The next day found Eren chained to a post in the middle of a court room. Various noblemen and military on one side. Obviously the side that didn't want him to ever see another day. On the other side were his fellow trainees and other members of the Survey Corps. Levi among them which meant that was the side that wanted him to live. Levi and Erwin had stopped by at the ass crack of dawn and told him no matter what to go along with whatever Levi said or did. Eren fully agreed. He had already brushed the whole pet thing aside thinking that they weren't serious about making him a pet. That would just be highly ludicrous. He took a deep fortifying breath and turned back to the panel of judges.
To say that he was annoyed by the proceedings was an understatement. He was fucking furious. These damn bastards branding him a monster. He was no such thing! He wanted to save humanity not eat them! Dammit it was annoying. He just continued to seethe quietly and grind his fangs together. If he could've seen himself, he would have realized he was playing his role of angry unstable monster to a tee. Eventually the proceeding judge turned to him and asked what he had to say about the situation. Oh did Eren have a lot to say.
"This is utter and complete bullshit!" he spat angrily. "I have always lived as a human since the day I was born. I don't know why all of a sudden I have all these…annoying cat things coming from me, but I am not a fucking monster. I don't want to devour your children or rip out your throats! I want to fight the actual fucking monsters that want to do that-" he would have kept ranting angrily if it wasn't for the hard slap across his face. His head snapped to the side and his cheek got cut on the little fangs in his mouth. A burst of metallic poured on his tongue. He blinked and tried to look at his assailant only to have his face slapped to the other side. A hard kick to his stomach had him wheezing for air. He collapsed on the ground in a stunned heap getting another kick.
"This is the boy you're all scared of" Levi mocked in a derisive tone. "Look at him he can barely get off the ground. All of you are chickens. I can't believe they let you out of your coops to come here. This boy isn't something to be afraid of. He is something to study and use to our advantage. He's just a kitten that needs to be trained."
Silence filled the room after the declaration and it was filled with murmurs a couple seconds later. Levi pointedly ignored the mumbling as he stared at the panel of judges. He also pointedly ignored Mikasa's wave of death threats. Stupid woman is going to give herself away one of these days.
"And you're suggesting that you be the one to tame him and use him?" one of the judges asked in a calculating tone.
"Yes. If he misbehaves, I will punish him accordingly. If he can't be tamed, then I will put the pathetic creature out of his misery. If anyone in this military has the right and capability to do so, it is me. I have already proven that I am more than willing to do what is needed for humanity."
There was shouts of disagreement from the opposing faction, but the judges quickly silenced the outburst. "What if he goes on a blood thirsty rampage and you aren't close enough to stop him?"
Levi sighed. "First of all, he will be at our base which is quite out of the way of civilization. Second, we'll use this. Eren sit up."
Eren complied and then felt crashing shame as Levi put a thick black leather collar around his throat. A tiny little padlock was closed into place making it so the collar couldn't be removed without a key. He looked up into the steely silver eyes and swallowed past the lump in his throat. They said to just go with it. He had to trust them. Although it was hard to not to let his eyes shimmer with tears. Levi's thin lips thinned even further.
"This collar was designed last night by Hanji. Everyone on my squad and only my squad will have one of these remotes on a bracelet. One of my squad will always be accompanying him. If he so much as steps a hair out of line…well…" Eren screamed as electricity ripped through his neck and body. He fell back to the floor hard as his muscles spasmed. "See he will be perfectly under our control."
"If I may?" Erwin spoke up from the sidelines. With a nod from one of the judges. "I completely back Captain Levi on this endeavor and believe we will be able gain valuable intel from having a Nekoti in custody and one that can be reasoned with and trained."
Eren couldn't even pay attention anymore to the droning voices. His body was still shaking with aftershocks. He closed his eyes and just focused on breathing. In and out. In and out. He wasn't sure how long it went on, but eventually Levi was hauling him to his feet and his chains were being removed.
"You did good kid. Sorry about the pain" Levi whispered as he directed Eren out of the now empty room.
Eren let Levi direct him in daze to an office in another building. He recognized Hanji who came running to him immediately. She tilted his head this way and that and pried open his sore mouth to take a peek inside. "Damn Levi. You did a number on this kid."
"I know. Shut up and just get that fucking collar off of him" Levi snapped irritated and tossed a tiny key at the woman.
Hanji instantly got the torturous contraption off of his neck and Eren breathed a sigh of relief. He never wanted to see that damn fucking painful thing again. A knock on the door drew Eren's attention and Levi cracked it open just a tad to see who was on the other side. A moment later a short strawberry blonde woman came in. She was carrying a bottle of what Eren assumed was alcohol and a shot glass.
