Year 841
Levi was a man who liked routine. He liked order and cleanliness, and took pride in the straightforward way in which he conducted himself. Reina, on the other hand, was, quite frankly, a mess. She often acted impulsively and never thought about the consequences of her actions. This would, more often than not, get her into some sort of trouble. Trouble that, Levi was growing to realise, usually involved him. This was just one of the many factors contributing to the hate that Levi should have felt for the woman. Should have, but didn't.
Levi narrowed his eyes at her sleeping form, picking up one of her boots from beside the bed and throwing it harshly at her peaceful face. He would have questioned her thoroughness when cleaning her boots, except that he had stood over her the night before and watched as she had scrubbed them clean. He was certain the boot was in good enough condition to make contact with his bed sheets. And if it wasn't, then he could always punish Reina for it later. The sadistic part of Levi perked up at the thought of punishing her, and he vaguely hoped that he would find his bed sheets soiled later.
The boot hit the side of Reina's head and she furrowed her eyebrows, curling further in on herself in an attempt to hide from Levi's glare. She could feel her skin heating up with every moment his eyes were focused on her, and it was too much in her sleepy state.
"Get your ass up." Levi told her impassively, and Reina let out a groan of disapproval. Levi let out a sigh, unfolding his crossed arms and walking towards her from his spot in the doorway. He reached his hand out to tap her cheek (harder than necessary), but Reina predicted his movement and grabbed his wrist before he had the chance. He narrowed his eyes as she kept hers firmly shut, trying desperately to keep the smile from her face.
Pretending she was still sleeping soundly, Reina rolled over to face the other way. With her hand still gripping Levi, she pulled him with her as she turned and the motion ended with him falling unceremoniously on top of her.
Levi glared at her and Reina made sure to keep her eyes closed tightly; knowing the face she would be greeted with would thoroughly terrify her. After a moment Levi gave an exasperated sigh and decided that if she was adamant to be stubborn, he might as well have some fun with her.
He adjusted his position atop her, placing his hands on either side of her head and effectively straddling her. The change in position peaked Reina's interest and she squinted one eye open, looking curiously at Levi. He just maintained his stoic composure, though his eyes gleamed mischievously. Reina was simultaneously excited and terrified by the look. Levi pulled himself down her body at a leisurely pace and Reina's eyes opened fully as she watched him slowly disappear from her field of vision.
In the next moment, she felt his hair graze against the inner side of her thigh and her eyes shut tightly again when she felt his hot tongue connect to her clit. She let out a surprised moan and pushed her head back against the pillow, her hand shooting down to pull at his hair. Levi looked up at her as her body responded to him, her fingers gripping tightly to the raven strands of his hair and pushing him harder against her.
He reached one of his hands up her, trailing it across her stomach and up until he found one of her already erect nipples. He tugged harshly on the bud and bit down lightly on her clit, the fingers of his other hand pushing inside of Reina. She let out a long, drawn out moan before forcing her head from the pillow, desperate to watch him as he made her come undone.
"Fuck, Levi." Reina gasped out, the hand not tangled in his hair shooting out beside her to grip handfuls of the bed sheets. Levi curled his fingers inside of her and pulled harder at her nipples and Reina arched her back in bliss, on the edge of her orgasm. "I'm gonna-,"
Suddenly her pleasure was pulled from her as Levi pulled himself off of her, getting back up from the bed and heading towards his connecting bathroom. Reina shot up in protest, her eyes wide as she watched his retreating form.
"W-where are you going?" Reina asked quickly, breathing heavily as she tried to catch her breath. Levi looked back at her impassively, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand as he drank in her dishevelled appearance.
"I need to take a shit." He deadpanned, and Reina opened her mouth in disbelief. With that, he turned back and continued in to the bathroom. Reina stayed frozen in shock for another moment before she scrambled to her feet after him.
"But I thought…!" She called through the door, hesitating a moment before she yanked it open. Levi glanced at her from in the mirror, where he stood with a razor in one hand. The top half of his hair was held up in a topknot, and Reina realised he was about to shave the underside of his hair. The image of him, along with his currently exposed chest, made Reina let out a groan. "Oh, come on!" His sexiness was just plain cruel.
