Disclaimer: I will show you the trailer of SNK live-action right NOW if I own it. Like seriously.

It probably isn't a good idea to pass out right in front of a stranger who's supposed to be trespassing the house you're staying in, but Eren has a knock of breaking the norms and doing the exact opposite of normal.

The room is bright when he woke up against the narrow surface of the sofa. On how the hell did he get in there, Eren haven't got any clue. He's still on the process of figuring that out although the massive headache that came with waking up is distracting him from doing so. His eyes are so tired and his lips are dry with thirst. His head hurt like he's been run over by a truck and the persistent ray of sunlight hitting his eyes did nothing to appease his distress.

He doesn't get up even after a few minutes have passed by, mind still in disarray from oversleeping. Irritated by the light that won't leave his face alone, he turned to his side thinking that it would make him feel much comfortable. Of course, Eren is wrong. When he finally got the strength to fully open his eyes, he is met by a shock of unfamiliar black hair right in front of him. That is more than enough to get him scampering out of the sofa and falling into the floor.

The noise he caused got a reaction out of the owner of the said raven hair and there is a groan before Eren could get off the floor.

"'Fucking hate babysitting..." Said a voice, and Eren has to blink twice to process the words into his mind.

The stranger stands up from where he's been previously sitting, which is also the floor. It would seem that he's been leaning his back against the sofa from there. But when you are in Eren's situation, that should be the least of your problem.

Then he feels a pair of eyes focused on him and looks up to find the stranger looking down at him, shadow looming over his ruffled figure. Memories hit him like a wild canon and remembered what happened last night.

"I─" He starts and wonders why he felt the need to explain himself when he's not the one who trespassed in the first place. He is obviously the victim in here, and that's putting it mildly.

The stranger raises a brow at his attempt to talk and has a look of genuine bewilderment you won't normally see on a grown-up's face. Though distracted, Eren finds himself reaching out for the television's remote thinking that if he can't fight by hand he should at least have something to hit this man with if he tries anything on him. Even if it's the goddamn tv remote.

He's been taught at a young age to defend himself when situations like this happen, although what he did last night was certainly one of the lamest self-defense attempt ever done in history.

That was enough to bruise his ego as a man but Eren is not easily deterred when it comes to his own safety.

His right hand crawled behind his back to the remote without breaking eye contact to the raven-haired man. He probably though he is being subtle but the stranger thinks otherwise.

"Don't you think it's a little too late for that?" He pointedly asked Eren with a bored expression on his face. "After all, if I really wanted to hurt you, I would have done it while you're unconscious." He fixes Eren another look. "But here you are."

It shouldn't have made sense because Eren feels nothing but panic at moment. Faced with this unknown man who might as well be a criminal, all he can do is doubt. Who trusts a stranger but naïve idiots? But as the stranger also said, here he is, awake and alive and breathing.

He finds his voice at last. "I don't know. Maybe you're planning something."

The man scoffs at him. "Yeah well, probably. What do you think?" His tone is mocking, as if Eren is asking stupid questions. Levi thinks he is.

"You can't really expect me to believe you."

"Whatever you say." The stranger says to him, exasperated. He looks around the living room as if to drop the conversation but his face displays genuine disgust when he says "Sina, this whole place needs to be cleaned." Then, "Look at the dust on that shelf. Bastard didn't even know what proper hygiene means." He proceeds to remove his coat, and starts rolling up his sleeves. All this while, Eren is just staring, helpless as to what the hell is wrong with this guy.

Because seriously, cleaning Erwin's place is the last thing on his mind.

"Well? Get your ass over here and bring out the vacuum or whatever shit you have."

Strangely enough, Eren interpreted the 'shit' as cleaning utensils. When he looks at the man, and sees him frowning at a dusty spot in the window like it personally offended him, Eren feels his guard drop. And that's it. Somehow, he just feels domestic and seeing such a human side from this stranger has helped put a face on his mind. Like he's not a faceless man anymore and just an OCD freak whose both short in temper and height.

Giving him a character makes it easy for Eren to suddenly act casual around him. It's not trusting per se, but just a polite sense of socialization.

He pretended not to notice the long look the man gave him as he gathered the said necessities from the kitchen cabinets. When he comes back with the box of requested items, he looks at the man straight in the eye. They have a hard and serious look on them.

And now that he is standing, he can tower over the man but that doesn't mean he feels superior or anything similar to that sentiment. It is actually the other way around.

