A/N

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Thanks so much for your patience.

Chapter Eighteen: Lounge Part 3

With Levi in the lead, holding Eren's hand comfortably in his own, the couple made their way across the hallway and into the next room. They paused in front of the door for a moment to read the words, printed out in a golden scrawl, "'The Dungeon,' huh." Levi stated before turning the bronzed knob and pushing the door open. Eren noticed immediately after they entered the space, that it was much smaller in comparison to the first room she'd seen. Small yes, but its size helped offer it its own unique atmosphere, which was wholly different compared to the first space.

There were three walls which each held its own, different, yet ominously impressive painting, each one was done on a large canvas that stretched nearly from the floor to the ceiling.

Eren stared in awe, at the first of the eerie trio of paintings she saw upon entering the room. The colors were quite rich, yet oddly faded, perhaps due to the, impossibly dimmer, lighting of the space compared to the first room. The subject of each canvas appeared to be some type of orchid, but upon closer inspection, Eren was shocked, and a little disturbed to discover that they were not artistically stylized orchids, rather, they were portraits of dead, ghostly, women in flowing gowns made from the cloths used to wrap the deceased for burial after the bodies had been embalmed.

Each of the three apparitions governed her own area, highlighted by an overhanging studio light, pointing directly at each of their faces, serving to further wash out their pallid complexions, and distort the already obscure image.

To either side of each painting were small altars, which held several antique pieces, made of glass, different metals, and an absurd amount of gears and wires. There were also tall, bronzed metal candelabras which served to further the eerie, almost haunted environment of this second room, by offering just enough light to make you think that you knew what you were seeing, but not enough to really show you what it is you actually saw. Along with the gears and clocks, which littered the altar and iron coffee tables, there were large, rusted chains, their broken links and cuffs were draped in an oddly decorative fashion.

Within each apparition's domain, were several seating areas which lay separated, but not as privately as the previous room. To help add a bit more seclusion to each section, there hung large, black velvet curtains, which were pulled back to the sides, whether or not they could be let loose, remained a mystery, since they were so neatly drawn back. The seats of each section were spaced much further apart, and the sections themselves were closer in proximity to each other. The seats weren't nearly as impressive as the antiquarian pieces found previous room. They were much more modern, sleek, and chic in design, made out of a dark chocolate, almost espresso, black leather fabric, which stretched cleanly over the simple, mod design of each seat. All the chairs were of the same style, including the few love seats that peppered the area.

The walls were made of, what appeared to be stone, it took Eren a few quick breathes to gather up the courage to venture further into the room, once she did, she confirmed that the walls were indeed made of some kind of stone, rather, that were made of a dark gray, textured concrete. The floors were slate, smoothed, and grout less, and offered an overall peculiar, cave-like, feeling to the space.

This room was definitely not for the faint of heart, the music that played was low, full of deep drums and the alternations of high and low keys of the piano, accompanied with a menacing scratching noise, it was an odd mix of high and low pitches. The peculiar addition of moans and sudden screeches did little to ease the increasingly unsettling tension felt by both Eren and Levi.

Levi stayed towards the entrance of the room, since he was able to see from the very beginning that Eren was not going to want to stay in this room too long. The place seemed almost like an occult dungeon, a high class one, but a dungeon nonetheless. 'Well, I suppose it is called 'The Dungeon' for a reason.' He was actually a little surprised when she loosened her grip on his hand, and even more so, when he released her and let her wander further into space.

After a few moments, he decided to join her as she ventured further into the room. 'I don't really remember this much,' he thought to himself as he studied the space in front of one of the curtains. He noticed that only three sections were viewable, but the room itself was supposed to be larger and it was rectangular, if he recalled correctly, yet this room seemed much smaller and more square.

He turned and searched the last wall, which appeared to be covered in a black, velvety material, much like the curtains from the other spaces. That's when it clicked, 'Ah, this section must have the curtain drawn,' and then the curiosity kicked in, 'But why?' he wondered, unconsciously walking towards the closed off space, leaving Eren to the mercy of the, oddly silent and sparse, inhabitants of the room.

