#woke up -> immediately remembered I had this to work on -> panicked skdkfkgkkgkgk

[anniefall]

A Cure for What Ails you

Sfw, Levi x Reader, No Warnings—just shit jokes, Continuation of part 1

They say everyone likes someone that can make them laugh, but not much is said about how it feels to be the cause of that laughter. Levi is finding out.

You aren’t upset.

You aren’t upset.

…Maybe you’re a little upset.

Training hadn’t been horrible, per se, but it’s clear to you and everyone else that even now the Scouts are on another level. Despite surviving Trost in the initial battle for the wall, you just don’t have the experience fighting real Titans the way they do—and unfortunately, it seems that real-life situations are the only true way to evolve and improve your ODM skills. It's a horrifying thought, that you won't know how good you are until you fight for real.

You’re only a true Scout once you’ve made it back alive.

Words you’d heard Captain Levi imparting to other transfers during their very first training exercises ring clear in your head, sounding truer to you every moment.

You’d joined the Scouts because you believed in their cause, now more than ever—but it’s only taken a few months for the doubt to settle in that they wouldn’t be better off without you.

“Oi.”

“Eep!”

Too late, you realize the presence to your left—no longer alone in the room. Levi eyes you with a single arched brow as you turn to face him bashfully.

“Hey!” You clear your throat, trying to recover from the noise you’d just made, “Thought you’d be in a meeting all afternoon.”

“Something urgent came up that needed Erwin’s immediate attention, so it turns out I’m spared from his constant yapping for another day.”

You snort, once, mouth tilting up on one side momentarily, “it’s nice how close you are with your commander—I couldn’t imagine speaking so freely with Pyxis, even if I stayed with the Garrison for a hundred years.”

“Callin’ me old, brat?” He grunts, and you smirk again.

“I would never, Levi,” you tell him, testing the waters. You want to speak with him like Hange does—free to joke and to tease. You want to be closer to him, despite yourself, and it hadn’t seemed that he was averse to the idea.

He’d been the one to tell you to call him by name, after all—at least, when you weren’t obeying a direct order.

“I’m surprised you think so little of me.”

He clicks his tongue against his teeth, a habit of his, but even if he doesn’t reply to your coy tone you see his face soften a bit.

“What’s your issue, anyway?” He prods, shrewd eyes trained on your face, “you were thinking about something pretty hard when I came by. Looked like you hadn’t taken a decent shit for a week.”

Sometimes you forget.

Levi, for all his cool indifference and unflappable demeanor, is one of the most deeply understanding people you have ever met. You’ve seen firsthand how he can read situations and people, alike, like books from Erwin’s expansive shelves.

His jokes may not be all that funny, but they always seemed to come just in time to disturb any gathering negativity. It is difficult to focus on your worries when your superior is hurling toilet humor at you.

It’s not so much the surprise that gets you, this time, but the genuine affection that floods your chest at the idea that he might care for you, too. The doubts that had plagued your mind when you had snuck away into this room dissipate in order to make room for the soft joy that warms you to your very bones.

You laugh, again, full and yet, somehow lighter than a feather. Your eyes crease at the corners, your hand flies up to hide your mouth as if somehow that might stem the tide, but the carefree giggles keep coming—eager to free themselves after spending all day with nowhere to go.

“Oi, oi, oi—did you finally snap under all the pressure or something?”

Still laughing, you struggle to open your eyes wide enough to look at him. Your vision blurs a little at the edges, but you can see the way he stares at you as if wondering if he’d broken you.

That thought nearly has you doubling over. Hange had been right, he really has no clue what to do.

It’s cute.

He takes a cautious step forward as if thinking you might fall over. You don’t, though—eventually the laughing fit dies down into chuckles that are easier to manage, and you straighten yourself out as best you can.

He watches you. Your cheeks are flushed with the evidence of your joy. Your eyes are bright and glittering. Your smile is so wide it could split your face.

You’re beautiful like this.

The thought is sudden, and it tramples him like a stampeding horse—his heart beats like hooves pounding the ground.

To think that he said something to make you look at him that way…

“Thanks, Levi,” you sigh, and the tension has left your shoulders for a moment while you lean against the wall. You let your head fall back against it. Your eyes fall shut. You look peaceful. “You always know exactly what to say.”

He thinks he really doesn’t—but for you, he might be willing to stumble around in the dark if it means you would give him that smile just one more time.