"What's your name?" He asks, not sure if this strange man will answer.

Eren thought he wouldn't reply and just as he is about to dismiss the rudeness, the stranger answers, "Levi."

"Okay... You're a friend of Erwin?" He asks, because if he's not a criminal why else would he break in?

Levi scoffs. "Sort of."

Eren nods, content. "Well, can't say it's nice to meet you though."

"Sure, the feeling is mutual anyway."

They ended up cleaning not just the living but the entire house. He discovers soon enough that calling Levi an OCD freak is the ultimate understatement and never again would he submit himself so willingly in Levi's housework whims. It is by far the strangest thing Eren had ever done in his life, if not the most exhausting.

They both collapsed on the sofa after putting the cleaning stuff away. Eren is obviously worn out unlike Levi who is just calmly rolling down his sleeves, his shirt still impeccable white even after so much scrubbing. How he did that is beyond Eren and he's really not interested in finding out how. He just feels thirsty and hungry at the moment and he thinks of Café Roselia unconsciously, stomach growling with profound hunger.

"Uhm, did we miss lunch?" He asks dumbly because he knows they did already but can't help but ask anyway.

"And breakfast." Levi answers him, tone back at monotone. He sits so straight and stiff and Eren feels uncomfortable for him.

He didn't mean to ask but his mouth opened before he can catch the words he's saying "Wanna grab something to eat?"

Levi looks like he's about to refuse but nods in the end. "Your treat." He tells Eren, voice expecting no objections. He lends Levi clothes from Erwin's dresser (selecting the smallest size he could find) and after showering, they head out to the café. The slacks are a tad too big on Levi so he had to roll up the ends. Luckily, there is a shirt small enough to fit the smaller man. Eren actually thinks it is Levi's in the first place.

Roselia is just a few blocks away from Erwin's place so they've decided to walk. The streets on this part of the town is silent during the afternoon and although the sun is beating down the pavement, the wind is cool enough to compensate for the heat.

On the way there, Levi tells him, although a bit reluctantly at first, that he and Erwin used to be classmates during high school and college, hence the familiarity with Erwin's place. He also told Eren that he'd always crash at Erwin's place during ungodly hours, making Erwin panic in the same way Eren did the previous night, so Eren's suspicion of him of being a criminal is not totally unfounded. Levi crashes at his place so often that Erwin just ignores him sometimes and let him break in.

"He should have given me a memo at least." Says Eren. Levi didn't say anything after that so Eren thought he agreed too.

Expectedly, the café isn't crowded when they've arrived.

"This is where you always eat?" Levi asks him, staring at the café's sign with a poorly-kept annoyance. "Café Roselia?"

"Yeah." Eren tells him, oblivious to Levi's frustration. He casually open the door, waving to Krista on the counter and asking if they've still got lunch meals on the menu.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you, Erwin." Levi thinks to himself as he grudgingly steps inside too. "I swear to god."

Eren is already ordering so Levi just shoots the café's staff murdering glares as he settled himself on an empty table at a corner. Ymir shots him a glare back although there is amusement in there. Krista gives him an apologetic nod before turning her attention back to Eren.

However, dealing with Sasha Blouse's mortified expression is another matter altogether.

"C-captain Rivaille, sir!" A trembling voice loudly greets him, loud enough that even Eren, looks at them weirdly. It is probably an odd sight. The usually energetic and cheerful Sasha saluting in front of a shabby dressed Levi. Tchaikovsky is playing in the background and everything about that scene is just wrong. Or so Eren thinks.

Levi fights the urge to snap at Sasha and just sends a message though his mind "So this is where Pixis sent all of you." He projects to her lowly.

Sasha is about to reply when Levi cuts him off. "Not that it matters now. I presume you are undercover as well?"

The younger officer nods frantically and when they both see Eren going towards them, they immediately stopped the communication.

"You knew each other?" Eren asks obliviously.

"E-eh?" Sasha gapes like a fish and mumbles. "Well, it is…"

It is completely out of her character that Eren wants to help her. "You called him captain, didn't you?"

The girl smiles warily. "O-oh. Did I? Ahaha... That's just─"

Fed up with the mumbling, Levi intervenes, "I was her probation officer. In our group, the officers are called captains. It's doesn't mean anything."

If anything, Eren becomes more surprised. "Probation?" He looks at Sasha, blinking. "You? On probation? Really?" Like he can't believe it. Sasha doesn't really look like someone who causes trouble.

