A/N: Sorry for the wait... ;^u^ some complications got in the way of fanfiction writing, but, at long last, here is chapter four ::33 enjoy!
Disclaimer: SnK does not belong to us yadda yadda yadda
Songs used:
Pigs on the Wing (Part two) - Pink Floyd
Smells Like Teen Spirit (a portion of it, anyway) - Nirvana
Chapter 4: Little Talks
Eren groaned as he exited the shiny black Porsche. "Drive a bit slower next time, eh Levi?" Eren closed the door behind him as Levi began to exit.
"Not a chance, brat." Levi stated as he slammed the door of his car. Eren smiled. For some reason beyond him, he loved when Levi was stern like that.
"So," Eren asked, "what are we doing today? At your apartment, I mean." Levi began walking towards the complex, his thumbs placed in his small jeans pockets.
"We have some serious catching up to do. And we're gonna do it right now." Eren felt slightly intimidated for some reason. Perhaps he knew that Erwin would come up at some point.
"Okay." Eren said. "Do you have any beer?" The taller boy asked, innocently.
Levi shot him a stern look. "None of that tonight. No repeats of last time, okay?" Eren shrank. He didn't want to be reminded of that... incident.
"Oh... Right." Eren looked down at his hands. He still felt bad about what happened last time, taking advantage of Levi like that... Levi's voice broke him out of his thoughts.
"But," he began. "If you're interested, I have two pints of coffee ice cream in my freezer. Better than beer, if you ask me."
Eren's eyes lit up at the mention of the creamy desert. "That's my favorite flavor. I'll gladly take that over beer."
"It's my favorite too. I remember that back from high school. We would grab a pint of the stuff and sit on one of our couches and watch Disney movies."
Eren vaguely remembered this and couldn't help but chuckle at the memory. He recalled that being almost a routine for them. They used to do that practically every weekend. The thought warmed Eren's heart as they walked into the elevator. They went through the ride up in a silence, however not an awkward one. More of a warm, comforting silence that they could both enjoy. And they both embraced this peacefulness as they continued out of the elevator and into the apartment. Eren was greeted with the strong smell of leather.
"Okay." Levi said, breaking the silence. "Get yourself comfortable. I'll get some snacks." Eren nodded, and headed for Levi's couch. He plopped down, and the couch creaked loudly as he did so. He loved the soft feeling and the bitter smell of the leather. It brought him comfort. Levi soon returned, placing two pints of coffee ice cream and two bottles of root beer on the coffee table in front of them. Levi then sat down next to Eren, leaning into him as he did so.
"Any particular reason you're using me as a pillow?" Eren smirked and looked down at the small man.
"This is how we used to sit. Let me have my shitty nostalgic moments, brat." Levi took a swig of his root beer. Eren chuckled and picked up his ice cream and spoon, popping off the lid to reveal the soft, creamy, deliciousness inside. He dug the spoon in and took a bite, immediately sending him to heaven.
"Oh god," Eren practically moaned as he shoveled another spoonful into his mouth. "This is the shit."
"Having a foodgasm, are you? Just don't get any ice cream on my couch, please. It can be a pain to clean."
"You're still a neat freak, I see," Eren said, smiling at Levi. "You obsessively cleaned anything you could. It was hilarious."
"I still do, and it's not funny. Cleaning is a very serious art."
"Then cleaning a non-stainable surface like leather should be easy to you, hmm?" Mocked Eren.
Levi humphed. "Don't talk like you clean shit."
Eren laughed. His seriousness was adorable. He took an easy concept and made it into an art. "Okay, okay. What movie are we watching?" Eren asked.
Levi walked over to his DVD rack. "I only have our old disney shit. Atlantis, Nightmare Before Christmas, Pocahontas, Little Mermaid."
Eren chuckled. "Little Mermaid?" Levi sent the same fierce glare as before.
"Little Mermaid is some serious shit, Eren." Eren couldn't get enough of Levi's seriousness. It was priceless. "And don't you fucking laugh. This was your copy. You always insisted on watching it. You had that obsession with the ocean. I think we promised to go together at some point." Levi removed the movie from the rack. "Let's watch it. For old time's sake."
"Sure," Eren said, and Levi inserted the DVD into the disk drive. He walked back over to the couch and regained his position on Eren.
"Have you been to the beach yet, brat?"
Eren sighed. "No, not yet. It's been hard to find time since my mom died-"
"Wait wait wait. Carla died?" Levi looked up at Eren with a look of sincere sadness and concern. Eren looked down at the ground.
