“Really? That’s the condition?” Erwin asked, a little surprised at the simple request.

“Yup.”

“Well then get on.”

Levi looked at him in a disappointed way before muttering, “How do you expect me to get on the damn horse? It’s so damn tall for no damn reason. Do you see how damn small I am?”

Erwin stifled a chuckle before swinging a leg over the saddle to get off. He realized the way Levi had to look up at him and he turned away to let out a laugh badly hidden as a cough.

“How tall are you?” Erwin asked, looking down at Levi, not of intimidation but out of genuine curiosity.

“I should be asking you that but I’m like five two. Now tell me your height.”

“You’re so small,” Erwin chuckled.

Before he knew it, Erwin was laying on the ground while Levi glared down at him.

“I know that already, you idiot. You didn’t even answer my question.”

“Alright, alright. I’m six one. You happy now?” Erwin asked, sitting up as he felt his back sting a bit. Possibly got it hit on an uneven stick hidden under the brush.

Levi let out a grumble and walked over to the horse. He stared at it for a bit before slipping his foot into the stirrup to help himself up. Unfortunately, that didn’t help because it was too high and he couldn’t pull himself up. He struggled a bit longer while Erwin leaned against a tree snickering into his palm until Levi let out a frustrated groan and placed his head on the saddle.

“I hate to ruin my pride but can you help me up?” Levi asked, turning to face the taller male properly.

“Why didn’t you ask sooner?” Erwin laughed lightly, walking over to the frustrated Levi. His blonde hair now sticking to his forehead due to the rain.

“Just, just shut up and help me.”

Erwin placed his hands on Levi’s small waist and hoisted him onto the saddle with seemingly no effort. He climbed on behind and before he could properly place himself, the horse was already moving forward.

“Hey! I almost fell off!” Erwin exclaimed, grabbing onto Levi’s waist to steady himself.

“Tch. How sad. Now hold my shoes and let go of me, will you?” Levi asked, guiding the horse through all the trees.

“Alright, alright.”

With a pair of tiny shoes in Erwin’s hand, a focused Levi, and absolute silence, they rode in the cold for another five minutes until they reached a clearing where the castle stood. Erwin let out a sound of surprise at the sight, looking around the yard as if he’d never seen a piece of flat land before.

“I thought we were going to a house, not a castle,” Erwin muttered in awe.

“This place is my house though,” Levi answered quietly, urging the horse to go faster. “I don’t know how to manage a horse so I’ll leave you here. I’m going inside to get dry and I’ll find something for you to change into but I also think that you should stay here until tomorrow though. It appears the rain is getting harder by the minute.”

“Alright. I don’t think someone would even be able to get here quick enough,” Erwin said, looking at the sky. “Do you need help getting off?”

Levi turned his head and frowned at him but he let out a sigh. “My pride is telling me to say no but I actually do need help unless I wanna face plant before I even touch the ground.”

“Don’t you worry. I’ll help you off,” Erwin answered with a kind smile.

“Geez. How charming.”

Erwin lowered himself off the horse and grabbed onto Levi’s waist once more to help him down. Levi was lowered to the ground once more seemingly effortlessly and Erwin was truly in confusion at how a full grown man, albeit a tiny one, could weigh so little. It was concerning to say the least.

“You’re so tiny,” Erwin whispered.

“I heard that Blondie. Do you want me to drop kick you to the ground again?”

“I’ll pass. Now go and get dry before you get sick.”

“How caring.”

With a roll of the eyes and acception of the shoes, Erwin was left to deal with his horse and Levi headed inside to dry himself off. After he had taken a quick shower and set his dress in a container of water to soak, he looked for a pair of his dad’s old clothes that would probably fit Erwin. Levi walked to the front door and just as he opened it, Erwin was coming up the fancy steps.

“Why are you wearing a suit?” Erwin asked, looking puzzled. “You’re home. Don’t you wear much more comfortable clothes?”

Levi looked down at his suit and shrugged.

“I’m home. So I can wear what I want, right?”

“Of course. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“It’s fine, I wasn’t offended, now come in. There are some clothes in the bathroom. I’ll show you the way and then you can take your time.”

Erwin nodded and followed Levi into the house. They had barely taken ten steps when Levi suddenly froze and glared at him with an outstretched hand.

“Yes?” Erwin asked, a little surprised at the gesture.

“You said you were out hunting, right? So don’t you have any weapons?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Well, would you be so kind as to hand them over? I’ll return them once you leave.”

Erwin understood where Levi was coming from. A complete stranger just appearing out of nowhere and following him to his house. Erwin handed over his weapons that were located in his coat pocket and Levi placed them in his pockets to put away somewhere else.

