Levi hasn't told Erwin that he might be moving out soon. In a way, it kind of feels like Levi is cheating on Erwin, what with the way he's going behind his back like this. But they're not dating. Ew. As if.
Besides, he's still not had a phone call of any sort since he last saw Eren on Sunday. Granted, it's only been two days, but what are the chances that Eren might've just told him he'd contact him, in the hope that Levi would leave him alone?
Levi likes to think that those chances are slim. But still. It's better not to tell Erwin until things are sorted out for certain.
He stares out the porche window, leaning into the black leather of the seat. It's kind of a nice day outside, there might be clouds everywhere, but the sun is shining behind them. That's probably the best weather they're going to get this hour. It'll change soon. Really soon. It's as though the clouds overhead of Scotland have a mind of their own, what with the way they change the weather so often.
There are people pottering around on the street. At this time on a Tuesday morning, it's usually only old people and parents that go wandering around uptown. Kids are at school, or well, they should be.
Levi is half daydreaming as he stares outside, thinking about the fact there are stupid brats that skive school when they shouldn't be taking such things for granted. He jolts into reality when his back pocket buzzes. He retrieves his flip phone and looks at the caller ID.
It's Eren. There's a small smile on his lips and his grey eyes widen slightly when he sees this. He answers it, pressing the pick up button and moves it towards his ear.
Now the question is; can Levi have a normal conversation with Eren over the phone?
Levi takes a deep breath in anticipation and says, "H-Hello?"
"Hey! Levi!" A cheerful Scottish voice calls back. "I'm on my break, are you busy right now?"
Is he busy? No, he's sitting on his ass in Erwin's expensive, shitty car. "I'm not, just on the way to work with Erwin." he replies.
That.. That actually sounds like a normal reply. Wow. He's improved. It must be because the fear of sounding stupid, and the fluttering in his stomach combined, makes him only capable of giving short, simple answers. At least it's working for him. Eren isn't cringing or mentioning how weird he sounds. That's a good sign (he shouldn't have to be looking out for signs like that).
"Right, right, okay. So, yesterday, I managed to get an appointment at the council. You can see a housing officer tomorrow at eleven. Is that okay for you? I can change it if you have work."
Levi shakes his head. "No, I'm not busy then, that's my day off."
'Smooth, Levi.' He praises himself.
"Oh really? It's my day off tommorrow too!" God, his excited voice is so adorable. It should be illegal to sound that happy!
"Where should we meet?" Please say Eren's house. Levi wants to go to Eren's house. Please. Please.
There's a pause on the other side of the line. "… What, you want me to come with you?"
Levi slouches in his seat, frowning to himself. He thought Eren coming with him was a given. Best not to panic. 'Keep improving, Levi.'
"Yeah, if that's alright. I have no idea what I'm doing, and you do." That's right. Play the sympathy card. That usually works, since Levi rarely uses it. Normally, he just says straight out what he wants and makes sure he gets it.
"Och, it's my day off anyway. Might as well. Eh… Well, the person should ask you why you're homeless, and then they have to do a bunch of forms that pretty much all say the same things as what you just said. They'll tell you about what benefits ye can apply for an' ah. Is your job part time?"
"Uh, yeah. Twenty hours a week maximum."
"How much d'ya get paid? Do you have a bank account?"
"Six pounds an hour. And yeah, I do."
"…Eech, that's not a lot."
Levi rolls his eyes, smirking slightly. "Yeah. I don't even have much saved up either."
"Ah, well that's good. I mean, not good, but good. You can't tell them about any savings you have, otherwise they'll try to take it all off you. It's kind of illegal not to tell them, but I did it, and I'm fine. Nobody chased me up or gave a damn. 'Sides, Andrea told me to do it that way, and she knows best when it comes to that stuff. We could meet outside the council, like, maybe… Ten or fifteen minutes before? The people usually end up being late anyway. Just like dentists and doctors."
Looks like they won't be meeting at Eren's house. He just wanted to see what it looked like… He wants to know if Eren has potted plants or animals and see what his "idiot" roommate's like. Maybe even just see the outside of wherever it is he lives. He said in the flood zone, right? Levi could visit the area-
Wait. It might be creepy if he goes wandering around to look for Eren's house. It's bad enough he tried waiting in the bar for Eren to show up, for almost a month. Levi's on first name terms with the bar tender now.
The bartender's called Billy. Billy can make a really mean Jaegerbomb, and Levi has definitely not been ordering them just so he can look at the name on the bottle. It's in the past now. It's fine. No-one has to know. And no more Jaegerbombs for him for as long as he lives.
