Title: It's Just Fanservice
Author: Gothic-Neko-Writer
Summary: Fans always think everything on stage was just eye candy for them, no matter how much they wished it was real. For the dance group, RECON, every concert was filled with enough fanservice to fulfill the needs of the internet, but the focus was always on their two main singers. And that fanservice may just be what the fans hoped for.
Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki No Kyojin or the characters or the song 'Pomp and Circumstance'
Note: Rated T for mild swearing and kisses - inspired by a piece of gorgeous Ereri fanart that I found on Tumblr (link on my profile) and the reasoning behind the song during Levi's pole dancing is that someone edited that music to go with that video of the Levi cosplayer pole dancing - it was simply meant to be.
When Eren first joined RECON, he definitely wasn't expecting to be immediately scolded by a short, easily annoyed, gray-eyed man because he was late to one rehearsal. It didn't help that the man was extremely attractive and his thoughts kept wandering. What he didn't expect was for the man to feel the same about him.
At their first concert with Eren in it, he couldn't deny that he was beyond nervous. Most fans hated the idea of even the slightest change in their favorite group and he did see the online hate that Armin stumbled over one time. That night, all it took was the comforting hand of Levi's on his shoulder to calm him down. In the end, Eren could proudly say that the concert went well and the fans fell in love with him, so things were smooth from there on out.
By the fourth concert, and their first one on tour, Levi and Eren had become closer than any of the other band members. That's when the subtle touches on stage started and the fans, always quick to spot the smallest things, went crazy over them. Let's just say that Hanji gave them 'permission' to do more obvious things on stage, not that they really cared.
The night before their seventh concert on tour marked the start of Eren and Levi's official relationship that went beyond just friends. They were so happy that they couldn't keep their hands off each other, lips too but that was always backstage and subtle. Nobody commented on the more than usual touches on stage, it was just fanservice afterall.
Their eighth and last concert on tour was the one that made headlines in the media – some good, some bad, and lots of speculations.
Eren walked over to the vanity table in his dressing room, well his and Levi's since the concert organizers messed up and now he had to share. He sat down on the circular chair, not really paying to his surroundings as he began preparing for the concert that was about to start in an hour or two. He already had his outfit for the first performance on, skinny yet comfortable black jeans, a white tank top, black knee-high boots, and a leather jacket over his shoulders, his arms adorned with bracelets. As he tried to put on the eyeliner, keyword tried because he absolutely hated eyeliner but Hanji, their manager, always insisted he wear it for the fans, he didn't notice somebody standing behind him until a hand grabbed the eyeliner out of his hand.
"What the-" He said in surprise, turning his head to face whoever came into the room. "Levi? I thought you were practicing with Petra."
"Shut up, brat," Levi said after a small scoff. He sat down in the chair in front of his own vanity table and moved it closer until his left knee was just slightly in between Eren's legs. "You were taking awhile and I decided to make sure you didn't spill makeup all over my table. Now, close your eyes."
Eren stared at the older man for a bit, his eyes wide and a faint blush on his cheeks from the close proximity of his fellow band member. He could tell that he was staring longer than he meant to because the next thing he knew, Levi's free hand had come up and closed his eyes for him.
A grin appeared on his face and he had to hold back the laughter bubbling in his chest when he heard the affectionate 'tch' come out of Levi's mouth. He held onto his chair in order to stay still and let Levi put the eyeliner on his eyes, the makeup obviously going to come out perfect because that's just how Levi was. Everything had to be perfect and everyone had to be clean, though Eren could call himself an exception at times.
Hanji came into their dressing room just as Eren finished up his makeup and hair. Actually, Levi did all of his makeup and fixed his hair, swatting away Eren's hand whenever he tried to help. It was just another Levi thing and Eren didn't mind one bit.
"You guys ready yet? Concert's starting in five minutes!" Hanji said with a smile on her face as she watched Levi get up from where he was originally sitting on Eren's lap and walk out the door. Eren stood up and his face flushed red at being caught even if it was a completely innocent position.
"Oh stop blushing like a tomato, everyone in the band knows about you and Levi. Congratulations, by the way!" Hanji squealed the last part and enveloped Eren in a tight hug.
"W-wha- how?" he spluttered out, arms pinned to his side and he could swear that he heard all the oxygen in his lungs leave his body. Just as he started to feel the effects of not being able to breath, Hanji let him go.
"Pfft, you guys aren't exactly subtle. Plus, we all saw your little kiss backstage at the last concert."
Before Hanji could tease him anymore, Eren rushed out of the room and towards Levi who was waiting next to the stairs that led to the stage.
