Rori's Corner: I recently read 22k words in one go, so I challenged myself to write the same amount. Almost gave up at 6k, but here my ass is. Halfway there. This is 2 parts (3 parts at most), and Erwin comes in next chapter. To think this whole escalated when I only wanted to write that one scene in that one doujin... Hope you guys enjoy!
Choice
Part I: Levi
You'd rather hurt yourself over love than not experience love at all.
"Boss, can we have lunch together?"
Eren's proud of himself, because he's been meaning to say that all morning, noon, and afternoon, and right now it's way past lunch time (4:30 PM), but that's hardly important. Right now, all he cares about is Levi's eyes on him. He has his bored attention. A small victory, but he turns into a puddle of disgusting goo at the mere thought of Levi looking at him.
He's a puppy wagging its tail for its owner, and he doesn't mind, because that's the only reason Levi bothers keeping him around. That may be the only reason, and he won't fight it. That's more than enough to satisfy him.
He'll agree to anything, as long as Levi doesn't toss him out.
"Eren."
"Yes?" He leans forward, eagerness sliding into his voice, arms behind his back hiding the boxed lunches he almost burned down his apartment to make, last night.
"What do elementary schools teach their students these days?"
"Huh?" Eren frowns and actually thinks about it. "Er, math...? And sciences...?"
"They obviously didn't teach you jack shit about telling time, then. It's already past lunch, stupid brat," Levi glowers from behind his work desk, steel grey eyes unamused and possibly demanding graphic murder. "Or do you eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner all at the same time and call it some crack assed name like 'brunchinner?' Look at the shit on my desk and tell me if you think I have time to munch."
Eren flicks his eyes to the stacks of project proposals lined up in columns like the Twin Towers on each side of the sleep-deprived executive and mumbles a, "No, sir."
"So why bring your brainless ass in when I said no visitors allowed unless it's a dire emergency, aka Connie fucking up the printers again with his retardedness or Hange trying to develop another 20-meter cleaning robot in the basement?"
Scritch. Levi signs a paper with enough force that the ink bleeds through.
"I...I just thought," Eren stammers, heat rising to his cheeks and head bowing in shame, "that you haven't eaten at all the whole day, and won't mind taking a break. It's not good for your body if you don't eat, boss," he finishes in a tentative whisper. He sneaks a peek under his curtained bangs and meets Levi's familiar scowl. Quickly, he looks back down.
The maroon carpet has never been more appealing.
"So you're worried I'll die if I don't eat? Sentimental, Eren. Looks like you've grown a pair over the past week."
That sounds like...a compliment. It's a compliment, isn't it? The happiness bubbles like lava in his gut, and he feels warm all over. So impossibly warm.
He can't deny it. He's way past the point of denial. It's so pointless. He loves Levi.
But knowing that he feels this way doesn't change anything. It just makes it worse.
Because, no matter what he does, it's always -
"Just go eat already, Eren. I'm not ready to keel over just yet, and you shouldn't wait up anymore, either. I still have a bunch of shit to go over before I leave tonight."
You shouldn't wait up anymore.
He's used to rejection.
He's used to Levi declining him. If he asks to eat with him, he learned to expect a "no." If he waits for him after work, Levi says "I have things to do." If he gathers the courage to text his boss with a cleverly hidden request to meet ("hi boss, did you hear about the new bakery opening near the company?"), the three hour late replies are always: "Is this about work? If it's not, then drop it."
He's used to it.
He'll never get used to the sting.
His chest is too tight. His heart plummets, and he turns around, making sure that Levi doesn't see his embarrassingly hurt face. Making sure that the boxed lunches are covered by his arms. Making sure his voice doesn't waver.
Keeping himself together.
"Okay. Sorry for bothering you, boss. I won't do it again."
He leaves the obsessively clean office and shuts the door quietly behind him.
Maybe it's just his luck, but he hears it anyway.
Ring. Ring. Ri -
"What. Oh, you. Tell me something: why is everyone worrying over me like they have nothing better to do? Tch. Yeah, whatever. Just now, someone said the same thing. One of the employees. Caring? More like fucking suicidal."
Eren flushes, covering his mouth with the back of his hand, as he secretly listens in on the phone conversation.
"I'm not going. I have mountains of shit to do. What the actual fuck, I'm not gay. Are you shitting me, Erwin? Seriously? Just because you flip both ways doesn't mean I do, too. I enjoy ass and titties. Yeah, keep going, and I'll report to the po-po your recent rendezvous with the Mexican gang. 'Great opportunity to outsource and keep the cost down,' I'm sure. Great opportunity to get some cheap greens and hike up the price for the addicts waiting to be fed, is more like it."
Levi snorts and starts laughing when the person on the other line responds, and Eren leaves, feeling awkward and out of place.
Levi never laughs like that when he's around.
He admits to the coiling envy in his chest as he heads back to the kitchen in the company building. What can he do to make him laugh like that?
What would he give for Levi to look at him in a way that doesn't make him feel like he's extra furniture in the background, or a stray that needs to be fed, or a barely legal brat that's only working as an intern at Titan Inc., one of the top video game publishing companies, because of his father's connections?
Why is life so difficult?
"Armin," Eren sighs, laying down on his messy bed and kicking his socks off. In the one bedroom apartment paid by his internship salary, everything is plain and untidy, reflecting the immature state of his irresponsible-teenager-to-responsible-adult transition, and also his dangerously penniless wallet. He puts his touchphone on speaker and whines lazily, "Aaaarmiiiin."
His best friend's voice finally responds, amplified in the quiet residence, and the lack of background noise leads Eren to assume that his characteristically nerdy BFF is in the library. Again. "Eren," Armin sounds hushed, "I'm in the library at the moment. Did you need something?"
"I just want to say hi and stuff. The last time we talked was days ago. I'm feeling super depressed," he sighs again, lifting his head to see the white ceiling. It's blank, plain, and unappealing. Just like him.
"What's up? Did you get in a fight? Or is this about...him?"
That's the thing about best friends. They just get it. Bless Armin Arlert, bless him until he shines brighter than the goddamn sun. Eren rolls over to his side and groans, "He hates me." His face meets boxers from last Friday, and he wheels back, grimacing and tossing the dirty underwear in the clothes bin near the door. Maybe that's why he's being ignored. Even he is getting progressively more disgusted by himself by the day.
"Eren, you know, you just started working there. Maybe you should give him some space. Give him...time."
"I've been here for a month already, and I usually don't even get to see Levi, because I only work a couple hours everyday, considering I have classes on weekdays. Is it because I'm only accepted because of dad? Is that why he's ignoring me? Even though he used to come over and play video games with me all the time..." he muttered, disappointment heavy in his tone.
