Your Punishment For Waking Me

This is inspired by the doujin 兵長、失礼します (Corporal, I'm Sorry) by TK-Brand. Since I can't read Japanese, I had to guess what they were saying, which led me to make up my own story based on the pictures:
rivaillevyy.tumblr.com/post/53076123039/fow2-2-r18

Disclaimer: "Shingeki No Kyojin: Attack on Titan" is owned by Hajime Isayama. I make no money writing fanfics. Wish I did!

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Eren had been told it was Corporal Levi's teatime, so he diligently prepared the drink, making sure there was not a speck of dust on the cup, teapot, or tray he used to carry them. The linen napkin was spotless and folded neatly. Everything was arranged properly. Levi would send him back if anything was dirty ... and then punish him later.

However, when he entered the corporal's quarters, he saw Levi reclined on a couch, his head and shoulders propped on a pillow, his boots resting on the arm of the couch, crossed at the ankles, with his arms folded over his stomach. His cloak was off, his uniform shirt partially unbuttoned, the perfectly white cravat around his neck loosened unlike he ever normally wore it, even in battle, and his hair draped into his relaxed face.

Eren froze and stared in surprise. "Is he asleep?"

He had never actually seen Levi sleeping before, so he wondered what he should do. Call out to him and wake him up? Levi might get angry if he found out he was seen in such a disheveled manner. Eren wondered if maybe he should retreat from the room, call out, and enter only when he was certain Levi was awake. No, then the corporal would know he must have been seen, and he would still scold Eren for being so timid.

He decided to simply place the tea down. Levi would wake up and see it. Maybe it would get cold, maybe he would ask the other squad members who delivered his tea that day, yet perhaps he would feel just a little gratitude that Eren let him sleep and told no one about seeing him in such a relaxed manner.

He silently stepped forward and, quiet as a mouse, put the tray on a nearby table. However, when he looked at Levi's sleeping face, Eren felt a blush rise into his cheeks.

It was amazing to think that such a peaceful face was the same man who had violently beaten him at his trial. Such gentle eyes, such smooth cheeks, and soft black hair belonged to the world's greatest soldier. Yet even while asleep, Eren saw the gracefulness of the corporal's body. He was efficient yet elegant in battle, and those hands folded over his stomach showed strength, with long fingers that looked far too refined for someone who, apparently, had been involved with underground crime in his youth.

Then, in his sleep, Levi moaned ever so softly. His face tensed, a slight wrinkle formed between his eyebrows, and Eren swore he heard a faint whisper of a name escape those pale lips. He could not be certain, but it sounded like a soldier who died the day before. The man had been a victim of a purely random mistake, something nobody could have anticipated or prevented, nor was it possible to rescue the seasoned soldier before a Titan grabbed him and bit him in half. Mistakes could happen to the best soldiers; it was pure luck and fate that kept all these skilled, elite soldiers alive. Still, that man had served with Levi for two years. Losing someone like that was surely tormenting even to a person who saw death so often.

"Corporal," Eren sighed sadly.

Levi was anything but heartless when it came to people he respected. Eren knew Levi suffered inside. He just hid it well. The man kept up his mask of professional indifference, exuding a stoic sense of duty, a perfect soldier who could not be defeated even by the death of a friend. Eren had seen the Corporal bury his emotions so many times, purely so he could give comfort and inspire a sense of dignity to the rest of the soldiers. If he could be strong, so could they!