Chapter Text
Zeke’s sure he fell asleep in a tent.
He wakes up in grass, his back stiff against the hard ground. He was really getting too old for sleeping outdoors, not that Levi cared, Levi would get pleasure even if Zeke stubbed his toe or choked on his breakfast. Zeke sat up, rubbing at his eyes, one hand lifting his glasses up at his forehead. And that was a strange thing, as well: falling asleep with his glasses on.
When his eyes were clear from sleep he repositioned his glasses, taking a look around. The trees were still tall and looming above him, but the ground around him was different. It wasn’t as flat, and there were small, thin-limbed bushes around the bases of the trees. The grass had mostly turned to dirt, small patches of it here and there. And with his head resting on one of those patches, just a few feet from Zeke, Levi was snoring away. And not only snoring- Zeke was not even sure he had ever seen the man sleep- but he was in black slacks and a white button up, his 3DM gear and regular attire nowhere to be found.
“Levi?” Zeke questioned, his voice sounding loud in the quiet of the forest. He looked up, the branches of the trees empty, no hammocks or soldiers hanging above them. They were alone, he realized. He stood, stretching out his sore muscles, and walked in the opposite direction of the smaller man. He had barely passed two large trees before he spotted a clearing up ahead between the trees: a road.
That wasn’t normal. That wasn’t normal at all, and definitely not there just a few hours previous.
Zeke turned, startled, and walked back to Levi. He’ll probably punch me for this , Zeke thinks, kneeling down once he’s beside him. He shakes the other’s shoulder, gentle, but when he doesn’t stir he shakes a bit harder, enough to jostle his left arm and make his head wobble from side to side. “Levi, wake up.”
Levi wakes up slow. He blinks, three or four times, until his eyes adjust enough to the light to see Zeke staring down at him. He growls lowly, eyes squinting at him. “Fucking monkey.”
“Levi,” Zeke says, standing and taking a step away. He’s astonished as Levi moves slow, his limbs still sleep-heavy, unlike how Zeke had ever seen him. “Isn’t this strange?”
“What bullshit are you on about?” Levi gripes, rubbing his eyes, harsh. His glare falls back on Zeke, momentarily, before his hand comes down on his side and finds the space empty of any 3DM gear. His head whips up to the blonde. “Where the fuck -”
“Wait, wait, I didn’t take your gear -I don’t even think I can transform.” Zeke says it before the thought has fully formed in his head. But he feels it true all the same, like his biology has wholly switched overnight. He continues with his theory, thinking out loud. “It’s all strange, right? We’re alone here, your gear is gone, your soldiers, your clothes. I fell asleep in a tent last night, but here we are outside and tentless. There’s even a road just back there. We’ve been taken somewhere.”
“‘Taken somewhere’?” Levi stands, dusting off his pants. He makes a noise of disgust with the dirt that collects on his fingers. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“I know.” Zeke acknowledges, pulling at the cuffs of his sleeves out of habit. His clothes had remained the same, at least. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
“The grass is gone.” Levi notices, his glare leaving Zeke as he looks around at their surroundings. Zeke watches him, unsure of how to act. Surely Levi would want to take the lead on this. But Zeke doubted he’d know what to do, his face calculating and his frown heavy, and Zeke momentarily wondered if he was still feeling the effects of sleep. That really was unusual. Levi looked back at him, speaking. “Show me the road.”
Levi walks behind Zeke, and while he knows the short man is weaponless he can feel his glare on his back as sharp as a blade would be. The patches of grass press towards the ground under their boots, and Zeke notes that the grass isn’t wet, no morning dew on their blades. His head shoots up though at the sound of a wsssh a few feet in front of him, and he pauses as the butt of what appears to be a car moves out of sight. Levi presses his knuckles into Zeke’s lower back.
“Oi, keep walking.” Zeke nods, sighing through his nose from the roughness of the other. The ache from Levi’s knuckles is just fading when they reach the edge of the road. Levi moves to Zeke’s side, eying the road, and when Zeke turns to him he finds the smaller man’s eyebrows are drawn together and there’s a pout to his bottom lip. “What the hell is this?”
“A road,” Zeke replies, earning a scowl from the other.
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“No, it certainly does n -” Zeke’s cut off by the front of his shirt being gripped and pulled down, his face pulled down in front of Levi’s, one of his feet finding footing on the road from the roughness of the pull.
