He watches him as he watches Levi. The Captain, up on his horse, riding back to camp from who knows where. He seems to do a lot of boot-licking. Just another reason to hate him, as if the earnest lecturing and sociopathic inclinations weren 't enough.

Levi has been putting in time at the yard. The Captain 's words, not his; Levi is not a good teacher. He doesn 't believe there 's anything you can teach you 're not better off learning naturally. That 's how Kenny taught him, and he turned out okay. Better than okay ' the best fighter there is. Levi always knew he was better than people underground but truth is, that 's not hard. He didn 't expect that so many of surface-dwellers would be shit, too.

'You 're not thinking, ' Levi tells the girl ' a new recruit, but a real one, not like Levi, who was roped in at the last minute. '

Think

before you act. Watch him ' what 's he doing? How is he standing? Does he seem clever? If he looks clever, then you figure he 'll try to bluff you. Double-bluff him. '

The girl ' Nanaba, he remembers ' frowns. 'But Levi, how do you tell if someone

looks

clever? '

Levi doesn 't know, is the answer. He can feel himself getting frustrated. 'Just ' guess, ' he lies, and moves on.

The Captain is approaching, flanked by his guard-dog, the tall one with the nose. A freak if Levi ever saw one; he doesn 't forget the way the way he held him in mud when Erwin found him, and he doesn 't want to remember the way he 'd sized him up the first conversation they had, sniffing him like a dog.

'Well? ' The Captain asks, reaching the group, 'What 's the matter? I thought Levi was putting you all through your paces? '

A few mumbles. 'He 's not a good teacher, ' someone inputs.

'Oh? ' The Captain raises his brows at him. 'And here I thought he promised me he 'd put some time in the yard to make sure you all picked up some moves. Levi, what 's the problem? '

Levi folds his arms, shrugs. 'I told you, ' he says, 'it 's not something that can be taught. '

'Feeling boastful, are we? ' The Captain asks him.

That irritates him. Levi is not prideful. He says what he says because it 's the truth ' he can 't explain why he is the way he is, just that this is how he 's always been. 'I 'm not boasting, ' he says, 'I 'm telling the truth. '

The Captain unclips his cloak, drapes it on the ground. 'You feel like these soldiers can 't be trained, is that what you 're saying? That they 're not strong enough? '

'Are you deaf? ' Levi questions, half-innocent, mocking. 'They could be the best soldiers in the history of humanity and it wouldn 't make a difference. I don 't know, ' he repeats slowly, as if speaking to a child, 'how I do what I do. Understand? '

The Captain cracks his knuckles. 'I see, ' he says, sternly. 'Then you will teach me. And even if what you claim is true ' I will watch how you fight, and I will teach them. Understand? '

Levi shakes his head. 'This won 't end well for you, Captain. You don 't want me to embarrass you in front of your men, ' he says, and hears the others whisper behind their palms. Drawing bets, maybe ' fuck it, Levi would, if their positions were reversed.

'I ranked top of my cadet class, ' Erwin says, like that means anything. 'I 'm not a bad fighter, Levi. ' He braces feet, raises his fists in front of his face, goading. 'Don 't worry, ' he reassures him, and some of the gathered soldiers laugh, like this is funny, 'I 'll go easy on you. '

Levi does not curl his fingers into fists or even shift his weight on his feet. He stands there, as if unbothered. 'You 're too large, ' he tells him, bluntly. 'Even if you could learn what I do, it wouldn 't work. '

'It sounds to me like you 're making excuses, Levi, ' the Captain wheedles. His eyes are laughing. Levi wants nothing more than to drive his fist through his face. 'Besides, ' he adds, casually, 'it won 't be the first time I 've beaten you, will it? '

Levi stays calm. He thinks without thinking:

The Captain is a strategist. He is provoking Levi to act. He thinks if Levi acts without thinking, his attacks will be sloppy. But not too sloppy ' he will anticipate Levi to bluff. So, Levi must double-bluff. Go for his face with right fist, come up with an uppercut that the Captain will block. The Captain will then press the advantage he thinks he has; how? Use his size against Levi, try and throw him off balance. His arms will still be blocking him, so that means he 'll go for a kick ' Levi will block it, and go for the second bluff, a fist to the Captain 's stomach. He 'll use everything to protect it, that 's instinct, and Levi will have him on edge. Then a fist to the side of the head while he 's distracted; then another; then another.