"I have to go now, Eren. Can't keep up a conversation in the library. I'll skype or text you."
"All right. Okay. Bye, Armin," he replies, staring sleepily up, waiting for the beep, beep, beep of the end call to signal that their talk is over.
"Bye, Eren. Don't forget that people change all the time."
The cryptic advice hangs in the air, entering his ears and leaving his mind in shambles.
-
"Coffee. Now."
"Yes, sir."
"Make it hot. Hot enough to scald and fucking burn my tongue."
"Right away, on it, give me a few minutes."
Eren quickly leaves the sparkling office where his sleep-deprived boss going on his third day of all-nighter is glaring through a hole in the papers on his desk.
"Make it hot."
He shakes his head left and right, the guilty images making him break out in warm tingles.
"Jaeger boooooy, watch where you're going, okay?" the mad computer scientist from the IT department, Hange, tells him good-naturedly when he accidentally bumps into her, head in the clouds thumping back down on solid earth.
"Sorry, Hange," he replies, nodding in greeting.
"Hey, hey, hey, I was wondering if you could come down and test my virtual reality prototype. Last time I checked, you're an avid gamer, too, aren't you, Eren? So how 'bout it?" Hange grins.
"Can I? Really?" he gasps, jaw dropping. Him? Test out a Titan Inc. virtual reality prototype, personally developed and directed by Head Researcher (among other things) Hange Zoe? He must be dreaming, right? Well, if he isn't, hell if he's not going to jump at this one in a lifetime chance to experience the real deal. "I'd be honored to!" he exclaims.
"Ooh, good," coos Hange as she leans in, deliberately whispering in Eren's ear in a strictly-between-you-and-me tone, "just don't tell your neurotic boss Levi about it. He's going to kill me if he finds out I tested fresh meat without going through the safety simulations properly. All right? Understood?"
Eren watches as the system researcher takes out a folded paper and pen from her lab pocket, holding them in his face expectantly. He looks at her, confused.
"Just gotta make sure you accept the terms and conditions, and your cute little self doesn't sue me if things go wrong in the lower one percent probability."
He's seeing trees, wow, it really feels like he's in this rainforest, with the humidity soaking into his skin, the hot sun filtered overhead by the thick canopy, and the coursing river stream of water running next to him.
"This is amazing," he breathes, awestruck, as he kneels on the wet, leaves ridden floor and feels the rough twigs dig into his calves. He reaches his hands into the stream, and the ice cold water wraps around him. So realistic. He's officially mindblown. He can die in peace now. It's hard to imagine that minutes ago, he was in the lab basement, body lying down on the machine with Hange clipping transmission lines to his skin. He wanders around the area, grinning at the flight of tropical birds and animals skirting in the forest, and sometimes encountering lags in the virtual system.
"I wonder if Levi ever tried this," he muses. If he did, did he enjoy it? He is the CEO of a major video game production company, after all. Plus, he...used to visit him, five years ago, when their fathers met for tea and golf and what wealthy old men generally do to pass time, and they would go through Eren's modest collection of video games that were old and well-used. He was thirteen at that time, barely in his pubescent years, and Levi was twenty-four, already a college graduate and planning to take over his stepfather's giant enterprise.
He knew Levi disliked him from the get-go, just from the age factor alone. Of course he did. What twenty-something-year-old would want to keep a brat like him company? The feeling was vehemently reciprocated by his preteen self. He hated being looked down, and Levi did an amazingly effortless job in throwing his esteem to the floor and keeping it there with his steaming insults that consistently jabbed at his "un-dropped pubes" and "shitty skills (even my filthy trashcan sniffing dog plays better)." He hated the regal looking man with the jarred personality and century-old haircut. He hated him with a burning passion. Hate at first sight confirmed. He even hated him more than Jean fucking Kirschstein at one point, and that has got to be a line that no one but Jean himself had crossed.
The severity of his hurt pride and preteen esteem had been pretty severe.
And then, gradually, he stopped hating Levi. He just stopped. When Levi came over to visit and started bringing his own massive collection of first-person shooters and RPGs, dragging in the newest gaming consoles on an actual shopping cart, Eren was at the door in an instant, aggressively opening it and welcoming in the college graduate with a frown and lips desperately trying not to break out in an excited grin.
Levi would hand him the plastic wrapped discs with an (almost) amused look and viciously warn him that if he smudged the games with his dirty hands, he was going to be "expressing Mike's anal glands." Mike was Levi's dog, a Bloodhound with superior oscillatory senses and inherently itchy butt. It didn't sound like something he'd enjoy. He ended up smudging a disc by accident with oily popcorn fingers, and the punishment to "express Mike's anal glands" was, as expected, nothing he'll ever enjoy doing. Ever. It's such a traumatic experience that it will probably carry him to the day he dies.
He found himself looking forward to each of Levi's visits, the wait time between seeing the man growing progressively longer, and he himself growing progressively more impatient. When he hung out with his friends, Armin and Mikasa, the only thing he could talk about was Levi, about how awesome he was at gaming, at how great his sniping skills were, and how knowledgeable he was about the gaming industry. Mikasa would jab him in the stomach after the fifth round of Levi praise, and Armin would sigh, turning a page in the law text that no middle schooler should be studying (unless he's a genius, like Armin).
Gradually, the visits stopped. He got depressed and demanded to know why, like the spoiled brat he was with a temper, and his dad, Dr. Grisha Jaeger, answered:
"Eren, people must work to live. See, my fellow companion Mister Pixis is planning to retire. As his dutiful son, Levi is going to step in as the inherent chief executive of Titan Inc. Hence, the visits have been cut short. If you wish to see him again, perhaps you should consider working there when you come of age."
It sounded like a solid plan. He likes video games, and he more than likes Levi. So he pushed through high school, graduated, applied and got accepted to a private art college (his grades barely made it, and he had a sneaking suspicion that he only got in because of his parents), majored in computer science, and now here he is, in the hot, sweating summer, working as an intern (although 99.98% of the time, he's just making coffee and cleaning the floors, trivial things) at Titan Inc., giant video game production company, and he has yet to even make a proper conversation with Levi.
It sucks.
It seriously, seriously sucks.
He doesn't know what he's doing wrong.
Sitting down on the virtual reality forest floor, he crosses his legs and turns his face toward the green canopy. The graphic is amazing. He can even feel the humid air making his pores sweat. Hange and her team are brilliant developers. As he sits there, his mind automatically wanders to his first week of internship.
He was a panicking mess the first day. He got to work two hours early and ended up standing in front of the colossal skyscraper that is the headquarter of Titan Inc., alone. He thought he was going to meet Levi, since his position as intern basically makes him an assistant to the CEO, assistant in the form of a footrest or human ladder, and not the kind of assistant that gets handed jobs relating to actual computer science. Although the lack of relative work frustrates him, he knows that he's not in any position to complain, and so he sucks it up and does as he's told.
