Opening Night

Eren threw the coffee cups out in the trash, sighing and preparing himself for circle. He could get through this, lock himself in the control room, and not come out for a good near two hours. It's okay. It's really okay.

It's not okay.

He couldn't get the smell of the shirt out at all, or his jacket. Eren couldn't stop taking in the scent, and he was sure Armin noticed. It sounded as though he was sick because he was just trying to smell the articles of clothing. That's so creepy, he thought.

"Eren. Eren. Eren," Armin finally clapped in Eren's face to grab his attention, rolling his eyes. His head snapped to the blonde in front of him, holding the door open.

"It's time for circle," He pointed out, motioning for him to leave the room.

"Yeah, yeah, alright," Eren shrugged and slid off the blue jacket, placing it on the back of his chair. Get through circle, ignore everything unless you're acknowledged, and leave. If he wanted to escape a situation he damn well could. He ambled almost to the circle, until Ymir pushed him to the area because she was tired of his bullshit.

"Ymir, please don't push me," Eren tripped into the group, watching her walk over to Christa, already in full costume. Right, she was chosen to be Shiloh, and her black wig hung nicely over her shoulders. Levi did a good job with the costumes.

"Alright, you guys know the drill…" Erwin began, letting everyone take turns. It was the usual thank you to others, the same compliments in a way, and more. Eren politely nodded and smiled when the others thanked him or complimented him, tapping his foot in nervousness. When it came to his turn, he went through the group giving the usual shout out's.

"Shout out to Levi…" He hesitated for a moment, before coming up with something. "…For his violin skills and being able to make room to play the song while being busy with costumes."

Levi nodded, his signal for thank you.

When the circle was over, everyone rushed to their appropriate places, grabbing the needed mics and equipment. The show started in thirty minutes, and people were trickling in. The show would have a good audience tonight, and Eren could even see Mike sitting a couple of rows from the stage with Nanaba and a few others.

Quiet time really was quiet for once, everyone preparing things, Armin staying back in the control booth while Ymir directed others to the cat walk. When they locked the doors and Eren was working on organizing the last of his sounds for extra measure, going back once, twice, three times, he was surprised Amin never asked questions. Usually by now he would have noticed something was off with his mood or something, but he actually just stayed quiet.

Peculiar.

He was relieved when the production began, Erwin entering on stage and beginning the set up for a story. He admired the Stage Manager for being able to balance both jobs, Narrator and Stage Manager. Hanji took over in parts when he was on stage, even though she was in the production as well. Honestly, he didn't know how they did it, he was only cast for once or twice during school productions.

Levi patiently helped with fixing costumes and make up, taking calls from Hanji until Erwin finally left stage and she was able to get a break. She managed to sneak time in to stroll over and launch a small conversation with Levi, while he stood nervously making sure quick changes were going as planned.

"Levi, mute your headset for one moment," Hanji demanded, Levi looking skeptical. He couldn't just mute himself from the gossip line like that.

"I'd rather not, but if you say so," He motioned for the button, shrugging,

"So, you and Eren. Where are things headed?" She balanced back and forth on her feet, clicking her tongue.

"Things are going nowhere, Hanji. How many times do I have to explain I gave him the shirt and jacket back with no in between?" The raven haired teen replied, motioning for Reiner to come over so he could make small adjustments to the mask.

"No, Levi, quiet for one moment. Things have been weird since a few days before tonight, what's happened? You kiss, argue, make up, and things have been…awkward. I talked to Mike before the show, and he said even when you called him last you were acting weird. That was yesterday, so what is your deal?" There was a tone of annoyance in there, and Levi rolled his eyes, shooing Reiner off. A quick change would be conducted soon, in less than a few minutes, actually. Levi had to be on his game.

"We're not having this conversation right now, Hanji. I have to do my job, you have to get ready for your entrance in the next few scenes. Talk to me about it later," Levi replied, looking at her.

"Answer me, Levi. You have three minutes."

