Chapter One: The Raven and The Boy

"Chassé, Pas de Chat, and run around. Point and open, prepare and pirouette. Step, leap, en tournant! And turn, turn, turn, turn, jump and land!"

THUMP! The brunette dancer had fallen to the fall, yet again. He cursed as he got open from the awkward position on the floor and rubbed his sore knees, which he had banged on the floor too many times now.

Hanji stopped the music and looked at the boy with her hands on her hips. "Eren please! This is the fifth time we have run this piece. Is it that hard the land on your knee from that jump?" She cried in frustration with a frantic wave of her hands.

"I'm sorry! I'm trying Hanji! It's just an awkward landing!" Eren yelled back.

She sighed and shook her head. "Alright. Gunter, Mike, Erd, why don't you take a break? You know what; go home. We're done for the night." Eren went to over to his bag. "Not so fast Eren! I need to stay and practise." She called.

"Awwwwww come on Hanji! It's late!" Eren whined. He had been practising all day and, at this rate, it wouldn't be long until he could no longer be able to feel his legs. He was tired and just wanted to go home and sleep. He had an audition tomorrow as well. But Hanji wasn't having it. She gave him a look that told him to stay where he was, so Eren grumbled under his breath and flopped down onto the floor. The other three men, two tall blondes and another brunette, gathered their things and said their goodnights before leaving Eren and Hanji alone in the rehearsal room.

She pushed her glasses back up her nose before she turned around and smiled at him kindly. "Look Eren, I'm just trying to help you."

"How is it going to help? Erwin already knows how poorly I dance, so the auditions are pretty much pointless. It's not like I'm going to get anything anyway." He mumbled and pouted.

Hanji smiled wildly. "Oh Eren, you are soooooo cute when you pout like that." She cackled madly. "And don't say things like that, you never know when you might be given a ssssooollloooo." She sang before she continued to giggle to herself. "Anyway, don't go underestimating your talent. Just because you're the youngest dancer in the main section of the company doesn't mean you're the least talented."

"Thanks." Eren smiled sheepishly and blushed a bright red at the compliment. Even though Hanji was a person of a kinder nature, she never gave compliments like that unless she meant them.

"Don't mention it." She laughed lightly at Eren's reaction. "I'll have to say more stuff like that if that's the reaction I get. Besides, Erwin won't be casting the ballet this time."

"What?!" Eren sat up quickly, looking at Hanji with a confused expression.

She smiled knowingly. "I'm not supposed to tell you this but an older member of the company will be doing the main body of casting and choreographing 'Romeo and Juliet'." Eren was rather bewildered at this and wasn't sure what to make of the idea of someone else taking charge of the production. "Just don't tell anyone, 'kay?" Hanji added.

"He must be pretty special then." He mumbled.

"He is actually. He's the best dancer that Trost Ballet Company has ever seen and I think he's ranked among the top ten dancers in the world." She said matter-of-factly. "So you are to practise this routine until it is perfect if you want to make a good impression. And if you are cast you'll have a lot to compete with."

Eren sighed and let his shoulders drop in defeat; he knew that he wasn't going anywhere soon tonight. "Okay. I'll practise all night if I have to."

"Good. That's what I want to hear." She nodded and walked out of the room with her short auburn hair sweeping behind her. Eren sighed. There was nothing worse than practising alone late at night.

"We should lock up for the night." Erwin said looking up from his papers at the other man. Erwin stood up and announced to the raven that it was almost midnight and reminded him that they had auditions to watch in less than twelve hours. The raven rubbed his temples at the thought of the painful hours of tomorrow. He slapped the profiles he'd been going through onto the table and looked up at Erwin. You could tell that Erwin had been a dancer in his youth. Even though he had not danced for years, his arms were still reasonably toned and bulged through his shirt slightly as he stretched. He stood tall above the raven and ran a strong hand through his sandy hair. "You don't mind locking up the practise studios do you?" He asked.

Of course the raven minded and Erwin knew that but he couldn't be bothered to argue. "Sure, whatever." He shrugged and rose from his seat to follow Erwin out of the door. He waited while Erwin locked up the office before he was tossed the keys.

"You remember where the practise rooms are right?" Erwin asked teasingly.

"Of course I do, it hasn't been that long." The raven growled before turning on his heal and stomping down the hall (without actually stomping). Erwin's laughter filled the hallway behind him as he walked away. God, he couldn't stand that man when he patronised him like that! The raven knew that Erwin was just having a bit of fun but it pissed him off when he said things like that. He had no idea how he managed to survive fifteen years in this place. He grunted and pulled his hood over his head, letting it rest so that his black bangs were still visible. He flew down several flights of stairs before reaching the basement in which six practise rooms resided. He headed to the first door to see if it was locked when he could hear faint music. He grumbled to himself. Fricking Hanji had left the music on again. The rooms were designed so that they were reasonably sound proof, but, in the dead silence, it was possible for noise to be heard from within. He looked down the hall and noticed a soft light protruding from the furthest room. And she'd left the lights on as well! He frowned deeply and went to look through the window into what he thought would be an empty studio.

Rather, the raven found himself looking at a dancing boy. The boy's face was glistening with sweat and his lip was bitten in either frustration or concentration, the raven couldn't tell. He watched as the boy leaped and began to turn in mid-air, doing five in a row, before landing or at least attempting to. The boy crumpled and cursed as he laid breathing heavily on the floor. The boy was a good dancer, there was just one tiny flaw in his technique when he tried to land but it was just enough to mess the entire thing up for him. No doubt Hanji had told the boy to practise until he got it right, and at the rate he was going, the boy was going to end up being here all night, so the raven took pity on him. He opened the door, almost silently, but it was quiet enough that the boy didn't notice and stepped into the room.

