Apart from his upstairs neighbour, a McDonald's shop assistant called Mina, singing High School Musical songs at ten in the evening and Reiner's voice filling the flat whenever he visits Bertholdt (which was far too often to be for platonic reasons) the building of Swansea is actually... really quiet. His bed has two pillows, is comfortable enough to get a few more hours of sleep in, and thanks to Levi's cleaning skills; the flat now looks painfully domestic.
"You know, the guy who stayed here before was really horrible. Like, he wouldn't clean and he did God knows what in that room of his -there's actually a rumour that he wanked all over the walls- and it was terrifying, seeing as he was my first flat sharer and I'd never been in a place like this before. I gave up on cleaning after a while because it just got so bad with him refusing to do anything, so uh, sorry about the mess you had to clean up before. And no, I really don't give a shit if you put that blanket on the couch, Levi."
Bertholdt looks up at him with a grin, green eyes crinkling at the sides as he huffs a laugh, watching Levi stand by the couch. "If anything, I should be thanking you for doing stuff like that, and for being so nice to me."
Maybe he'd swayed Bertholdt by cooking him curry on his first night and cleaning the entire house from top to bottom, but even so, it's a great feeling to be called "nice" rather than "weird" or "intimidating". Although, Bertholdt calls him "reserved" as well. But hey, at least he's on good terms with his flat-mate. Though he'll never look at his bedroom walls the same way ever again; to the bleach!
Unfortunately, being on good terms with Bertholdt means that he has to meet the other residents. It's especially painful because as you know; Levi fucking hates small talk and that is exactly what introductions consist of.
It turns out that Keith, Bertholdt and Reiner are all friends because of their mutual interest in Doctor Who. In other words; nerds stick together. Keith is actually Scottish-Italian and it's a joke throughout the entire building that "he looks like the Chinese kid from the Indiana Jones movie". That probably explains why Reiner shrieks "Mistah JOOOOONES" at random intervals in conversation.
Reiner shares a flat with a boy called Samuel, who he apparently doesn't like because "he smokes fucking drugs like all the time and it's so bloody annoying but Isle won't do anything about it because Sammy scares Mitabi and Isle is probably in love with 'Tabi or some shit". Mitabi and Isle are volunteers at Swansea who's jobs are to keep all the residents in check. Which is required. A lot. If that's to be guessed by the amount of times the police have had to come around in the space of five days.
Keith shares with a guy called Thomas, and although they haven't been introduced, Levi can tell Thomas is a closeted homosexual. The Ugg boots hidden under his jogger bottoms are a dead give-away. And holy fuck the way he walks is just so, so gay. He's probably the reason that stereotypes were invented!
Reiner, Bertholdt and Keith drag Levi upstairs to meet Sasha, a gossiper who freaks out if anyone says anything relating, or not even implying, the fact she's bi-sexual. Levi's pretty sure that that should be the least of her worries, considering her... weight is what induces teasing more often, even from the trio who have a tendency to joke about it behind her back. Again, Levi doesn't get to meet her flat-mate, a mysterious guy called Nac, but instead gets to learn about her college life and a few of the inside jokes at Swansea.
On the same day, he meets Mylius across the hall from Sasha. He's a computer crazed eighteen year old: engaged to his fiancé who lives across the road, having proposed to her after dating for three months. Mylius' flat-mate is a white haired girl called Rico, who seems a bit slow on the uptake, but is also high on the small list of people Levi would consider befriending.
Finally, Levi meets Mina's flat-mate, a pretty girl called Petra. Or, well, she would be pretty, but she talks and bounces around like a five year old, insisting on using the entire bottle of concealer and straightening her hair before going outside.
Petra is friends with the trio and they invite him to hang out uptown, where he's extremely surprised to learn that Petra is actually twenty one -rather than seventeen like he first thought. Outside Poundland, she glares at a young girl who has to be around thirteen years old; pushing a pram and talking with her friends. Petra walks into the shop while mumbling angrily: a complete one-eighty of the Petra he'd encountered before.
Keith shakes his head sadly when Levi asks him why she'd gotten so upset. "Petra's kids got put into foster care. Government said she couldn't provide for the both o' them, what with her being kicked out her house and not payin' rent."
Now that the majority of the building knows his name, the only way he can escape them is by locking his bedroom door or by going to work at Poundsaver the next day. The second option sucks because Erwin's there. Thankfully, Levi's behind the till and doesn't have to put up with any of the blonde man's childish pouting and glares. Unfortunately, he's stuck behind the till and some customer is trying to make small talk with him.
The customer runs shaky fingers through his two toned hair, digging into his pocket for money while his eyes widen at the sight of the scanned items on the counter. "Uh, would you mind helping me pack? Sorry, I'm just terrible at packing. It's even worse at competitive places like Aldi..." Levi places the assorted groceries in the bag; the long faced man rants with a thick accent and hands him money, packing while Levi puts the money in the till then returns to helping him.
