Chapter 22
It's the middle of the following week when Eren officially works his final shift at Queen Cosmetics, and safe to say it was an emotional day for everybody.
Eren still worked away like normal, as if he'd be coming in again the next morning like nothing at all was about to change, and honestly Levi would have believed it if it hadn't been for the blubbering raincloud of doom hovering close to Eren's side all day. A raincloud in the name of Historia.
The little blonde woman had been completely inconsolable the whole day knowing she was about to lose her favourite employee and friend from her daily schedule, and had to be taken through the back for a calming cup of tea on more than one occasion throughout the day, leaving Levi to entertain her clients while Eren busted his ass to pick up the slack. Levi got the feeling that more than one of her clients would have preferred to have been left alone than have to make small talk with the surly, unsociable man in a suit.
At the end of the day, it was revealed that all of Eren's regular clients and even some of Historia's all banded together to say goodbye and get him a massive leaving gift, with no less than 14 different bouquets of flowers all wrapped in his arms when he's about ready to leave. And to his surprise, Levi was also handed a bag of his own with a gift and a card inside, by Mrs Schroeder who pinched his flushed red cheek affectionately. Surprisingly, nearly everybody who chipped in for Eren's gift, also signed his own card and contributed to a lovely new handheld vacuum cleaner for him. To say he was oddly touched would be a bit of an understatement.
As expected, Eren broke down in the middle of his leaving speech, which caused Historia to start balling her eyes out all over again, and then some of the ladies who have known them both for years started to shed a tear of their own. All the while, Levi wanted to burst into tears himself at the thought of the mess all those flowers were going to make to interior of his car.
"I wanna make a video." Eren states on Friday afternoon, it's not a question nor a suggestion, just a simple statement seemingly out of thin air. Levi peers up from the book he'd been reading on his armchair and arches an eyebrow, his thick rimmed reading glasses falling down his nose slightly at the action.
"You're not due to make another until tomorrow, you always film on a Saturday and your announcement is due tomorrow, you need to wait until then." Levi remarks disinterested, returning to his book and flipping the page.
"I know that, I still have my episode planned for tomorrow to reveal my palette. Nile would pitch a fit if I deviated from his schedule." Eren says with an eye roll, "I just mean something different, not my usual content you know? Like a game or a challenge or something, I've always wanted to try making a tag challenge video."
"A what now?" Levi asks, marking his page and setting his book aside, knowing he won't get any more reading done now that Eren is apparently in a chatty mood. He decides to get up and make tea for the pair, and Eren twists to continue talking to the man from the comfort of the living room.
"I always forget how old you are." Eren comments cheekily, earning him a warning glare from Levi as he boils the kettle, "A tag challenge video is basically a load of different types of challenges over the internet that people take part in and 'tag' their friends to do it also. It can be anything really, but one of my most requested is having somebody put make-up on me without my input."
"Tch, sounds dumb, but if you're so set on doing it you should call Mikasa and see if she wants to help you with it. She's been miserable since Erwin left last week, she'd probably jump at the chance to do it with you." Levi suggests, finishing the tea and handing Eren a steaming mug before sitting back in his chair.
It was true, Mikasa had been positively gloomy since Erwin had to leave, more-so than Levi had ever seen her before and while she'd never exactly been cheery around him, there was definitely a noticeable difference. Eren had picked up on it too and even Marco remarked on it at dinner that Sunday, offering Mikasa extra helpings of food and drink, which were politely declined with barely one word answers.
"I would have, but I called her earlier and she's working through to Sunday. Hannes is planning on retiring soon and between you and me, I think he's planning on giving her the shop when he does. He mentioned it months ago." Eren says, sipping his tea with a smile on his face.
"Then I don't know what to tell you. You're just bored because right now you're technically unemployed and Marco gave you the weekend off. Find something else to do kid." Levi advises, drinking from his mug and setting it down on the table in front of him, picking up today's newspaper, "You can help me with today's crossword if you want."
"Oh Levi, that's boring." Eren complains, "You…. could always help me with my video if you wanted to…."
"Now there's your problem right there," Levi says, "I don't want to."
"Come on Levi, surely you gotta be as bored as I am right now! You were Black Ops, sitting on the couch doing a crossword and drinking tea can't be very fulfilling to someone like you." Eren whines as he rolls off the couch and onto the floor.
"You'd be surprised what several months in captivity can do to a person's perspective on mundane tasks kid." Levi replies as he absentmindedly flicks through the paper to get to the crossword page.
"Hey, just because I know about that now doesn't mean you can keep using it to get out of things." Eren warns sternly, scrunching his face up like a child and folding his arms.
