Levi stood slowly.
"I'll be there in a second, Toby. Gimme another minute." Mike muttered and the worker fled the scene, realizing that he'd clearly interrupted something.
Mike and Hange had their eyes glued to Levi who was calmly but shakily wrapping up the rest of his sub and his trash in the sandwich paper. He compressed it tightly, over and over, hands white-knuckled. When it was an unidentifiable ball he straightened and began to move away.
"Levi …" Hange said, desperately.
Levi stopped and raised one finger toward her. "Don't you dare. Don't you fucking dare, Hange Zoe."
"Levi, please, dude," Mike said, standing.
"FUCK YOU! Fuck the both of you! Fuck all three of you!"
Erwin moved then. He turned his head and looked up at Levi. The hurt was written across his face and Levi was stunned at it. It made his chest ache in an unpleasant way.
"Levi," Erwin said in a very small voice, almost plaintively.
Levi shoved the aching feeling down and replaced it with fury. His free hand balled into a fist and he lunged at Erwin who threw up both hands. A woman gasped and another one uttered a little scream. Mike was around the table in a flash, grabbing Levi. Hange intervened as well, shoving themselves in between Erwin and Levi.
Levi glared wildly at Erwin. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't beat your ass, blondie!" Levi yelled around Mike's towering body, struggling in the larger man's grip.
"You'll have to get by me, Levi," Mike growled.
"Let go of me, you titan! Fuck off!"
Levi punched him then, right in the ribs, hard.
Levi was strong, and fast, and had spent a lifetime fighting on the streets. Despite the size difference, Mike was just no match for the infuriated little man. He huffed out a startled breath and hunched over, backing up, and Levi punched him again, right in the same place, and Mike had to back up again, holding his ribs and groaning. Levi's gaze alighted back on Erwin who slowly stood up. His bright blue eyes flashed and Levi admired them in an offhand way, like he had that night in the bathroom of the bar. Erwin was losing his temper, too.
Hange threw one arm across Erwin's chest to stop him stepping forward. She stood solidly in front of Erwin, her fists clenched also.
"You gonna hit me too, Levi? You gonna punch me? 'Cause you're gonna have to to get past me, too."
That stopped Levi. His gaze fell on her face and he frowned. He couldn't hit Hange. He'd rather die. He didn't know what to do.
"You … you two orchestrated this, didn't you?" he said, gaze flickering between Hange and Mike. Hange shook her head.
"We didn't Levi," Mike said, still holding his ribs. "I swear we didn't"
Levi took a step back, bumping into a blue barrel that had been left out as a trash can. "You did." His voice was surprisingly small.
"Levi, they didn't." Erwin said, all of his anger gone as quickly as it had appeared.
"They did. Did you intend to publicly humiliate me?"
"Oh, Levi," Hange said.
"Punish me?" Levi threw his wad of paper into the can, hands shaking. "Well, good job. Mission accomplished."
He turned and walked off, quickly passing between the nearby trailers, parting the small crowd that had gathered.
"Well," Hange said wryly, "That went well."
Mike and Hange and Erwin gathered at Erwin's diner for dinner. Nanaba and Moblit joined them. Nanaba was beside herself.
"You should see the bruises!" she said, her voice shrill. "I had to take him to the Urgent Care to see if he'd broken a rib! What is that little animal's problem?!"
Mike hugged her to him with his good arm. "It'll be OK, Nan, he was just angry and irrational."
"Angry and irrational? He acted like … like a hoodlum! What's up with you Mike? Normally you're the suspicious, doubting one and I'm the reasonable one! You could've been hurt badly!"
Mike chuckled. "True. On all counts. He seriously could've kicked my ass. He's one tough little scrapper. But I'm OK."
"I have a gooda mind to fight him myself!"
Mike hugged her again. "You didn't see the betrayal in his eyes, Nan. He was really hurt."
"He was," Hange said. "I swear I've never seen him like this. Erwin, I think he genuinely cares about you."
Erwin, who was silent up to this point looked up at her. His eyes were filled with hope.
