AN: Due to a few questions and some thinking it over I've come to the conclusion it would be better to simply say what this is based off of for clarification. A Titan and His Hunter was inspired by Beauty and the Beast with some artistic freedoms being taken.
"Kill it!"
"It'll eat us all!"
"Did you see what happened to the millers' family?"
"Kill it!" "Kill it!" "Kill it!" The cries rang through the night as earth shaking foot falls thundered away from the village, a huge figure running from the torches. The harsh orange light cast flickering shadows upon his retreating back, pitchforks and spears hitting the creature as he ran.
He'd been running for decades now. He couldn't remember why he started running, but every time he attempted to pass through a village he'd remember. Every time it was the same: He would find a pleasant enough space that maybe, just maybe, he could call home. Then they would find him. They would find him and remind him why he kept on running.
Humans hated him; they were afraid of him. They thought he would kill them, even though any deaths he had caused had all been accidents; the millers' family had died because he fell onto their home after the humans had sliced the tendons in his ankle.
An accident, he told himself. Your fault, a deeper part of him whispered.
It was morning before he stopped running, before the loud thudding footsteps faded into a slight shudder along the ground, until he was finally forced to stop at the edge of a lake. He gazed down at himself, no genitalia in sight such as those on other humans; the knowledge of his masculinity was his and his green eyes shone beneath shaggy black hair reflected from the surface of the lake, with grotesque teeth that were easily visible even from ground level, and he cringed away at the sight. Compared to humans he was impossibly tall, 15 meters he heard the humans cry as they warned others of his approach (as though they couldn't see him themselves) and he supposed that if he were as small as a human, he would be scared as well.
He wondered (not for the first time) if he should just go into the lake and stay there until he died. He remembered the time he had attempted it before, spending a week at the bottom of a very deep lake before getting tired of staring at fish and watching the sun and moon trade spaces on the sky. He turned to the left (the last time he stopped at a lake he went right) and walked on.
He walked for days, circling far around the villages he came across, his heart unprepared for the inevitable rejection he would receive. Days turned into weeks, the sweet air of spring giving way to the hot stagnant air of summer. Not once had he needed to eat in all that time (he's never had to eat, never in all his decades of being alive). Weeks turned into months, the green leaves turning brown and falling as he walked on.
A fifth village interrupted his path and he circled around it yet again, but this one had something new. A castle (he wasn't sure how he knew what it was but the word came to mind as soon as he saw it), with no one around it. The creature stood still, watching. Several more days passed by until he was sure that the castle was indeed empty before deciding to take up residency there. Surely the humans who lived in that village wouldn't care if he did or not; the place seemed to be abandoned, and being this close to the company that he craved appealed to him.
The construction of the castle proved to be too small for him to enter, but the outer courtyard was large enough for him to be able to live adequately. He required no food, so the abundant game living in the overgrown courtyard was of little use to him. The animals didn't seem to care about him, paying him as much attention as they did the rest of the world. They would only get curious when he made a move to get closer to them.
He spent his time there for months. Snow fell to cover the ground as it always did, and when the steam rolling off his body melted the snow that fell from the sky, the animals came back to the castle from their hideaways. He would melt the snow on the ground to reveal the brown earth and grass below, uncovering far more food than the animals could without him. Occasionally he would turn his attention to the village, to the smoke drifting so invitingly from the chimneys, and to the children, black specks on the white snow from where he sat, playing late into the night until the air grew so frigid that even he could feel it through the heat of his own body. He had always preferred children to adults. They would be the ones to find him first, and they would be the ones to accept him first, giving him hope each time that maybe, just maybe, this village would be different. Then they would lead him towards their homes, and all would be well until he got too close. Then the screaming would start.
The snows had thawed and the bears had come out from hibernation before the first human appeared.
He was armed with a crossbow and a long sword to fight the vicious monster; he approached the castle with the cocky swagger of one who proclaimed to be the Best Hunter in his Village, and entered the courtyard, grinning from ear to ear as he sought out the creature whispered about in the nearby village.
Surely this creature wasn't 15 meters tall; that must be nothing more than a gross exaggeration made by ignorant, cowardly men. His entrance into the castle grounds made no noise; not even a doe could catch him approaching before it was too late. He took a few more steps inside, ears straining for any noise above the faint hiss in the air. As he went around the side of the castle, the air grew thicker and heavier with moisture until he rounded the corner to see… Something he would never be able to explain to the people back at the village. A dark shadow fell across him as the creature stood from his position just behind the castle, steam rolling off his massive body in thick clouds. The man looked up, attempting to see past the shadow and steam and hair to see the creature's face. The creature gazed down at the small man in curiosity. This one wasn't moving; did he not want to kill him as the other humans had?
