Peace was nice, Levi decided. He also decided that the 'was' part really needed to be emphasized and stressed to its limit. As was the way of the beast, of course, rearing its ugly head, snarling and curling its lips back to show teeth that belonged to an owner that had neglected the need to schedule a dentist appointment, let alone pick up a tooth brush, for ten years at the least. The metaphor was bad, and probably a little over-exaggerated, but Levi was feeling prone to the melodramatic lately. There was something about the company he started keeping, although it was better than in the very beginning, that brought it out of him, like a defense mechanism. He didn't know what it was defending him from, but he assured himself that he was on the right track towards finding out.

Life was good. He started reading books that he'd wanted to read for quite a long time, setting aside about two hours every day to make substantial dents with a special gift from the heavens called 'speed reading'.

It was weird, but he invited Eren to his apartment two times in the week and a half that had passed since the truck stop phone number incident—one time to complain about the inhuman noises Eren tended to make, and the second time to enjoy, of course, Sunday dinner. Surprisingly, Eren had shown up. The complaining of the first encounter had turned into them just talking, and Levi determined that that was weird, too.

Eren was weird.

The young man had two main modes, with several mini-middle-modes in between. Mode A was excited, pumped and motivated beyond belief. Mode B was angry, irritable and, of course, probably just as an aftershock of whatever late puberty he was still trying to successfully survive through, moody. Relatively, he was weird because he left his front door unlocked almost all of the time, and sometimes even forgot to lock it when he left. He was weird because he refused to toast his poptarts, and Levi couldn't remember how he found out about that one. He was weird because he smiled at things Levi didn't think needed to be smiled at, and then only smiled more when he pointed that out.

Eren was especially weird with the way he seemed so adamant in getting Levi's attention at times. If he tried to get a rise out of Levi, he wouldn't leave until he got what he wanted (or until Levi kicked him out, or until Levi slammed a door in his face, or maybe even until Levi threatened to hand his number out again, after the brunette had changed his phone number). In the last couple of days, too, if Levi made the mistake of meeting turquoise eyes with his own, Eren immediately struck up a conversation or said, per usual, whatever the hell was on his mind.

It was weird, because Levi wasn't used to being sought out for no apparent reason. When people came to find him, or purposely looked for him, they needed or wanted something. Eren had gotten used to finding him for the most ridiculous reasons.

Levi was getting used to him, though, slowly but surely.

By Wednesday, the twenty-sixth, Levi was confident that he had successfully ended the little strife of who-could-piss-the-other-off-most that Eren had started. He'd only retaliated once, but he hoped, almost prayed, that would be enough to make Eren realize that he really had no chance against him. He concluded that Eren would have to be out of his mind to strike back after that.

And, of course, he had a gut feeling, when his doorbell rang after sundown, that striking back was exactly what Eren was doing.

He sighed and marked his place in the worn, well-read copy of a thriller he'd picked up at a secondhand media store down onto his coffee table. He regretted opening his front door without sparing a glance through the peep hole immediately. He fought every instinct to just slam the door, lock it and return to his book. He fought hard, because that was the most well-advised instinct reaction he'd had in years, and he'd regret that, along with opening the door in the first place, for years to come, he just knew.

His gut had not betrayed him.

[-X-]

Eren recognized that Levi was weird in his own ways. And, of course, 'in his own ways' meant in a lot of ways.

Levi drank his coffee black with two sugars, and that was just disgusting. Levi sat below the eucalyptus, reading weird occult-looking books (he really had no idea what kind of books they were). Levi stared at him with the same unwavering stoic and bored expression that, in truth, made him nervous but also made him want to buck back, but then would turn around and do something caring like the dinners on Sundays, and he'd caught him setting out the dish of food for the neighborhood's militia of cats. Levi charged into his house one day, already on a roll about how unnecessarily noisy Eren's footsteps were, only to stop and clean Eren's living room (which Levi told him not to tell anyone about afterward).

