things past curfew

by your_local_dumpster

Summary:

You are completely smitten with your sloe-eyed captain. Eren Yeager is completely smitten with you.

The only difference is that you’re content to admire Levi from afar, but Eren won't be satisfied until he's close enough to feel the racing of your heart.

Chapter 1

Apparently, being a Titan shifter means that you can get away with doing some really awful shit.

All of your fellow cadets have witnessed the way Eren treats you—bits and pieces of it, at least. But they're too intimidated to stand up to him, and your pride won’t allow you to approach the one person Eren fears the most. 

Telling Captain Levi, you’ve decided, is not an option.

 

 

At least Sasha, Connie, and Jean do what they can to protect you, while trying not to rouse Eren's ire. They do little things, like cocooning you into the center of the group while you're out doing your morning conditioning on the field. Making sure you're never left without a partner for training exercises, so that Eren never gets the chance to ask you to team up with him. They always try to get to the mess hall early enough to claim the four-person table at the far edge of the room. That way, they can hem you in with their chairs while you sit in the corner, flanked securely by two walls. And even if they're busy, they'll fetch one of the other cadets to walk with you, so you spend as little time alone as possible.

 

 

You can tell Eren's onto the cat-and-mouse game. And honestly, he probably enjoys it. He plays the war of attrition by waiting for the moments when you're by yourself; because no matter how diligent your friends try to be, you're not a helpless child, and the Survey Corps won't treat you as such. Petra, Keith, Levi... they don't really care about games played between cadets. If you're expected to do something, you go do something, and sometimes you do it alone.

 

 

Like right now.

 

 

You're on kitchen cleaning duty, which is pretty much the worst chore. At first, you all thought it was going to the latrines, but it turns out that bathrooms are deceptively easy to clean, and kitchens--ones responsible for feeding over two hundred people--are deceptively difficult. There are dishes to wash, and food items to store, on top of the regular sweeping, mopping, and dusting. Plus, if no one is on laundry duty that day, then you have to wash all the towels yourself.

 

 

Usually, there's two or even three cadets on kitchen cleaning duty after dinner, but tonight is a Progress Report night. Several of your fellow trainees are holed up with the squad leaders, running down their quarterly lists of improvements, regressions, and infractions. Unfortunately, the two scouts scheduled to be on kitchen duty ended up getting pulled into Progress Report, so Levi had requested two more cadets to replace them when creating this week's cleaning ledger. Of course you volunteered. Of course.

 

 

Your hand had shot up conspicuously. I don't mind, Captain. 

 

 

He'd nodded at you, then turned to look at the rest of the cadets standing on the field. He seemed thoroughly unimpressed with the wall of silence that met him.

 

 

That would have been enough right there. You could have carried that little nod with you for days. But later, when everyone was dispersing, Levi came up to you. Personally. And from his lips came the two most beautiful words you’d ever heard:

Thanks, Soldier.

 

 

It was stupid how much you wanted his approval. You were a nobody among nobodies to him, but you couldn't undo what was done. The impression he'd left on you was permanent. You had never met a man like him before; one who was so brutally strong, yet so quietly kind.

 

 

Levi had done something for you that he probably didn't even remember, way back when you first joined the Survey Corps. You were struggling a lot with the 3D maneuver gear; so much, in fact, you were ranked at the bottom of the class. You would get yourself in trouble for staying out after curfew just to get more time to practice. Late into the night, no matter how risky it was, you'd be out there in the forest, swinging by the light of the moon. Anything, anything to move up your rank. Over and over again, you repeated your mantra to yourself: better dead than weak.

 

 

The sheer amount and speed with which you accumulated curfew violations tipped you into probationary status after only two months in the Survey Corps. You kept going. You got in trouble for violating your probation. And with three probation violations, you found yourself standing in front of Captain Levi's desk, waiting to begin your exit interview.

 

 

"Sit down," he'd said.

