Work Text:
Levi looked up from the piles of paperwork strewn across his desk — one pile of things that needed to be signed by only him, one of things that needed Erwin’s approval as well, and one that needed to be finalized by the cadet it was in reference to. He sighed, and slumped back in his chair as he reached for his favorite book - the second in the series, and it was his third time re-reading it. He was disappointed that it was ending soon, as the author said they wished to switch gears to something more light-hearted, and so he had decided to re-read it from the beginning. Levi enjoyed the series so much that Hange had even taken him to a book signing on a recent day off after Levi forced them to read the first book in the series of ten books.
Slowly, it seemed like most of the veteran’s in the Survey Corps were reading it at Hange’s suggestion - and who wouldn’t blame them, it was almost comforting to read - a book about a different land, where the technology was jaw-dropping and the characters led seemingly normal lives, but each had their own internal battles that no one knew of but themselves - for one, it was their love life, for another, it was education, and for yet another, it was work. Their struggles and pain all seemed to intertwine and compliment one anothers. And their arc’s ebbed and flowed with one another's. Everyone couldn’t help but find a favorite, and many nights were spent by the fireplace, drinking tea and arguing over the characters and their arcs. Most people loved the three leads, and there was a small betting pool when the last book was released over who the lead would choose to be with of the two options they had.
But Levi - he couldn’t help but secretly be infatuated by one of the side characters. Someone who had gone through so much, but still managed to persevere. Someone who rarely depended on the other characters, and didn’t talk about their feelings as much as the others. They were the rock of the group, yet were somehow always left out by the rest. They were selfless, and expected to be perfect, and never broke like the rest of them. But inside, they fought battles no one could understand and that no one seemed to care about.
If he closed his eyes, Levi could almost picture them - their (h/c) hair, their (e/c) eyes, and a sweet smile that he loved to imagine. When the author released a series of portraits, the printed image looked exactly as Levi had imagined them to look - it was almost uncanny. And he never spoke of it to anyone, except Hange - who relentlessly teased Levi, saying he was in love with a fictional character.
He picked up the book and made his way to the bed, taking off his clothes and pulling the blankets over him before flipping the page to where his bookmark lay, and read the paragraph he left off at - there was his favorite character, sitting on the edge of their bed with a bottle of pills in their hand and a glass of water in the other.
You sighed as you flicked the light to your bedroom into the ‘on’ position, and kicked off your shoes. It was another day, full of restless thoughts and having to fake a smile and be the strong one. For everyone else, meeting up with friends was supposed to be a relief and something to look forward to - but for you, it seemed like you were always having to be the emotional punching bag, the one to sort out everyone’s problems and wipe away their tears.
And you just couldn’t do it anymore.
You slipped your coat off onto the floor. Crashing onto your bed. You reached for the nightstand and grabbed your copy of the 34th volume of your favorite manga - ‘ Attack on Titan’ . It was the finale. The final issue - and you were re-reading it for what must have been the fifth time in anticipation of the anime ending. But no matter how much you read, you couldn’t quite find the happiness you usually found in those pages. Not after the day you had.
You also couldn’t help but feel bad for your favorite character - Levi. He had seen so much and been through so much, and yet his ending was painful to read. Yes, he lived - but at what cost? Losing all the friends around him and being in the care of two people he barely knew. While there was some poetic drama in the ending, you wished that your favorite could have experienced a little more happiness and joy during the series. After all, he only smiled once in the entire series.
Another thing your friends made fun of you about was how dearly you loved this series, and how much you adored Captain Levi. One even went as far as to say you didn’t date real men- because who could ever compare to that. And even though it was sad to admit, there was a part of them that was right. You believed you were likely to never date, because how could someone compare to a 2-D man who was so perfect.
You sighed, and sat up on your bed. You looked towards your nightstand again, and found the bottle of pills you were supposed to have been taking daily for the last 2 months yet have been neglecting. Your legs hung over the edge of the bed, and you picked up the bottle of pills - staring at it in your hand, as the other clenched a glass of water.
You thought, and thought, and thought.
But in the end, you couldn’t take them. Not today. Not on your birthday, that everyone had forgotten. Hell, they’d all blame themselves if it was today.
So maybe tomorrow.
You pulled off your clothes, and pulled on your pajamas before climbing into bed and staring at the ceiling until your eyes fluttered closed, and you let sleep take over your brain.
Your eyes flickered open, the bright light shone almost as if the morning sun was taunting you. You groaned, and sat up before realizing you weren’t in your bed anymore. There was soft, wet grass beneath you and a brilliant late afternoon sky above you. You looked at the tree above you, and in the branches you could see two small white birds, standing next to each other and chirping.
“Must be nice,” you grumbled, and looked around again. Nothing was familiar. You knew you had never been in this place before, and had no idea where you were. You searched your bag, and your pockets. The only remnant of home was a small polaroid picture — one of the only ones you’d ever smiled in — that was stuffed in your pockets.You frantically looked around for anyone else - anyone who could tell you where you are, but alas, no other soul was in sight.
That's when you saw someone sitting down on a bench, not too far off and illuminated by the light orange glow of the sun that was beginning to set. You walked up lazily, hands in your pockets, before realizing that something about the profile of that person looked familiar. Too much so. The closer you got, the more defined they became - it was a man, not much older than you.
And then, when you were only a few feet away, they turned and faced you.
