A.N. I've tried to keep them in character as far as this AU goes, but this is heavily AU and I haven't finished the manga so I'm sure they're not spot-on. Still, concrit is always welcome. :)
Warnings for: Period-typical homophobia, referenced underage drinking, mention of past injury and permanent injury sustained in the past.
Enjoy!
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It didn't take a genius to figure out someone had rolled. Levi clicked his tongue thoughtfully, reading the newsprint again and again while he tried to make sense of what he had read. So many runners had gone down recently it had become front page news. Not the Johnny-come-latelies either; there were names on the page he had been drinking and doing business with for years. Careful men whose roots in the trade ran deep.
"You seen the paper?"
"Have. Have you seen the paper."
He could sense Eren rolling his eyes, but for once the kid didn't mouth off. "Have you seen the paper?"
"The hell does it look like?" Levi rattled the newspaper in his hands, crumpling it up like garbage. Eren winced. He had come from nothing, and even the cheap paper and ink of the Times was still too expensive to waste in his mind. Eventually it would find its way to the burn pile, another casualty of Levi's relentless need to keep everything in its place.
"You're not gonna call off tonight?"
"No." He was tempted. Gathering all the city's rum-runners in one place, letting the drinks flow liberally and encouraging the rampant debauchery that ensued might as well be a red flag. With the Probies cracking down, they were risking a raid and more than a little lost stock. It wasn't easy though, getting so many of them together for a friendly evening and canceling on such short notice would only make him look suspicious. Not something he could afford these days.
Besides, tonight was a chance to test the waters, to see which of them had turned on his brothers.
"Do you have a tie yet?" The kid needed to cut his eyeteeth sometime, and Levi knew there was every possibility he would need another pair of eyes tonight.
Eren caught his breath, trying not to betray his excitement and failing miserably. "Somewhere."
"Find it. Find a decent coat too, nothing cheap. Get yourself a shirt, hat, anything you need. You're coming with me tonight."
"Yessir." Eren fled so fast he nearly wiped out when he hit the plush rug, managing to right himself with the help of the doorknob. He laughed ruefully, cast a glance back over his shoulder to ensure his boss and mentor hadn't seen it, then scampered from the room like the hounds of hell were snapping at his heels.
Levi waited until the door clicked shut behind him before he let a thin smile touch his lips. The brat was all gangling arms and legs these days coupled with the boundless energy of a puppy. He would either find a way to ruin his good new clothes tonight or outgrow them in a week, Levi was sure. Fortunately he had taught Eren a thing or two about hemming, letting out seams and sewing up the rips and tears from his daily labors. The new suit would last him awhile if he chose well.
He glanced back down to the paper, frowning with displeasure. He had a good idea of who was behind this but nothing solid enough to build a case on. If it was who he suspected, he might not want to either.
Erwin fucking Smith. A German immigrant from well before the war, Erwin came from money; enough to buy himself a officer's commission where most men had to enlist or be drafted. Levi hadn't been the only one that hated his guts when he showed up and took over without even pretending to be ashamed.
That initial hatred had morphed into grudging respect when he realized that however he had come by his commission, Erwin had a gift for command and lacked the sort of temperament that let other spoiled firstborns lead from the rear. By the end of the war they had been fast friends, and a little more besides. It had shocked him to learn some years later that like himself Erwin had taken to smuggling everything from moonshine to more exotic brews. Rumor painted the picture of a man that had his finger in just about every pie, adding to his already not-inconsiderable fortune.
There was no such thing as 'enough', Levi knew. No matter how much money he had now, no matter how warm his house or how plentiful the food he always felt the specter of poverty hovering over him. He remembered the chill of frostbite and nights trying to sleep while his stomach devoured itself because there was nothing else to be had. Levi understood greed better than most.
What he didn't understand was why Erwin would go after men and women that had once been his associates; why he was allying himself with a police force more corrupt than many of the most notorious criminals.
Most importantly, why he had taken out several other key players yet left his chief rival untouched. Levi rose, ripping the paper into shreds and feeding it into the fire; the ink gave the smoke a foul smell, but waste not want not. He watched the sparks rise from the blaze for a few seconds longer, prodding the tinder to put some life back into it.
