Chapter Text
July 22, 851
“You called for me, Captain?”
Levi didn’t turn to greet his guest. He was way too preoccupied cleaning the tube of the turntable before him.
“Did Hanji talk to you yet?” he asked through the cloth hanging over his mouth.
“No, sir.”
“Of course not,” Levi tsk’d. “Well, you won’t be joining them for your usual appointment today. They went to Mitras to take care of business with Erwin. Today you’re free to do whatever you please.”
“Thank you, sir.”
With that, Levi continued his aggressive cleaning task. He felt somewhat accomplished to see that the brass was beginning to shine.
“Excuse me, Captain?”
The man actually did turn this time, surprised to see that Eren was still standing there in front of the doorway. He narrowed his eyes. “What? Do you need me to spell out that you’re dismissed?”
Perhaps that was a little cruel seeing as that was how Eren, as a soldier, was molded to function, but today Levi didn’t feel like wasting his breath when there was so much cleaning to be done. The main study of the northern base was spacious, but it was also a pigsty. Levi would have an aneurism if he so much as considered leaving it unattended.
“N-no, sir! I just…” Eren looked cautiously curious. “What is that?”
“What is what?” his commander shot back impatiently. He observed the teenager quickly glance past him to the object he had recently been focusing on. A crinkle appeared between his eyebrows. “What, are you daft? It’s a phonograph, you idiot.”
“I apologize, Captain. I…” Eren’s apology was rushed. It looked like he was trying hard not to look down at his shoes. “I don’t know what that is…”
“Don’t know what…” The creases in Levi’s forehead got a little deeper with every word before he trailed off. He looked back at the player, then back at Eren, trying to give reason to the situation. Eren’s home lied in the Shiganshina District, one of the four outermost cities of the three rings, which probably meant his upbringing wasn’t exactly luxurious. Neither was Levi's, but even living in the Underground the man knew damn well what a phonograph was! Levi couldn’t say record players were a common possession, seeing as they were a somewhat new form of technology mostly coveted by the nobility, but he didn’t think they’d be so obscure in name for even Eren not to know what one was.1
He pointedly looked at one of the bookcases behind Eren that held a small collection of records on the bottom shelf. He pulled the handkerchief from his face when he said, “Grab one of those albums there by your feet. It’s time I educated you.”
Eren nodded before dropping into a crouch as he was told. Upon making a random selection, he rose quickly enough to make Levi want to smirk. He could practically see his tail wagging.
Once Eren handed him the case, Levi carefully pulled out the record, wrinkling his nose when he noticed the dust clinging to the edges of it. He gave it a quick rub down until he was satisfied, then went to work putting it on. Eren was hovering nearby, watching with an atmosphere of excitement. He jumped when a presumptuously loud trumpet cut through the room without much warning. While Eren stumbled away to gain some distance, Levi tilted his head to the side, rubbing his temple with his right hand. “Of course you would pick out the most obnoxious record in the collection. Go get another one.”
He jerked the needle away before any more horrendous instruments could make their debut, heard Eren shuffling behind him, and as soon as he lifted the disc off the stage, Eren was handing him a new one. Levi traded him, taking note that Eren had taken the time to dust it off himself beforehand. He set the needle on this one carefully, hoping for something more peaceful. When it began playing however, he hadn’t expected to recognize it.
“El Tango De Roxanne…” he hummed, letting his eyes drift shut. This brought back memories from younger days.2
“El… What?” And just like that, his reminiscence was destroyed.
Levi opened his eyes. “The Tango of Roxanne: an old, cultured dance that resurfaced some years ago. I think it’s speculated to pre-date the Walls.”
“Dance? You can dance to this, sir?” Eren seemed genuinely unconvinced. The man pinned him with his gaze. “I’m sorry. What kind of music do you dance to? For someone who didn’t know what a damn phonograph was, I’m sure the answer should be interesting.”
The boy seemed to shrink when he averted his eyes. “I don’t dance… sir.”
“Duly noted.”
Levi looked Eren up and down. He was standing uptight with a pitiful expression on his face. Those eyes were fucking ridiculous, so Levi couldn’t help himself. With a sigh, he pulled off both of his cleaning bandanas as well as his gloves before setting everything in a neat stack on the neighboring sofa. Adjusting his cuffs, his gaze met Eren’s again. “Shall I teach you?”
