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"You shouldn't place that there," Zeke says, just a second before Levi drops his blue dot into a row. His gaze flicks up, hand hovering above the connect 4 board.
"Why?" Zeke smiles, letting out a breath, loose chuckles lacing with it.
"Because I'll win." Levi's grip on his dot tightens at the statement, and he holds Zeke's gaze for a beat, just long enough to let him know how truly infuriating he is before looking down at the board. There were things set up, sure, a couple pairs of red that Levi felt Zeke would eventually try to connect more to. But nothing dangerous or truly setting off any alarm within Levi.
"I don't see it." He says, resolved in his choice, dropping the dot, the plastic clinking together. "You're probably lying anyway."
Zeke did that -lying during games. They had played a variety of board games since coming here, and Zeke had been caught red-handed multiple times. And even when he didn't, he carried a sneaky, untrustworthy smile on his face after the game. He seemed to get glee just from getting away with it.
It pissed Levi off.
"My lies are usually better, Levi, trust me." Zeke smiles, and he looks genuine, sincerity clear in the looseness of his smile. Levi looked away from it and down to the other's hands, one red dot pinched between each forefinger and thumb. "I said it in your best interest."
"We're playing a game." Levi retorted, leaning back on the couch and crossing his arms. Zeke's smile hadn't faltered, his fingers moving the dots against each other absentmindedly. So it would take two moves, then, Levi thought, looking away from the soft-looking hair on the other's hand and at the board. Why did placing his dot there give Zeke an opportunity to win?
"I'd say we're playing several, Levi." Zeke raised a hand, dropping his dot onto Levi's last one. "We always have a little game between us. Wouldn't you say?"
"You never shut up…" Levi mumbled absentmindedly. His eyes scanned the board, looking for his sudden death. Oh -Levi's frown deepened; there it was. Levi’s previous move had set up Zeke to have two options to win -only one he can block before losing. He flicked his gaze up to meet Zeke's, breathing out his nose as Zeke smirked at him, pleased with the realization.
"Don't worry, Levi, we can quit once you've won one." Zeke's comment made Levi's neck hot, and if it weren't still his work hours, he wouldn't feel bad about stepping over the table and strangling Zeke. Just a little. Just enough to get his anger across. While they hadn't been at each other's throats lately, Levi figured being just a little violent with the other couldn't be a terrible thing -Zeke would probably say that it reminded him of old times.
Old times , Levi thought, dropping his useless dot onto the board. That was a strange thought.
Zeke raised his second dot, about to drop it before pulling back, his smile fading. "Would you like me to spare you? I could win in four or five rounds instead, depending on how you play -"
"Just fucking do it." Instantly Zeke’s teeth beamed, a grin framed by his beard. He’d been keeping it neatly groomed since they came here, completely different from how he looked in the forest. He showered regularly, always carrying some scent that Levi found his nose following. Zeke dropped his winning dot into the board and Levi blinked, re-gathering himself in reality from the sound of it.
“Again?” Levi nodded, solemn, and let Zeke prepare the board to be played again.
"Don't you have better things to do on your day off?" Levi asked, looking out the window. It was a late Sunday afternoon, a lull in the chaos weekends usually brought to the tea shop. Zeke had shown up as if he lived there, sauntering into the back for all of five seconds before Levi had pushed him out. It had felt like trying to move a wall, the other unmoving and tall, only letting Levi push him out after a moment of his efforts, probably for comedic fucking effect -
"Levi," Levi turned back to the other, who didn’t even bother to look at him, separating the game pieces into neat stacks on their respective sides of the table. "You're not falling asleep on me, are you? I think I have more wins up my sleeve."
"I'm not falling asleep." The words come out with more bite than Levi would have liked. They made Zeke smile, his gaze flicking up at Levi, amusement clear in the gleam that they've taken on. Levi half feels like punching him and half -
Full punching, Levi frowns, listlessly imagining it.
"Are you ready?" Zeke asked, pointing to the middle spot on the bottom row. "I would recommend placing your first dot here, and your second one -"
Zeke's words die in a toothy grin as Levi leaned forward, picking up a dot and dropping it on the far right side of the board. Unceremoniously, Zeke dropped his dead center, where he was pointing to just a moment ago, and Levi can feel he's lost already by how lax the other seems as he leans back. Levi picks up his next piece as Zeke waves at an approaching Petra. Levi ignores her, calculating where to put the dot as she sits beside Zeke, placing her hand on his thigh, the pair chuckling over some hushed joke that was probably at his own expense. With a loud clunk, his dot dropped onto Zeke's.