Levi was especially weird because of the small smile that Eren just swore he saw, the one that would appear once in a great while, the one that would disappear as soon as Eren thought he saw it. Eren started referring to Levi's smile as 'The Unicorn', a joke that only Erwin and Marco got. It pissed Levi off to no end when they refused to explain the joke to him.

(This, of course, brought Levi to tell all three of them to go to hell before stomping off, which they knew was complete bullshit, because who could tell Marco to go to hell and mean it?)

Levi wasn't really the big bad wolf he came off as.

It had taken Eren two weeks and a day to figure out how to talk to Levi, to figure out how to work around him and not figuratively (or literally) get his balls chopped off—although that was still questionable. But, of course, he decided that what was happening wasn't quite enough. He wanted something else, something different from the usual little rise he could get out of Levi nearly every single time he spoke to him. In hindsight, everything he did was a pretty terrible idea and that should've been sign enough for him to just quit while he was ahead, but no. Maybe it was a sense of needing to finish what he started that had made him do it. Then again, Levi was always telling him that if he were any less intelligent, he'd have to water him twice a week.

As he stood in his tiny kitchenette, leaning up against the bar counter, he listened to the foreboding sound of the door belonging to the apartment below slam, and then stomping up the stairs towards his floor, he believed that maybe, just maybe, Levi was right about something.

It was worth it to watch his front door swing open and be gifted with the sight of a much disheveled Levi. His face was red with, probably, anger, hair messy like he'd just gotten out of bed, right fist clenched around a poor piece of paper that was crying for help if you listened well enough. His eyes were positively murderous, exactly what Eren had been expecting. He had just enough time to thank his lucky stars that it wasn't the scary calm again.

He only had just enough time, because Levi was barreling straight for him.

Eren let out some embarrassing rendition of an exhilarated squeal as he tripped over his socked feet to slide around the bar and brace himself on the other side. Instead of stopping to see which way he might try to run next, Levi just kept going, swinging up and over the bar to land right next to Eren. The brunette tripped over himself in another attempt to get away, feet slipping on the tile of the kitchenette and allowing Levi just enough time to grab the front of his shirt with both hands, haul him to his feet and slam his back up against the pantry door.

"Wow, okay," Eren gasped out, wincing at the pain in his back, trying to ignore the way Levi's hands pressed up to his chest. "You are definitely stronger than you look, you know?"

It was like throwing wood to a flame. Levi hissed and pulled him away from the pantry door, only to slam him up against it again. Eren was sure he was some sort of masochist at this point, because Levi's reaction was thus far most definitely worth it. Aside from the aching pain in his back that threatened him with a very restless night of sleep, he took in how close Levi's face was to his and thought that it wasn't that bad.

"Eren," Levi said, carefully pronouncing the young man's name with a deadly calm vigor. Oh shit, there it is. "Eren, please, do explain to me why there are three scantily clad women, and one flamboyant man waiting outside of my apartment, hm?"

The shorter man's eyes narrowed at Eren as he grinned, almost sheepishly.

"I didn't know which team you played for?"

The corners of Levi's mouth twitched, and Eren thought maybe he was going to smile or something, but then he was slammed back against the pantry door again. He had to clamp his eyes shut as a little pain stung them, and he missed any chance of seeing what developments were being made in the area of Levi's mouth. By the time he managed to pry his eyes open again, Levi was straight-faced again, eyes as cold as ever. Eren regretted letting him compose himself.

"Do you realize they're trying to charge me seven hundred bucks, you titillated mouth breather?" At Eren's quizzical look and arched eyebrow, he thrust the strangled piece of paper at his face. "One seventy-five each, dumb shit. If you're gonna order house-call strippers for a man, have the decency to pay for them."

Eren's veneer broke like glass struck by stone. He tried, tried really hard, to not relent to his urges, but the distressed and annoyed look on Levi's face, his messy hair, the small wrinkle in his shirt that looked like maybe someone had pulled it; every factor destroyed the face he'd been trying to pull to make Levi think he was taking this seriously (he definitely wasn't). The giggles came relentlessly, bubbling out through his lips even though he struggled to keep them back. With every little bit of laughter, Levi looked like he was ready to either kill him or let him go (there was a very thin line between the two). In between gasps for breath and giggles at Levi's muddled expression, he managed, "I-I'm so broke . . . I'm considering singing show tunes in drag at a bar for tips."