"Here sweetheart drink some of this. It should help numb the pain. I'm Petra by the way" Petra smiled sweetly and handed Eren over the glass.
He looked at it warily and then said screw it. His body ached everywhere. The drink fucking burned at the gashes in his cheek and burned his throat on the way down. He coughed to fight off the awful feeling and tears sprang to his eyes.
"Great just poison the kid into incoherence. Lovely" Levi grumbled and ran a hand over his face. "Can you two give us a moment alone please?"
"Of course Short Stack" Hanji saluted and hooked her arms with Petra.
"I swear to God Four Eyes. One of these days-" Levi started, but was cut off by Petra.
"See you in a little bit Eren" Petra stated cheerfully as she was drug out the door.
The room fell into silence after that. Levi continued to stare at the closed door and Eren continued to stare at the man who literally just beat the shit out of him. Man he was really short wasn't he? Eren was still scared shitless to be in a room alone with the man though despite his short stature. First because he was kind of his all-time hero. Second, he had no doubt that Levi could still kick his ass even when he wasn't chained to a pole. Eren looked around the room curiously until Levi took a deep breath. Then his eyes locked with Levi's and he held his breath.
"Are you alright?" Levi asked finally.
"I will be. I guess" Eren mumbled and then grimaced at the dull ache of his jaw.
"I'm sorry about all of that. I had to make it theatrical and believable in order to sway their stupid opinions. I really didn't want to hurt you Eren."
Eren shrugged and then finally looked away from those piercing eyes. "I understand…thanks for saving my life again…"
"Yeah well I hate when decent people are wasted over stupid fears. Just because you don't understand something or someone doesn't make them evil" Levi stated bluntly. Eren watched Levi walk behind his desk and fish something out of it. He then looked up at Eren and sighed. "I'm sorry Eren. You aren't going to like this, but we have to keep up appearances." Levi raised another black leather collar in the air.
"What!? No. You can't be serious" Eren choked out.
"Unfortunately I am, but don't worry this one isn't wired or any shit like that. It's just a run of the mill collar." Levi started back towards where Eren was sitting and even if he wanted to, he couldn't look away from those wide gorgeous eyes. He could feel excitement course through his veins at having this adorable man collared and identified as his. "After all Eren, every good pet needs a collar" he added with a tad bit of amusement. Eren's face was priceless as that.
"I'm not a pet!" he said back defiantly, but fell silent as Levi bent towards him and trailed a finger against his neck. Now instead of feeling defiant he felt nervous and awkward as all get out. He swallowed heavily as Levi met him at eye level.
"Now Eren being my pet doesn't sound that horrible does it?" Levi asked and took a deep breath in through his nose to relish at the slight smell of Eren's blood in the air.
"Uh…" Eren uttered stupidly and blushed just as stupidly. "I guess not…"
"Good. I'm happy you understand the situation. Now hold still." Levi gently wrapped the leather collar around that delicious looking neck. His fingers lingered on the rapid pulse he could feel just under the surface.
Eren was kind of freaking out. Here was this hella attractive man running his fingers gently across his neck. He stamped out the shiver that almost ran through his body and took a shaky breath. God he hoped Levi couldn't hear how loud his heart was. This was ridiculous. The last thing he needed was Levi to think he was not only some kind of monster, but some kind of weirdo as well.
"All done. Unfortunately I can't let you run around freely, so until we get back to our base you are under lock and key. I don't want to hear any bitching about it either. You'll spend the rest of the day in your cell and tomorrow we'll head out."
Eren nodded numbly and trailed his own fingers across the leather brand on his neck. "Umm…Captain?"
"Yes Eren" Levi drawled back as he leaned on his desk.
"Are you looking for more people on your squad?"
"Why?"
"Well I was wondering about my sister Mikasa and my friend Armin. They just joined the Survey Corps like me and haven't been assigned to a squad."
Levi narrowed his eyes at the fidgeting male. "Hmm… Why would I care about that? You don't think I'm going to treat you any differently from the rest of my squad just because you're all furry and shit do you?"
"No of course not!" Eren responded quickly. "I just thought that if you were looking for more team members I would recommend them. Mikasa is the best fighter I know and Armin is a genius."
"I'll think about it. Now get up it's time to take you back to your cell."
XX
Eren could feel the shame and embarrassment crushing him as they walked towards that stupid prison. People were looking. People were talking. People were scorning him. Fuck what the hell happened? A couple days ago he was just some random person in the military. Now he was some mutant with a fucking collar following around one of the most impressive men he had ever heard of or seen. He had never felt so incredibly small or disgusting. He kept his eyes glued to the ground in front of him to avoid meeting any of those hateful gazes.
