The Feeling's Mutual | Levi x Reader

fifteen - minerva

"Hey."

You jerk your head up. "What?"

Levi's eyes flicker to your bouncing leg, then back up to your eyes. "Are you really this fucking nervous for the presentation?" he asks, almost accusingly.

Fucking hell. The presentation. That should be the first thing on your mind, but thanks to this asshole next to you, the only thing you can think of is him, his breath hot on your skin, his fingertips on your knee, his lips on yours-

Shit. "Yeah," you say shortly, eyes glued forwards on the first group that's setting up at the front of the lecture hall. "It's thirty percent of our grade, you know that."

"You've never been this nervous before."

"Yeah, because you've been around to see me before a presentation."

"I have."

Your leg stops bouncing. "When?"

He doesn't reply immediately. You glance up at him; his eyes are still focused forwards. Before you can ask him again, the professor says, "alright, Dirk and Marlene. Kick us off."

The woman at the front- Marlene- starts to speak, and you resign yourself to silence. You try to focus- they're saying something about hibernation cycles- but you can't stop thinking about Levi. You know you should stop, but you can't. You want to kiss him again, you want to-

Enough.

But in all seriousness- when has he seen you before a presentation? You've only had a few courses with him: two in first year, three in second year, and one last year. And it had been that one in second year where he'd sat in the front row and glared at you the entire time- so it couldn't have been then.

You stew in silence, fuming to yourself for so long that you're startled awake when people start to clap, signaling the end of the presentation. You add a few claps of your own before you go back to bouncing your foot off the floor.

"When?" you mutter as chatter ensues.

Levi clicks his tongue. "You're persistent."

"I'm serious."

"Third year. When you were-"

Levi cuts himself off as the professor speaks up, asking if anyone has any questions. Right- you nearly forgot there was a two minute block at the end of the presentation for questions. Shit, that'll be awful.

As a common courtesy, you normally don't ask questions after presentations like this. You've been in the shoes of the people at the front, and you remember the feeling: being exhaustedly grateful that you're done and the need to get back to your seat. No one wants to be asked questions; people just want to sit down.

Apparently, one of your classmates doesn't abide by the same internal code. A hand shoots in the air, and the teacher calls on him. It's a man with mussed hair and glasses.

"You mentioned that bears experience little to no muscle atrophy, which is what makes them suitable for hibernation," he says, "which is cool and all, but you never say why."

The presenters- Dirk and Marlene- exchange a glance. "Well, that's just a part of why they hibernate," Marlene says. "I guess they-"

"Yeah, I get that, but why."

Marlene's lips pinch together. You can't tell if she looks like she's going to deck the kid or burst into tears. "They're just one of the only mammals that have that sort of capability, to be able to shut down their functions for a few months," she says. "They-"

"Why though?"

God, you want to smack this kid. You can't even listen as Dirk and Marlene stumble through some response that doesn't sound coherent. "What a dick," Levi mutters.