Levi charges. The Captain blocks his first attack, tries to counter by driving his knee into Levi 's ribs. Levi dodges; aims a fist to the Captain 's stomach, which he crosses two arms to deflect, and then slams his fist into the Captain 's cheekbone, close enough to his eye that it 'll bruise.

The Captain seems to hang, suspended in air; Levi sees it all so clearly, the drops of blood the fly from his face, his grimace of pain, the sting of his knuckles. The gasps from the soldiers. Everything slowed, perfect clarity.

And then he comes back to himself. One of them ' glasses, Levi calls them, because he hasn 't cared to learn their name ' is crowing over the Captain. 'Do you need a bandage? ' They're laughing, 'He got you pretty good, Erwin. '

The Captain twists out of their grip, points at him. 'How did you do it? ' He asks. 'Quick. Tell me what you feel. How did you know how to do this? '

'Do you want me to do it again? ' Levi grits, curling his hands into fists, 'Was the first time not enough? '

'Are you being deliberately obtuse? ' The Captain barks at him. 'Tell me how you knew how to hit me. '

'I don 't

know, '

Levi snaps, throwing a punch which the Captain catches in his fist, grinds him back, 'are you some kind of masochist? '

Glasses tries to step between them. 'Now, boys, ' they say, with that gormless smile, 'let 's not lose our tempers. Levi, I 'm sure the Captain just wants to get the best out of you ' '

'Stay out of it, Hange, ' the Captain orders, pushing them away. 'You, ' he says to Levi, 'need to think about what you 're doing. The moves you 're making. No one can see the future ' you must be analysing my decisions based on

something. '

'Ever occurred to you you 're just stupid? ' Levi snarls up at him, the Captain looming down at him. He slams his hands on his chest, as if to push him back.

The Captain frowns. 'What you did was ' it wasn 't right, ' he said, 'you fought dirty, it wasn 't fair. '

Levi stares at him scathingly. 'There 's no such thing as a fair fight, Captain. Any idiot off the street knows that. '

The Captain 's lips twist unpleasantly. 'I 'm sorry to do this to you, Levi, ' he says, and before Levi can think, he 's sweeping his legs out from under him.

Or, he tries to: Levi doesn 't think. Doesn 't the Captain understand? This is like breathing to him. He can 't even see himself move, or remember the steps and patterns and blows it takes, but he gets the Captain beneath him, his fists pummelling his face once, twice. 'Don 't you understand? ' He 's telling him, 'It 's not taught, Captain, it 's me. It 's just who I am. '

His fists are bloody. 'Enough! ' Someone says, tackling Levi from behind, the two of them rolling on the grass. It 's Mike, Levi realises. 'Are you trying to kill him?! ' He demands, shaking Levi 's shoulders, 'Are you out of your mind?! '

'Leave him, Mike, ' the Captain says, pushing himself up into a sitting position. 'He doesn 't know what he 's doing. ' There 's a thick glob of blood dripping from his nose.

Good,

Levi thinks, viciously. He pushes Mike off of him and stands, turns his back on them all ' the Captain who goads him, and the soldiers who laughed.

'Hey! ' Mike screams after him, 'Where are you going?! Get back here ' '

'Leave him, ' he hears the Captain mutter, 'I 'll deal with him. '

He won 't. Levi will not let him. He realises, this is no place for him. How did he ever let himself think it was? This is what happens when you have no one, he thinks, sickeningly. What was he trying to do, replace them? Hoping he would see Isabel 's face in one of the new recruits that come rolling through, or worse, that someone could ' that there would be some other Furlan. Roots. The Captain who teaches him to read and write and silently mocks him for it the whole time ' they all do, probably. Levi 's a rat. His best bet is to get far away from here, as a far as you can get in the wall. He has his first month 's wages and he can steal a horse, by the time he 's in the mountains they 'll never find him --

The knife,

he remembers.