Eren casually mentioned his and his family's illegal activities. Levi's not really sure why, but he likes knowing this. He just likes it. He hums happily into the microphone.
"That sounds fine, I'll probably be early anyway." Now he just needs to find out where the hell the council office is…
"Ai~" Eren needs to stop making adorable noises when he speaks. It's too much for Levi to handle and makes him hide his face under his free hand.
"I've gotta go back to work now. Yes, Connie, I heard you. Just give me a minute. Alright, see you outside the council a little bit before eleven?"
Levi nods, then realizes Eren can't see him. "Uh huh." is his dumb reply.
There's shouting in the background and Eren shouts into the microphone. "GUYS I'M ON THE PHONE SHOW SOME DECENCY WOULD IT KILL YOU TO BE QUIET FOR ONE SECOND. I better write that time down. I'm totally gonna forget otherwise. Okay. It's on my hand. Pens and palms are brilliant things." Eren chuckles breathily to himself. "Bye, Levi!"
And then everything is silent apart from the cars driving past Erwin's car and the hum of the engine.
Levi stares at the screen of his flip phone in front of him, cheeks flushed and his lip trembling slightly. He did it! He finally spoke to Eren like a civilised person! He ends up having to bite back a smile and turn away from Erwin so he can look out the window with glazed eyes, stuffing his phone back into his pocket.
Erwin clears his throat. "It kinda sounds like your odd nature is rubbing off on him already. I could hear that kid's voice from over here."
Erwin gasps when he looks over to Levi again, to see him glowering at him unblinkingly from beneath his black fringe. "No, Erwin. We are one and the same kind of person. This is why we are meant to be."
Erwin leaves him alone after that. And so he should, because Levi can pull a very impressive psychopath face. He learned it from Hanji, though Levi's version is more of a demonic glare, whereas Hanji's version looks like a twisted grin. The Irish man isn't aware of how often he slips into that face.
Hanji really needs to take some of his own advice. People just don't grin widely at their grandparent's funerals and tell everyone to have a good time during the wake.
That night, after a long fours hours of work, a packet of pot noodles for dinner and a few hours of staring blankly at the T.V screen later, Erwin has gone to bed and Levi is alone in the near darkness of the living room. In lamplight, he sits on his leather loveseat and retrieves the calendar from under the cushion.
Levi's decided that hiding the calendar under the couch cushion might be a good idea, seeing as he doesn't want Eren to find it on the coffee table, should he ever come over. He will, Levi will make sure of that.
And Erwin. He needs to hide the calendar from him. He doesn't need that blonde hulk of an idiot getting his germs all over his things then making fun of him. Oh, and Hanji too. It's bad enough he calls Levi out on acting odd in front of Eren.
God knows what he'd do if he knew Levi wrote things about Eren like a love-sick teenager with a diary. But he's better than that. Levi has a calendar, not a diary. It's more organised than a diary. More professional looking and less obvious.
The pen can stay on the coffee table, though. It's inconspicuous and does no harm to his secret. Plus, Levi doesn't fancy waking up to a broken pen under the cushion and his ass covered in ink one morning.
It's amazing to know that Eren looked out for him in his own spare time, even if he didn't contact Levi at all yesterday. It's far better than having never been in his mind, after all.
In fact, Levi thinks that small gestures like phone calls to organise things are really underappreciated.
Sure, you get phone calls that can last until five in the morning, where both people spill their secrets and can hear each other's husky morning voices and sleepiness, but…
Levi wants to enjoy small things like phone calls that organise things, until something bigger happens, because it's going to take time for anything more to happen. Him and Eren still technically strangers so they don't do things like call each other for company. They won't be strangers for long though. Not if Levi can help it. Whether he intends to help it or not… seeing as his mouth likes to move faster than his common sense.
…Levi has a plan.
Beside the bread box in the kitchen, Erwin has left a black sharpie pen. Levi fetches it, and returns to write on the front of the calendar: "Progress Report". Levi is sure one day, he'll look back, and be able to analyse how exactly their relationship progressed, and see the exact chain of events that happened to push things forward.
It's a brilliant idea. It's something to look forward to look back on, as ironic as that sounds. And apart from Eren and his hopefully more common visits, Levi doesn't really have much to look forward to. Apart from finally seeing the last of Erwin when Eren and the council helps him get his own place. That's definitely something to anticipate.
He finds the ballpoint pen, and finds the calendar page that's already flipped to April. In the dated box, he writes:
"The day I realized that Eren makes the little things in life -like short phone calls and speech habits and sweet ramblings- matter to me."