#and levi better stay alive istg

[lizaloveslevihan]

i have this headcanon where jean tries to get the 104th crew to believe that Levi/Hange are actually in a relationship, but no one believes him. so the group pools in a money bet that jean is wrong, but jean gets lucky and the 104th crew hides in the bushes and sees Levi/Hange quickly kiss each other. then sasha accidentally gasps too loud in shock, the couple hears them, and then Levi comes over and finds out about their bet and takes all their pooled money to treat Hange out on a date lmaooo

Title: The Bet

Ao3 Link: Here

Jean had absolutely enough of it. 

It had been a nice, quiet morning — the perfect way to start his day off. They had worked tirelessly the day before on construction, and so he was more than glad to be able to take some time off and relax with his friends. They were planning on going to town to hang out, and perhaps even stop by at Niccolo’s to get some of his food for lunch, as per Sasha’s request. He had a strong inkling, however, that the food wasn’t Sasha’s only motivation. 

He scoffed at the thought as he made his way down the unusually quiet hall. Those two were ridiculous. It was so obvious that they had feelings for one another, anyone could tell. He and Connie had discussed it multiple times behind her back, and they had even dropped more than enough hints about how Niccolo reciprocated her feelings. But she was stubborn and in denial about the whole ordeal. He couldn’t lie — it really frustrated him to a certain extent — especially since the person you held dear to you actually returned your feelings. Hopefully, he and Connie could finally push them in the right direction sooner than later because they more than deserve to be happy together. 

The halls would have been normally packed at this hour, but the commander, ever so gracious, gave almost everyone a day off so the rest of the soldiers had most likely slept in for the day. He had thought the silence to be a little comforting that morning, but the moment he turned at a corner, he immediately thought otherwise. 

Shit, he thought, already backing up ever so slowly, trying his hardest not to look at the sight in front of him, not again. 

He was lucky the captain had his face buried in Hange-san’s neck, and that the latter had her eyes closed, grumbling protests as she arched her back against the wall, otherwise Jean was a dead man. No, scratch that. He’d be more than a dead man. The captain would personally see to it that Jean would be cleaning the entire HQ with a toothbrush to atone for the embarrassment of being caught. He cringed as the inappropriate noises his two superiors made echoed louder across the empty halls, and he turned back once he reached the corner and all but ran away. 

More than disgust, he felt anger bubble in his stomach as he frustratingly used the longer route to the dining hall. Seeing them once was already too much for his eyes, but this was the seventh damn time. His only consolation was that they did it in the hallway this time around which provided him more space to escape. Nothing would ever top that incident where he caught them doing something much more scandalous in the supply closet. One would think that the captain, being an Ackerman and having all those keen and powerful senses, would notice if someone opened the door and walked in on him doing… things to their highest-ranking officer. But it seemed he was just too distracted in his indulgences . 

God , he couldn’t look at any of them in the eyes for almost a month after that. And the fact that they had met up with different dignitaries the day after and kept such a stoic and professional facade had really gotten to his nerves. 

Jean heaved out a deep sigh as he halted in the middle of the training grounds. The cool air calmed him down a bit as he ran his fingers through his hair in irritation. What was wrong with these people? Really? In the hallways? Where everyone could see you?

He looked up and stared at the horizon. Sure, he was frustrated in seeing his superiors, the people he considered to be his secondary parents, in a completely inappropriate and frankly, disgusting situation. But he was more annoyed at the fact that it was always him who kept walking in on them. He’d told the rest of his friends more than once about the captain and the commander’s affairs, but they never believed him, meaning that they’ve never encountered the unfortunate situation of seeing them together. The only person who was even remotely convinced was Armin, but at least he didn’t find it out the hard way. Lucky bastards. 

At the same time, however, his heart ached. He didn’t want to admit it to himself, but there was a tinge of envy that latched itself onto his heart. Niccolo and Sasha, Hange-san and the captain — they were all the same. Jean allowed himself to wonder for a brief moment just how it would be like to have your feelings returned, to be able to hold the person you loved in your arms and kiss them whenever you could. Even in the oddest of places. 

He shook his head and started his journey once more to the dining hall. These were selfish moments he rarely let himself entertain. He thought about her beautiful dark hair, those hardened yet, soft gray eyes, and found himself at peace with the fact that she was happy. Even if it wasn’t with him. Jean let a long breath out. He hoped, at the very least, thoughts of her would be enough to erase the image of his superiors from his mind. 