Eren blinked. “I’m sorry, Captain. I don’t—“
“It is a simple yes or no question, brat. Though laughable as it is alone for the Hope of Humanity to not know how to carry out basic choreography, the fact that Eren fucking Jaeger might be considering turning down a challenge is even more unheard of and worthy of a few giggles. Would you like to learn how to dance or not?” Levi was getting impatient again. Granted, he was kind of being a manipulative little shit, but that might’ve been due to his sudden eagerness. Despite what most would (wrongly) assume, he quite liked to dance, and hadn’t since he’d left the Underground—for reasons too painful to recall. It was an opportunity to relax that he simply didn’t have anymore, but now Eren was giving him that opportunity, as incidental as it was, and Levi decided he was rightly going to take advantage of it.
“Y-Yes, sir!”
Perhaps Levi had pushed him to the point where the kid had given him an answer backed by fear. Oops.
Oh well.
“Come here then,” Levi ordered brusquely. Eren complied with three large steps until he and his Captain were centimeters apart. Seeing him immediately adopt the position of attention made Levi want to push him over. Instead, he settled for words. “Relax. I’m not going to feel like I’m dancing with a tree.”
Eren’s shoulders dropped hesitantly and soon enough he was visibly loose. He was somewhat startled when Levi snagged his right hand. The man raised it off to the side so it was about level with his own nose, then he grabbed Eren’s other hand and placed it over his own shoulder blade. This time he was sure Eren himself was going to have an aneurism from the look on his face. He snaked his free hand around the boy’s back and without warning, he pulled Eren in with enough force to make him stumble, knocking their bodies together. Levi stood unfazed while Eren sucked air in through his teeth, more than likely out of perplexed panic.
“Personal space doesn't exist right now,” he asserted. Eren’s gaze flickered every which way, as if trying to process exactly what this new development meant. Obviously, the shifter had bitten off more than he could chew when he accepted such a proposal, and never had he ever anticipated that he'd be obliged to have the grace distance from his superior shortened to a mere ten centimeters. The raven was only a little bitter over how much taller the teenager had grown in a single year, repressing the scowl upon noticing his eye level now aligned with the other’s chin.
“Mirror my movements. When I step back, you step forward. When I step forward, you step back. Keep a firm grip on my hand. Can you manage that?” asked Levi. Eren nodded, throat bobbing. Levi ignored this, and by the first exclamation of “Roxanne”, his foot had taken off.
As expected, Eren stumbled when he was jerked forward, but Levi disregarded it. He kept it simple for a bit: one step forward, one step back. When Eren got the hang of that, he started to mix in a few more turns and twists. Their steps became struts and Levi pushed more sweeping motions closer to the essence of tango rather than basic ballroom. It wasn’t the type of dance that was easy to improvise, but Levi made it work. In spite of Eren’s frequent stumbling and the moments in which he stepped on the Captain's toes twice (where looks of utter mortification followed because scuffing the officer’s shoes would've surely earned anyone a kick to the stomach), the latter decided to keep going because Eren's looks of fear quickly turned to ones of frustration. He honestly wanted to get this right.
However, as much as Levi admired how much of a dedicated learner Eren was, he couldn't ignore his third misstep at the cost of his toes. “If you step on my shoes again, I will make you lick them clean.”
“Sorry!”
Levi sighed. Of course, he didn't mean that; the human mouth was filthy. He couldn't deny that he was actually enjoying himself though. They spun, and this time Eren managed to be decently graceful. Levi's eyes wandered about Eren's, who was too concentrated on staring down at the movements of their feet to notice anything else. The color of them was truly fucking weird, if Levi had to describe them. For a long time, he’d been unable to tell whether they were blue or green, but upon further scrutiny, he realized their hue lied somewhere in the middle, complimented by flecks of grey. There was definitely some bizarre teal shit going on, which was even more perplexing when he recalled moments in the past where he would’ve sworn they looked golden. And why the hell were they so god damn huge?
