“I apologize in advance if Hanji makes a mess while eating,” Erwin whispered, glancing at his friend as he tried to explain the possible outcome to the shorter male. “It’s not that they eat sloppy, it's just that they may be excited and forget that they’re holding a fork, and then the food goes where it shouldn't.”

Levi let out a pained sigh and nodded. He didn’t even know such eaters still existed. 

“I’ll try not to kill them if they dirty my curtains.”

Erwin let out a laugh and took a seat beside Levi who had settled across from the other two who were patiently waiting for them to acknowledge them.

“Four eyes, if it’s possible, don’t dirty the curtains. That’s all I request. Those curtains are old as hell,” Levi said, looking into their eyes.

“Don’t worry! I’ll be extra neat today!”

“Great.”

As if that were the cue, each took a plate and served themselves and dug in except for Levi who settled on only drinking his tea and stabbing a potato without actually eating it. 

“What’s wrong?” Erwin asked, noticing Levi’s lack of effort and interest in the food. “Won’t you eat?”

“I would but I don’t feel that hungry. I’ll just drink my tea and that’s it.”

“How aren’t you hungry?” Erwin asked, puzzled. “All you ate this morning was a tiny piece of toast and tea.”

“It’s complicated,” Levi sighed, running his hand through his undercut. “I’ll probably eat later or maybe tomorrow. Besides, I ate a lot yesterday.”

Erwin looked at him with concerned eyes but he didn’t know what to say. He didn’t actually know Levi enough to say if that was his usual behaviour or if he was just a bit disgruntled because of the guests.

“It’s okay, Erwin,” Levi said quietly. “Just make sure you eat and don’t starve. I’ll be alright.”

“Alright but make sure you eat later.”

Levi gave a tiny smile, turning back to his potato right after to continue poking at it.

“Oh my gosh, that was so cute!” Hanji squealed. “Have you both been this cute the entire time?!”

Mike let out a groan and whacked Hanji behind their head with his hand, unable to believe they really had no filter.

“Hanji, you need to keep quiet. You can’t ask things like that!” Mike scolded.

Levi kept his expression in a neutral state though he was panicking on the inside but he felt a bit better seeing Erwin struggle to keep his embarrassment under control.

“I’m not sure what you mean, four eyes. All we did was have a normal conversation like regular people. Of course, I understand that you don’t know what it’s like to have one,” Levi said with a small glare.

Hanji gasped in mock offense but smiled happily anyway, their fork nearly sending food into space but was quickly held down by Mike before anything got messy. Who knows what would have happened if it weren’t held in place.

The meal resumed and it was filled with silence, the occasional fork against plate clatter but that was it until Hanji decided that the silence was too much for them. They didn’t say anything but instead started tapping their fork around the edge of the plate and drumming their free hand on the table. They took a sip of tea to soothe their throat from the lack of speech and placed the cup on the table but instead of it being set down properly, the cup tipped over and before Levi could move, the tea was dripping into his lap.

“Oh my! Damn it! I’m so sorry!” Hanji exclaimed, standing up from the table and waving their hands around, unsure of what to do.

Levi gritted his teeth and grabbed the closest thing to him, which so happened to be Erwin’s hand, and squeezed to calm himself down. Erwin held in a gasp of pain. How the hell was Levi so strong? Or was that the anger speaking? It better be the anger speaking because hell, the raven haired hardly even ate as far as Erwin was seeing.

“It’s alright four eyes,” Levi muttered with gritted teeth. “I’ll just go get cleaned up and then we can start fixing everything the way it was before someone so happily rumpled everything.”

Levi stood from the table, letting go of Erwin’s hand and walking out the door while Hanji stayed standing in their spot with a sheepish smile. No one made any sound except for Levi who was heard punching something before angrily stomping up the stairs.

“Hanji, I will NEVER let you meet Levi again. You’ve barely known him and you already have him angrier than what I thought he was capable of,” Erwin hissed under his breath. “He’ll probably never want to see us after this. Me for bringing a walking disaster into his house and you for being the walking disaster.”

“Oh come on Erwin! I’ll try to make it up by helping him do the dishes or something and maybe even organizing the shelf again,” Hanji said, waving their hands around frantically.

“Hanji, we know you mean well by that but please don’t,” Mike begged. “I can’t bear to think about what’ll happen if you touch his fancy plates or his antiques in the cabinet. How are you even a teacher? I’m surprised you haven’t destroyed your science lab.”

“Hey! I’m capable of being able to run a lab! His house is just too organized and tempting to touch!” Hanji explained, trying to make a valid point for their prodding and poking.

“For now, just please take a seat and don’t move. Levi will probably appreciate you trying to keep calm now that you ruined his suit,” Erwin sighed, getting up and starting to clean up the table.

