Words: 3718
A shout and a crash made you stop right outside a familiar scratched oak door. You had stopped before your foot touched the ground, so you held it mid-step. You stared at the door, foot still hovering above the ground like a lazy flamingo. All you could now hear was low mumbling from what seemed like two people with very different voices, one was unmistakably Hange but the other was higher pitched. You immediately imagined the voice to be a child, but you couldn't quite tell if it was a girl or a boy.
Your eyes flicked from side to side as you tried to decided if this was something you wanted, or even needed, to deal with. It was quite late at night so you couldn't persuade anyone else to, so decided that you would have to deal with it yourself. After all, you were Hange's apprentice and so it was probably your job anyway.
You sighed and gently opened her door while peering around it. You used it as a shield incase anything came flying at your head, which was more common that you first thought. You unintentionally gasped at the sight and caught the attention of both figures in the room your eyes stuck to the scene in front of you.
Hange was stood in front of a table, a wide but curious smile on her face. That wasn't the thing that caught your attention though. Sat on the table in front of her was a small boy maybe 7 or 8. He had dark, raven-black hair and eyes colder than ice. He was a child, but it was definitely Levi. Who else could have such a hardy demeanour while still being short and adorable? The scary captain of the survey corps was currently glaring at you, it pierced your heart even though he was currently sitting in a uniform that swamped him.
You ducked your head and eyes as you fully came into Hange's lab "sorry Hange I thought you were in trouble".
She just laughed "ahhhh just the girl I was looking for".
You could still feel Levi glaring at you, you still not looking at him out of fear "ummmmm did you... uhh... need something?" you mumbled.
"Yes I need a small favour. You see my experiment has gone a bit... wrong" she gestured to Levi who you still wouldn't look at "and it would be a huge help if you could look after the the little man- uhh, child while I figure out what went wrong with my experiment and how he's going to go back to being an adult little man"
"What? Umm Hange I don't think tha-" you were cut off by Levi's higher pitched child's voice.
"Shitty glasses! I may look like a child but my brain is still that of an adult. I don't need someone to look after me" he yelled a blush starting to crawl up your cheeks at how cute he was it defiantly didn't help that you already had a crush on the man.
"Technically your mind is actually that of a child, you've just retained your memories of having an adult brain" Hange mumbled moving a hand to her chin in thought.
"Hange" Levi growled in warning.
"But, but, but... you still need someone with you. For a start, you won't be able to leave your room which means someone would have to bring you meals. Also, I don't know what's going on inside of you, since this was accident. So someone has to watch over you constantly to make sure that you don't fall sick, or worse" Hange explained.
"Fine then if I must, I'm not staying here anymore though, you've fucked up enough. (L/N), you will meet me in my room in the morning, sleep in your own room tonight so that it doesn't seem suspicious to your peers, tell them something and from tomorrow you'll be staying in my room. At least it's clean." Levi growled at you.
He sent a glare at Hange as he jumped down from the table he was sat on. The way to the ground was further away than he expected. His glare was cut short by a small gasp that escaped his lips. He walked away with slightly pink cheeks as his clothes dragged along the floor. His head peeked out to make sure the hallway was clear before he disappeared round the corner.
It was late in the evening so you weren't worried about him being spotted by any scout members as they would all be in their room by now sleeping. You were headed to your own room before all this happened. You had just taken a small detour to the kitchen to get a glass of water before you slept.
Your eyes nervously shifted back to Hange. You were trying to find a way to get out of looking after Levi, but her smirk told you that it wasn't going to happen and that you should give up while you were ahead.
"Well off you go then. You've got a lot to do before tomorrow morning, he will want you very early" she gave you a cheeky smile sending you off and away from her office.
Day 1:
The first day with Levi was extremely awkward, you spent most of the day sat on a wooden chair at the corner of Levi's desk doing his paperwork. Levi tried to do his paperwork but his child-mind quickly became disinterested and frustrated, much like a child would. That, coupled with his new child-like handwriting that had become completely unreadable left him stomping off and into his room once again like a child, out of frustration.