He hoped. 

-------

“What’s gotten your panties in a twist?”

Jean looked up and glared at Connie who had an eyebrow raised as he forked a piece of fruit and shoved it in his mouth. He didn’t realize he’d been scowling the entire time during breakfast, but it seemed like it couldn’t be helped. So much for not letting that image ruin his mood. Damn it. 

“You idiots wouldn’t believe me if I told you anyway,” Jean huffed as he glanced at everyone else pointedly. The first person he saw was Mikasa, of course, who sat across from Eren. They kept eating their food silently, as usual. Sasha was in the middle of grabbing another chunk of meat while Armin was the only one who seemed genuinely interested in whatever Jean was going to say. His blonde friend paused, looked up at him, and spoke, “Is this about the captain and Hange-san again, Jean?”

This grabbed Sasha and Connie’s attention who immediately stared at Jean with amused expressions. 

“Come on, Jean. We know they’re always together,” Connie stretched out the last word, his mouth full of food as he waved his fork around in front of his face, “but like, together, together? I find that really hard to believe.”

“Plus, the captain? Feelings? Love? ” Sasha scoffed, taking a large bite of the meat in front of her and then resting her arm on Connie’s shoulder, “Doesn’t sound like he’d be the type. He’s always grumpy and Hange-san is the complete opposite. I don’t even know if he’s capable of being someone’s… partner .”

Jean raised an eyebrow at her as he propped up his elbow and rested his chin on his palm, “And what do you know about love and partnerships, huh Sasha?”

Sasha obviously hadn’t been expecting that jab, which then prompted her to start choking on her meat and slamming the table with her fist. 

“Oi! Sasha!” Connie exclaimed, immediately standing up and moving behind her to perform the Heimlich maneuver. After about five seconds, she spat out a large piece of beef which landed right in front of Armin who conveniently sat next to Jean himself. Instead of disgust, Armin just sighed, took his tray, and moved to Jean’s other side. 

“The hell was that, Jeanboi?!” Sasha cried out after chugging down a glass of water. Her face was all red from the near-choking experience, which was a convenient way to hide any blush. Jean, who had stood up out of concern earlier now sat back down as he took in his friend’s question. Connie slapped a hand to his forehead as he moved back to his old position. Eren and Mikasa sat there unmoving as expected. 

“It was a simple question,” Jean said calmly, taking a sip of his water. His friend was annoyingly way too obvious. “Didn’t know you’d be so affected by the whole concept of love .”

Sasha had the absolute audacity to give him a confused look as Connie tried stifling his laughter by putting a hand over his mouth. “It just took me off guard, okay? I don’t know anything about love ,” she argued, her face still flaming hot as she gave Jean a pointed look before going back and shoving more food down her throat. He looked to Connie who rolled his eyes as his lips turned into a smirk, and before Jean was about to straight-up call her out for her obvious feelings towards the Marleyan chef, the large wooden doors of the dining hall opened loudly. 

“Good morning, everyone!” Hange-san’s cheerful voice echoed across the large room. Jean groaned inwardly as he made no move of looking at her and the captain, whom he was pretty sure was next to her if not trailing behind her. He still had yet to get the image of them in the hallway out of his head, and he prayed that they weren’t going to be staying too long. If they were, then he had to start racking his brain for a good excuse to get out of there. 

“Good morning Hange-san,” Armin greeted, a small smile on his lips. Everyone else nodded in recognition as the commander went to stand in front of the end of the long table, a relaxed smile gracing her lips. The captain was instantly by her side, crossing his arms and glancing at everyone with his usual passive expression. However, there was something different with the way he held himself together. His shoulders were more relaxed, his eyebrows weren’t as scrunched up, and he had a faint blush on his cheeks. They were both dressed in their civilian attire and seemed ready to leave. Jean didn’t notice all of these, of course. He kept his head down and continued to silently eat his food. 

“Just wanted to let you guys know that Levi and I will be going out to town today to check on some of the infrastructures,” the commander spoke, both in a friendly and semi-authoritative tone, her brown eyes sparkling slightly with excitement over the innovations they were doing on the island, “I take that all of you will be going out to town as well?”

