Chapter 2
At 6.30am, Levi stands under the scalding hot shower, as he considers the inevitably long day ahead of him. Allowing himself a full 10 minutes rather than his usual 3 to 4. Due to his inability to sleep, he already had his morning work-out routine and can feel the rather now comforting burn of his muscles.
He met with Erwin in his office a mere 3 days ago to go over the details of his new job, and was given his licensed fire arms, his ear piece and wireless communicator, his new cell phone with all his previous contacts listed with only one additional entry: Annie Leonhart, Eren's agent and personal assistant. He also received his hotel paperwork and the keys for a brand-new company car (he would happily sell his old Mini Cooper for a decent enough price) and made arrangements to move all of his belongings once he eventually became settled in a new home.
He would take an 10am flight to Shiganshina, where he would then meet with Annie to check in to his room, and hopefully meet Jaeger later that evening to discuss their expectations and what his schedule would look like in the upcoming weeks before Eren, and in turn Levi's, lives would become hectic.
At 6.40am, Levi steps out of the shower, towels himself and his hair dry before grabbing his crisp white button-up shirt, cravat, black waist coat and black pin-stripe blazer and pants he wears for his more high-profile jobs and dresses himself.
The following hours pass without incident, and soon Levi finds himself stepping off the plane to a slightly higher climate than he is used to. It's not uncomfortable heat, rather a welcome one in fact, and Levi wastes no time in unbuttoning the first couple of buttons of his shirt and carrying his blazer over his arm.
As he makes his way through the arrival gate, he spots a young, tired looking woman with blonde hair in a messy bun and a sign with the name "Levi Ackerman" written in bold letters. She nods her head to him as he makes his way over to her.
"Annie Leonhart, I presume?" he asks politely, although there is really no need to ask. Why else would this woman be at the airport with his name written for all to see?
She nods again, "If you have everything, let's get you checked in and we can talk properly. When do you have to pick up your car?"
"Not until tomorrow at least."
"Okay, once we get everything done, I can take you to Maria's later, you can meet Eren then. And I'll take you in the morning to pick up your car."
"Thank you, that's very kind of you Ma'am." Levi responds, remembering to be polite as per Erwin's warning.
She shrugs, "Just Annie is fine." She says and walks on ahead as Levi takes the time to assess the woman in front of him. She's wearing a simple button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to hide little the ink stains on the cuffs, a grey pencil skirt that she looks rather uncomfortable in and Levi can't help but smirk at the slightly battered converse she has on her feet. Levi deduces that she has attempted to dress up and look professional, most likely at the instruction of somebody else.
He also speculates that she's probably an old friend or relative of Jaeger, as there is no chance an up and coming celebrity would hire an agent with such disregard for their appearance. Not that there is anything wrong with her hygiene, she looks and smells rather fresh all things considered.
The drive to the hotel is short and silent, Annie isn't one for small talk, there are no pointless questions like "did you have a nice flight?" or "have you been to Shiganshina before?", which suits Levi just fine. Instead the silence is filled with some form of soft rock radio station and the occasional chiming of Levi's phone with unanswered text messages from Hange. He makes a note to himself to remember to call her in the next few days.
Once Levi manages to check himself in for the next 2 weeks while he looks for an apartment, the undoubtedly large deposit for which will be generously paid for by The Recon Corps business account, Annie suggests they head out for a "lunch meeting" so Levi can be briefed and ask any burning questions on his mind.
It becomes clear, however, that Annie is definitely not well versed in fine dining. She has to look up "fancy restaurants" on her phone before driving around haphazardly for a while trying to find the place she thought appropriate. Taking pity on her and concluding she will be far more comfortable answering his questions if she's in a more familiar setting, Levi has an idea…
"Hey, there's a drive thru over there, I don't know about you, but I'm really in the mood for a burger right about now. Why don't we order food and just eat in the car over there." He says pointing to the fairly empty parking lot.
Her eyes light up the suggestion and she looks physically less tense now that she doesn't have to keep up the, very poor, pretence that she has a clue what she's doing.
"Really? Me too, let's do that." She says, already beginning to approach the drive thru, and while Levi would usually much rather stick pins in his eyes than eat with his hands in a car, he knows he's made the right call.
Once they've received their order and parked up to eat, Annie chuckles slightly at the sight of Levi using a plastic knife and fork to eat from the box on his lap. But he can't help but feel smug as she also spills a dollop of BBQ sauce on her pink shirt collar.
"So, what would you like to know?" she asks, while wiping her shirt with a napkin.
"I just need to know what you need me to do, what time Mr Jaeger expects me to be around? Do I need to drive him places? Do you need me to keep watch for anyone? Anything you think would be useful for me to know."
"Well, Eren has a very active lifestyle, he doesn't really wake up until early-afternoon because of his shows but he likes to go to the gym first thing, he'll probably want you to accompany him there. He likes to swim, see his friends, but he's mainly based at the club. He does about 3 or 4 shows a week, mainly weekends. He spends several hours deciding his look for the evening, his routine, then getting into make-up takes about an hour and a half alone. He decides his wardrobe at around 4pm, picks his wigs out based on the colour aesthetic he wants to convey or whatever he does, then shoes, shoes are important. As Eren says "If I don't feel like I'm walking on top of the fucking world, then what's the fucking point?", that's usually a stressful time of day. Then he's gotta decide whether he wants to do comedy, dance, sing, all the above…word of advice, he'll probably ask for your opinion on EVERY little detail then completely ignore you. it's a long day for him. He'll usually stay for a couple drinks after his set also."