"Yeah. During my freshman year. You knew her when she was sick, but it wasn't too bad then. It caught up with her, though."
"Eren, I'm so sorry-"
"It's fine Levi. I'd rather not talk about this. Not now anyway."
Levi nodded in understanding and turned back to the tv. His mind was elsewhere, though. I can't believe that Carla... He thought, remembering the sweet woman. She had been so kind to Levi, despite that he wasn't a very likable person. He felt terrible for Eren. Levi had moved from foster home to foster home back then, so he never got a real idea of family, but he remembered Carla being more of a mother to him than any of his foster mothers.
Levi couldn't imagine how Eren must have felt. Most of all, he regretted how he wasn't there for Eren. But, here they were. Years later, and reunited once again. Levi snuggled into Eren. He was going to make up for that lost time. Eren wrapped his own arm around Levi, bringing him in even closer. They both took swigs of their root beer, and ate at their ice cream. Just like old times, Eren thought. He felt wonderful. The movie began, and all of their attention was towards Levi's small TV.
Honestly, Levi wasn't too interested in watching the movie. He wanted to catch up with his Eren. "So Eren, how has your life with Mikasa been since we lost contact? Has she been treating you well?"
Eren gulped down on his root beer, finishing the bottle. "Very well. She's more overprotective than ever, but she treats me well." Levi was reassured at this statment. As stuck up as Mikasa was, she was certainly doing well in being almost a mother figure.
"That's good," Levi said before he ate a spoonful of coffee flavored goodness.
"So how'd you meet Hanji?" Eren asked. "She didn't go to our high school."
"Hanji was my roommate in my first year." Levi answered nonchalantly.
"But Hanji's a girl. How'd you end up roommates?"
"Actually," Levi paused to take a sip of his root beer. "Hanji's transgender."
Eren's eyes widened. "What? Really? She looks exactly like a girl..."
"She wasn't completely feminine back then. Her hair was shorter and she didn't have breasts yet. She referred to herself as a she, though. She was placed in the male dorms because she was technically male. She could probably get into the female dorms now if she wanted to."
"Huh," Eren said. "I never would've guessed..."
"Even though she identifies herself as female, her mannerisms still remain mostly masculine. She's perfectly happy though, and I think that's all that matters. She even has a boyfriend now. Moblit."
"Well," said Eren, "That's good for her. Do you have any more root beer?"
Levi sighed. "You down root beer like you do normal beer. You can have another, but I'm keeping a keen eye on you, Jaeger." He walked into the kitchen, and Eren could hear the faint sound of the refrigerator opening.
Eren took another spoonful of his ice cream. He was almost half done already. Levi had hardly had any. He put the ice cream down, not wanting to finish it off this early. Levi then returned with two clanking bottles of root beer and returned to his normal position, leaned up against Eren.
"So," Eren began, "what's the deal with you and Erwin?"
Levi sighed. "It's as I said before. We've been dating on and off since we met. Sometimes, we're just fuck buddies. It's only gotten serious a few times. We usually try not to get too deep into it."
"Any reason?" Eren was honestly curious at Levi's decision.
"Neither of us want to get too attached. We never know what will happen, considering how many one night stands we've had with random people." Levi chuckled slightly at this. "Besides, I don't think I'd be able to be in a long term relationship with Erwin. It seems like one of those things that would fade."
"I guess that makes some sense..." Eren thought for a second before continuing. "How serious have you two gotten?"
"I moved into Erwin's apartment at some point. It was almost like a honeymoon phase between us at the time. We called it off after a big fight we had, since we knew it would just lead to more and make things worse in the long run."
"Oh." Eren said. Did this mean that he thought him and Eren could last a long time? As if reading his mind, the smaller man spoke up.
"But you..." Levi started. "I think we could have a long term relationship with each other. It'd probably work out nicely" Eren smiled and leaned into Levi. This warmed his heart. He took a long swig of his root beer, and was interrupted by his phone buzzing in his pocket.
Levi looked down at it. "Mikasa?" He asked.
"Yeah, most likley." Eren reached for his phone and unlocked it. The message read:
Be home by tomorrow morning. No exeptions.
Eren sighed.
"Hey," Levi reasoned, "at least she's letting you stay the night."
Eren nodded. "Thats true."
Levi took a spoonful of ice cream before asking, "Do you ever get sick of Mikasa? Always being like this?"