“Yeah, we’re planning on going around and visiting Niccolo for lunch. Sasha’s missed his food already.” Armin said, a slightly teasing tone on his part. Jean knew that Armin had been on board with the whole “getting Sasha and Niccolo together” agenda. He was even the first person to notice their affections for one another. But he had chastised Jean and Connie for pushing it to happen. He argued that it was much better for them to figure things out themselves which he insisted would happen naturally. Jean and Connie shared some of his sentiments but ultimately got tired of the incessant mutual pining. But then again, Jean thought suddenly, if those two would get together then he would not only have one but twice the chance of finding himself in another unfortunate and disgusting situation. The thought of walking in on Sasha and Niccolo multiplied his feelings of annoyance which made him bring a hand to his face to start massaging his temples. 

“Everything okay, Jean?” Hange asked suddenly, concerned. She maneuvered her way next to him and placed a firm hand on his shoulder. Jean yelped a little before removing his hand from his face and looking up at her. Damn it , he thought, his face heating up, he still couldn’t take that image earlier from his head. It also didn’t help how he started thinking of all the times he had caught her, Uhm, aroused expression. “I’m fine, Hange-san. Just a little headache. Nothing to worry about.”

The commander’s eyebrows scrunched together and Jean couldn’t help but break eye contact and stare at the wall behind her shoulder. He knew how protective Hange-san could be at times. She wasn’t as overbearing as his mother, but he still prayed then and there that she would just accept his response and leave his personal space. 

“Don’t overwork yourself, alright? Or any of you,” she added, looking up and down the row, “It’s your day off. You all did a wonderful job yesterday and deserve to rest. If you want, you can just stay in your room and take a nap or something. Going into town can be tiring and—”

“The brat said he was fine, Hange,” the captain spoke up, his expression unreadable as always as he directed his gaze towards the two, “Stop doting on him. He can take care of himself. I mean, look at how big he’s gotten.”

There was a hint of bitterness at his voice which Hange simply laughed at. She gave Jean’s shoulder a light squeeze before catching his eye and giving him a small smile. Jean nodded and gave her a tight-lipped smile of his own, hoping that it would be enough. Hange searched his eyes for a bit as if making sure he really was okay, before nodding and moving back to the captain’s side. “Don’t stay out too long, alright? We still have a meeting with Zackley tomorrow and I expect everyone to be there.” her face suddenly shifted and became a little stern. 

“Yes, commander,” everyone spoke simultaneously. 

“Come on,” Captain Levi suddenly started walking away without a glance back. Hange scrambled after him as she laughed and shook her head, all the while mumbling something beneath her breath. The moment the door closed behind them, Armin stood up which grabbed everyone’s attention. 

“Jean is right, guys,” he spoke, glancing down at the man, “There’s really something going on with the captain and Hange-san. I may not have seen it but I can tell.”

Connie scoffed as Sasha shook her head. “They’ve always been like that. They’ve been close friends for years , haven’t they?” Connie explained, “I just can’t see them making out and holding hands or being all weird and sweet with one another just like what Jean keeps saying.”

“That’s because you actually didn’t , Connie,” Jean frowned, “If any of you idiots actually saw them making out or worse , then we wouldn’t be having this dumb conversation. And yeah, they’ve been close friends for years which all the more makes it reasonable for them to get together and shit.”

“If that’s the case then Sasha and I should have gotten together years ago too, huh?” Connie jabbed, elbowing Sasha who started to laugh at the idea. Jean rolled his eyes and swore under his breath. There really wasn’t any point in arguing with everyone, especially those two. All he could hope for was that the captain and the commander would eventually slip up and display their affections for the rest of the world to see.

“Okay, how about this,” Connie started, standing up as well and spreading his arms, his eyes twinkling, “They’re going to town, right? What if we follow them for a couple of hours and see how they act around each other without us? That way we can really prove if they have a romantic relationship or not.”   

Jean raised an eyebrow at his friend. That was a bad idea. As much as he wanted to prove to everyone otherwise, he wasn’t really keen on following those two and seeing more of them than he already had. There was also the whole issue with Captain Levi. He’d like to think that Hange-san wouldn’t really mind getting caught, but what if she did? Now that would also cause some problems. But Sasha was already nodding her head and agreeing to the plan. Even Eren glanced up, a little curious about the situation. Mikasa scoffed but said nothing. 

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea, guys.” Armin said, being the voice of reason once again, “What if we—”

“Don’t worry, Armin. We’ll be careful. Besides, it’s everyone’s day off so a lot of us should be going to town, right?” Sasha argued, “It’ll be crowded which would make it easier to follow them, undetected.”

“And!” Connie smirked, digging into his pocket before placing a handful of money on the table, “We should all place a bet on it! Whoever wins with their argument gets to split the money.”