Levi raised an eyebrow, going back to the task at hand as he spoke. "Next time, don't try to sleep in." He glanced back at Reina in the mirror and felt himself smirk when he saw that she looked ready to cry. She lowered her gaze in defeat before slowly closing the bathroom door again, leaving Levi to chuckle quietly to himself.
Reina dressed herself quickly while Levi was still in the bathroom, pulling her hair back and braiding it before slipping on her boots and securing her straps. She looked back towards the still closed bathroom door in disdain and hoped that Levi could feel her glare through the wood, before she opened his adjoining door and walked through to his office.
She thought it was strange that there was no door directly from Levi's room to the hallway, but Levi said it was better that way because it made it more difficult for 'brats' to try and snoop. She opened his office door and stepped out into the hallway, coming face to chest with Commander Erwin.
Reina looked up at him in surprise for a moment before saluting him firmly, to which the Commander acknowledged with a slight nod.
"Is Levi in?" Erwin asked her, noticing Reina's eyes narrow at the mention of the short man.
"Yes, Sir." She answered shortly, saluting again before turning and heading in the direction of her room. She stopped short, turning back to address the commander again. "Please make sure he has an extra pile of paperwork to do today, Sir. He has too much free time on his hands." Reina muttered the last part, looking back towards Levi's door in disdain.
Erwin held back a chuckle as he watched the girl retreat, happy to see things were running smoothly between her and Levi. Well, as smooth as one could expect from a relationship between those two, Erwin thought.
Soon after their affair had begun, Levi took it upon himself to inform Erwin. He knew the commander would be hesitant, but there were no rules against relationships between members and therefore there was nothing Erwin could say to stop it. Telling him was simply a courtesy. Erwin had been surprised at first, but had quickly grown accustomed to the idea. He rather enjoyed watching the interactions between the pair, fascinated at the way in which Levi acted around the girl. Though it was a far stretch from normal, Erwin was glad to see his friend happy (though Levi would never admit it).
He turned back around and opened Levi's door, walking in to find the man sitting behind his desk. He was folding through some papers, an extra-bored expression on his face. He glanced up momentarily at the sound of his door opening.
"It seems you've done something to upset Reina." Erwin began casually, walking in to his office and taking a seat opposite the raven-haired man. Levi scoffed.
"She needs to learn some self control." He droned, before pausing in his work as a thought struck him. "Perhaps I should tie her to my bed until she learns her lesson." Erwin watched as Levi's eyes grew distant, images of Reina naked and writhing on his bed filling his mind. Erwin cleared his throat, and Levi looked back at the commander boredly.
"Anyways, I have some business to discuss with you." Erwin hesitated, "I'm not sure you'll like what I'm about to tell you."
"Get on with it." Levi pushed his paperwork aside, eyes trained on Erwin.
"As you know, we must take advantage of every resource available to us, for humanity's best chance against the titans…" Levi scoffed at Erwin's preference to address people as 'resources', but didn't interrupt. "As such, I am constantly watching over our cadets, looking for opportunities to develop them in any way possible. I believe I've found another solider that the new cadets may learn from, much like they learn from you." Levi knew where this was going, Erwin's attempt at complimenting him made it obvious.
"You want to make Evans a team leader?" Levi deadpanned, no time for Erwin's speech. Erwin smiled lightly at his friend's perceptiveness
"She's an exceptional soldier. I don't see what wouldn't be gained from giving her more authority." Erwin explained, watching Levi carefully as he processed the information.
"Do as you please. Don't complain to me when she fucks it up, though." Levi said finally, and Erwin raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"You have no problems with this?" The commander questioned hesitantly, suspicious that the shorter man had accepted his proposal so easily.
"Why would I?" Levi retaliated, and Erwin's gaze darkened.
"You know as well as I do, that there's a higher degree of danger involved with authoritative positions. Plus, the burden of being responsible for other lives… You're fine with Reina being exposed to that?" Levi wasn't stupid. He knew exactly why Erwin had expected a negative reaction. What Erwin hadn't considered, though, was that Levi trusted Reina completely.