"I have to admit it can get really frigging annoying, but I can understand why she does it. I've done some stupid things and always make her worried about me. The least I can do to make up for it is listen to her." Eren laughed.
"You're a good brat," Levi smirked and took a sip of his soft drink. Neither of then were really paying attention to the movie at this point.
"I feel flattered," Eren replied sarcastically and rolled his eyes.
"Heh. Good." Levi groaned and rubbed his eyes. "Hold on a sec. I'll be right back." He got up from his place on Eren and walked towards the bathroom. Eren took this as an opportunity to look around the apartment. It was spacious and very, very clean, but that was expected. Concert posters for various punk and prog-rock bands lined the walls, as well as some art prints. Eren was particularly fond of the Campbell's soup can print to the left of the tv. He noticed Levi's immense collection of CDs and saw that he even had some vinyl. He could remember the records from when he hung out at Levi's, though that was a rare occurrence since he was constantly being relocated.
"Back. Sorry about that. My eyes were killing me."
Eren looked back to see Levi walking back in his direction. A pair of black nerd-style glasses were on his face.
"You wear glasses?" Eren asked. He couldn't recall ever seeing him in glasses in high school.
"I got them when I started college. I usually wear contacts, but they can tire out my eyes."
"Well," Eren smiled, "I think they make you look cute."
Levi turned away and blushed slightly. "Shut up." Eren laughed and softly turned Levi back around. Levi looked away from Eren in a futile attempt to hide his embarrassment. Eren hugged him and brought his head into his chest.
"You don't need to be embarrassed of them." Eren placed a soft kiss on the top of Levi's head.
"Don't tell anyone about them." He said. Eren hugged him tighter.
"I won't."
Levi sighed. "You better not, brat."
"Hmm..." Eren made a pleased hum and nuzzled Levi's hair. The shorter man wriggled out of Eren's embrace.
"That's enough mushy shit for now, brat. I didn't give you permission to do that," Levi muttered and stared icily at Eren. Eren rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
"Sorry. It just felt right at the time... You just looked so adorable-"
Levi placed a finger to Eren's lips, shutting him up. He glared at the emerald eyed boy. "I let you calling me 'cute' slide, but 'adorable' crosses the line."
Eren couldn't help but burst into laughter at Levi's words, and the raven haired man sent him a look of confusion.
"Oi, brat, what the fuck is so funny?"
"It's just-" Eren interrupted himself with more laughter. "It's just that you haven't changed at all since high school. You would get pissed at me then, too."
"Tch," Levi clicked his tongue. "Brat... Anyway, do you have anymore questions for me, or what?" He crossed his arms.
Eren finished his cackling before stating, "Yeah, I have one more." Eren paused for a second, flipping his hair aside. "Do you love me?"
Levi almost laughed. "What kind of question is that, brat?" He took a quick swig of root beer. "Of course I do, Eren. And I thought I said no more sappy shit."
Eren hugged Levi, squeezing the air out of the man. "You said no mushy shit, you never said anything about sappy shit." Eren remarked.
Levi rolled his eyes. "Oi, don't get smart, brat. Same difference." Eren backed away from Levi, still smiling like an idiot.
Levi let out an exasperated sigh. "You're so fucking clingy, you know that?"
Eren smirked. "Aw come on, Levi. You know you like it."
"I said no such thing. Stop being a smart ass," Levi huffed.
"Fine, fine," Eren downed the rest of his root beer, and there was a comfortable silence between the two for a moment before a question popped into Eren's mind. "Hey, Levi?"
"Hm?"
"Do you still have your old acoustic? Your first one? It was covered in decals you and I made as well as some band stickers."
Levi's jaw dropped. "You remember that?"
"I just did. You always used to play that Pink Floyd song... When pigs fly? Something like that."
"Pigs on the wing," Levi corrected. "And yes, of course I still have that guitar. It's my favorite one. It's in my room. Follow me."
Eren got up slowly, not wanting to leave his comfortable position. Levi was already on his way to the room, so he began to make his way to the bedroom. He walked in, presented with Levi already on his bed with the strap around his neck and a pick in his hand. When the sight of the acoustic hit Eren, he was hit with a tidal wave of emotion. All of those wonderful memories. He could remeber placing each one of those stickers and decals on that guitar. All those nights spent, just them, singing and playing... Wonderful memories.
"Oi, you just gonna stand there, or are you gonna come over here with me?"
Eren snapped out of his thoughts. "Oh, uh- yeah. Sorry." He walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge next to Levi, who was sitting cross legged.