It wasn't vanity to say that he was Erwin's most dangerous competitor and sometime ally. Between the two of them they controlled well over half the city's stock of alcohol, and after serving together for years they knew something of each other's methods. After some frantic, Thank-God-We're-Alive fumbling and his abrupt departure followed by years of silence even as they shared the same damn city, Levi knew there had to be bad blood between them. That should have made him the very first one to find himself locked up.
Tonight he intended to find out why he hadn't been.
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The doorkeep opened the door as soon as he saw his face, no password or introduction required. As far as the rats in this cellar were concerned, Levi was royalty. Behind him marched Eren, fists swinging belligerently at his sides. He glared up at the doorman when he laughed to see such a short kid dressed to the nines and swaggering along behind Levi like some sort of guard.
His scornful chuckle cut off when Mikasa followed, pinning him with a dead stare that robbed the self-important little man of his breath.
"Behave." Levi murmured curtly when they caught up to him. "Don't get soused or start any trouble you can't finish."
Eren looked disappointed, but Levi was sure Mikasa could keep him out of whatever trouble he did end up finding. There would be something; Eren and Mikasa had been the terrible twosome since long before he had taken them in.
"Are we listening for anything in particular?" Mikasa tossed her dark hair over her shoulder, subtly taking in the room. It was packed to the brim with everyone who meant anything in their business and a few that didn't besides.
"I want to know whatever the hell everyone is up to these days. Who the probies are targeting, who's buying up stock, who's concerned about these arrests lately." Levi pinned her with a stare to drive home how serious he was "Especially who isn't."
"Got it." She took Eren's arm, looping it through her own and descending the short stairs into the pit as gracefully as any born and bred lady. This was the one place in the city a young woman wouldn't draw any censure for wearing dress pants, a coat and tie to match Eren's and a jaunty little cap to top off the ensemble. It was easy to track their progress through the room from the number of heads that swiveled to watch in disbelief, amusement or curiosity.
Levi kept a weather eye on the pair until he was sure they had navigated the worst of the crush then hurried down the stairs himself.
Short as he was, he still didn't need to weave through the crowd. It parted naturally for him, a few glasses tipped cheerful toasts in his direction. Levi managed curt nods for his few allies; you didn't get far without learning to play the game but Levi was better at some parts than others and this socialization business still didn't sit well with him even a decade later.
He made his way to the bar to grab a drink first thing, straight whiskey tonight. Then he turned to survey the room again, looking for one man in particular. Levi was sure he would stand out.
The space was made up like a parody of a hunting lodge: dark cherry wood floors complemented a black on scarlet Madison damask wallpaper, stone column supports wound up the corner of each wall, a stuffed wildcat perched on an overhang by the door, waiting to pounce on any unsuspecting visitors with fangs bared and claws extended. The exotic animals were on the upper level, hulking tigers and leopards stared at the assembled gathering with glassy, accusing eyes.
Tasteless, but there was an irony in it Levi could appreciate. Has-beens standing in a hall of trophies they had never earned, patting themselves on the back for a job well done.
A flash of gold and Levi's thoughts were interrupted by an Adonis making his way through the crowd to the bar, an empty glass already in hand. Erwin. His heart stuttered to a stop when a burly older gent stepped out of the way to reveal the empty sleeve pinned to Erwin's right side. That couldn't be right. When he had said his farewells to Erwin, brisk but reluctant, the man had been fully recovered, bored out of his mind waiting for clearance to leave hospital and go home. All of the evidence before him now said otherwise.
Erwin's gaze caught his own and held, a pleased smile settling on his lips. Dashing and handsome as ever, effortlessly radiating confidence and ease; he looked clean and wholesome and everything Levi knew he couldn't be. He made for the bar with purpose, coming up to lean against it beside Levi and offering his glass to the bartender.
Son of a bitch didn't even have to say what he was drinking, just flashed a smile and a quarter and there was another glass before him. Red wine, Levi noted without surprise. None of the cheap swill for Erwin, neither the drinks most of Levi and the rest of his uncultured kind enjoyed. He sighed, annoyed despite himself that he had expected it.
Even now he knew Erwin well.
"It's been years, Levi."
"It's been a decade." Levi said flatly, downing his drink and clinking his glass down with an air of finality.
"That's new." He nodded to Erwin's sleeve. He wouldn't insult him by pretending he hadn't noticed. It wasn't recent, he could tell that much. "What the hell did you get up to after the war?" Besides the obvious.
Erwin faltered, some of the wind gone from his sails. Good. Levi wanted to keep him off balance tonight.