The man stood in silence, paralyzed with fright, until the creature made a motion to move his hand closer. Immediately the man's life flashed before his eyes and he turned and ran, screaming all the way back to the village. Word soon spread of this creatures' reappearance and of how he had attempted to murder the Best Hunter in the Village by brutally crushing him with his clawed hands.
Again, he was being chased from his home. A place where he had lived peacefully for months, and what had become his haven, was being taken from him again.
A second man attempting to kill him appeared the following week, this one being much more prepared than the last for what he assumed to be an absolute monster.
If the humans wanted a monster, then they would get a monster. The creature drew himself up to his full height, blocking out the sun and once again casting the human in the courtyard deep into shadow. The man tensed and looked up to see the grinning skull-like teeth on the creature gleaming brightly. He held glittering eyes of green with his own for a moment, before the creature opened his massive jaw and let out a bloodcurdling scream. It shook the ground with its force, scaring the animals into flight as he shrieked, cracking a few of the windows and shattering the others in the castle. The man turned and fled before the roar faded into silence.
His cry did not stop the attackers from returning; in fact, it only seemed to attract more and more of them. Each time he had to become more violent in forcing them to leave.
Then one day, an attacker did not come. Nor did one come the next day, nor the next, nor the one after that. A month went by in peace, leaving the creature to his own devices and to be with the animals that he had come to care for. They would not hurt him; they had no desire to hurt him, just as he had no desire to do the same. The spring air gave way to summer as babies from his animals were born. Most were starting to walk on their own legs, or making attempts to fly and it caused him much joy to see life working in the creatures that he had grown so fond of.
Summer was giving way to fall and the birds were beginning to migrate when a human appeared once again to his home.
This one was different; he seemed to be smaller than the other humans (though his own perception of height was skewed as he stood taller than everything else in the area save for the castle), and he didn't appear to be very threatening. He stood and cast the little man into shadow as he had done every time before when someone came to him, and let out a deafening roar.
The little man stood his ground. The creature prepared to make a move when he froze; the little man had spoken to him.
"Are you done yet?"
The voice sounded bored, as though the 15 meter creature that towered over him was nothing more than a child throwing a temper tantrum. "You make the stupidest face..." he continued, staring up at the creature's face and squinting against the bright light of the sun.
The creature stood for a moment longer, wondering why the little man wasn't trying to kill him. Did he not want to? The intense longing for human company arose from deep within his massive body and returned to the forefront of his mind and he did not want this man to go.
"Well?" He called up to him. "What are you going to do?"
What was he going to do? The creature tilted his head in thought. It had been so long since anyone had spoken to him, and even longer since the words being spoken were anything other than threats of death. The creature leaned over, taking a seat on the ground in front of the little man and waited for him to say something more.
"You're just going to sit there then? What happened to that roar? I thought you were going to kill me as you had with all those other innocent villagers."
The creature looked away, not wanting to remember the accidental deaths he had caused.
"Although I doubted that story from the minute I began watching you." The little man had been watching him? For how long? He waited, but the little man didn't add anything more; he just stood there, looking up at him.
"I don't think you're the monster the world is claiming you to be."
The relief the creature felt at hearing those words was something he hadn't realized he could feel. It sent a shudder throughout his body and if only his body would allow him to smile, he would.
Someone who didn't think him to be a monster. Someone who would be around him. Someone who would stay with him.
"I've heard about you from the children in the villages you've been to; the ones you gave rides to on top of your shoulder." The little man cocked his head to the side. The creature was silent as the words echoed through his head; did the little man want to ride on his shoulder? How did he know about the villages he'd been to? A distant part of his mind said that it would be easier to hear him from his shoulder than on the ground; a deeper part remained curious about how he knew the bits of his past. The creature lowered his hand and held it palm down to the ground and the little man, startled at first and jumping back to avoid what he must have interpreted as an attack (it made him sad to think about), stared at it for a moment before approaching slowly and climbing on. He stood perfectly balanced on the creature's hand and rode up to his shoulder, stepping off and onto the new space.
"It's fucking hot up here what the fuck how could those kids have enjoyed this." He muttered as he fanned himself. He spared a glance to the face at his side, at the green eyes and skull grinning mouth, and looked back to the front again.
"You aren't as monstrous up close as everyone has made you out to be. I'm disappointed." Why he would be disappointed the creature couldn't answer.
