A/N: I'd like to apologize... To Nile. Nile! I'm stealing your wife! I might need her for another chapter. Not sure yet. :3 Also, despite that, I had a long and heavy internal struggle as to the name of Erwin's daughter, because it was becoming a pain just saying "Erwin's daughter" or "the child" in the story. So please be gentle on the hate towards her name. ^^'

And another thing... I have, like, noooooooo idea what the hell I said in the last chapter to possibly make a few of you think that Levi had somehow slept with Erwin's daughter and they had kids. Like, I saw that conversation, and ooh my goodness. No no. Erwin's daughter is six. The joke was that Erwin started sending him a butt load of pictures, because he likes to show off his children (One of those dads). I am soooooo sorry if I somehow alluded to the fact there was some secret affair, but oh my god no. I am so sorry. Y_Y

-Misty

The Change You Wish to See

(Original summary, but screw the stupid character limits) Levi's never put much care into things. He doesn't put much care into things at all. Nothing ever peaks his interest. Well, that's until he meets Eren Jaeger. Levi isn't sure what it is that's so interesting about him, and it irritates him to feel these feelings he's never felt before. Regardless, he goes to talk to the boy. When he doesn't receive an answer, he just thinks that the boy is rude; however, he understands why when Eren doesn't answer him. Eren is deaf.

Rated M for sexual content, adult language, some violence, mild character death
Main pairing: Riren with some side pairs
Anime: Shingeki No Kyojin (Attack on Titan)

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Pay

Levi waited at the door, painting in hand, though wrapped up under a tarp to keep the elements away. Bundled up in his heavy winter jacket, he swore his heart was trying to free itself from its confines, nerves settling in despite his inner thought process.

It's just one dinner. One dinner with two old friends. What was the problem?

The problem was that he felt nervous. Not for the dinner or meeting up with Erwin and his wife. No, that wasn't it. It was of the painting under his hands.

How long had it been since he'd completed a painting? Almost a decade? That didn't sound right, but thinking back to it now, it made sense. It had been that long since Isabel's passing, since Farlan's murder, and with it, all previous works went in the garbage, finished or not. It had been that long since he bothered to draw, to pick up a paintbrush and make something worthy of someone else's attention. To make matters worse, had it not been for Eren's idea a few weeks back, the painting would have been almost an exact copy. The only difference was the children in the painting, which, now that he listened in, could be heard inside the big house.

"I got it!" A young voice shouted behind the door, but Erwin's voice came through before it opened.

"What did I tell you about opening the door for strangers?" There was Erwin in home attire, staring down at a young brunette with big, blue eyes who only managed the height of his mid-thigh.

"Don't." She answered and looked down at her feet, as if in guilt.

"That's right," Erwin agreed before looking up at Levi, his lips stretching in a smile. "Levi! Glad you could make it!"

"Who am I to ignore an invitation for dinner?" Levi asked and stepped inside when Erwin stepped back.

"Well you ignored the first one." The blonde man uttered and shut the door behind him.

"Snow kicked my cars ass. How could I-?"

Levi was interrupted by the sound of Erwin's daughter gasping, her finger suddenly pointing up to him in feigned disgust.

"You swore! You swore!" She yelled at him before tugging on Erwin's pant leg. "Daddy! He swore! He has to put money in the swear jar!"

"You heard her. Twenty five cents to the swear jar, Levi." Erwin told him. Levi rolled his eyes before bending down to be at eye level with the child.

"... You aren't Emma, are you?" Levi asked, his eyes narrowing. The little girl seemed taken aback by his harmless expression, suddenly fleeing to hide behind her father's leg. "The last time I saw you, you were just a tiny thing who could barely hold a spoon. When did you get so big?"

"Honey, don't be rude. It's just Uncle Levi. Don't you remember him?" Erwin asked and moved his leg out of the way.

"Don't you remember me?" Levi asked and forced a pout, his bottom lip sticking out in a frown.

There was no possible way this child could remember him. She was just a baby when Erwin and his wife left. She hadn't even hit her first birthday by the time they were gone, so she would never remember him. However, the brunette stared at him for a moment, her eyes going between him and her bangs, trying to hide behind them. It looked as if they had just been freshly cut, which meant there was nothing for her to hide behind. What a shame really.

"... U-Uncle Levy...?" She stuttered in question, but out of actual recognition or not he wasn't sure.