"A whole hell of a lot, but this-" Erwin tilted to his head to his empty sleeve. "Is a memento from the hospital they sent me to. Infection." He shrugged.
"They give you one of those medals?" Levi's gut was roiling. Erwin had been fine when he left, had been up and walking and demanding to be released so someone else could have his bed. He'd been fine. But infection was one of the more familiar killers, Levi knew. Erwin could have died alone there and Levi would never have known it.
"I sold it." Erwin grinned mischievously. Levi decided against asking what he had to grin about. There was only one secret of Erwin's he was interested in now.
"Selling a little bit of everything, aren't you?" Subtlety had never been Levi's forte.
Erwin snorted, "I didn't come here to talk business tonight. At least, not this business." Erwin lifted his glass to the room in a mocking toast. Levi saw the same contempt in the gesture that he felt. Both for the fat cats making their quick buck at the expense of the rest of the city and for himself, lapping up the profits.
Levi's voice dropped to a dangerous whisper, "What sort of business do you think you have with me?"
There was one very simple way to take Levi out of the game, all Erwin needed to do was drop a discreet word in the right ear, catch Levi at the wrong time and he'd be tried for sodomy. Erwin's indiscretions might have ended with the war- what was a man to do but find another man to take care of his needs when most of the whores were diseased, or so the sanctimonious ones said-Levi's habits hadn't changed, and he was surprised to find he was nervous. Which, of course, made him angry.
Erwin looked surprised again and a little hurt. Levi didn't trust it for a second. He had seen firsthand the sort of traps Erwin had specialized in setting; there was a cunning in him Levi still hadn't plumbed the depths of. He didn't know how much their past companionship was going for these days either; not if Erwin had decided he had a higher calling.
"Friendly business, I hope." Erwin took a casual sip of his wine. "I have a proposition for you. One I think you'll find mutually agreeable."
"Oh yeah?" Levi relaxed. He reached behind the bar, ignoring the bartender's venomous glare to snatch a bottle of the cheap, strong stuff he had always favored. "Let's have a drink and talk it over."
"Somewhere a little quieter." Erwin agreed, downing the last of his wine with a brusque swallow and setting the glass away to take Levi's arm in a rather proprietary grip.
Even years later it felt familiar; Levi felt his heart beating triple time at the casual contact. His mouth went dry and every hair on his body pricked with anticipation. Stunned he realized that traitor or not, he still wanted this man. Damn.
Levi forced himself to stay in the present, resisting the siren's call of memory. This didn't have to be complicated; as soon as he was through here he'd get the kids home safe and go out again to his quiet little speakeasy where no one looked at each other's dance partners or spoke about who they saw there. He'd find himself some strapping blond imitation of who he wanted, make it plain there was nothing sentimental involved and both of them could enjoy the night.
He popped the cork on the bottle and took a swig, not seeing the grim look that passed over Erwin's face when he weaved closer.
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There were dozens of smaller rooms hidden in the place, Erwin knew. A hidey-hole tucked under the staircase that led to the second level, a network of tunnels beneath the main floor that rivaled a spider's web for complexity, doors behind paintings, hidden in the wallpaper that led to exits or rooms. The trick was finding one that was unoccupied. Twice they stumbled onto discreet affairs before finally finding an unoccupied room.
"This-"
He didn't even finish the word before Levi slammed the door, kicked a leg out from under him and neatly spun to pin him to the door. The effect should have been comical; he was head-and-shoulders above his former right hand man, but what Levi lacked in height he made up for with aggression and sheer determination.
"Are you working for the feds?" He snarled, cutting to the heart of the matter with his usual bluntness. Erwin's heart skipped a beat; in a decade, nothing had changed.
Careful not to let his fond nostalgia leak into his expression, Erwin arched a strong brow and answered simply: "Yes."
It was satisfying to watch Levi rock back as though he had been sucker punched, his eyes blown wide with shock. "What the fuck?" He whispered. Then louder: "What the fuck?"
"You still have a way with words." It was a risky situation, but they had been close once and Erwin couldn't forget it even to save his own skin. Their closeness wasn't doing much to help him think either, or the feel of Levi's fists twining so firmly in his shirt. Muscle memory had him relaxing in the other man's hold, breath coming shallow and fast but not from fear.
