I don't own SnK

"It's a funny thing about looking for things. If you hunt for a needle in a haystack you don't find it. If you don't give a darn whether you ever see the needle or not it runs into you the first time you lean against the stack."
-P.G. Wodehouse

~Chapter Five: A Month's Worth of Tales~

"You have a lunchbox—a home cooked meal."

Armin's cerulean eyes were fixed on the tasty-looking beef with leafy vegetables on top of the white rice. Thank God Levi didn't decide to put Eren's food in an embarrassing plastic container, like he did a week ago when he handed him a hello-freaking-kitty lunchbox. The green-eyed student was almost afraid to open his alarming food package at the cafeteria.

"Is it... that surprising?" he asked, gingerly taking the beef between his chopsticks.

"Yes. Because you never cooked, let alone know how to, Eren," his blond-haired friend bluntly stated. Oh, some trust he had in him.

They were at their usual hangout—the cafe across Mike's bakery—and Armin insisted to treat him to lunch but Eren obviously already had his share of food. Levi's home-cooked meal. The said man had fulfilled his promise and Eren could still remember the day he had gotten his first lunchbox from him.

And it was very important to note that the skies were dark and neither the crickets were awake that day.

"Here" was what Levi said as he shove a clothed-wrapped container to Eren, who just woke up as evident with the slight marks of his drool on his chin. The older man looked a bit repulsed at the sight of the younger one and he would have already left the apartment if the brunet hadn't stopped him.

"What time is it?" was what Eren asked dumbly, accepting the gift from the shorter man without really knowing what he was doing.

"6:30."

The teal-eyed man's eyes widened and his mouth gaped in shock as he exclaimed on top of his lungs, "WHAT?! WAIT. WHY ARE YOU HERE?"

Levi glared at Eren for causing such commotion and they were both glad that no neighbor had the energy to actually yell at them or reprimand Eren for being a noisy brat. The narrowed gaze on the taller guy made him want to cower in fear, then his mind finally awoke and everything clicked together.

The older man was most likely going to work, with his black dress pants, a black suit jacket over a deep crimson button-up shirt. Two buttons were popped open, revealing that smooth, pale skin, his defined collarbones and that delicious curve of his neck, thanks to his Adam's apple. Teal orbs traveled higher, from that freshly-shaved lower part of his face to that perfect size of a nose and to those blue-tinged-gray eyes...staring at him with one eyebrow raised.

"Are you done undressing me with your eyes, brat?" Levi asked nonchalantly, though his silver eyes told a different story, a conspicuous amusement presented in them.

Blood rushing upwards, Eren's cheeks colored a good shade of tomato red, almost comparable to the lawyer's shirt, when he realized that he was indeed gawking. Trying to hide his embarrassment, he hid his red face behind the back of hand and averted his eyes from the shorter male.

He then remembered that he was carrying something, which he accepted while he was still half-asleep.

"What is this, Levi?" he asked, finally looking at the said person with curious eyes. Unbeknownst to him, those innocent eyes almost made Levi lose his ability to respond back, thinking of how he would love to kiss the younger's soft-looking skin around those caribbean eyes. The older male would punch himself first before he could admit that he was indeed having indecent thoughts about Eren.

"It's a lunchbox. I told you last night that I'll cook for you," he said under his breath, frustrated that this brat was making him say everything. However, the big smile that made its way to Eren's face completely washed away all his thoughts, warming his heart a bit.

"Th-Thank you!" the younger male stammered, hugging close the wrapped container.

That was a month ago, and Eren recently found out that Levi had been waking up at five in the bloody morning to cook for him. How did he find out? The green-eyed lad visited the lawyer at their law firm not too long ago and he got to chat with this brunette at the reception desk in the lobby when he looked for that certain man. The woman had this short cropped hair and she had the nicest smile and personality among the strangers that Eren had ever met. At first, when she heard that he was trying to get a hold of Levi, her jaw dropped in shock.

"Eh?! Co-Corporal Levi? Why are you looking for him?" she asked, a bit frantic and the brunet could only guess that the visitors that the certain black-haired man had gotten in the past was close to zero. And Corporal Levi? Seriously? Could this man get any more terrifyingly perfect?

Eren told her bashfully, "N-No particular reason. I just thought that maybe I could visit him."