“Oh! And we should put lunch on the losing side’s tab!” Sasha grinned, confident that she would be getting a free lunch, “Oi Mikasa, Eren, what side are you guys on?”

She turned towards the pair and was surprised to find that Mikasa was the first one to speak. “That shorty? And Hange-san?” she shook her head and placed a wad of cash on top of Connie’s pile before proceeding to finish the rest of her food, “Hange-san is too good for that runt.”

Jean, a little stunned at how willing she was on playing this dumb game, gave a minuscule shake of his head. Sure, Hange-san was much livelier and friendlier, but the captain had a hidden kindness within him that Jean had seen with the way he had made tea for everyone one particularly tense evening when negotiations with the volunteers were difficult to achieve. He saw it in the way he oversaw some of their training and heavily criticized their skills, even going as far as demonstrating how to fight better. He saw it in the way he always looked to Hange-san whenever they were in a stressful and tense meeting, concern evident in his eyes. Throughout all these years, he could confidently say that Captain Levi was a good and kind man, and he was pretty sure even Mikasa knew that despite her small dislike for him. 

Connie smiled triumphantly and looked at Jean with an “I told you so” expression plastered on his face. Before he could say anything more, Eren spoke up. “I agree with Jean and Armin. The captain and Hange-san have a deep bond.”

Could this day be more full of surprises? He glanced over at Eren who didn’t even look up. His tone and voice, though dry and quiet was filled with an assurance Jean couldn’t place his finger on. Eren had been like that for a bit of time now, which Jean could only connect with him seeing his father’s memories and the anxiety of facing enemy forces outside the island. He didn’t think Eren, out of all people, would even care to talk about this sort of thing, especially given how oblivious he was to Mikasa’s feelings for him. He shook his head again and focused on Armin’s surprised face. He didn’t seem to expect Eren to participate in this small gamble either. No one did. Armin studied his face a little bit before nodding, suddenly looking pleased. “That’s good then. So three against three.” 

Jean was a little hesitant to bet with money out of all things (and lunch), but the moment Armin fished out a good amount of his own and placed it on the table, he felt as if he had no choice but to follow through as well. He stared at the growing pile of cash and started to wonder how he would be spending his share. Oh well. He could think about that after he stuffed himself with some free lobster. 

“Wait so who would keep the money for now?” Sasha asked, looking around the table, “ I’d love to , but I might lose all that that cash —”

“Not to mention, you might accidentally keep some for yourself,” Connie rolled his eyes. He started reaching out for the pile, “Here, I’ll take it —”

“ No ,” Armin said firmly, already whipping out an empty pouch and started shoving in loads of cash, “If any of you two kept it, it’d be a disaster, to say the least. We’re giving it to Mikasa.”

For the first time in his life, Jean silently prayed for the captain and commander to actually give them a show. 

They better not let him down. 

-------

Jean, once again, had absolutely enough of it. 

It was hot, the streets were crowded, and they hadn’t anticipated the idea that their two superiors wouldn’t just be looking at the infrastructure. After checking with some of the other builders, they had also gone to the public library, the market, and into the small tea shop, everyone knew Captain Levi loved. They acted the same as they would whenever the rest of them were there, which was both disappointing and relieving for Jean. It didn’t help how rowdy Connie and Sasha were the entire time — making jokes and commentary on just how special their relationship was. They kept going on about how walking together was so “ romantic ” and how going to buy tea was so “ nerve-wracking .” Jean wanted to bash his head against the wall. Actually, he wanted to bash their heads against a wall. If they had paid closer attention, they would have seen the soft gazes the captain directed to Hange-san the entire time, or how she went out of her way to pay for the tea and buy an extra tin for him. These two were being ridiculous and it had gotten to the point where he would rather just pay for their lunch instead of spending another hour going around in a futile attempt to disprove them.

Armin, Mikasa, and Eren were silent most of the time but they overall didn’t seem to mind what was going on. Like Sasha said, It was a good thing that the streets were crowded which made it easier to hide from the two. They eventually ended up in the local park where they sat down on a bench and seemed to start having a serious discussion. The six of them all sat by a large tree behind the two, only half-observing them. 

“Can we just declare victory already? I’m so hungry,” Sasha complained, wiping sweat away from her forehead. Connie nodded, shooting Jean a disgruntled look. 

“Oi! Don’t look at me like that!” Jean exclaimed, stretching his long legs across the grass and pointing an accusing finger at the two, “This wasn’t even my idea.”