Oh yeah. This was the other person who called him that.

"How many times do I have to tell you that it's Levi?" The older man asked before scooping her up into his arms. She squealed out laughter, arms clinging around the older man's shoulders so she wouldn't fall, but soon she was getting showered in kisses that tickled just about every ticklish spot on her.

"Well don't be shy, Levi." Erwin said before a gentle hand on his back directed him further into the house.

"L-Levy! We can play with my new doll house I got!"

"You got a new doll house?" Levi asked, trying to humor the child.

"And then we can play cowboys!"

"I'm too old for that, sweetie." He told her.

"Come on, Uncle Levy!" She whined, those blue eyes of hers growing wide in a pout.

"It's been a while since I've heard someone call you that," Erwin said with a chuckle.

"I hear it just about every day from Eren." The older man told him.

"Your boyfriend calls you Levy? That's so adorable..."

"He can't hear himself pronounce my name wrong." He excused.

"Well did you ever bother to correct him about it?"

"... N-No, not yet."

The blonde man shot him a smug look as they walked into the kitchen.

"Well then you have nothing to complain about." Erwin told him.

The house was bigger than Levi thought, but thinking about the recent addition to Erwin's family gave it some sense. If it weren't for him directing the older man, he would have been utterly lost as to where to go besides walk around aimlessly.

They had to walk around through a separate room, right now holding boxes until they knew what to do with them, to get to the kitchen.

White walls, granite counter tops, a large table in the middle of the room big enough to serve a family of twelve; it was the picturesque of a model home from a magazine.

"Wow..." Levi mused under his breath. He couldn't help but wonder how much he'd have to save up to be able to afford a place like this, and he wasn't about to ask. No need to get his hopes up.

"Mary, look who came for dinner," Erwin announced out loud to the woman at the stove. It had been a long time since Levi had seen the man's wife, but he could place those big brown eyes and that brunette hair anywhere. It was where his daughter got her looks from after all.

"Levi!" The woman cheered and set down the spoon she had been using to stir with. Levi let Emma down to accept a quick and brutal hug from the woman, because he knew how fast she was when it came to her excitement (another thing their daughter claimed). "It's been so long! How have you been?"

"I've been good. Can't really complain. What about you? You guys have a new baby on your hands, right?"

"Ah yes, our little man. He's actually taking a nap right now." She told him while looking him over, trying to find anything different about him.

"He should after keeping us awake for the past two nights." Erwin added in.

Levi really did feel bad for them, but he couldn't help the urge to smile at the idea.

"So he's like Erwin then?" Levi remarked sarcastically.

"Very much so. Eats like a pig too." Mary continued on, ignoring Erwin's protest. "Well come sit! We have so much to catch up on!"

"I'm sure we do," Levi allowed himself to be pushed towards the table and sat down, where a cup of water was then placed in front of him.

"It's been so long, and yet you don't look any different from when we met you." The woman mused. "Even your haircut is the same."

"It's just easy to take care of, but I've changed. I've got more wrinkles around my eyes now."

"No Levi, you're mistaking those frown lines of yours for wrinkles again." She argued, to which the blonde man laughed at him.

"Well what about you? You grew your hair out." The man told her while motioning to her long hair pulled back into a pony tail.

"Yeah, I was tired of short hair." She hummed. "But I'm thinking of cutting it shorter. Not as short as when we last saw each other, but short enough."

"Why...?" He couldn't help but ask.

"Because the little man is starting to grab. He's figuring out how to hold things and I can't keep my hair away from him." She said before reaching over to Erwin and pulling at one of his fingers. "I can't possibly imagine where he gets it from."

To that, Erwin's lips spread wide in a grin, eyes closing as if he feigned ignorance to her statement.

"Eww," Levi remarked coldly.

"That's not what I meant by that, Levi." Mary scoffed before whacking his arm with that brute strength of hers. That obviously hadn't changed.

The older man rubbed at his arm, feeling the sting and knowing that it was going to leave a bruise the next day. He tried his hardest to glare at the woman, but found it difficult. She looked too happy for words to speak, too relaxed to bring her down. The way she sighed, her hand resting on her cheek while she looked over to her husband as if nothing in the world could ruin this moment. This one, quiet, perfect moment.

"I'm glad you guys are back." Levi suddenly spoke up his inner thoughts. "Life was lonely without you."

