Protector | Levi Ackerman x Reader

4:

recap:

I shake my head and demand he leave my office.

"No, brat. Not until we clean your office," he orders.

"We?" I sigh.

...

"We."

4:

We started with the clothes, sorting them all into piles: clean and dirty.

There really was only one pile. One big, dirty pile.

We then fixed the cup situation and the pillow situation, tidying everything up.

"Wow, that looks so much better. I think we should stop now, I need to do your dress-"

"Tch, you think this is okay? Wait here," Levi cuts me off before walking out of the room in an emotionless way.

Fuck... I sigh and look up at my scout uniform. My legs feel weak, so I fall back onto the sofa, eyes still lingering on the wings of freedom on my cloak.
Freedom, huh? I settle into the sofa more and more as I try to refrain from more negative thoughts. There's no wonder why my mum left my dad really. As a child I grew up with my mum, with no idea of who my dad was. I didn't know if he was dead or alive, but at the time it really didn't matter to me because I was happy with the way things were.
But when I turned 16, my mum told me that Erwin was my dad and that they split up on good terms; the only reason why I had never met him was because of his work. I don't know why but that's when I decided I wanted to be a scout and meet my father properly. I thought the word "freedom" was tempting enough to leave my little district, but now the word has no meaning to me.

"Are you asleep, brat?"

My eyes slowly open to see Levi standing in my doorway holding multiple cleaning supplies, probably the ones from his room.
Wait - why did he force me to go and get his paperwork earlier when he has enough commitment to get cl-

"I see that you're going to shout at me in a minute, so stop, that's an order cadet. Also, here," he says, throwing a cleaning rag at me. "Start on the cobwebs in the corners."

I stand up with a groan and gaze upwards underneath the cobwebs. I reach up and realise I'm too short to reach so I look around for something to stand on. I drag over my office chair and lift my leg up.

"Wait," I hear Levi almost yell, making me stop in my tracks. "You'll make the chair dirty if you do that brat." He puts down his mop and takes off his jacket.

"I can clean it after, I can't reach the cobwebs if I don't," I explain to him.

"I'll lift you up."

"Huh?" my eyes widen as he bends down and picks me up with his arms wrapped around my knees. I let out a squeak and I hear him, "tch," before he turns around, so I am facing the bookshelf.

Whatever happened to consent?

I stretch up and remove the cobwebs, completely aware of his head at my lower stomach... and completely flustered.

"There's another in the other corner of the bookshelf," I say looking down at him. He looks up at me and my heartbeats even faster at this position. He doesn't say anything, he just sidesteps to the other end and stays silent until I pat him on the head to tell him I've finished.

He puts me down and I look him in the eyes for a fraction too long before clearing my throat and stepping back.

"Thank you, corporal," I manage to blurt out.

He just makes another, "tch," noise.

What the fuck is up with that though?

He goes back to his mop without a word and my eyes follow him. I then look over to my desk and frown at the state it's in. I move everything off the desk, including photographs of my family, and put it on the floor to the left. I then grab polish and start working on cleaning the stains off.

A few minutes in I see Levi sat on the floor sorting through everything I moved off the desk. He pulls out the photograph of me and my mum.

"You look at lot like your mum," he states thoughtlessly.

"Yeah, everyone always says that," I smile.

"What about your dad?" He asks me.

"I didn't grow up with him, but I know him now."

"Ah, good," he nods.

"What about you corporal?" I ask, and I feel him look over to me. "Your family."

"It's complicated," he deadpans.

"Fair enough. I mean, my relationship with my father is kinda complicated. He doesn't seem to care about what I want to do, only my safety. Or maybe my usability."

"What do you mean by that?" he asks me, still flipping through the papers.

"He doesn't let me go outside the walls anymore, forces me to do this work instead. I don't know whether he wanted me here to keep me safe or make sure that his cadets are safe."

"Cadets?" Levi asks, and I turn to look at him. "He's a scout?"

My eyes widen, and I start to panic. I stumble over my words, not able to make any out.

"(Y/N) Smith?" Levi guesses.

"How did you-"

"You almost called Erwin "father" earlier, and you jumped at the chance to go outside the walls as well. Erwin would never go against the wishes of someone's parents and let them go on expeditions, meaning he must've been the one to make the decision."

"You're smarter than you look," I say solemnly.

"Why is it a big deal?"

"I don't know, he just made me keep it a secret."

"Tch, seems like something he would do."

There's a long silence where he continues to look through my things and I don't move. I've been a scout for years and no one has ever known about or figured out who my dad is, I've known Levi for less than a day and he's already unpicked my life.

"Don't tell anyone about my dad, Corporal. Not even him."

"Why don't you make me, Brat."

[A/N]

yh idk what else to say

ty for reading

lia x