There was silence from Levi as he stared at Eren, face entirely void of emotion. That is, until a smirk cracked at the corners of his lips, he averted his gaze and his shoulders shook like he was trying too hard not to laugh.

"Now's really not the time to make me picture you in a gaudy cocktail dress, sashaying your sorry ass across a stage. I have four angry strippers outside of my door demanding money."

Eren snorted embarrassingly loud before outright laughing.

He bit down on his lower lip to try and stop himself, but as soon as he heard Levi let a little laugh of his own escape, he didn't have to. He fell silent, staring at the older man in front of him, curiosity and awe (and something else) bubbling up in his stomach. Levi was laughing. Levi was barely inches away from him. Levi's hands were relaxing and sliding down his chest before they fell limp at his sides. Levi was an odd sort of mesmerizing. He didn't know what he was hoping for when steel-colored eyes met his, with the way they flickered with an unspoken question and then a weird kind of recognition or acknowledgment like they did the first they they'd met. He was entirely fine with Levi not stepping back, but when he did, Eren said nothing.

Levi cleared his throat and turned his gaze away again. There was still a hint of a smirk at his lips that Eren was happy to still see.

"In all seriousness, what are we gonna do about them? There's no way in fuck I'm coughing up seven hundred bucks for a mediocre strip tease."

"Well, we could pay them, you know, split the cost—"

"No way in hell, kid."

"Come on! We could have a nice show."

"What happened to being broke?"

Eren stopped to think about that one, before nodding and holding his hands up in surrender.

"You got me there. I definitely don't have three fifty to cough out on something like that."

Levi hummed in agreement, stepping back to lean against the bar. Eren stretched, testing the now-sore muscles in his back. He hoped that if he worked them throughout the day he'd be able to fall asleep just fine. He stopped stretching, though, when Levi looked him over. Maybe he was taking in the damage, or maybe he was just being critical as always. The latter was the most likely.

"I could always put on a show for you," Eren teased, smirking. "Or . . . Vice versa."

Predictably, he received a harsh punch to the bicep, sending him stumbling back into the pantry door and, Jesus, I forgot he was strong. He otherwise got nothing in response, other than a curt glare and something that sounded like a 'harrumph'.

"I guess we could just hang out up here and wait for them to run off," Eren offered softly, rubbing his arm to sooth the pain. He could hear them talking, with how quiet it was in the apartment now. They were saying something about Levi's height, something about doubting his dick could be very big. "They'll probably get tired of waiting eventually."

"Bet they catch enough shit as it is," Levi mused, despite the insults they could hear. "As fuck awful as we both know it is to work in retail, especially having to clean the shit-palaces they call public bathrooms, imagine having to go to stranger's houses to strip."

"True . . ." Eren hummed, pursing his lips. "Then go tell them it was a mistake?"

" . . . I really don't want to have to talk to them again."

"Waiting it out it is. It's too bad, though. I spent a long time looking for house-calls that didn't require payment up front."

[-X-]

"So, all I'm really hearing right now is that you turned down strippers."

"Oh, shut the hell up. They were too damn expensive."

"You turned down strippers."

Levi huffed from his spot in Erwin's desk chair. He had taken over the man's office while he stepped out to say something to Marco, only to return to it mostly clean and Levi sitting in his chair, knees drawn up to his chest, arms wound around his legs. Erwin was forced to take the chair in front of his desk, lounging a little uncomfortably. Levi could tell by the look on his face that he'd never quite realized how terribly uncomfortable the shitty chair was. Probably thought I was bullshitting when I complained.

"I have to hand it to the kid, though," Levi said, twirling Erwin's favorite pen in his fingers like some sort of wand. "That's something I would expect from me, instead of something lame like that first stunt he pulled. Help me come up with something to get back at him with."

"I am not getting in the middle of your shit storm of a war." Erwin frowned and stretched out his legs, shifting for a more comfortable position. "All you talk about anymore is Eren. Eren's noisy, Eren's stupid, Eren's teeth are too straight."

