Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Are you kidding me?!" Zeke growled at the newly arrived male, whose eyes shone brightly as he petted the cat in his arms. "Eren! Do I have to catsit Levi?"

Eren smiled as he brushed the back of Levi's head, earning a purr from the sophisticated cat. "Well, since Armin and I have to go on a trip, you need to." He replied as he brought Levi closer to him so that he could snuggle on the little thing, who seemed to love the attention.

“Why do I need to?”

“Because you’re my older brother, and you love me.”

"You know Gabi hates cats! That rottweiler will gnaw this pussy to bits." Zeke made up an excuse, sighting his dog coming out of the kitchen with a bone plushie in her mouth. "Levi's gonna die here." He immediately added with a cocky smirk as Gabi sprinted towards Eren's direction, seeing a cat in his arms. He expected Gabi to bark at him and jumped on his little head.

Yet Gabi didn't bark nor scratch over Eren's legs to reach the cat as she usually does to other felines she sees in the park. Instead, she was leaning for Levi while she wiggled her tail in glee, to Zeke's disappointment.

"You're embarrassing me, you stupid dog." Zeke puffed out, shaking his head with a nasty look aimed at Gabi, who was all so silly at the sight of the suave cat. "Well, I don't like cats, so please don't leave me with this... this thing."

Zeke almost jumped in shock, witnessing how the cat rolled its eyes on him. He didn't know such animals could do such a thing, but it was Levi. He'd known his brother's cat as the sassiest, bitchiest, most rude animal in the world. Levi hated everyone except his owner, Eren.

One time, Zeke was at Eren's apartment for the younger’s birthday, and Levi deliberately scratched all over Zeke's Dolce jacket. Eren insisted Levi rarely does such things, considering he stays away from Eren’s friends. One thing was for sure: Levi hated Zeke, and he didn’t know why. Starting on, Zeke hated the devilish little thing.

"Oh, come on, Zeke. Levi won't do anything this time. He's..." Eren was unsure how to explain how his cat behaved because Levi had always been so clingy and gentle to him. He scratched his head, trying to scrape an acceptable reason why Zeke should babysit Levi especially when Levi has made it known to everyone that he dreads the sight of his brother. But there's nothing to say. He only hoped Levi would behave for the night. "Just leave him in the guest room with the aircon on. He will sleep the whole day. Don't forget to feed him his milk, too, and some crackers I stuffed in your cupboard last time I was here. Levi does his business in the comfort room, and he does not make a mess. And if he doesn't sleep, play with him, keep him company. He likes to be babied, trust me. Then he's easy to get along with afterward."

Zeke rolled his eyes, heaving a loud sigh. He picked up Gabi, who was getting too annoying to look at because of her oozing energy around the unimpressed cat.

"If Gabi or Falco kills Levi, don't blame me." He murmured as he played with his rotty’s ears while he searched for his other dog, Falco, who was a poodle.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure Gabi or Falco won't do that," Eren said, chuckling. Then he added in a whisper, “I'm quite afraid that Levi will kill them instead."

"What?" Zeke put Gabi down so he could cross his arms and glare at his brother. “Look, Eren Yeager, I won't look after a murderer."

Eren only chuckled at him before he peeked at his cat, who was gazing lovingly at him. "I'll be back tomorrow. You be good to Uncle Zeke, okay? Daddy is going to miss you, kitten." He sounded, brushing Levi's soft fur the same way he liked it. Eren hugged the precious devil before Zeke, light blue eyes staring in disgust. Eren only pulled away to place Levi in Zeke's arms, who was trying to shake the small thing off him.

"Why me?" Zeke asked, almost crying. He hated Levi to death, and he was sure the little devil felt the same about him, seeing as Levi gave Zeke a nasty look.

"Take care of him for me, please. Don't worry about Gabi or Falco and Levi. I know they'll get along." Eren spoke, eyeing nothing else but his precious Levi. "I'll go ahead now." He said before placing a kiss on his cat's head. Then he walked out of the front door, leaving Zeke with no choice but to shelter a beast in the form of a cute black Mandalay cat.