Levi sighed, knowing he'd lose the battle. "It's been confusing, alright? I keep getting signals from him that says he has romantic feelings, but then there are times where he implies friends too much. It's annoying, Hanji. It's so damn annoying how I feel like this, and he waltzes around not having a single care like that for me to give. It's always friends, it's always 'He's like a bother.' It's always the same stupid shit, and I just want to work tonight and not discuss this."

She stared. She nodded once, muttering a 'We'll talk tonight,' and walking over to discuss something with Petra. Levi understood he dropped a bomb, but when he went to go unmute the microphone, it turns out he didn't actually mute it in the first place.

Levi's got a nice hold on his anger. He really does, he's learned not to shout 'Fuck!' really loud when you're backstage and plenty of people could hear. So he did the Most Adult Thing™ he could do, and he breathed in, whispering lowly "I fucked up," before rushing to just go help with quick changes.

In the control booth, Eren and Armin sat mortified. He kind of turned to Armin, motioning, wishing question marks would appear out of nowhere. Armin shook his head, flailing not knowing what to do either. They could pretend they didn't hear that, but with Jean on the gossip line chuckling and just saying "The loudest scream Levi has ever had, done in complete silence," It would be hard to ignore.

Okay, so now Eren knew he'd fucked up just as much as he thought he did.

It was actually hard to go through a performance like this when your mind was swarming with questions, wondering how he was going to avoid all the questions, all the wandering eyes from all the crew members, everything. He only gave out his calls and the thank you's when needed, voice racked with exhaustion. There was no way he was going to make it through Saturday and Sunday like this, no way whatsoever.

Times like this, Eren was glad him and Levi worked in completely opposite sides of the theater. He was especially glad nobody could see his face, since he was probably pale and looking a bit sick. There was no way Eren could do this anymore, acting oblivious to Levi's feelings. He wasn't even sure of his own feelings anymore, but there's no rushing in. There was no way Levi could be crushed like that, so it was just easy to ignore everything. Avoid the situation, get through it all, everything will be okay in a week.

Hell week had a new definition, because this was definitely the worst Hell week. The performance was going to well, but people were actually just giving cues instead of jokes during the performance on the line. It wasn't even Hell week anymore, but Eren wanted a redo. A complete redo, so he could avoid everything.

The performance had gone on with no interruption, except for a slip-up here and there, and finally it was time for the Chromaggia number. When the violin echoed in the theater and the audience's silence and awed expressions spoke more than words, things just clicked in place. Just the way Petra hit the notes with absolute volume and sadness in her voice, everyone was stunned. This was probably planned between a few individuals, but Levi had actually stepped on to stage in black attire, and a masquerade mask to accompany it all. The button-up formal shirt fit nicely, and his slacks were straight, leading down to clean black shoes.

Eren was stunned.

He didn't even have to use the sheet music, he just played. Levi played each and every note with intensity that was so easy to notice, and it was easy to notice the way he held the violin like the instrument was his life. For every note—A sharp, D sharp, everything—the show belonged to the two of them now. All they could do was stare and observe, not realizing when the song was over they had their cues, almost missing them.

Eren was screwed. Eren was one hundred percent, completely, and utterly screwed, because he knew then. He finally fucking knew, and he couldn't even say it.

a/n: welp, updates are going to be maybe once a week, since im adjusting to school. opening night isn't over yet, guys! there's still a nice good portion of the ending for repo! i need to write out, since it's basically the saddest thing ever and y'know. i have priorities. if you'll also take a moment to acknowledge my girlfriend at lordtwink on tumblr, you should read her fic and compliment her, she's the reason this au exists. also, i have side stores! simple non-canon one shots (except the tongue piercing one) i have on tumblr in the shingeki no theater tag. read it. big shoutout to nata (5-foot-a-bitch on tumblr) and xpyon, because you two encourage me a lot! also to tightleatherpants, who is a sweetheart. yall are gr8.
that's all, lovelies! i hope your day is great!