You had given him time as you went though the paperwork and wrote notes on Levi's slight change in manor for Hange. It seems as though he had become a lot more child like with his look. The problem was that Levi hadn't come out of his room. You were starting to get worried about him and the internal debate about wether you should go and see him was distracting you from the paperwork allowing you to make little mistakes.
Finally you decided that it would be worth making sure that he was ok. You got up and walked over to his bedroom door. It wasn't locked but you knocked, not wanting to invade his person space "Captain? Are you ok? You've been in there for a long time"
"Go away!" You heard the muffled shout from within the room.
You opened the door and your eyes searched the area until they settled on a bundle of blankets on his bed "sir?"
"I said go away brat. I'm your captain, you should listen to me, are you deaf or just stupid" he growled.
You paused thinking about how you were going to deal with this without getting in more trouble "I have done half of your paperwork, so please sir come out to your office while I get us some lunch".
A small hand pulled back the covers, ice eyes looking at you curious "you've done some of my paperwork?"
"Yes, would you like to come and check them before I take them to Erwin?" You asked.
He nodded and finally left his bundle and room, you kept your eyes on him as he sat at his desk and went through the paperwork. Satisfied you left the office going off to get both you and Levi some lunch and tea.
*Time Skip*
"Get in" you stared wide eyed at the small man in front of you as he ordered you into his bed.
You blanked as you looked at him, you had offered to sleep on the small arm chair in the corner while you looked after him as you had a feeling that your captain wouldn't want you in his bed, but you were wrong. You wanted to refuse and say that you were fine out of the awkwardness of the situation but the look he was giving you stopped the words before that could escape your lips.
"Well?" He stressed this time adding a point and a little stamp like a child.
"Ok, ok. Thank you for letting me sleep in the bed" you mumbled climbing in.
That night you were both in bed as far apart as you could be, you hyper aware of the man sleeping next to you. You fell asleep very late that night, eventually succumbing to the pull of sleep, not knowing if Levi was asleep next to you.
Day 2:
You awake the next morning feeling a slight heat behind you, once you opened your eyes you took a few moments to figure out where you were. Once your memories came back to you, you turned your head over your shoulder the rest of your body lying completely still. You saw Levi, still a young boy, sleeping soundly, which was unusual for him, but he had also slowly inches closer to you throughout the night. He wasn't touching you but he was very close.
To save yourself some embarrassment you slowly and carefully slipped out of bed, you hissed slightly when your bare feet hit the cold wood of the floor before leaving to get breakfast. Levi still slept in the bed, now curled in on himself for warmth, you took a bit longer than you would like to staring at his cute boyish face before you finally left with a smile on your face.
*Time Skip*
After breakfast you once again began doing Levi's paperwork, trying to finish off what you couldn't the day before. He had dragged a chair next to yours as he watched you to make sure that you were doing everything correctly. He was also attentively listening to you talking about your morning interactions while you were getting breakfast.
You didn't think that he was comfortable talking about personal stuff yet so just stuck with the topic of what had happened throughout your morning. He wasn't saying anything but he was inching closer to your chair every few seconds.
"Eren was telling me how he wanted to see you later to ask about his new training regiment" as you said that Levi sat bolt upright "but don't worry I told him that you were ill and that I'm looking after you, he's going to give it to me so that I can pass it onto you"
"Thank you. He would never live it down if he saw me like this" Levi mumbled.
"No problem" you gave him a sweet smile.
From then on you had become even closer. For the rest of the day the both of you chatted and Levi had also taught you to play chess and a number of card games to pass the time. Your affection for him starting to grow.
Day 3:
When you woke on day 3 you felt a body leaning against your back, you turned your head, Levi was facing away from you but this time his back was pressed against your own. Once again you left the bed before the man-child woke up, and left for breakfast.