"They are. He said he never wore braces."

He worked hard to keep his words the same as always—calm, cool and collected, accompanied by a disinterested look on his face. After a not-so-subtle look from the blonde across from them, Levi grumbled and shrugged.

"He's like a walking close-call with natural selection; it's fascinating," he tried. It didn't work. Levi just received a disbelieving look. "Come on. He makes me believe in reincarnation, because nobody could become that stupid throughout the span of one lifetime."

Erwin rolled his eyes.

"I'm just trying to say that you seem to be paying more attention to him than you normally would with any other person," the blonde explained. He shifted again. "And don't pull this 'I have to because he lives above me' bullshit, because you've ignored your neighbors up until this point."

"I have not."

"Name one person that lives in a surrounding apartment that isn't Eren."

Levi tried to remember. He remembered a face or two, but to be honest, he wasn't even sure if the person in the apartment directly next to him still lived there, or if the old man in the apartment across from his was even alive anymore. The only person he'd ever cared to speak to, and that was on very rare occasions, was Old Woman Robertson when she lived in Eren's apartment. If he saw someone else wandering around the complex, he didn't bother to speak to them. Being the least social complex-dweller was having his drawbacks, he realized, because Erwin had a point. Hate it when he's right.

Of course, instead of answering, he shot a glare at Erwin and stared up at the ceiling. After nearly dropping Erwin's pen twice, he tossed it down onto the table and sighed. The sounds of chatter sounded from outside of the office, the lobby bustling with life something terrible for a measly Wednesday evening after sun-down. It was that time when some were coming back from church, stopping by Marco's desk to throw some sort of greeting at him, or be one of the last to pick up or pay their bills.

He eventually pried himself out of Erwin's chair and wandered over to the office door, for peeking purposes, of course. He peered through the small window in the office door, scanning the current inhabitants of the lobby.

Nothing was out of place. There was a small herd of women standing close to the main door, one holding a baby. He watched as a few people stopped by Marco's desk to drop off envelopes or pick some up. There were a few kids, probably belonging to some of the women in the herd, running around, roughhousing, being yelled at accordingly. And then there was Eren, leaned up against Marco's desk, talking to him. No, teasing him was more like it from the looks of things. Eren's posture was playful, and he gave a gentle mock punch to Marco's arm. He said something that made Marco flush and Eren leaned a little too close for a normal, innocent conversation—

"Hoooly shit, Erwin," he drawled, staring at the scene. He waved the man over vigorously, almost turning around to pull him over, himself, until he heard the uncomfortable chair squeak with weight being relieved of it. "Erwin, he's trying to flirt with Marco."

Erwin was there in an instant, bending down to stare over Levi's shoulder out the window.

Levi smirked as Erwin let out a low whistle at Eren's awkward attempts at courting. They could both tell he'd never really done it before, because his face displayed the way he was mentally grappling for more material to use. They couldn't tell what he was saying, but Levi was sure it filled Erwin with as much secondhand embarrassment as it did him.

"Marco's never been good at turning people down." Erwin raised an eyebrow, moving to get a better look. "Maybe we should stop Eren while he's, uh . . . Ahead?"

Levi was struck with an inspiration that would've made Shakespeare cry with joy. Or regret everything.

"Couldn't agree more."

Levi stepped back and worked the silver ring off of his right middle finger. It was plain, and he'd only picked it up at some flea market (Hanji had an obsession, and Levi liked cheap shit) about two weeks before Eren showed up, but it was about to serve its greater purpose in life. He cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair.

He ignored the way Erwin hissed his name in some sort of second-thought warning, retracting his statement, and swung the door open. He pulled his best homicide face (because this was going to be so worth the hell of taking drama in high school and enduring four years of torment from his peers) and stomped over to Marco's desk. The look on Eren's face when he spotted him almost made him stop to make sure the poor kid hadn't outright shit himself. He actually looked scared, intimidated. Levi liked to think that was because this time the tables had turned, and he had no idea what he did. The grin he'd gotten earlier in response to his charging forward could not be forgiven so easily.