Zeke looked up to meet his gaze as if Levi was actually trying to get his attention.
"Play her." Petra smiled at Levi’s words; Zeke raised a brow as he sank back into the sofa.
"I mean, I'd love to," Petra started, smiling as she looked between the two. "But you just started this game, I don't want-"
"I concede." Petra laughed instantly at Levi's words, the sound full and happy. That was another thing that was strange. Levi couldn't get over the feeling of bit-back bile whenever he saw how happy and content she was here as compared to their time. Zeke caught his gaze, Levi knowing that he knew exactly what Levi was feeling. He expected to feel some sort of disgust or displeasure from that fact but instead felt wholly indifferent. His gaze flicked back to Petra as she spoke.
"Go over there, then, Zeke. I haven't been off my feet for hours and I do not want to get up for the next fifteen minutes."
Zeke moved, rounding the table and sitting down beside Levi, the side of the other’s leg pressing against his. Surely there was enough couch that they wouldn't have to be touching, Levi thought, crossing his arms. He kept his mouth shut instead of complaining about the contact, the other's leg feeling warm against his, present in his thoughts. If he imagined the appendage belonging to someone else, it wasn't the worst feeling in the world.
"Do you want to go first?" Zeke asked, tipping the board to let the few dots they had used spill out onto the table.
"Will that give me an advantage?" Petra asked, scooting up close to the end table, picking up a dot absentmindedly. Levi watched it twirl in her fingers as Zeke responded.
"I think generally, yes…" Zeke said it sheepishly, and Levi floundered for a moment, wondering what made his tone shift so steeply before recognizing the fact that he had started the past few games and lost one after the other. Zeke doesn't look back to catch Levi's glower.
Petra takes the first move, and it's followed quickly by Zeke, the game moving at a much faster pace than when Levi played him. Levi's following what they're doing closely, and when Zeke misses his first opening to win, Levi frowns. By the second one, he's ready to grab the other by the scruff of his neck and slam his face into the table. He wasn't playing like how he'd play Levi, and Petra, not having been witness to the previous games, seemed to grow in confidence as the board filled up and Zeke's opportunities dwindled.
Zeke leaned back after Petra slid a dot into the middle of the board, effectively trapping Zeke. Levi grit his teeth as the piss-colored ape leaned his head back towards him. When he spoke, his breath smelled of mint and was hot on Levi's cheeks, corners of his mouth curved down in feigned trepidation. "What do you think I should do, Levi?"
"Kill yourself." He mumbled without thinking, Zeke's face sobering at his words. Guilt hit Levi like a boulder to his gut, and he lifted his arm, gripping and tugging at Zeke’s beard. The blonde grunted, head bobbing once in shock from the rough behavior. Levi met Zeke’s gaze -one second, and then two, and his eyes flicked back to the board. He looked back to see Zeke’s eyes no longer on him, recognizing that he was telling himself to give the game to Petra. Levi could only hope that’d erase the stupidly pitiful look on his face.
“Please don’t give me a pity win.” Petra sighed from across the table, and Levi let his hand drop back to his lap, catching her glaring at Zeke. Zeke chuckled at her, leaning forward and away from Levi. Zeke's backside is separating, and Levi looks down at the board, watching in a few quick moves as Petra wins.
Levi zoned out as they played again and then another. By the third game, he's sure that couches here are far comfier than they are in their time, and by the fifth game he's certain that he can't really be here at all. The sunset spills into the tea shop in orange and purple, the man he's sworn to kill warm beside him, his dead comrade joking with him as if she truly enjoys Zeke's company. Levi can't help when his eyelids become heavy, so unlike how he feels in their time, and he lets them shut under the quiet chatter of those around him. He's not sure how long it's been before the bell above the door rings, but by the time he's blinked himself awake, Petra is at the counter with a customer and Zeke is putting the game back in its box.
Zeke seems to notice he's woken up, speaking before Levi even shifts. “I can tell you while you’re losing at this.”
“Why?” Levi asks, his voice sounding rough, slightly gravely from sleep. He really needed to get a hold of his sleep here.
“Because there’s rules you have to adhere to, and a board you can’t break out of…" Zeke says, shutting the box. "...and you’re a wild card, Levi. Your specialty is going against the norm, but in this game, you must follow it. You’re out of your element.”
Levi doesn't respond to him, feeling that ‘ you're out of your element’ bit deep in his gut. Even when they're not playing a game of Connect 4, Levi knew he was lost here. And if there were any true parallels between connect 4 and this time, then Levi's answer was sitting beside him, oblivious to Levi's stare and neatly putting away the connect 4 box under the table.