A/N- My interest in this AU stems from tumblr so I thank the lovely SNK fandom there for the inspiration for this fic. It's quite a unique and optimistic take on the story in my opinion so I hope you all will find this fic to be the same more or less. Expect spoilers at some point, though to be fair I'll leave a warning at the start of the chapter.
This fic will be multi-pairing, but the main pairing will be LeviEren. I won't promise perfect continuity. More like a string of drabbles where some will be connected to others. Again, I'll try and leave note for when that occurs.
Summary: A look into the daily lives of the actors and actresses that make up the cast of the television show turned ratings juggernaut and cultural sensation- Attack on Titan. AU. Multi-pairing. Bias to Levi/Eren.
Disclaimer- I don't own Attack on Titan/Shingeki no Kyojin.
The Fourth Wall
Chapter One
Lost in Translation
"So you're willing to bet on this runt, eh?"
"Well you know I like to play the wild cards, Levi." A short snort came from the first.
"I'm quite aware, Irwin."
Ughh...Who's that talking…?
"Looks like the kid's coming to."
"Indeed."
Eren reached up to rub the sleep out of his eyes, but to his surprise he found himself shackled to the cast iron frame of the bed was laying in. He slowly sat up, shrugging off the rough canvas sheets. His eyes darted about to take in his surroundings.
He was in a jail cell. And an underground one judging by the flickering orange flames of the torches that stood outside his cell.
Finally Eren's eyes rested on the two men on the other side of the bars.
A well-built middle aged man sat in a plain wooden chair, he had neatly combed blonde hair and was staring intently at Eren with his piercing blue eyes. Under normal circumstances Eren might have felt nervous to be under such stern scrutiny, but right now Eren was just confused.
The other man stood to the side, his arms crossed over his chest. A matching expression of indifference gracing his features. Eren noted his short stature, it wouldn't be a shot in the dark to say he was taller than him actually. But that was beside the point.
Eren had no clue who these two were and how they knew him. The only hint to any further information about them outside of the conservation where he had overheard their names were their military jackets. They were emblazoned with the symbol of the Scouting Legion: the Wings of Freedom.
Eren's eyes widened as he gasped internally with realization.
Don't tell me these two are…?!
"You spent three days in a coma only to awake now? Over so little…?" Irwin mused.
Eren blinked. Apparently they had been having a discussion with him while he had been lost in his thoughts. Eren frowned a bit with embarrassment.
"Eren. Do you have any questions?" Irwin repeated.
"..." Eren blinked in silence, his mouth slightly agape.
These are the Scouting Legion's absolute best. Chief Irwin...and Lance Corporal Levi.
"Uhh..umm…" Eren managed to mumble out. "Where am I?"
Eren exhaled slowly, taking in all that Irwin had told him. His hands formed tight fists in his sheets. When he had first awoken, his memories had been fuzzy at best. But now he remembered everything: losing his arm, sacrificing himself to save Armin, being eaten by a Titan, and finally his rampage when he had transformed into a Titan.
I'm a Titan? ...How disgusting.
Irwin cleared his throat, rousing Eren out of his reverie and self-loathing.
"There are still a few things I would like to know. However, as of now, I believe we should ask you what it is you want." Irwin stated clearly, leaning forward a bit towards Eren's cell.
Again, Eren could only stare blankly.
"...What I want?" He echoed, listening as Irwin outlined his plan to use Eren's Titan form to humanity's advantage and get to the mystery of the basement of Eren's home.
"The Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan follow the same principles as you do, presumably…"
Eren bristled at the mention of those two enigmatic Titans. A familiar pool of rage began bubbling from the base of Eren's stomach as images of the Titans devouring soldiers and civilians flashed through his mind.
"Hello. We don't have all day, you little piece of trash." Levi drawled, fixing his steely gaze on Eren who had been looking down at his lap during Irwin's speech. "What do you plan to do?" Eren shook with rage as Levi calmly observed the boy. Finally he looked up, his eyes wide with a slightly maniacal look on his face.
"I wanna join the Scouting Legion. And slaughter all the Titans, sir." Eren said. His dark jade eyes were filled with a venomous animosity.
"Oh-ho. Not bad." Levi's unchanging air of boredom betrayed the (half-hearted) praise. "...Irvin. Tell the higher-ups that I'll be in charge of him."
Levi walked closer to Eren's cell until he was able to wrap his fingers around one of the rusted bars. Eren watched the older man carefully, swallowing unintentionally.
"Not that I trust him in the least." he continued. "I just wanna be around to kill him if he ever goes rogue and starts a rampage."