"No, you don't talk unless I tell you." Levi shoved him harder against the door, one hand untangling itself from Erwin's loose shirt to slam into the wall beside him hard enough that Erwin wasn't sure whether he was more concerned for the wall or Levi's knuckles. Levi's bangs fell into his eyes, but he shook them out violently, glaring up at Erwin. "Alright. Now you talk. Explain everything."
Erwin was silent a few seconds longer. He had come prepared, rehearsing a speech beforehand in the mirror as pulled on his bolo tie. The one Levi had liked to twine about his fist to urge Erwin into riding him. Erwin swallowed tightly, his pretty speech forgotten.
"You know prohibition isn't going to last much longer." Levi hadn't been much of a strategist when they first met, all fire and vinegar. By the time they parted he had developed his own philosophy: strike first and hard. He had a way of spotting what was coming around the bend and acting before he was forced to react. Erwin was confident the skills he had learned in war had transferred to business.
"And?" Levi gritted out. "Don't give me that 'winning side' bullshit, Erwin."
It was the first time he had heard his name on Levi's lips in ten years and it knocked the breath out of him faster than being slammed into the door had.
"The battle lines those people are drawing now will last longer than this ban. Their wealth will, their businesses. Is the city we're building now one you want to live in? You want to leave it to your kids? Eren? Mikasa?"
"Think I give a shit? They're not my kids, they're my fucking hired help. And the city looks pretty damn good when you're standing on top looking down, so what are you doing?"
Levi hadn't bothered asking how he knew their names, Erwin noticed.
"We built ourselves on dumb luck, Levi." Erwin froze when he heard the way Levi's breath shuddered out of him. He wasn't unaffected by their nearness, no matter what he pretended. "All the booze and good times these people wanted after the war. It's illegal, but it's not wrong."
He could see dawning understanding in Levi's eyes tempered by wariness. His grip was relaxing and Erwin's shoulders were glad for the relief.
"Out there though, you and I both know most of our-" Erwin's lips twisted, "comrades don't share our scruples."
"You still talk like a damn book." Levi interjected, brows drawn in a scowl.
"They're dealing in all kinds of misery. I heard the girl lost her mother in a brothel. I heard you took her in before they made her take her mother's place."
"She's a genius." Levi's words were a little cooler. "She's made back what I spent and more."
"I heard you got your boy from a workhouse. I have also heard he's more trouble than he's worth." Erwin's lips quirked. More like Armin hadn't stopped talking about him until Erwin had expressly forbidden the words "Eren", "Yeager" or any combination thereof in his house.
That was how he had found Levi again after all these years. He had only meant to repay the favor after Armin had come limping home half-carried by the Yeager boy a few years ago, a little the worse for wear but not half as bad as it would have been if Eren hadn't swept in and dealt with his assailants. Instead Eren had done him another favor and led him right to the doorstep of a man Erwin hadn't thought he would ever meet again.
It had just been a happy coincidence learning that he and Levi were splitting the black market between them.
"Those are the businesses they're running: the whorehouses, workhouses, weapons. They take the sort of people no one ever misses and use them up then toss them out on their own. If they survive."
People like you. He didn't say it, but he could see the thought lurking behind Levi's straightforward gaze.
"Self-righteous prick." The words were little more than a breath of sound, almost fond. "You think the feds are doing any better?"
"I know I could." Erwin stepped away from the door, closing the distance between them in a graceful stride. "And I know the revenuers have enough resources to make it easier for me to take this city."
Levi was breathing rapidly, and Erwin could feel the heat of him from where he stood, nearly atop Levi's toes. Without conscious thought, his hand lifted up to rest beneath Levi's chin, tilting his head up. Levi allowed it, didn't pull away, didn't swear at him. He wanted to lean down and kiss him again badly enough that it was almost a physical pain. He wanted Levi to grab him by the tie and pull him down to close the distance between them.
"Wh-"
The door burst in off its hinges, silhouetting none other than Levi's devoted guard dogs, Eren and Mikasa.
"Get the hell away from him." Eren snarled in a good imitation of his mentor.
Mikasa eeled past him and took up position on Erwin's right side, noticing his potential vulnerability and readying herself to exploit it as soon as this turned nasty.
He stepped away from Levi with some disappointment, already mourning the lost feeling of heated skin against his own. "We'll finish this later, Levi."
"The hell you will." Mikasa murmured, still as cool and composed as if she regularly burst down doors to accost men that tried to have a private conversation with her boss. Perhaps she did; for all he knew this could be her average night.
