Chapter Text
Levi walked with purpose towards the stables. He hardly noticed the downpour and only spared a quick frown for the mud he was traipsing through. It was late, almost midnight, and had the ominous storm clouds not been looming overhead, there would have been a full moon tonight. But none of that mattered to Levi; his eyes were zeroed in on the wide doors to the stable, swinging with the icy wind. He slipped through them unnoticed, latching them properly shut and pausing a moment to let his eyes adjust to the soft lamp light. The horses, finally home, were in their stalls already, too tired from the long journey to even be skittish from the angry flashes of lightening. Levi shook what mud he could off his boots and walked along the stalls, the smell of hay and leather filling his nose. A few recruits were still caring for their horses, carefully brushing them down, cleaning the stalls, and feeding them for the night. The ones who noticed Levi nodded respectfully to him before carrying on with their tasks, obviously in a hurry to fall into bed. It had been a long, risky mission into the western forests farthest from the outer wall, and for some reason, they had returned a whole week later than expected.
Forced to stay behind this time in order to supervise and make sure headquarters continued running as smoothly as possible, Levi felt like he was in hell. Seven whole days of torture going through the motions of training, corresponding with dull people of high importance, and obsessively cleaning. Not once was Levi able to distract himself enough to stop thinking of the mission he was missing out on. The old, familiar longing for that exhilarating feeling of freedom he always experienced outside the walls never left him. It was like a high when he rode swiftly into the dangerous unknown without hesitation, with Erwin always in the lead, looking like a damn king sitting magnificently on his horse.
And if the days were bad, the nights left behind were worse. Nothing but cold sheets and old familiar nightmares.
Levi softly cursed at his own melancholy as he methodically checked every stall, comforted by the fact that each horse was there where it should be, having made it back in one piece. This boded well for their riders as well. He worried for them constantly, though he would never admit to it. This surely was a sign he was growing soft in his old age.
Levi stopped in front of a specific stall, a warm ache slowly growing in his belly as he silently watched its occupant care for his horse, his hood still up and glistening from the rain. The rider was currently bent low in order to check each hoof, making sure there were no wounds or rocks stuck inside. Levi smirked, having an excellent view of the man’s well-formed ass, his pants stretched deliciously tight in his suggestive position. This tall blond Adonis was surely a gift from the gods, delivered directly into Levi’s lap for his own, personal enjoyment. Levi licked his lips in anticipation. As much as he enjoyed this view, it was becoming a temptation Levi just couldn’t resist. It had been too long since he had had this man beneath him, too long since he had felt his muscular body writhing in delight or heard his desperate, deep moans gasping his name hotly in his ear.
Levi glanced around, making sure no one was paying any attention and quickly slipped over the gate, creeping stealthily up behind the man. Levi wasted no time before he grabbed himself two warm handfuls of firm, gorgeous ass, his fingers digging in possessively as he murmured, “welcome home.”
Several things happened all at once, and none of them were to Levi’s liking. The bent man grunted a curse before springing up and whirling on Levi, grabbing his wrists and slamming him hard against the wall all in one smooth motion.
“What the fuck!” Levi yelped out in shock, before he gasped in horror. All the blood drained from Levi’s face and his anger instantly vanished. He was staring up into the wide eyed, befuddled face of Mike Zacharias. Well shit.
“Captain?” Mike’s voice came across gruffly and stunned, and he made no move to let go.
Levi cleared his throat, trying to regain his composure and nodded somberly. “Good evening … Mike … Now that we’ve got those pleasantries out of the way, why don’t you let go of my wrists now and we’ll just carry on as if this never happened, yeah?”
Mike’s eyes narrowed a bit before he suddenly leaned down into Levi’s comfort zone in order to take a deep sniff of Levi’s neck. Levi stiffened and froze at Mike’s audacity. Though Mike’s nose never touched him directly, the warm, slow exhale caused goosebumps to break out across his neck and chest, and he shivered. They stood there silently for a few moments, and only when Mike leaned back to stare into his eyes did the spell break. Levi ripped his wrists out of Mike’s hands and took a few steps away from the man towering over him.
“I thought I told you never to sniff me, you fucking hound.”
“You’re aroused.”
That simple statement hit Levi like a punch to the gut, and Mike looked smug when it left Levi momentary speechless.
After trying to kill Mike with the power of his thoughts, Levi spat out, “Obviously I thought you were someone else, you big tree. Now excuse me, I’d rather not waste any more of my night in the stables with you.”
Mike looked at him thoughtfully, as if he hadn’t heard a thing Levi just said. “You know, I never thought I’d be jealous of the commander. You have a strong grip, and not just when you’re wielding a sword.” Mike grinned as color attractively flooded Levi’s pale cheeks.