Chills ran down to the base of Eren's spine. Levi seemed to exude such a cold and calculated ruthlessness about him that he had no doubts his threats were true.
"All right, brat. You're in. Consider yourself a member of the Survey Corp-"
"CUT!" A loud bellow came from beyond the jail area.
Levi's emotionless face broke with an expression of anger as he threw his head back in frustration.
"That was such a good take too." Irwin chuckled, leaning back and stretching in his chair. The old wooden prop tilted back a bit too far and the older man almost fell before catching himself. Levi shot him a look.
"Shut it, bastard. Before you fall on your ass." he ground out as the gloomy darkness of the underground jail set lit up with high power lights. A whole new world was brought into light. Beyond the set of the jail was all of the production crew and various sorts of equipment being lifted out of the area since they were no longer hidden out of sight.
"Chill out, Levi. Everyone makes mistakes." Eren grinned from behind the bars, still chained to the bedframe. "It's about time for a lunch break anyway. I'm dying for some of whatever craft's services has cooked up." A young man ran in from the side of Eren's cell which wasn't actually walled off now that the lights illuminated the full set. He knelt down beside Eren to unlock the actor's shackles, fumbling to get the keys out of his pocket.
Levi briskly walked around the set and motioned of the assistant to give the keys of to him so he could undo Eren's cuffs.
"There are too many god damn names for everything. Like really. Scouting Legion, Survey Corps, Recon Corps." he grumbled, unlocking Eren's left hand after his right.
"It all gets lost in translation." Eren agreed, rubbing his wrists a bit. For props, those things were certainly uncomfortable. But hey, no pain no gain. Ignoring the fact that Levi had messed up his last line during the last scene for the morning's shooting.
"Don't even get me started on names either." Levi went on to complain, plopping himself down on Eren's bed before the latter pulled him closer so he could wrap his arms around Levi as he did his signature pissed-off-arms-crossed-over-chest pose.
"Man, I agree. Irvin, Erwin, my character's name sounds like a butchered pairing from Fullmetal Alchemist." Irwin walked back onto the set, taking a bite into an apple he'd snatched from the craft services table.
"Wrong show, dumbass!" Levi barked.
"Again, chill out, Levi. We'll just reshoot the scene anyway." Eren yawned, resting his chin in the crook of Levi's neck and shoulder. "Though I gotta say, I totally got that badass vibe from you when you were threatening me. It was kinda hot."
Levi tsked. "Shut up. It's called acting. Not that I'm any less a badass in real life. Also, you're a perv. Be lucky that blanket was covering your boner." Eren laughed at his co-star's retort.
"Haha, I am." Eren pressed a kiss to Levi's cheek, but he still didn't receive any more acknowledgment than his character had gotten from Levi during the take. "By the waaaaayyyy. These shackles are pretty realistic too. What do you say we try them out sometime and heads up, I won't be the one chained to the bed that time around."
Levi's cheeks flushed pink as he pushed Eren off, much to the other man's amusement.
"God you're vulgar." Levi replied, any traces of red quickly leaving his face. "But I might take you up on that offer. Just to you put you back you in your place, Yeager."
Eren grinned and pulled Levi back into him; this time the two sat face to face. Eren stared coolly back at Levi and gave the man a chaste kiss on his dry lips. Eren almost imagined the slight press of Levi's lips kissing him back.
"I'm down for whatever, Corporal."
A/N- Woo! Typed this all in one sitting. Probably took about two hours, haha. Y'know it's weird. Normally I don't approve of Levi being anything less than the seme in his relationship with Eren. But a slightly tsun!Levi is pretty nice along with Eren being that chill boyfriend. And Irwin being...mister third wheel. XD Nonetheless, I'll keep everyone in character during the actual shoots and such but outside of that, their personalities will be tweaked a bit. Not to an extravagant level unless it's for fun and I wanna dick around like that. For the lulz.
Heads up, "Attack on Titan" as in the TV show within this story will be shown from different perspectives time to time. With this one it was Eren's perspective, hence his inner thoughts in italic would actually be narration if it it was a real show. I keep the AOT TV show scenes strictly following the manga in action and dialogue (for now at least) and I used Mangahere's translations of chapter 40.
Sooo yeah! More to come, more characters, events etc. Everything that comes with a TV show could be thrown into this story. (interviews, dates, tabloids….conventions?)
If you liked what you read, please leave me a review and tell me what you think. I honestly haven't written fanfiction in ages. This is the first time I've sat down and written something for my own enjoyment and not for school in um...three years?
I'd love some feedback~!
Hasta luego, amigos!