Idk if anyone has asked this before but okay I was looking at some jewelry to buy online today and it got me thinking: how would paychecks!levi react to the reader actually asking him to buy them something. Like the reader would sit and think for a minute like “do I really wanna ask him for this” and then just text “leviiiiiii, can you order me this necklace and bracelet” like pls I need to know for scientific reasons sksjjsjsjsjsjs
okay wow this got a lot longer than i expected it to oops dfghsdjkgh
wc 1.7k, mostly fluff and maybe a bit of suggestive conversation?
just a little blurb in the Paychecks With a Side of Intimacy universe uwu
It feels weird to ask for something from Levi. At least, something of monetary value. He gives you so much money already that realistically you could just buy yourself if you set aside a few bucks at a time. And while you've constantly berated him for buying you things, there are moments where maybe it'd be kinda ...nice. If he did.
He's offered countless times, but honestly? It's mere instinct to brush it off and say, "I don't need that". Levi always allows a few seconds for you to change your mind before he moves on, giving a pointed stare and appearing so still he could be mistaken for a statue occasionally.
But this time? You really want something.
Hell, it's not much. Not as much as the things he's offered to buy you already, but it's certainly not a $10 kind of thing.
There's a small bracelet you found during one of your outings with Ymir. A dainty silver piece, with the option to attach the showcased mini constellations on whatever astrology sign may be desired. Hell, she noticed how long you were staring at it too, and threw out the predicted line of "Why don't you just ask your man to get it for ya?" Yeah, she's started to call him "your man" instead of what Levi really is. She justified it by telling you it's easier to say in public, but there's always a snarky tone when the words are uttered.
You ignore it. But damn it, the bracelets are just so cute! And there can even be the option to add multiple charms!
Shit. Would Levi make fun of you if you asked him to buy it? How would he react if you wanted a pair of matching ones with him? Does he even wear bracelets?
Matching bracelets... you're not even a damn couple. Dummy.
That's the thought you have to tell yourself every time you think about asking him.
But that urge builds and builds the more you talk to him, the more you hang out with him. The subject of your birthday comes up one night during a relaxed dinner, and that's when you can no longer avoid the idea completely.
"Listen, I know you get fussy about gifts," Levi prefaces after a sip of his whiskey, leaning forward with a tilt of his head as he blinks at you. "But there has to be something you'd want for your birthday."
You hum in deliberation, chewing on the straw haphazardly stuck in the cup. The condensation bleeds out into the tablecloth underneath your palms. "I--well... I guess... I guess there's something."
"Oh?" His head tilts the opposite way, curious. There's a certain light that seeps into those gray irises. It's cute, you think. He is so unintentionally comparable to a cat sometimes. "I'm all ears."
"Mm... There's um. There's this bracelet I saw the other day."
"Yeah?" Another sip of whiskey. You stir your drink with the straw between your fingers.
"It's really cute. Like, has little stars and stuff. Y'know those constellations for your star sign? You can customize it and have your sign on it."
"Send it to me. I'll buy it," Levi says smoothly. You swear he must've scooted his chair towards you just now, easy to tell with how his hands easily reach yours. "If you need a reminder, I don't give a shit about the price. Especially for your birthday."
Instinctively you play with his hands, tracing along the gently protruding veins that lead along his forearms. "It's not that expensive, actually. But it's only sold in a store. At least the one I want is. If that's okay."
"Course it is.”
And so he takes you to the place you mentioned, inspecting the bracelet closely and staring at all of the constellations available for attachment. When you'd ask about his birthday at dinner, he refused to answer at all. Let alone give any hint towards what his sign would be.
However, he does show a vague interest in the Capricorn one, picking up the charm and staring a little bit longer at it compared to the others.
Capricorn, huh? Maybe you'll ask Historia about Capricorns on your next shift. She is pretty obsessed with astrology after all.
"This is only $40. You don't want anything else along with this?" Levi asks, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Your head shakes. “You know you can ask for much more than this.”
“It’s alright, it’s not--it doesn’t need to be a thing.”
“I’m not making it a thing,” Levi’s hand runs up and down the span of your back. You shiver. “Don’t be dramatic. Let me do something nice for you.”
You fidget with the edge of your shirt as he takes one of the boxes for a bracelet, looking at you expectantly to pick out one of the charms. He hums in thought once he sees the charm you’ve chosen.
