Chapter Text
Two Months Prior
“That’s a giant cactus,” Levi remarked.
“Yeah, wanted to bribe you into letting me inside your apartment more!”
“With a cactus,” Levi shook his head as he made way for his best friend who tumbled inside without taking their shoes off, the plant worryingly close to their face. “If you pull anything, you won’t be invited for the next five years.”
The place was minimalist and clean, not ultra-modern but somewhere between that and pure comfort. He did not clutter, he did not like interruptions from people who cluttered or otherwise - it was truly rare for Levi to invite anyone home. He did not enjoy people in what he thought of like a private, perfectly clean sanctuary.
“You won’t regret this,” Hange reassured him enthusiastically.
“Stop acting like this is your first time here.”
Hange stopped, thoughtful, putting fingers down like they were trying to remember very hard.
“Maybe….fifth? If you don’t count dorms.”
“Five times too much then.”
They ordered take-out and Hange surprisingly had brought dessert Levi did not find objectionable to eat alongside tea afterwards, while the former grumbled something about how it was rude of him to force his visitor to drink tea instead of coffee.
“I’m not letting you drink that atrocity,” he grumbled, having a seething hatred for how Hange preferred their coffee with sugar and milk. Hange had to make peace with tea with five spoons of sugar while they watched a documentary, interrupting it a little too much with commentary while Levi somehow managed to pay attention to both.
“Gonna find a nice place for Lenny,” they yelled while Levi put the leftovers to the fridge.
“I’m not calling the fucking cactus that,” he grumbled. “And don’t fucking wander and make a mess, four-eyes.”
It was silent for two seconds, which in retrospect by the owner of the apartment, should have been assumed as the silence before the storm.
“Hey Levi..who the hell is that.”
He knew before he saw Hange standing in front of his bedroom window with the plant loose in their hands.
Shit, he swore under his breath. You had chosen the most inopportune time to start.
“My new neighbor,” he said drily, trying to mask his breathlessness.
“Damn, maybe I should move in here too.”
“Fuck no,” the response was automatic. “Stop watching her like a creep and come over here.”
He moved to keep his friend far away from the view, on the off chance you could see the silhouette, dragging them by the arm back to the living room.
“Does she do this all the time?” Hange seemed overcome with enthusiasm as she tried to face him to get better answers while he tried to avoid meeting his friend's eyes.
“She..has few times before.”
“So a hot chick has been giving you a private show and you choose to keep it from me.”
“It’s hardly fucking private. Anyone can see it.” Levi wondered whether his teeth would break if he clenched his jaw harder.
Hange went back to look at the structure, how the windows were placed in the building. The angle was…
“Huh,” Hange thought. “That’s definitely..”
“Move the fuck away from the window, Hange. She’ll see you.”
“Well, she certainly wants to be seen by someone.”
“She’s just dancing,” Levi tried again, getting flustered. He had noticed you a few weeks ago and tried his best to ignore looking at you like a creep, but the lights near his bedroom made it really hard. He often had to sleep early to wake up at dawn and you were dancing with lights on around ten in the night. It was not exactly the optimal environment for him to pretend you did not exist.
“Are you seriously telling me you never watch her?”
“I’m not a fucking creep, so no.”
“Sometimes I wonder how you ever manage to get laid.”
Levi rolled his eyes.
“Don’t shit where you eat and all that,” he said. “I don’t wanna get involved with a neighbor. Messy when you break up.”
“Well, maybe you’ll marry her.”
CURRENT DAY
“Soooo,” Hange twirled the fork into the mess of noodle as they sat down in the cafeteria of the factory, seated in the corner as far as possible, the noise of their speech hopefully drowned by the chatter outside. “What’s new with your personal stripper?”
“What the fuck,” Levi hissed, almost choking on his drink. “Don’t ever fucking say that again.”
“Nobody will hear, Levi,” Hange raised their hands impatiently. “No lovergirl, no stripper. You’re really no fun.”
Levi shifted a little where he sat uncomfortably, thinking about the morning interaction, about how you called him brooding.
“What’s with that?”
“Nothing.”
“Something did happen with her, didn’t it?”
“Stop pestering me about her or I’m never telling you shit again.” Levi already was fine with being a closed book, or a castle that was protected by very large and very impenetrable walls, but every once in a while something slipped past the gates and landed in his very noisy and very intrusive and overly enthusiastic friend’s lap.