Levi stopped thinking about it. The spoken verse came on. Time to change it up.
“Lead.”
“...Sir?” Eren looked into his eyes for the first time since they started. Almost reflexively, Levi's averted off to the side. Eren's were simply too fucking ridiculous to look at anymore.
“Take the lead. Let me see what you can do,” his Captain ordered curtly. With some hesitation, Eren nodded.
The reverse in their roles came out shockingly fluid. Eren’s hand caressed his back gingerly, and Levi was surprised at how gentle his pushes and pulls were, but that may've very well been because Eren was cautious of somehow pissing Levi off rather than delicacy, not to mention that it felt like he was clutching onto Levi’s hand like his life depended on it. Also noticeable was the fact that he tripped up a lot less leading than when he did following. Perhaps it was the control. It was much easier to lead than it was to follow in dancing, at least in Levi's perspective.
Once Levi was sure Eren was comfortable, it was time to step the game up.
He whipped his leg out behind him in time with the end of the next line. What he hadn't expected was for Eren to immediately let go of him and curl into a defensive ball balanced on one leg.
…Are you shitting me?
The Captain stared for a moment, not entirely sure what he should be doing in this situation. Before he could settle on any kind of response, wide green eyes peaked up over a guarding arm, full of fear—like an animal struck one too many times by a master they still loved and respected.
Those god damn. Big-ass. Green eyes.
Levi honestly kind of wanted to laugh, enough that it damn near broke his facade. He looked away and brought a fist to his mouth, stifling any smile threatening his lips with a cough. Eren's stupid eyes were studying him, searching for any sign of hostility before he lowered his defenses. Instead, Levi stepped over to the phonograph and lifted the needle from the record, ceasing the music. In response, Eren's limbs dropped back down to his sides.
“I think that's enough for today,” said Levi, hand falling from his mouth.
“I... I'm sorry! We can keep going!” Eren's voice actually sounded panicked. His Squad Leader shook his head. “I need to finish cleaning. You're dismissed.”
The teen shut up then. When Levi directly dismissed him, he knew trying to argue promised a whole week of cleaning duties. So he nodded, saluted, and about-faced before striding out the door. Levi sighed at the sound of the click, then redressed himself in his cleaning gear. The phonograph itself wasn't even done, and there was still the rest of the study that needed attending. Perhaps he should've made Eren stay and help him.
The next morning, Levi got up, ate breakfast, and strode down the hall to continue the job. On the way there, he hadn't expected to run into the shitty brat again. Well, it wouldn't have been accurate to say he “ran into him” exactly. It was more like Levi turned his head to glance down a branching hall only to catch sight of Eren strutting alone in circles with his eyes downcast. Levi stopped out of impulse, staring at the spectacle. It didn't take long for him to realize that the kid was actually dancing by himself, clumsily humming what suspiciously sounded like the melody of a certain tango.
Levi faced forward and kept walking.
After maybe a couple more hours of intense cleaning, Levi could proudly say the study was as spotless as it could possibly get. He pulled his handkerchief from his face with a grimace, glancing at the phonograph in the corner. He hadn't removed the record from the stage, so it glistened in the light that penetrated the room almost provocatively. Levi crinkled his nose; what a silly observation. He turned to the chair behind the main desk and plopped down with a huff, propping his newly shined boots up on the corner, careful to keep the soles off the surface. A knock on the door stole his attention from the window. Levi looked up to see Hanji leaning in behind it, having returned from the capital late last night.
He wanted to punch himself repeatedly for what weird tinge of hope he had of it being that shitty brat.
“Heyyy, Levi. Do you know where Eren is?” they asked.
Levi tsk'd and shook his head. “Why would I? It's not my job to babysit him.”
Hanji raised their eyebrows. “Actually, yeah. It kind of is.”
“Get out,” growled Levi.
Hanji hummed, “Well if you see him, tell him I'm ready to run another test! Thanks!”
They shut the door much more quietly than what their enthusiasm had him dreading. He sighed, turning his head again to look out the window.