"Are you his friend?" she asked, eyes were a bit manic and Eren didn't want an interrogation from her. Though, her question kinda raised a point in Eren's mind.

What are we, really?

"I-I guess," he replied hesitantly, scratching the back of his head.

"He comes in at seven in the morning on the dot and his lunch break starts at about one—"

"Did you just say SEVEN in the morning?!" Eren sputtered, gasping in shock.

Doesn't that mean... that he's been waking up reallyyyy early every other morning just to cook something for me?!

"Uh. Yes. Why—"

"Brat?" And the younger man already knew whose voice it was before he turned 180 degrees and came face-to-face with his newly acquired-wife—

Wife. Really, Eren? What the hell are you thinking?

"What are you doing here?" Levi asked, one elegant eyebrow raised. He went up to the lady whom Eren was just talking to and told her, "Petra, I'll be taking my lunch break. Tell Gunther to send the files to me later."

"Yes, Corporal Levi!"

"I told you to stop calling me that," the older man hissed at the woman who just laughed like she wasn't affected at all. There was a twinge in Eren's heart that made him blink and shift his attention to looking at the glass windows around the firm. He was definitely not thinking of how there seemed to be a comfortable atmosphere between the two. Oh, he was certainly not jealous.

He felt his wrist being grabbed in a strong grip and he let Levi take him away out of the lobby. Eren then noticed that they were still inside the building, but the lawyer was dragging him somewhere on the second level. Once they were outside of the elevator, the teal-eyed student was guided towards a patio-like place and he could assume that this was the hang-out area for those who either wanted to socialize or get back some precious sleep lost in the midst of their working papers. The latter one seemed to be the frequent crisis.

"So, why are you here?" Levi asked him again once they settled down on the comfortable love seat.

Instead of answering, Eren had the urge to tease the older male and a slow, playful smile broke out on his face. Levi's eye twitched. But the younger man knew that he was really gonna go through this hell rising revenge. Revenge for what? For making him jealous? Nope. Not at all.

"I heard your work starts at seven in the morning. Does that mean that you wake up at like five, like a sweet wife you are, and cook—"

Needless to say, a bruised shin was what he got and he didn't get his cup of coffee, which Levi asked his assistant, Petra Ral, to bring for them. Oh, well. Those pink-tinged cheeks was worth the trouble and the damage.

"Earth to Eren!" Armin shouted, startling some nearby customers and receiving some weird looks.

The brunet blinked once and twice, until he finally asked, "What did you say?"

His childhood friend gave a sigh of exasperation and regarded him with those dead-fish-like eyes, which Eren could almost interpret as "You-really-are-hopeless."

"So you're okay with Jean, now? Friends again, I mean," Armin asked, tone was evidently concerned and Eren smiled to shake away his worries.

"Yeah. I mean, aside from our usual attempt to flush the other's head in the toilet—I mean, my attempt to flush his face in the toilet, I guess we're fine," he told him sincerely.

Armin made a snorting sound like an attempt to hide his laughter and Eren scrunched his eyebrows together.

"Well, I've heard that he's been visiting you in your class whenever he could. Are you sure you guys are just friends? You didn't get back together without telling me or Mikasa, did you?" the blonde pressed on and Eren's mouth twitched into a frown.

"Yes. I'm sure pretty damn sure that it didn't happen, nor will it happen again, unless the horse-face got me bloody drunk and took advantage of me," he gritted out sarcastically, not liking where the topic was going. He was already remembering unwanted memories and it was hard to keep them at bay especially since Armin appeared to know something.

"I feel like this has something to do with your wifey."

"M-M-My what?!" Eren stuttered, cheeks reddening and he snapped his chopsticks together making a loud sound.

Oh, his friend was dead on.

The brunet recalled that painful encounter from two weeks ago. He was in his painting class and Jean was indeed present in the room like a lost puppy, looking for its owner. Eren wasn't really in the mood to deal with him and he regretted apologizing for his rude actions towards that brown-eyed guy because the latter took that as a sign to continue pursuing Eren. Again.

Like, seriously, who does that?

That morning, the young man was clearly gonna ignore the poor attempts of Jean wooing him, getting a bit annoyed because every time he had painting class, he would see flowers or chocolates or sappy-ass love letters. At first, he accepted them in order to spare his suitor's feelings, but it got worse as the days passed on. Marco was giving him suggestive smiles and the others were clapping his back and were trying to tell him to just accept the other's feelings for him and go out with him.