"Have I used that this week already?" Levi jokes with a smirk before huffing out a sigh at the sight of Eren's pout and puppy dog eyes, "Look, just let me finish my tea and do this puzzle and I'll think about it alright?"
"That's all I ask!" Eren insists, and Levi shakes his head before grabbing a pen to start before he looks down to see Eren resting his head against his crossed leg, sitting cross legged on the floor at his feet.
"Tch, stupid brat." Levi scoffs, yet still not hesitating to ruffle Eren's hair affectionately, and not moving his hand away once he's done so.
Against his better judgement, Levi once again finds himself scowling on the wrong side of Eren's camera, with said boy overenthusiastically greeting their future audience, an incredible amount of make up products laid out in front of them.
"S'up Jaegerbombs! No, your eyes are not deceiving you, I'm back again, this time with a completely new kind of video for your viewing pleasure! My lovely, wonderful roommate Levi is kindly here with me once again and we're going to be playing a little game." Eren says excitedly to his camera.
"I would just like to point out that I'm not here out of my own accord, I was kidnapped, blackmailed and my family are currently being held in an unknown location, they will be killed if I refuse to comply." Levi deadpans, looking completely serious as he speaks, making Eren giggle the whole time.
"Someone is just moody that they had to get all pretty for the Jaegerbombs today instead of just sitting watching crappy daytime TV all day." Eren explains as he rubs at Levi's shoulder, "But in actual fact, I have a very special announcement that I shall be making in tomorrow's episode so please look forward to that, but we're here today because we will be attempting the 'Roommate does my make-up' challenge! For this, I have had to remove all traces of any make up from my face, so I apologise for my trash face. However, Levi will be making me look stunning, as I am giving him access to ALL of my expensive products right here." Eren says as he gestures to the dressing table, "The only catch is, I'm not allowed to help him or refuse anything he wants to put on me. Doesn't that sound fun Levi?"
"Seeing as I'm probably going to be left cleaning any spillage, I'm going to reserve judgement on that for now." Levi replies, picking up a random bottle and inspecting it.
"Okay, well without any further ado, let's get started!" Eren claps his hands and looks to Levi, "So Levi, what are you going to do to me first?"
Levi glares at the suggestive look Eren gives him at the question and picks up a face wipe from it's packet.
"Well, your dumb face has gotta be cleaned first obviously, lean forward."
"You don't have to do that, I already washed my face before we started, you can just start on the make-up."
"Uh uh, you're not allowed to refuse. And I would like to make sure that you have washed your skin properly before I'm expected to put my hands anywhere near it."
"Fine." Eren huffs, leaning forward so that Levi can clean his face with the wipe, his hands quick and efficient as he does. Once he's finished, he inspects Eren, turning his head this way and that before deciding he's satisfied and discarding the wipe in the trashcan.
"Okay, so now you're done cleaning me up, what comes next?" Eren asks amused, hands behind his back and putting his legs up in Levi's lap. The latter bats them off with a slap and assesses the younger man's face once again.
"Your skin is looking a little dry by your nose and forehead, so I think I should be putting a little moisturiser on you first." Levi says, looking for the little orange bottle he'd seen Eren use hundreds of times, and honestly, he's borrowed it a couple times himself. Eren nods a little at his words, so when Levi does finally locate it, he doesn't hesitate to spread a little over Eren's skin, paying particular attention to his 'problem areas' as he himself would call them.
"You seem to be doing alright so far, can you remember what comes next?" Eren asks.
"Usually I'm too busy listening to you yapping my ear off to actually pay attention to what you're doing." Levi remarks, "But luckily for your annoying ass, I have excellent observational skills, so from what I remember, you normally do foundation next. Except you have so many different shades and bottles, are you planning on your skin changing colour overnight? There's no fucking point in having 8 different shades when you are all the one colour."
"Ooh, is that some shade you're aiming at me there?" Eren jokes with a shit eating grin.
"I will shove this up your ass." Levi threatens, holding up a thick, glass foundation bottle.
"Is that a promise?"
"Definitely, you'll be shitting glass shards for the next fortnight."
"Okay, that's less appealing…." Eren relents, palms held up in surrender, "Anyway, what colour are you thinking of?"
Levi thinks for a moment, stuck between two bottles in his hands, "You've definitely said before that you use the colour 'Sand' on yourself, but I also recall you saying you had to mix it with 'Snow' for a while to make it look right. Snow is the one you use on me, so that's definitely too pale for you, so I'm thinking to use the Sand one and just mix a little of the Snow colour in."
Eren continues grinning as Levi rattles of his explanation, pleasantly taken aback at the amount of information the man had actually managed to absorb in the times he's observed him do his own make up to be able to recite his routine almost perfectly. Levi soon begins looking around for something and can't seem to be able to find it.