Erwin was shown the bathroom and he spent several minutes getting cleaned up. The clothes were a bit out of style but it didn’t matter because at least he was now safe and dry. He walked out of the bathroom and made his way down the confusing halls until he found the staircase.

The walls, he noticed, were all dark and seemed to have been there for years. Possibly many years before Levi or himself were even born. His fingers ran along the wallpaper decorated darkness, enraptured by the surprising comfort the halls of such a cold house could have. He wondered how warm Levi found his home warm as well. Speaking of which, he found Levi, after a while of aimless walking, in a room which appeared to be the kitchen.

“So you found me,” Levi said, not looking up from reading something on a box he was holding.

“Yeah. I was kinda lost over half the time though.”

“It’s understandable. Have a seat. I’m making tea.”

Erwin took a seat by the large table placed in the middle of the room and watched as Levi walked around making tea and tidying the area. Erwin noticed the house seemed kind of empty and craned his neck to see if there could be anyone else around. How stupid of him to not realize the lack of presence when he had been walking.

“Are you okay?”

Erwin snapped his neck in Levi’s direction pulling a muscle in the process. He let out a small noise of pain and noticed Levi was standing on the other side of the table looking at him unamused.

“Yeah. I’m fine. I just noticed that this place seems kind of empty. Is there no one else around?”

Levi placed a cup of tea in front of Erwin and took a seat by the table with his own cup.

“No. No one else lives here, it’s only me. My Mom died when I was younger and I’m an only child so I was left with this place. My grandparents also lived here but they also died.” Levi replied, holding his cup from the rim instead of the handle. Erwin thought it was an interesting way to hold a cup but said nothing. “I had a dad but he also died although he disappeared when I was young and left everything here.”

“I’m sorry. My dad was murdered when I was small. I only have my Mom now.”

Levi gave an understanding smile that would have been weird to anyone else but thankfully, Erwin understood the expression. They sat in silence sipping their tea listening to the rainfall against the walls until both of the liquid in their cups vanished.

Levi took their cups to the sink once they finished and immediately washed them, putting them to dry. The simple and perfectly normal action made Erwin glance around to notice everything was in order and wondered if someone came all the way to the castle to help with chores until he saw Levi suddenly appear with a broom and something covering his face and hair.

“Don’t you have a maid or someone to help?” Erwin asked.

“No. I don’t trust anyone else to clean. They don’t do it properly and it’s a waste because I have to do everything over once they leave. After all, they leave spots untouched and besides, what else am I supposed to do?”

Levi started cleaning the area where they had entered, causing Erwin to feel a bit guilty just watching him do all the work while he sat there doing nothing.

“Do you want some help?” the blond asked, hoping that if he was allowed, he would be able to leave everything spotless and to Levi’s expectations.

Levi glanced at Erwin and looked back down at his work. He let out a sigh and gave a small nod, figuring he better take advantage of his guest. Erwin got up and walked over to where Levi was standing. Once again, Erwin had to refrain from commenting on how small Levi was. He had to admit, it was undeniably adorable. Unfortunately, Levi noticed his expression and glared up at him.

“Do you have constipation? Do you need to use the bathroom? You better not be making that face because of my height because I promise you I will drop you to the ground and break your ankles.”

Erwin couldn’t take it and he let out a loud laugh making Levi huff in annoyance. He came to a conclusion, either this man was easily amused or he was so relieved to have been saved he found something normal to be hilarious as a way to remind himself he was still alive.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Erwin snorted, pressing his palms to his eyes to stop the tears of laughter. “Just tell me what I should do.”

“Alright. I want you to sweep the sitting room but before you do that, wipe the furniture. I'll deal with a few things on the second and third floors and then we can go to the basement and clean there.”

Levi walked away and Erwin was feeling dread at the cleaning he was about to do. It wasn't that he'd never cleaned before but the problem was that it was for someone he just met and he feared it'd be below expectations.

Levi headed to check on his dress he had been soaking and removed it from the water, adding enzymes to make sure the fabric stayed as if new. After dealing with his dress, he set it up to hang and sped through the second and third-floor, ensuring that his previous weeks cleaning had been enough to keep the untouched rooms and surely, they were clean because what single person would single handedly go through every room and destroy them? It didn’t take long considering he always did that kind of work anyway.

Erwin, on the other hand, hadn’t ever done much housework. Of course, he helped his Mother with little things when he was younger but that was it. Even his personal home wasn’t in tip top shape although he did try to clean up. But now he was currently struggling to get the floor properly cleaned when Levi appeared at the doorway.

“You’re still doing this?” Levi asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes? Don’t tell me you finished the second and third floors while I only did this?” Erwin asked with pleading eyes.

“Yes, I did. Now I’m heading down to the basement but I’ll wait for you so you don’t get lost.”