He still has your knife.

Levi packs his money and some of the few civilian clothes he owns. He saddles a horse round the back of the stable ' these people don 't believe in even naming their horses, they die so easily. It makes him sick. People can choose to waste their life on mindless dreams if they want, but don 't drag the innocent animals into it.

The Captain 's office is on the second floor facing the quad. It 's not hard to climb his way up to the window and roll through. The stupid man doesn 't even lock his desk ' does he trust in his comrades so damn much? Levi can 't leave without his knife. He can 't. It was a gift. Gripping its handle, he sighs. It feels good in his palm, balanced.

I 'm sorry,

he thinks.

I 'm so sorry.

But then, the Captain stands in the door.

His left eye is swelling, deep black bruises under his lashes. Even better, those slanting fucking cheekbones are grazed red by Levi 's fists, his perfect, strong nose taped up and purpling. He wishes he could have knocked it clear from his face, smashed it to a pulp along with the rest of him. The itchy anger is twitching in him now, half adrenalin, half panic.

The Captain halts. He closes the door.

'I 'm very sorry, Captain Smith, ' Levi sneers, 'but I think my time with the Corps is at its end. '

'Is that so. ' Levi watches the Captain 's good eye track him, to his hands, to the knife. 'I see you 've been stealing again, ' he says calmly. 'I suppose old habits die hard. '

'I wasn 't a

thief, '

Levi hisses, holding the knife parallel to his chest, 'I was never a fucking

thief,

I didn 't steal anything from anyone who didn 't deserve it. '

The Captain shrugs. 'Well we all need to tell ourselves lies, don 't we Levi? ' He unclips his cloak and hangs it up on the hook by the door. 'Once a rat, always a rat. '

Levi decides not to let it bother him ' he doesn 't even twitch. If Erwin wants to goad him again, he can goad all he likes, it won 't change a thing. Levi has money, he has a horse, and now he has his knife.

'Would you like some tea? ' The Captain asks him.

Levi will not let him distract him. He kicks the drawer shut with his thigh, edges backwards to the window. 'Enough, ' he snarls, 'enough with the pathetic games. '

'Games? ' The Captain shrugs, moves towards the fireplace, 'I just asked if you wanted ' '

'Stay back! ' Levi snarls, 'Any closer and I throw this knife at your throat. '

The Captain pauses, half-crouched. 'Levi, we both know that 's not true, ' he says, 'because then you would lose the knife. And you don 't want to do that, do you? '

'I don 't give a shit about the knife, ' he lies, 'I just don 't like people laying their dirty fingers on my property. '

'Neither do I, ' Erwin agrees. 'But I seem to remember you putting that knife in

my

office. Why would you have done that if you didn 't mean for me to have it? '

Levi 's going to do it. He 's going to shove this down his throat. 'You can 't just

take, '

he spits, 'you can 't just

take

something and claim it as yours ' '

'Why not? ' Erwin questions, 'I did it with you, didn 't I? '

Levi thinks he might be screaming. He lunges with deadly intent ' he 'll stab him in the eye, no, in the chest, no, he 'll ' he 'll scalp him and leave his head to burn in the fireplace, he 'll draw him a new, goading smile, he 'll cut off his nose and his ears, he 'll stab and stab and stab until '

Erwin 's leg kicks him off balance. He collapses onto the floor with a heavy crash, cracks his chin on the raised stone of the fireplace, mouth filling with blood.

Sloppy,

he hears Kenny tsking,

you 're gonna get gutted and thrown in the sewage if you keep letting your anger block your vision, brat.