“You can’t tease me with information about your crush then pull away, you know,” Hange pouted. “Do you know how rare is this?”
“Yes, I do.”
Levi and Hange had met during university, which granted her the privilege and hurdle of being one of Levi’s oldest remaining friends. He had been looming in the corner of an early class at his first week and Hange had been late to the class with a coffee-stained paper cup that looked like it had gone through war, threatening to spill onto the entire desk. Levi had moved away his things, a little disgusted, and looked up at her judgmentally for picking the place next to him of all places in the entire amphitheater. The newcomer was not fazed at all, and that was how they became friends - practically inseparable, for Levi’s standards. And this was why the latter had a rather too good of a grasp on Levi’s romantic history or lack thereof, certainly more than he would have liked. Among all his friends, Hange knew the best, that he did not do relationships and practically could not tolerate anyone more than the length of a one or two night stands.
He had been satisfied with that - despite all the efforts to get him to change his ways, he could be the most obstinate person on earth. And the idea of changing his ways, only to get into a relationship with someone who lived next door was an absurd one. That was something nobody would recommend, not even the most hopeless romantic.
That was what he told himself.
And that you probably thought he was a creep.
Hange chose to focus on her food for a moment, on purpose, to let Levi relax a little, looking more sullen than usual.
“Is she still dancing like that in front of your window?”
Levi felt a bit of heat rise to his face at the memory.
“Yes,” he grumbled out.
Hange paused, then let out a genuine chuckle. “God, you’re hopeless.” Levi scoffed and got ready to attack. “She’s obviously giving you a show and you’re too dumb to even get it.”
“You don’t know that,” Levi hissed, promptly deciding never to mention how he felt your eyes on him last night, not wanting to inspire Hange’s optimistic nature to feed his delusions, and he definitely did not want to face the fact you may be well aware of his.. transgressions. There were too much Hange did not know and he certainly was not about to disclose them all to her. He would never hear the end of it, if he admitted to watching you every single time while jerking his dick raw which he also was pretty sure would put him on some sort of sex offender list. And force him to move. And Hange did not need any more enabling.
“Yes, I do,” Hange emphasized by stabbing their food with the fork three more times. “Nobody does that with open curtains on windows so close to their neighbor’s, trust me.”
“Nobody trusts your judgment when it comes to normal people.”
“Are you saying it’s normal to dance like that? Does she want tips?”
Levi groaned, trying to push the image away, with the bothersome suggestion you could grace the same view to others.
Others you may find more….fun.
His mood soured immediately and he squeezed his can a little too much.
He reconsidered. He thought about seeing you again. He gave in.
“She called me brooding this morning. What the fuck does that even mean?”
Hange looked confused. She put down her fork, narrowed her eyes, tilted her head, even her ponytail almost jumped in disbelief.
“That offended you?”
“It’s like calling someone depressing.”
“What. No, it’s not!”
“Yeah, she said I looked more brooding than usual.”
Hange looked somewhere between gleeful and horrified.
“She was clearly trying to flirt with you!”
“You’re crazy,” Levi denied with a weak voice, his ears a deep shade of pink.
“She was teasing you, dummy,” Hange said in fascination, looking lost in her own mind, talking to herself. “Oh she so was!”
Levi felt flustered, forgetting to eat his lunch.
“You’re fucking crazy,” he reiterated again, starting to play with his food.
“I need to come over there and see you two interact.”
“The fuck you will. I’m never letting you meet her.”
“I can’t believe I missed it when I was there!”
“Yeah, because I knocked you out when you tried to knock on her door.”
-
You yawned and slowly woke up. The time showed eleven, right in time to have a cup of coffee then leave for work. Thankfully where you worked allowed you the luxury of not having to get up and leave at the crack of dawn like a certain someone who seemed to thrive under such conditions. You got up from the couch, clothes a little messed, hair ruffled and makeup not fresh enough, but you still felt good with the extra rest - despite the earlier fiasco.
Your cute neighbor was being a little too hard to get.
To think you got up at that crack of dawn to actually catch him leave. He looked too unfairly good too, no one should be allowed to look that good that early, you thought. You were certain your intentions were obvious, emboldened by the previous night, but he seemed to not get what you were doing at all.
Not obvious enough? You wondered, rewinding the scene again, feeling certain once again that you had been laying it very thick when all things considered. No, no one could be that oblivious.
….Could they?