“Hange would love to talk about this kind of crap. All that ‘what’s your sign’ bullshit,” he says as you two head to the register.
“Kinda surprising for someone who’s in the science field.”
“Everything about them is surprising... They’re completely unpredictable. I don’t know how Moblit deals with it all the time. Sounds exhausting.”
"There's some fun in unpredictability too."
"Only in moderation."
When he's finished buying the bracelet, he hands the box right to you as you two exit the store and head to where he’s parked.
"You're giving it to me now?"
"Do you want me to re-wrap it and wait for your birthday?" He asks flatly.
"Well--don't you usually give the gifts on the actual birthday?"
Levi pulls his car keys from his pocket, smirking as he opens the passenger door for you. "I have other plans for your birthday."
Your eyes narrow pointedly as you stumble into the car. "Such as..?"
He shrugs before shutting the door and hopping in on the drivers side.
"I don't even get a hint, Levi?"
Levi chews on his lip in thought, his smirk melting into something more of fondness at the sound of his name. He really likes how you add it to the tail of your questions once in a while. "It's a surprise."
"You said you don't like unpredictability."
"I said in moderation. You said it could be fun, no?"
At a crossroads with the turnaround of your own words against you, your lips purse. But the curiosity of what he could possibly have planned for something eats at your brain like a parasite. Even more so at his refusal to provide any hints for it.
He merely takes his time peeling off his blazer and gently placing it in the backseat before staring at you with an expectant expression. "Are you going to put it on?"
"What, now?"
Levi nods. "Let me see how it looks on you. With your own charm on it." Alright, he's already handed you the gift anyway. Early present, you suppose. After you open the box, he's leaning over to take it out and hold it under your wrist. "Here, let me."
You murmur a thanks, nearly shuddering at the light brushes of his fingertips. Just enough to feel them, not enough to feel the satisfaction of his touch completely. His exhale through his nose huffs in the space between you two, blown away by the gentle breeze of the soothing air conditioner in the middle vents.
"Kind of a pain in the ass to clip it," he grumbles quietly after a struggle with the small clasp.
"Might need you to help me put it on every time then, huh?"
Levi looks up through his lashes and the fringe of his hair, his silver eyes shining underneath the black strands of hair. "Is that an excuse for something else?"
An excuse to get him to touch you, obviously. Guess you're as readable as ever, damn.
He finally finishes clasping it, though part of you is convinced that he might've intentionally taken longer than necessary. The gentle grasp on your wrist turns it to fully exhibit the jewelry as he inspects it. It glimmers under the sunlight shining through the tinted windshield. Levi seems satisfied.
You stare at how similarly the silver reflects his eye color. Trying to swallow the lump in your throat with how his thumb his pressing against the pulse on your wrist, and focus instead on the jingle of the charm dangling underneath. No attention needs to be paid on how the light hits the length of his nose, or how his lips somehow always look perfectly glossy right after he absentmindedly licks them.
"Looks nice."
Yeah, he does.
"Do you like it?"
It takes you a few moments to collect yourself enough to give Levi an answer. He's patient, pulling away and taking his sweet time to let the warmth of his fingertips leave your skin.
"Uh-huh. Thanks for the early present."
Levi pats your thigh, and you don't miss the subtle squeeze he gives too.
"Are you really not gonna tell me what you have planned on my actual birthday?" You try to pry again to avoid running your thoughts into other tangents over these silly little touches and glances.
"No." It's absolute in his tone. "You'll have to practice some of that patience I taught you."
You blow a raspberry. "I don't think you did a very good job at teaching me at all, honestly."
"Clearly. Maybe I should give you a couple more lessons." He chuckles, low and decorated with amusement as he shifts in his seat.
"Maybe you should." Not that you'd ever complain about these "lessons" anyway.
The entire drive home, the habitual grip Levi has on your thigh never leaves. You wonder how aware of it he is. Or if it’s just become another one of his habits with you. There’s a small smile on his lips, too. It stays there, and you sit in silence with admiration for it, to afraid to speak and distract him from whatever seemingly peaceful thought must be running in his head.
You prop your arm on the door’s armrest, the bracelet shifting a bit downwards with the movement. Maybe you could buy him a matching one for his birthday, if he ever tells you when it is.
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