When he wakes up in the morning, nothing happens.
There's no sword-toting teenage girl in sight, and Levi's not sure why he isn't immediately comforted by this fact. He first thinks of Hange, and grabs his phone from the bedside, groggily sending a text through sleep-hazed eyes. "Experiment was a fluke, nothing happened." he types, before slumping back onto the mattress.
It's a small relief to know that his house isn't about to be potentially destroyed by a flock of hormonal teens, he thinks. Yet there's a nagging fragment of memory that remains from the night before.
"None of it is real? Nobody?"
He flops over and a wave of guilt washes over his pleasant mood.
"I don't even have friends."
He did this, he thinks, suddenly feeling like Frankenstein. What on earth had he done? Levi stands up and locks his notebook in the only drawer in his desk that required a key, along with his pencil.
Just for good measure.
Putting those thoughts aside, Levi goes through his daily routine of mentally listing his tasks. Eren needs suitable clothes to wear to his interview in the afternoon. He definitely won't fit into Levi's neatly pressed Armani, and Levi wonders if Hange still has the old suit that they wore to the last book signing event.
Just then, a sleepy teen shuffles past his room, looking vaguely like he had stepped out of a Little House on the Prairie shooting.
… Regardless of how quaint the shop was, they probably wouldn't dig the rustic I-call-my-parents-ma-and-pa look.
"Eren."
The green eyed boy shuffles back, obviously very comfortable in the fluffy bedroom slippers Levi left in the guest room His mouth is full of foam and a blue toothbrush juts out from his bottom lip.
Wait.
"Brat" he starts, "I'm glad I created you with personal hygiene, but for the love of everything the Powerpuff girls are made of, is that my toothbrush?" Eren simply looks at him with distant and disconnected eyes, and Levi can practically see a buffering sign over his head.
If this was the character meant to save mankind, the people of his novel were royally screwed.
Levi sighs, breaking the long silence as Eren stares ahead with glazed eyes.
"You need modern clothes. I'm shit at shopping and you're too busy being a moping potato to be of any help, so I'm calling Hange."
"Hange?" Eren snaps awake, eyes focusing suddenly. "You aren't coming with?" nervousness edges into Eren's voice and Levi snorts. Going out into a strange world with a stranger person was going to be an adventure, to say the least.
"No. Like I said, I'm shit at shopping." Levi repeats. "And I've got a novel to work on. Deadlines to meet, rough drafts to send in. Book sales slow to a stop eventually, and when the royalties from my first book run out I've gotta support myself somehow."
The look on Eren's face evokes memories of teaching Isabel long division, the familiar expression of pursed lips and wide eyes blinking once, twice, before Eren nods in a semblance of understanding.
"Oh, makes sense."
"You have no idea what I just said."
"Yeah, you got me." Something that faintly seems like a smile crosses Eren's face. The boy is still fiddling anxiously at the hemming of his cotton shirt, and Levi waves him away to finish brushing his teeth as he fetches his phone to dial for more-likely-drunk-than-not editor.
"Hange won't hurt you." Levi calls down the hall as the phone begins dialing. "Much," he whispers. "Just have fun, yeah? Ask about anything you want to know about our world, but make sure you really want to know, because I can't tell you how many times I've been mentally scarred—"
"Levi! And to what do I owe this pleasure?"
Their voice is so chipper Levi pulls the phone away from his ear an arm's length away before cautiously bringing it nearer again.
"Hange. Inside voice, we talked about this. You're talking into a receiver, not ordering McDonalds through a drive-through."
He hears a soft "What the hell is a MacDonalds?" from the bathroom and sighs. He gave it two hours before Eren's cluelessness gets him kicked out of his new job. It's a humble establishment, but Levi's sure they have standards of some sort.
"Oh, I'm sorry Levi, I drank a Red Bull earlier." Hange booms from the phone. "Guess it really gave me wings…of freedom! Haha, get it? Wings of freedom?"
Levi thinks he's going to throw out his back from all this sighing.
"Right, right, sorry. Did you want something? Is Eren still there?"
"Yes, Eren's still here, and he and the rest of the state can hear you because you're so loud. Anyway, I need a favour. I need you to come get Eren and take him shopping."