Erwin worked a little quicker than before but was getting anxious at the way Levi judged his every move. He felt as if all that he did would have to be redone and he hoped it would match Levi’s high expectations.

“I’m done,” Erwin said, letting out a happy sigh. “Why did I have to wipe everything over? Everything was already clean when I arrived.”

Levi looked at him with an incredulous expression, “Please tell me you’re joking and not an actual idiot.”

“Well, then I’m an actual idiot,” Erwin answered with a pained smile.

“I don’t normally do this kind of cleaning every day but you’re here and I had to put you to use. Dust floats in the air and it settles over everything so I have to make sure that this place is spotless. The only place I clean every other week is in the attic and basement, but I did the attic yesterday so the basement is today.”

Levi walked away from the doorway and Erwin followed behind.

“Wait. But you do some of the same stuff every day?”

“Yes. I find it revolting just to lay in an area where dust must have gathered so I make sure to clean it all the time. The curtains and such are washed every month except blankets which are washed every two weeks and kitchen towels are washed every day because I find it highly unhygienic to have them laying around all wet.”

“Did your Mother teach you how to do all that?” Erwin asked as they went down several stairs to get to the basement.

“No. No one taught me. I’ve always found cleaning enjoyable and I hated when maids would clean my room. They never knew how to get rid of all the dust and I ensured that I would do it myself.”

They descended a set of pure stone steps only to enter a large room also made of stone. It was cool inside and looked neat but to Levi, it was an absolute mess. The lights were turned on and Erwin noticed it was a room filled with tons of suits and dresses.

“Woah. Are all these your clothes?” Erwin asked, walking towards the rows of clothes that were hanging neatly in sections.

“No. They were for my ancestors. There are some that are a couple of hundred years old. I have no clue why those ones are still intact considering how old they are but apparently, they last longer.”

“That’s cool. Don’t you ever try them on?”

“No. I feel like their ghosts will come and haunt me so all I do is keep them neatly organized.”

“Wait. So if you don’t wear them, why do you need to clean down here?”

“Smith, you’re gonna give me hypertension. It’s because dust exists and it may have settled on the clothes so I need to remove it.”

Erwin replied with a simple “Oh” and immediately followed along with Levi’s actions by taking a garment and cleansing it from dust. This went on for another hour and by the time they were done they were covered in sweat and dust.

It was all good and quiet, just Levi’s favourite atmosphere, until Erwin thought it’d be a great idea to head over to a wall and lean against it so he could rest but instead, he found himself falling through a hole neither of them knew existed.

“WHAT THE HELL?!” Erwin yelled as he tumbled through the opening, a screech following after along with a variety of bangs ending with a sudden crash.

Levi looked in Erwin’s direction and was shocked to see an opening. He was even more surprised to see that the wall wasn’t broken but instead a section of it was simply pushed in like a door. Cautiously, Levi walked to where Erwin fell and saw a set of stairs going down.

“Hey Blondie, If you’re alive come up here because I’m sure as hell not going down.”

“Uh, Levi?” Erwin called, sounding a bit, what was it? Nervous?

“What? Don’t tell me you broke a bone because I definitely can’t carry you. Do you know how much bigger you are than me? Gosh, you must weigh triple my weight.”

“No, no. I’m fine. The things that are down here aren’t fine. So come.”

“Blondie, I just said I’m not going down there. Who knows what lurks in the dark.”

“JUST COME HERE PLEASE!” Erwin yelled, sounding a bit frightened.

“Tch. Fine.”

Levi slowly lowered a foot onto the first step and walked down the stairs. There was no way he was going to touch the walls to guide him. Who knows what was on them. He finally got to the bottom and could faintly see Erwin in front of him.

“What is it? I can’t see anything,” Levi said, squinting his eyes.

“You must not have enough Vitamin A if you can’t see a thing. Hold on, I think I have a flashlight.”

“Tch. Whatever.”

Erwin rummaged a bit in his pocket and with a click, a light came on. Levi waited for his eyes to get used to the sudden brightness and took a sharp breath when he saw his surroundings.

“Not surprising. Let’s go back upstairs.”

“Not surprising?! Levi, are you serious? A room with skeletons chained to the wall is considered normal to you?! Are you okay?”

Levi sighed and glanced up at the man.

“No it’s not normal but I’ll explain this place once we go upstairs. Now come,” Levi answered gently, taking Erwin’s hand in his and gently tugging him to the staircase.

Wordlessly, they closed the mysterious door and went back to the kitchen table. Levi got two cups of water and they both took a seat across from each other. Boy would it be hell to explain something he had dreaded doing the moment he met the taller. He should have left him in the forest where he found him but his damn intrigument got the best of him.

He only hoped it wouldn't involve too many questions.