Zeke brought the cat down on the sofa, where Levi immediately sat comfortably like a king on his throne. He goggled at Levi. His whole body was covered in soft, black fur, though a bit of white covered his neck, making it look like he had a tie. His eyes were the same color as the sky, a gentle blue. If Zeke was staring at someone else's cat, he could've admitted that the cat in front of him was by far one of the most beautiful cats in the world. But it's Levi. Nothing in him is admirable. He may be a cat, but he's a bitch.

"Well, you're one heck of a royal cat," Zeke murmured as he went to the kitchen to get milk for the little prince, who was doing nothing but scowling at Zeke. "Oh dear lord, please stop me from putting poison on the little devil's bowl." He whispered into his head as he busied himself, pouring milk Eren had put on Zeke's cupboard, specifically for Levi.

When he was back in the living room, he was pinned to the ground. His brows immediately met as he gaped at the cat who seemingly scolded Gabi and Falco– wait, when did his poodle wake up?

"Hey, what's wrong now?" Zeke raised a question, though he already knew these animals could never answer him. But the look on both Gabi and Falco's faces was enough of a reason to conclude that Levi, a mere cat and so much smaller than his dogs, was dissing them.

He brought the bowl of milk down on the floor. Levi then walked towards it, not doing anything at first. He just inspected the bowl in doubt.

“I didn't poison it!” Zeke yelled, and Levi started licking off the milk. “Yet.”

Levi stopped drinking and walked away from Zeke, who was smirking. He looked over his two dogs and called them towards him.

"Gabi, Falco, come here.” In a hurry, they ran towards him. Falco almost pushed Zeke down, but Zeke managed. He brought the two for a hug as he chuckled. "Hey, we have a visitor for the day. He will be so annoying to deal with, so please, if you guys have had enough of him, bite him, okay?"

Just after saying those harsh things, Zeke heard a mewl, more like a groan. It came from the little devil who was, at the moment, grimacing at Zeke again. He seemed to murmur something but only kept making loud, annoying sounds.

"Sorry, I don't understand bullshit, your Royal Highness." Zeke sassed back, hugging his two dogs closer. "Falco, go and roll over the kitty. Now." He ordered, pointing at Levi.

Usually, Falco would obey Zeke no matter what since he was far from being as hard-headed as Gabi, but today, Falco just stayed put, quite shaken. Zeke shouldered the poodle to go to Levi, but Falco only let out a loud whine before snuggling close to Zeke.

Zeke looked at Levi, who was busy grooming himself. For a moment, he saw Levi giving him a victorious smirk. He had to blink as it was unbelievable that a cat could be too devilish.

Falco cried out again, and then he started to howl, and if he were human, he would've been murmuring incoherent words. And then Gabi went along with it, and the both of them were ready to break the house with all their howling. Even the little devil was disgusted at their horrid wails.

"This is gonna be a long day." Zeke sighed. "Up, up." He told the two dogs, and they jumped off the sofa before they walked towards the kitchen, where they knew Zeke would prepare their lunch.

Zeke spared one more glance at the cat before leaving with another sigh. He can’t believe it hasn't been ten minutes, but he’s already sighed so much to last him a lifetime. He proceeded to the kitchen, and his dogs were already shoving their bowls toward him as they sat suitably, waiting for Zeke to feed them.

And he did. One by one, he poured dog food into their bowls, and the two dogs started eating. Zeke sat on a nearby chair to gawk at them. The two brought a smile to Zeke's face. They had always made Zeke happy. It just amazed him how they could easily do it.

But Zeke's happy moment was cut short when he heard loud noises from the living room. He hurriedly moved there only to find Levi's bowl on the floor, milk spilled all over the carpet, and Levi claiming his nylon-covered chair as his scratching post.