There's some sort of unearthly noise that comes from the phone, so loud it makes Eren cringe. Levi has flashbacks of accompanying Isabel (and a secretly enthusiastic Farlan) to some boy band's concert years ago. The shrieks the crowd emitted was at a decibel that could shame a banshee. His world was still shaking when Hange's emotional voice blares through the phone, "Levi!"
"I already regret this."
"Oh, my little Levi, asking me to take his little creation shopping? Not buying more note paper, or some reference book on the history of medieval torture or even anything related to writing but shopping! Oh Levi, Eren's having a fantastic influence on you already!"
"You know what? Nevermind, I'll—"
"Too late, no backsies. Give me fifteen minutes and I'll be there." Click.
Levi glances over, to see a fearful Eren peering from behind the doorjamb of the bathroom. He sends him a helpless shrug. Mere mortals were powerless in the presence of natural disasters like Hange anyway. (He supposed that's why hurricanes were named after humans).
"Guess the neighbourhood convenience store had a change of employees. Rookies don't know the danger of giving Hange energy drinks yet. Oh well, your problem."
x
Eren discovers that Hange isn't really all that bad, despite the initial meeting.
Exactly fourteen and a half minutes later, there are loud bangs from the front door, before Hange remembers that they own keys to Levi's apartment. The keys jingle and the lock clicks before the door flies open and Hange bounces in jovially. They greet Eren by invading his personal space, and then ignore Levi's complaints to close the door when they come in goddamnit, opting to enter the kitchen to deposit more energy drinks in the fridge.
Eren has exactly one minute to pull on Levi's too small shoes before Hange pulls him out into the unknown.
- And the unknown? It's amazing. Spending time with an overexcited ball of energy meant that questions were explained and over-explained before he could even ask them. Some terminology flies over his head, but Eren can't find it in himself to mind. Hange's exuberance was infectious, and even if they initially seemed to always be two steps ahead of him, he soon realizes that he was chasing up and they were walking side by side by late afternoon. He ends up taking Levi's advice and tuning them out sometimes, too busy with the lights and people to be able to fully pay attention anyway.
The surroundings pass in a blur as Eren whisks through the city, hearing foreign noises like cars honking at them (and Hange screaming expletives back cheerfully) and taking in the amazing sights like a library that spanned three blocks (He thought of Armin but the sadness passed quickly). The effervescence of experiencing the city soon expells the brooding thoughts that enter his mind when he sits alone in the quiet of Levi's apartment.
Right now, there's no question that he's well and truly alive. Immersed fully in the streets, he should be part of this world now, one of the many people laughing and living in the city. But somehow, it feels like a farce.
He isn't real, or maybe he is, but he wasn't? Either way, he still feels no gravity, like he's a phantom that was simply biding his time in this world. It almost seemed too good to be true, a reality where no concrete walls would constrain you, would remind you that you lived in constant fear.
But what about home? His friends, his family, the monsters? Was it a blessing to have suffered so long to finally be told that the pain was fictional? All this time, the raw pain he felt at being orphaned so young was invalidated because he was a figment of an imagination. Even Mikasa, twice-orphaned, still "existed" in a realm of suffering while he was here in a supposedly "real" world.
He knows he's lucky though, despite this existential crisis that would soon pass. He especially knows as he eats the street fare known as a "hotdog", a simple treat that Sasha would have rightly treated as a luxury back home.
People his age were smiling, laughing, living. Born free as they should be. It was too good to be true.
And he was too young then, but he knew now, what Hannes meant as he cried into his fifth bottle of cheap liquor.
Survivor's guilt.
He hasn't cried yet. He's happy, has no right, absolutely no fucking right to cry on the smooth pavements, beside the undestroyed buildings, in the midst of the happiness he was surrounded with.
He stops in front of the building just to breathe anyway.
"You okay, bud?" Hange finally stops talking to notice him stare in awe, grinning themselves. "Aren't cities amazing? And I'm speaking as a person born right in the heartlands!"
He blinks and breathes. "Yeah, I… Yeah."