Levi sighed. God people could be so incredibly cruel when they didn't understand something. He glanced at the dejected man next to him. Eren was too young to be dealing with this shit and he just looked pathetic. Fuck. He was totally going to let those other stupid brats join his squad wasn't he? Here he was already treating Eren differently even though he said he wouldn't. He had to ask himself why? Was it just because he looked as delicious as he tasted? He froze mid step and thought about what he just thought about. He did not seriously just think about how absolutely delicious and attractive this punk was did he? Because if he did, than that would mean-
"Captain?" Eren ventured hesitantly next to the man deep in thought. His silver eyes staring straight ahead under furrowed slim black eyebrows.
Levi blinked and shook his head. "Nothing. Let's get keep moving." Levi decided he would think about all of this later when he was alone in his office. It was just too weird for him.
They finally made it to the prison building and both let out a sigh of relief. One out of relief of not being looked at anymore and one for not having to witness any more pathetic show of self-loathing. Levi knew he wasn't quite out of the woods yet for witnessing it, but it helped not having an audience.
"Hey brat don't let them get to you. There is nothing wrong with what you are" Levi said in a voice that he hoped was consoling or some shit like that.
Eren let out a sarcastic snort. "Easy for you to say. You're everyone's hero where I'm nothing but a freak…"
Levi sighed and then did something automatically. He petted the top of Eren's head. His hand lingering a little longer than was probably necessary because hell that was some fluffy hair and those ears were velvety soft.
Eren's heart lurched in his chest and he stared in shock at the enigma of a man next to him. Captain Levi is not petting him right now, right? He's just going crazy. That had to be it because anything else was…well…unbelievable. Levi glanced up at him and when they locked eyes, he couldn't help to notice the shock reflected in those silver orbs. Levi quickly pulled his hand back and coughed awkwardly while Eren internally kind of fangirled and wanted to swoon. He did not however because it would be mortifying in front of Levi. Instead he awkwardly coughed as well.
"Alright here we are. Get in and get comfy. Hanji will probably stop by to clean your wounds again and hopefully scrounge up some better pain killers than vodka" Levi held the cell door open and watched as Eren walked awkwardly in. He didn't say anything further and just shut the door, turned the key and marched off.
Eren watched in a daze and then flopped down on the hard smelly mattress. Really this was not how he envisioned meeting Levi at all. Like never ever in all of his years of knowing about the legendary man. The man that literally just fucking petted him! Not only that, he was wearing a fucking collar that had a shiny little tag emblazoned with Squad Levi on it. His fingers played with the cool metal as his mind mused over how shitty yet kind of wonderful his life had gotten. Wonderful because he was on Squad Levi. The best squad in existence. The squad with the sexiest and most intense man he had ever laid eyes on. His face flared crimson at the thought and his heart pounded in his chest. The unbelievable excitement crashed though when he accidently scratched his neck with a pointy claw. He frowned heavily and glared at the offending hand. That's right. He's a freak. There's no way Levi would look twice at him. He just literally saw him as a pet. Why else would he pet him?
At some point Eren must have dosed off because the next thing he knew, Hanji was babbling cheerfully as she entered the room. Eren groaned groggily at the noise assault and then grunted when something hit him in the chest. He grabbed the item and came back with a chunk of bread. He saw movement coming at him again and quickly caught the sailing chunk of orange.
"Great reflexes!" Hanji beamed. "Eat quick and then we'll strip you down and clean you up."
Eren made an uncomfortable noise as he sat up. His muscles ached everywhere. He sighed and then took a bite of the rock hard bread. Another pained noise escaped him at the ache in his jaw and mouth. He quit chewing and just kind of sucked on the bread coating it with saliva hoping to soften it up. He glanced up at Hanji who was sitting on the floor cross legged watching him with a creepy intensity. Her chin rested comfortably in the palm of her hand. Eren shifted uncomfortably and looked away. He continued to eat slowly and Hanji continued to watch him quietly. She eventually got up and put a flask of water on the bed next to him and moved back to her viewing spot. Eren sipped at the water and his face scrunched at the bitter taste.
"There's herbs mixed in to help with inflammation and reducing pain" Hanji explained.
"Oh ok then" Eren took another sip.
When Eren finished the meager meal of bread and cheese, he obediently stripped down. The smile that Hanji was sporting was again kind of creepy and Eren looked away awkwardly. He tried not to flinch as she went about her work chatting away.