Though Levi knew she was not the most emotionally well-adjusted person, Reina was one of the best soldiers Levi had ever seen and her skills would be valuable in leading other cadets. He also knew that Reina already considered the lives of her fellow soldiers to be her responsibility, so she would not be overwhelmed by the responsibility of being a team leader. Quite frankly, Levi was just surprised that she had not been promoted sooner.
"I'm fine with it." Levi told the commander, his eyes staying focused on his friend's for a moment longer for assurance before he pulled his paperwork back in front of him and carried on with his work.
Further down the hall, Reina laughed along with the rest of her squad as they ate breakfast in the mess hall. Although she had never actively sought out their friendship, her fellow soldiers had been adamant in getting to know her and within the span of a year, she had slowly opened herself up to them. Now, whether she liked it or not, she considered them to be family.
"Please, Reina! If you ask him, he won't be able to say no!" Oluo tried to reason with her, waving his hands around for emphasis.
"Yeah, Reina. I'm sure you can think of some way to convince him." Gunther smirked, winking suggestively. Reina glared at him, taking an aggressive bite from her bread roll.
"Absolutely not. He'd just kick my ass if I asked him for a day off." Reina shook her head firmly and her squad groaned at her.
"You just have to be convincing! Give him your best puppy-dog eyes!" Petra joined in, and Reina sighed.
"Honestly, this is pointless. I mean Christ, all I did this morning was try to sleep in for an extra 10 minutes and Levi-," Reina cut herself off, sinking lower in her seat as she realised how that sentence would have ended. "He wasn't happy." She muttered, hearing Oluo let out a defeated sigh.
"Alright, come on you lot – if we aren't getting the day off, then we better get going." Eld declared, standing from the table and waiting as the rest of the squad followed him out towards the training grounds.
They were just finishing their warm up when they saw Levi heading towards them and they quickly scrambled into line, saluting their captain as he approached. Levi stopped in front of them, his eyes locked on Reina. She felt her frustration from that morning bubbling back up inside of her and she clenched her legs closed tighter. Levi noticed.
"Evans." He addressed, and Reina straightened.
"Yes, Captain Levi?" Levi walked towards her, stopping in front of her and surveying her carefully. He noticed she had missed one of the buttons at the top of her blouse and he let out a sigh, reaching out to do it up. Her eyes widened slightly before she glared at him, Levi pretending not to notice.
"You seem flustered. Rough morning?" He asked her, and Reina narrowed her eyes further.
"I wish." She bit back, and Levi looked at her for a long moment before taking a step away from her, having finished with her button. The rest of the squad pretended not to be amused by their interactions, but were just as fascinated as anyone else was. After all, few people dared speak so casually to their captain as Reina. Though, they knew as well as she did that she would be punished for it later.
They extended her the courtesy of pretending they didn't know that she usually enjoyed her punishments, and they overlooked the marks that usually littered her skin the following day.
"Congratulations, Evans. You no longer have to report to me." Reina's eyes widened at his words before she furrowed her brow in confusion.
"Captain?" She questioned hesitantly, and Levi smiled lightly at her (after making sure the rest of the squad weren't looking at him).
"You're being promoted. Your new squad will be waiting for you, after you're finished speaking with Commander Erwin." Reina didn't know what to say. Was he joking?
"Levi-," Levi narrowed his eyes at her, and she stumbled over her words. "Captain… I don't understand."
"Did I stutter?" Levi droned, and Reina looked at him completely shocked. "Commander Erwin is in his office. Don't keep him waiting." He told her, and Reina stayed frozen a moment longer before she slowly shook her head, in a daze.
"Is this really okay?" She asked him quietly, and Levi sighed. He hesitated a moment, but then decided she needed the encouragement so placed his hand on her shoulder gently. Reina looked up at him unsure and Levi looked at her as genuinely as he could, telling her silently that he believed in her.
"Good luck, Captain Evans." Reina gulped down her nerves before forcing herself to smile, reaching up quickly to squeeze Levi's hand before she took off in the direction of Erwin's office. She was completely caught of guard and unsure if she was deserving of a promotion, but decided that it was definitely a good idea if it meant that she would hear Levi call her captain.
a/n
If you're reading this then I love you and I am proud of you for your impressive patience. Bless you.