He hadn't imagined he would dig himself such a hole when he volunteered to be the kid's keeper. And by hole, Levi would be referring to the unexpected procession of their relationship. At first, Eren was a boy the Legion needed because he held some power humanity could use for their counterattack, so Levi swore to protect and control him. There was nothing else to it. Now Levi held that oath because Eren was someone he personally cared about. Granted, even over the past year and a half they'd spent working together in the Survey Corps, they hadn't actually associated with each other much outside of duties, missions, and training. But sometimes there were little quiet moments between them too, either in cleaning the same room or sharing tea to wind down after a particularly taxing day. Eren was getting the hang of reading the Captain’s moods, whether he was willing to converse or if it was better for the brat to keep his mouth shut. When it came to teaching him, Eren was eager and inquisitive, but not pushy, despite his diligence. He was a good soldier. And seeing that came the gradual unwelcome reality that Levi truthfully quite enjoyed the little idiot's company, that the tiny thorn he'd allowed to pierce his side had now grown to be some shitty tumor he was never going to be rid of, and that losing Eren would probably be as painful as when he lost his squad, or worse—two of his closest friends, and he wasn't willing to deal with that again. He wished he’d shut himself off before it’d gotten to this point, but it was far too late.
There was another sigh.
Levi blinked. Whoever the hell just sighed, it sure as fuck wasn't him.
He whipped his head around to scan the room, immediately catching sight of none other than Eren leaning his back against the door, eyes shut. The man only stared. Under normal circumstances, he might've said something, but this time he'd been caught off guard. He watched as the teenager stepped away from the door and looked up to meet eyes with him. Their matching stares didn’t last very long, and soon Eren's hands shot up in front of him to plead, “Please don't tell Ms. Hanji I'm here.”
“They're ready to run another test,” Levi delivered bluntly. Eren's eyes were clenched shut while he leaned his forehead against his praying hands. “I know...”
The man turned his gaze back to the window. “Alright.”
It was silent again for a minute.
“You're not going to tell her I'm here?”
“No. You seem like you need a break.”
“...Thank you, sir.”
Levi listened as Eren's boots pattered about the study. It was quiet again, but the man knew he couldn't savor it for long until Eren would open his big mouth again. He waited for it. When one minute turned into five, he concluded that Hell had permanently frozen over because the most that disturbed the silence since was some rustling that Levi could only assume was Eren looking through a few books. Could the little shit even read? He had to have been able to in order to pass the written tests during training, right? Or had the military stooped so low as to accept those that merely possessed the physical aptitude? Which… honestly, that’s essentially what they’d done to recruit Levi himself, so he wouldn't put it past them. Hell, he wouldn't even blame them. —Wait, of course Eren could read. Now that he remembered it, he and Mikasa were the only ones able to decipher that strange scri—
“Captain?”
Levi almost jumped. Almost. Why was he letting his guard down so easily? He turned his chin away from the fist he'd been leaning on and looked over until he saw Eren standing next to the turntable. The record was twirling quietly on the stage. Levi assumed he'd simply spun it with his finger.
“How does this work?”
“You have to crank it then put the needle on in order for any sound to be registered,” the other explained. Eren looked at the player. “...I don't see a needle.”
Levi pushed himself out of the chair. As soon as Eren noticed him making his way over, he stepped off to the side to get out of his way. The shorter one raised his hand and tapped the tool on the right. “This. This is the needle.”
He lifted the arm up to show the teen what he meant, where Eren nodded in understanding. He set it down near the outside of the disc, gave the crank on the side a few turns to give it juice, then flipped the switch to turn it on. Once again, El Tango De Roxanne rang throughout the study. He heard Eren hum in satisfaction.
“Captain...”
“Let me guess: you've been practicing on your own and you want me to continue teaching you?” Levi supplied with a slight glare. Eren shuffled his feet, then nodded a second time wordlessly. Levi honestly wasn't annoyed. In fact, it'd be more accurate to say he was happy Eren was interested. He just liked to watch him squirm.
He removed all of his cleaning gear once again. “Alright. Show me what you can do.”
Eren lit up like it was fucking King’s Day morning. He was quick to snake his arm around the man's back before Levi gestured with his chin for him to lead. He was surprised at how different it felt now as opposed to their first go around yesterday. Had he practiced all night or something? Eren took steps with the rhythm rather than fumbling about trying not to run Levi over. His grip was firmer, and his posture held a bit more confidence. Levi almost smiled.