They stayed in silence, the creature staring at the little man. He was definitely shorter than the other human men he'd seen before, with hair as dark as his own, in a strange cut and parted to the side. He had thin eyes the color of the sky on a clear winter day, with eyebrows constantly knotted as though something unsavory had been placed under his nose. The clothes he wore were clothes that could be found on any male these days and he didn't appear to have any weapons on his person.
"Levi."
The creature blinked, causing the little man to make a face and mutter "Gross", before continuing. "My name. It's Levi. You can understand me right?" The creature nodded. "Good."
The creature understood the concept of a name, the sound that humans made to grab another's attention. It was a specific sound that seemingly belonged to one human and one human alone. It made him wonder if he had one of his own.
"What should I call you?" The little man (Levi, his mind whispered, the little man's name is Levi) continued. "I can't call you 'Bigass Fucker' now can I?" Though he was not entirely sure what those words meant, the creature shook his head. "I'll call you Clyde."
The name sat wrong in his mind, but he didn't object to it. He didn't know why it bothered him so; it wasn't as if he'd even had a name of his own to begin with. They stayed like that for a while longer; Levi on his shoulder staring up at the sky, then eventually laying down, in silence. The only sounds to be heard was the wind whistling through the branches and the remaining birds flitting about.
"Let me down."
Levi's voice shattered the silence and startled the creature (Clyde, he told himself, his name is Clyde now) into a sharper state of consciousness. Levi grunted, attempting to stay on his shoulder even as he was jostled nearly a foot in the air.
"Don't fucking do that again."
Clyde nodded, then transported Levi back down to solid earth. Levi wobbled a bit, then caught his balance and frowned, reaching up to brush off the imaginary specks of dust on his shirt.
"It's getting late." he said, and turned to approach the castle. He started muttering to himself about how filthy the interior would probably be, due to years of neglect, how much of a pain in the ass it would be, the diseases he would die of from all the dirt and dust and god knows what else inside. Clyde could barely hear his words but let out a rumble from his chest that was unfamiliar to him. Not at all unpleasant, however, and it caused Levi to halt in his tracks and look up.
"Laughing are we?" (Is that what this was?) "Fucking rude." Another laugh bubbled up as he watched Levi go inside the castle and find a room that he wanted. Clyde had turned his attention back to the animals who were coming out to investigate the newcomer when a pair of shutters burst open in a cloud of dust. Levi's face poked through and he could only assume that this was where the human was going to stay for the night.
Why he didn't return to his own village Clyde couldn't say, but he wasn't going to question it. It looked as if he was going to stay a while and for that he was happy. He couldn't remember when he last had the company of an adult human who didn't want to kill him. They stayed up late together that first night, with Levi mumbling and ranting into Clyde's listening ear, only ceasing to speak once Clyde started getting drowsy.
The next day was spent cleaning. Levi couldn't stand the levels of filth that had accumulated over the years of abandonment the castle had gone through, and did his best to scour whatever he could on the inside. He set Clyde to work picking up the debris in the courtyard and placing what could be burned in a pile in one corner, and the rocks and boulders that had dropped from the castle walls into another.
Clyde was in the middle of clearing up one of the gardens in the back of the castle when a pained cry rang through the air. His head whipped around in search of the cry (so reminiscent of the emotions of torment and feelings of pain), when he saw Levi dragging one of his animals to one side of the castle. The blood oozing from the buck left a shiny wet trail on the stone path leading up to the kitchen entrance, and all Clyde could see was the murder of one of the few creatures in existence who didn't have some unspoken grudge against him. He stood up and stomped over to Levi, the ground trembling as each foot fell and after only three steps did he stand above him, looking down as Levi looked up, calmness in his eyes as though he didn't just murder someone close to Clyde.
"What." Levi finally spoke. "Did you want some too?" He took in the look of fury in Clyde's eyes and his brows knotted slightly. "Did you not want me to eat?"
Humans eat meat. Clyde (the name is still wrong so wrong why is it wrong?) knew this and understood it. He'd seen hunters killing creatures before and eating their meat, but this was personal.
He'd never spoken before (never tried, no reason to, not before), but Levi taking the life of one who was dear to him was something he would attempt speech for.
The noises that came out of his mouth sounded nothing like the noises that came out of Levi's. He knew what he wanted to say: "How dare you kill on my land, how dare you kill one of the only creatures that hasn't wanted to kill me!" but all that came out was a strange, half roar, half grumbling sound.