Well, he doubted that they would still say that if they knew what that Jean did.

However, that day he was really gonna tell him off. Until they got interrupted. The thing was, in their class there were no rules if you had the incentive and the actually physical effort and motivation to do your work. So, when a certain vertically-challenged, gray-eyed man sauntered into the room like he owned that blasted place, Eren was ready to explode.

A neatly-packed lunchbox was dropped on his drafting desk and those teal eyes went wide in shock. What the actual fuck is he doing here?! His mouth opened and closed like an effin' fish, unable to formulate a some kind of an explanation to the sudden appearance of Levi oh-Lord Ackerman.

"You clearly didn't see my text to you, didn't you? And close your goddamned mouth, you look stupid." Oh, how Eren loved this no-filter Levi.

"W-W-Why are you here?!"

"To drop this off, brat," he simply answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Well, it probably was, at the moment. And the younger man completely forgot that Jean Oh-Shit Kirstein was next to him. That was, until the damn idiot freaking opened his mouth.

"You're that guy from the coffee shop," the ash brown-haired guy said, eyes were narrowing and scrutinizing the older man from head to toe.

"Ah, the horse-faced guy."

Silence.

A clanking sound of a fallen paintbrush bounced onto the walls of the room. A sharp intake of breath followed.

HOLY SHIT. HE'S BLUNT.

Jean's face darkened and his mouth opened in anger, then he raised his hand as if to grab Levi by his freshly-cleaned (Oh, Eren knew this, alright) collar. That was when the person in-between snapped out of his trance and stepped out.

And apparently, there was no need for that because a screech from a certain redhead from outside tore the tense atmosphere.

"LEVI~! I TOLD YOU TO WAIT FOR ME!" Hanji came into the room screaming with the usual grin on her face. She spotted Eren and she dashed towards him to give him a bone-crushing hug, something he should and would've dodged if he wasn't preoccupied by those two.

"EREN~!"

"H-H-Hanji! I-I'm choking!" He gasped out and the woman let him go, muttering a sorry. Levi had somehow kicked her out of the way, and by that, he meant out of Eren's space.

"Aren't you a bit too old to be Eren's friend?" Jean suddenly asked, not backing down. Nope, not one bit. He was totally disregarding all the distractions around him, which had probably took a great effort to do.

"Aren't you a bit of a shit-face to be his friend?" Levi countered with that impassive expression on his face, but his eyes glittered with something Eren would want to avoid.

"I'm not just his friend. We have history. And I'm asking him out."

"Well, sorry to disappoint but we're practically married since I've been cooking lunches for him," the gray-eyed man bluntly said.

Eren had died there. With face and ears burning, he slumped on his seat, face slammed on the desk and covered with his arms, in defeat. He begrudgingly muttered, "Do whatever you want."

"HAH?! Wait! EREN! YOU TOLD ME YOU'RE JUST FRIENDS!" Jean exclaimed indignantly.

"'Friends' my ass," Levi snorted, eyes glaring at the other man.

"Shut up, old man!"

"Quit your yapping, you grass-eating-motherfucking-herbivore. Your immaturity is the reason why you got dumped."

"OOOOOHHHHHH! Shots fired," Hanji commented on the sidelines, resorting to patting Eren's head like she was saying, "Oh, I feel bad for you, having to deal with these two hard-headed idiots."

Rivals. Oh, Eren, you're so damn lucky. It was already obvious as to what his other classmates were thinking, and the brunet could've sworn that someone did say it out loud.

That was the reason why Eren dreaded going to his painting class now, and he even considered dropping the damned class just to get away from Jean who was now as pestering as ever. He shot him down every single time since that accursed morning for he couldn't figure out anymore if Jean was really being serious about him or if it was his effort of trying to defend his pride after seeing Levi. Men and their egos.

However, in the midst of the craziness and turbulence around him, the young man confirmed something.

And Eren Jaeger could now honestly admit to himself that he was unequivocally captivated by Levi Ackerman. Without a doubt.

"So... this Levi, who is he?" Armin suddenly asked, pulling Eren's head out of his thoughts.

"H-HUH?!" he stammered, swallowing what was in his mouth down to his throat without knowing it, so he ended up choking. Armin handed him a bottle of water and the brunet quickly gulped down the liquid.

"Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah," he replied, setting down the water bottle on the table. He closed the lid of his lunchbox, calming down and smoothing his shirt away. Somewhere on the back of his mind, he was happy to note he was able to finish his meal like he always did. Wasting food was also one on his dislike-list.

"Look, Eren," Armin paused to propped his arms on the table and his innocent blue eyes were placed on Eren's wandering ones before he continued, "I'm just concerned. I heard from some rumors that Levi is an older man, who is apparently "so hot he could melt my ice cubes". Hey, I'm just quoting what they said to me. Stop glaring!"

"Okay. Okay. I'll tell you everything, but promise me one thing," he said, eyes pleading and tone was serious now.

Armin nodded his head for him to go on and the green-eyed lad said, "Do not tell Mikasa about this. I will tell her later, but not now."

His friend's mouth opened, then closed like he was contemplating about what to say next. Armin was the most rational one among Eren's friends and the most intelligent one, so it was no wonder if he already figured everything out at that point.

His assumption was further confirmed when his childhood friend said, "It's your place to tell her so my lips are sealed. I also don't want to see her get hurt."

Eyes softening, Eren looked down. He would hate to receive the sad gaze that Mikasa would surely give him if she were to find out that the brunet could only love her as his sister. Or the now-established fact that he was indeed attracted to a certain lawyer.

He told Armin everything then, from the moment he broke up with Jean to the point where Levi started making him lunches. However, he did not dare say what feelings he had for the certain gray-eyed man out loud.

"I'm happy for you, Eren. I feel like he's that someone who can balance out the brattiness in you," Armin told him, tone was playful, and he was chuckling.

"Thank you very much, Armin. Why do I have a feeling you're not on my side? Huh?"

"Don't blame me. It's true that you really need some taking care of."

"I'm 22. I have a job. I'm not broke; not yet anyway. I have my own apartment. I'm perfectly fine living alone," Eren defended himself.

"Soooo it's okay even if Levi stops cooking for you?" his blond-haired friend teased, and the other's mouth ran quickly before he stopped himself.

"Of course not."

"HAH! See?" The blue-eyed young man laughed.

"O-Okay! Maybe besides from the cooking part." The brunet rolled his eyes, but his lips tugged upwards in a lopsided grin. He then continued, "But, you gotta congratulate me."

"For what?"

"Lower East Side Art Gallery. That's where my art—"

Eren didn't even finish his sentence because his best friend was already hugging the life out of him over the table. He smiled, nonetheless, and returned the hug with equal enthusiasm.

"I'm so happy for you! I feel like I'm more excited than you are!" Armin exclaimed, pulling back and beaming at his friend. Eren threw his head back a bit and laughed.

"Are you gonna visit the gallery? When did they put your work there?"

"Mhm. Three days ago. And yes, I'm planning to go to the gallery show tomorrow with..." The green-eyed lad blushed a bit, scratching his cheek in embarrassment.

"With Levi?" Armin smiled playfully, poking Eren's arm.

"Y-Yeah," he replied.

"Have fun! And you know, you gotta introduce him to me sometime. I gotta know if he's fit to be your lover."

The blush on Eren's face deepened and he stammered, "H-He's not my lover! Geez."

And thus, his mind got wrapped around that one question again. What are we, really?

"Not yet, anyway," Armin murmured softly.

The art gallery in the city had this simplicity that shouldn't be overlooked, because those white walls looked like they were part of a whole artistic work as they hugged the paintings hanging on them. Eren's caribbean eyes swept from one artwork to another and he wasn't regretting going there at all.

"This is like a maze. Where is your artwork?" Levi asked him, standing next to him as they both examined the art before them. It was oil on canvas; the green forest was presented in shades of verdant color and a giant eagle was placed in the middle, like the viewers were supposed look at the scene below from the creature's perspective.

It was fairly vague for normal onlookers, yet Eren knew what the artist's theme was. Freedom.

"I think it's on the other side. Let's go," the brunet replied, nodding his head to his left side. He tore his gaze away from the artwork and spun on his heels to the other direction. Levi was right behind him and when they arrived at their destination, they saw a good amount of people admiring a painting on a large canvas displayed in the center of the hall.