"Wait till night, when the lights come on, it'll be amazing!" they touch his arm, asking with an unusually gentle tone, "Shall we?" with a gesture to the store and he nods firmly, finally moving again toward the building.
The inside is noticeably more muted than the hustle and bustle of the streets. There's soft music playing from what seems like the ceiling, and Hange is babbling again but he's too distracted to pay attention until he's hit in the face by a shirt.
"Here's the men's department! Hey, go try that on. And this, and try this too." Eren ends up with a pile of t-shirts and tanktops and pants a mile high, staggering under its weight, as Hange opens the clasp on their wallet and pulls out a card that shimmers gold under the fluorescent lamps. "Go wild, buddy, Levi's taking care of the tab".
x
Eren's backed into a small room with a mirror at Hange's insistence, feeling panic begin to swirl before Hange helpfully calls from behind the thin plywood door
"Just lock the door and try on the clothes! I'll be waiting right out here."
There're shirts of all sizes here, and Eren isn't even sure Hange looked at what they picked up before tossing it at him. He opens the door after every outfit, letting them give their opinion—Oh, oh no, harem pants don't…No., Whoa okay Pete Wentz called and he wants his extra skinny jeans back, and I'm sorry, I didn't realize I threw leopard print in there please forgive me.
He finally manages to create a style they like after what seems like hours of trying on clothes, a t-shirt with a plaid jacket thrown over it and some jeans. They raise an eyebrow.
"You actually pull of that look really well… Hey, come here." they motion him over and toss a knitted hat toward him, making gestures for him to put it on. Once he figures out how it's supposed to go, he earns a big grin from Hange.
"You really do do the hipster look well! I bet if we just got you a scarf you could..."
Eren can't suppress the lurch he feels at the mention of a scarf, and it must have shown, because Hange sputters in an attempt to retract what they just said, but the awkward silence is already settling over them.
Hange chokes at their own insensitivity. How could they have forgotten the blandly written female character that played the role of the main one's adopted sister from Levi's rough drafts? Eren looks the part of a disheveled teen as he toys with his shirt hem, refusing to make eye contact.
"Oh, Eren." they get up from their seat just outside the dressing room, moving toward him to envelope him in a hug. He stiffens at the touch. "I'm sorry, I didn't even think…. Of course you'd miss her, you still have your memories from the book, don't you?"
He hesitates before he answers. "Kind of. They're hazy, but they're coming back. It's not a big deal though; it was a crappy place so…"
"Eren, look at me." a beat, but he finally raises his gaze up. There's a determined look in Hange's eyes, one that could possibly rival his own. "We can fix this."
He flinches as Hange releases him, only to tug him to the cashier. "We'll just get Levi to create your friends too! His house is more than big enough, and besides they're all used to living together… It'll be fine!"
Eren shakes his head. "I don't know, I think he likes being alone. I don't even know if he can-"
"But that's exactly why he needs more people around!" they pile the clothes on the check out, passing the card over to the cashier. "He thinks he has 'aloof' charm or whatever, but honestly, he's just awkward. Last time he was invited for an interview, he stared at the interviewer so hard they forgot everything they were going to say to him because he scared them. He's a goddamn disaster. But if he had to deal with a bunch of people around all the time, it'd be so great for him!"
Hange slips the card back into the wallet once they things are paid for and plants their hands on their hips. "Come on, we need to get back as soon as we can! We'll settle with this first, we can always come back if we need more… Hurry, Eren!"
He's being dragged around once more before he can even process what's happening, to the car and then they're going so fast that Eren's clinging onto the seatbelt for dear life. Hange busts through Levi's door, tossing the three bags of clothes onto the couch without so much as a second glance.
"Levi, we need to talk to you!"
Hange's voice booms so loud that the neighbours probably hear it. Eren's eyes widen when Levi comes around the corner, hair tousled and squinting like he had just woken up. He looks so disoriented, it's slightly-
Eren swallows thickly and averts his gaze to the floor, fingers running along the hem of his shirt again. What a trainwreck that line of thought was leading him to.
"I thought you were writing." Hange says, crossing their arms. Levi sighs, and Eren thanks his lucky stars that neither of him noticed his weird behaviour.