You had finished all of Levi's paperwork, and after Hange had explain everything to Erwin, nothing else was coming your way. After breakfast you had decided to try and teach little-Levi origami. More specifically, how to make origami titans. Hange always loved your titans, especially when you made them out of sugar paper that your family would send to you as she could then eat them. Unfortunately today you only had normal paper so Levi would have to settle for that.
*Time Skip*
Levi growled and threw the ball of ripped paper to the floor. With his little hands he was struggling to make the origami titans but he was desperately determined. You let out a little giggle as you handed him another piece of paper and gave him encouraging words.
"Don't worry, I'll start again and we can do it slowly" you smiled.
You got yourself a new piece of paper and slowly went through each step, explaining in great detail. Levi's eyes were intently watching your fingers as you delicately moved them around the folds of paper. Eventually you had both completed the origami Titan, Levi letting out a loud cheer at the fact that he had done it.
"Yay!" He instantly covered his mouth wide eyed at what he had just done.
You laughed at his reaction "don't panic Levi, I think the experiment that turned you into a child has also slightly changed your demeanour. I'm not judging you, be as child like as you want"
"I'm going to kill that glasses" he grumbled under his breath at your revelation.
Day 4:
This time you woke up to a loud rapid knock on the door, this time Levi had curled into your back but this time facing you, you looked at him for a second before the knocking turned into banging which woke up Levi. His balled fists rubbed his eyes much like a child as you got up rushing to the door to opening it with a loud bang.
"What!" You frowned.
Hange was stood there with a large smile on her face, she didn't say hello she just burst past you and into Levi's office and then bed room, screaming at Levi the moment she saw him. You had still been holding the door open, the noise catching the attention of everyone in that hallway who wanted to know what was happening.
You slammed the door and ran back into the bed room. Inside, Hange had jumped on Levi who was still in bed. She was pulling at his cheeks while making squeaky noises. You pulled her away and shoved her into the little arm chair in the corner as Levi yelled profanities at the unaffected woman, you slowly began to calm both of them down before asking Hange to explain why she had woken the both of you on this morning.
"I just wanted to check on the both of you and Levi more specifically to make sure that nothing was wrong, but you two seem fine. Do you have any notes for me so that I can scientifically make sure he's ok" she explained.
"Yeah they're on Levi's desk, let me get changed and I'll get them for you" you headed for Levi's bathroom picking up your clothes on the way stopping just before you entered the bathroom "don't go anywhere near Levi" but as you shut the door you could hear Hange begin a conversation with him.
*Time Skip*
After the situation with Hange both you and Levi had missed breakfast so was only able to grab a couple of slices of bread. This had left Levi in a really bad mood. His grumpy hungry kid side came out in full force. You had spent the entire day cleaning up his messes while also trying to calm him down. But you failed in taming the very bratty Levi. It was odd seeing the clean freak making angry messes like this but he couldn't help it.
Finally at dinner he calmed and at even more of a surprise he repeatedly apologised to you, not being satisfied no matter how many time you said that it was ok and that you forgave him.
Day 5:
Day 5 you awoke facing Levi, both of you curled up on yourself but not touching each other, you looked at his cute face before the warmth of the bed and his body heat lulled you back to a light morning sleep beside Levi.
*Time Skip*
Despite the fact that you fell back asleep, you did wake back up in time for breakfast. As you were getting the food from the mess hall Eren caught you and gave you his written down training regimen. You took it with a smile and told him you would give it to Levi to look over straight away.
Which you did. Unfortunately, Levi refused to take it "Levi? Eren really needs this reviewed" you tried to persuade him.
He didn't look angry or annoyed but it instead he look nervous? "Can you...".
You didn't catch the least bit so asked him to repeat it, and he did "can you read it to me?"
It was a bit of an odd request, you were happy to, but a book would make more sense and not Erens training regiment. After your initial confusion left you his face came into your view, he looked upset and unsure. He thought you were going to say no.
"Of course Levi come on let's sit. Where do you want to go?" You asked.