Erwin dipped his head to Levi, to her, and because he felt a little devilish, patted Eren on the shoulder as he stepped out. The offended squawk Eren gave was all the reward he needed.
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Finish later. "Finish what later?" Levi whispered, leaning farther back into his dark corner while listening with half an ear to the singer on stage crooning the St. James Infirmary Blues. His untouched drink sat in front of him, and an empty chair too though he hadn't made any effort to change that.
Had Erwin meant they would finish their conversation later? Or had he meant what his body had been promising? The familiar warmth in his eyes had kindled an answering ember that had flared to life when Erwin had grasped his chin just as he used to. Frozen, Levi couldn't decide whether to push Erwin away or draw him closer… or was he waiting for Erwin to lean down and claim his mouth with years of frustrated lust?
More importantly, would he ever stop fretting over it like some sheltered debutante at her first dance, Levi thought disgustedly. He had seen Eren and Mikasa home, cuffing Eren when he caught the scent of alcohol on his breath and demanding to know what Mikasa had been thinking to let him have a drink.
An eloquent shrug and a "He's fine, isn't he?" was all the answer he had received. Mikasa was good at keeping Eren out of trouble, but telling him 'no' was a skill they would have to work on. Once she understood the meaning of the word herself.
Eren had bickered with him the whole way home, arguing that it had only been a sip and he was a man, besides. Levi had cuffed him again, "I'll tell you when you're a man, boy, and when you can drink."
"Saved your ass, didn't I?" Eren sulked.
Had he? Levi hadn't decided yet. What he knew was that he'd been hard since the moment he first pinned Erwin to the door, and it showed no sign of letting up.
"Let her go, let her go, God bless her-"
No one here fit his taste tonight though. Too short, too dark, not muscled enough, voice too high or too low or too annoying. Not Erwin.
"Wherever she may be-"
The couples on the dance floor swayed to the music, out of rhythm and content to stay that way. His eyes skipped over the brunettes clasping each other close, matching sapphire blue dresses swaying becomingly just above their knees. He lingered a moment longer on the couple beside them- one blond, one as dark-haired as he and both built like they knew their way around the docks. Another and another and none of them anything like what he wanted, but they all had the closeness he was craving.
"She can search this whole wide world over"
He couldn't settle tonight. Not after nearly having a taste of the real thing. Just then his eyes caught sight of a familiar face weaving through the crowd.
"But she'll never find another sweet man like me."
His strange restlessness eased a little when he saw Erwin, whatever their unfinished business they could deal with it here and now. However a new restlessness was building, the heat that Eren's interruption had so handily doused rekindled as Erwin approached the table and took the free chair.
Levi stiffly pushed the drink across to him, but Erwin batted it carelessly out of the way. Levi swallowed tightly and subtly adjusted his posture, trying to ignore the ache in his cock.
"Are you going to sic your probie friends on my club, Erwin?" He couldn't resist needling him for some reason, even knowing what the answer would be.
"This is none of their business." Erwin glanced around, taking in the secluded nooks and crannies, not raising a brow at the couples he found here. Then again after all they had done together nothing should shock him any more. "Have you had any luck tonight?"
Levi drew a deep breath, wishing he had kept his drink close to hand. Erwin's eyes raked over him, lingering on his undone collar; they had never left love-bites, too risky, but Erwin was looking for them now. He wouldn't find any. Levi didn't let any of his erstwhile lovers touch him more than they had to; it ruined the illusion. The trick was finding like-minded men willing to use him for the same purpose.
Levi drummed his fingers on the table. "Depends. You going to fuck me?"
Seduction was a gentleman's game for which Levi had no patience. Not even for Erwin. Not when it had been so long.
"Yes." Erwin snapped, catching Levi's hand where it lay unresisting on the table.
Levi stood abruptly, feeling Erwin's gaze fly straight to the damning evidence of his arousal; he smirked unabashedly. Levi had missed the expression. He was the one to drag them to the bar, to demand the key to his own room from the manager. He was the one that nearly hauled Erwin down the stairs to shove him through the door and onto the bed waiting for them.
"I wasn't expecting anything so comfortable." Erwin sat on the edge of the bed, sinking into the down comforter. The room was clean, sparsely decorated but still appealing with its birdseye maple bed and commode tucked unobtrusively in a corner. A wash basin sat atop it, and a pitcher with a cloth draped over its edge. Everything neat, tidy, and in its proper place.