"You don't have to sit on the edge looking uncomfortable. Take your shoes off and get comfortable or some shit." Levi's attention was on his guitar and he was plucking the strings, carefully tuning it so that it sounded exactly as he wanted to. Eren nodded in response and kicked off his converse, crawling farther onto the bed and letting himself fall into the mound of pillows on it. He lay there while Levi tuned, taking in the surroundings of the room.
He didn't get a very good look at it last time, but he could now see that it was filled with band and concert memorabilia. There was a lot of it, but it was expertly arranged so that it was orderly and avoided clutter. Levi's cleaning and organization skills never failed to impress Eren to the fullest. Levi was still tuning, and Eren looked over at the raven-haired man.
His face was one of perfect concentration. It seemed he always had to be completley infatuated with a task, constantly. Eren loved it. His determination. It was cute, the little faces he made when things went slightly astray from the perfection he strived for. He looked away, not wanting to stare, but quickly glanced back over to Levi, who was now finished tuning the last string and was testing the sound with a few abstract chords.
"So," Levi began, strumming the strings lightly. "Anything specific you want to play?"
Eren thought for a moment. "How about we do the Pigs on the wing one? Just for old time's sake."
"Sounds good," Levi began testing out chords and Eren couldn't help but notice that Levi stuck his tongue out slightly when he was concentrating. An adorable quirk... Eren mused before Levi's voice shook him out if his thoughts.
"Damn, I haven't played this in a while..." He muttered. "Ah! Got it. About fucking time. You remember the words?" He turned to Eren.
"Um... Kinda? I'm sure they'll come back to me while we're singing."
Levi sighed. "I'll start us off then."
Levi began strumming softly, caressing the strings with his black pick. Eren soon came in with the lyrics, taking a deep breath before starting,
You know that I care what happens to you,
And I know that you care for me.
The lyrics flowed back into his head very easily after that. Every last word and pitch.
So I don't feel alone,
Or the weight of the stone,
As Eren was singing, he noticed something about Levi's lips. As he was still strumming away, it seemed that a smile was beginning to quirkily tug at the corners of his mouth. Eren smiled back, and continued his singing.
Now that I've found somewhere safe
To bury my bone.
Levi had to admit, the brat's voice was fucking gold. It was much softer than Levi's own, raspy singing voice, and it was the most amazing thing he had heard in a while. Eren's voice was similar to when they were in high school, but it seemed more mature and skilled. Still, it had a certain innocence to it that Levi loved. Levi joined in, singing softly with Eren, and he could se a large grin appearing in Eren's face when he noticed Levi's actions.
And any fool knows a dog needs a home,
A shelter from pigs on the wing.
Far too soon for either of their likings, the song reached it's final line and then final chord. Eren turned and smiled at Levi. "That was... Nice." And it genuinely was. He missed being able to do that. Sure, he could sing with Mikasa or Armin, or, hell, even Jean, but singing with Levi was... Different. A good different.
Eren smiled at Levi, somewhat awkwardly. "So..." he said. "What do you want to do now?"
Levi tapped his chin. "Let's look at our options, shall we? We can finish the movie, sing another song, or I can kiss you until we pass out."
Eren looked over at Levi, surprisedly. "Uhm..." he shifted awkwardly.
"So, what will it be, brat? Choose one." Eren was now blushing quite a lot, and was very flustered. He couldn't quite find words. Levi rolled his eyes once more. "Guess I'll have to choose for you."
Levi slipped the guitar strap over his head and carefully placed the guitar against the wall. He turned back towards the emerald eyed boy and crawled over to him. Eren stiffly sat up and Levi almost chuckled as he made himself comfortable in between Eren's splayed legs.
"Don't be so stiff, brat. I don't bite... Usually." Levi placed his hand on the back of Eren's neck, bringing their faces closer together. Eren shivered at Levi's touch and gulped. His face was beet red as he looked at Levi, who was close enough that he could feel his cold breath on his face and lips. Their lips were barely an inch apart, and Levi closed his eyes, leaning in slowly and-
"WITH THE LIGHTS OUT, IT'S LESS DANGEROUS. HERE WE ARE NOW, ENTERTAIN US-"
Eren's ringtone blared through the previously silent room. Both Eren and Levi were visibly startled, and they quickly pulled apart, their faces red and their hearts pounding. Eren clumsily fished for his phone in his pocket.
Incoming call: Mikasa su casa
Eren looked over to Levi, who nodded, giving him permission to answer the call. Eren answered it, and brought the phone up to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Hello Eren. I'm just checking in, how is everything going?"