On the first day, however, to his massive disappointment, he didn't see Levi at all, although he did get acquainted with the mass of the employees there, including Hange, and some who are closer to his age, also working as interns, such as Connie and Sasha. One and a half weeks into work was when he finally saw Levi, for the first time in five years (Google images don't count), and just like any lovestruck teenager, he froze up in front of the shorter man (he outgrew Levi's height, surprisingly, but it doesn't make him any less intimidating).
Levi looks older, more stressed, and has a colder demeanor. The Levi from five years ago was livelier, would occasionally smile or smirk in triumph, had a warmer atmosphere, and sometimes he would pat Eren's hair when he felt like it. The present Levi does none of that. He looks like he lives on coffee, has dark bags under his tired eyes, with a dead set scowl on his face, and rarely smiles. Above all, he doesn't have the look of enjoyment that he used to have, when he and Eren played games together in his living room. It's as if he's resigned himself to the life of paperwork and management.
What really gets to Eren is that Levi doesn't seem like he remembers him. Their first interaction after five years was basically, "Hi, I'm Eren, and I'll be working under you as a new intern," and Levi glancing at him briefly as he made his way into his office, grey suit fitting his lean body making Eren gulp a nervous lump: "Get me coffee. Black coffee, no sugar, no cream, nothing. And it better be boiling hot. Don't try to poison me. Go."
The following days and weeks breeze past in the same way, with Levi showing no signs of recognition and only the briefest acknowledgement of his existence.
It's not the best feeling in the world, but he feels like he can endure it. Maybe if he stays around him longer, make himself stand out just a tad more, Levi will eventually see him. He has his number, too, from the resume acceptance letter. Maybe Levi's just too busy to notice him. Proposals, design revisions, financial projection overviews, and all the other company related information have to go through the executive officer, Levi, and he's swamped with work to the point that he barely has time to eat and sleep. He knows, because he's seen it firsthand, how Levi has to go through the day without a break, even declining breakfast and lunch on Fridays when the workload is heaviest.
So maybe he's not being ignored. Maybe Levi just doesn't have the time to catch up with him. Five years have passed, and they never kept in contact after Levi's last visit, so maybe...did he forget about him?
Eren jolts, heart beating in a panic. Is that possible? Did Levi forget? Maybe he wasn't significant enough to be remembered? He was just a kid, not even a teenager at the time. Was he even worth being remembered? To him, it feels like he and Levi had a, well, it wasn't a close relationship, but they were at least friends. What did Levi feel about him? Would he have considered someone eleven years his junior a 'friend?'
But that was five years ago, and now he's eighteen. He's an adult now. That should make a big difference, right? Maybe Armin's right, and he should give Levi some time.
No, Armin is right.
The problem is that he's too anxious. Too impatient. Too eager. Too immature. He wants this five year crush of his to notice him right away, to realize that he has an admirer - him, Eren Jaeger -, to have his feelings reciprocated. He doesn't want to wait. He wants instant gratification.
But, is that even possible?
Levi's most likely not gay. Not even remotely. He likes "ass and titties." He eavesdropped it straight from Levi.
He's not gay. But he doesn't like girls, either. It's as if he only has feelings for one person, and that's Levi. What does that make him?
He's too young, too immature, not nearly knowledgable enough, hasn't even truly begun to work. Levi can't possibly like someone like him. Not someone eleven years younger than him. Not some brat that only knew how to lose while playing against him, handicapped, even. Not a freshman still living the college life who's accepted to intern at one of the most successful video game companies just because of a few choice words from his powerful father. Not someone average like Eren Jaeger. Most of all, not a boy.
Losing track of time, he shuts his eyes and lays down on the computer generated forest floor, barks and twigs mussing up his hair and clothes, and he doesn't know how long he stays here, thoughts upon wistful thoughts running through his mind.
He may have fallen asleep, even.
Because the next moment he opens his eyes, he feels a strange, almost stinging, heat envelop his body.
"Ow," he groans, clutching his head. The boiling fire burns like it's trying to exterminate his brain cells, and a half scream rips from his throat. What's going on? What's happening? Why does everywhere hurt so much? Is something wrong with the virtual system?
He drags himself over to the streaming river and rolls over, falling into the current. He struggles to submerge from the deep river, water splashing into his eyes. The coldness does nothing to subdue the internal fire spasming in his body. He curses and panics, hoping that someone out there has noticed the malfunctioning system.
Someone. Anyone.
Just get me out here!
-
Something passes over his face. A bright something.
Eren's brows contort, and his forest green eyes open slowly. Then, they clench shut, as his ultra sensitive retinas bleed white in protest at the filtered sunlight of noon.
"Unn..." he utters weakly, only to find his throat sore and mouth completely dry. Where am I? He peeks out under heavy eyelids. What time is it?
His wandering gaze takes in the sight of a very familiar place. The neat desk, the overly clean office, the nightstand in front of the parted, curtains of the wide window overlooking the city below.
He's in Levi's office!
He scrambles to sit up, only to fall back down as a wave of nausea and dulled nerves hit him weak, making him strengthless and uncoordinated as a newborn lamb. His head hits the leather couch, and he succumbs guiltily to the minty smell of it, the smell that resonates Levi's freshly washed pristine suits.
He's confused as hell, but damn it, his nose is getting a whiff of heaven.
In his haste to get up, he failed to notice the thin blanket on top of him. Levi's personal Titan Inc. snuggie, with the orange-red giant, the company logo, imprinted on the back.
Eren's face flushes with red. It's Levi's personal blanket. On him. He's holding Levi's personal blanket.
Before he can completely overwhelm himself with the freakish feeling of accomplishment, he hears a loud noise from the outside.
"So, tell me, shitty glasses, before I take them off, casually throw them out the fucking thirty story high window, and then proceed to bash your brainless head into the wall and super casually hurl your ass out the same thirty story high window, what gave you the idea of going behind my back and using a total newb as a tester for your whacked prototypes and nearly killing the intern?"
"Uhmmm," Hange's nervous voice follows, and Eren perks up, hands fisting in the blanket as the traumatic memory of being stuck inside the virtual system washes over him, "I'm sorry? Please, please forgive me, Leeeeevi! I really wanted to test it out, and no one from the Board would okay it, so I got desperate. And then, I got a brilliant idea."
"Oh? What brilliant idea?"