Eren halted on his tracks and he heard Levi's breath hitched on his throat. Together, they stared at the object right in front of their eyes. The green-eyed young man could still remember the day he started his painting. And that was the day when Levi began filling in the void in his life.

It was an abstract depiction of various vibrant colors enveloped in black, and on the right side of the portrait was the side profile of Levi. His features were sharpened with strokes of the paintbrush, and his silver eyes seemed to glow in that darkness, determination and bravery were presented on them. A brown jacket hung on the raven-haired man's shoulders, and a green cape-like coat was fully presented to the viewers. A pair of wings, interweaved together, was displayed on the coat; one wing was painted midnight blue, and the other was a contrasting white.

It was—

"Amazing," Levi breathed out next to him. Eren sharply turned to the older man whose eyes seemed to spark and brighten every moment and then.

"Jiyuu no Tsubasa. Wings of Freedom. It is literally pulled out of this vivid dream I had more than once. I thought it fits you," the younger man said. He continued to gaze on Levi, watching his reactions changing fast, something that he thought he wouldn't be able to witness in his lifetime.

"I'm speechless," the gray-eyed man admitted, a small smirk tugged one side of his lips upwards.

"I told you, I found my inspiration," the brunet smiled. The shorter man turned his head to meet Eren's eyes and that smirk grew a bit more playful.

"So how'd you paint this without a model?" he asked. That question made the teal-eyed man blush. As if he could admit that he already got Levi's features memorized in his mind, even with his eyes closed.

Thankfully, they were interrupted before the gray-eyed man could continue to poke fun on Eren. Dot Pixis was a bald-headed old man who happened to be Eren's art professor. He was also the head of the staff in the Art Department, and he was really fond of the student's artwork.

"Eren! Glad to see that you've made it. I knew that you're gonna make it big!" the old man said, clapping the Eren's back. The young man scratched his cheek modestly.

"Thank you for giving my artwork a chance, Mr. Pixis," the brunet said politely.

"Don't thank me. This is happening because you really do have talent," Pixis told him, smiling broadly. He must have had noticed Levi because his eyes turned on him and he asked, "Are you Mr. Jaeger's friend?"

"Yes," the other man simply replied.

"Isn't he a wonderful artist—Wait, are you—" the bald man trailed off and narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Levi's face and switching his eyes from the man to Eren's painting.

"I see," Pixis merely said, smiling at Eren and Levi. "Well, then. Enjoy your visit here and Eren, you must watch out for buyers since I've been asked by one or two people if they could buy your artwork."

"I-I'm not planning on selling it, though," the green-eyed lad said.

"Yes, I know," the old man nodded, as if understanding his reason for turning the buyers down. "I'll be going now. I have to finish some work back in the university. Goodnight, gentlemen."

"Goodnight, Mr. Pixis," Eren bid goodbye. Levi nodded in acknowledgement and the couple were once again on their own.

"Are you ready to leave? Should we go get dinner?"

The brunet swiveled around and blinked at Levi before asking, "Where are we gonna eat? AND I refuse being treated to a meal. I have my own money, thank you very much."

"Geez. Just treat this as a congratulatory gift," the older man said, holding back the other thought, And as a thank you gift for letting me become a part of your fucking fantastic art.

The younger man seemed to contemplate his options and circumstances at hand and he decided that maybe this one time he would make an exception. And thus, he agreed and they started to leave when a voice spoke, something that only Eren's ears had caught.

"Eren Jaeger. Another Jaeger proving to be an extraordinary man."

He turned around, intrigued and wanting to see if it was someone he knew. He did say about "another" Jaeger and Eren could surely count the few people who knew about him and his family. His teal eyes landed on a man, whose age could be in the 40s, wearing a black bowler hat. He was wearing what looked like an expensive suit and he had his hand in his pocket, eyes were fixed on the label of Eren's artwork.

"Oi, brat. Are you coming or not?" Levi called out, pulling Eren out of his curious stare. However, he didn't fail to commit in his memory that look that the man gave him before he left.

That look that flickered in victorious recognition which was followed by a knowing smile that seemed to say: Found you.

A/N: Whooops. I was contemplating whether to cut this off here or not, but I figured that the next chapter should be mad special :D It's gonna be Levi and Eren fluff next~! By the way, do not forget that this story falls under suspense :P Thank for reading and drop by a review~

-CrimsonHazelEyes