"Seriously? All of that for ONE show? I had expected he would want me to drive him around here, there and everywhere during the day and maybe get there about an hour before his set or whatever, not ask for my opinion on dresses and heels."
"Oh no, Eren is extremely hard-working, bit of a work-a-holic really, he didn't get picked up by his company out of sheer luck you know. Maria herself saw how much effort he was putting in and invited some talent scouts to come and see him perform as Rogue. It was a long process, but his hard work is finally paying off."
"Who's Maria?" Levi asks, still rather taken aback by Annie's description of Eren's day schedule before shows.
"Maria owns the lounge, she's a drag queen too. Eren's drag mother, meaning she put him in his first drag, not his actual mother. They're like brothers now, his real name is Marco Bott. You'll probably meet Maria later, she performs most nights, the lounge is always packed with people. She's the nicest person you'll ever meet, real southern charm" Annie smiles softly and Levi thinks she looks less tired when she does.
He takes a moment digest his food and Annie's words, her use of pronouns confuses him slightly, but he feels it's time to ask about Eren himself, as ultimately he's the one he'll eventually be working under.
"What is Mr Jaeger like? Uhh, Miss Jaeger? Mister? Eren, what is Eren like?" Levi manages.
"Well first, Eren only goes by She/Her when he is Rogue, any other time when he isn't in drag, he's He/Him. You'll get used to it. Eren is very secure in his masculinity and proud, but he also makes a darn good woman and he knows it. Eren and Rogue are like two totally different people altogether. You'll see what I mean." She waves her hand in a dismissive gesture and collects their rubbish before stuffing it into the trash can next to the car.
"I don't completely understand, but I imagine I will see for myself once we meet."
Annie nods, "I've known him since middle school, he's an amazing artist. I used to be so jealous of him before we were actually friends, he was just one of those people that could put a pen to paper and create something astounding, something out of nothing you know? Anyway, I found out how caring he was for the people in his life, but he was also passionate, messy, covered in stains, running late to class, hair never in place, always wearing odd socks and cackling whenever you'd mention it to him, and he was incredibly hare-brained and hot-headed. I swear he was always in some fight, usually defending the honour of his friends. We all loved him for it, still do."
"Sounds like some guy." Levi says honestly, nodding at her words, visualising a scruffy art student with a goofy grin. Hange pops into his mind and he feels a surge of warmth for an instant.
"He really is, I actually dated his sister in middle school, that's how we met." She says matter of fact.
"I see, so…you're a gay too then? Figures I guess." Levi asks with a scoff.
She looks at him sharply, and Levi knows immediately that he's made a mistake, he's such an idiot. He just HAD to make a snide joke on his first day. Erwin is going to kill him when she inevitably files a report against him.
"Not that it's any of your business, but no, I'm bisexual and I'm engaged to a man now. Eren is gay however, and if his sister hears you talking like that you can expect a full-scale screaming match at the very LEAST, just warning you now." She says, sipping her drink nonchalant.
Levi looks at her in disbelief, "I didn't mean to cause offence, to be perfectly honest I just…I'm not quite sure how to act around…gay people. It's just…bad experiences... In fact, forget it." Levi replies, head lowered in discomfort, unsure of why exactly he's stuttering in front of this woman who's currently staring at him with bored eyes.
"Well, it's not hard to tell that you're not exactly well versed in our world. But you may want to stay away from referring to us a separate species." She looks at him with a small but unmistakeable smirk.
"Duly noted." He nods, head still lowered, feeling well and truly scolded.
"Okay, let's forget about that, it's nearly 4, do you need to pick anything up or are you happy for us to head straight to Maria's?" she asks.
Levi pauses for a moment to think, before concluding he may as well get meeting his new boss over and done with, "No, I'm fine, let's go."
Annie nods and starts the car, addressing him once more without looking at him.
"Mr Ackerman, what I would like you to remember is that despite your feeling on our lifestyle, and despite what Eren may say or do that will no doubt piss you off, he agreed for us to hire you for more reasons than you can probably understand right now. Because he is angry at the Titans for what they're doing to young people in the community, for how they are making them feel, the hurt they are causing. He's also grieving for the losses at Wall Rose those weeks ago, some of them were his friends, and the drag queen that was killed? That was his drag sister, and one of my best friends. But more than anything, he is scared. His career is about to take off and he'll be alone in the spotlight…he sees that as a massive red dot on his head, ready to be fired." She pauses, takes a shaky breath and begins again, this time looking straight at Levi.
"I don't know you Mr Ackerman, I don't know anything about you except that you are the best in what you do and you come highly recommended. So, I am trusting you to keep him safe. And if you cause him any more unnecessary hurt with your thoughts and opinions, you'll have far more than just me to answer to."
"Understood, I give you my word, and please, call me Levi."
"Alright, Levi, let's go see Eren." She says as the car starts to move.