AN: The number of Eren/Levi hipster-college-kid AUs is TOO DAYUM HIGH! So, here's a fic that's based on the actual SnK universe...but of course, with a skew. (j/k, I love college AUs) I just wanted to write something where Eren gets the shit beat out of him by Levi...because come on, we all know that's sexy as fuck, right? Ignore me, it seems I'm making an ass of myself in an author note again...
Summary: Eren was the son of a wealthy scientist, living a sheltered life inside wall Sheena. He'd heard stories of the thugs living below the city...but he never knew they were quite so...sexy...until he was kidnapped by one for ransom. Eren x Levi (Ereri/ Riren) multichap fic
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Eren stared forlornly out the window of the second story of his parents house. He was supposed to be studying, having acquired access to a prestigious education- the only such education known to humanity, and only available to the richest children in the inner city. It was paid for, of course, by his parents money, his father being a well known doctor and scientist, and his mother had inherited quite a sum of money from her parents before she had died giving birth, passing the money on to Eren. But unfortunately for his teachers, Eren was not an academic child. He loved the grass and the sun on his face, the feel of the real world in his grasp, rather than hidden behind convoluted explanations in books. He wanted to live in the world to learn of it, not sit here in a comfy chair and lazy around like the overly privileged brat that he was. He could never understand how Armin could be so enthralled by things like theories and history...but he did find himself very interested in that one book about the world beyond the walls. He dreamed vivid dreams of exploring it with his friend. Perhaps someday they could, once those weirdos in the Scout Regiment had killed all the titans. The titans...he couldn't imagine them really, but he'd heard that they were huge, tall enough to look over the walls and pluck people from the streets and into their big, greedy mouths just like the king with his chocolates. He'd never seen a titan, but he couldn't fathom why anyone would want to put their lives in danger like that; the teachers always told him the walls were unbreakable. Personally, he hoped to join the military police, if only to get his father off his back. There was nothing worse than that look of disappointment every time Eren came home with a poor score on a test, nothing worse than the rage he'd endure if that low score was in science, or biology.
Eren, his father would say, I've taught you everything I know. If you can't manage to get a good mark on your test, why are we wasting our money on you? I could be funding experiments with this money, Eren. I could be making discoveries that your children might learn someday in school, unless they end up with brains like yours. Your sister gets good marks in every subject. Why can't you?
Eren stared out the window blankly, his hands curled into fists. He hated this library. He hated his house, and its plush pillows and polished floors. He turned fifteen today, why didn't he feel like a man? He felt like a dog. A kicked dog.
Not that he really knew what it was really like, to be kicked...
He set down the book he was supposed to be reading, and silently upon the carpeted floors, stood. He knew his father would be listening, waiting to see if he stayed in the library to study or if he'd go in his room to sleep or do exercise practice, as he's much rather be doing. Instead of doing either, he simply slid up the window, perched carefully on the ledge, and then nimbly leapt to the cobblestone below.
Immediately, he felt better. The wind blew his hair back, and the sun reflected the blue of his eyes. In the light of the sun, his tan skin seemed to glow. His lightweight white tunic ruffled in the breeze, and suddenly he found himself running, down the streets, past the merchants and shops, past men playing music. The smell of bread wafted to him from a bakery. A group of military policemen sauntered along, and one recognized him, possibly an acquaintance of his father's, but before the man could speak more than a startled, "Eren Yeager...?! What are you-?" he had already darted past and around the corner. All the houses looked the same in the city. All the streets. He wondered if he could find Armin's. Perhaps, he thought as he ran, they could go together for sweetbread, or perhaps, he thought rather grudgingly, Armin could shed some light on their current schoolwork for him. He slowed to a walk, analyzing each house carefully, trying to remember his friend's. It had a...blue door, and...some red flowers out front...
He wandered aimlessly for a long time, only half searching and half just enjoying the walk, until he realized the sun was beginning to set and he wasn't really sure how long he'd been gone. Hours? But how many? Was it dinner time? Were the servants looking for him? Worse- was Mikasa?
Well, even if she was, she wouldn't find him. He was hopelessly lost. There was no way he'd find his way back before sundown, and there were sure to be harsh punishments in store for him once he had. He sighed, and plopped down on the curb, his feet beginning to tire. He picked at the gravel by his feet, picking up rocks and dropping them into a sewer grate cut into the sidewalk, not really thinking about where the rocks might fall to. His walk had been so nice, but now he was feeling rather dejected. He didn't want to go back. His father would yell, and Mikasa would just stare, with those empty eyes, and when he tried to explain that he just didn't understand the schoolwork, Mikasa would plead with him and say Just let me help you, Eren, please...
His hands clenched to fists again and he grit his teeth, eyes flaring. "I don't need anybody's help." He muttered to himself, angry. At himself. At his family. He wasn't sure which.
"Are you sure about that?" A smooth voice said. A voice, from behind him...Eren turned sharply, to find something sharp pressed hard against his throat. A look of horror crossed his face as he realized that it was a knife, held firm to his jugular. His wide eyes met the slate grey eyes of his assailant, eyes cold as ice and piercing as tacks.