"...Yeah, I didn't catch that." Levi sighed and stood from the carcass, looking it over as he thought. "How about from now on, I hunt in the forest, not in the courtyard?" Clyde was too far away to notice the wince Levi gave as he inspected the animal but wouldn't understand it even if he had. Clyde simply nodded (a fair trade, the human could have his meat but his space would still be a haven). But that didn't bring the buck back to life. He threw a pointed look at the carcass and Levi looked at it and then back up to him. "What, do you want his death to be in vain now? I killed for food and you want me to waste the body?" His arms crossed over his chest. "If he can't serve the purpose of his death, then I killed this buck for nothing. Is that what you want?"
Clyde hadn't anticipated Levi's answers, nor had he thought about it in this way before. It was true that an animals life was far shorter than a humans, or even his for that matter (how long has he been alive, how long did he have until-). Clyde took a step back, and then another. He turned around and walked back to the portion of the wall he was cleaning up and began brushing more debris over into the piles, pausing for a moment to check if Levi was watching him. The blood trail continued into the castle and it wasn't long before Levi reappeared with something over his mouth and got down on all fours to wash the blood off the stones. The sight sent another low rumble of laughter through Clyde's body and he went back to work.
Between the two of them the castle took a relatively long time to decontaminate. Clyde would lift Levi up so he could scrub the remaining unbroken windows on the outside of the castle. He helped Levi with getting into the locked rooms, and into the ones where the wood of the doors were so warped, they could no longer open. It took months of constant cleaning, scrubbing, and dusting before the castle became anywhere close to Levi's standards of habitation.
Watching the human work and helping him where he could took the edge off the time they spent together, and so neither of them noticed the chilled air creeping up on them. The cold grew more and more pronounced as they worked and while Clyde could feel the difference in the air, could see the way his animals hid away in their burrows and dens, it was only until winter was well underway that the cold finally seemed to get to the human. The creature was grateful now that he was so warm, an emotion he had never felt towards his monstrous body. It was strange, that he should feel grateful now for the little man's sake, and not before when he was being of use to his animals. All the same, Clyde wasn't sure just how Levi would have been able to handle himself here if he hadn't been there to act as a furnace of sorts. He'd be better off, Clyde was sure, being in a warm home surrounded by people who cared about him. Not stuck out here in the middle of nowhere inside an abandoned castle with a giant who couldn't even speak.
That winter was the coldest one yet, even to Clyde's memory. Blasts of ice and snow would whirl against his back as he shielded Levi from the worst of it, keeping him close so his body heat would be more effective. Levi would have preferred to stay within the clean castle he had spent so long in restoring, but the insulation within was terrible; he would have died from frostbite had he stayed inside for too long. Levi had also been so preoccupied with the sanitation of the castle that he neglected to prepare for the icy months ahead.
It was a very difficult winter, but just as all good things end, so do the bad. The winter ebbed and slowly warmed; the snow melted away from the ground and trees began to hold life anew. Leaves budded, flowers bloomed, and the birds made their appearances once more.
Spring had finally arrived.
Levi went through the castle once more, dusting and scrubbing the spaces that needed it, before taking up the bow and makeshift arrows he had constructed over the winter when he wasn't huddled against Clyde's body, and leaving to get fresh meat.
Clyde disliked the meat that Levi consumed; it was good but it wasn't delicious. The taste was wrong somehow, Levi seemed to like it well enough but he just couldn't see the appeal. It tasted dry and lacked the flavor he was expecting every time he tried the bit of meat Levi would offer him. Some small part in the back of his mind knew that there would be something that he'd love and that he would know the taste if it presented itself to him. What the taste actually was, beef, or chicken maybe (Levi had so far caught mostly ducks, rabbits, and other small game), remained a total mystery to him. He spent the time that Levi used for hunting to search around the forest for any trees that would bear fruit, leaving a boulder beside them for the little man's reference. He didn't need the fruit for himself but it couldn't hurt to point them out for the human. Hours later Levi returned, a few birds over one shoulder and his bow slung across his back. He gave an acknowledging nod to the 15 meter behemoth before heading to the kitchen to prepare the meat for curing and preserving.
They would share meals together (actually, Levi would eat and Clyde would sit outside and watch) and occasionally Levi would say something, or point something out and make an off-color joke. Clyde didn't really understand most of them, never having experienced a bowel movement which made Levi go silent for a while when he found out (that had been a very awkward conversation for the both of them), but laughed along when he managed to catch them.