 

 

You sat down.

 

 

And you continued sitting. You were so perfectly silent that you could hear your heartbeat pounding in your ears. You held yourself as still as a statue, for what felt like an hour. You were pretty sure that at one point he wasn't even looking at your rap sheet anymore, he'd just started doing other paperwork. It seemed like he forgot you were there.

 

 

Suddenly, he spoke.

 

 

"Why do all of these comments say you were caught 'stealing 3D maneuver gear'?" He shook his head. "That makes no fucking sense."

 

 

Your saliva immediately retracted into your parotid glands. With a mouth as dry as the desert, you managed to force out a few words. "I-I don't know, Captain."

 

 

He looked up at you then. It was the first time your gaze had met his, and it wasn't a warm one. The air congealed in your lungs as you willed yourself, against all human instinct, to maintain eye contact.

 

 

"I hate dealing with you shitbirds," Levi sighed. He didn't even bother to say it under his breath. Those words stung you deep--not even his words, really, but the expression on his face. It was like he saw you as less than human. "I don't know why I'm still the only person who has to do this. It's a huge fucking waste of my time."

 

 

You just sat there, curdling under his stare. The tears threatened, but you swallowed them. You were not going to cry in front of this man.

 

 

"You're already on your way out, Soldier, so it won't fare you any better to lie. I'm just trying to figure out what the hell kind of black market would motivate you to try and steal 3D maneuver gear thirty times in a row." He scoffed. "No one outside of the Corps even knows how to use it. Or am I wrong?"

 

 

Somehow, it felt like telling Captain Levi the truth would be sacrificing your dignity. You knew he knew you were the bottom-ranked cadet. You didn't want him to know how hard you'd tried and failed.

 

 

Levi tapped his pen impatiently against the desk, making a rapid clack-clack-clack. The second hand of the large clock on the wall behind him kept time with his clicking.

 

 

"Look, I'm giving you a chance to redeem yourself. I know you weren't frolicking through the Titan Forests at night trying to steal these hunks of junk. There's no black market in the woods."

 

 

It's now or never. You wanted to tell him the truth, but it was too difficult to do while his eyes were boring into yours like that. Looking down at your hands, you mumbled: "I was practicing."

 

 

"I can't hear you, Soldier. Speak up."

 

 

You dragged your gaze upwards to meet his once more. "I was practicing."

 

 

"Practicing?" Levi's eyebrows raised, almost imperceptibly. "And pray tell, Soldier, what could you possibly practicing out in the north quadrant at..." he glanced down at the paper again. "Twenty-two eleven, on a Tuesday night?"

 

 

"P-practicing with the gear."

 

 

"Practicing with the gear..." he turned your words over in his mouth slowly. "Practicing with the gear. Were those extra practices worth you getting kicked out of the Military, Soldier? Or, better yet, becoming Titan fodder?"

 

 

You nodded firmly.

 

 

Levi kept that same inscrutable expression on his face. He seemed to be waiting for you to say something, to justify your stupidity.

 

 

"Better dead than weak," you muttered.

 

 

At that, you saw something flicker in his eyes. It shocked you, honestly; you couldn't tell if it was anger, disdain, or something else entirely. After putting you through a good ten seconds of agonizing silence, Levi finally spoke.

 

 

"Get up, Soldier."

 

 

You immediately stood at attention. It was like an instinct--your brain knew to listen to him before you did.

 

 

Levi stood up as well. He shoved his heavy wooden chair out behind him, nearly knocking it over with just the strength of his leg. He walked over to you and pulled himself to full height, hitting you right at nose level. You wondered if he could hear you struggling for breath, or if it was all in your head.