"What are you trying to find?" Eren finally asks him.
"Do you have ANYTHING I can use to squirt this shit on? I really don't want to have to put it on my hands." Levi grimaces, rummaging through make up bags and picking up different packs of things scattered around the table.
"There should be some empty containers in my top drawer, pick one out and put some in there." Eren advises, and Levi retrieves one quickly, unscrewing the cap and squirting some of Eren's foundation into it.
"So how are you going to put it on me?" Eren asks curiously, watching as Levi lays out the things he'll need for the entirety of the video.
"I know that you use both make up brushes and…. blenders, I want to say."
"Beauty blenders, yes." Eren clarifies, opening a special bag filled with the little sponges.
"What the fuck are those?!" Levi exclaims, picking one out to examine it with the tips of his fingers.
"They're beauty blenders, what do you think they look like?"
"Quite honestly, they look like anal plugs." Levi replies honestly, holding one out to the camera for the audience to see, "Don't you think?"
Eren laughs in disbelief, "And how would you know what anal plugs look like?"
Levi raises his brow in derision, "I'm Demisexual Eren, not naïve."
"Right, you are now banned from the beauty blenders, fuck knows what you'd try doing with them if I left you alone!" Eren exclaims, grabbing the sponge from Levi and putting it back in it's bad before zipping it up again.
"Tch, just hand me the brush brat."
All in all, Eren can honestly say he's rather surprised by how well Levi has done for his first attempt at make-up. Sure, the eyeshadow is a little bit darker on one side and the lip liner is a little too dark to look natural with the lip shade he's chosen, but Eren is a drag queen, so natural isn't exactly what he aims for typically anyway. If Eren hadn't known any better, he'd have guessed that Levi is not a complete novice when it comes to make up technique.
After they say their goodbyes and sign off on camera, Eren begins editing straight away while Levi starts cleaning Eren's bedroom and clearing away the things they'd been using, putting the bags in their correct drawers once they're refilled and organised correctly.
A couple hours later when Levi has finished Eren's room and has found some limescale in the bathroom that requires his immediate attention, and Eren has finished editing, now in the process of uploading his new video, they decide to order Pizzas in for dinner instead of cooking something from scratch. Eren, of course, orders the meatiest, messiest, greasiest pizza available on the menu, while Levi sticks with a simple pepperoni.
When their food arrives, and they settle together on the couch for the evening, they decide to stick on some random new Netflix Original for background entertainment, neither of them really paying attention but not wanting to be stuck in complete silence as they eat. Because heaven knows, Levi would complain for the rest of the night if Eren attempted to hold a conversation with his mouth full.
Levi sits upright on the couch, his plate set on the arm of the couch as he uses a knife and fork to cut into his slices carefully and methodically, making certain he's not managed to drop or spill anything over their cloth furniture, stains are a bitch to try and get out. Eren, in contrast, lies sideways on the couch and balances his pizza (still in the box no less) precariously on his stomach, as his legs are spread out over Levi's lower half as they watch TV together. Levi had tried to beat the habit of Eren sprawling himself all over him but learned that it was just not worth the fight in the end, and honestly, Levi didn't mind the extra weight of Eren pressed on him, it's not like it affected him all that much anyway.
"Mm, so do we have everything ready for tomorrow night?" Eren asks through a mouthful of pizza, a little sauce dribbling down the side of his lips.
Levi grimaces, "Quit talking with your shitty mouth full, brat. And yes, I went through the checklist with Sasha earlier and everything we need for Kaya is in the fridge or the cupboards, Connie is bringing her travel carrier and crib over with him in the afternoon when they drop her off."
"Okay, but do you think we'll be able to handle it? She's never been away from Connie and Sasha for a whole night before. What if she freaks out?" Eren asks in a mild panic.
"You're the one who sounds like he's about to panic, and anyway she's only one little baby, the most she can do right now is crawl, eat, shit and cry. What's the big deal? And you know she loves us, there's nothing to be worried about." Levi insists, biting into a segment of his pizza after he's done reassuring the practically constipated young man next to him.
"Hah, you mean she loves you. She has done ever since she saw you, even more so since you bought her that huge hippo thing, Sasha says she never lets go of it. Aside from Mama and Dada, I think they're convinced the next name she'll start saying is "Levi". She already says "Unca" whenever you pick her up." Eren teases, grinning as he tears a bite from the slice in his hand.
"Tch, you're just jealous because she likes Rogue better than you." Levi smirks and Eren kicks him in response, earning himself a sharp pinch to the ankle.
"Aww man, this Pizza is so good but it's really heavy, I always regret buying it after a couple slices." Eren complains, rubbing his stomach under the pizza box, "Yours looks nice and light, trade you a piece?"
