Deviate | Levi Ackerman x OC

Ch. 33

This time around, Levi wasn't waiting in the wings nearby for me. I assumed he could only be one of so many places, so I trudged off to check the first of them. I knew going into this that he wasn't going to be especially fond of Hange's proposal – hell, I wasn't myself – but I didn't think it would be quite that sour. Directly disobeying Erwin of all people was not going to go over well on its own, but pairing it with the overly outlandish nature of their request was enough to turn anyone with sense off.
But not even a conversation could be had? A little back and forth, give and take? Not that Hange seemed especially open to alternate ideas, but we went straight to battling it out rather than any productive parley. When I arrived at his office, I readied myself to knock and announce my arrival but saw the door had been left open the tiniest sliver. I braced myself and pushed my way inside.
Levi was furiously scribbling away at his desk and didn't look up as I approached. The air was thick with tension and although I didn't think I'd done anything wrong, I was suddenly unsure. I sat down as quietly as possible, trying to build up the courage to initiate round 2 and cursing Hange in my head for being the cause of this at all.

"Levi," My voice came out softer than I'd intended but it felt more fitting that way. He didn't look up but I noticed the tenacity with which he wrote and flipped through pages began to slow. "Ready to talk?"
I halfway expected him to instantly shut me down, but after finding a stopping point, he slowly set his pen down, interlocked his fingers together, and begrudgingly met my gaze. "What about?"
"Levi," I made a face at him, still trying to keep my approach light. "I'm not your enemy here. Let's figure this out."
"Are you actually going to do that?"
I didn't expect him to come out so directly so soon and blinked a couple times trying to put together my response. "... Do what?"
"Ace," he mirrored my tone back at me. "We're figuring this out. Are you seriously considering going along with Hange's plan?"
"It isn't so much a plan as it is a... strong suggestion."
He looked unimpressed at my semantics. "You have to know that's a certain death wish, right?"
"Any more than the trips outside of the walls we take all the time?"
"Yes," he dropped coldly. "Because those at least have the somewhat better resources and supports in place."
"Since when are you of the pro-following orders party?"
"Since now."
It didn't appear he was going to elaborate, but I could read between the lines: since it was Erwin we were undermining.
"I never said I was fond of their proposal," I clarified after a couple minutes. "It's over-the-top and outright reckless. However... you can't deny that if executed well, it would do far more than simply secure our budget."
"If executed well," he repeated back to me. "You really want to take the chances on that?"
"I thought you didn't like to talk like that."
"I thought you had more sense than to be so hasty."
I grimaced at him. I could understand his point of view but he didn't have to come at me so sideways.

"What was yours?"
His question brought me back from being in my own head. "What?"
"You'd said back there that you had offered an alternative, right? What was it?"
I shifted in my seat. I hadn't quite figured the specifics but telling him something had to be better than nothing at this point. "I just suggested going the social game route."
He raised an eyebrow at me, prompting clarification.
"I thought maybe it would be worth getting whatever intel we can directly from the source."
Levi strummed his fingers on his desk. "Neither of you are exactly the brains of this operation."
"Hey!" I contested.
He shrugged, effectively brushing off my offense. "Although anything has to be better than the half-baked scheme we've got so far."
"And there's absolutely no way you'd go along with that?"
"There's absolutely no way I'd go along with that."
I groaned quietly. "You're not leaving much room for compromise."
"You're not giving me much of a choice. I won't allow you to risk being an unnecessary casualty like that for some promotion or budget money."
"There will be less risk for casualties with your help. And the help of your squad..."
"Or you'd just be jeopardizing more lives that don't need to be."
"So you won't be helping?"
He bowed his head once.
"Okay, then do you have an idea to throw in the ring?"
The look on his face was impassive and he didn't provide an answer to my question.
"Perfect," I shot back. "Then you've got to be willing to meet me in the middle somewhere."
He was pensive for a short while, diverting eye contact as he looked deep in thought. He spoke carefully when he finally broke his silence. "You're going to develop an actual offensive proposal, however you see fit."
I opened my mouth to interject, but he continued right on. "I will see to it that we employ everything in our immediate power to see whatever you need carried out."
I waited a minute after he stopped, taking it in. "What's the catch?"
"No catch," he assured me. "Once we've exhausted that option thoroughly, then and only then will I consider assisting with Hange's harebrained proposal."
I couldn't hide the triumphant grin that came across my face. Even if it came with conditions, he was giving me something to work with despite all of his personal objections – and that was a success in itself. I moved to the edge of my seat and extended a hand out to him to shake on it. "Deal."
Levi gazed longingly, his expression looking relieved at my acceptance. The corner of his mouth twitched into a crooked smile and he leaned forward toward me, reaching out to take my hand in his. He shook my hand firmly once and pulled me closer to him, which I was happy to facilitate.
"You," he began again slowly, voice gruff. He used his free hand to trace along my jawline before tucking my hair behind my ear, "have some serious work to get to."
I narrowed my eyes at him and let out a huff. "Yeah, yeah."