The workers, draped in long, black silken robes, walked around carrying small boxes. Allowing her curiosity to get the best of her, Eren approached one of the men, "Excuse me sir," the man turned and nodded, acknowledging that he heard her, "What is that?" she pointed to the intricately painted box in the man's hand.

He smirked before replying, "Is this your first time here?"

"Ah, yes actually, my pro-ah-boyfriend brought me here, he's actually right over-" she turned to point over to where she'd last seen Levi, "there…" but stopped when she realized he was nowhere in sight. "What…? Where the hell did he go?" she questioned aloud, though mostly to herself, turning to vainly search each section of the room.

The man chuckled, "I see, then, if you would please follow me miss," he offered her the box, which she reluctantly accepted, "I think I know where he is."

With a small nod, and a heavy gulp, Eren followed the man to the part of the room that didn't have a painting, well, at least not a visible one. They paused in front of the curtains, and the man pulled back the heavy, black crushed velvet barrier.

Eren's eyes widened in both surprise and horror.

The walls were lined with chains, and odd contraptions which held a few people, restrained against them, both men and women alike. In one corner, there was a group of people, some fully clothed; while others were less than scantily clad, being beaten with…was that a…whip?

The man who'd lead Eren into the room was now behind her, and pushing her further into the space.

"What is it that you like then miss?"

Eren stared at the man, incredulity ablaze in her eyes. "Huh?"

He pointed down to the box which she held in her hands and indicated that she opened it. Seeing how the night couldn't get any stranger at this point, Eren narrowed her eyes and then took another quick breathe before she clicked the latch and lifted up the lid on the box. Inside, neatly placed and organized, was a set of leather items. Items which Eren vowed that she never wanted to see again in her life so long as she remained sane.

She all but slammed the box shut, causing the few, otherwise unoccupied persons in the room to look up and stare at her. She fumbled the box back into the man's hands and nearly screeched when she felt her body pulled back, and towards the curtain.

"H-hey, what the fuck, let me go," she yanked her arm from the firm grip once she'd gotten a safe distance from the curtain, when she turned, she froze in place, her eyes locked with the iciest glare she'd ever seen.

"Oh? So what, you're into BDSM?" Levi questioned, folding his arms across his chest. "Duly noted."

"What? Wait…what is that?" she waved her hand dismissively at the look Levi gave her, "No, never mind, I don't want to know. Where the hell did you go?"

Levi almost chuckled at the reddened face reproaching him, "It's been a while since I've been here…and things have changed. I was curious." He turned and offered Eren his arm, smirking when she wrapped her own around his and held it firmly to her chest. "Shall we move on?"

He'd barely gotten the words out before Eren led them out of the room and back towards the hallway that they'd come from. Levi was actually surprised that they didn't bump into anyone; she was walking so quickly and recklessly. 'Wow, she's really flustered.' He smiled and let himself be lead to the next room, which it looked like Eren would be passing soon if she didn't slow down.

Levi noticed the sign for men's and women's bathrooms as they quickly jet past the entrances to both, in Eren's rushed effort to distance them both from the kinkier part of the lounge.

Levi insisted that Eren go calm herself down in the bathroom they'd passed in her haste, he stood outside the facilities, leaning on the wall, watching and waiting for Eren to come out. After almost ten minutes passed, he felt himself growing impatient. 'How the hell long is she going to be in there?' It wasn't that he didn't respect her personal time with the shitter, everyone deserves their moment of complete relaxation and false solitude provided by the flimsy stalls that separated you from all the others emptying their bowels, but what he didn't like, were all the sideways glances and straight on, intentionally flirtatious looks, both men and women gave him whilst he remained indifferent, and still waiting.

Thankfully, after another five minutes of ignored attempts to pick him up, outside of a bathroom mind you, how classy, Eren emerged looking energized and refreshed. Levi perked up and all but latched onto her arm, dragging her towards the nearest room.

She was pulled so quickly she almost didn't have a chance to read the title, written in a neat, cursive text, 'The Boudoir.'

"Woah, sorry I made you wait but what's the rush…" she started her question but stopped when she turned to view the newest room, "Wow," she breathed out, all but forgetting her annoyance at being dragged so forcefully down the hallway.

"This is definitely new," Levi said, his own mouth subtly widened, whilst Eren stared with her mouth openly agape, completely mesmerized by 'The Boudoir.'

