It wasn't until the next morning that anyone came down to see him. And when they did, Eren shrunk away to a corner of his cell and tried to hide.

It was Mikasa and Armin.

"What did you do, Eren?" Mikasa whispered icily.

Eren gulped. "It wasn't my fault, Mikasa!"

She ignored him and continued. "No-one knew where you were last night. Annie said you were still at the ball when she left. But you never came back, Eren. What were we meant to think?"

Eren hung his head. "I'm sorry, Mikasa. They think I killed Levi, but he was just passed out drunk, I swear!"

At this, Armin leaned forward. "So it's Levi now, is it?"

Eren blushed. "He said I could. Of course, he was kinda drunk when he said it, but…"

"Did you sleep with him, Eren?" Armin asked seriously.

Eren blushed even further. "Armin! Don't say things like that! I didn't, of course I didn't!"

Mikasa was glaring daggers at him now. "Eren, don't get mixed up with him. He's a Prince and a bastard, he's just going to hurt you."

"I'm not, Mikasa!"

Armin was laughing at him behind Mikasa's back. Eren swore quietly. The blond did it on purpose! He turned his back to the cell door and ignored both Mikasa and Armin. He would see them when he got out of here later.

His next visitor was, surprisingly, Erwin.

The blond man came down to Eren's cell in the early afternoon.

"Well, Eren, looks like you've got the castle in a mess!" he said cheerfully.

"Sir! Is Levi awake yet?"

Erwin chuckled. "He is, but you won't be out of here until tonight."

"What! Why not?"

Erwin smiled. "I'll leave it to him to explain when he comes down here."

"Erwin," Eren whined, "That's not – wait, did you say he was coming down?"

"He probably is, once he gets over his hangover."

"Is he – does he remember what happened last night?" Eren asked.

Erwin just shrugged. "You'll have to ask him," he called over his shoulder.

And then Eren was alone again.

It was hard to keep track of time in the cells. He thought it was about mid-afternoon, but the light getting through his grimy window was really ambiguous.

He amused himself by counting the dust motes he could see shimmering in the ambiguous ray of light.

456, 457, 458, 459…

Idly toying with the key around his neck, he wondered if Levi was even going to show up. It seemed like it would amuse the Prince to leave him in the cells for another night.

522, 523, 524…

897, 898, 899, 900…

Dimly, he registered that someone was yelling outside. It sounded like Petra.

977, 978, 979, 980, 981, 982, 983, 984, 985, 986, 987, 988…

More yelling. Now he could definitely hear Petra. Keys jangling, that couldn't be his cell…

998, 999, 1000 –

"Eren!"

Eren jumped up from the bed at the sound of the voice, forgetting his chains and tangling his left ankle in the loops of iron. He pitched forward, arms swinging out wildly to break his fall.

Someone's arms grabbed at his waist, gripping painfully as they hauled him upright.

The arms tightened around his waist and then released, with the owner taking a step backwards.

"If that's how you thank me, I'm of half a mind to leave you here, brat."

Eren gulped. Of course it would be Levi who caught him. He opened his mouth to say something, but quickly snapped it shut at the look on Levi's face.

"So, I heard you were plotting a murder."

"I w-wasn't! I swear, Levi – "

"Who said you could call me that?"

Eren's eyes shifted to Petra and Auruo's shocked faces.

"No-one, my Prince," he whispered.

"Good," snapped Levi, "get up, you're coming with me. Petra and Auruo, leave."

The two of them gave Eren sympathetic looks and left, although he could have sworn that Auruo was smirking. Eren attempted to get up, but the pull of the chains reminded him of his position.

"My Prince? Do you have a key?" he asked.

"Would I come down here without one?

Levi bent down to where Eren's chains were attatched, unlocking first his wrists, and then his ankles. As soon as he was free, Eren shook his arms and legs, rubbing at his wrists.

Levi frowned. "Did they hurt you?"

God forbid that be genuine concern from Levi.

"No," Eren muttered. He had bruises along his ribs and arms, but he wasn't about to say anything.

To his surprise though, Levi rolled his eyes. "Pixis' crew caught you, brat. Don't try and pull that shit on me."

Eren stared at him. "Sir…"

"What?" he snapped.

"You – you swore…"

Levi looked as surprised as Eren did. "I'm not a saint, kid."

"O-okay… Levi."

The Prince stared at Eren.

Eren stared back at the prince.

He wondered if he should pull out his puppy dog eyes again. The Prince's gaze was intense.

In the end, it was Levi who broke the staring contest first, turning away with a "Tch".

"I'm banning you from speaking to Erwin from now on."

Disorientated by the sudden loss of eye contact, Eren merely blinked.

"He's a bad influence on you. I never had this shit from Auruo or Petra."

"Sorry, my Prince."

Levi exhaled deeply, turning around to stare back at Eren.

"Don't… call me that. You can call me Levi," he muttered, quietly enough that Eren had to strain to hear the words.

"Okay, Levi!" he grinned.

Levi rolled his eyes at the sudden enthusiasm. "Shut it, brat."

Eren grinned like a puppy all the way back to the tower.