"Well, you see, I saw Eren parading down the hallway with coffee mugs, and I thought, oh cute! Then I remembered that he's a big time gamer, just like you, Levi, ahaha - oh shit, don't hurt me, don't hurt me - "
"So you thought it was a good idea, because Eren's a video game loving brat, and you're a developer with clearly no brains and a pretty fucking big death wish, so you got him using the prototype, conveniently forgetting that you can only be in the system for fifteen minutes without hyperventilating your cells. Over fifteen, and an average person's brain and nerves would combust from the unperfected synchronization. Why the fuck did you not check up on him and let him out within fifteen minutes? The idiot was in the system for almost an hour before I got to him. An hour, you dumbass shit for brains scientist!"
"I'm sorry, Levi! I know! I got distracted by the design department's new visual for our logo - a maid cosplaying Titan, can you imagine that - and forgot to check up on Eren! Ack, I know, I should just kill myself right now, right? I'm so sorry, Eren," Hange sobs dramatically.
"Please do. Please, just throw yourself out the window before I get my hands on your trashed for life brains and hand your organs over to Erwin. Get your ass to writing the letter of apology - and your will - right now."
"Yes, boss!"
Hange's footsteps make her exit, and Eren feels sweat beads all over his tense body. He's never heard Levi that angry before. It's kind of scary. It's scary, but at the same time...he lets a small, happy smile spread over his face. Levi was worried about him, wasn't he? Levi is worried...right?
Even though he feels like a wreck, his heart feels so light. It's as if he's flying. He can't contain the giddy sensation, can't stop the grin threatening to break his face. He sniffs the scent of cleaning supplies and fresh mint on the snuggie, and he almost lets slip a moan. It smells so...Levi.
"Are you awake now, brat?"
He jolts, sitting up so quickly that he feels lightheaded. "Yes, boss. Thank you for letting me sleep here."
Levi's steel eyes drift over him, and he swallows thickly. The dark scowl on the man seems to be even heavier than yesterday's.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have accepted Miss Hange's offer," he apologizes, dry throat making him sound sick.
Levi passes him and heads over to his desk, fingers undoing the navy tie complementing his grey suit. Eren watches the slender hands work with absentminded grace. The action is mesmerizing.
"It's my fault. I'll definitely be smarter next time."
"Sit down."
Eren stops, halfway between standing and sitting.
The executive glances at his awkward pose and scoffs. "Sit the fuck down."
"Yes, boss," Eren replies quickly, following suit and thumping his ass back down on the couch in front of Levi's desk. It's the perfect position, the best view. His crush is right in front of him. It's like getting the front seat to a concert. Levi doesn't even mind his staring. The blush over his cheeks must be burning like a torch.
"You're out of commission. Close your eyes and go to sleep, stupid brat, or do you need a nighttime story before going to bed?" Levi says, taking out a sleek black laptop from a locked cabinet and putting it on the desk, right on top of a pile of papers. "Don't worry, your salary won't be affected. Hange's docked pay will cover it. Her shitty work is overrated to begin with. I should dock her more often."
Eren opens his mouth to thank the grim-faced executive, but then he takes notice of the laptop. Sleek obsidian, twin orange light bars stretching diagonally from the bottom corners of the lid, and a glowing neon alien head in the top center.
Alienware 18, the newest, most powerful gaming laptop.
He puts one and two together; Levi can't possibly be using a renown gaming brand for work. In which case...
"What are you pla - "
"Battlefield. Now shut up. I won't be listening," the Titan Inc. executive officer cuts him off, plugging in a pair of headphones into the laptop and then wearing it snugly over his head. His closing statement before he fully engages himself into the violent first person shooter online game is: "Water bottles in the cooling fridge next to me."
Eren checks and sees that the the fridge is indeed on the left side of the desk.
He watches Levi curse and swear into the mic, fingers tapping the W-A-S-D keys and hand moving the mouse in all directions, scowl in place but steel irises sparked with enjoyment. Such a familiar sight, one that he didn't think he would ever see again. Levi looks so much livelier, younger, and less oppressed.
Eren watches him until he drifts off to sleep, eyes fluttering shut and a happy grin settling over his face.
I'm glad that Armin's wrong. People don't change all the time. At least, Levi didn't.
-
The next day, Hange stops him at the door and pushes into his arms a wrapped gift. Confused, he unwraps it after Hange's incessant pestering and finds a disc labeled Chocolate Ice Cream Chronicles published by Titan Inc.
"W-what...is this supposed to be a PC game?" he asks, genuinely puzzled.
"Yup! I feel like an absolute apology is in order after the fiasco yesterday, which I'm really, really, super, super, really sorry about! So I went ahead and got you a special preorder of our company's newest computer game, Chocolate Ice Cream Chronicles, where the player goes on a quest to find chocolate ice cream from Brazil, Morocco, London to Ibiza, straight to L.A. New York, Vegas to Africa!" Hange exclaims, spreading her arms in the air. Dropping them, she looks at Eren, fixing her glasses. "Are you excited? Tell me you're excited, Eren. You get to collect ice cream. Isn't that even better than virtual reality?!"
No. No, it's not. But it is better than getting stuck in it and having your brain cells nearly combust, he thinks begrudgingly.
"Thanks, Hange. I'll...try this out when I get home."
"Super! You know what, Eren, I'm glad you're our new intern. You're so much more exciting than the stuckup geezers," she coughs, a suspicious cough that sounds like a badly hidden 'Le-kuh-vi-kuh.'
Connie and Sasha latch onto him as soon as he arrives on the thirtieth floor. The baldheaded intern and potato lover shoot him questions after another about the rumored underground space travel machine in the last level of the building, and Eren thinks about ending his life right there.
Thankfully, his knight in grey suit and black tie appears, Levi in all his short statured glory, lean muscled form, wafting cleanliness in the air-conditioned office, and all but a hundred thousand times glorified in Eren's vision. He whacks the idiot duo over with a manila folder and tells them to get lost or lose their salary for the week.
"Yes, boss, we'll return to duty right away," Sasha salutes tearfully and flees, heading to her station with Connie trailing close behind her.
Eren grins at their retreating backs, and then yelps when Levi grabs his ear and pulls him down to his height. "Ow, ow, ow, it hurts, boss!"
"Hey, Eren, just because I let you off easy yesterday doesn't mean you get a free ride the rest of your internship," Levi warns.
His lips are so close, almost touching his ear, and he feels Levi's minty breath. Goosebumps break out all over his body, and he shivers, eyes clenching shut.
Don't get hard, don't get hard, don't get hard, stop, oh fuck, no, d-don't -
"What the fuck."
Shit, did he notice? Oh my gad, don't tell me -
"Don't look so damn constipated. Do you need to take a shit? Wow, you must really need to go, look at your constipated-ass face. Go, Jaeger. Before you ruin your pants," Levi hisses, letting him and his ear go.