"Seriously Eren, you and I are going to have so much fun getting to know every little quirk about you" Hanji sighed pleasantly and patted his head. "I would get started right now with my experiments, but Levi ordered me not to. He can be such a party pooper sometimes. Not much I can do about it right now though. I'm all done here. Rest up kiddo and I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah see you tomorrow…" Eren mumbled as he pulled his pants that had seen better days on. When he was fully dressed and resting back on the bed, he actually missed the maniac of a woman. At least it filled the area with noise and she was friendly. Now it was just quiet and he only had his thoughts for company.
Eren's ear twitched as it picked up footsteps walking down the hall. He quickly bolted to a sitting position and rubbed at his eyes as he tried to fully escape the world of sleep. It was still super early and only the faintest orange light was pouring in from a lone window further down the corridor. He eagerly watched the door to see who it would be this time. He felt a smile tug at his lips when Levi appeared outside the bars. "Morning Captain" Eren said pleasantly. He then yawned and stretched trying to loosen his muscles.
Levi was just about to retort when his words dried up as Eren yawned showing a little row of pearly fangs and he arched his slim figure beautifully. His arms above his head pulled his shirt up just enough to reveal a thin strip of tan stomach. "Morning brat" Levi responded grouchily and unlocked the door. He stepped inside the room and chucked a bundle of clothes at the kid. The ones he was currently wearing were ripped and covered with his blood. Something that Levi found annoyingly distracting and unacceptable. "Change clothes, so we can get the hell out of this city. Unfortunately you won't be able to bathe here, but maybe we'll find a small lake to throw you in later on the way back to base."
"It's alright Captain. I've been dirtier than this before" Eren responded innocently. He had just removed his shirt when a wave of self-consciousness hit him. "Uh…can you give me a moment to change?"
Levi was leaning against the frame of the door with folded arms. His gaze steady on the man in front of him. He had planned on leaving, but Eren's stupid little comment about being dirty had put very inappropriate thoughts into his head. Now he was just didn't feel like leaving. "Why? Trying to hide something? I already saw you practically naked when Hanji was fixing you up. Quit being a twat and get changed."
Eren flushed and lowered his gaze. "Yes Captain" he mumbled and then stepped off the bed. He faced away from Levi as he slipped out of his pants because he didn't want Levi to see how red his face undoubtedly was.
Levi's gaze trailed over Eren's back with calculating eyes. He took in every bandage, flex of lean muscles, that round plump ass and long sexy tan legs. His fangs descended the tiniest amount and he quickly squashed the desire to sink his fangs into any part of that tasty body. Hell what was wrong with him? It didn't even matter if he wanted to bite the brat, he would never do it. When Eren turned back fully clothed and looked at him, Levi flushed the tiniest bit. He then internally scolded himself. He didn't fucking blush. Not ever. He looked away and started out down the corridor.
"Well come on brat. We're leaving now" Levi called behind him. His heart pounded as he heard Eren's footsteps hurrying to catch up to him. He quickly tried to calm himself down. Eren was his subordinate. Yeah, he was 18, but still compared to Levi, Eren was practically a child. He shouldn't be thinking any of these thoughts. This type of fixation was dangerous and completely unprofessional. He would push these wicked desires back down into the murky depths they belonged in.
Eren took a deep breath as they stepped outside relishing in the fresh air. He glanced around nervously, but there weren't that many people up milling about yet. He let out a relieved sigh and scratched the back of his head. Although he did frown as they walked up to Levi's squad saddling the horses. Mikasa and Armin were not amongst the group and he hadn't seen them outside. His eyes quickly scanned the area. He had been hoping Levi would take them with, but it appeared that wasn't the case. He frowned heavily as his heart sank. Was he really going to leave without even saying goodbye?
Levi watched the pathetic display and sighed. Dammit! He was really going to recruit those dumb brats just to make this dumb bratty cat happy. Shit. When did he get so damn soft? Although he did feel like letting that snarly vampire princess squirm just for a little bit longer. She had kind of pissed him off. "Eren quit sulking. That's an order" Levi said in a bored irritated voice. Eren turned to look at the man next to him and Levi actually groaned out loud when he saw the despair reflected in those eyes that were a color he just couldn't describe. "Oh for fucks sakes! Fine. You're bratty sister and blonde friend can join my squad, but it's not happening today, so fucking stop with that face already."
Eren's heart soared again and he beamed at Levi. Yes! Fuck yes! They would all be on the same squad. Levi was the absolute best. "Thank you Captain!"
"Shut up brat. If I hear one more word about it, I'm changing my mind. Now if you'll excuse me, I apparently need to go talk to Erwin before we get the hell out of here" Levi grumbled and pushed Eren into Hanji's welcoming arms. He then stalked back towards the buildings still grumbling at himself.