Sasha stares at Levi dumbly until "Just say yes, dammit." The captain tells her telepathically.

The girl startles at the command. "Ah! Yes, yes! I used t-to be a misfit back then… I guess. But not anymore! Ha ha ha!"

Eren takes one unbelieving look at her but decides to let the topic go. Sasha looks bothered enough as it is. He focuses his attention on Levi instead. "You're actually a probation officer?"

"Is that a compliment?" Levi asks him dryly, shooting Sasha a go-away look. Eren doesn't notice Sasha leave and the girl is more than happy to comply his officer's order. She almost tripped on the way to the kitchen (to hide until Levi leaves) and Ymir sends her an exasperated stare, probably torn in between scolding her or pitying her.

"No, I mean, yes! I mean…" Eren stumbles over the words, "You do look like a disciplinarian." A tyrant, he doesn't say out loud but Levi hears it anyway. The older man grunts in acknowledgement. He doesn't deny his tendency to be strict over everything because he believe in the order of things. Sometimes, you just need to be harsh in order to have peace.

"I hope you don't mind pasta. I ordered pesto for you. You just seem like the type to like that. No allergies I hope." Eren says mildly after a while and Levi appreciates the sentiment even if the unabashed kindness given sort of repels him. From what he had observed so far, Eren is a very trusting person and that is going to put him in danger in the long run. He is not stupid no matter how he acts and holds a much deeper character inside of him despite his carefree attitude.

Another contrary to the popular belief, Levi does not always read minds. He can avoid it but even if he wants to block all thoughts around him completely, it is impossible. The voices will always be there, just muted. One of the reasons he likes high places is also that. Up there, thoughts are not as loud and intruding. The less people around, the more peaceful Levi's mind becomes.

Every now and then he feels aura of matched Variables, and if he concentrate enough he can pinpoint their exact location. But playing cupid is not his job right now. Eren Yeager is his agenda at the moment and he focuses on that.

Their food arrived and was served by Ymir. The girl sends Levi a message through her mind because she knows Levi can hear him anyway.

"It's not my business but you shouldn't be so hard on Sasha. She's been here longer than us, and she certainly knows Yeager better than you do."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Don't act like you're alone on this mission, Captain Rivaille."

"…I'm aware of what a team means, officer."

Eren, oblivious to their conversation, thanks Ymir and as soon as the plates were served he starts eating like he was starved for a week. Levi looks at him in disgust and furrows his brows deeply at the sauce on the corner of Eren's mouth. His fingers itch to wipe it clean but he dismissed the idea fast.

Finally noticing that Levi haven't touch his food yet and is giving him a appalled look, Eren grins apologetically and says "Sorry, I'm famished."

"Clearly." Levi replies but starts to pick on his food with mild interest. Even if he eats it, he can't taste it anyway.

They eat in uneventful silence and head home after paying the bill. Levi didn't even bother asking if he should pay too and just let Eren take care of it. All the while, Sasha hid in the kitchen with Connie throwing Eren and Levi's table weird looks. Krista was just polite and even if she knows that Levi is with Eren, she still bid them a safe travel when they left.

"So," Eren starts, "what should we do next?"

Levi shrugs, like he has to do anything else but watch over the boy anyway. Pixis never told him to watch Eren from afar and Levi thought being near will be more beneficial. Besides, it's not like he will be friends with Eren or anything. He's just there for the sake of being there.

"Like what?"

"Like, oh, I don't know, watch something?" Says Eren, he appears nervous when he asks this, even if his self confidence remains outstanding.

"Hn." Levi simply grunted which Eren probably took as a yes since he has that contented smile on pasted on his face when he glanced over Levi's direction. Like Levi being grumpy like that is normal even if he doesn't know anything about him in the first place. And between having to endure pointless attempt to have a small talk because of boredom and watching a movie in silence, Levi thinks pretending to pay attention to a story with moving pictures is easier.

This mission is every bit mundane. Without having to think of fighting strategies and contingency plans, it doesn't feel like it should be taken seriously, but Levi knows this is just the calm before the storm. A bit of mundane is good, sometimes.

Eren thinks, aside from the occasional visit to Roselia with Mikasa and Armin, this is the closest thing he got to hanging out like a normal teenager. He would overlook the fact that he's spending it with an OCD freak he barely knew. Levi's a bit on the irritable side, as if he's mad at the world in general, never mind that permanent scowl he's brandishing every now and then. Still, it's a comfort to have another presence with you without knowing who you really are too.