"Everyone knows about us," he said to Levi as soon as he was close enough to the shorter man. Levi's eyes didn't leave the clock on the wall and his arms stayed crossed over his chest, not showing any reaction to Eren's statement.
"I'm surprised you didn't know that," Levi finally said, turning his body towards Eren, gray eyes locking with teal ones. "Then again, you were always slow as fuck."
"Asshole," Eren muttered under his breath. He moved closer to his boyfriend and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, smiling triumphantly in his head when he didn't move away.
They stood like that for a good few minutes, talking about absolutely nothing; Levi tucked snuggly under Eren's arm. Once the stage director approached them and the stage lights dimmed, Eren let go of his boyfriend because he knew how much Levi hated being "escorted" to the stage.
"Good luck, brat," Levi said under his breath, making Eren stop at the top of the stairs and stare at him. He was having his first solo dance part and hearing encouraging words from his usually only-intimate-behind-closed-doors boyfriend, not to mention the co-choreographer of the group, filled him with a sudden burst of confidence.
In response, he pulled Levi up the last step and placed a small yet intimate kiss on his lips. He mumbled a thank you against his lips and, placing a quick peck on his cheek, ran out onto the stage.
"Idiot," Levi muttered to himself, shaking his head and smiling at his energetic boyfriend before walking to his place onstage.
The concert went on smoothly, much better than their concert in Berlin when their equipment decided to keep having problems. Not to mention that the French fans were – all of RECON agreed with this too – wilder than their German fans when it came to fanservice and Eren was hoping to make his performance with Levi completely unforgettable.
It was their first time performing this song, but months of practice, and a couple of days that started out as practice that led to more inappropriate things, prevented them from shaking like a leaf while they stood backstage. They were confident enough in this routine that all they felt was adrenaline, though it only showed in Eren because he was bouncing up and down in excitement, Levi glaring at him.
"Calm the fuck down, Jaeger. Your bouncing is making me nauseous," Levi said from his spot at his vanity table, one of the hairdressers smoothing his undercut hair back. Eren was waiting for him to finish up in a way that annoyed Levi to no end. The brunette's hands seemed to be running on their own, moving to fix his dark green shirt or adjust the blue and white feathers on the rose pinned to the shirt.
"Shut up, let me be excited," he said, thanking the hairdresser on her way out and eyeing his boyfriend appreciatively.
Levi was dressed in a crisp white shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows and the first button open, with a dark red vest over it, a rose and feathers similar to Eren's pinned onto it. He had matching dark red pants and black leather boots on.
"Like what you see, Eren? I certainly like what I'm seeing," Levi said with a mischievous smirk on his face making Eren's face heat up and his eyes to look somewhere else.
Eren had his hair styled like normal except for a few strands of hair here and there. In addition to his dark green shirt, which had its sleeves rolled up like Levi's and the first two buttons undone, and rose, Eren wore pants similar to Levi's except in gray and black dress shoes.
Levi moved closer to his lover and wrapped his arms around his neck, pulling Eren down for a kiss. Eren recovered from the small surprise and immediately wrapped his arms around Levi's waist. Before they could deepen the kiss, the door slammed open and Hanji came in.
"C'mon lovebirds! Performance is starting soon and the fans would love to see it," she said, not at all caring that she just interrupted their very intimate moment. They broke apart, arms still around each other, and Levi glared at their manager while Eren buried his face in his boyfriend's hair. "Oh don't glare at me, if I didn't come in, you would've missed it."
"Come on, Levi," Eren mumbled into the other's raven hair and pulled his face away. He took Levi's hand and dragged him out of the room before he could start swearing at Hanji. Levi let himself be dragged away, his glare never leaving Hanji until they were near the stage.
"Ready?" Eren asked, walking up the stairs and looking at Levi, the anticipation of the performance clear in his teal eyes.
"Always," Levi replied, walking up onto the stage and showing a small smile to Eren. "Don't screw up," with that he walked towards the metal pole placed in the middle of the blackened stage.
Eren chuckled and waited at the sidelines, watching his boyfriend as the spotlight turned on.
Screams and shouts erupted throughout the concert venue as the opening chords of Pomp and Circumstance filled the entire area. Levi breathed out the small moans at the beginning of the song, moving in a circle around the pole with one hand gripping it. The fans went wild because a pole and this song obviously meant one thing.
Levi started singing, his voice smooth as he wrapped a leg around the pole and began dancing. As he sang, he danced on the pole; hands gripping tightly onto it as he lifted his feet off the ground and spun around, legs cradling the metal pole as he bent backwards, and his voice never faltering.