"I mean, they just scan your stuff. Don't even give you a chance to pack before they ask for your money. Before you know it, you've held up the line..." With a blush on his face once noticing the queue of people behind him, he gives Levi a quick "thanks!" and hurries out the store.
It takes Levi a while before he puts a finger on where he knows the customer from; right! He was the one who'd given Eren birthday bumps at the bar. What a night that had been...
"Erwin!" he calls out when he sees the assistant manager not-so-subtly trying to sneak out the front of the shop. "C'mere, I need to tell you something." Erwin crosses his arms, standing on the spot with a suspicious glint in his blue eyes. Levi doesn't relent, instead beckoning him over with an urgent hand gesture and peers around the shop to make sure no-one will disturb them.
"This is really important, okay?" Erwin leans forward with a frown. Levi puts both hands on Erwin's shoulders and looks him dead on. "I made a pizza," he gazes intently into confused sapphire orbs. "From scratch." Confusion melts into shock and Levi knows Erwin will forget about their family dispute for this.
"Are... Are you serious?"
"No I'm not Sirius." Grey eyes roll. "Yes, of course I'm serious."
A grin finds it's way onto Erwin's brightened face. "Levi! T-That's incredible! How is that even possible? I mean you spent years living off the curry from the Chinese place when were in Glasgow, and all this time, you could cook?"
"That's a lie. I ate other food when I felt like it."
Erwin breaks out of Levi's grip, standing upright and shaking his head in disbelief. "Okay, if you say so. But... Can I ask how you made it?" Levi offers to give him the recipe. "No, no I mean who taught you how to make stuff from scratch?"
"The key workers. At the hostel." Levi shrugs. "They're actually pretty decent people. Although... they think I'm depressed after I told them a bit about my life and because of the fact that I can't stand talkative people."
Levi expects him to make a joke about how misanthropic he is and feels a sharp pang of worry in his chest at the taller man's distressed expression. "So the people from the place you're at are good for you, aren't they?" He peers at Levi as his eyebrows crease up slowly. "Better than I ever was, I bet. Couldn't even get you a room or a bed when you stayed with me...Or adopt you..."
A deadpan look is all the solace Erwin gets when his voice breaks and he glances away, lips set tightly together. "First of all, I'm too old for you to adopt me anymore." Levi lowers his voice. "Second... I'm coming over later to make sure your flat's in one piece and to feed you and the others some home-made pizza. Hanji'll appreciate me finally returning the favour, won't he?"
After convincing Erwin he won't need a lift to his flat after work, the blonde man goes out the front of the shop to go and do whatever the hell he'd intended to do before they went all weird with that heart to heart. Levi hates the idea of being a charity case, that was especially true when Erwin's mother tended to some of his needs, but then again... The idea of "charity" is that the other doesn't get anything out of it, so the least Levi can do is show he's grateful that Erwin tried. "Tried" being a very key word.
Two thirty arrives, and Levi begins counting down the thirty long minutes until his shift ends. Why do people even work? So pointless. The money he earns now covers his rent -just- seeing as his part time job meant that he couldn't get Housing Benefit. His service charge for electricity, his shopping; all of it is paid for with Income Support. He'd get another job, but the places he applied for a couple of days ago still haven't got back to him. Most of them are empty vacancies anyway. Or have zero hour contracts! Those ones are the best. Not. No wonder so many people are on benefits: you can practically live your entire life on the dole.
What do you know: Eren makes his way into the shop. He's not smiling, his green irises aren't shining, and Levi follows him with concerned eyes. Not now, butterflies. When Eren's sad, you can't go about fluttering and making Levi a mess of affectionate feelings. Maybe something bad happened at work? Or at home? Perhaps something bad happened with... his love life?
Eren finishes shopping, heading towards the counter with a hoard of chocolate. That's definitely worrying. Levi glances at his sunken face in between beeps, noting how Eren's slouching and the fact that he hasn't greeted Levi like he normally does. He should be happy that Eren's not trying to make small talk, right? But... With Eren, babbling means he's happy and it's taking everything inside of him to not lean over the counter and hug him.
He pauses before packing the last item; a full sized Cadbury bar. A girl's diet after she's just been broken up with. *Gulp* "Are you on your period? I hear Tampax is the best brand. They're free if you let me buy them for you."
"What? No. I'm not on my period." Eren mumbles then breathes inwardly. "Thanks for the offer though." Eren hands the black haired man the money, the loose change clinking in his hand as he counts each penny.
"You sure? Everyone has bad days, but that doesn't mean that yours is any less important. Even I have shitty days. Hard to believe, I know, because how on Earth could I have a bad day with a face as pretty as mine?"