Clyde showed Levi the fruit trees when they began to bloom, carrying him on his shoulder and pointing out the trees he had placed markers beside for ease of sight.
Levi showed him the proper way to wash himself, even going so far as to help him wash his hair for the first time. He was sure Levi would be glad to never know just how long he had gone without washing.
The little man had gotten into the habit of riding on Clyde's shoulder, watching the world pass by in loping strides as the giant beneath him strolled away from the castle walls, though never too far from sight. Every time Clyde felt that the walls were retreating too far into the distance he would turn back, loathe to leave the place that had brought him his first bit of happiness in all of the decades he had lived through. Levi didn't tease him for his fear; he didn't say anything really, he would simply ride his shoulder in silence. Clyde thought that he liked it so much because he was so small compared to the other humans but he would never tell him so.
Not that he really could. The two of them got curious and had attempted to get Clyde to say even the simplest of words: cat, dog, monosyllabic sounds that didn't need the use of lips to make. Clyde was still unfamiliar with how the words were supposed to feel upon leaving his mouth, but he was pretty sure the sounds that left his weren't right. The almost-but-not-quite-frustrated sigh Levi gave after a few hours of attempts, a practice which bore no results or even any indication of improvement, showed that he just didn't have the capacity for words.
Clyde would sometimes wonder, in his private moments before he lost consciousness at night, if the reason Levi wanted him to talk was so that he wouldn't feel so alone. Yes, Clyde was present in body, but if he couldn't talk, then it was all on Levi to fill that silence by himself. If a companion couldn't respond in turn, then would he grow accustomed to the silence? What if it became him thinking that Clyde didn't pay attention to his words? That he was only talking to himself?
The following day Levi didn't make him practice words, but Clyde tried anyway. Words did not come, but he managed to put emotions behind the sounds he could make so even if he could not say the words he was thinking, he could get across basic feelings, which was something Clyde hoped that Levi would appreciate.
This manner of living continued for more weeks than Clyde cared to count. They were pleasant ones; good, even. He would have done anything to have met this man earlier in his life instead of trying and failing so many times to make a connection elsewhere. He bore no bodily scars from those dark times (even the tendons in his ankles had healed without any outside marring), but he had emotionally died during those times of rejection and fear. He lived in a constant impasse of desiring basic human companionship and being denied that each time he attempted to seek it out.
Until Levi came to him.
If he hadn't been turned down all those times, the likelihood that he would have made it here, to this castle, was slim to none, if he had been accepted at one of the villages then he would most likely still be there and not here with Levi whom he had come to care so much about.
It was an afternoon on one such day that Clyde decided to show Levi something that he had found during one of his short trips outside of the walls (the walls are safe, they were safe- why should he have to be behind walls to be safe he wants to see the world now, with Levi on his shoulder), he placed his hand down to Levi's level, gesturing him on. He got a glare of contempt for his actions (apparently he'd been interrupting something involving a small knife and the trunk of a tree), but he stepped onto the offered appendage anyway and was carted up, still with that perfect balance, onto his shoulder.
"So where are you taking me?" Levi asked, not really expecting an answer. He didn't get one. Clyde walked back towards the gate of the castle and stepped over it, going into the tall forest and into the even taller mountainside at the back of the castle. He climbed the mountain, scaling it as easily as a bird climbing higher in the sky, nearly reaching the very top of the mountain before pausing and turning so Levi could also see the terrain. He felt a puff of air from the man and he felt his heart smile and turned back around; the view was lovely, but it was not what he had brought him up here for.
Something had been bothering Clyde for a while now; Levi had spoken of castles and how they were supposed to have been built for protection. He could see the protection in building it in the shadow of a mountain, but it didn't sit well with him, and so one day he had climbed this mountain, in the very same manner he was doing now, and found out why it had been built here.
The top of the mountain flattened out somewhat; a significant space to a human, no doubt, but not so much to one of his size. The edge of the mountain ended in a steep drop overlooking a deep gorge. Spikes of rock with flat table top surfaces arose from the gorge as an almost vertical drop loomed in front of them, the bottom of the gorge swirling with smoke and mist, obscuring any clear view of what could be down there; getting across this chasm would have been an impossible feat, unless the enemy had been Clyde's size. He felt Levi move a bit closer to his hair, grasping one clean lock of it as he gazed down into the bottomless gorge.
"What are you going to do?" he asked. Clyde could hear the anticipation in his voice and when he glanced over he realized Levi was close enough to his face that he could see into his eyes; they were blown wide, dark circles of black surrounded by a thin ring of color against the white of his eyes.