"You haven't been alone this whole time, have you?" Erwin's wife inquired. "No family, no friends?"

"Levi got himself a boyfriend." Erwin told her and wiggled his thick eyebrows.

"You what?" She gaped in surprise.

"Why is this such a shock to everyone?" The man asked while shrugging his shoulders. "Yes, I have a boyfriend. Why is that such a surprise?"

"Because it's you, Levi." Mary told him and placed a hand over his. "I didn't know you before Erwin, so I don't know of any possible flings you may have had in the past, but the only people you saw in your life were Isabel and Farlan. I mean, there were rumors that you and Farlan were married and Isabel was your adopted child."

"Wait, who started those?" The older man asked, disgruntled. He'd never heard those rumors before in his life.

"The point is, Levi, that you haven't cared for others the way you cared for them, and you never tried. If you're dating now, whomever it is, is extremely important to you." His wife explained.

"That's what I've been telling him," Erwin breathed in irritation. "But he's as stubborn as ever, and he never listens."

"Why did you marry him again?" Levi asked with a pointed thumb towards the blonde, desperate to change the subject. Mary chuckled before patting Levi's hand and standing.

"Behave. The food it almost done, so sit tight, okay?"

"Levi..." Erwin whispered and tapped at his arm. The man looked at him with a look of confusion before the blonde motioned back to the front door, to where Levi had set her gift down.

"Oh right... Be right back." He announced before standing and walking out of the room.

Mary didn't know he had done this, and Erwin hadn't seen the painting yet. He was probably just as excited to see it as she would soon be.

"Boo!"

He didn't find it scary, but at the sound of Emma's voice and her grabbing at his leg, he willingly jumped at her expense.

"You scared me," He lied. Emma cheered in excitement before clinging to his leg, her butt sitting comfortably on his foot for support.

"Uncle Levy, what's under the blanket?" She asked while shining those big eyes of hers to him.

"It's a present for your mommy and daddy." He explained while grabbing said item and waddling back towards the kitchen, child still holding onto his leg for dear life.

"Ohh! I like presents!"

"Do you now?" He feigned shock.

"I like presents, l-like toys, and ice cream, and ch-chocolate!" Levi tried to hide his amusement at the way she strained to say chocolate properly.

"Well, how about the next time I see you, I bring you all three? Provided your dad do-"

"Yay!" Emma suddenly cheered before he could finish his sentence. "I'm getting ice cream! I'm getting toys! I'm getting chocolate!" She began singing at the top of her lungs. She swung her body back and forth on Levi's leg, and mentally Levi thanked his lucky stars she wasn't on his bad leg. It had healed up well, but every now and again it gave him problems.

"What's this about gifts?" Emma continued to sing until they got back to the kitchen, where Erwin sat at the table with a questioning gaze.

"I told her I'd get her a present next time if you guys are okay with that." Levi started shaking his leg lightly in hopes she would let go, but the girl had an iron grip.

"Levy! Can I have the new princess doll from the store? The one with the really long hair?"

"That sounds like just about every princess out there." The older man remarked.

"Emma, get down from Uncle Levi's leg and go wash up for dinner, okay?" Mary told her.

The man was more than surprised to see the little girl do it at the first go, but he had a feeling that Mary was the type of mother who didn't take whining for an answer. If you said no, she didn't appreciate it. This much hadn't changed about her, but he was mildly surprised to know she taught her six year old this level of respect.

He exchanged a quick glance with Erwin, as if to say it was impressive what he had just seen. All the blonde could do was shrug his shoulders, as if he had seen nothing, yet he knew what he spoke of.

Maybe she had trained him like that as well.

"What's that, Levi?" The woman asked while setting down a small, roasted chicken on the table. The smell alone had his stomach rumbling, the sight of the seasoning against golden chicken and steam coming off of it enough to have him forget about the painting momentarily. Only momentarily though.

"Oh..." He looked back at Erwin one more time, as if to confirm that it was alright to show her the present. With a nod of the head in his direction, Levi braced himself for the worst, fingers tightening around the canvas. "Well... Erwin commissioned me to make something for you."

"Is it a painting?" Nothing escaped the woman, but that was a given. There wasn't much else he could provide for them. Her excitement meant something thankfully.