Eren shifted. "Well, it was going fine-"
"Was? What happened?"
"Nothing, you just called and-"
"Oh, so I interrupted something?"
Eren searched for words. "No, I mean- yeah, but it's not-"
"What were you two doing?"
Levi leaned into the phone. "Oi, let the brat finish a single fucking sentance for once, eh?"
Mikasa went silent for a second. "Why do you let him call you that, Eren?"
Eren sighed. "It's just a name, Mikasa. He doesn't mean anything by it."
He could hear Mikasa sigh on the other side of the line. "Anyway Eren, I need you to get back home."
Eren's jaw dropped open. "What? But you said I could spend the night! Is this because he called me brat-"
"Eren," Mikasa interrupted once again. "I forgot that today is the day Annie gets back."
Eren's eyes widened and he looked at the date on Levi's digital clock, and it was most certainly the day Annie was returning from the military. "Oh shit. I forgot about that."
"Yeah. So did Armin, and he's her relative."
"And you're her girlfriend."
"... Shut up."
Eren sighed. "What time should I be home? It's 7:45 now, and it'll take a while for Levi to drive me back."
"You should probably leave now."
Eren sighed. "Fine. I'll be there. Bye, Mikasa."
"Bye, Eren."
Levi leaned away from the phone, an amused look glued to his face. Eren looked over to him.
"What?" He asked the shorter man.
"Annie? She's Mikasa's girlfriend?"
Eren chuckled. "I know. It's hilarious."
Levi almost laughed. "Annie and Mikasa... What a riot. Well, I gotta see this for myself. I'm going with you guys."
Eren laughed as they got up to leave for the car. "No objections here."
"Your sister might object, but whatever. I haven't seen Annie in forever anyway." Levi walked towards the door to his apartment and pulled on his jacket. "You ready brat?"
"Yup. Just give me a second..." Eren grabbed his shoes and book bag from Levi's room and hurried over to the door, quickly assembling himself. He followed the shorter man out of the apartment and down the hall to the elevator. Hey got in and Levi pressed the 'lobby' button. When the doors closed, Eren spoke up.
"Levi?" He asked timidly.
"Yes?"
"Well, I figured I should formally ask this question before I start making assumptions about us..."
Levi raised an eyebrow. "Go on..."
Eren inhaled. "Levi, will you go out with me?" He was holding his breath even as he finished, almost dreading the answer. He knew that Levi liked him, but what if he just wanted something casual like with Erwin? Eren didn't know if he would be able to handle that.
Levi put his arm around Eren. "Of course, brat, what kind of question is that?"
Eren smiled, and then put his own arm around Levi. "Good." He saw the corners of Levi's mouth tug upwards. The elevator opened, and they stepped out. They walked across the room, both having happylooks on their faces. As close Levi's face could show happiness, at least. However he was happy, and Eren knew. He could feel it. When they reached the exit to the parking lot, they saw that it was already quite dark. The sun was just about set. They stepped through the door and were greeted with the crisp night air.
"This way," Levi tilted his head in the direction of where he was parked and started walking towards his car. Eren followed. "Oi, brat. Give me your phone."
Eren looked over at the shorter man with a confused expression. "Um, okay..." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to Levi. Levi took it and unlocked it, pressing a few buttons and typing before handing it back to Eren.
"I put my number in it. I forgot to give it to you last time. I'm sure you were dying without anyway to reach me," Levi said sarcastically. Eren turned on his phone and flipped through his contacts. He couldn't find Levi's name. Before he could even ask the man, a different contact caught his eye.
"Why the hell did you put yourself as Senpai in my contacts?" Eren looked at Levi, obviously looking for an answer. "Do you know what Senpai means?"
Levi looked over to Levi with a smirk on his face. "Yes, I do."
Eren rolled his eyes and looked at Levi. "Notice me." He said jokingly and put his arms around Levi's neck.
"Senpai notices you." Levi said with a stoic face and hugged Eren back. Before Levi could make any sort of witty comment regarding the issue, Eren began to move his face towards his. Levi knew what he was attempting, so he leaned in as well. Soon, their lips were touching, and their eyes were closed. They felt a cool breeze brush by them and could feel each other's hearts beating. What they did not see, however, were the flashes coming from a nearby bush.
END CHAPTER 4
So, yeah. Please review and let us know your opinions so far :3 We're always happy to see them. Bye for now~!
-Jek and Iz