Clyde took a moment to take in Levi's expression before turning himself around and starting his descent towards the ground. He missed the breath Levi released on their way down, as well as the shudder that went through him as the adrenaline coursed through his system. Clyde slipped and slid his way down the entire way, not feeling the trees and rocks that scraped at his skin. In no time at all they were back at the castle with the sun receding into darkness once more.
"Well that was a trip." Levi deadpanned as he was carted back to the ground. "Dunno why you wanted to show me that." He glanced up to Clyde, the excitement that graced his features before long gone by now. Clyde shrugged his shoulders, not entirely sure himself, but the expression he saw on Levi's refined features wasn't one he would soon forget.
"Well either way, all that running and staring death in the face was fun but it left me fuckin' beat; I need to take a piss…" He griped as he went back into the castle to take care of whatever bodily needs humans had.
The name "Clyde" still sat wrong with him. He couldn't place why; after all, he had no name to begin with, right? How could it feel wrong if there was no right answer?
That night when consciousness left him, he dreamed for the first time he could ever remember. He dreamed of a girl who protected him with her entire life, with hair as dark as Levi's, who had a smile reserved just for him and him alone. A boy was there, a boy with hair that shone like the sun, with eyes as blue as the ocean. He had a kind heart and an even keener mind; he was as sharp as a tack with twice the tenacity. They laughed about something together and he knew his dream self was laughing along with them. It was odd though; he was the same height as them. He didn't tower over them; they appeared to him as normal humans but he wasn't staring down at miniatures. He was looking at people his own height. They were calling a name as they ran off; he tried follow them, tried to hear the name but it was too faint, he knew what it was, he could taste how it should feel when spoken, it was his. He had a name and it wasn't Clyde.
He woke soon after the sun had risen, the taste of a word lingering in the back of his mind, forgotten about completely by the time he rose to a seated position. Levi would be out soon and he looked forward to it; he always had the best expressions when he just woke up. He looked so honest and had such a nice smell to him. He grinned inwardly and let out a low chuckle at the memory of sleepy Levi, stumbling his way out to greet him before going back inside and changing into real clothes.
Clyde smiled inwardly as he watched Levi wake up that morning and repeating the routine from the other day, leaning on the windowsill and lazily waving to him before going back inside to put on whatever clean clothes he had left. Today might be a laundry day from the way he was behaving around his clothes, circling around the pile with a sneer on his lips and brows firmly knotted together.
Sure enough, that day Levi roped him into helping out with the laundry, scrubbing his garments in the pond and rigging up a line to hang them from to dry. Levi spread himself out afterwards on the grass next to Clyde as he watched the shirts and pants and undergarments sway gently in the breeze. Levi watched the clouds roll by for a moment before standing up and brushing bits of grass off of himself. He went inside the castle and returned shortly in the gear he he had worn when he first appeared in front of Clyde, on that beautiful fall day. He had in his hand one of the rusty blades that had originally hung in the armory. Levi said nothing as he began to swing it around, feeling its weight. He stopped to place the sword tip-first into the ground, balancing the pommel against the wall of the castle. Levi then fell to the ground onto his hands and the tips of his toes, pushing himself up from the ground by his arms several times before rolling onto his back and curling up at the waist.
Clyde watched Levi in fascination; he'd never seen a human do this before. The little man continued to stretch, twisting his body this way and that, doubling over at the waist to touch his toes. At this, Clyde stood up and bent over as well, not wanting to be left out of the fun.
"Oh ho?" Levi remarked when he noticed. "Clyde's wanting to join in as well?" He bent back up to lean into some strange motions with his arms held towards the sky and his feet were in an odd position, though that didn't stop Clyde from trying his best to copy the movement, which in turn brought a chuckle forth from Levi. He stretched for a few more minutes, with Clyde attempting to follow suit, before picking the sword back up and swinging it a few times.
He lifted the rusty blade and held it perfectly parallel to the ground, lining it up to the level of his cheek before lunging in a perfectly straight line. He continued through the motion several more times before changing it up and moving to a second position. This practice carried on for hours, leaving Levi exhausted by the end of it as well as Clyde, from attempting to keep up with Levi's brutal practice pace. More than once did he manage to make Levi laugh during the time they spent together which, hopefully, was a good thing.
With each passing day, they grew a little closer. Clyde found out more and more about Levi, and although he couldn't speak aloud, Levi was learning more and more about Clyde, about the habits he had, and the ones being formed due to the smaller man's influence.