The relief instantly came to his face and he smiled "the bed".
You nodded and sat down taking a pencil and book to rest on with you so that you could make corrections to the regiment. You sat with you back against the head bored your legs straight out waiting, you were expecting Levi to sit next to you but instead he curled up with his head on your stomach making you freeze.
"Ok I'm ready" he spoke.
You swallowed nervously, he may currently be a child but he was still your captain. With a nod you began reading through the regiment, every now and then Levi would say something that you added to it or changed but eventually you were both comfortable and happy around each other in this position.
Day 6:
You woke up with one of Levi's arms over your waist and your legs over his, it was comfortable but it was a bit odd considering he was currently a child. You left the bed for breakfast and to give Eren back his revised regiment.
On the way back Hange caught you in the corridor and began dragging you back to Levi's office, you desperately trying to save the plates full of breakfast. She was rambling about how she had figured out what went wrong with her original experiment and how Levi will he brought back to being an adult.
A question came to your mind so you asked, Levi not being around to stop you "so you mentioned in your office that Levi came to you to enhance his leaning capabilities. Why would he do that?"
"I was wondering when this would come up... well you know how he's from the underground" you nodded at what she said "we'll he didn't get any form of school as a kid, because it's the underground, and he's been trying to catch up with the rest of us. However he's been struggling as he isn't a young child anymore. As you know children learn thing much faster than adults, so he came to me so that he can have the learning capabilities of a young child. Unfortunately it went a bit wrong"
You took in what she said. Your mind wasn't able to come back with anything for this, you could only nod and hum. He was just trying to keep up with everyone who had a life above ground, he probably felt like he was lesser than everyone who was under his command. It was actually quite noble if you were honest, it made you quite determined to help him now that you knew.
*Time Skip*
Hange's experiment would wear off very soon so Levi wouldn't have to worry, she had also explained that she had figured out how to redo the experiment with Levi properly if he wanted to retry. Once she left, the room had fallen into silence you mind constantly thinking about why Levi had done the experiment in the first place.
"What's wrong?" Levi's voice came from across the room.
You sighed "Hange told me why you agreed to the experiment" you looked to him, seeing a frown "when you go back to normal I can help you with all that stuff if you like".
"I don't want your pity. And what qualifies you to help me " he growled clearly angry.
"It's not pity, and you don't know this, no one does, but I'm from a very high class family and had a very detailed and educational childhood with a private teacher so that I could take over my father's business when he passed away as I'm an only child" you explained.
"... why haven't you told anyone that?" He asked he wasn't angry anymore just curious.
"Probably for a similar reason as to why you don't out right tell people that your from the underground. It changes the way people act around you" you responded not looking at him.
You heard him walking over to you "yes you can help me. I trust you".
"Thank you" you smiled.
Day 7:
You woke feeling a hand stroke through your hair, you groaned as you felt a leg slip in between yours. You frowned but still didn't open your eyes, something didn't feel right. You opened you eyes and gasped, it was Levi but he wasn't a child anymore, he was back to his normal adult self. And currently stroking your hair while curling up to you.
You felt a blush creep up your cheeks as he quietly spoke in his usual, deep husky voice "morning".
You gasped again "Sir! You're back! I'm very sorry I'll leave now you can look after yourself".
"No stay!" He squeezed your into his chest not letting you go.
"Sir?" You frowned confused.
"Stop calling me sir. Levi is just fine, you can start teaching me tomorrow. Tonight I'm taking you on a date" he mumbled.
"Si- Levi What are you saying?"
"Hange told me you loved me the day she burst into my room, when you went to the bathroom to change she told me you loved me" you felt him kiss the top of your head while you were frozen in shock.
"I'm gonna kill that shitty glasses" he laughed as you copied his regular saying.
"Now go back to sleep. We can miss breakfast and just go straight for lunch. Ever since you slept here, I've been getting the best nights rest in years" his hand covered your eyes closing them.
You smiled "ok love you" you mumbled.
"Love you too".