Levi roars, scrambling to his hands and knees, but ' he 's dropped the knife. He sees it sitting innocently on the carpet, reaches to grab hold of it, and meets the sole of Erwin 's boot, flat in his face, crunching him off balance.

He spits blood.

I 'll kill you with my bare hands,

he thinks, viciously, frantically,

I 'll finish what I started.

He lunges again, focusing on getting his hands around Erwin 's throat, of tearing his hair from his head, ripping off his skin '

The Captain pushes back with the full-weight of his body, all six-foot-two of him. All Levi wanted to do is wrap his hands around his neck and feel the life leave him ' he just wanted to see some fucking

helplessness

in those cold blue eyes, anything other than amusement or disdain. But the Captain flattens him into the ground instead, one knee on each of his thighs, two broad hands around each of his wrists.

'Shh, ' The Captain is saying, 'shh, shh, shh. Calm yourself, Levi. Can you calm yourself? '

His mouth tastes of iron, thick of it. He picks up his head and spits onto The Captain 's face. But he doesn 't even flinch. He doesn 't even

blink,

flecks of Levi blood speckling above his brow, dripping into his lashes.

He arches his back, twists like a feral cat, desperately trying to outmanoeuvre the Captain in what has become a simple show of strength: he 's let the Captain get on top him and pin him down. Unless Levi thinks fast, he 's not going to brute-strength his way out of it. He glares, feels his upper lip twitch; his chest rising and falling, every muscle pulled tight as a bowstring.

'That 's it, ' the Captain soothes, 'accept it, Levi. You 're not thinking rationally. That was nowhere near what I know you 're capable of. '

'You goaded me, ' Levi spits. 'You made me act like that. '

'Yes, ' the Captain agrees. His thumbs are rubbing little circles into the skin of Levi 's wrists, as if he thinks that will be soothing, as if Levi is a child. 'Shh, ' he says again, 'I 'm not moving anywhere. You 're here until I decide to let you be otherwise, understand? '

Levi shuts his eyes. He lets his breathing even and slow. He thinks about where the knife might be, the ache in his jaw. He opens his eyes to stare into the Captain 's, all blue and calm and focused. It makes him sick. He twists his head, and

bites.

The Captain 's arm tenses; Levi sinks his teeth there, the soft skin, the hard muscle. He expects the Captain to jerk, free his arm; he 'll wrap around, beat his throat, free himself. He 'll take the knife. He 'll flee. This is what is supposed to happen: instead, the Captain does not move, not an inch, not in pain, not to free himself. He stays there, stone, bracketing Levi 's limbs, and even though some sweat drips off his nose and onto Levi 's face, he does not move.

'Are you done? ' The Captain asks him, voice tight with pain, 'Or should I call a kennel-master to let him know we have a mangy dog? '

Levi releases him, spits blood and flecks of arm-hair from his mouth. He wonders if the Captain will have him thrown in gaol, or worse ' Levi can think of worse. 'It 's my knife, ' he rasps, throat filled with his own blood.

The Captain 's brow furrows, as if with concern. 'Don 't be so childish, ' he chides, disgusted.

Levi reaches for the knife, just past his vision; the Captain backhands him,

hard,

so hard that his eyesight clouds briefly, head thwacking against the floorboards. The Captain 's weight shifts. He 's ' he 's straddling his waist, or ' Levi shuts his eyes, groans. He hears: rustling, leather, clinking metal. He 's swallowed so much blood he wants to throw up. The Captain has bound his hands above his head with his belt.

'Again, ' the Captain orders, needing only one hand to keep Levi 's arms pinned to the floor. 'I asked you, are you done? '

The Captain is doubling in his vision. 'You didn 't beat me, ' he mutters, 'would never beat me in a fair fight ' '

'Shut up. There are no fair fights, or did you forget? '

'You going to kill me, Captain? ' Levi wheezes, coughing blood.