The place where Levi's hand touched still tingles. Eren lets out an unsteady breath he doesn't know he's been holding and bolts to the bathroom. "P-please excuse me!"
Left alone, Levi blinks once.
Twice.
"Wow. That's the first time my poop joke hit a homerun."
-
As soon as he makes it in the bathroom door, he slams it shut and undoes his belt buckles. He's never felt so desperate for release before.
"Ack, mm, Le - "
Eren bites down, stifling the whimper, fist running frantically up and down his hard cock as he sits on the toilet seat, teeth clenching his buttoned shirt, cold air teasing his nipples stiff, and his free hand grabbing hard onto his thigh. He squeezes the bulbous head of his length, legs shaking as he imagines Levi's hands all over his body.
"Unn, hngh, Levi, fuck," he gasps.
"Hey, Eren."
He imagines Levi's deep, low, voice, the way he insults him like he's teasing him, the way his long fingers wrap around his tie, the way his muscled body moves under the stuffy business suit, the way he scowls and almost smiles, the way he says: "Go, Jaeger. Before you ruin your pants."
And his mind automatically adjusts so that Levi's impassive voice, coated in mock disgust, whispers instead, "Or do you want me to help you by fucking you hard over the table until you come without even lifting a finger?"
Yes, oh fuck, oh fuck -
Eren sucks in desperate air, using his free hand to muffle his wanton moans, as he tugs himself faster and faster, until he can't even see the blurred motions.
"I like you, Eren. Even though you're just a stupid brat that messes up my coffee the first week. You'd look fucking perfect riding me like a whore."
Eren jerks, cheeks and ears flaming red, and his tanned body spasms. Sweat drips down his curtained bangs, his bottom lip scarlet from being bitten. Spurts of translucent white land on his abs while his right hand paces slower, now lazily stroking the softening length. He breathes calmly, in, out, in, out, reaching behind him for the toilet paper and cleaning himself up, his heartbeat pulsing like it's high on sugar rush.
He accidentally touches himself again, and the post-coital effect makes him overstimulated, causing him to hiss and judder uncontrollably at the hypersensitive recoil. "Nngh..."
"I like you, Eren."
Only in his imagination.
-
That's right.
It's only in his imagination.
It's impossible for these onesided feelings to be returned.
Why would the CEO of such a giant enterprise even think about getting into the pants of a boy eleven years his junior, a boy that has, up to this point, only been riding his father's coattails in order to get to places? Eren's done nothing remarkable, hasn't even done real work, hasn't even gotten a degree. He's still just a brat.
Not that it stops him from wishing and daydreaming.
"Oi, you little bastard."
Here comes Levi.
Quick, run.
"Oho, you fucking brat, did you even look around when you were trying to hide? You're in a goddamn hallway, no doors, not even a supply closet in sight," Levi's murderous voice reaches him before his murderous scowl does, and he shudders, freezing on the spot.
Levi's right.
He is in a damn hallway, with nothing but the walls and the floor. He curses himself inwardly. Turning around slowly, he comes chest to face with a completely pissed off chief executive. Levi's eyebrow is twitching just like the vein protruding on his temple.
Well, fuck.
"Care to tell me why your jailbait ass isn't doing your job like the job responsibilities state you should be doing?" Levi glares up at him, and Eren hides his trembling hands behind his back.
Jailbait...?
"I've been doing my job, boss. I'm just, um, running an errand for Miss Hange."
"Running an errand?" The shorter man raises a skeptical brow. "Oh, so, you think running around the floor picking up papers for your coworkers who are not your boss equals fulfilling the job req? Is that what you think you're getting paid for? Did you think I haven't noticed how you fly out of the room with the grace of a fat fly as soon as I step into the room? Care to explain what the fuck's going on?"
"Nn - boss, I swear, I'm not trying to avoid you, I just feel a little..." Eren trails off.
He can't say it.
How can he confess that he's feeling guilty that he jacked off to Levi without his consent? Not to mention, he jacked off to him in the public bathroom of the company building, on the floor which Levi himself inhabits, and that's probably enough to set off an atomic bomb if he ever has the balls to admit it. He has at least enough brain cells left to know that that is not the smartest thing to do.
After using Levi to jack off, he can't look at him without becoming absolutely flustered and terrified. He feels like if he looks at Levi in the eyes, Levi will know all the naughty things he did. That's why he's been trying to avoid his boss all week, and he's been somewhat successful.
Until now, that is.
"Feel a little like you need a good spanking, huh?" Levi says, like it's perfectly normal for the chief executive officer of a major enterprise to say something so socially unacceptable without batting an eye.
Eren flushes, and he can feel his ears steam like a chimney. "I'm already an adult, boss, so I don't...!"
Levi has always been civilly inept, but jesus, he thought the man would at least improve his manner to something more befitting of a businessman.
"Well, if you keep acting like this shit for brains brat, fresh out of high school with no clue about what you're going to do with your worthless life and in need of a serious crash course on rethinking your life choices, only accepted as an intern here because of your background, then your ass ought to seek a spanking on its own, because this shit is ridiculous to the point that I can't even laugh." Levi fixes him with a bored look and turns around, polished black dress shoes tapping on the linoleum floor.
Ouch.
Eren feels his heart clench with hurt pride. Levi really doesn't have to put it like that, even though most of it is true...
"You're wrong, boss," he finds himself speaking up, heart thumping rapidly against his ribcage, "I know what I want to do. I want to work here at Titan Inc. And I want to work here, right alongside you, Levi." His throat dries, heartbeats stopping completely when the raven executive tilts his head to glance at him.
Eren's breath cuts off.
Levi stares at him for a second, and it feels like forever.
He starts pouring sweat, and he curses himself. Why is he always so impulsive? That's why he fails and have to start over every time. Damn him and his senseless brain.
Then, Levi's mouth curls in a barely noticeable smile.
And Eren finds himself frozen. Is that...did he just...
"Well, if there's one thing about you that stands out, aside from your ridiculously bright eyes, it's your ridiculous tenacity."
A warm wave of heat washes over him, and he's tempted to just pull up his fist and beat it against his chest in a salute. Before he does it and embarrasses himself, Levi makes a clicking noise with his tongue.
"Let's go, Eren. I told you I wanted black tea two hours ago, and I still don't see it. Get your ass to it, now. Do you think I have all the time in the world to babysit you? I have a bunch of shit to look at, and I just wasted all that time searching for you, brat. Even if I have all the time in the world, I wouldn't use it to babysit a shitty kid stuck in an adult's body."
Eren scratches the back of his neck sheepishly, following his scowling superior. He can't believe it. Levi just praised him. He just got praised by Levi.
"Wipe that stupid smile off your face."
"Y-yes, boss!"