"You're a fucking pig, Eren Jaeger," he growled out, louder than necessary, slamming his ring down on the desk in between Marco and Eren, harder than necessary. The brunette jumped and stumbled away from the desk, already holding his hands up and opening his mouth to try and compromise for whatever he thought he'd done wrong this time. Attention was being drawn to them. Levi would have to think and act quickly to pull this off. "I can't fucking believe you! What, do you just flirt with everything that moves when you don't think I'm looking?"

Eren's eyes were comically wide, giant saucers that read just how terrified and confused he was. The whispers were already starting when he managed, "I—"

"I don't want to hear it," Levi snapped, sliding the ring over to Eren and pulling his hand back to officially show what it was. The herd had inched closer and were all leaning in different directions to see what it was. Even Marco stared down at it curiously, a glint of something like sympathy in his eyes. Eren tried to open his mouth again. "Shut it." He did. "I don't want to hear a single word from you; I don't need your excuses."

Passers-by stopped on their way back to their apartments on their way out the door, on their way to Marco's desk, just to stare at the scene he'd caused. Levi opted for looking too-angry-to-cry-over-his-broken-heart instead of pulling out the water works. He'd never been good at making himself cry, and he didn't want to fuck up now. He required applause for this performance, so it had to be perfect.

"You can keep your useless fucking ring, I don't need it anymore." He made his voice crack for effect. "And you can keep your 'I love you's and 'Baby, I'm sorry's to yourself, too, this time. Run away with Marco for all I fucking care! I'm done with you. We're done."

With probably a bit too much of an over-dramatic flourish, he spun around and stomped right for his apartment. Now that they had fallen quiet, the whispering had increased tenfold, volume rising to inside voices as they discussed the scene and analyzed it.

A woman from the herd shouted, "Good for you, babe!" and another called, "You tell him!"

I'll teach you to not pay for my strippers.

[-X-]

Levi's door slammed shut and echoed throughout the lobby. Eren stood by Marco's desk, staring down at the little plain ring, dumbstruck and speechless. His mind tripped grossly to catch up to him.

Did I just get dumped? He inwardly shook his head. I think that would require an actual established relationship. Eren, he just publicly humiliated you. Eren, people are staring. Eren—

"Eren." Marco's voice dragged him out of his little reverie and he stared over at him. Marco had an understanding smile on—Shit, wait, what does he understand?—and a couple of fingers pushing the ring closer to Eren, until he was forced to pick it up. "Go talk to him. It's alright."

Wait, no, no, no.

"I—uh—"

"Eren, really, it's fine. Go talk to him. He'll understand if you tell him it was a misunderstanding."

Except it definitely wasn't a misunderstanding, and he had definitely been trying to flirt with Marco (trying be keyword), but he realized that the freckled man wasn't about to let him explain that without cutting him off and insisting he talk to Levi. He heard gentle nudges from the little cluster of women urging him to make things better and chose to ignore the castrating threats one of them threw at him. His face was burning with frustration and embarrassment and he was pretty sure he was going to go insane if he stayed out in the public eye like that much longer.

"Goddammit."

He took off in a sprint towards the hallway that led to Levi's apartment and his stairs, tuning out the hoots and whooping from the group of women, and even a few other passers-by. He fled up the stairs, shooting a glare at Levi's door, as soon as he was out of their line of sight.

Eren ducked into his apartment, shutting the door behind him and leaning up against it. Slowly, he slid down to the floor, his heart racing and his breath short. He opened his hand and glared down at the ring in his palm, making a mental note to throw it at Levi the next time he saw him. The desire for an actual revenge wasn't present, though. Even though Levi had humiliated him, even though Levi had truly gotten back at him this time and this one wasn't fixable by changing his phone number, there was no drive to really retaliate. There was just the ever-present urge to get Levi to look at him, to get Levi to laugh, to get Levi—

He realized what he was feeling was a craving for Levi's attention like whiplash.

Eren Jaeger craved Levi's attention and he was going to get it somehow.