 

 

"You, Soldier, are a complete and utter imbecile." His words were short and sharp as swords. "The type of behavior you have displayed thus far, in the short amount of time you've been in the Training Corps, is the type of behavior that will get you or your comrades killed out on the battlefield. You have behaved more stupidly in the past three months than some people do in their entire lives. Further disobedience will not be tolerated. Your next infraction--whether it be breaking curfew, 'stealing' gear, or clogging the goddamn toilet--will result in your immediate discharge from training, no exit interview needed." He paused to allow you to process what he was saying. "Do you understand me, Soldier?"

 

 

You had to bite your lip to keep a stupid grin from spreading across your face. "Y-yes, Captain Levi."

 

 

He'd then returned to his oaken chair, not to be bothered again. You had practically levitated out of the room in ecstasy. It wasn't until later that night, when you were back in bed, that you realized what that look had been; the strange flicker in Levi's eyes. It wasn't anger, or disdain.

 

 

It was compassion.

 

 

 

Chapter 2

Notes:

okay, so no smut yet, but still gonna place a cw for noncon because eren is ermmm creepy

Your chest completely bottoms out when you hear the low voice behind you.

 

 

"Hey, soldier."

 

 

Your fists clench around the broomstick in your hand. If your broomstick was his neck, he'd be suffocating right now.

 

 

"You're not even gonna look at me?" he scoffs. 

 

 

Fine, whatever. You want to confirm your suspicions about his current expression, anyways. You take peek over your shoulder. As you suspected, a shit-eating grin is plastered all across his face, from one sun-browned cheek to the other.

 

 

"You thought you'd be cleaning the kitchen by yourself tonight, didn't you?"

 

 

He speaks in an overly gentle tone, like he's trying to get you to drop your guard. You don't respond right away.

 

 

"...I did."

 

 

Eren strides across the room towards you, no doubt taking note of how your body visibly tenses up. You focus on counting his footsteps to keep yourself calm. It takes twelve of them to get to you. And now you feel him hovering over your 5-o'clock, staring down your shoulder. In that moment, you find yourself resenting God for allowing Eren to be so much taller than you.

 

 

"Levi told me to come help you out, so I did."

 

 

"Oh, did he now?" You say, with a cynical edge to your voice.

 

 

"Well. Technically, I volunteered." Eren drags out the last word, making it sound as sarcastic as possible.

 

 

Again, you don’t answer him, so he lets out an exasperated groan. "Oh, come on, don't be like this tonight. You can at least look at me, can't you?"

 

 

You whip around to face him so fast that he actually takes a step back in surprise. He'd placed himself a lot closer to you than you realized; there wasn't even a full forearm's length of distance between you two.

 

 

Carefully, you examine him; you're like a deer honed to the movements of a hunter. Your eyes trace the muscles of his neck, looking for signs of tension, paying attention to how they flex and shift. You can tell his jaw is clenched, and that makes you nervous. Even more foreboding, when your gaze flicks over his arms, you notice how his fists are balled up tight. So tight, in fact, that the outlines of his flexor tendons look as if they've been carved out of stone.

 

 

"I'm okay, really. I don't need any help."

 

"Aw." Eren smiles the kind of smile that doesn't reach his eyes. "Are you sure about that? I doubt you'd say no if I was Levi."

 

 

Unfortunately, you can't hide your reaction fast enough. Eren catches the way your lips part and your eyes widen before you can look away. Quick on the trigger, Eren grips your chin between the fingers of his left hand like a vice. He forces your head back into neutral position, so that you have no choice but to meet his gaze.

 

 

"I knew I wasn't seeing things." The smile on his face thins out to a sneer. "I was starting to believe Armin when he told me I was paranoid."

 

 

You reach up and try to pry Eren's fingers off your face.  Of course, he just grabs your wrists and squeezes them tight as if his fists are a pair of warm handcuffs. You play-wrestle for a minute or two: he lets you think that he's loosening his grip, then you try to yank yourself free at his weak point, only to find his weak point is suddenly strong and he twists, twists, twists your arms until you're forced to give up. This goes on for a bit, long enough for your breathing to pick up a little and sweat to bead on your forehead. Eren's eyes are shining. He's smiling, and it's genuine now. He loves this.

