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"Levi, meet Armin."

The blond in question raised his hand in greeting as he spun around in his swivel chair.

Levi was startled at the sight that greeted him. When Erwin had mentioned having a hell of a man for intel, a small, lanky kid wasn't exactly what came to mind. His hair fell almost to his shoulders, silky and soft, and Levi questioned how he was allowed to keep it that long and where the hell he was finding decent shampoo and conditioner. Armin glanced up, and baby blue eyes met gunmetal silver.

The hand that greeted Levi instantly fell to those shiny locks, wrapping a few strands around his finger in a show of blatant insecurity and breaking eye contact to look hesitantly at Erwin.

"Hey," Levi greeted coolly. Armin didn't look at him, and a jolt of irritation had the ravenet's frown deepening.

"Armin is one of mine, too." The annoyance morphed instantly into inexplicable jealousy (mine, that fucker had said, as if he hadn't said the same thing about him) and Levi had to count to ten as Erwin continued. "He handles any hacking, spying, or tracking I need done. He knows where to find anyone at any given time, he's got security's rounds memorized like the back of his hand, and at any given time he could shut this place down completely."

Armin went a little pink. "Not that he needs me for any of that," he said hastily. "Erwin could do it all himself if he wanted."

What a kissass.

Erwin waved his hand dismissively. "Not as good as you can."

He made pointed eye contact with Levi, and despite the smooth features, he could feel the smugness radiating from the taller man. Erwin knew all the praise was getting under Levi's skin, and he knew that Levi knew he knew. Asshole.

Turning back to Armin, Erwin went on, "Levi's new, as you already know. I think he'll be helpful. Did you see what he did his first night?"

Armin shook his head. "I don't live in here, Erwin. I've heard a few things, though." He looked back at Levi and gave him a sly smile, a bit of a surprise from someone who seemed so shy. "It tends to get around when you kill multiple guards. And you beat up the Blues Brothers?"

"You say that like it's an accomplishment." Despite his irritation at others' bragging, Levi wasn't above it, himself. Armin grinned at him, some of the shyness fading, and a little of Levi's annoyance went with it. "They were cowards that just used a lot of gunpowder and racism instead of any real skill."

"That's easy for you to say," Armin said, wrinkling his nose. "I'm squishy."

Erwin chuckled, slipping an arm around Armin's shoulders and flashing that charming smile of his. Armin seemed to grow smaller, somehow, with just the touch of Erwin's fingers on his upper arm making his cheeks flare red in a furious blush. The tension that had ebbed away returned full-force, and Levi clenched his fists. His fury was not unnoticed by Erwin, though Armin was too busy being flustered.

"I prefer it that way," he said smoothly. Levi wanted to punch that stupid smile right off his stupid face, and the increasing blush off of Armin's. "Small and soft for me."

Everyone knew it was an innuendo. He didn't even try to hide it, and Levi wanted to choke him for it. Or Armin. What was that about people wanting to squish cute things because of an urge to kill them so they would stop being so cute? Yeah. Basically that.

"I need to be off," Erwin announced, removing his arm from Armin's shoulders and heading for the door. "Things to do, people to coerce. Get along, you two, and Armin, brief him."

The door clicked shut behind him. It was silent now, save for the static coming from a few of the screens, and Armin swiveled back and forth slightly in his chair, twirling a few strands of hair between his fingers. He would not look at Levi, and it was aggravating, because damn it, Levi was sending death glares and they didn't matter if nobody saw them. Finally, Armin looked up, winced at the violent eye contact, and spun around to look at his screens.

"Uh . . . " Armin cleared his throat. " . . . welcome to the party?"

Levi snorted. "Thanks." He joined Armin at the desk and stared up at the wall of screens. "What is all this?" he asked, the obvious question with the obvious answer, but Armin seemed glad for the excuse to move on.

"Every security camera in the building," he said proudly, and on the little desktop computer, began typing. "I use it to keep track of patrols. They change weekly, but there's four basic patrol schedules that they stick to, so it's just a matter of watching and matching them up."

So he just figured out guard patrols? Any prisoner could figure that out just by watching from his cell. "Is that all?"

Armin spluttered slightly, and the rapid typing faltered. "No, that's not all," he sniffed.