"He saw how upset you were when you had to leave the old one behind for Europe. So he asked if I could make you a new one..." He trailed off before holding out the painting for her. Mary set the stack of plates down on the table before wiping her greasy hands off on her apron and taking the painting. "I made it similar to the last, with the exception of a few things... But I don't know how good it is."

"If it's from you, it'll be prefect, just like the last one." Mary assured him while running her hands over the tarp, searching for the opening.

"It's been a very long time since I've done anything remotely close to this though. It's probably shit, just to warn you."

Thankfully Emma had walked out, or he would owe her another twenty five cents. Twenty five cents was a lot to him these last few months.

The woman shot him a disgruntled look before pulling the tarp away, turning the picture in her hands. Erwin stood from his chair to join her, to see what it was he had made, but by the time he had, she'd already had a hand to her mouth.

It was indeed similar to the last, with the exception of a few things.

It was no longer them alone in the painting, no longer their younger, spunkier selves, but the older, more matured versions that they were now. Standing near a bench at a park where Levi had once seen them walk, but this time, little Emma was between the two adults, holding both of their hands and in the motions of using them as a sort of swing. In Mary's free arm was their newborn son, barely old enough to show relatively close features to them. Levi would know after receiving a few dozen photos from Erwin, after asking for just a few, but he managed to capture their essence within the painting and bring it to life.

Unlike the last photo, this ones was set in winter. Snow covered the ground and trees in a heavy blanket, enough for their daughter to kick up and for him to emphasize with some different lighting effects. That had always been his favorite part of painting after all.

They were walking away in the photo, just like they had been in the past, but now with the two additions, one would see the growth from then to now, and how it could only go up from here.

The lighting, the atmosphere, the aura the painting let off was nothing short of amazing. Just as Erwin had predicted of the man, and had expected nothing less from him.

"Incredible..." Erwin breathed in an odd mixture of relief and amazement. Looking over to his wife, the two of them saw the all too familiar tears that had been present when he gave her the first painting. Once again, she had been brought to tears by the painting. The first one didn't seem to bring about a sense of nostalgia or realization as this one did though. It must have been the sight of the children in the painting, the realization of the growth of their family, how far they had come since the day they had meant, ever present.

Erwin looked up to him and smiled, a small, approving smile that spoke volumes like this eyes.

'You've done well', it all spoke.

Dinner went by as smoothly as it could. Once they were able to find a proper place for the painting (and pull it from Mary's hands), hanging above the fireplace, they were able to eat.

Afterwards, they sat and relaxed for what felt like days. It was only an hour or so more, talking amongst themselves of the "good old days" as Levi so politely put it, and of what they did in Europe. They talked about the cultural differences and having to adjust, to put Emma in a school there. Of course now the six year old was fluent in both languages, which most couldn't say for their kids. They talked of the fun adventures Levi had here, which was nothing compared to their own, and working at the bookstore after dropping out of school.

They spoke of missing Isabel and Farlan, of the days they all hung out as young adults with not much to do with their lives. Well, the married couple spoke that way. Levi jokingly stated he wasn't young while in college, and hadn't been for years.

After reminiscing for a while, Levi decided it was time to go home. He told them he had been waiting for a call from a possible job, and he was hoping, praying really, that the employer had decided to call his house line instead of his cellphone. If not either, then it was a sure sign of dread and rejection.

He parted reluctantly with Emma. After she pouted, her bottom lip sticking out while she hugged the older man, he promised her he'd be back, and he'd be back with ice cream. She seemed satisfied with that answer and promptly let him go, making room for Mary to tearfully say goodbye. Once again he had to remind her that this wasn't goodbye. Now that they were back he planned on spending time with them, in hopes that it could help make up for lost time.

Erwin wasn't as emotional as the rest of his family. He simply helped him out the door, but stopped him before the man could head to his car.

"Hold on, Levi..." He stopped him and closed the door halfway. Levi waited for a moment, his eyes narrowing as the blonde pulled out an envelope from his back pocket and handed it to him.

"What is this?" He asked.

"That's just the money back for the supplies, and just a couple of bucks extra for your hard work." Erwin explained, his cheeks splitting in a mischievous grin.

"Erwin..." The older man reprimanded, his a disapproving tone.

"Oh look at that. The door is opening..." The man said in awe, as if this was the most entertaining thing he could possibly see right now. "And now it's closing..." He said before walking through it and shutting the door.