 

 

You decide the best course of action is to wait it out, don't fight him, he's too strong. Let him blow off some verbal steam. But what he says next makes it impossible for you to stay quiet.

 

 

"You know how obvious it was, bitch?" Eren growls. "When he thanked you. You looked like you swallowed a fucking rainbow. He saw it. I know he did."

 

 

There’s nothing but pure disgust and loathing on your face. “You... you’re lying.”

 

 

Eren lets out a harsh laugh and throws his head back a bit, letting dark locks of hair fall across his face. "So you went and changed your panties after, right?” His gaze shamelessly drops from your face, to your chest, to your hips. A ghastly smile plays upon his lips. “Levi hates dirty things."

 

 

Your eyes flame with rage and the sheer injustice of it all. You're sick of the way Eren refuses to allow you the privacy of an innocent crush. "How dare you?"

 

 

"How dare I what? Talk about your panties?"

 

 

Your jaw clenches. "How dare you say something so awful?"

 

 

"I don't think it's awful. I think it's cute, seeing you all flustered like that." He smirks and suddenly tugs you into his personal space, using your wrists as leverage. It's a forceful tug--one that causes you to lose your balance and stumble forwards, bumping into his chest.

 

 

He quickly, fluidly unclasps your wrists. In the second part of that same movement he throws his arms around you, drawing you tight against him, in the world's most suffocating hug. The beating of his heart is palpable against yours. With a fierce squeeze he smushes your face into his sweaty left armpit--disgusting--drawing a muffled protest from you.

 

 

"Let go of me, asshole!"

 

 

Eren obeys. Not only does he let go of you, he shoves you into the nearest wooden countertop, watching you throw your hands out instinctively to catch an edge and stop your fall. He laughs, his eyes crinkle with mirth. You've never seen him look this... joyful. That's the best word to describe it. He simply, purely, absolutely loves your discomfort.

 

 

"Aw, don’t look at me like that," he murmurs, biting his lip and stepping towards you. His voice is low and husky; there's a sick grin on his face. And, maybe you're imagining it, but his chest seems to be rising and falling a bit faster. His ribcage a tell that he's on the verge of abandoning restraint. You watch him warily, poised like a cornered animal, ready to split if he makes any sudden moves.

 

 

"Well." Suddenly, he snaps out of it. His emerald-green eyes refocus. The carnal look evaporates, replaced by a casual smirk. "I guess you have a good few hours of work ahead of you, huh?"

 

”Yeah, so… let’s start.” You straighten yourself out, stand up and pat down the wrinkles in your apron. The faster you can get out of this kitchen, the better. That brief glimpse of unbridled sadism had frightened the hell out of you. In no small part because you're confident that there's far more darkness in his depths yet unseen.

 

 

Eren sneers. "Oh, you can clean this place all by your goddamn self. After all, you told me you didn't need any help." He strides over to the wooden island in the middle of the kitchen. He slaps it with a heavy hand, appreciating the resounding thud. "So get to it, bitch.”

 

You open your mouth to rebuke him, then shut it immediately. It's better if he leaves. Three hours of solitary toil is still superior to being alone with Eren any length of time. Especially when he's in this dangerous of a mood.

 

 

After several seconds of wordlessly staring at you, Eren turns his back and heads for the door. Just like nothing happened. He doesn’t even glance over his shoulder to acknowledge you before he shoves through the exit and vanishes into the empty mess hall. A violent door slam follows in his wake. Then, the kitchen is quiet again, and your body shudders with relief. You hadn’t realized how much stress you were holding in your muscles. He strung you tight like a violin bow and played you like a fiddle.

 

 

You hate him for that. Sick fucking bastard.

 

 

Not for the first time, you wonder how some people can be so kind (like Levi) while others can be so, abjectly, evil.