"I was doing research."
"By sleeping?"
"I have a very active imagination; things come to life when I'm dreaming. Weren't you supposed to be shopping?" his voice is accusatory, still thick with sleep. Hange motions to the bags behind them and retorts, "We did shop. Stop acting like the grumpy old man you are and come look at what we bought. Alsoyoushouldbringtherestofthecharacterstolife."
It takes Levi a second to process what they said, and when it finally goes through he sighs and drops his hands to his side.
"I don't want to see them; and you know damn well I can't, Hange, I told you that ."
Hange frowns and shoots forward, dragging Levi a few feet back, out of earshot.
"Look, I know you tried last night, but we're going to keep trying until it works"
Levi gives a defeated shrug. "Hange, I have no fucking idea how I even did it the first time. Can you two just put the clothes away and let me go back to my sleep?"
Hange hesitates for a moment, finally turning toward Eren. His face was impassive, but those green eyes dulled a little as he simply looked down again. They frown, with one last glance toward Levi.
"You're not getting out of this, Levi."
"Yeah, yeah."
"No, Levi, don't give me that, you know what's it like, don't you, what's Eren's going through?"
Levi stiffen and squares his shoulders at Hange's accusatory affront. "I'll try, alright? I solemnly swear to Hange, the nonbinary deity, that I shall continue with my efforts to bring forth fictional characters. But you don't ever, ever bring that up again."
"I was kind of hoping to hear it without the sarcasm, but you called me a God so yeah that's good." Hange grins and ignores the veiled threat. They'll consider this a victory, although it was a risky move to poke at unhealed wounds. Desperate times. Turning toward the couch, they pick up two bags and toss the last one toward Eren. "Let's go organize your closet."
"Oh- Yeah, okay."
After they both trot off, Levi leans against a wall a pinches the bridge of his nose. Only with Hange would he put up with that much shit. Opening his eyes back up, he catches sight of something on the couch and frowns.
"Hey, you two forgot a scarf! Don't leave shit lying around my house."
There's a pause where nobody says anything and Levi scowls, about to open his mouth to repeat the statement. But before he can get any words out Hange pops out from the doorway of the room, eyes wide.
"Levi, we didn't buy a scarf."
His eyebrows pull together in confusion. "Well it's fucking June so it sure as hell isn't-"
Levi's sentence is cut off by Eren sprinting out of the room, barely missing slamming into the corner as he races toward the couch. He snatches the red scarf up, holding the material to his face, examining the stitches closely
Hange isn't too far behind, standing next to Levi to gape. "You made her scarf but not her?"
"Yes, abso-fucking-lutely Hange. I just knit in my free time. What the fuck are you talking about?"
Hange turns their attention back to the couch where Eren stands. "Eren, is it-"
"It's Mikasa's."
There's no doubt in his voice as he says it, clenching it tightly in his hands. It's ragged and worn down, exactly how it was in his mind. "So is she-?"
Then there's a single creak, from the upstairs.
Absolutely none of them move a muscle. They strain their ears in the silence, until Levi finally grumbles, "That better fucking be her, because this house is new and it shouldn't be creaking already. HEY WOMAN, DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING, YOU HEAR? "
Eren takes off, hollering as he goes. "Mikasa? Is that you? Answer me if you hear me!" He hits the first steps so hard that Levi's afraid he's going to crush through them with nothing but pure will. It's almost amazing to see it, the pure excitement and passion in his eyes- that fire that he took so much time describing finally showing up. Like a movie based off of one of his novels, with absolute perfect casting.
But he misses a step and Levi swears he doesn't remember writing 100% dork into his description as he starts to fall forward, obviously about to smack his face directly into the stairs. It's like a trainwreck, Hange gasps next to him but neither of them can peel their eyes away- especially when Levi knows he'll probably be cleaning up whatever blood spurts out of his soon-to-be-broken nose from this later.
The impact doesn't come. Eren slams his shoulder into the hardwood ground, but his head lands on something vaguely soft. He makes the mistake of looking up to realise that it was a pale arm, and he stills for a second.
