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“Hanji, I swear to god if you don’t let me go… “ Levi let the threat hang in the air so Hanji could imagine for themselves what he would do. They knew it was no empty threat, Levi had taken revenge for smaller things earlier in their friendship. Hanji only waved her hand dismissively and kept their arm locked around his shoulders. He usually were prepared for her sneak attacks but had been fumbling with his keys and Hanji had seized the rare unguarded moment and Levi had been trapped ever since.
It was not that Levi didn’t like Hanji. He did in fact like her company unusually well and that was the only reason they still had contact. Not that Levi really had anything to say on the matter. The only thing with Hanji was that sometimes… they could get a bit much. This was one of those times.
“I don’t even know anyone that can speak sign language why the fuck do I have to learn it,” Levi said in a last attempt at getting out of this class. He had been looking forward to sitting down in his sofa with a glass of wine and some bad tv show and do nothing for the rest of the night when Hanji had showed up in his office half an hour before he was done for the day and reminded him that he had in fact said yes to learn sign language with Hanji and their first lesson was today. Hanji had planned this well, the night she asked if he wanted to join she had started with getting him drunk first then talk about the good old days when they were young and ready to take the world by storm and finished by telling him how he still was young and should do something to move forward in his life, not get stuck in routine and the perfect way to do that was to learn something new. Like sign language. With Hanji. Every friday 3.30 pm sharp. Who’s idea was it to put up a class on a friday anyway? Stupid shitty idea.
“But Levi that doesn’t matter! After today you’re gonna know a bunch of people who can speak sign language! And remember, we’re doing this because it’s fun and good for the soul not because it’s useful! Even though it is going to be useful someday when we meet someone who actually does speak sign language and maybe they’ll be deaf and nobody else can…” Hanji rambled on and Levi sighed heavily while tuning her out. He had already paid for the class anyway and that was hard earned money he did not want to waste. ‘Cause he didn’t have a buttload of them that he never used anyway. Nope, not Levi.
The building they entered was warm and made the biting cold let go of his cheeks. A cheery receptionist smiled at them and asked what she could help them with. Hanji answered just as cheery and they got directions. Levi was let go as Hanji skipped a couple of steps in front of him.
“Okay class! Welcome to your first lesson! Today we are going to learn how to say basic phrases and introduce ourselves! I am your teacher Historia and this over here is Ymir. She’s here to help me and you both in this process. So!” Historia clapped her hands together and continued talking.
“We’re going to start with hello, my name is,” She put her hand up to her head and motioned it downwards. “This one is hello, it’s quite simple.” She put her hand up again pointed with one finger to herself then put her hand in front of her and holding out the index and middle finger, the right hand over the left and knocked the right hand over the left twice and that was about the moment when Levi locked eyes with the kid three rows and four seats to the left of him. It had been as if something had twinkled in the corner of Levi’s eye and suddenly he looked into the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. They were a sparkling shade of green Levi had never seen before and fascinated him more than he would be willing to admit. The teacher kept talking but Levi had used too much time looking at the kids eyes: he was completely lost.
The blonde kid beside bright eyes tapped him on the shoulder. Bright eyes turned reluctantly towards him, like a kid knowing it would be scolded. Hanji chose the moment to grab Levi’s attention as well and quickly explained that they were supposed to greet each other in sign language. An efficient look at the blackboard and Levi was ready to begin. He signed “hello” to Hanji and she signed excitedly “hello” back and continued with saying “my name is Hanji”. Levi answered her, not as quickly with the signs as Hanji had been and Hanji had to help him find the e on the blackboard but he figured it out and presented himself. Hanji nodded approvingly and stood up to test her new skills with others from the class.
A girl went over to Levi and introduced herself to him and after a few tries he could deduce that her name was Hannah. Levi repeated the gesture and Hannah got his name on the first try. He looked over at bright eyes when Hannah left and was met with an incredibly frustrated look. The kid looked down at his hands while trying to make a sign and the blonde kid seemed to try to help him but Levi could see it wasn’t helping much. He stood up and walked over, ignoring a couple of classmates that wanted to introduce themselves to him on the way.
Stopping right beside bright eyes, he met the energetic eyes and realised the frustrated look disappeared when Levi had come over. Levi lifted his hands and signed “hello” with his usual confidence. The kid signed “hello back, but didn’t continue on the introduction. Taking the initiative, Levi signed “my name is Levi,” and the kid nodded and recited his name, uncertainty in his voice. Levi only nodded as to say it was right and waited for the kid to sign him. Bright eyes seemed uncertain and looked over at the blackboard before starting to sign. His movements were clumsy and uncertain but determined. Levi couldn’t understand one of the signs he made though, and had to guess on his name.
“Even?” Levi asked and bright eyes’s face changed back to frustration. He pointed at his ear and shook his head as if to signal that he was deaf-
Which he probably was. Levi wanted to hit himself in the head. Of course there were deaf people here too, why hadn’t he thought about that before?
“Well shit,” he mumbled to himself and Eren sighed loudly and fell back in his chair, shoulders slumped. Levi looked around and found a paper and pen by a desk nearby. He went over and got it and wasn’t able to miss the disappointed look that was replaced by curiosity when he returned. He put the paper down and scribbled Even down and pushed it over to bright eyes. He took one look on it and shook his head before reaching for the pen. Levi snatched it away just as he was about to take it, and the kid looked up confused. Scribbling down something else on the paper, Levi pushed it over to the kid again and after reading the message the kid got a determined look in his eye. He looked over at the blackboard once again and spelled his name. This time Levi got Eren out of it and wrote it down. The kid nodded enthusiastically when he read the name and Levi reckoned that meant his name was Eren.
Levi didn’t really know what more to do by this point and nodded back, hoping the exercise was done soon. And after a few awkward seconds of staring at each other, Historia the teacher asked everyone to find their seats again.
“And that’s the end of today’s lesson! I hope you all learned something and I’m looking forward to seeing you all next week,” Historia said as everyone got up from their chairs. Levi himself took the moment to look over at bright eyes again and the caught the kid looking at him. A faint blush had spread across the kid’s cheekbones when Levi had left and it had stayed through the rest of the class. The blonde kid nudged Eren yet again and Eren looked over at him with an exasperated look. Blondie nodded and Eren nodded and just as Levi got up from his chair he saw Eren move in the corner of his eye. A note was placed on the desk where Levi had been sitting a few moments earlier and Eren was not able to look at the older man, an even stronger shade of red coloring his cheeks. Levi picked up the note and after reading it he scribbled something down and tore it off before giving it to Eren and taking the rest of the note for himself. Giving the kid a nod and a quick smile he walked out of the classroom with Hanji.
“What did the kid want?” Hanji was not able to let it go, but Levi was persistent and refused to give up details and it wasn’t until he got home in his own apartment that he dared to take out the note and find his phone. He quickly made a new contact and sent a message. Not long after he got the reply.
Bright eyes:
Hey