'Don 't be ridiculous. You 're too valuable to kill. '

'Hah, ' Levi weakly scoffs, 'sure I am. I know what this is about. '

'I 'm not sure you do. I 'm not sure you 've ever understood, Levi. '

Levi cracks open one eye, stares up at him. Poor bastard, he thinks. Levi is many things, but he 's not a liar ' not to himself. He picks up his head with the last of his strength, presses his nose to the Captain 's cheek, his lips to his lips, his teeth to his tongue. He draws blood ' or maybe it 's just his own he 's tasting. The Captain does not push him away. At least, not immediately.

He grips Levi 's chin, the sore place he hit earlier, swallows his little cry of pain and drags him off his skin. He swipes his thumb against his swollen bottom lip, stares at the red smear left there. 'Who 's playing games now, hmm? ' He says, brows raised.

He releases him. Levi falls back onto the floor with a soft groan. 'People like you, ' he mutters, 'only want one thing. '

The Captain scoffs. 'You think that 's what I want? ' He says, derisively. 'That I 'm as common as a man as that? '

'I 'm a thing to you, Captain. A ' a ' ' Levi searches his mouth for the right word, 'an

anomaly. '

'Ah, ' The Captain says, releasing his wrists and sitting up, his full weight pressed onto Levi 's hips, 'so you have been studying, then. '

The air in Levi 's lungs exhales in a short rush, the arc of his spine lengthening to pull him away from the Captain 's weight. His fingers scratch futilely in the floorboards above his head.

The Captain starts again. 'Let me make myself clear, ' he says.

His thighs bracket Levi 's hips. It feels hot, between them ' too warm, a tightness where their bodies meet.

The Captain rearranges himself, sits ' no. Grinds back into the gap between Levi 's thighs. Levi grits his teeth, exhales shortly. Another person; maybe, they would call it a gasp.

'You seem to have misread my intentions, Levi, ' The Captain tells him earnestly, 'well, that 's okay. Few people do understand them. ' He slides his hands ' palms flat, fingers spread ' up Levi 's stomach, his chest, like he owns him, like it 's his right to take it, and Levi lets him. 'You, ' The Captain says, with reverence in his voice, 'don 't even realise what you are. '

He snicks the button at the top of Levi 's shirt. It exposes just a slice of collarbone, but the Captain takes that hungrily, too; traces his fingers along the sharp dip, up along his throat. Does Levi accommodate him by twisting his head to the side, or is he flinching away? He doesn 't know.

'I believe you think you 're just a good fighter, ' Erwin continues, stroking his fingers down Levi 's chest. He plucks at the second button. 'Or you think you 're a particularly good criminal. ' He laughs, humourlessly. 'Well let me tell you, Levi ' you 're a terrible criminal, even I know that.

Real

thugs don 't distribute food to the poor, or take in strays, or take on risky jobs so that a friend can receive medical care. You were always going to be a bad criminal. You can 't even steal a knife. '

'Not stealing, ' Levi snaps. 'If it 's already my ' '

Erwin frowns at him, slams the underside of his hand into Levi 's chin; his teeth clip harshly, the pain grooving through his jaw. 'Shut up, ' Erwin orders, 'or I 'll gag you. Do you understand? '

His hand moves down to his throat, squeezes once, warningly; Levi swallows.

'Good, ' he resumes, 'better. The truth, Levi, ' he undoes his third button, his fourth, 'is that I would kill to have what you have. Before you saw Them ' the titans. How could you have known? ' He mutters, 'I suppose you would have thought your petty thuggery was enough, the limits of your ability. '

He peels back the edges of Levi 's shirt, exposes his chest fully. Inhales deeply. He 's got each hand cupping the sides of his rib, his thumb sweeping along his breast, and he

can '

Levi could imagine him wrapping those hands around his waist and his fingers meeting each other on each side.