-
Mikasa A. [10:21 AM]: Are you eating right, Eren
Mikasa A. [11:21 AM]: Are you getting in trouble
Mikasa A. [12:21 PM]: I just finished up the photoshoot, so I'm coming home
Mikasa A. [12:22 PM]: If the summer intern is too difficult you should drop it. You don't need to work, you know
Mikasa A. [12:25 PM]: Mom, dad, and I are enough. You don't have to force yourself to do anything. We all know you're not cut out for working, Eren
(15) Unread Messages.
And they're all from his overprotective, supermodel stepsister, Mikasa.
Eren groans, deleting them instantly, but not before texting: "I'm working, leave me alone Mik I can handle it."
Right after sending the message, a new text appears. He opens it, already knowing who it is. There's only one person in this whole damn earth that replies lightning fast to him.
Mikasa A. [3:31PM]: I'll be in the city by tomorrow night
"Ughhhh," Eren groans again. Of course he wants to see her, but she's only going to nag until he quits the job just to shut her up. Sometimes, it really sucks to have an overprotective sibling. Especially when he should be the one worrying over her, not the other way around. But then again, Mikasa never cared for societal rules, but that's because she can afford to disregard them, seeing as how she's so great at everything.
"Eren, phone," Sasha's whisper carries down the hallway, and he hurriedly pockets the mobile.
"Thanks," he mouths, just as a superior passes by.
The superior pauses midstep, and Eren looks over, only to pale in fear. It's Hange.
"Oooh, hi, Eren! I haven't seen you in a while. CEO keeping you busy as our personal barista?" she asks, slinging an arm over his shoulder.
He nods hesitantly, turning his head slightly to see that Sasha had already disappeared.
"Say, you know that we're releasing the Attack on Titan video game for Trostation and Sina-Box."
"Yeah, Levi's on his way to the press conference to promote the release," he replies, bowing his head and resigning to his fate. Hopefully, whatever this eccentric scientist wants won't kill him this time.
"So, you wanna come with us?"
"...Where?" Eren asks.
Hange pats his shoulders with both hands, looking at him with wide eyes and a beaming grin, like she's been waiting for this question all day. "We're going to celebrate the release the old fashion way: to the strip club!"
Yes, Hange's out on a mission to make his life a living hell.
If Mikasa finds out about this, heads are going to roll.
But of course, Hange won't take no for an answer, and four hours later, after the company lets out its employees and the fun begins, Eren finds himself seated in between one ecstatic glasses-wearing game developer and one polar opposite, scowl-for-life chief executive on a velvet couch facing the stage.
"Is this your first time at a strip club, Eren?" Hange asks excitedly. She is actually wearing a dress, a blue, glittery one.
"Yeah..." he mumbles, embarrassed.
"Don't scare the baby chick, Hange," Levi says, leaning forward to grab a wine glass off the table and consequently brushing against Eren's shoulder. The chief is sporting a black tux and a red plaid tie, and Eren tries not to stare for too long, but it's difficult when he looks so elegant and...handsome. He even has his hair slicked back, exposing more of his forehead and angular face. He's just, well, to put it mildly, pretty damn hot. "Don't need him to make another mess in his pants."
"I didn't make a mess!" splutters Eren. His skin heats up anyway, when he remembers how he took care of that 'mess.'
"Oh?" Hange coos, bumping his elbow in a clearly suggestive manner. "Tell me more."
"I didn't! It's just a misunderstanding!"
"Oh come on, don't be stingy, Eren! Tell your big sister Hange Zoe all the juicy bits, pleaaaase?"
Levi lets them bicker back and forth, leg crossed over the other and his arm hanging over the back of the couch, sipping absentmindedly at the lime yellow glass of Death in the Afternoon. By the time Eren notices how quiet his boss is, the strip show has already started.
"Do you want a drink, Eren?" Hange asks, picking up the menu on the table. She turns around to look at the other employees seated behind them and yells, "Guys, all of you order something, okay? We're getting drunk tonight! Tab's on me! And Levi."
Levi scowls briefly, but he doesn't say anything other than: "You heard her. Order."
A chorus of excited conversation sprouts and quiets as the scantily clad strippers part the curtains, the spotlight shining on the center of the stage.
Eren watches and feels a little flustered. It really is his first time here. He sneaks glances here and there over at Levi, wondering if the man is enjoying himself. Is he into these kind of things? Does he like going to strip clubs? Is this a frequent event?
Levi doesn't seem particularly interested. He never seems particularly interested in anything, unless he's shooting or slashing someone in a video game. His steel eyes are on the stage, but to Eren, it looks like they're not watching the show at all. As if his thoughts are somewhere else.
"Are you okay?" Eren inquires. "Boss," he adds, when Levi turns his gaze on him. "Did something happen at the press conference? You just seem...uh, not into this." His voice gets drowned out by the marveling conversations from the back.
"Daaaamn, look at her legs," Connie's hushed whisper comes from the left.
"Wow, they're super long," comes Sasha's scholarly response. "Like, as long as bacon strips. You think her legs are longer, or bacon strips longer?"
"Newbies, focus your shitty eyes and shut your traps." Oluo's imitation of Levi knows no limits.
Eren looks away from Levi's impassive stare awkwardly. Way to ruin the mood, guys, he thinks sourly. A grumpy scowl settles over his mouth.
"I'm surprised you noticed."
He nearly misses the low murmur, and he turns around quickly to face Levi, whose attention has returned to the show.
"Shouldn't you be watching this porn show instead? Instead of paying attention to some old man with issues."
You're not old! Eren wants to say, but his mouth is too slow to react.
Hange is chatting enthusiastically with another employee about the cosplay maid Titan design, so that's probably why Levi bothers to talk to him. It's their first real conversation in almost two months after he began working, and Eren wants to hold it for as long as possible.
"Are you a virgin?"
"...Huh?" Eren blinks.
Levi glances at him. "You look like a straight up cherry, yet the ass and tits on the stage don't work you up. You're either more experienced than I thought, gay, or impotent. So which is it?"
A hot blush overtakes Eren. That was definitely not one of his anticipated questions. "I...I'm not impotent. But I am a virgin," he mutters the last part.
"So you're just gay? Or you actually have some pretty high standards? Shameless exposure not your kink?"
"You'd look fucking perfect riding me like a whore."
Eren jerks his head, green eyes wide like he just saw a ghost. Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck. Not now. Please, not now.
"Sir, would you like a drink?" a server comes over to their table, and Eren holds up the menu to his face with shaky hands, covering his blush of doom.
"Margarita for me," Hange pipes up.
"Er, hold on a second," mumbles Eren, roving over the list of drinks with a lack of concentration. Go down, go down, go DOWN. Ugly babies, ugly fat babies getting mauled by lions. He takes a deep, calm breath, when his boner does die. Good. Very good. Thank god.