Eren had made a surprised noise and as Hanji started to squeeze him, he decided that playing dead was the best option. He just went kind of limp in her arms and waited patiently to be released. Unfortunately it wasn't happening as quickly as he wanted and Hanji was babbling excitedly at him again.
"Hanji let the boy breathe, you're smothering him" a stocky brunette with tan skin approached them and gave Hanji a pointed look.
Hanji sighed. "Fine, but when we get back to base, no one can keep me from you" Hanji winked and patted his head.
"Sorry about Hanji. I'm Gunther."
"Oh hi. I'm Eren" Eren greeted back and held out his hand for a handshake.
Gunther stared at his hand and his eyes didn't hide the trepidation lurking there. "Umm…right so Petra is getting your horse ready. She's over there" Gunther pointed and shifted uncomfortably.
Eren lowered his outstretched hand and tried to hide the hurt from his own eyes. "Right. Thanks" Eren replied stiffly and then turned to walk towards the woman.
"Eren!" Petra greeted warmly and grasped his arms. "How are you feeling?"
Eren smiled down at the sweet woman. He liked Petra. She kind of gave him motherly vibes and hell he could use some of those. It was different from Mikasa's motherly vibes because those could be suffocating at times. "I'm doing alright. Thanks Petra."
"You don't have to thank me and if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask" Petra released him and introduced him to the gray speckled horse he'd be riding.
"So this is the furry beast Captain Levi invited into our ranks huh?"
Eren stopped petting the horse and looked at an unattractive man with a mop of grayish brown hair. Well maybe Eren was being unfair to him in the looks category, but the sneer on the man's face was really hitting Eren's buttons. He returned the gaze and opened his mouth to retort. The man visibly wilted as his fangs were revealed.
"Oluo shut up" Petra growled at the man with her hands firmly placed on her hips. "His name is Eren and he is a member of Squad Levi, so don't be doing that stupid thing you always do."
Oluo looked wounded. "But Petra, what was Levi thinki-"
Eren flinched when the man bit his tongue. He then internally cheered. Ha take that judgmental prick.
"Is there a problem here?"
Oluo froze at the icy voice behind him. Eren's heart flipped. Petra just smiled warmly.
"Of course not Captain. I was just introducing Eren to his new hoofed friend and Oluo was just leaving to get on his own horse."
"Good. Let's saddle up and head out." Levi turned on his heel and marched off.
Eren watched a little deflated. Levi hadn't even glanced at him. He shook his head to clear it. It didn't matter if Levi looked at him. Why did he care so much? He hopped on his horse with the rest of Squad Levi and they headed out.
XX
By the second day, Levi had given up trying to ignore Eren's presence. He was currently riding next to the pleased looking male. His greenish bluish...uh…maybe jade colored eyes were catching the faint sunlight under the trees and they were twinkling happily. A small smirk occasionally graced his soft looking lips. When a bird would tweet, his brown pointy ears would swivel to listen better. Fuck he just looked fucking adorable and he was definitely happier out in the wilderness. More carefree. He wanted to see more of this Eren. Not the sulking self-loathing one.
"Hey Eren" Levi ventured after a while of watching the other man.
Eren drew his attention away from whatever was currently holding it with some effort. He looked at Levi and tilted his head slightly. "Yes Captain?"
"I want to see what kind of moves you can do with that gear. The only thing I got to witness the other day was you scrap fighting." Eren looked away shamefaced. "Dammit! Stop that. I didn't say it to make you feel bad about yourself" Levi sighed in annoyance. "Just join me in the trees, so I can see what you can do in the air."
Eren looked up and met his eyes. He smiled shyly and nodded. "Aye aye Captain" he saluted and then followed Levi's example and maneuvered on the horse. A moment later he was trailing Levi through the thick canopy of trees. He marveled at how graceful Levi was and how pretty he looked with the orange, yellow and red leaves falling around him. He eventually quit watching Levi so closely and just started to enjoy the rush of flying through the air. A laugh escaped him every now and again as he felt the freedom consume his very soul.
Levi watched how Eren moved. He watched how those muscles flexed. He watched how those eyes shined with a brightness from the inside. He watched as grin after grin split that adorable face. Eren laugh echoed in the quiet around them and had Levi's blood singing in response. It was musical. It was beautiful and it permeated deep inside of his soul. This was the real Eren. This beautiful happy creature sailing through the air. His heart thudded loudly in his chest. He hadn't felt anything remotely close to this for decades. This complete peace pulsing through him.