“Woah, since when do you clean up without procrastination?” Mike asked, a bit surprised at Erwin’s actions.

“Ever since I stepped foot in this house? I think I need to start doing chores much more frequently at my own home. Levi is always keeping this place in tip top shape and I can’t do that with my own small home? I think you can see the effort level when compared,” Erwin explained, beginning to prewash the plates before they would be officially scrubbed.

“I’m glad I was the reason you suddenly do chores,” Levi said, walking into the room.

Mike and Hanji stared at him in shock as he entered, frantically glancing at Erwin who didn’t react at all. It was mind boggling.

Levi had entered the room in the stereotypical, scandalous little black dress. Hell it even went a bit above his knees and off the shoulder sleeves and to make it even worse? A pair of black thigh highs were placed underneath which if the two had been the type to go after people, they would have fallen head first trying to get his attention. The two didn’t say anything, but they figured Levi had dressed similarly and that’s why Erwin didn’t react to the outfit.

“I guess meeting someone that enjoys cleaning made me think differently. Now shall we do the dishes?” Erwin asked with a smile.

“Most definitely. I’ll probably break down crying if I find my dishes with dry food stuck to them. Washing them before doing anything else is a priority.”

Hanji and Mike sat at the table watching with a smile, well, more like Mike was smiling and Hanji was smirking at the way the other two did the dishes together. Levi did the washing to make sure they were properly scrubbed and Erwin rinsed them and set them in the drying rack. They had a quiet conversation which Mike could hardly hear but he was certain it was along the lines of visiting each other sometime soon. He smiled, happy that Erwin finally made a new friend instead of always being with the people he knew since childhood. 

"What’re you smiling at?”

Mike jumped, slightly startled at Erwin who was now standing in front of him.

”Nothing. I was just thinking that's all,” Mike said, maintaining the smile.

“Oh. Well, we’re going to the sitting room to organize the cabinet that Hanji messed up.”

Hanji looked at the three with their hands clasped behind their back sheepishly, their face tinted with red but a gleaming smile settled beautifully.

“Well Hanji and I are most definitely tagging along before they destroy something else.”

“If four eyes agrees to leave everything untouched, then you guys can go and poke around in all the rooms. There’s not that many interesting things but maybe you’ll find them interesting,” Levi said, crossing his arms across his chest. “But just stick to the first floor, please. The other floors are just bedrooms and a few rooms with family heirlooms and offices.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure Hanji doesn’t get carried away and if they do I’ll knock them out,” Mike said with a grin.

“Hey!” Hanji yelled as Mike dragged them off down one of the many confusing halls.

Erwin shook his head at the two and turned to face Levi who was staring up at him expectantly. Erwin stared right back into Levi’s eyes, just noticing the shape and the dull grey color. Erwin was nearly, completely, entranced when he felt his hand being grabbed by Levi’s smaller ones.

“Let’s go clean now. Your two friends have already disappeared.”

Levi didn’t let go of Erwin’s hand and they walked with their fingers loosely joined together until they reached the cabinet. It took them a while and they were nearly done when Levi stood straight and a cloudy look covered his eyes. Well fuck, that wasn’t good.

The next thing Erwin knew, Levi was falling and he had a total of two seconds to catch him before he hit the ground. And like the absolute saviour he was, his arms wrapped around Levi, pulling him up just in time. The raven haired tried giving a smile of reassurance from within Erwin’s arms and let his eyes close for a few seconds before opening them again, blinking to focus.

“Sorry. I have no clue what happened,” Levi lied, knowing full well why that had happened but deciding no one actually had to know. 

“It must be from lack of food or perhaps sleep,” Erwin commented, guiding Levi to a seat.

“Who knows. I’ll be fine though.”

Erwin didn’t say anything but instead took a seat beside him. He couldn’t let Levi stay alone if he suddenly started getting worse.

“It’s getting late,” Levi said, looking out the window as he noticed the sun was past overhead which meant it would be dark in several hours. “Shouldn’t you be going? I don’t want you out in the dark, so far from everyone else and it’s a bit rainy. You’ll get all wet and might end up lost again.” 

Erwin smiled at the concern, simultaneously conflicted by the meaning. Was Levi genuinely concerned or was he saying all that to get him out faster? The world may never know.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be going as soon as Mike and Hanji appear again.”

Levi nodded, feeling the atmosphere calming and the chilled air relaxing. Before he knew it, his head was bobbing around from a sudden wave of surprise sleepiness. A gentle hand held onto his shoulders and carefully lowered him so that his head was now in Erwin’s lap. Fingers ran comfortingly through his dark hair, causing Levi to fall deep asleep in seconds.