He felt a sharp pain to his head, and then all went black.
…...
Cold...
Eren thought. His feet were cold, his fingers as well. He felt stiff, as though he'd fallen from a great height...he tried to remember where he was, but he found that he couldn't. His eyes opened wide, straining to see, but all was pitch black. His breath felt hot and sticky on his face, and he realized that something was over his head masking his sight and tied around his neck; the rope holding it tight was heavy and foreboding. He attempted to move his arm, to unveil his eyes, but found that he couldn't move his hands...they were restrained, ropes tied so tight around his wrists that he began to wonder if it was cold that he felt or if he could even feel his fingers. Slowly, he shifted his weight, scrunching until he righted himself into an upright position, legs awkwardly to the side, his ankles tied tight as well. His head throbbed, and as his blood rushed he saw stars in the darkness.
"H-hello?" He said feebly, feeling a bit of an idiot after the fact. What did he expect, his kidnapper to be friendly and say hello back?
"Hello, Eren Yeager." The same smooth voice responded, proving him wrong. But the tone was flat, and...Eren gulped...it seemed that his captor's face was mere inches from his.
"How do you know who I am?"
"I was watching you. The rich little shit running away from home for the umpteenth time- oh, but not really of course." The flat voice dripped with sarcasm. "You hate your spoiled life, yet you know nothing else."
"It's not like that!" Eren snapped, his temper getting the better of him as per usual. "You know nothing about me."
Something collided sharply with Eren's jaw and sent him crashing to the floor. His wrists wrenched painfully, unable to break his fall. He coughed, his breathing ragged. He'd never been hit like this before...only in scolding...his heart raced, wondering what this cold eyed stranger could possibly want from him.
"I know your father is a wealthy man, Eren. I now he will pay anything to get his oldest son back. And that is all that matters."
"I doubt that..." Eren muttered. "He probably thinks I just ran away again..."
"Well then, we'll just have to make sure he knows the truth, won't we?" The man paused, seeming to think. There was an abrupt tug from around Eren's neck and he realized that the man had torn off his necklace, an old skeleton key.
"Give that back! That belonged to my mother!"
"Tough shit."
"Give it back! Motherfucker!" Eren screamed in helpless rage, struggling to right himself. He felt a foot connect with the side of his head, pressing his face into the dirt, the coarse fabric of his veil abrading his cheek.
"If you want to get out of this alive, you'll keep your trap shut...understood?"
Eren yelled muffled obscenities, more enraged than he'd ever been. He'd get free, and he'd kill this man, who dared to kidnap him. HIM. He hoped against hope that his father's contacts would prove useful, that they'd find him...
"Isabel, send this necklace to his father. Make sure he knows exactly who he's dealing with."
"Right away, Levi~" A girls voice replied, and Eren realized that there must be others nearby. He was outnumbered. Where was he? He had a gnawing suspicion he knew exactly where...but things like that didn't happen in real life, did they? People didn't really live in the underground beneath the city, those were just urban legends...things Armin had made up, because Armin is a scaredy cat and believes all sorts of things, like stories of sand oceans and ice lands...
What kind of people would live in the underground? No stores or bakeries to buy food or clothes, no sewers to keep them clean or horses to ride...no sunlight to bask in in the afternoons...His heart pounded harder as he saw those slate eyes again in his mind, remembered the prick of a blade against his flesh. Who knew what these people would do to him. Who knew how many they were or...he swallowed hard...how hungry these men might be.
"You..." Eren began slowly, choosing his words more carefully, less impulsively, "Your name is Levi."
"...Tch."
"Is this...the underground, Levi?"
"Yes. Where else did you expect? The palace?"
"I thought..." Eren paused, thinking again. "Nevermind that. If this is the underground, then...well that is, if I were you, and I knew who I was dealing with..."
Levi sighed in exasperation. Who he was dealing with? He was dealing with a brat. A brat who'd be taught a lesson.
"...I wouldn't give the military police time to act. I'd demand the ransom quickly, take advantage of the political disorder above, and then kill any possible witnesses who might be able to find you." Eren finished slowly. "...And that would be me."
He felt the tip of a blade against his throat again and intook a sharp breath waiting for the pain, but instead he found his veil, a thick burlap cloth cut away, and himself staring directly into those iron hard eyes, glimmering like gunmetal in the light of a few flickering fires nearby. Black hair framed a pale face, but a grey cloth was tied across the man's face so he could only see those eyes...those eyes that pierced his heart and gave him more fear even than the sight of the blade in the man's hands, clean, polished and...lethal. As he took in the man's slim fitting pants and button up shirt, he realized those words could probably describe more than just the blade. He never expected a thug from the underground to look so...clean.
"And so, Eren Yeager," Levi replied, his gaze unyielding, "What does it mean if I let you see my face? My body? The place where I've decided to keep you?"
"It means..." Eren closed his eyes in dread, "That you're going to kill me, and there's nothing I can do about it."
"Precisely."
His eyes gleamed with cold fury, and suddenly a boot connected hard with Eren's belly.
