Tea- Levi x Reader

Blowing the renegade strands of hair off your face with an irritated huff, you tossed the last bits of hay and horse dung over your shoulder into the wheel barrow behind you, muscles complaining as you heaved the clunky pitch fork wearily. Stable duty was truly the worst assignment about the castle.

You growled in frustration; who had the bright idea to set up head quarters in an essentially derelict castle anyhow? Probably the same man who was making you work in the stables in the first place, the revered Commander Eyebrows, you thought grimly and flung another clump of mess into the barrow, cursing him and the Captain aloud with every cramp in your arms and shoulders.

Initially and ill advisedly, you'd been roped into clean up duty by your Squad Leader, Hanji, despite the fact she was well aware you as good at cleaning as she was at remaining silent for more than five minutes at a time- shit. Your skills lay more in the realm of science, titan killing, breaking into dramatic renditions of songs...

It was this last talent that had caused Levi to lose the few marbles he had left; though it had been terrible luck that he'd walked in at the exact moment you'd accidentally kicked over a mop bucket at the chorus of 'I Want to Break Free'. Even worse luck that Erwin had been drawn out of his office to break up what he had been sure was an attempted murder, and banished you to the stable to keep you out of Levi's way.

In the short amount of time you'd spent at the castle after being transferred from training cadets, you had managed to succeed in furthering Hanji's experiments, assisting Erwin with expedition strategy and finally, getting Captain Levi to loath you. You couldn't deny this wasn't completely unreasonable, you found irritating Levi oddly adrenaline inducing, like poking a wolverine with a stick. He repayed this with almost constantly yelling at you, finding faults in everything you did.

You sighed and leant the pitch fork against the side of the stall, inspecting your work and wiping away a fake tear of pride; it was passable. Grabbing your jacket off a work bench you swanned out the stables, flipping off the horses as you went, heading straight for the castle. There was one thing on your mind. Something hot, steamy and delicious...

Pacing straight to the kitchen you leapt on to the counter and grabbed the tin of tea leaves from the top shelf, ripping off the lid and inhaling deeply. You clutched it to your chest- your one true love. You busied yourself making a cup, sending a quick prayer to the God of tea as you did; there were only just enough leaves left. You sashayed across the room to grab the sugar, freezing as a familiar righteous stamping echoed into the room from the hall.

You whipped round just in time to see the devil himself march through the door, pausing for a moment to glare daggers at you with eyes of pure steel before heading for the box of tea. You bit your lip as he opened it and stared into what was now an empty tin silently. Unable to see his face, you watched the back of his head smugly, smirking as Levi slowly spun.

It took every piece of courage you had to hold your smile; the dark expression of pure unbridled violence on Levi's face was terrifying to behold. You gripped your cup defensively.

"You used up all the tea," Levi stated, voice misleadingly steady. You knew the Captain well enough to be aware this was in fact a bad sign.

"I got here first," you countered, retreating a step as he began to stalk towards you. "Besides there's got to be more tea somewhere in the castle," you added on quickly, losing your nerve as he neared you.

Levi snorted and continued to back you up, till your back hit the kitchen counter. To your alarm he did not stop, bringing you chest to chest and face to face. You stopped breathing. Levi narrowed his eyes as he observed you in a distinct bird of prey like manner.

"I've been to every other place in this shitty castle," he droned quietly, deep voice reverberating through you, sending thrills up your spine which you stoically ignored. You refused to allow yourself to admit such an asshat was attractive. "There is none," he finished and crossed his arms. You returned his glare and hid the precious cup behind your back.

"Tough luck, you're not getting mine," you said stubbornly, holding his gaze and raising your chin. Levi watched you wordlessly for exactly three seconds before grabbing you round the neck in an attempted headlock. Snarling you wrestled in his grip and raised your knee sharply, forcing Levi to let you go to avoid a deadly kick to the balls. The movement sent tea cascading over the edge of the mug, scalding your hand.

"Fucking stop you're making me spill it," you hissed, taking your opportunity to put some distance between the two of you. Levi just looked more grim and flicked his hot fight ruffled hair back to its normal position. You frowned- no, the hair was not hot, the Captain was not hot and his washboard abs were not hot in the slightest not that you were thinking about them at all. Levi tilted his head, obviously noticing your eyes flickering over him. You glared back petulantly. Levi said nothing and returned your sullen stare.

"You can't intimidate me into handing it over, I've been looking forward to this all day," you complained, "especially since I got assigned to the stables, which was your fault by the way!" Levi let out a righteous huff.

"That was Erwin's decision, speaking of which it's also not my fault you are shit at cleaning," he said levelly, eyebrow quirking as you bristled in annoyance. "And besides," he added, crossing his arms again and staring moodily at the sink, "I've been looking forward to that tea all day too," he turned to eye you accusingly, "I've had to fix up half the fucking castle, this shit heap of bricks is being held together by cobwebs and mould," he said disdainfully and something odd happened.