"Sex on the Beach for this legal kid," he hears Levi.
"Got it. Thank you for ordering!"
S-Sex on the Beach? What kind of name is...
"I don't..." he trails off, unsure of what he wanted to say.
"It's peachy, fruity, sweet, and has vodka. It's perfect for a cute boy like you," Hange informs, grinning.
Eren stammers, "I'm not cute."
"Oh, but look at that blush! You're adorable!"
He nearly suffocates in Hange's extremely tight hug, but when he sneaks a look at Levi and sees the barely-there smile on his face, he feels like he can even die to see it again.
The strip club ends with all Titan Inc. employees passed out drunk but two, humanity's strongest drinker, Levi, and the other, Eren, who couldn't finish up his cocktail due to his natural dislike for the taste of alcohol. Plus, his father's insistent lectures on the dangers of alcohol is enough to deter him from intaking more than the bare minimum. After making calls for taxis to pick up the drunk men and women, Levi has him following him to his car, a relatively normal household automobile, a Toyota Altima.
He was expecting something more extravagant, but Levi always manages to surprise him each time. He's constantly learning new things about him, such as the way he likes one sugar cube in his black tea, contradicting his ultimate black coffee with nothing added, and that he plays video games whenever he has downtime during work.
"Where do you live?" Levi asks, settling into the driver's seat.
His brain fights the light buzz of the brief taste of vodka as he answers, a little sluggishly, "Rose Street, in an apartment about fifteen minutes from the company."
Just then, his phone starts buzzing in his pants pocket, and he excuses himself quietly. It's a call from the landlady, surprisingly. "Hello?" he says.
Beside him, Levi's phone also rings. He takes one look at the caller ID and steps out of the car, pressing the door shut with his palm, leaving Eren alone in the Toyota.
Curiosity eats at Eren. He tries to shake it off and listen to his call, instead.
"Eren? This is Mrs. Kirchstein."
Jean's mother is his apartment's landlady. He will never figure out how such a kind, warmhearted lady can give birth to such an obnoxious bastard.
"Hey, Mrs. Kirchstein. Do you need me for something?"
"Oh, I actually wanted to inform you that floors two and three are undergoing renovations starting today and estimating to end in three and half weeks. I put up notices about it last week on the bulletin board on each floor, but you're always so busy, so I thought you might have missed it."
"Wait..." His brain stops. "You're saying...I can't go into my room?"
"Not for the duration of the renovation process, unfortunately. Sorry, dear. I should've called earlier, but I was distracted by Jean's visit. Do you have anywhere you can stay for the meantime?"
He can't go to his parents, since they live two states away, and he can't trash at Armin's either, because he's dorming in a topnotch university on the opposite coast. Mikasa doesn't even own a house, because she's constantly traveling overseas to do her gravure shoots and modeling.
"No...I don't think I do," he denounces, thumping his head back on the car seat and vehemently cursing himself. He should have paid attention to the notices. Why didn't his stupid ass look at them when he knows that's where all the important news is found? Fuck his life.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Eren. If we had any openings, I would let you stay in them, but all of the residences are filled."
"It's okay, Mrs. Kirchstein. Thank you for telling me. I'll just find a way to get by until then. I'll be fine, don't worry."
He disconnects and tugs at his brown hair, frustrated. The pain helps him relieve just a bit of stress. "Goddamn..."
Bang!
He jumps at the loud noise, looking over to see Levi climbing into his seat and throwing his black jacket in the backseat, the motion careless and almost violent. His hands unfurl the plaid tie, and he tosses that in the back of the car, as well, leaving him in his white collared shirt and black trousers, breath uneven and face wearing one of the darkest expressions Eren has ever seen on the man.
A tense silence hangs in the air. Levi massages the strung muscles and nerves on his temple. Eren fidgets and doesn't know where to begin, doesn't want his boss to beat him up, because right now, he can feel the murder in the atmosphere.
"Address?" grunts Levi.
"Actually...I just got a call from my apartment, and they told me they're...renovating two whole floors, including mine."
"..."
"So, er, do you know if there's anywhere - "
"Just crash at my place."
"Huh?"
Levi ignores him, rolling the wheel with his left hand and dragging the anchor from P to R. As soon as they back out, Levi jumps the accelerator, and Eren squeaks as they hurl into the empty street furiously. It's around two in the morning, nearly no cars in sight, and that's about the only positive in this wrecked situation.
"L-L-Lev - " he cuts off, gasping as he lurches forward when the brake's slammed haphazardly in front of the red light. His stomach and chest are sore from the seatbelt's tight grasp. Out of breath, he notices the cameras hanging on the stoplights.
"Shut up, shitty brat. I'm not in the mood."
Eren shuts up, and the rest of the fast and furious ride passes in silence with added comedic relief from occasional, embarrassing noises from him.
Half an hour later, they arrive at Levi's apartment. Eren feels vomit on the tip of his tongue, head dizzy and vision whirling. He barely takes in the shiny and clean room before he collapses on the sofa in the living room, nerves still tingling from the several near death encounters earlier. They had almost collided into a bus. Twice.
No matter how much he likes Levi, there's no way he can endure a round two of that crazy driving. No way.
"Go take a shower. You're not dirtying my immaculate sofa with your filth."
"I will, thank you. Just give me a sec," Eren wheezes.
"One more 'sec,' and you'll give my sofa two million germs. Get going."
"Ow," he groans. Levi had kicked his leg. "Okay, I'm up. Where's...oh." The bathroom is to the right, opposite the staircase leading upstairs. Levi's apartment is two-story high, big, and decorated austerely. The heavenly shine on the TV, the table, the stairs, anywhere he sees, is impressive.
Levi had gone upstairs, presumably to the upper floor bathroom.
Eren takes in the moment of being in Levi's home for the first time. He smells the citrus cleaning supplies that hangs in the air like Levi's cologne, carefully touches the shined and polished TV screen, with platinum speakers on each side of it, and the shelf of video games on the left of the television. It's bigger than his collection. Much bigger. Seeing the stack of games reminds him of the times when Levi would visit him with a travel pack filled to the brim with a selection of discs.
It makes him smile.
He wonders if Levi remembers those times, too. He really should ask him.
A buzzing noise catches his attention, and he walks over to it. The noise is coming from the kitchen table.
Levi's phone. It's ringing.
He tugs lightly at his bottom lip. Is it the same caller from earlier? Is it a guy or a girl? Why was Levi so angry? Does he want to know?
He wants to know. He wants to know so badly, he's dying of curiosity.
The phone's locked, but he can still see the caller ID. Glancing up, he sees that Levi hasn't noticed, hasn't heard the buzz. Eren leans down quickly and reads the name.