"You won't get it right if you continue to let your technique be so poor." The raven said flatly.

The boy staggered to his feet in a startled manner. Obviously he hadn't expected anyone to be around so late. He stared at him with wide turquoise eyes, searching for anything that would spark recognition, but he found nothing and let his eyes fall to the ground in embarrassment instead. The raven had to admit, the boy was gorgeous. He was of a tall and lean build, standing several feet taller than himself, but not as tall as Erwin. The boy's skin was gently sun-kissed and the muscle that the raven could see bulged out of his skin smoothly, in a way that seemed as if it had been painted. This similar softness was present in his features as these features possessed no hard lines. His chin and nose curved just enough so that it wasn't too round. His rich brown hair fell messily around his eyes framing them perfectly. Everything about the boy screamed delicate beauty. But then his eyes, they looked as though they contained the vast expansion of the ocean itself, churning as those irises watched him.

This man, who was he? Eren stared at him searching for anything about him that he would recognise. The man was smaller than Eren (probably about 5'4") but held himself up making him seem larger at a first glance. He couldn't tell what the rest of him looked like since he was wearing a hoodie and some baggy sweatpants, but he knew (he didn't know how, he just knew) that this man was also a dancer - perhaps it was the way he held himself. Even so, Eren's attention was completely drawn to the man's face. His jawline was sharp and so was his nose, but neither of them were pointy, in a manner of speaking. His hair was as black as ebony falling gracefully down from his head and, to top it off, the bangs were pushed neatly to either side of his face leaving nothing of his face hidden. His eyebrows were dark but thin and were framed by lines, most likely frown lines as that was all this guy seemed to do. His lips were drawn in a straight line but he didn't linger long there. Eren looked up at the man's eyes which were staring right at his. They were grey but not anywhere near flat. The irises swirled and danced as though they were clouds from a storm that had just blown in. Eren could not find anything that he recognised about the man, and felt as though he would be unable to forget such a face, so he let his eyes fall downward in embarrassment. Just the way this man looked at him made him feel imperfect and a tad uncomfortable and for that he was embarrassed.

"You do know that your technique was wrong, don't you?" The raven asked. The boy looked up at him again, rather clueless before responding with a quiet 'no'. The raven felt as though he had to fix this, not because he suddenly started caring for this brat, instead it was a feeling of pity. The boy was going to hurt himself or worse, which would unfairly put him out of dancing, and the raven knew all too well how that felt. He sighed and looked at the boy who was awkwardly picking that the hem of his t-shirt. "The rest of the dance is fine," the raven said, "but, you're not landing properly on that jump. You are trying to land it with straight legs. Try landing with bent knees, that way it will make it easier when you have to finish on them. Also, don't jar the motion, let it continue to flow. That goes for all you're movements. You're making them rather robotic and stiff as you move from one to the other. Put concentrating on the routine out of your mind, and just relax and dance."

Then, the raven gestured for the boy to try again, following his advice. The boy walked over and started the music again before taking up his position in the middle of the room. It appeared that the brat had a brain as he had taken the ravens advice seriously and just relaxed. The amount of improvement in his dancing was immense and the raven could see definite potential. When it came to the end of the routine, the boy spun in the air with extraordinary grace and landed on his knees with a little wobble (although it was better than landing on his butt). Panting, the boy looked at the man for some sort of reassurance that he had done well and the raven just gave a small nod. With that a wide smile cracked along his jaw, lighting up the entirety of the boy's face with a cute charm. The boy was absolutely adorable, God damn it! He couldn't think of the boy in such a manner, he probably wasn't even of age!

The boy was practically beaming at his achievement. He was so happy that a small hysterical laugh escaped his lips as he fell backwards on to the floor.

"Alright, I get that you're happy but I have to lock up before I can go home brat. So either get your butt out of the studio or you're spending your night here." The raven said flatly. The boy nodded while he still had his goofy grin plastered on his face and rolled over on to his side so that he could get to his bag. As the boy pulled his jacket on, the raven watched him in the mirror so that it didn't look like he was staring, but he could quite clearly see that the boy's gaze was directed at him again. He looked irritated as he tried to place the man but found this fruitless so he opened his mouth as asked, "Are you new here?"

The raven couldn't help but laugh inwardly at this. He turned his head towards the boy and cracked a small knowing smile. "In a way," he said slowly, trying to wind the boy up.

All of a sudden, his facial expression changed to that of remembrance. "You're the guest choreographer, aren't you?! The famous dancer who used to train here!" He exclaimed a little too loudly. The raven narrowed his eyes; no one was supposed to know except for Erwin, Hanji and himself. He sighed. Hanji just can't keep her mouth shut could she? The boy looked like he was trying to sink into himself. Obviously, the raven looked more threatening than he thought. They stood there like that for a bit before the raven made a small gesture towards the door. "Oh, right," the boy said quietly and proceeded to hurry out of the door, brushing past him slightly.

The boy continued to speed down the hall until he reached the stairs. He paused. "Would you mind telling me your name?" He asked so quietly that the raven almost missed the question.

He smirked. "Levi. My name's Levi."

The boy looked at the raven one more time before disappearing up the stairs.

Levi…