"Absolutely not, that monstrosity on your lap looks positively vile. I wouldn't eat that shit if you paid me." Levi says, scowling at the site of the large slices covered in BBQ sauce and every possible kind of meat known to man, revolting.
"Well there's nothing stopping you donating a slice of yours to the less fortunate."
"Other than the fact you still have six slices of your own right there? Quit your whining."
"Please Levi! Take pity on me!" Eren pouts, attempting to look cute and Levi is ready for it this time.
"Hey, if I can't use my captivity excuse more than once a week, you can't pull the big multicoloured puppy dog eyes either." Levi warns, taking another bite of his food and amusedly watching an offended Eren angrily bite into his own slice once more.
Levi sighs once more before deciding to take pity on the silly brat, his choice of pizza does look positively disgusting, "Fine, I will give you one BITE if it will stop you looking like I've just kicked you."
"Thanks dude, but you're gonna have to feed me, can't get up and can't promise I'll only stop at one bite if you give me the opportunity. Restraint has never been a strong point of mine and I don't need you hitting me." Eren says cheekily, opening his mouth up for Levi to feed him a bite.
Levi glares and rolls his eyes, "You're really pushing it you know? Here, I'm not sharing a fork with you, so you'll have to eat it this way." He says as he holds up a full new slice to Eren's mouth.
As the boy bites down, the tomato sauce and cheese fills his mouth, grease and oil running down his chin and dripping on to Levi's hand. It covers his fingers in a huge mess and causes him to drop the slice on to the floor face down. Eren waits for the barrage of insults or for him to be thrown off Levi's lap in a heap on the floor so the older man can disinfect the carpet as quickly as possible, but it never comes….
Instead, Levi simply sets the plate and box on the coffee table and straddles Eren's lap, pinning the boy's wrists down above his head while he'd been caught between surprise and shock, and attempting to rub the contents of his messy fingers over Eren's make-up covered face.
"Ahh! Levi! Stop, oh my god!" Eren screeches as Levi presses his full weight on to his stomach and continues holding him down against the couch. Levi is surprisingly strong and agile despite his incredibly below average height and slender figure, and easily manoeuvres Eren as the boy thrashes his head from side to side, giggling the whole time as Levi tries to dirty his face with the oil and sauce still dripping down his index and middle fingers.
"You are a shitty brat, and therefore you should be the grimy, messy, disgusting one. So shut up and accept your punishment." Levi growls playfully, the younger man cackling wildly as he forces his hand on Eren's face, rubbing his fingers over Eren's cheek and mouth. That is until Eren does something completely out of the blue and stills Levi's heart completely for a matter of seconds.
Suddenly, Eren is no longer laughing or fighting Levi's actions, instead he opens his mouth wide and wraps his lips around Levi's messy fingers, licking and sucking the contents off them until they're left completely clean. Eren's eyes are closed as he tastes the oily residue, and the hint of Levi's natural flavour making him moan almost pornographically…. Until he remembers where he is and his eyes fly open.
Levi is simply staring at his hand in a mixture of disbelief and shock, and then he looks at Eren with the same expression, as if he simply can't fathom what he's just done. And honestly, Eren can't blame him for it. What was he thinking licking his friend's fingers? What was he thinking as he sucked oil from the flesh of the man he lives with? From the man who WORKS for him?!
He has to get out and quickly, so he frees himself from under a stock still Levi and apologises several times over, loudly and nervously as he practically runs to the comfort and safety of his own bedroom slamming the door behind him and climbing into the fetal position on his bed.
Meanwhile, Levi continues just looking at the fingers that had just been inside Eren's mouth. Eren, his friend, his employer, his roommate, his escape from life…. just wrapped his lips around his digits, sucked hard and moaned under him as he did it.
It's incredibly odd to Levi, and not only the action itself exactly. What is odd is that nobody has ever done that to him before, nobody has even come close…. His ex-girlfriend Rico had tried to pressure him into intimate acts more times than he can remember, but even then, he was never swayed into the feeling, not into the feeling he's definitely feeling now.
Levi feels…. excited by the action. Not in the sexual sense per se, but definitely in the sense of wanting to know what Eren was going to do to him next if he'd actually wanted to…. and is not completely deterred by the idea either. Up until this point, he's been so sure that his attraction and affection had been for Rogue and only Rogue, that the idea of even being in such close proximity to a man was nothing but abhorrent to him, but now he can't be sure. He knows he doesn't want to be with a man, and right now he doesn't really want to be with a woman either. And then there's Eren, there's Rogue...then again, Eren WAS wearing make-up when just now, could that mean something?
Whichever way he looks at it, Levi knows he definitely has some shit to figure out.