Incoming Call: Petra Ral
Petra.
His girlfriend?
His heart twists painfully. Maybe she's just a friend. If she were his girlfriend, he would at least mention her, right?
That would make him feel a lot better, if Levi ever bothers to mention anything to him in the first place. He's just recently reintroduced to Levi; there are plenty of things he doesn't know about the man.
That hurts.
It really hurts.
If Petra really is his girlfriend, then...
What can he do about it?
Nothing.
He never had a chance from the beginning. Levi's too far out of his reach. Yet, he can't help the way he feels. He likes Levi. A lot more than he should.
Bzz. Bzz. Bzz.
He gets some sick satisfaction from watching it ring. Ring and ring, with no one answering the call. If he lets it ring and hang like this forever, will he have a chance? As long as Levi doesn't pick it up, then -
"What the hell are you standing there like a dumbstruck idiot for?" Levi comes down the winding staircase and walks over to him.
Don't come. Don't come over here. Don't -
"Don't pick it up."
Shit.
Shit.
Fuck.
"What did you just say?" Levi breathes, an incredulous tone in his voice. He's right next to him now.
Bzz.
The phone vibrates one last time, and that's when Levi takes notice of it.
Eren shuts his eyes tightly.
The raven chief executive sweeps over the contact name, an indiscernible emotion flickering in his steel eyes.
He picked it up. He's going to...
Levi just locks the phone, tossing it recklessly back on the table. It hits the wood with a painful thump, reciprocating the thump in Eren's rapidly beating heart.
"You're not going to...?" He's almost afraid to ask, but the question tumbles out anyway. His chest felt squeezed and wrapped so tightly, but with that one action, he feels freed. Lively. Happy.
"There's nothing to talk about, so why should I answer?"
Eren lets out a breath.
Levi suddenly grabs his head and pulls him down to eye level, steel irises boring into forest green. "But what the fuck was that about? 'Don't pick up.' That one."
"I - just, because, you looked so angry earlier, and I didn't want to risk getting beat tonight, s-so..." Eren spluttered.
Levi raises an eyebrow, and there's almost amusement in that notion. "You're still as interesting and stupid as ever, Eren."
Still? What does that mean? Is it what he thinks it means?
"You remember me?" he stammers.
The man makes a face like he can't believe he just asked one of the world's stupidest questions. "Of course I fucking know who you are. Dr. Jaeger recommended your newb ass. I just didn't think you would actually sign up for anything relating to video games, considering how bad you were at it."
He remembers, he remembers, he remembers. He feels like he's high, flying, over the moon, and then he crash lands.
"I wasn't that bad!"
"Time for bed, kiddo. Make sure you don't wet it, or I might kill you. I will kill you." Levi doesn't look like he's kidding. Not in the least bit.
"I'm eighteen, Levi!"
"So what? You just barely started working on a shitty internship. Haven't even got real working experience. You're also a cherry, to boot. You think being eighteen makes you any different from five years ago?" Levi sets the teakettle boiling and grabs two cups.
Eren notices that the shorter man is wearing actual PJs, the fluffy cotton ones with white clouds and blue cloth. Cute. He flushes at the mention of "cherry."
"You don't have to keep rubbing it in. I think being a virgin is perfectly fine. And don't say 'cherry,' because that's really embarrassing," he groans.
"You're a cherry, so you're a cherry. What else do you expect me to call you?"
"Well, if you think being a 'cherry' is so funny, what are you going to do about it?" Eren sprouts, and then gasps. Because that is totally not where he wants to go with this.
Expectedly, Levi turns around, stirring a teacup with a paper stick. He has a look in his eyes that Eren can't figure out. "What am I going to do about it?" He leans back on the kitchen counter, elbows resting on the table, the action causing his pajama sleeves to slide up and expose his toned forearms.
Eren swallows thickly. He refuses to drool. But jeez...
"What do you want me to do about it?"
He...wants Levi.
He wants him. Badly.
But he can't cross that line. Can he?
Levi watches him, steadily stirring the honey, as if he knows exactly what he wants. But does he? Isn't he just teasing him?
Unless...he's using this as a chance to forget about that caller.
Is that...it?
That's...not...that really hurts.
"You're still just an indecisive brat, aren't you," Levi says. "Or maybe you're actually using your brain this time." He turns off the fire, grabs the jiggling teakettle steaming with hot water vapor, and puts it on the granite counter.
That Petra girl means something to you. I can tell. You can't forget her. She's on your mind, even when you're speaking to me.
Maybe the things he's saying to him is actually directed to her, instead.
"What do you want to do about it?" he hurls the question right back, and Levi glances at him with narrowed eyes.
"I don't do guys, especially guys eleven years my junior."
Eren stares at him, taking keen notice of the slow, upward quirk of the man's lips.
"But you, I'll do. I don't know why. Maybe you're good on the eyes and willing. Fuck, I can't believe I'm doing this with a brat. I might have had more alcohol than I should." Levi scoffs. "I'll take you. With a set of a conditions. You up for it?"
He nods. He knows there are going to be conditions. A flimsy relationship like this doesn't work unless there are conditions stating what is and what isn't allowed. He can't believe it's happening. It's really happening. It's really happening to him, Eren Jaeger. Is there something about him that Levi likes that makes him choose him, in spite of his claim that he doesn't do guys? Does it matter?
He pinches his cheeks quickly. Levi sees it, but he doesn't comment on it. He probably already suspects something.
"I won't kiss you. I will wear gloves and I won't take off my clothes, either. Unless, of course, it's my dick. We'll end this as soon as one of us gets tired of it. If I'm bored, we're over. If you've done enough experimenting and want to move on to real things, we're over. We won't interfere with each others' businesses. And lastly..." Levi takes a long sip of the boiling tea, eyes looking down at his reflection in the cup. "I don't like you, and you don't like me. In the romantic sense, at least."
That's the hardest part.
Eren already likes him. In the romantic sense. But he'll have to pretend; he'll have to play this game right. He has no choice but to pretend.
"Yes, sir."
Levi snorts. "Oh, yeah, about your renovation. How long?"
"Three...and a half weeks, I think," Eren recalls.
"You can stay here for the time being. Grab your shit tomorrow or something."
"Okay."
"Go to sleep."
"Night, Levi."
It's the best thing that's ever happened to him. When he lays on his bed in the guest room on the first night of moving in, he thinks about all the great things that are going to happen to him, as he lives with Levi.
But thinking back on it now, if he hadn't made this choice, it wouldn't be so painful.
Rori's Corner: Only I shall know the end pair...but you are all welcomed to sway me. Grats on making through this longass fic. More longass to come next chap.