"Oh God! Where's her body?" Eren screeches "Levi, she didn't make it here in one piece! Levi!"
From down the stairs, Levi flicks the attic light on to reveal a prone form that was very much intact, but previously concealed in the dark, and he rolls his eyes at Eren's cry of relief. "Is she all there?" He calls, and Eren replies slowly "Yes… but uh, do you think you could bring some clothes over?"
x
When she's clothed and laid down on the sofa, the trio simply circle the unconscious girl in silence. That is, until Hange breaks the silence by squealing.
"There, there she is! Mikasa Yeager-"
"Ackerman." Levi corrects before he can stop himself, and a sudden rush of pride wells up at the sight of Eren carefully brushing Mikasa's hair from her face. He gives Hange a shrug at their pointed stare, a clear signal for 'I'll explain later.'
"Now shush, I think she's waking up."
She is. Her head lolls to the side and she blinks slowly, trying to recognize the mysterious warmth enveloping her. She's happy to find her red scarf wrapped around her neck, and surprised to find her brother's arms wrapped around her in a hug.
The touching scene is cut short when Hange begins gleefully jumping up and down in unbridled excitement, and Mikasa sits up abruptly to pull Eren closer protectively.
"Oh, this is amazing, Levi, look at them! Hello, Mikasa, I'm sure you're a little confused right now, but we'll explain everything in just a tic, alright? Eren, be a dear and get your sister a glass of water."
Eren leaves Hange to perform the ritual of freaking out the new creation, while Levi sits by looking contemplative. He doesn't notice Mikasa's white pants that mysteriously appeared on the spotless tile until too late, and then they slip out from under his feet as the ground rushes up to meet his head and he hears no more.
x
When Eren comes to, he's staring at the ceiling.
His brain is jumpstarted by the panic, and his heart jolts with the first thought of- the titans where is … outside the walls? Where's Mikasa and Armin and-
And then suddenly everything comes back. the fact that he's a fictional character, the shopping, Mikasa being back. He feels the fist that he wasn't aware he was clutching loosen.
There's no direct danger, he's with his sister, and he's safe.
There are voices that are still too muffled for him to make out as he makes his way to consciousness, and as he stirs they all suddenly stop.
"-Ren? Eren?"
He recognizes that voice vaguely, it's smooth and low, comforting, and most of all familiar. He blinks a few times as he realizes who it belongs to.
"Mikasa?"
He doesn't try to sit up, because the world is still spinning. All he can focus on without the nausea and the pounding headache setting in is Mikasa adjusting the pillow beneath him, that familiar concerned frown on her face. He could just hug her again.
"Glad to have you back, Eren." that voice belonged to Hange, sitting in a chair across from where he was laying… The couch, maybe? "But Mikasa's right, you need to lie back down. Levi's in the back washing up all the clothes that have been appearing out of nowhere. Way too much going on right now."
Things are slowing down, his heart slows in his chest until he can't hear it's frenzied pounding anymore. Mikasa's still staring down at him and he tries to ask her a question, but his throat is dry, so he remains quiet instead.
"They told me everything." her face betrays nothing, emotions fully under control as she slowly lifts him up with no apparent strain, bringing a glass of water to his lips. Her mask slips for a moment and he tries to read her- doubt? Hope? Relief? It's gone as soon as it came. "I guess it's true."
Eren focuses on the ceiling beyond her face, nodding silently.
"Do you know how you got here?"
"I don't remember anything." she admits. He nods.
"Yeah, me neither."
The sofa is so soft beneath him, the clothes he's wearing nothing like the coarse fabric of his uniform, that a sudden thought occurs to him. He slowly sits up, Mikasa's hand hovering on his back, and he swallows before asking "Do we get to go shopping again?"
There's a beat where no one says anything, before Hange lets out a loud laugh. "And here I thought you didn't like it! You looked exhausted the entire time!"
He glances down sheepishly, shrugging. "Well, the clothes part wasn't so bad, but seeing outside was…"
"Ohh. Of course, we'll go back outside. What, did Levi say he was going to lock you up in the house forever or something?"
Levi snorts, and the sound almost makes Eren jump. He had been so focused on Hange and Mikasa that he didn't even notice the other man's presence. When had he come back into the room?