Levi would sometimes read to him from the few books that remained in usable condition from the castles' library. He would paint pictures of firey landscapes with his words, places so hot that you could see the heat waving off the ground and creating hallucinations in the distance. He spoke of huge bodies of water filled with salt, stretching out as far as the eye could see, and the strange creatures that lived deep within them. He would tell adventure stories, where the Brave Hero went off on a Quest to save his kingdom from terrible witches or dragons. Sometimes the Brave Hero had to break a spell placed upon himself or his sweetheart in order for the tale to end happily. These were the ones that Clyde enjoyed the most; he would get so wrapped up in listening to these tales that he would miss the small glances Levi gave him when he read those particular stories aloud.
One night, Levi didn't go to bed as soon as it turned dark out. He lingered outside with Clyde, resting on the middle of his chest and watching the stars. He would point out constellations and patterns in the sky that Clyde couldn't really make sense of, but made affirming noises to anyways. Levi's weight felt pleasant on his chest and he felt his heart soften as he heard Levi's voice grow softer and softer until he fell silent. Clyde glanced down to confirm that yes, he had in fact fallen asleep, outside, on his chest. A low snore echoing up was the only thing that could be heard in the evening air aside from the crickets. His own unconscious slumber was not far off, and this time he dreamed again.
He was with Levi, and they were the same height, same basic proportions, and he was gazing into his dream self's eyes with such caring emotion that it made his heart swell. Their hands were holding each others', and his name, his real name, was said with such conviction and love that it was hard to believe this was only a dream. Levi leaned in close, eyes darkening as they had when he had shown him the gorge, he felt himself tense up in anticipation, ready to meet Levi's lips with his own-
Blue sky and bright sun greeted his eyes as Clyde lay on his back, Levi no longer present on his chest. He recalled a few, hazy parts of his dream (dark eyes, leaning close, soft breath brushing across his lips) and was thankful that his skin didn't show his embarrassment. He could only guess as to how he would even look with blood staining his cheeks, but he would wager a guess that it would look very strange, and Levi had more than enough material to tease him with, simply for his lack of an asshole.
But as all bad things must end, so do the good.
It was late in the evening, and Levi had already gone to bed, sleeping near the spot where Clyde normally slept. However, instead of sleeping, Clyde sat there and gazed upon Levi's unconscious form. He watched his skin glow from the burning embers left from the dinner fire they had lit earlier, watched the soft rise and fall of his chest, and the puffs of breath he was sure he could feel if he could just get close enough.
And close enough he did get. He could barely even feel Levi's warm, slow, even breathing on the tip of his nose but he was close enough to smell the human, (good and warm with an undertone of contentment) enveloped by a fragrance that he smelled before only on his soap.
And… Something else. Clyde inhaled a little deeper, trying to place that mystery scent...but he was unable to; the closest he could get to was something tasty. Without realizing it his tongue had slid out and lapped across Levi's hand and arm.
The world snapped into clear focus in that instant. It was the missing flavor. Clyde's eyes narrowed as his head whipped around, searching for the highest concentration of that flavor. After all, one was okay, but more was better.
The village shone like a bright spot in his vision as he stood and began walking. He had gotten halfway across the courtyard when Levi woke, made it to the gate when Levi called out to him, and then he had completely left the courtyard grounds. Clyde could hear Levi calling his name, but no matter; he had years and years of starvation to fix, he hadn't even realized just how hungry he'd been all those years. No wonder he craved human contact so much if they tasted this delicious. He ignored Levi's shouts, ignored the weight that was Levi latching onto his leg and trying to get his attention. He needed to get to the village, the ache built up from decades of hunger hitting him all at once and he knew that the blood (the shiny crimson liquid must be absolutely divine) would be messy (why does that even matter he is going to feast) but the taste would be well worth it. Finally he would have what he had always wanted from the small humans. (He will, won't he? Of course he will it's not as if he owes anything to these humans who hated him and were scared of him and hurt him every chance they got he owes them nothing but they owed him everything.)
There were the screams again.
The too-loud screams. Clyde reached down to pick up one of the screaming women (the first of many yes at last at last no more hunger no more pain no more ache inside) but ended up with Levi in his hands. He had rushed to push the woman out of the way and in the process got grabbed himself. Clyde stared at the little man for a moment, wondering why he was hesitating when he felt a sharp pain in his wrist; the little man had dug something sharp into it. He stumbled back, kicking his foot out in response, knocking over three houses and damaging a fourth. Debris rained over the villagers killing a number of them upon impact (such a waste, less now to satisfy the hunger what a shame). Many of them screamed and ran, while others gathered weaponry and started hacking at his feet. He glared at the men poking at him and then fixed his gaze back to Levi who was staring at him with plaintive eyes.