No expense had been spared with regard to the sheets or bed. Erwin's own bed could barely compare to what Levi had tucked away in his secretive little club. "Are these sheets cashmere?"
He rubbed the fabric between his fingers, holding back outright laughter. Levi had bedded down in the mud of the trenches more than a few times, had once draped his blankets over an anthill to ensure there were no lice in them only to toss the newly 'clean' blanket in the dirt next to Erwin's own and sleep there. He had sworn then that he would never sleep in anything but luxury once they were home, but Erwin hadn't actually thought he would go this far.
"I told you I was never fucking outside again." Levi stripped his coat and shirt off before Erwin had a chance to properly appreciate the show, attacking the buttons of his pants as he spoke. He marched to the commode, unconcerned with his nudity, pulling out an emerald green cosmetic pot.
"Or using paraffin. Why the hell are your clothes still on?"
Erwin ignored the last pointed question, somber eyes drifting over the scars Levi still bore. He was responsible for those. Every last one. Only Levi hadn't earned a medal; he couldn't earn one that hadn't even existed yet even if he deserved it several times over apparently. The shrapnel that had eventually taken Erwin's arm would have taken his life if it hadn't been for Levi, yet he was the one that got a damned medal for it.
Erwin had disposed of it as soon as he was well enough, loathing the constant reminder of those men he hadn't been able to bring home, and what he had done to the ones who survived. He was reminded again seeing the pattern of scars across Levi's chest and back, down his shoulders. Pierced by everything from a bayonet to a splintered bullet.
"Don't go there." Levi warned, grabbing him by his lapels to forcefully pull him back into the present. "We're home. Don't ever go back there."
Levi hadn't been raised a scholar, but he had his own peculiar eloquence that Erwin had always enjoyed. He also had common sense in spades, which Erwin knew he desperately needed more of.
"You're right."
"Of course." Levi snorted. "Were you going to take this off?"
He was worried, Erwin could see it in the guilty look that flashed to his sewn up sleeve. With a few tugs and a hard shrug he rid himself of the shirt. Levi's eyes roamed over him, taking in all the similarities and differences. He had a quick mouth and a sharp tongue, but even Levi was speechless for once.
The silence that fell between them was agonizing. Erwin could hear his racing heartbeat, their shared breaths, the faint music that carried from the room up front.
Then Levi pitched forward, fingers tangling in his hair and mouth covering his, starved for a contact he hadn't shared with Erwin in too long.
Erwin allowed himself to fall back, grabbing Levi by the back of his neck to guide them down together. Levi's hands settled above either of his shoulders, pressed chest to chest they kissed. Lips and tongue and teeth relearning everything about each other in the space of a few seconds.
He groaned when Levi pulled away, thinned lips now red and bee-stung. "Why the hell are your pants still on?"
Dexterous hands flew to his pants, tugging vexedly at his belt to toss it aside.
Not much had changed after all.
Erwin arched up, making it easier for Levi to peel his pants off. A time or two Levi had paused to fold them and lay them somewhere dry, those few times they'd had the luxury of more than just quick hand and blowjobs in the dark. He thought he might die if Levi tried that now.
Fortunately Levi's mind seemed to be in the same place, he laid them over the footboard of the bed swiftly, not moving from his perch on Erwin's hips where he had settled but rocking into him as he moved. Erwin muffled a frustrated growl.
"The walls are thick. Let me hear you." Levi had grown used to barking orders, and the bedroom was no different. Erwin was sure his cock couldn't get any harder, until Levi offered him a wicked smirk: "And don't you fucking move until I say so."
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A.N.
I know I should not be starting another fic, but in my defense:
1) I was enabled- You know who you are.
2) This is a two shot with an epilogue. (It's a novel in my notes, but I will learn to be brief if it kills me)
3) It's finished. I need to edit and add a little meat to the bones of the next chapters but at the worst you can expect an update next week and the week after.
The song mentioned in this chapter is Cab Calloway's "St. James Infirmary Blues", which inspired this fic and helped trap me in EruRi hell. There are other versions of the song all up on Youtube, but Calloway's is one of the best imo.
Also, Wikipedia has an entire article on the origins of the word "fuck" and if you ever need a pick-me-up, just go down to the 'political usage' section and laugh yourself hoarse.