When Eren inserted the Titanic CD on the player, he was surprised that Levi didn't comment. He'd expected him to give a sarcastic remark because two grown men watching drama and romance together isn't really that common these days. But no, Levi, remained silent on his seat, back rigid and eyes never leaving the screen that Eren was beginning to get worried he's so bored to death he turned catatonic.

There is a debate on what they should watch to past time and since Eren had watched everything else on Erwin's collection aside from the said movie, they've got no choice but to settle with the classic.

Levi can feel Eren looking at him from the side and wondered why he is doing that exactly. He believed he's watching the movie like how a normal person would and it is starting to irk him.

"Uhm, I can sleep in Erwin's room, so the guest room's free for you." Eren says the moment the credit started rolling. "Well, you know that already didn't you?"

The next morning is a lot more eventful than yesterday with the way the doorbell is ringing and there is a continuous banging from the front door. Eren contemplated ignoring it, because clearly that visitor has to be so very rude to disrupt someone's house so early in the morning, but then this is not really his home so he groggily got up and made his way to get whoever is abusing the door.

"Yeah, yeah, wait a sec!" He says. He is scratching his stomach underneath his shirt when he opens the door, totally uncaring of his disheveled appearance.

There is a terrible beat of silence when he realized who it is on the other side of the door.

"Eren, we are going home right now." You can tell Mikasa is very mad with the dangerous tone of her voice. The girl snatches his wrist so fast and pulled him towards the black car waiting outside the house. A few neighbors have their heads out of their windows, curtains drawn to the side to watch the show Mikasa is so willing to provide. Eren is sure they've been woken up because of the insistent banging earlier. He fought off a wince when they got far out of the porch and he's still barefoot.

"Wait, Mikasa!" Eren starts, and even if he's still angry at her too, he can't bring himself to blame her for brash her actions. He did ignored them for days and honestly he is surprised it took them almost a week to get him back.

"Please unhand him."

On a normal day, that tone of voice is not something Eren would to be directed at him but at this moment, he couldn't be more thankful of the distraction it brought upon his current situation. Mikasa's hold on his wrists momentarily loosens only to tighten again when she sees who spoke.

"This is none of your concern." Mikasa says, seethes, as he directed her glare on Levi who standing just outside of the gate, a bag of groceries, huh, on his right hand while the other holds what suspiciously looks like a box of puppies, if those pointed ears peeking out of the carton are any indication.

Levi doesn't say anything right then, and just walks towards the front door. He stops in front of Eren and Mikasa, as if to observe the situation. His eyes falls upon Eren's bare feet and scowls.

"You're going to dirty the floor. Make sure you wash those before going in." He tells him and dumps the box of puppies (Eren still could believe it, where did even Levi got them) to his available hand. He immediately hugs it to his chest and yes, there are indeed three puppies in the box. White, black and brown. They are strangely being quiet as if sensing the tense atmosphere. Eren can sympathize.

"It became my concern when you trespassed my friend's property and attempted to kidnap a teenager I happened to be acquainted with." He raises a brow at Mikasa while the girl glares at him harder. "You look like a minor, are you sure in a place to threaten me?"

"This is a family matter." Mikasa snaps at him, "Please stay out of it."

"Not when he doesn't want to come with you." Levi shots Eren a look.

"Eren." Mikasa says but lets go of Eren's wrist now. "Who the hell is this?" Mikasa rarely cursed but when she does, Eren usually just stays silent.

As if to strengthen his resolve, Eren clutched the box on his arms tighter.

"I'm sorry, Mikasa." Eren starts, "His name is Levi, a friend of Erwin. He's staying here for a while too."

"I see. " She says, eyeing Levi warily.

"Well you can't run away from us forever." Mikasa tells him eventually, probably after cataloging everything about Levi's face and planning a background check on him already. Eren winced at the accusation but he can't help it, he's not ready to open the case of Grisha Yeager yet. Not to them. He knows it's a selfish request.

"I'd come back. Just not now, Mikasa. But I promise to be safe." Eren says, stepping closer to Levi's side. If possible Mikasa's scowl deepens. "You don't have to worry about me all the time. I…" He falters, "I'm not angry anymore with you and Armin anyway, I just want to be alone for a bit longer."

."I don't trust him." Mikasa accuses, referring to Levi. Because of course, she knows Erwin's away. There are only few things she doesn't know.