Black hair, styled in an undercut curtain. Their eyes were steely grey with hints of blue that were sparkling in the setting sun. A slightly upturned nose, chubby cheeks, a sharp jawline, thin lips. He looked exactly like Levi would if he was real.
They were wearing a Survey Corps uniform, and your immediate reaction told you that this was one spot-on Levi cosplayer.
Until they spoke.
“Oi, took you long enough, brat.”
Your breath was taken away. You knew that voice. In your reality, it was the voice of a voice actor that you had seen many times in videos on the internet - but this… this voice was coming from this man that clearly was not that voice actor.
“L-Levi?” your voice was shaky, and you were completely unsure of yourself.
“That’s my name,” he said with a soft smile on his lips- “(Y/N), it sure took you a while.”
You swallowed. “How do you know my name?”
“Hmm,” he hummed in response, and motioned for you to sit next to him. “Where I’m from, you’re a character in a book.”
You were taken aback. “W-what?”
“You’re part of a book, well - not just any book. My favorite book,” he explained, and sat up straighter as he crossed his arms and looked at you. “In fact, you’re - kind of…”
You shook your head, and cut off his words, “That must be a shitty book.”
“It- well, honestly yeah, - most of the other characters kind of suck. But you…” he began, and placed a warm, soft hand on your cheek, “you’re my favorite.”
You smiled, and looked into his eyes as you felt the warmth and softness of his hand on your face, and his thumb rubbing circles on your cheek. “L-Levi… where I come from, you - you’re not real either.”
“I know,” he murmured, “well, I figured anyway. It - it’s not the first time we’ve met like this, I think.”
Suddenly, you noticed how quickly the sun was setting, and you examined his face. You could see hurt behind his eyes, and knew there was no way he was lying. You felt your stomach drop, as you realized there was no wheelchair near him, no scar down his face, and both of his eyes were still that enchanting grey. “Levi, there's something I have to tell you! In your world… soon - you’re going to get hu-”
You were cut off by his finger pressing to your lips. “We... we can’t tell each other anything. I just… We can’t, or we won’t ever meet like this again.”
“How do you know?” you asked, worried about all the things you should say but couldn’t “Y-you don’t deserve any more pain…”
He hummed in response as he pressed your foreheads together, and you could see a hint of a smile on his lips. “I guess I just know somehow.”
“Oh.” You looked down for a moment, before looking back up into his eyes. “You’re my favorite too, you know…”
“I know,” he mumbled, as you felt his arms slip around you and pull you into a hug. “(Y/N) ... You’re so strong, and you’re doing so good, and I’m so proud of you.”
“But.. I…” you stammered, and as if instinct took over you embraced him softly, and could feel the warmth of his body against your own. “I... Tomorrow... I’m going to…” You could feel tears start to slip down your face.
He shook his head in response. “Please don’t, I love you, and I don’t want you to die.” He took out a handkerchief from his jacket’s pocket, and wiped away your tears softly, before placing it in your hand.
His words shocked you, as you pulled your head away from his to look into his eyes. You searched them for a moment, unsure of how to respond. “I- I guess it's not creepy then, to say I love you too.”
Before you knew what was happening, you felt his nose brush against your own, and his lips - soft and warm - pressed gently against your own as his arms brought you in closer to him.
He sighed as he pulled back from the kiss, and you could see that as the sun set, you both were slowly fading away from each other. Without thinking, you quickly dug through your pockets for the polaroid and placed it in his hand,
“Happy birthday, (Y/N),” he said softly, looking down at the picture and smiling, before stuffing it into his jacket’s pocket. You could feel that he was trying to grip onto you tighter, clenching onto your clothes. “One day, We'll meet again…”
Levi opened his eyes, and immediately felt the wetness on his face. He sighed, and rubbed his eyes before looking out the window at the rising sun. “It’s always just a dream,” he mumbled, and swung his legs off the edge of the bed. He looked down at the pile of clothes on the floor, and threw everything but his jacket and harness into the laundry bin. He hung up his jacket with care, knowing it was a day off so he would be in plain clothes. As he pressed his hands against the jacket, he realized something was off.
His handkerchief wasn’t in the breast pocket where it normally was. In fact, it was gone. He frowned, and reached his hand into the pocket. It was replaced by something hard, but flexible, and slick to the touch. An unfamiliar material.
He pulled out the thing that looked like a portrait, but was so much more detailed and realistic, and smiled as he saw you there - a younger version of you, smiling softly while the photograph was being taken. He felt a teardrop slip down his cheek, and held the photograph to his chest for a moment, hoping that this wasn’t just another part of a dream. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before looking at the photograph again, a smile on his lips as he admired your face, and your smile. Your smile was exactly as he had always imagined it.
“Until we meet again, (Y/N).”
Your eyes fluttered open, and you looked at the alarm clock that was blaring and making you aware that it was time to wake up and start getting ready. You sighed, remembering your dream, and pulled your pillow close to your chest as you let out a strangled sob. You clenched your fist with the hand that was under your pillow, and felt something there, barely still in your grasp.
Soft, but rough, and slightly dampened. You could feel that it was fabric, and you pulled it out from behind your pillow and into your field of vision.
A white handkerchief, with an embroidered dark green ‘L’ in the corner.
Your grasp on your pillow loosened, and you stifled back another sob as you rubbed your eyes and looked down at the handkerchief again, just to make sure it was really there.
“Until we meet again, Levi.”