I have a head canon that by the time they meet, Levi is already starting to view himself as nothing more than a weapon, but Furlan thinks the way he fights is BEAUTIFUL. Like not even in a wow this guy is so well trained type of way. More of in a watching a trained dancer performing type of way. Levi would have such good control over every muscle in his body and I just KNOW Furlan could watch him for hours.
On the same note, I think Levi could be a really good dancer. Whether or not he ever bothered to learn, I'll leave up to you.
i think about this…
- one of Furlan’s much much more secret reasons he wants desperately for them to get out of the Underground is how much he imagines all of them flourishing; being able to fly not with a ceiling constraining them but a boundless sky. Furlan having this recurring dream about gliding effortlessly through the air, all three of them, free to go wherever they please with the means to get all they need.
but all of this is especially true in his feelings for Levi. of course Levi is amazing on the ODM gear. his movements are precise and even elegant, seemingly effortless and as instinctive as a bird using its wings. like a dancer.
- it’s not even a conscious observation when furlan feels in some instinctual way that Levi isn’t meant to be bound by the constraints the cold Underground fosters. he and Isabel are the only ones who know the best that Levi is kind, loyal, and sacrificing to a fault at his core. not only that Levi feels, but he feels deeply. but he’s had to make choices that eat away at that. that’s why Levi hides it - in order to survive.
- knowing each other intimately, Furlan is the only person who’s seen Levi up close, and specifically his eyes. Levi changes the subject or dismisses the times Furlan compliments him, which leads him to believe that Levi doesn’t think much of his appearance.
nobody knows that Levi’s eyes aren’t just light grey or silver under cover of the Underground’s darkness. but they’re blue. like an evening sky is blue, as far as Furlan knows what an evening sky looks like, and he wants to reach the surface in order to make better comparisons. and so the sunlight can make the true color of his eyes stand out with his beauty rightfully on full display.
- Levi comes off untouchable by being unapproachable stoic and intimidating. but another way that totally stuns Furlan is in how much he makes violence look like a choreographed dance that he planned, somehow. he’s just full of poise. it’s superhuman - and Levi is superhuman but that’s besides the point - the amount of control Levi has over every movement in his body and the skill to carry it out.
- and yet Levi doesn’t dance. in fact he doesn’t express himself that much at all. all dancing is is free-flowing expression you know? you can’t hide your feeling. Levi never learns how to dance.
- intimately knowing Levi carries it all to the next level. Levi’s eyes being soft and him relaxed is rare, and he never lets himself be vulnerable, but he’s still stunning in his moments of awkward romantics and this deeply buried hue of longing Levi sometimes looks at him with, bordering on something pained. the depths of Levi’s strength is one thing, but his heart is something else entirely.
Furlan is smart and pays close attention to things. sometimes when he and Levi would hold hands in private, alone, the first times it ever happened Levi would hold his hand like gripping a knife.
there is something to savor about taking Levi out of his element, and that being somewhere Levi silently agrees to let Furlan to take him. i feel like their feelings for each other would be paralyzing for Furlan at times.