"Clyde, I know you're in there…" The look of compassion on Levi's face seemed out of place but some small part of him stirred in response (why does he care?).
"Clyde, come back. This isn't you. You were going to kill someone; you actually have!" He was slowly coming back to himself (why was he in the village again?), the night taking its toll on his strength. His grip on Levi loosened and he lowered the man back to the ground. The villagers grabbed Levi and pulled him from his grasp and attempted to spear his hand through, but only succeeded in creating several shallow scratches. He had to get out, he had to leave (out of the walls surrounded by humans bad terrible dangerous - why was he afraid he was going to eat these pathetic and small humans - wait no how could he he didn't want to eat humans he wanted their - blood the brilliant bright life-giving red dripping down his chin bones cracking between his teeth the feeling of their flesh sliding down his throat). He made a move to raise a foot but was halted by a jolt of pain as one of the farmers planted a pitchfork deep into his heel to hinder his movement, snapping him from his thoughts.
He could hear Levi's shouts above the din of the mob, even as his feet were hacked away when he stood still for too long, his regenerative flesh trying to keep up but he was too tired (so tired want to sleep never want to wake up). The sun had set long ago and he could feel himself slipping into unconsciousness even as they cut away at his flesh. Levi's shouts to stop and to just listen to him were falling upon deaf ears, but he had to try to get away, if only to protect Levi from the crowd of people screaming for their (his) blood.
It was strange, how close he had gotten to Levi in the span of time they had been together, but he wouldn't have traded that for the world.
He felt another strike, this time higher up on his body, and he knew that they were starting to fire steel tipped arrows into his body, peppering him with the little sticks. His vision started to ripple around the edges as his consciousness failed him, and he felt himself tipping over onto members of the mob who didn't get out of the way fast enough.
In his last moment of conscious thought before he slipped under, he hoped that Levi would be safe now.
He heard a distant mumbling, shouting, someone was shouting Clyde over and over again. (Clyde wasn't his name, why was that the name being called?) He felt arms wrap around him, someone was holding him. (The feeling was nice, he hasn't felt that in so long…) He leaned closer into the arms, letting a small sigh escape from him, feeling the arms tense and freeze at the movement. Someone named Clyde was getting called again and somewhere in the back of his brain he thought that the voice speaking sounded familiar. It was deep and he could feel it reverberate against his ear. He wanted to look at the owner of the voice, maybe he'd be as pretty as the voice was. His eyes fluttered open and fell upon a man whose features were sharp and lined with worry, with dark hair cut in a funny fashion, and thin eyes the color of the sky on a clear winter day.
Eren felt the corners of his mouth curve up at the sight, happy with this familiar face, and the worry on that face melted away into something else.
"Clyde…" Oh, the man thought he was Clyde. Eren shook his head.
"My name isn't Clyde." His voice was sore, hoarse as if he'd been shouting, dry, and not at all pleasant to hear. "It's Eren."
"Eren…" The man repeated and oh yes he did enjoy his name being said by that voice. The face smiled in a way that made Eren think he didn't do it often and he held the other close.
"Eren…" The man (Levi, the man's name is Levi) leaned away again to look at him.
"Levi." Eren's awareness was coming back, memories of the years he had spent running, the months he had been with the little man (not so little anymore), the most recent moments up to when he blacked out from exhaustion and the night. He was getting increasingly nervous about his current position on his old body in the middle of a now frozen mob.
"I thought I'd lost you…" Levi murmured into his ear, holding him tight once more.
Eren put aside his worries for a moment, reveling in Levi's touch and in his embrace. "...I'm right here." he replied and felt Levi grip him that much tighter. "I love you." Eren mumbled into the crook of his neck (a perfect fit, the curve of his face nestling just right in the space where neck and shoulder meet. A deep breath, take in a scent that was good and warm with an undertone of relief and happiness).
The response was so quiet Eren was sure he must have imagined it, but he could have sworn he heard Levi whisper "I love you too," as they ignored the way the villagers looked on in absolute confusion, ignored the pile of steaming flesh underneath them, the prison that used to be Clyde, ignored the outside world that wanted to worm its way into their moment. Eren lifted his face from its (perfect so perfect) spot against Levi's neck and looked into his eyes (so beautiful the color of storms), brought their faces closer together until Levi met him and closed their lips together (just like his dream even better this is real).