'How could you know? ' The Captain mumbles again, 'The first time I saw ' I was fifteen. I lost my friends. We spent years training together, eating together, sleeping together. We joined the Survey Corps because we wanted to be heroes. That very first time we left the walls ' they died and I didn 't. Why? Not

skill

' luck, Levi. Dumb luck. Brute luck. '

The Captain dips down, presses his mouth to Levi 's stomach, the centre of his ribs, his sternum. 'No, ' he continues, with a hunger, 'I was just at mercy to Luck 's whims, but

you '

' he raises his head, stares at him with his one, unbruised eye, ' ' have never had any luck in your life. And look at what you can do. '

Levi would say: we all have luck. I was lucky Kenny found me before I starved to death next to my mother 's corpse. I was lucky to find Furlan. I was lucky to steal ODM gear. Perhaps, even, I was lucky to cross paths with you ' he hasn 't decided yet.

But he doesn 't say that, because The Captain has taken his mouth for his own, too. The kiss is crushing, bruising; Levi picks up his arms, wrists strapped together tight, to loop around the back of the Captain 's head. He can break his neck. He could. Or he could '

Using his leverage to pull himself up, chasing the Captain 's touch. He wants to make him hurt ' he wants this to hurt him. All he can taste is blood ' beneath that? Maybe the tea the Captain had with his lunch, with whatever nobleman he was wooing, a hint of sugar on the inside of his gums. It makes him feel sick. He wants to devour him.

'Are you satisfied? ' Levi whispers at him, pink-tinged drool frothing between their lips, 'Now that you 've drawn me into your hell? '

Erwin 's eyes stares at him, fingers laced through his hair. 'With you, ' he breathes, 'I 'll never be satisfied. '

Not until he 's taken every part of me,

Levi thinks, listlessly. The Captain is pulling out his cock. He 's kneeling up and putting Levi on the floor, holding himself in hand. 'For your insubordination, ' he tells him, and Levi laughs. Not a real laugh, of course ' Erwin is not Furlan, or Isabel. He 'll never hear him that way.

'Do you like it? ' Levi crows, staring up at him, 'Does being called a murderer make your cock hard, Captain? '

He wants Erwin to backhand him again, to reignite the anger, to pour water over the tense warmth between his thighs. Instead, he cards his fingers through his hair,

gently.

'Do you know how to do it? ' He asks, courteously.

Levi braces his bound hands between Erwin 's thighs, thick as tree trunks. He feels the length of him against his cheek, head buried in the gap between cock and hip. He looks up at him from his eyes.

What do you think?

He tells him, without speaking. He takes him in one.

The Captain sighs. He keeps his hand pressed to the back of Levi 's head, controlling him, or more likely, steadying himself. He fucks forward, the tip of him choking. His shirt is rucked up around his hips, his knees bruising on the wood, hands bound at the base of his spine. He holds him, as long as he can, before he pulls off with a wet cough, eyes watering.

'I didn 't say stop, ' The Captain tells him. He fucks into him again.

This time, a steady rhythm. He lets the Captain use his mouth '

lets

him. If this is as close as he 'll get, so be it; next time ' because Levi doesn 't doubt there will be a next time ' he 'll be able to scratch his nails across the Captain 's shoulders, put his teeth to his throat, watch his face move from nothing to rapture to pain and back again. This time, he lets the Captain do what he needs to do: fuck his face, while Levi chokes on it.

'Can you swallow? ' The Captain asks him. There 's no declaration of love, no kind words. They 're soldiers, supposedly; this is how they do this. He feels out Levi 's throat with his hand, as if testing to see how deep he can go and Levi feels his gorge rising, the tell-tale prickling in his eyes.

'Apparently not, ' the Captain groans, pulling out before Levi embarrasses himself worse than he already has. 'Kiss it, ' he orders, and shakes Levi 's head with a hand in his hair. 'Do it. '

He presses his mouth to the base of the Captain 's cock. The Captain uses his hand. When he comes, he does it silently, his break quickening, legs tensing around Levi 's back. One hand in his hair, to sweep his sweaty bangs back from his flushed brow. He paints Levi 's face with his come, grips his throat, and kisses him for the final time. Levi shuts his eyes, his cock heavy between his legs; it 's messy, his aim is off, he lets the Captain control the kiss.