"Was that your creepy way of ending the conversation?" Levi asked loudly to be sure he heard him.

"Yes!" Came his reply from behind the door.

The older man sighed while rubbing at his temples, feeling the oncoming of a headache. Hadn't he suffered from migraines when he was young? Maybe it was Erwin's doing after all.

He walked back to his old beat up car and got inside, figuring the cold wouldn't help at this point. He shut the door, started the car, and turned the heat on full blast once the car was on. He leaned back in his seat and sighed, his body relaxed and his cares or concerns long gone. The painting was done and turned in, he'd seen his friends again, leaving him without any worries and the most calm he had been in a long time. He couldn't remember a time when he had felt so light, both metaphorically and physically.

Well no; that was a lie. He remembered feeling quite satiated after sleeping with Eren, but these were two totally different moments.

He sighed again before sitting up in his seat. It was going to take a while for the heat to actually spew out hot air, so there was no point in sitting here waiting for it. The faster he started driving, the faster it would kick in, but he stopped short of putting it into drive. His hand crumbled the envelope in his hand unconsciously before he sat back again and opened it. Inside was a check; no surprise there, but then his eyes saw the numbers written down on it.

The older man immediately shot out of his car and to the front door, car still on and completely ignored.

"Erwin!" Levi yelled and pounded his fist into the door. "Open the door!"

"You've reached the Smith residence! Sorry we can't answer the door right now, but please leave your name and number, and we'll try to get back to you as soon as we can!" Came the response from inside, obviously Erwin's.

"Erwin, open the damn door!"

"I got it! I got it!" Erwin's daughter suddenly called through the house. Levi scarcely heard the sounds of Erwin reprimanding her, but that wasn't until the door clicked unlocked and opened.

"What did I say about opening the door for strangers?" The man asked disparagingly of his daughter. She didn't look the least bit guilty, however.

"Erwin, I need to talk with you. Outside." Levi growled at the man.

"Outside? Where there aren't any witnesses?" Erwin question while taking a step back, but not quick enough. Levi reached out and snatched at his arm with a claw-like grip, making sure he wouldn't stray far.

"Mary! I'm borrowing your husband!" Levi called further into the house.

"Make sure he comes back in one piece!" She yelled out in response, her head poking through the doorway of the kitchen to see what was going on.

"I can't make any promises." Levi growled, particularly towards Erwin before tugging him out the door.

"Bye daddy!" His daughter called after them before shutting the door behind them. Then and only then did Levi release him, but not without shoving him a few feet forward first.

"Listen, Levi-!"

"Take it back." Levi demanded before shoving the check into Erwin's chest.

"Levi, I'm just paying you for the painting!" He argued.

"A couple of bucks is pay, Erwin! A couple of bucks! Two thousand dollars doesn't constitute a couple of bucks!" Levi barked.

"Your paintings are worth that much, if not more! I should be paying you way more than what that is, but I know how stubborn you are!"

"No, Erwin, I'm not taking it." Levi refused before crossing his arms over his chest in defiance. "You have a wife and two kids to feed. That money could be spent on something like hospital bills, or put away for college for Emma. I'm not taking it."

"You have to, Levi. Mary and I already decided on it."

"You what? Since when?"

"When Emma took you to her room to show you the dollhouse. We agreed on this." Erwin said while holding out the check.

"Erwin, how can you possibly do this when you have a family?" He asked with shrugged shoulders and a frown.

"I just got paid a pretty penny for the house back in Europe. We have a little extra to spend right now, and both she and I agreed it would be put to good use with you." The blonde pulled Levi's hand into his own and placed the check neatly into his palm, folded and all. "So please take it. Save it, spend it. Hell, I don't care what you do with it. You deserve it though, so please use it for something. Why not spend it on something special for Eren?"

Erwin's suggestion went through one ear and out the other as he winked to him.

"Get him something nice."

And with that and a pat to the man's shoulder, Erwin headed back into his house. Levi stood outside in the cold for a moment longer, eyes staring absently at the check.

Was Erwin stupid? What kind of date could Levi possibly think up that would need two thousand dollars? What item could he possibly get that was worth two thousand dollars? He was out of his mind.

It suddenly hit him, however, like a splash of ice cold water to the face.

A/N: Oh hello plot. How are you doing? It's been a while, hasn't it?