“Well, you still have about as much grace as a bumbling titan but it's definitely an improvement. I'm amazed,” he commented smoothly. Eren gave a toothy grin, focus still on their moving feet.
“Eyes forward. You shouldn’t have to depend on them to avoid trampling your dance partner.”
The younger soldier swallowed, grin vanishing as he obeyed. He pinned his gaze somewhere over Levi’s head instead, which the latter only resented a little bit.
“Now if I start dancing for real, you're not going to nearly shit yourself again, are you?” he then asked for confirmation. Eren shook his head quickly. Levi bit back a smirk. Like a child...
Closing his eyes for a moment, he anticipated the melody of the bass and readied himself. Eren seemed to be preparing himself even more than Levi was, mentally anyway. Levi applauded him in his mind after his first boleo and Eren only kind of flinched. After that, he began to improvise more real (though basic) movements of tango, forcing Eren to keep up as well as he possibly could without looking too awkward. He wondered if he should risk a coupling but then thought better of it. He got the feeling that if he suddenly hooked his leg around Eren’s, the brat might toss him out the window in alarm and he didn't entirely fancy falling two stories into the rose gardens below. He briefly wondered if Eren would be able to pull off a lift with more practice. More specifically, he wondered if Eren would be able to lift him at all—Levi was a heavy guy after all, notwithstanding what his size would lead one to believe. The thought intrigued him greatly.
His intrigue was abruptly (and rudely, he might add) interrupted, courtesy of Eren tripping over himself for the third time since they began. It was only natural since the kid had been habitually staring at his feet until now, so Levi didn't stare him down too hard. The boy looked away sheepishly, sweat visible on his cheek. “S-Sorry.”
“Don't apologize for your fuck-ups. Learn from them,” said Levi. Eren attempted to calm himself. “Yes, sir.”
The Corporal closed his eyes for a few seconds, entertaining a new thought. It wasn't a bad idea. “Would you want to learn the actual choreography I know for this song?”
Eren eyes widened with vivid interest. “Yes, Captain! I mean, if you’d be willing to show me.“
Levi nodded minutely. “I would have to first teach you proper eights and walks, and you’d need to get into the habit of doing crosses and displacements without having to think about it first. Once you’ve gotten the hang of those, we’ll get to sketches, turns, and couplings. The main thing is I can’t have you flinching like a startled rabbit every time I kick my legs around because there’s a lot of that involved.”
He glanced up during his explanation to find the kid staring at him dumbly. He could practically see the gears struggling to turn in his head. Levi almost snorted.
“Don’t look so intimidated. Many of those are simple motions. The challenge is actually stringing them together in a way that doesn’t make you look like a scrambling dumbass,” he assured. Then as an afterthought, he added, “Though there’s not much hope for you in that department.”
Eren winced but didn’t try to deny it.
“I’ll be leading while I teach you, then we’ll switch and emulate. Ultimately, you’ll be learning the lead since you seem to take a better shine to that. You’ll get used to cuing all the steps while giving me space to handle all the embellishments. Your biggest hurdle will probably be supporting my weight; there are a fair few lifts to this song,” he continued pensively, watching as the other’s bearing twisted in alarm at that last bit.
“Lifts…?” the shifter echoed faintly. “As in… I’ll be picking you up, sir?”
“That’s typically what ‘lifting’ something means, yes,” Levi affirmed dryly. He caught Eren’s stricken gaze and narrowed his eyes. “Don’t worry. If you drop me, I can break both your arms as many times as it takes for them to come back strong enough not to do so.”
All the color drained from Eren’s face as his chin stiffly dipped in what might’ve been a nod of concession. Good, because Levi had no qualms making good on his threat. The kid might be diligent, but there was no harm in providing a little incentive. They had stopped dancing at this point, and Eren looked sufficiently overwhelmed, if not a little bit ill. But there was also that spark of determination smoldering in his eyes, the one that made Levi’s own eyes flash in fascination.
He glanced at the clock on the eastern wall of the office. Yeah, they had time to kill.
“Alright, let's get started.”