Deviate | Levi Ackerman x OC

Ch. 5

Process of elimination brought me back to a heavy wooden door directly beside Hange's office. I fought the urge to retreat next door and knocked on the one in front of me instead.
Nothing came from inside for a couple moments and I almost wondered if he was in there at all; perhaps I'd guessed incorrectly on his whereabouts altogether and would have to go back to the drawing board. I was beginning to consider my other options when the door abruptly opened, startling me.

Levi raised an eyebrow the slightest bit at my involuntary jolt but otherwise kept his expression neutral. "I said, 'Name and business'."
"Did you?" I countered before realizing what I was saying. "I'm sorry, I hadn't heard."
He didn't respond, nor did he seem satisfied with the pseudo-answer I'd given him.
"Well you know my name," I continued cautiously. "And I'd think you know what business this would be pertaining to."
Levi didn't respond again, but took his hand off the doorknob and walked back into the room. I entered, closing the door behind me and followed his lead.
Levi's office looked a lot like Erwin's had, just somehow darker despite the same window space and a faint lingering scent of cleaning products. On the far side of the room were a few bookshelves lined with various volumes in pristine order, a sitting area presumably to enjoy those books when they're not perfectly in place, and a side table that held a tea set and cups. He returned to the seat behind his desk and the paperwork that had been spread out on it. I continued to one of the chairs in front of him and panicked a little about how to proceed next.

I must've taken too much time trying to figure my next move because after what really didn't feel all that long came a swift, "Oi, you said you had a reason for coming here."
His curtness cut through my internal reflection and immediately put me on the defensive. Would it kill this guy to be the slightest bit nice?
"Actually, if you'd like to get technical, what I said was that you knew what business I had coming here to discuss. Unless you'd somehow scrubbed the events of this morning from your mind already."
He clicked his tongue at me. "Unfortunately not. What does any of that have to do with me? You're the one deliberating this promotion."
"Correct, but accepting and executing that opportunity largely centers on you."
"Tch, don't make me the excuse for why you can't do it."
I couldn't believe my ears. I grit my teeth and had to steady my breathing before I opened my mouth again. "I would never make you the reason for anything I do, successfully or otherwise. I meant it's based pretty sizably on how we work together - if you're even capable of such a thing at this point."
Levi finally looked up from the papers in front of him to shoot me daggers from behind his desk. "I work well with others just fine. On a daily basis around here."
"Is that what you call it?" I raised my eyebrows and glanced sideways. I caught myself right after that quip and quickly remembered that I couldn't expect him not to be a snarky asshole if that was the energy I was putting out there, too. Friendly banter is one thing, but this all felt very... pointed. Personal even.

"Look," I readjusted and spoke to him directly, despite Levi returning once again to the work before him. "This is an incredible opportunity and I absolutely would love and want to accept it. But that would require us seeing a lot more of each other and working well in that space."
His grey eyes met mine again but his expression didn't give anything away.
"I promise to play nicely if you do," I offered honestly, banishing any hint of sarcasm from my tone but still trying to keep it lighthearted.
He didn't respond right away, which gnawed a bit at the confidence of my good faith effort. He continued to hold my gaze, though, so he wasn't completely blowing me off. His look almost appeared to soften in a way; he'd seemed to graduate from despising me altogether to only being irritated at my presence. Despite knowing I was one of his least favorite things in the world, the prolonged eye contact didn't feel too uncomfortable - this seemed to be the most progress I'd made with the guy all day.
Finally, Levi nodded.
I couldn't hold back the slight grin that broke through. "Could I get that in writing?"
He rolled his eyes at me and shook his head in response.
I stood up from my seat. "Okay, okay, fine: a verbal agreement will do, too."
"You talk a lot," he complained. "But fine - I'll show up as long as you do."
That didn't sound much like a consensus, but I was beginning to learn that these things didn't look quite the same with Levi as they did with the average person. I nodded and started for the door.
"Oh! I almost forgot," I remembered just before making my exit and turned back to ensure he heard me, "Birthday bonfire tonight! I was tasked with getting you and Hange there."
"If you almost forgot, you almost already failed at that then," Levi condemned. "I don't do parties."
What a joy this man was. I shrugged at his response. "Suit yourself. Celebrations aren't all that commonplace around here, though, so the rest of us definitely will."
I dramatically waved goodbye and made my way to Hange's office next.

I didn't think I was that loud but Hange's door flew open just as I raised my hand to knock on it. They greeted me with a smile that lit up their whole face and a shriek of joy.
"Stroid!" They exclaimed, grabbing me by my wrist and leading me inside. I couldn't help but laugh - Hange was the kind of person it was difficult to be anything but happy around. Unless of course you're Levi, who manages to find annoyance at every turn.
"Hey Hange, miss me that much already?"
"No! Well obviously, but I mean that's not why I'm so excited right now!" They led me to a couch inside their office and sat down, prompting me to sit beside them too. They let my arm go and held their hands up as they spoke. "You're accepting the position because you finally squared things away with Levi!!"
Their happiness was contagious but I couldn't help but wonder how they knew that already. "I mean, yeah, but how did you-"
"Thin walls," Hange chuckled. "In all seriousness, Levi doesn't get all that many visitors over there. When I heard him talking with someone who I could make out was very much not Erwin, I ventured a guess that you took my advice and were on your way here to share the good news!"
I shook my head and rolled my eyes at them.
"I also thought I heard something about a party?!" Their excitement grew at the addition of that part.
"You would be correct on both fronts, if you can believe it," I tried to downplay it but I could feel myself beaming just a tad. Even if it was only the first step up an undoubtedly daunting mountain, this felt like a little victory in itself. "We called a truce enough to work and train together for my promotion."
Hange leaned over and wrapped me in a tight hug. "Oh Stroid, that's fantastic! I never doubted you."
I returned the hug and wanted to fade away into that moment of peace and euphoria. "You're actually the best, ever, but I haven't actually done anything yet, Hanj."
"If you'd witnessed the tension between you and Levi so far today, you'd take this as much of a win as I am! Excellent first step," they rubbed my back a bit before finally pulling away.

They wanted all of the details regarding tonight and I shared as much as I'd gotten from Mike and Nanaba in the corridor earlier this afternoon, which admittedly wasn't all that in depth, but enough to provide the when, where, and why. It was late afternoon by now, so I guessed we only had a couple hours until the evening's festivities began. Hange eagerly established what we could take to drink, despite my internally dreading the havoc intoxicated me could wreak in this setting. We also brainstormed and put together a little something for the celebrant in question. With some time still to spare, I excused myself from their office to freshen up back in my room.
A quick shower helped soothe the bit of nerves that had crept up as the evening approached. The day had gone better than I'd ever anticipated, but social settings can still be a bit awkward - especially when you're seemingly flying blind into one where everyone else but you is on the same page. But brushing and braiding my hair helped bring me back down to earth. I rummaged through various drawers and my closet until I finally settled on a pair of black fitted pants, a white long sleeve, and a deep green cardigan. I admittedly have never been the most fashion forward person in the world, but the simplicity of what I had to work with here was oddly comforting - one less thing I had to stress over or even really think about. I grabbed my component of our joint gift on my way out and set off to retrieve my party date for the evening.