As it happened, while Levi had treated him well enough, the rest of the castle seemed to see him as his would-be murderer. The filthy looks and glares that Eren received over the rest of the day had him hiding under the protection of Levi's equally filthy glare.

That didn't stop the rumours. By the end of the day, Eren had heard several stories of how he had drugged Levi's drink and had been trying to smuggle him out of the castle as a hostage for a ransom. He had supposedly transformed into a wild beast, lashing out at the soldiers and biting the hand of one particularly brave man. He had been kidnapping Levi to have his way with him, and the servant had caught him with his pants down.

The last one made Eren blush as he recalled the awkward position he'd been in the previous night.

Thank God Levi had passed out.

His blush only intensified every time Levi looked at him, no matter how much Eren willed it to go away. By the end of the day, the Prince had taken to openly staring at him.

He seemed to find it amusing.

They were in Levi's private rooms when he finally broached the topic.

"So why are you blushing like a maiden, brat?"

Eren blushed even harder, if possible. "I'm not!"

"Right, and I'm the King of Maria."

Eren stared at the Prince. Had that been… a joke?

"And now he's staring again," Levi was saying exasperatedly, "Honestly, brat, were you raised in a slum?"

"Yes," snapped Eren.

Levi smirked. "We'll have to train that out of you."

Eren ignored him, turning away and resuming his scrubbing of the Prince's boots. Which were, thankfully, not on his feet.

He didn't look up at the Prince, but he could feel his eyes tracking him. Assessing, judging, calculating.

"I've heard some interesting stories about last night, brat."

Damn it, he was blushing again.

"O-oh? Like what," he asked, trying to keep his voice steady. He kept his head down, staring at Levi's boots.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you."

"I've got to polish these boots, sir."

"If you keep polishing, there won't be any boot left." Levi remarked. He stood up, swinging his legs off the couch and walking over to Eren, who was crouched on the floor.

Bending down. Two cold fingers under his chin, lifting it up. Eren shivered at the contact, finally meeting Levi's slate grey eyes.

They were warm, an expression Eren had only ever seen reserved for Erwin and Petra.

"Why don't you tell me what happened yesterday?" Levi murmured.

Eren said nothing, suddenly very aware of their proximity.

He looked down, looked anywhere except Levi, but those fingers were still on his chin, guiding his face back up.

He couldn't stop blushing, damn it. That was enough!

Eren jumped up, springing away from Levi and hitting him in the face in the process.

"Shit! I'm sorry, Levi, I didn't mean – "

"Shut up," Levi hissed, holding a hand to his cheekbone "and tell me what happened."

"Well," Eren began nervously, "You passed out when we were walking back, and a servant came along, and saw me holding you, and thought you were dead, and raised the alarm."

Levi removed his hand from his face, giving Eren a full view of the shadow of a bruise on his cheekbone. He stared at it guiltily until Levi spoke again.

"Is that all?"

"Y-yes…"

"No, it's not."

"It is!"

"So why have you been blushing like a virgin all day?"

"No – no reason!"

Levi eyed him for a minute, Eren squirming under his gaze.

"Fine, brat. Don't think I won't find out."

Eren nodded, relieved. There was no way the Prince could find out.

Levi was now walking over to the mahogany dresser. He lifted a crystal bottle, pouring the contents into two glasses and beckoning Eren over.

"Drink. It's scotch from the Riviera, expensive as fuck and better with company."

"Drink?" Eren repeated.

"Yes, brat, drink."

Eren took the glass from Levi's hand, taking a tentative sip.

His eyes widened.

Levi laughed, actually laughed, and said "It's good, isn't it?"

Eren nodded, draining the contents of his glass. Levi beckoned for it and he handed it over for a refill.

"It's also very strong alcohol," Levi commented casually. He had only taken a small sip from his own glass.

He walked over to sit on the lounge, Eren following. The second glass was gone by the time he had sat down and watched Levi hold his cup weirdly for 5 minutes.

Levi was already reaching out to refill his glass.

"Are ya ssuuure, Levi?" Eren slurred.

Levi smirked at him. "Bloody lightweight. Here, drink."

Eren did so, slumping against the lounge with a loud sigh.

"So, what happened last night?" Levi asked, sipping at his drink.

"You're… pretty!" Eren said, concentrating at the effort it took to form the words.

Levi raised his eyebrows. "So are you, brat."

"You were.. breathing… o'me… on my neck… fffeels gooood."

"How good?"

"Reeaaally good, like mmm,"

Eren was cut off by Levi suddenly looming over him. Sitting on the couch next to him. Leaning in close to his shoulder and caressing his neck.

"Like this, Eren?"

Eren arched his back, pressing his shoulders against the couch.

"Y-yes…"

And then Levi was gone. Eren groaned at the sudden loss of feeling, but the Prince was already halfway across the room, placing his empty glass on the desk.

He looked at Eren, his gaze unfathomable, before turning on his heel and striding out of the room.

Eren sat up, confused. "Wh-what?"

But Levi was gone.

A/N:

LATE I KNOW IM SORRY :( I put it up earlier on ao3, but completely forgot about .

Levi is a confusing child. Next chapter will probably be from Levi POV :D

Thanks for the reviews!