“There wasn’t anything wrong with going out, you guys,” Armin said, rolling his eyes as he continued to stare at their two superior officers. “Besides, it’s only eleven. We can stay here for a couple of minutes more, and Jean, Eren, and I will treat the rest of you to the seafood.”

Armin had a disgruntled look, a little frustrated with the situation as well. His gambles had always been correct and so this was new territory for him. Eren rolled his eyes and scoffed, however, there was still a knowing look plastered across his face. He lifted his finger and pointed to the two, “They’re getting up.”

At this, everyone whipped their heads to look at the “couple.” When they started making their way to where the six of them sat, Armin immediately whispered-yelled, “Quick! Everyone to the bushes!”

They all collectively scrambled to hide behind a large bush that surprisingly managed to obscure all of them together. Because this section of the park was rather quiet and relatively free of people, they all heard each footstep and noise the two had omitted. Which turned out to both be a good and horrible thing. 

“Do you think they’ll get back soon?” Hange asked, her voice harboring a mischievous edge to it. 

“Those brats are still going to eat lunch. That should take a while, considering one of them is obsessed with the Marleyan.” Levi scoffed at her. 

Sasha knitted her eyebrows and blushed fiercely, and because her curiosity got the best of her, she tore away one of the branches in the bush and made a space to watch the two converse. 

“Aw, Sasha and Niccolo are just so adorable ,” Hange cooed, sitting against the large tree where they previously sat, giving everyone a perfect view of her and Captain Levi. “It’s a shame neither of them has figured out their feelings yet. They would be so nice together.”

Levi raised an eyebrow before hesitantly coming to sit next to her. “You’d actually let the soldiers date?” he asked incredulously, a disbelieving expression on his face. “And why do we have to sit on the fucking ground out of all places?”

“I told you, it’s much chiller under here,” Hange smiled softly, “And, well, Sasha is a big girl. I’m sure she wouldn’t let that distract her from her duties. Kind of reminds me of the good old days.”

“But then why do we still have to fucking hide around?” Captain Levi asked, a small pout making its way to his lips. Jean tilted his head slightly just to catch Connie and Sasha’s eyes widening. Mikasa had a look of absolute disgust, while Eren and Armin both had a small smirk on their face. 

“ Because , clean-freak,” Hange rolled her eyes, grabbing his hand with one of her own and caressing his cheek with the other, “We have to be proper role models. And,” she grinned naughtily, leaning towards the captain, “Isn’t it much more exciting to have a forbidden relationship ?”

Though she said that last part much softer, everyone still heard her. The bold statement alone was already enough to garner a reaction from the rest of the group, but then the captain hummed in agreement before quickly grabbing the commander’s head and pressing his lips against hers. They would have gotten away with this entire situation if only Sasha hadn’t gasped so loudly and if Connie hadn’t jumped up and away, both their faces flaming red. Though Jean felt immense satisfaction at seeing not only Sasha getting called out, as well as them finally witnessing the captain and Hange-san’s secret love affair , he felt his blood run cold. He sat there, frozen, sure that any second now the adults would be coming for him and his friends. 

It wasn’t long before Hange-san and the captain appeared before them. And though the latter had an incredibly annoyed expression, his arms crossed and all, he didn’t seem angry as Jean expected. Hange-san simply harbored an amused expression on her face as she giggled at everyone’s positions. “Well, so much for a forbidden relationship, huh, Levi?”

“Which one of you brats was responsible for this?” the captain huffed, his face tinged a little red as he glared at every single pair of eyes. Eren and Mikasa simply gave him a passive expression, though Jean could swear that the latter had been annoyed with the way she sneered at the captain. Connie and Sasha were sprawled all over the grass, their faces flaming even more at the sight of their two superiors. After a couple of seconds, Armin stood up and calmly spoke, “We all made a bet on the nature of your relationship and decided to follow you, captain.”

The adults looked at each other, seemingly speaking through their minds. Jean never really figured out how they did that, but he supposed it was from years of fighting together side by side. After a few tense seconds, Hange-san burst out in laughter. “I’m surprised it took you kids this long to figure it out,” she giggled, surprising everyone with her words, “I thought for sure we would have been caught a while ago. Levi isn’t exactly subtle—”

“Oi! Don’t put this on me!” Levi said, scandalized. “ You’re the one who insisted I come along today—”

“Wasn’t it you who insisted?” Hange said, putting a hand on her hip, “I told you, I was going to meet up with Onyankopon—”

Everyone stared at them with wide eyes as they continued to bicker like an old married couple. Jean was prepared to kneel and beg the captain not to make them scrub the toilets at HQ. He was also prepared to lie about the situation and make something up that would ease the situation. He was also prepared to run the fuck away and blend back into the crowd. He wasn’t prepared, however, for the two adults to find amusement in the situation and continue to flirt their hearts out. What the fuck?