“The fuck did you do?” Levi snaps, his face so close that Zeke can hear the snap of his teeth when he finishes speaking, his nose huffing hot air onto his chin and exposed neck. “Where did you take me?”
Zeke doesn’t know how to reply, because what could really convince any many when they’re so angered? But luckily there’s the sound of gravel behind them, and he turns slightly, enough to see a car approaching from the distance. He steps off of the road, flattening out his shirt when Levi releases his grip. The car is smooth, not a hint of sputtering, and it drives by them without a care. It was unlike anything Zeke had ever seen -smooth, silver and shining even in the dim light given by the foliage above. The driver in the car hadn’t spared them a glance.
“Hey,” Levi starts, and Zeke turns to see his eyes wide, mild bewilderment on his face. “What the hell was that?”
“A -car, I presume.” Though I’ve never seen something like that , Zeke thinks, turning to look at the tracks it had left on the ground. It resembled the tires from their time, but that car was definitely more advanced than anything he had seen before. They couldn’t have possibly been taken to a new country over night, and which one would that even be?
Under Levi’s order they walk along the road, Zeke walking in front all the while. The forest is quiet and calm, and besides the occasional car that drives by, the only other sounds they’re met with is the wind and bird calls from high up in the branches above them. Zeke tries talking twice to Levi about the possible wildlife here as well as in Paradis before Levi kicks at his ankles, effectively tripping him into the dirt.
He’s grateful when they reach the edge of the forest, the trees tapering off into green fields that line the road. Just outside of the forest on the right side of the road is a large dirt clearing, a wooden L-shaped building in place, benches in front of one side and two cars parked on the other.
Zeke is stopped, staring at it, when Levi’s stomach growls beside him. He turns, finding Levi with his jaw clenched shut and his eyes squinting at the building. Zeke smiles, amused at his obvious hunger, and turns to see on the side of the building with benches there’s a sign with a sandwich painted on it.
“Are you wanting to get food, Levi?” He asks, unable to hide the amusement from his voice. Even in a weird situation as this one Levi showing weakness was amusing; albeit, a little worrying for what that meant.
“Cunt.” Levi replies, walking ahead of Zeke, notably for the first time that day. Zeke hangs back a moment, chortling lowly at the other.
“You know, Levi -” Zeke takes a few wide strides, quickly catching up to the smaller man. “We’re quite alike in our crudeness.”
“We should eat before figuring this out.” Levi says, and Zeke can see from his profile that he didn’t catch the comment, his eyes focused purely on what was in front of him. Zeke turns from Levi, taking in their approaching situation. On the car side of the building there were obvious bathroom signs, the tiles in them looking sun-drenched and pale, filtering into a dark gray the farther into the bathroom they went. They led out to a wooden porch that was just a plank off of the ground, rounding the building in full.
Under the sign with the sandwich was a rectangular cut-out in the wood building, and inside of it stood a man with a cash register that was just poking into view in the window. As they got closer Zeke could make out a menu behind the man’s head, the money symbols unfamiliar to him. That just has to mean a different country , Zeke thought, confused at the thought.
The man looked just as confused as they approached the window, standing up from the table he had been leaning on. There was a silence between the three of them before he spoke. “Did you guys just come out of the forest?”
“N -”
“Yes.” Zeke’s reply cut off Levi’s, and he chuckled, awkward. The man grimaced, forcing out a laugh.
“...you’re just not dressed in the usual hiking gear I’m used to seeing.” ‘Hiking gear’ , Zeke said to himself, stuck on the word hiking. What was hiking -and what could the gear possibly look like?
“Do you sell food?” Levi asked from beside him, pulling him from his thoughts. The man nodded, seemingly relieved to look away from Zeke’s contemplating self.
“If you can pay for it, yes.” The man says, smiling in a way that’s supposed to be friendly but clearly not to Zeke. But all the same he’s right, and Zeke’s unsure if they even have money when he starts to feel at his pockets, pulling out a hard object from his front one. He holds it up, scrutinizing the reflective side, the rest of it a matte black.
“Hey, is that the new Sangsum?” The cashier asks, leaning over the counter. He’s smiling, genuine this time, and looking at the small object in Zeke’s hand.
“This?” He questions, holding it up to him. The cashier nods. “‘Sang-sum’?”
“We’ll have two sandwiches.” Levi interrupts, diverting the attention to him. He’s acquired a wallet, and he’s taking out green bills from it, laying it out on the counter. “Two number twos.”