The taller man raises a thick brown eyebrow, one corner of his mouth curling upwards as the florescent light shines on his irises. "Really, now? What's a bad day in the life of Levi like?" he asks mockingly.
Bracing himself, Levi rests one hand on the counter and runs the other through his hair. "Sometimes... I wake up on a beautiful morning, sun shining through my flea-bitten curtains, and I go into the kitchen, look under the sink, only to find that," he sobs with a sudden gasp of air. "The bleach has run out."
"Okay, that's not-"
"And I especially needed the bleach because it'd been said that the person who lived in my room before I did, you know what he did? He ejaculated his semen all over the walls." Levi stands upright, crossing his arms over his chest as he tries not to smile. Or cry. Because crying sounds pretty good right around now. Oh the pain!
Standing back from the counter, Eren's eyes widen in horror and he covers his mouth with a hand. "Oh shit, that is so fucked up. Seriously, I had no idea that that had happened. Fuck, I used to live in that room, Jesus Christ..."
That's suddenly made Levi's day a bit better, but back to Eren.
He clears his throat and passes Eren his bag of sweets. "Really though, what's with all this shit? Either you're planning to recreate the chocolate river from Willy Wonka's factory or there's something up with you." Eren pulls his Batman t-shirt over his stomach with a grimace. "I can sniff your lies from a mile away so don't try it with me." he tells Eren as a warning.
"...Well, as it turns out, I still haven't grown out of comfort eating." Levi shivers when he feels the air of Eren's sigh reach his hand. "You remember how my room-mate is Daz?" Even though Levi nods, Eren takes his time before continuing, staring at him with those intense green eyes of his and increasing Levi's heart rate.
"I got put with him because he's been through some fucked up shit like me, only worse, and everyone thought it'd be good for him because I can cheer him up and whatever."
Pausing again, he tilts his head back and forth, as though fighting internally with himself. "Okay so, basically, he's got PTSD and I've always been good with people with problems like that, but... Like, we can't be friends properly; he just keeps bringing shit up, clinging onto me like I'm his last hope. Now I don't even want to go home anymore because I know he'll be upset, either with me or whatever trauma is running through his head and... Yeah." Eren's cheeks flush when his eyes meet Levi's again and he purses his lips.
"It's really draining to be around someone so dependant. Armin was dependant on me for a while, but he just needed help with bullies from time to time. Daz, he's just... He's probably the reason I don't, like, he... reminds me that I could have it so much worse by dragging me down with him. Then he goes and tells me he feels guilty for asking me for help because it's that obvious I get tired of dealing with his mood swings."
"Anyone would get tired of that." Levi cracks his knuckles and nods in agreement to his statement. "If... You don't want to go home, why don't you hang out with me? I ain't pressuring you, mind." He holds his hands up, giving Eren a pointed look to show he's serious.
"Just thought it might be nice for you to get away from all that, and you did tell me you'd want to come around if there was free food. Which there will be! Better yet; I made it myself. That's a once in a lifetime opportunity you've got going for you here."
With the genuine smile that creeps onto Eren's face comes the warm churning in his chest. Believe it or not; Levi isn't trying to kidnap Eren. Yes, it's quite the shock: someone please show the reader to the emergency room.
Eren's just this nice guy who's trying to help people to the point where he's making sacrifices, has probably made some sacrifices for Levi, too. Does he get tired of dealing with Levi's antics? Well, he's said already that he although Levi's behaviour confuses him, he could meet worse people? That... That's a good thing, right?
Tan face falling at an inner realization, Levi interrupts before Eren can talk. "And if you're thinking that you're responsible for him; don't. If he's going about relying on friends for help, then he probably needs someone professional."
"Daz already went to therapy. Besides, he says he can relate to me-"
"Nope. Still needs help of the professional variety. You got a degree? You're a janitor, so I don't reckon you do."
"But-"
"Look, Eren," The name rolls off his tongue, sending a jolt of pleasure down his spine. Not now, lust! "I've heard that if you have problems yourself, you shouldn't help other people: you aren't actually going to help them 'cause you're too busy dealing with your own shit. It'll just get worse if you let this go on, seriously."
Eren raises an eyebrow at him. "You some kind of psychologist?"
Levi scoffs, rolling his eyes with a small grin. "No, but Hanji and Mike are, so I've learnt from the best. Who knows, maybe they've actually been training me all this time, some guy with a contract comes along and I'll finally be earning forty thousand a year." Ah yes: that'll be the day.
"I guess... If you say so. Alright then, we'll go to yours."
Shaking his head with a sigh, Levi takes a glimpse of Eren that he captures in his mind. "Oh no, we're going back to the mad house tonight."