Behind The Curtain (EREN X LEVI FANFICTION)

Chapter 10: Curiosity

There's no way Levi is the bad guy. How could he be? Eren has been quietly observing the disassociated student throughout classes, their script line exchanges and their tutoring. He's even been spying a little bit throughout the lunch breaks, catching glimpses of him down the hallway. The only thing Eren can deduce from his close watching is that Levi is attached to his journal, and besides Isabel and Farlan he doesn't approach many people. The only other person besides himself who even dares disturb the misunderstood student is Ymir, and that's shady enough as it is. Ymir just doesn't approach people, especially without some form of ulterior motive. In fact, in most of their exchanges, even without being able to hear their words or read lips, Eren discovered that Levi appears quite troubled every single time she leaves him be. It's as if whatever placid mood he was in suddenly shifts after speaking with her and makes way for a surge of frustration to course throughout his features. Many times he has seen Levi grip at his hair and pull rather harshly as he grumbles bitterly to himself. Then his eyes land on Eren and the spotted boy has to try and pretend he wasn't staring down Levi first, hastily scrambling to switch his seating position or doing a last-minute dash behind an out-of-sight doorway. 

Very subtle, Eren...

Still, even with the information of Ymir and Levi exchanging the few words that they do, it doesn't seem like anything shady is happening behind the scenes. It still seems relatively normal. As normal as can be when getting face-to-face visits from Ymir.

Eren hasn't had the opportunity to query Levi on Mikasa's statement. It's a terrifying thought whenever he thinks about it. Whenever he goes to open his mouth to potentially present his question he is simply unable to for fear of not only finding out the answer but upsetting Levi as well. It's not a pretty sight when Levi is mad. Eren's seen his mild annoyance, but he feels he's developed a good enough friendship with Levi to not want that anger and irritation to be directed towards himself. Especially when Levi only gets more and more curious with each passing day.

Firstly, why does Levi always look so grumpy? His face is always turned down into a gloomy scowl and Eren almost believes that the grumpy cat meme was made after someone saw Levi's face and decided to slap that scowl on a cat's body. There's no way this information could be false because seeing Levi with his lips turned up into a smile is just unheard of. It's as likely as the possibility of dragons existing in the real world, which Eren fully believes is still possible, however, such myths are only meek rumours with no real ground evidence to back up their claim. Exactly like Levi's smile. Surely it's there, it has to exist and Eren prays one day he is given the chance to see what it looks like, yet he also is beginning to realise it's rarer than a blue moon. Perhaps one day he'll see it shine but still, it could take years for this dream to come to fruition.

One thing Eren has also wondered is what is up with Levi and tea. Whenever they've gone to sit into a cafe Levi orders the same thing every time; a cup of hot earl grey tea, no milk, no sugar, just boiling hot water with a tea bag that bleeds once it's drowned within the cup. So flavourless, a bitter experience in Eren's mind and yet Levi drinks that stuff as if it's nothing, even when the water hasn't had a chance to cool down! Does Levi just not have pain receptors inside his mouth? Are the walls inside aligned with some heat-resistant substance that are vastly different to Eren's? It's not even the tea that really bothers Eren. The thing that catches his eye every single time is how Levi holds his teacup. His dainty little fingers always firmly hold the rim, never the handle. Odd, yet also maintaining a certain elegance that feels proper and right, but again, incredibly alien to an outsider. Eren cannot put his finger on it. After all, a cup comes with a handle for the very reason of lifting and placing with ease. Yet Levi ignores the very thing it's designed to do and allows his petit, slim fingers to press on the outer rim to bring the tea to his lips. Eren's seen it countless times. It's bizarre how someone so fierce-looking, so rugged and dark, has an unexplainable cute side to them. And yes, Eren finds this behaviour to be incredibly adorable, although he'd still be interested in knowing the reason Levi does this. Another thing Eren hasn't quite worked up the courage to ask.