“What to drink?” The cashier asks, taking the money. The registers drawer swings open at the press of quiet, square buttons, unlike any Zeke had seen before. He watches with fascination as the man works the machine.
“Two teas, please.” The cashier nods, and Zeke looks up to the menu, trying to find the number two option. Before he can find it, though, Levi tugs at his sleeve, pulling him to sit at the bench farthest from the cashier. The wood is sun-stained and smooth under Zeke's hand.
“If we’re in a different place, you know,” Zeke says, sitting down, shrugging off his jacket. “That doesn’t necessarily make you in charge.”
“Do you want to be found out?” Levi snaps, sitting across from him and pulling the ‘sang-sum’ from Zeke’s hand. “What the fuck is this thing?”
Levi starts flipping it around in his hands, and quite quickly he finds buttons on the side of it. They're short, matte, and only the smallest of bumps on the side. Levi presses one and pauses, staring at the reflective side, and when Zeke stands to lean over to see Levi throws it on the ground. Zeke sighs, annoyed, bending over to get it.
“What is it?” Levi doesn’t respond, leaning against his hand and looking away. Zeke dusts the dirt off before pressing the same button Levi had. The screen lights up, a picture -at least, it seems like one, clear and bright as day. There's no grains at all and the colors are vibrant. Levi’s on one side of it, his eyes rolled off to the side, and on the opposite side is himself, planting a kiss on Levi’s cheek. But the most shocking part is Levi doesn’t look upset. He’s smiling, just slightly, with a taint of pink on his cheeks that makes Zeke’s stomach twist. He can’t imagine Levi would ever look this way. “...Levi -”
“Don’t.”
"It appears we’re in a relationship.” Zeke says, Levi tch'ing quietly at the statement.
And then it clicks, why Levi hates him so much, why Levi is determined to make him as miserable as he can and then kill him. “Oh -" Levi’s eyes get a bit wide, his mouth clenching shut. "You and Erwin -" The words die in Zeke's mouth, and he swears he’s about to be punched when there’s a bell rang behind him. Levi's looking at him like a coil ready to spring.
“Number two with two teas,” The cashier calls, and Zeke turns to see him placing their orders at a separate window labeled 'Take Out'. He makes the smart move and gets up to get their order, finding it's placed in a bright red, plastic tray. It's nothing like Zeke's seen before, and he stares at it as he brings their food back to the table.
"Interesting object." He says gingerly, placing it down between them. Levi hasn't moved, and when Zeke flicks his gaze over to look at him he can see him calculating, trying to figure out if satiating his emotions and killing Zeke would be worth sacrificing his mission, possibly their war and island. Zeke has begun to eat his food when Levi’s tension breaks, just enough for him to reach out and grab his tea.
Levi sips at it, and his face scrunches up, setting the cup down harshly. Zeke expects him to complain about it not being up to his standards like he had done before in their time in the forest, but he doesn’t speak, still too angry and unwilling to do more than not kill Zeke here and now. Zeke sighs, not liking the unpleasant atmosphere, no matter if he was the one to cause it. Although, Zeke thought, killing another’s lover was terrible -albeit necessary.
“...would it make you feel better to express how much you hate me, or muse over how you’ll kill me?” Zeke asks, talking while chewing. Levi narrows his eyes in disgust.
“Don’t talk when you chew, ape.”
“I don’t think there’s a beast quality to me at all here.” Zeke murmurs, swallowing. “You also seem very human, Levi.”
“I’ve always been a human.” Levi quips, and Zeke decides to leave it at that. He wasn’t feeling that up for an argument and Levi was basically a cat with his tail puffed and his back hair up, ready to pounce. There was no calming that down.
Setting his burger down, he picks up the Sangsum again, pressing the button to light up the object. His eyes wander to the top of the screen, thinking of what the symbols could mean, when he feels Levi’s glare fall back on him. “I’m not looking at the photo…” He replies, sighing. Levi looks away, tch’ing, and Zeke resumes his examination of the object. His gaze stops at the bottom of the object, seeing the date printed in a bold, white font: September 28th 2021
“Ah...Levi.” Zeke starts, his voice sounding choked. “This isn’t good.”
“What is it?” Levi asks, sipping at his tea. Zeke stares at the text again before turning the object, pointing at it. The other’s eyes squint before widening.
“The date, it’s the year 2021.”