After: 'Open your mouth, ' Erwin orders.

Levi does.

He spits. Come, blood, saliva. Levi swallows, licks iron-and-salt from his lips.

'There, ' Erwin tells him, shortly. 'You 're mine, now, understand? So enough with the theatrics. '

'Theatrics? ' Levi snarls, but his bite has been sanded down, dulled by the taste of the Captain in his throat and the weight between his thighs. He flexes his wrists in the Captain 's belt. 'You haven 't finished yet, ' he tells him.

'Haven 't I? ' The Captain snakes his hand round to grip Levi 's ass, pulls him close to his chest, Levi 's knees bracketing his hips. 'I 'm sorry, ' he says, gently cupping Levi 's chin, thumbing his bottom lip, 'did I not explain how this works? '

Levi catches his thumb between his teeth. He watches the Captain 's pupils expand.

'I see, ' he says, and does not move his fingers from Levi 's chin. Instead, he takes his free palm and presses it to Levi 's clothed cock; he doesn 't drag, or work him, but it 's a different kind of tease. Levi 's sucks on the tip of his thumb to reward his initiative, rolls his hips against his palm.

'Lie down, ' the Captain orders. 'On my lap. '

Levi wants more, but he 'll take this, too. He wants to feel the Captain 's body with his own ' he 's done with clinical, impersonal. If the Erwin Smith wants to own him, then Levi should get his worth, too. With his hips in the Captain 's lap, he 's angled at a slight slant, his head knocking against the rug by the couch, his back arched.

'Put your hands above your head, ' the Captain demands. 'Be quiet. '

That 's not hard. Levi is always quiet. He pulls his arms above his head and doesn 't think about how bare this makes him ' it 's worse than nakedness, it 's allowing the Captain to hurt him any way he wanted to, if he wanted to. No matter what Levi thinks, it will take his body longer to trust him, for his muscles to learn. But maybe, that adds to the thrill.

The Captain peels him out of his pants, uses the flat of his palm to press his cock back against his belly, watches how Levi ripples into it, arching himself into that warm, heavy touch. But the Captain takes back his hand. 'Don 't move, ' he says. 'If you so much as twitch, I stop. '

Levi exhales through his nose, lets his eyes shut. He wants to say,

get on with it, then,

but he thinks the Captain will be true to his word. He hears him spit in his palm. He braces his arm around Levi 's lower stomach, to pin him down, stop his spasms, control him. And he wraps his fingers around Levi 's cock and fucks him with his fist.

It 's good, is the truth. Levi won 't lie to himself. He hasn 't had this ' another person 's touch ' since before the expedition. He 's seen how the Captain looks at him even if the Captain doesn 't realise it himself. Levi 's had many people look at him that way, sometimes friendly, mostly not. This feels like ' stretching a muscle that hasn 't been used in a long time. It 's hard to resist the urge to stretch his spine, cover his mouth with his forearms to stop himself from sighing too loudly. He hopes the Captain can 't see the tips of his boots bending as he curls his toes.

The Captain works him steadily, a good rhythm with a firm grip. The absurdity of the situation is not lost on him; in fact, it 's what tips him over the edge, the sheer stupidity of himself, spread out on the Captain 's floor, with his come drying on his chin, and his pants around his ankles. The Captain says nothing when he comes; just catches it in his palm, without fucking him through the aftershocks. It makes the whole thing a bit unsatisfying, if Levi 's being honest, but then that 's probably what he intended.

'Good, ' the Captain ' Erwin ' says, shortly. He sounds slightly breathless although Levi can 't imagine why. He wraps his filthy hand around Levi 's throat and urges him to sit, tugs at the leather belt wrapped around his arms.

Levi rolls himself off of his lap and doesn 't think anything at all. He wipes the back of his hand across his mouth, probes his gums with his tongue. The Captain is already standing. He 's holding Levi 's knife.

'Next time, ' he says, opening the drawer in his desk, and putting it in, 'we 'll work on manners. '