His fingers flew across the keyboard. All at once, every screen turned blue, and then, suddenly, all lit up with various pictures and information. Levi scanned the monitors and, with a jolt after seeing his name and mugshot, realized that it was a database of inmates. The screen with his information on it flickered with the rest, and turned into a different inmate he did not know.

"Every inmate in the system," he murmured, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't in awe. The screens flickered once more, and then there were more faces, but under different files. He realized with a jolt that they were personnel and let out a low whistle. "Holy shit, kid."

"I said I wasn't that special," Armin said, "but don't underestimate me."

In an instant, the sense of respect that had been building for Armin vanished and, in its place, spite and annoyance grew. Underestimate him? Underestimate what? That he could type out a few things and find details on people nobody cared about? Big fucking whoop. Anyone who got into coding in middle school could do that. If Levi rolled his eyes any harder, they'd get stuck at the back of his head.

"You're really not that special," he growled, rounding on the small blonde, whose confidence vanished as he grew small in his chair. Honestly, what was the kid even doing here? He didn't belong in prison, where he could be beaten to a pulp. Where Levi was about to beat him to a pulp. "And you'll do well to remember that. Spoiled brats like you shouldn't even be here. You could get hurt. What does a shit like you think you're doing here, anyway?"

At the last comment, Armin wrinkled his nose, then smiled - more like a shit-eating grin. He shrugged, spinning to face away from Levi, and stood up. "I'm in here for the same operation as Erwin," he replied nonchalantly.

That was it! Armin knew that Levi didn't know, and definitely knew that Levi wasn't supposed to know. That little shit! Levi grabbed his shoulder and spun him around, fisting his hands in Armin's collar and getting in his face. They were so close that their noses touched, and Armin's baby blue eyes were wide and terrified, his breath coming out in tiny pants. He wasn't so cocky when Levi was about to pummel him.

"Alright, then, blondie," he spat, voice low and menacing. "I'll give you one chance to tell me what Smith's in for before I hurt you."

"If I tell you, he'll hurt me!" Armin squawked indignantly, grasping Levi's wrists and trying (see: failing) to loosen the grip on his shirt. Yeah, Erwin probably would hurt him. Or worse. Idly, he wondered what the man would have done if any of the inmates Levi had interrogated had spilled the beans, and then decided that he didn't want to know.

"Then I suppose you'll just have to pick which fist you'd prefer," Levi said dryly, untouched by his fear. Armin shook his head violently, and a shaky laugh escaped his lips.

"A-And if you hurt me, he'll hurt you," he forced out.

Ugh. Levi's grip loosened a bit, though not enough to free Armin. He was probably telling the truth. Erwin threatened to fuck him up over fighting miscellaneous inmates; there was no telling what he would do if Levi dared to hurt Armin, his special little intel toy, especially if it was as badly as he wanted to, and especially if they were as close as Erwin made them seem.

Jealousy spiked, and Levi nearly threw Armin at the desk, giving a contemptuous scoff. He's one of mine. One of? How many were there? The nerve of that god on earth, playing with Levi's feelings - or rather, his dick, metaphorically, obviously - while he did the same to fuck knows how many others. It wasn't fair. It was infuriating. It had a surge of possessiveness rising in his chest, telling him to punch Armin in his stupid twink face regardless of the consequences, and find whoever else there was so he could do it to them too.

Erwin would kick his ass for it. Oh, Levi could expect an absolute beating. And for some reason the idea thrilled him. Who cared, so long as he established dominance?

Levi snapped out of his reverie to the realization that Armin was moving carefully towards the exit. In half a moment Levi was there, holding the door closed and grabbing Armin's wrist to stop him. Their faces were inches apart once more, and Levi tilted his head, hoping the fury in his eyes was clear as day.

"One more thing, Armin."

His voice was much quieter, calmer, and the blond visibly relaxed, clearly having expected yelling - or worse, the promised beating. He cocked his head as well. It was a cute look on him, and that thought made Levi angrier, but he fought to keep cool.

"What?"

Levi drew in closer, pressing their foreheads together. His voice was a low growl when he spoke again.

"Stay the fuck off of Erwin."

Armin flinched at the sudden change and jerked his wrist away, nearly falling back from the momentum when, to his surprise, Levi let go easily. He huffed in minor annoyance, though he didn't hide his wariness from Levi, watching him closely. A small, ironic smile dared to cross his lips.

"Don't worry, Levi," he said slyly, opening the door and smoothing his shirt. "I don't want him."

He disappeared down the hall.