"Oh... my... God." He breathed out. "You little piece of fucking shit." He picked up Levi and put him in the guest room. Following Eren's orders, he turned the air-con on and left Levi on the bed. "You stay here and rot while I clean the mess you made." Zeke stepped out and returned to the living room.

He caught sight of his reflection in the mirror, and he was horrified. This was the first time he had seen himself this flustered. His cheeks were flushed cherry red, and his eyes were close to tearing up. Times like this, Zeke knew he had to light a cigarette.

He hurriedly tidied up Levi's mess while he kept chanting the words: "I will not kill the cat." It was his new life goal—a new mantra of his.

A little later, Falco and Gabi stormed the living room, goofing around and playing tag. Just one word from Zeke and then stopped, sitting on the floor, their eyes on their master, who was still furiously cleaning the devious cat's mess.

It didn't take long for Zeke to put all his cleaning materials back in the storage room. He jumped on his sofa, ready to watch TV and relax. It had been a long day (it had only been half an hour). His two dogs climbed onto the couch with him, and a bit of contest happened on who could lay on Zeke’s lap, with the rottweiler winning a spot on Zeke's legs. A bit disappointed, Falco howled, annoying Gabi, who was about to sleep in her favorite place. She only groaned at Falco.

"Shush." Zeke tried to stay calm, but the noise of his two pups made him more furious. He loved the two dogs equally, but neither would ever find it enough. It's always a competition between them. "Gabi, you go sleep on the floor. I'm tired." He spoke softly, placing her on the carpet.

Falco was about to climb next to Zeke, yet the human raised a brow at him. Falco only whined as he walked away from them, wandering around the place. He always becomes quite an explorer when he's upset.

He strolled around the house, went to every open room, and left to wander again. Noticing a closed door, Falco stood on his hind legs and brought the handle down, opening the door and releasing the devil cat from hell.

Falco grumbled at the sight of Levi walking out of the room. He's scared of the devilish little creature three times smaller than him. He hurriedly ran into the room, Gabi following him afterward. The door closed, locking the two inside the room where Zeke was sure they would sleep harmoniously.

"We meet again, I see," Zeke murmured at Levi, who somehow managed to sit at the sofa's edge. "I thought you'd fall asleep. I guess Eren lied."

Levi released a soft meow in response to hearing his owner’s name. He stared at Zeke with those lazy eyes before he darted at the TV, and Zeke thought the kitty was ordering him again.

With a sigh, Zeke opened the TV and scrolled through the channels until he saw Disney Channel, which was currently showing A Bug's Life. Zeke brought the remote down as he put his arms behind his head, leaning over them as he watched.

Yet his Royal Highness was being picky. Before Zeke could laugh at the bugs fighting the hoppers, Levi had switched the channel to WarnerTV, showing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

"Oh, come on!" Zeke reacted harshly. "This is the last movie! This is depressing." He ranted, stomping his feet like a little kid.

Levi only meowed at him before focusing his gaze on the TV. Zeke wasn't in the mood to watch Snape and some characters of HP die, so he went to the kitchen, picking up crackers from the cupboard. Every snack was just rice crackers, and he thought Eren must've put all of it there because his beloved Levi worshiped rice so much.

Zeke just took out one pack and returned to the living room. He browsed at the kitty, eyeing the crackers like his life depended on it. Zeke was in awe at how big his pupils dilated at seeing his favorite snack.

"When I gave you food, you trashed it. I am not making the same mistake again, Your Highness." He stuck his tongue out to annoy Levi, which was working. Levi’s eyes turned into crescents before him. He looked like he could claw Zeke to death.

The cat jumped off the sofa and started strolling around the living room while Zeke enjoyed eating the crackers that were supposedly for Levi and watching the little devil look for a way out of his house. Zeke smiled in victory at Levi’s distress.

"Good luck with that," Zeke murmured, changing the channel to something more fun and less depressing. Finding Tom and Jerry in Cartoon Network, Zeke heaved a sigh of relief as he rested his head on his arm while he ate the rice crackers, utterly unperturbed by Levi's hisses. “Wow, these are good.”