"You don't have to." Levi says, not helping at all. He knows what Mikasa is thinking and he doesn't care. However, Levi is impressed with the amount of loyalty she has with the Yeager family. It almost earns his respect. Almost.

Eren surprises both of them with his reply though. "I do."

Mikasa remains silent after that. For the first time in a while, she looks at Eren, really looks at him and sees that his eyes doesn't look so tired and his posture's not so stiff. His edges are relaxed and his face lost that wary paranoia he tries so hard to hide when he thinks no one else is looking. He looks healthy, happy even, if not a little humiliated but that's probably her fault.

She sighs and Eren knows he's won.

"Thank you, Mikasa." He tells her and smiles. Mikasa misses it when she turns to Levi.

"I'd be back in a week." She tells him, a warning on her voice, like Levi will be held responsible and that she will raise hell to break him if anything bad happens to Eren. Levi knows better than anyone else that she might do just that. For a human, Mikasa isn't easily broken. He has a feeling Pixis will like her and would probably recruit her after she dies.

Eren watches the black car leave, almost in daze, until he feels the box squirming in his arms. Levi just walked past him with the bag of groceries on his hand. Eren follows him inside eventually, not before he cleaned his feet though. He places the box on floor in the living room and feels ridiculously giddy by watching the three new puppies trying to get out of the box with their tiny pudgy legs, little waggling tails and bouncing floppy ears. He's feels really happy just now, and it's definitely not because he get to have another week by himself. He's sure Mikasa can take care of the board better than him anyway.

"Hey Levi," he says, still watching the puppies on the floor, "thanks for earlier." He fancies the black one looks a little like Levi. It is now watching his siblings from the side of the box, had long given up on escaping and is now just looking bored already with their hopeless attempt to escape the box, because seriously, can't they see that it's twice their height? He looks grouchy. Eren fights off a laugh.

"I didn't do anything." Levi tells him from the kitchen, sorting out the groceries. If he has to keep watching over Eren as a human, he should start acting like one. He woke up while Eren's still asleep and remembers that most human have breakfast in the morning. He doesn't know how to cook, but that doesn't me he wouldn't make an attempt.

Turns out the cupboard and refrigerator were empty so he'd decided to steal from Erwin's stash of money under the sink the commander had conveniently told him in case there is an emergency in the human realm which forces him to stay. Funnily enough, breakfast is one of those.

He is familiar enough with the town that he can easily navigate his way through the streets without asking for directions. On the way back though, he encounters a strange situation.

"That is not true. But thanks either way." Eren tells him after scooping up the brown puppy to his hands, he stares at its green eyes and pets it softly. The puppy leans in to the touch excitedly and his siblings back in the box are definitely not jealous. "Where did you get them anyway?" He asks the inevitable, because surely, they must have come somewhere.

Levi doesn't answer right away and just when Eren's sure that he will be ignored again, Levi muttered.

"What?" Eren ask, not hearing it properly. "Please speak louder."

"I said I got them from the streets. The box was about to get run over by a car so I snatched it up quickly. I didn't know there were puppies inside…" Well that's not really the entire truth. Normal people wouldn't even bother to look at the box but a person with telepathy would sense that there was something alive inside the box, and Levi just couldn't identify it. By the time he'd rescued the box, the puppies had already grown strangely attached to him (much to LEvi's dismay) and cried loudly when he attempted to leave them on the (safer) side of the street. He told himself it isn't pity, but he ended up bringing them back with him.

It seems like Eren has grown attached to the little monstrosities anyway so he figured he'd just have him take care of them. Either way, he would end up not seeing them again when his mission is complete.

"So you… rescued them?" Eren's voice is full of awe, eyes wide and round as he looks at Levi, still holding the brown-fur and green-eyed puppy on his hands. Levi thinks the two of them disturbingly looks like each other, both looks stupid too.

"I told you I didn't know they were puppies." He says the last word sickeningly.

But Eren is not listening to him anymore and keeps on looking at him the entire day like he's a saint or something equally kind, like he's even capable of kindness.

"Cut that out. It's a disgrace to be worshiped by a brat like you."

If a black op mission means he has to babysit an overgrown teenager with daddy-issues, fending off an overprotective sister and adopting puppies along the way, then he might just told Pixis to fuck off when he had the chance, humanity be damned.

A/N: No, seriously, I really love Titanic. I cried over Dicaprio.