“I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.” Levi tried to hide his embarrassment behind a fierce glare, but the amused look on Mike’s face gave away just how much he was failing. His gaze slid down over Levi’s whole body, making Levi's breath hitch, before he turned to finish tending Erwin’s horse.
“Commander Erwin is in General Pixis’ office. He was carrying sensitive information that needed to be reported immediately. I’m assuming that’s who you were expecting, here in this stall.” Levi gritted his teeth and left in a huff, for once not trying to have the last word. Mike was no doubt delirious from exhaustion and would hopefully forget this horrifying mix up by morning.
~~~~
Levi was in a foul mood all the next day. Young recruits and even some of the other captains were giving him a wide berth, yet there were a few not so fortunate as to stay far enough away. They suffered greatly.
“Is that what you call a proper defense stance, Baldy? Are you a soldier or a fucking buffoon?! Or do you actually want to become titan shit someday?”
The young boy, Connie, trembled before him, shaking his head in fright, sword dragging through the dirt forgotten.
“Fucking useless,” Levi mumbled to himself before carefully demonstrating the proper way to hold a sword and not kill yourself in the process.
After forcing the boy to copy his motions precisely several times, he dismissed the cadet to join the others. When Levi turned, he found Erwin standing behind him, watching him with amusement twinkling behind his bright blue eyes. Those fucking eyes, Levi thought a bit bitterly before abruptly walking away towards the canteen. Erwin easily caught up to him, walking close beside him. It was obvious Erwin had something to say with the way he kept glancing at him with a thoughtful expression as they walked, and before long Levi halted and turned to him with a sigh.
“Fucking what, eyebrows?”
Erwin bit back a laugh, reaching out to tap his chin affectionately before aborting the attempt mid reach. They were in public after all. “Someone’s been missing me I see," Erwin softly stated.
Levi rolled his eyes as he turned to keep walking. “Don’t flatter yourself. I barely noticed you were gone.”
Erwin smiled. “Naturally. I wouldn’t expect a seasoned soldier like yourself to mourn and weep for his long lost commander. You are obviously more than able to handle your superior’s absence with ease.” Erwin’s voice lowered as he added with a teasing note, “But when said superior is also your playmate at night, one would expect a bit more of a … shall we say … proper reception home.”
Levi gave him a carefully blank look. “And?”
“You never came to me last night.”
Levi shifted and broke eye contact. “I … I was busy. And you can’t expect me to wait up half the night for your fat ass to come waltzing back to base at whatever the fuck ungodly hour.” The truth was Levi had gone straight to his private quarters after his terrible mishap and didn’t come out again until dawn. It was only by some miracle of fate that he hadn’t yet come across Mike. Which, on second thought, was a bit unusual considering how closely they worked together.
“Well then,” Erwin continued seemingly oblivious to Levi’s discomfort. “I suppose it is indecent of me to expect you to wait up so late. I will valiantly try to reign in any more expectations of this kind in the future." Erwin paused and began inspecting his weapon casually as they strolled along. "Oh by the way, have you seen Mike lately?"
At this Levi halted and almost gasped aloud. He tried to cover his odd reaction by pulling out a kerchief to wipe the beginnings of sweat off his brow. He turned to absently watch a group of soldiers practice their formations in the yard, hoping that Erwin wasn't paying too close attention to him.
What the hell was he thinking? Erwin always noticed everything. Fuck.
“Uh … no. No I haven’t.” Thank god.
“Oh really? Not even in the stables?”
It took all the powers Levi possessed to keep his poker face firmly in place and not betray the dawning horror in his chest. Did that fucking shit Mike say something? And to Erwin of all people? Levi didn’t know what to say to this oddly specific question, and Erwin was still patiently waiting for a response when Mike strode up to them.
Speak of the devil.
Mike exchanged greetings with Erwin, and they spoke briefly about the successful mission they had just returned from. Soon he turned his attention to Levi, and after gravely nodding a hello, he winked at him. Levi’s eyes widened and Erwin's mouth twitched, though he said nothing.
“Captain. I see you finally found the commander. I hope you were able to give him the important package you were carrying last night. If you need any help with that, remember I’m here to serve.” Mike saluted them both and walked on, Levi glaring at his back the whole time.
When Mike was out of sight, Levi huffed in exasperation, his mind whirring with ways to distract Erwin from asking about the “package.” But wow, had his boner been that obvious to Mike last night? Levi felt a fresh wave of embarrassment wash over him and he wondered if he would ever be able to live this down. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Erwin studying him thoughtfully, and Levi hurriedly spoke before he could question him.
“I fucking missed you okay? And about last night ... I’ll make it up to you tonight. Get ready, you won’t be able to shit comfortably for a week when I’m done with you.”
A huge smile lit up Erwin’s features, and he nodded once before departing for his office.