"Actually, I told him to get a job. That's what you were supposed to go get clothes for, and instead you bought him an entire goddamn wardrobe."
Hange shrugs. "He needed it. And yeah, we will have to go get her clothes, but I guess we'll have to wait until tomorrow since it's night now… Oh, that's right!" suddenly clapping their hands together, they turn their full attention onto Levi. "Earlier I told Eren we could go see the city at night. If he's feeling up to it, we could all pile into my car and hang out at the park…"
Levi frowns but Eren pipes up before he can object. "And we can show Mikasa what it's like out there! It's so different, Mikasa, it's incredible."
All eyes turn onto the girl. She fidgets with her scarf, but her face remains impassive. "... Whatever Eren wants to do."
In an instant, both Eren and Hange are on their feet and pulling Mikasa and Levi to theirs. Levi looks mildly annoyed, but gets shotgun before anyone else can climb in as Eren and Mikasa pile into the backseat, kicking aside the empty cans of red bull while Levi gripes about the sorry state of the car.
The instant they exit the parking lot, Eren is talking about the things Hange had showed him earlier, repeating what he could remember. They were almost impressed with how much he had remembered. And Hange was just sure Eren was zoning them out most of the time! Driving through the city, they stop off at a deserted park, peaceful with all people gone so late at night. Eren struggles with the door handles as Levi comes around to open it up, feeling more and more every passing second like he had just adopted two children.
And truly, the look on Eren's face was nothing but childish wonder. It was so… Odd, to see character quirks he had added to him manifest in a world he was never meant for.
Well, technically this was "outside the walls" too, Levi guessed.
As Hange gave them the all-clear to snoop around and mess with as much stuff as they wanted here, Levi sat down on a bench and thought. Was this some sort of super power? He could just create people out of thin air? What if -
"So, ready to explain to me why you changed Mikasa's last name to yours?"
He rubs his temple as Hange takes a seat next to him, half their face obscured by the backlit fluorescent park lights. He fishes a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, lighting one up and taking a drag.
"Can't I have just one thought to myself without you interrupting?"
He says nothing more, but Hange waits, eyes glinting in the weak light.
"My sister."
The answer is blunt, and he doesn't look at them when saying it. Hange looks down and remains silent.
"I figured as much." They look up, inhaling deeply "I'm… Sorry, Levi. What I did just now, it wasn't fair on you. I know what it's like as well." The murmur as they link their pinkie finger with Levi's in a gesture of solidarity is low. "I'm not too sure this is an entirely healthy way to deal with it," they look at Eren and Mikasa, the former pointing up at a street lamp. "but I'm not going to tell you how to grieve. She's not her. Just remember that. You cut me off after two months of drinking myself blind, so expect nothing less from me."
Levi exhales, nodding slowly, but says nothing. The smoke floats up around them and hangs in the summer air, where other than the droning cicadas and Eren's excited voice, all is silent.
"Also, you should really quit that habit. It's disgusting."
"Shh, go bug the kids"
They grin, patting him on the back. "You're right, I'll leave you to your brooding, because when living with those two sets in," they point a thumb at the pair behind them transfixed at working the water fountain, "You won't have much time for that anymore"
They giggle as Levi slumps back into the bench, watching Hange traipse toward the other two and start pointing at something in the distance.
He fumbles in his pocket and pulls out a small key, the one to his drawer. This could be interesting.
Mikasa walks over solemnly and tugs on his sleeve.
"Father?"
"Hange I told you to cut that shit out!"
A/N: two updates in one week! i wouldn't hold my breath on this being a continuing trend, though I'd LIKE to be able to keep it that way. i'm having so much fun with this fic haha
before anyone asks about it (i'm sure it will come up in someone's mind), the novel he's writing is pretty clearly SNK, BUT with differences. (like the fact that eren and co are 18.) there are other differences, but they'll be revealed through the story and i don't wanna spoil anything! but if it seems like im leaving something out, there's a good chance it's deliberate.
anyway, thank you all so much for the positive feedback and interest i've gotten on the first chapter! i hope i can still hold everyone's attention!