"By beating him up?" Nanaba muttered.
"I don't condone how he reacted or what he did," Moblit said, "but I understand it. He was hurting and confused and he lashed out."
"Maybe I deserved to be beaten up," Erwin said, "after what I did. How I acted."
"Maybe you two just need to fight it out," Mike said.
"And then have angry sex afterword!" Hange said.
Nanaba couldn't help herself at that. She laughed.
Hange grinned and took a sip of her drink, slurping noisily. "Seriously, though, Levi has had a shitty life and has had shitty luck with partners. He doesn't know how to express himself."
"Well he needs to learn," Nanaba said stubbornly, "or he'll never get a chance with Erwin."
Erwin was silent. Nanaba was wrong. Erwin would take Levi just as he was, rough edges and all. Gladly.
The next few weeks were tense. Levi refused to speak more than the bare minimum to anyone, replying with grunts, headshakes, and shrugs. He stayed in the motel room when he wasn't working and serial watched TV and drank. He bought pay-per-view and jerked off when Hange wasn't there, was working late or out with Moblit, purposely only wanking to images of women. He was trying to keep his mind from thinking of Erwin.
He was across the street buying beer when he was approached by a young man, also tattooed and pierced.
"Hey, man," the kid said, "buy me some beer?"
Levi looked him over, he was clearly a twink, or Levi suspected so, about his size but bone thin, dark ratty hair. He was in skintight leggings and an oversized tee shirt that looked pretty dirty.
"How old are you, kid?"
The boy picked at his teeth. "Eighteen."
"Too young to drink in this state, buddy." Levi turned to go.
The young man caught his arm and Levi shrugged him off. "Don't touch me, shithead."
"Sorry. Cigarettes then? Juul pods? Got any weed?"
"No. Jesus. Fuck off."
"Look, I'll blow you for twenty … fifteen even."
Levi looked at him again. Definitely not his type and about as far away from Erwin Smith as was possible. "How much for a fuck? I like it rough," he warned. Levi actually didn't like it rough, particularly, and was a very considerate lover but he had some frustration and anger to work out. It was only fair to warn the kid.
"You doin' the fucking?"
"Well, duh, dickwad."
"Forty?"
"I'll make it fifty and buy you some fucking food. Gimme your ID."
"My ID?"
"Yeah, your fucking ID. i want to make sure I'm not fucking some goddamned high school student."
The kid dug around in his fanny pack and produced a battered ID. It said eighteen and didn't look fake to Levi, but it was hard to tell. "Where are we doing this?"
"You got a car? Motel room?"
Levi was not taking him back to the motel. "Nope. You homeless?"
"No! But my parents are home."
"Oh, fuck! You live with your parents?! Why are you hooking, then?"
The boy shrugged his thin shoulders, "Beats working behind a counter all day. Shit's expensive. I wanna buy some Air Pods."
"Oh my fucking god. Don't say another word. Shit."
Levi bought a pack of condoms and they left.
They ended up doing it behind the fence around the dumpster behind the gas station. Not Levi's best moment.
Levi was very rough. He went slowly at first to give the kid time to adjust but once he was used to Levi's size he pounded into him, gripping onto his skinny hips tightly enough to bruise.
When they were done, the kid seemed startled when Levi removed the condom, tied it off and dropped it into the dumpster. He wondered if the young man even asked his partners to wear one. That thought made Levi shudder. Definitely not his best moment.
He paid the boy his money and some for food and left him at the door of the McDonald's since he was still carrying the twelve pack of beer.
He hurried back to the motel.
He took an extra long, extra hot shower and soaped everything three or four times. When he was done he stood in front of the mirror, hair sticking up every which away and a towel around his hips. He began to finger comb his hair into some semblance of order. He stared at his reflection.
"What the actual fuck was that, Ackerman? Jesus, you sad fucker, you need to get a grip on yourself."
After he'd arranged his hair he retired to the bed, grabbing a beer out of the minifridge. He got comfortable and Googled Planned Parenthood on his phone. Fuck it. It had been too long since he'd been tested anyway.