“For fuck’s sake, we have better things to do.” the captain finally said, slapping a palm on the commander’s face, cutting off her story about how he expertly persuaded her to do things in Zackley’s office years ago ( thank god he did that) , “You brats said you made a bet? 

Everyone nodded, save for Mikasa. Connie and Sasha were finally starting to snap out of it, though, Jean couldn’t tell. Their faces were still on fire and they still refused to make eye contact. 

“Pay the fuck up then.” the captain said firmly, stretching out the hand that wasn’t on the commander’s face, “We don’t have all day. Hand that shit over and go back to headquarters if you brats don’t want to clean the entire fucking castle with a toothbrush.”

Jean’s eyes shifted to the commander who finally took off the captain’s hand off her face. A few tense seconds passed before Mikasa sighed, stood up, and placed the pouch on top of the captain’s hand. The Ackermans glared at each other, pretty much like they always do, before Mikasa gave him a tight-lipped smirk and walked away. 

“Now kids,” Hange-san said, leaning down and putting up a finger as the captain started to count the money, “Following your superior ranking officers around town the entire morning and delving into their personal lives isn’t really nice.” she said, her brown eye gleaming and her voice dripping with obvious sarcasm, “However, I must commend you for taking the initiative to ah, survey the situation and going out of your way to discovering the, hmm, truth . I’m proud of all of you.”

“Now get lost.” The captain spat out before Jean could even comprehend the commander’s words. They immediately did as they were told and ran the hell away from the weird couple. Connie tripped twice and Sasha pressed her hands to her head, muttering “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god” over and over again. Armin was a little flustered as he shook his head, and Mikasa had an incredibly disgruntled and disgusted look on her face. Jean met Eren’s eyes as they ran away, and he gave him a small smile — the first he had seen in a long time. 

Jean felt a mix of emotions. He was startled and confused. He was also satisfied and pleased. But most of all, he was frustrated at the fact he wasn’t able to get free lobster. 

Oh well , he thought as they finally came to a halt by the exit of the park, he’d surely get full from all the gloating he was about to do. 

-------

“So that’s why you sent them back home.” Hange chuckled as she sat in front of him. 

Levi scoffed as he started to peruse the menu. “If I didn’t then they’d just bother us here too.”

“You’re just grumpy because you lost the bet, captain.” Hange hummed, drumming her fingers on the table as she started to flip through the menu as well, “I told you they were onto us. Or that they already knew. You didn’t listen.”

“Whatever, Commander .” Levi huffed, “I’m getting your free lunch already, as promised. Stop rubbing it in.”

“But that’s not exactly fair since you stole the kids’ money.”

Levi glared at her as Niccolo finally appeared in front of their table. 

“Oh! Commander Hange! Captain Levi! What can I get you two—”

“We’ll have two orders of the lobster and some tea,” Levi said, already knowing what Hange was going to order, “And here,” he grabbed half of the amount they had collected from the kids and shoved it into Niccolo’s hands. “Take Sasha out once we get back from Marley, you hear me? Don’t be a chicken shit about it.”

The chef stared at him blushed furiously, “I uh— I don’t know—”

“If I were you, I’d just listen to him, Niccolo.” Hange smiled, patting his arm gently, “I’m sure she likes you too.”

Niccolo just stood there, looking back and forth between the two, his face incredibly red. Hange couldn’t help but chuckle again. Ah, this reminds me of the good old days.

“Stop standing there and get our food,” Levi huffed, crossing his arms and looking up at the kid, “You look like a constipated freak.”

He eventually pocketed the cash, making sure it was okay to do so, and scurried back to the kitchen.

“Happy now? I’ll get you cookies from the bakery after we eat, okay?” Levi said, staring at her pointedly. 

She looked at him affectionately before straightening her back in her position, “Do you think he’ll really do it?”

“Tch.” Levi said, a small grin tugging his lips as his eyes softened, taking in her beauty, “Don’t underestimate him. If I could do it, then he could do it too.”