A pang of empathy ran through you. Uncomfortable as it made you feel, you could see that Levi was having a hard time. The bags under his eyes were darker and his mood fouler. And why wouldn't it be? He was having to almost single handedly organise the restoration of this place, and keep up his duties as Captain on top of that. It seemed obvious now he'd mentioned it.

You sighed, staring at the tea in your hands longingly for a beat. Then, carefully, you shuffled over to Levi, eager not to spill any more of the steaming amber liquid. Levi watched you with deep suspicion as you neared, and you almost rolled your eyes as he shifted ever so slightly into a defensive stance. Watching his dubious expression you half smiled to show you meant no harm, eager not to get punched, holding out the tea when you got to arms length.

"You're right," you muttered, both hands round the cup, eyes quickly flickering to the floor as Levi's gaze grew bewildered. "You deserve it more than me," you announced with as much nonchalance as you could. Levi took the tea and sniffed it cautiously.

"What did you do to it?" He asked, flinty eyes piercing yours as if trying to read the truth there. That was the last straw. Weariness, anger and upset swamped you all at once in an overwhelming wave.

"Nothing Jesus," you threw your hands up in exasperation, "look I know you hate me but you could at least say thank you," you flipped your hair moodily and begun striding to the door- but didn't make it far. Levi's arm shot out with his usual speed and grabbed your shoulder, turning you round and holding you in place.

"Wait," he growled, loping to the cupboard across the room and managed to make grabbing a cup from a shelf look graceful, not spilling a drop from the mug you'd just place in his hand. He walked slowly back over and poured half of the tea into the new cup, before shoving it at your chest. You just blinked in astonishment.

"Well take the cup then idiot," Levi chided, avoiding eye contact in a way that was almost awkward. Shaking your head in disbelief you took it, taking a sip, closing your eyes in delight as it warmed you right through. When you opened them Levi was once again watching you analytically, brow furrowed in thought.

"You really think I hate you?" He asked suddenly, and you placed your cup on the side, heart thumping in your throat.

"Well," you begun, not sure how to respond. "Yeah I guess, you've been a bit of a dick since I got here," you shrugged, trying to ignore your stomach doing backflips and reminding your brain you did not fancy Levi. And to continue trying not to. The thought seemed less and less important though, as Levi ran a hand through his hair in an unusually human gesture.

"Yeah... right," he acknowledged, leaning against a counter, baffling you even further. After a moment of taking in the situation, you moved beside him, leaning too, taking a sip of tea to distract yourself from the awkward silence.

"Why?" You blurted out, head turned to watch Levi's profile, as he continued to stare forward steadily. At the question his stormy hues flickered to your face, and he rotated till his built body faced you. You suppressed a blush as your lower stomach clenched at his proximity, trying desperately not to notice his shoulders or darkened gaze as he considered you.

"Because," he murmured lowly, and grabbed the small of your back,  pulling your hips into his. Your breath hitched in shock and pleasure at the contact, blinking rapidly as suddenly mere centimetres lay between your faces. Levi brought his other hand up, resting it against your cheek for a second, observing your reaction before lowering his face. It was only after you breathed out, practically shaking at his touch, that he kissed you, ever so softly.

Until you kissed back. Levi instantly turned rougher, hands running over your body as he did, setting you alight. Instinctively your hands were combing through his soft hair and over his velvety buzz cut, breathing rhythm destroyed. His hands found their way to your buttocks, and he lifted you with almost alarming ease on to the counter, breaking the kiss and using the moment to take a gulp of his tea.

"Because that's why," he muttered, pupils huge and stare swallowing. Hardly able to think, you tried to add it up in your head. The constantly being on your case- an excuse to be around you? The constant berating and complaining- pent up sexual frustration? The more you compiled the Captain's erratic behaviour, the more the whole situation seemed to make sense. You grinned smugly.

"You have a fucking weird way of displaying your feelings Levi," you let the name roll off your tongue, lust spiking as he growled, parting your legs and stepping so his body met your own.

"Ah, you want something more conventional [lastname]?" He droned, bored tone sexy as hell. Quirking your head as if in deep thought, you place a finger on your parted lips and gave him you best dirty look.

"I'm sure I'll think of some way you can repay me," you whispered in his ear, hopping off the counter and grabbing your now nearing lukewarm tea, before waltzing towards the door. Levi let out a rumble of disappointment and irritation, making you chuckle and stop in the door way.

"If you think I'm that easy Captain you have got another thing coming," you teased lightly, "it'll take more than half a cup of tea to get into my pants you realise."

To your intense amazement, Levi's mouth turned up ever so slightly at the edges.

"Believe me [Name]," your name from his mouth almost sent you rushing straight back into the room, but you held your position. "The only thing coming will be you," he finished, gaze smouldering with eyes like hurricanes.

"Game on, Levi," you managed to keep your voice from hitching, and flounced out the kitchen, taking your tea with you.