Then, at that moment, lightning flashed from Zeke's window, followed by the roaring of thunder, which stunned the little creature. Levi sprinted to the sofa, jumping next to Zeke and hiding in the crevice of his arm. Whines coming out of his little mouth.

Zeke was frightened, too, but not as much as Levi was. He glanced at the poor thing crying at the thunder roaring outside. He gently brushed Levi's black coat, trying to ease the little devil of his anxiety. He's never been good with cats since he was a dog person. Dogs were more manageable to tame, not cats. They are unpredictable, not to mention very demanding. But seeing Levi acting like that, he felt the need to protect him just like he protected his dogs when they were scared of the storm.

"Shhh, it's alright. It'll be fine." He brought Levi to his chest, babying him as he hugged his shaking body. "It's going to be alright. It's just a thunderstorm. It'll be gone soon." He cooed at the little thing, brushing his fur and patting his head softly.

Levi only purred in response, still shaking yet slowly calming down at Zeke's gentleness. He rested his furry head on Zeke's shoulder, feeling the comfort of his embrace. He never relied on anyone else but Eren, but he could try with Zeke.

"Do you want crackers?" As if the cat was going to reply to him, Zeke asked. When he saw Levi flinch, slightly moving his head down, he took a rice cracker and fed it to the cat. "I'm sorry I didn't give it to you sooner.”

Levi chewed on the cracker and peeked at Zeke, blue eyes asking for more crackers. The human was unexpectedly delighted to give it to him. When Levi had stopped responding to the snacks being fed to him, he snuggled closer to Zeke. It shocked Zeke.

He had little to no knowledge about cat language, never understanding how they behave spontaneously. He wondered if Levi was finally comfortable around him with how he hugged the human. Could it be that the cat finally let his guard down and let Zeke take care of him?

When Zeke looked back at the TV show, he saw Tom and Jerry shaking their hands and nodding as their feud for the day had ended with them being friends. Zeke looked down on the cat, sleeping in his embrace, bringing a genuine smile to his face.

"You're not as bad as I thought, your Highness," Zeke spoke, shaking his head before yawning.

Levi felt heavy on his arms, yet Zeke didn't mind. Maybe because he also felt relaxed, or he was too tired to care anymore. And with one last yawn, Zeke had dozed off.

“Zeke, I'm back!"

Zeke woke up from the sound of the front door opening. He forgot to look it after sleeping early with Levi in his arms. Levi woke up, too, and he stretched his furry body.

“My love!" Zeke eyed the voice's origin and saw Eren dropping his bags on the floor with a loud thud and running toward his pet cat.

"What time is it?" Zeke murmured, looking for his wall clock wherever it was. When he saw the time, his eyes widened. "It's morning already? Oh my God!"

He was about to stand up, but he remembered the cat on his lap. For a moment, he had thought of throwing Levi off him so he could run towards the guest room, free his beloved dogs, and feed them both dinner and breakfast. But he couldn't bring himself to be mean to this cat, not after their friendly moment last night.

"Eren, can you open that door." His brother did what Zeke told him to and unknowingly set a frivolous Gabi and a half-asleep Falco out of the almost freezing room. The two dogs hurriedly ran towards Eren in glee as if asking Eren to play with them.

"Oh, I can't, cuties. I have to go home with this other cutie." Eren spoke, reaching out to get Levi from Zeke’s lap, but the cat only snuggled closer to Zeke. "Hey, Levi. Let's go home." He clamored a pout.

“No!” Both males’ eyes widened at Levi’s protest.

“What did you say?” Eren asked, defeated seeing how Levi purred at Zeke brushing his fur.

Zeke chuckled at the cat's resistance to go home, and Eren's reaction was priceless. He looked like someone dumped by his girlfriend—in this case, Levi.

"I guess he likes me now." Zeke joked, playing with the cat's tail with no problem. "I like you too now, your Royal Highness."

Levi let out a meow before smiling.