Levi's lower back was screaming at him. He didn't think he'd ever sat in one position for so long before. But honestly, the blanket was soft, and the room was warm. It wasn't that unpleasant. He glanced over his shoulder a bit more, and caught sight of the man smiling softly at his canvas.
"Just like that," he said, like he could see everything Levi was doing without looking. "You're doing great."
"How long have I been sitting here?" Levi asked, glancing down at the paint on the man's white jeans. Jeans shouldn't have been made in that color, and they definitely shouldn't have looked good on asshole artists that hired him to pose nude for paintings they wouldn't even show him before they were done.
"Not long enough," he said, cleaning off his brush. "But I'm almost done, I promise."
"How much longer?" Levi asked.
The man smiled wider, blue eyes flicking up off the canvas, and onto Levi's. Levi regretted meeting his gaze the minute he did. "Twenty more minutes?" he estimated. "Give or take some."
It had been nearly three hours if Levi's sense of time was correct. Three hours of being naked in front of a stranger. It was strange that he found that strange, considering he was a prostitute. He spent almost all of his time naked in front of strangers.
Most of those strangers weren't really looking at him though. Not like this. Not like they were hungry for every detail. He looked away again, hands tightening on his shoulders.
"Please hold still."
He swallowed, and turned his head slightly back to the man.
"You're beautiful," he said, and Levi felt a sudden rush of not wanting to be there. It was embarrassing. He didn't feel beautiful. He felt like he was being lied to. His skin was scarred, and tattooed, and it had been a long time since anyone had cherished anything about him.
"Shut up," he hissed. The man chuckled.
"I mean it," he said.
Levi didn't know how to respond to that. He tried desperately to hold still, wanting it to be over as soon as possible so he didn't have to continue feeling the slight heat in his cheeks. His thighs began to tremble from holding his legs in their crossed position.
"It's done," the man finally said. "Do you want to see?"
Levi disentangled himself from his own limbs, and thought for a moment about weather or not he did. Part of him almost didn't, but as he stretched out his body, The man turned the easel anyway.
The person on the canvas was not Levi. The person on the canvas was beautiful, cradled on the bed Levi had sat on, surrounded by greenery that wasn't actually there. That man wasn't him, but he had every tattoo Levi had, and his head cocked at the same angle, eyes slid over his shoulder to stare back at his real life counter part.
"This is how you see me?" Levi asked.
The man smiled. "It is. It's also where I think you'd be happiest."
Levi drew his legs up to his chest, and wrapped his hands around them, staring at the way the painting's back arched to look at him, stretching the large black, and white wings there.
"Your art is kind of shitty. This isn't realistic at all," Levi finally told him.
He smiled at that, turning toward the painting as he sat down next to Levi, bent half way forward. "It's not about realism," he said, to the perfectly realistic painting. "It's about how I see the world."
Levi stared at him a moment longer before reaching for his pants, and pulling them on. The man sat there, watching him move.
"Can I get your number?" he asked when Levi was depositing his personal effect back into his pockets. "I'd like to paint you again."
Levi stared at him a moment, before reaching back into his pocket, and giving him his phone. "Yeah, whatever, old man," he said.
The man smiled, and it was beautiful. Levi had a problem understanding how someone like that could look at him, and see any kind of anything worthwhile.
When he got his phone back, the contact was titled "Erwin Smith". He held it close to his chest a moment, staring at the man, the way his hair fell into his eyes now that he'd spent so much time leaned forward, and how there was just a bit of blue paint smudged on his jaw.
"See you next time, fuck wit," he said then, turning on his heel, and walking out. He knew where the door was. He didn't need the escort. Erwin gave it anyway, and when he stood on the other side of the door, and turned back to say something derisive, he was cut off by a playful hand ruffling his hair.
"See you next time, Levi."
Levi swallowed hard as the door shut gently in his face.