Chapter Text
The moment Erwin laid his eyes on Levi, the man’s beauty piqued his interest. His stoic expression, slender frame, and uninterested gaze. Even more, his skills were head and shoulder above the others’. He just had to get him to join the scouts, no matter what.
Now that he was the 13th commander of the Survey Corps, Levi had climbed the ranks to become a squad leader directly under his command. For years, he had gazed upon the younger man, admiring him from afar. That was enough for him - it had to be. He was his commander, after all.
“Oi, Erwin.” Levi’s voice called out to him, snapping him out of his thoughts.
“Huh?” Erwin lifted his eyes to meet the other’s.
“What’re you spacing out for?” the shorter man asked, plopping himself down on the couch in the commander’s office.
“I was just thinking. Sorry about that,” the blonde apologized, closing his eyes as a slight smile played in the corner of his mouth. Levi let out a disapproving scoff, rolling his eyes. “Try to focus, would you? We have a half-titan in our ranks, this is no time to be daydreaming.”
Erwin had always found the man’s directness endearing, in some twisted way.
“Right. Cadet Yaeger, was it?”
“Yeah. That brat’s giving me a hard time, he can’t even clean properly,” the black-haired man complained, closing his eyes with a frustrated sigh as he threw one leg above the other. “He’s so damn hot-headed.”
The older man hummed in acknowledgment, nodding slightly. “So I’ve heard. But he’s not the only hot-headed soldier I’ve come across,” he said, his voice tingling with a hint of mischief as he opened his eyes to look at Levi from the corner of his eye, a smirk rising to his lips. That earned him another scoff from the other.
“Shut up. At least I learned from the first time,” the shorter man said, referring to the latest mission to scout Wall Maria and capture the female titan - which failed.
Erwin chuckled softly at his words. “Good point.”
The men continued their earlier discussion about the new plan for capturing the female titan, who they suspected was Annie Leonhart.
“You know how I feel about pointless deaths, Erwin,” Levi reminded him, intently looking at him from under his thin brows. The blonde nodded as he wrote the plan down on paper to send to Hange later. “I know.”
“You better make this count.” The shorter man’s voice darkened, putting more weight to his words. It sent an odd but pleasant shiver down the commander’s spine.
“I know,” he repeated.
Later, when the plan had kind of succeeded, Erwin had been taken to a room to wait for his questioning. The tall man sat on the edge of the bed, leaning his elbows against his knees as he thought about the next step he’d make. His head snapped up as he heard someone enter his room; Levi.
“Oh, it’s you,” he said, his blue eyes taking in his slender form. “Come to yell at me?”
“No,” the shorter man scoffed, limping to sit next to the other. His leg still hurt from an earlier injury.
“I see,” the blonde started, glancing over at the other’s injured leg. “How’s the injury?”
“Manageable,” Levi stated, crossing his arms on his chest. “I’ll be good as new in no time.”
“That’s good,” Erwin hummed, smiling a little as he closed his eyes.
A comfortable silence fell between them, allowing the commander to get lost in his thoughts again; this time occupied by the other man sitting next to him. He let out a silent sigh. Oh, how he wished he could just reach over and rest his hand on the other’s leg, to pull him into an embrace, to kiss him. Why did he have to fall for someone he couldn’t have? Another sigh escaped his lips.
“The hell you sighing for?” Levi asked, irritation audible in his voice.
“Nothing.” That was a bad response, the commander knew that, but that’s all he could say. There’s no way he could tell him.
The shorter man hummed, not believing him. “Whatever.” He stood up and glanced down at the other still sitting, a slight scowl on his face. “Try to not get yourself killed.”
Erwin chuckled dryly before replying, keeping his eyes closed. “No promises.”
The shorter man scoffed at his response, before turning away and walking out of the room. The commander’s eyes followed his retreating back, watching as the door closed behind him. He let out a deep sigh, his loneliness filling the room.
Somehow, Erwin managed to talk himself out of an execution. He walked determinedly down the hallway, listening as two of his soldiers briefed him of the situation.
“Titans inside the walls?!” his exclaimed, slightly louder than he had intended. He cleared his throat, turning to face the soldiers. “Keep me updated. Also, tell Levi to come find me.” The soldiers saluted him before hurriedly walking away, each on their way to complete his orders. The commander continued his way down the hallway, deep in thought. Titans inside the walls, military police watching their every move, Annie enclosing herself in hardened titan skin. The situation was rather grim, no matter which way he looked at it.
When he broke out of his thoughts, he found himself standing on the rooftop of the building, the setting sun casting its golden rays everywhere on the ground. He chuckled dryly, walking to the railing to lean on it and gaze down at the soldiers cleaning up the mess his plan had made. As heartbreaking as the sight was, there was an odd sense of peace within him. Maybe he was as crazy as the other soldiers called him.
“The hell are you doing up here? It took me ages to find you.” Erwin smiled at the familiar irritated voice calling out to him.
“Levi.”
“Who else? Seriously, who would come up here in this situation?” the shorter man spoke, stopping next to the other man and leaning his back against the railing. “So, why’d you call me here? Another sick plan on the way?”
The commander chuckled dryly again, eyes glued to the buildings below them. “No, I wanted to speak with you. I came to realize something.” His mind was racing, this was the moment; they could both die at any point. He may not get another chance. He turned his blue eyes to meet Levi’s gray ones, smiling a sad smile at him.
“We lost many veteran soldiers in this entire operation.” Levi’s brows furrowed.
“You think I don’t know that?”
The commander chuckled again, shifting his weight on his legs. “That, and my near-execution made me realize that either one of us might die at any point.”
“Again-”
“I know I’m stating the obvious,” the blonde interrupted, closing his eyes as the sad smile sat on his face. “But it just now hit me; we might not see each other again after the next one.”
The scowl on Levi’s face fell, a confused expression taking its place as he squinted his eyes at the other. “What’re you getting at?”
The taller man stood up straight, turning to face the other.
“That I wanted to tell you something.” His heart pounded in his chest. Was he doing this? Is he really going through with this?
“Erwin, you’re being weird. What’s going on?” Levi asked, his brows furrowing in confusion. The taller man took a deep breath, steeling his resolve before speaking. It was now or never.
“I need you to know,” he started, looking intently into the other man’s gray eyes.
“I love you, Levi.”