes in the large bucket for the assigned soldiers to clean.
Back in his deafeningly silent room he opted to take a short break for once. He slowly lowered his feathered pen and leaned back on his chair. He brought his left hand to his face and massaged the bridge of his nose with his pointer and thumb. Soldiers normally went to bed by this time but Levi was somewhat an insomniac. He could never sleep for more than two to three hours a night.
Maybe he should make himself a pot of tea just before getting back to his work. Just as he was about to sit up a familiar knock pounded on his door.
"Come in."
When he heard the door creak open Levi covered his eyes and slowly massaged his temple. "Erwin shouldn't you be in bed by now-" He sighed as looked up expecting to see his friend. When he moved his hand covering his eyes he immediately recognise that it wasn't Erwin who came in it was-
"Good evening Captain."
Levi was shocked into silence when he saw Eren in front of him; but he didn't let his face show it.
"I know it's late and that I should be asleep in the basement already- it's not like I escaped or anything. I received permission to ignore the curfew from the Commander and Hanji. Also I'm not that tired or anything- I had a power nap just-"
"Get to the point Eren, you're starting to sound like Hanji."
"I made you tea." Eren lifted the tray in his hands that the shorter male somehow overlooked.
Levi didn't say anything but nodded his head towards Eren, silently telling him to pour him a cup.
Eren made his way towards Levi's desk, closing the door behind him, then quietly placed the tray with his tea on top of his desk. The boy flipped the teacup over, an instruction from Levi- he said it's to make sure no dust gets in his cup, and poured the steaming tea into it.
The only sound audible in the room was clink of porcelain and the owls hooting outside the castle.
Once Eren was done pouring the tea he placed it in front of Levi.
The shorter man reached across his desk curling his fingertips on the rim as he slowly drew it close to him. He noticed that there was something different about this blend and drew the cup closer to his nose. The tea itself looked no different from his usual black tea, courtesy of the Legion's funds that he may or may not have included in the list of necessities; but it had a smoky aroma to it that indicated change in his drink. He took in the scent, reminiscent of a campfire, and felt his face soften. It wasn't his usual blend of Assam tea but it was perfect blend for his break. He glanced up at Eren who just stood there looking like he was about to be scolded.
"That was different from the usual." Levi commented as he took another sip.
"I know it's not the usual Assam tea I prepare for you, but I felt it was fitting because I heard that you were having a rough day." Eren looked to one side avoiding Levi's gaze as he awkwardly scratched his face with his right pointer.
"It's not bad." Levi took another sip.
"I accompanied the squad and Hanji to town a few hours after lunch. I encountered a travelling merchant and noticed that he was selling this blend. I've had it before so after I heard about your day I thought it would help you... Relax..."
Levi didn't say anything else as he continued to enjoy his tea.
"Umm... Is there anything else you'd like me to do sir?"
Levi rested his teacup on the saucer as he asked Eren to organise the signed paperwork in front of him.
The boy nodded and went to work in silence. They didn't say much throughout the night other than a few small talks about their day or asking the other for more tea.
Although Levi's day started out shitty, it wasn't that bad when Eren turned up in his office with a cup of tea.
Once the paperwork was signed and sorted, and the tea was gone Levi escorted Eren back to the dungeon.
Levi swung the cell door open and walked inside with Eren following behind him. Their short journey to the cell was silent; the only sound they could hear was their boots clacking on the stone floor. He waited until Eren got comfortable on his bed before he turned around to lock the door.
"Good night Captain Levi." Eren whispered.
"Good night… Eren." Levi replied as turned to walk towards the stairs nearly missing what Eren said to him.
"See you in the morning sir..." If Levi hadn't turned around a second earlier he would have seen the glazed look on Eren's eyes and a small barely there smile on his lips.
That night Levi slept a little bit earlier than his usual bedtime. Inwardly looking forward to waking up at the prospect of spending time with a certain bright-eyed soldier the next morning.
I'm debating on whether or not I should post another chapter of this, if you'd like me to write another please comment!br /
I haven't finished proofreading this, so when I have time later I'll look over it thoroughly!
I really wanted to continue my other fic 'We Don't 'Do' Feelings or Labels' but I really wanted to post this already (I was planning on posting two works at once... but I wasn't satisfied with what I wrote so I'm in the process of rewriting it).
Thoughts?
I'd like to know what you thought of it!
[Update] If you want to talk and fangirl/boy with me about Ereri/Riren I have a tumblr! I'm a href=" "0nlooker/a. Beware I reblog nsfw manga spoilers (I tag them though)./p
Thanks For Reading XD