Eren's cue, the chorus, came in and he began singing off stage, his voice blending perfectly with Levi's, before walking onto the stage and towards the man leaning on the pole with his left hand still holding onto it. Loud squeals greeted the duo as Eren got close to Levi. He brought his left hand up and held onto the back of Levi's neck, their faces inches apart.
Levi held onto the microphone next to his mouth, feeling it slip just the tiniest bit or maybe because he needed something else to hold onto, and began singing the next few lines. Eren, who was holding onto his headset microphone as well because it looked cool according to Mikasa, sang right after Levi finished. He moved down, hand still on Levi's neck, and practically crouched on the floor as he sang to the crowd, his upper body in between the older man's legs.
That move drove the fans crazy, the screams rivaling the music in terms of which was louder. Eren shared an amused smirk with Levi as he moved back up, his right hand letting go of the microphone and run down Levi's chest. They continued to sing, Levi still dancing with the pole without climbing up it and Eren moving around him, the two moving in perfect synchronization just as the practiced it.
The music faded out signaling the end of the song, Eren now the one pressed against the pole and Levi trapping him. On the last note, Levi moved his face close to Eren's, stopping only inches from his lips, and when it was silent, turned his head and smirked at the crowd.
The heated silence was soon filled with whoops and squeals, someone throwing a rose onto the stage and another person madly waving a handmade sign with their names on it. The deafening yells didn't stop when the lights shut off and Eren felt incredibly satisfied. They obviously did great and he resisted the urge to close the small gap in between him and his lover at the last second.
"You guys did great!" Petra said, hugging them both once they came off the stage. Everyone else crowded around them and congratulations were being made.
"Thanks," Eren smiled widely at all of them while Levi nodded his head, his own way of saying thank you.
"Don't forget the after party, guys!" Connie screamed over the chattering backstage and Levi took that opportunity to drag Eren out of the group, headed to their car parked at the back of the building, and planning on taking a shower before dragging his boyfriend to the party.
Levi woke up to a small headache, the aftereffects of having one small shot of alcohol than he usually drank, and someone knocking loudly on his hotel door. He reluctantly got up, grabbing one of the hotel robes from the bathroom and wrapping it around his naked body before opening the door.
"What the fuck do you want, Hanji?" he asked annoyed and moving to the side to let his manager in.
"Guess what's all over the tabloids," Hanji said, pushing up her glasses and practically shoving a magazine into his face.
Just fanservice or are RECON's Levi and Eren dating?
After a heated and seemingly intimate performance by Eren and Levi, lead singers of popular group RECON, at their last concert on tour in France, many fans and reporters are guessing that there's something more going on between the two. (Full story pg. 6)
Levi dropped the magazine on the desk and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had a slight hangover and he really didn't want to deal with any of the tabloids bullshit.
"Levi? What's going on?" Eren mumbled groggily from under the sheets, not moving because he had a bigger hangover than his lover.
"Dating rumors," Hanji answered for Levi who was staring at the wall and evidently coming up with a plan in his head.
"Let's just tell them that we're dating," the brunette said, voice sounding a bit more awake but body still buried under the blanket.
"You can't! That'd da-"
"No, the brat's right," Levi spoke up, running a hand through his hair and standing up, looking at Hanji instead of the wall. "I doubt we'd lose fans just because it's official that we're together."
Hanji looked at the two of them, hand under her chin as she thought it through. Levi was right, the fans would only have a field day and love them more if it was revealed that the two were dating. They might even gain more fans and the media loved them. Plus, the worst that could happen were a couple of haters here and there.
She sighed and nodded her head, "Fine, I'll set up an interview with one of the magazines tomorrow. Take today off too, stay in bed if you want."
The next day, Eren and Levi found themselves sitting on a couch in a private room on the second floor of a coffee shop, a woman in her late twenties sitting on a chair in front of them.
"Hello, thank you for letting me have this interview! My name's Mina," the reporter said enthusiastically as she held out her hand.
"Thank you for agreeing to meet with us, Mina," Eren said with a polite smile, shaking her hand, Levi doing the same.
"So, I'm sure all the fans want to know the truth about this rumor. Are you two dating?"
Eren and Levi shared a look, one that an outsider would call loving and they'd be right. Levi took his boyfriend's hand and intertwined their fingers.
"Yes, we're dating," Levi said.
"All that fanservice at your concerts, was that because you were dating and trying to drop hints?"
Eren laughed and shook his head. He himself never thought that all the flirting and touching on stage would've led to falling in love with a short-tempered yet cuddly dancer.
"Not at all," he responded with a smile and soft laugh. "It started off as just fanservice and we didn't start dating until our concert in Berlin," he looked over at Levi, eyes filled with affection and love towards the older man. "I wouldn't change a thing, though."