It was a complete 180 from previous two rooms. It was bright, colorful, and the music was much more welcoming.

The sound consisted of slow, but not boringly so, beats and strings of guitars and violins accompanied with the higher keys of the piano, delicately placed at deliciously appropriate parts of the composition. A steady beat of drums and a cello could be heard, helping keep the time, and anchor the other instruments, creating a perfectly harmonic and relaxing tune. The sad and emotional voice of a woman entered into the mix, aligning perfectly with the poignant lull of the violin.

Eren and Levi walked further into the room, immediately drawn into the inviting, and luxuriously vibrant space.

The floors were covered in luscious, dark lavender carpeting with an oblong, silvery gray design, stretching from wall to wall. The ceiling mimicked the oblong design, only, on a more detailed and much larger scale, it was a cream color, and appeared to be painted wood.

Each wall was covered in fabric, the wall to their immediate left, was covered in a deep burgundy, leather textured fabric, which stretched along the curved wall from the floor to the ceiling, cut off by the deep, cherry wood crown molding. It had a button tufted design, much like the chair from the first room, but this was on a much larger scale, each of the diamonds that made the tufts was about the size of Eren's torso. The other two walls were made of a dusty rose pink brocade fabric, with a similar tufted design. The 'buttons' were giant, creamy colored pearls that added a lavishly posh feeling to the room.

Each of the walls that had the pink brocade design, cut off halfway by dark cherry wood paneling, of a similar design to the crown molding. There were a few, ornately decorated mirrors with golden and pearlescent detailing. They were framed to either side by fleur sconces, decorated with bronzed roses.

The space was appropriately named 'The Boudoir,' since the couple felt like they'd walked right into a modern Victorian French parlor. The tables were simple single legged stands, with the table top made of a circular piece of white marble. The seating areas were placed; much like a little café would be, with two to four chairs around each table. The chairs were all the same, they looked like slipper chairs, lower to the ground with a wide seat and lowly placed back rest. The wood was a dark brown chocolately color, and the fabric was richly colored champagne brocade.

They approached an empty table, a little more than halfway into the space. Levi pulled out a chair and allowed Eren to sit first, before he pulled up a chair on the opposite side of the small white table. Within seconds of sitting down, a handsome young waiter approached them, wearing black slacks, a crisp, white button down, and a dark amethyst silken waistcoat, complete with a black bowtie.

"Bonsoir Monsieur," he greeted Levi, and then quickly glanced at Eren's hands, "Mademoiselle," he nodded, then set down a dainty menu on the marble tabletop, "My name is Rafael, should you need anything tonight, please, do not hesitate to let me know." His chocolate colored eyes lingered on Eren's bright chartreuse eyes too long for Levi's liking. The light blush on Eren's face did nothing to ease his quickly growing green monster.

He fixed the waiter with a cold glare, and watched the man retreat back to wherever he'd slithered out from. Levi's focus returned to Eren, as she excitedly searched through the little menu. 'This is definitely new,' he couldn't help complaining to himself. Soon the tension he'd felt when the waiter, what was his name again, Rafael, or something, was near, dissipated, as he watched Eren flip through the menu and point at various sweets and the odd names of the drinks she saw.

"Have you ever had a Cotillon before?" Eren broke their small silence, joining in with the quiet murmur of voices of the people around them and the cool tones of the music that was playing. It sounded like a harp had been added in.

"Hmm?" Levi asked, looking to where she pointed with her neatly manicured nails, 'I didn't notice how pretty her hands were,' he got distracted by the long, tanned fingers, that were now impatiently tapping against a menu item.

"Have you?"

"Have I what?" He asked, not looking away from the slender digits.

"Ever had this dessert, am I saying it that wrong?" Eren sighed and handed the menu to Levi.

"Ah, yes actually, my mother used to make it for Christmas, it's basically just a glorified chocolate mousse cake, with a bit more character and flavor." He finally looked up and saw that the abundant light of the space made her eyes appear to shimmer, just like the shallow, cerulean waters of the ocean. "Do you want to try it?" He really didn't want to call that waiter over again, but he couldn't deny her want of a cake. Not when she looked at him with those eyes, and especially not when she looked like she did tonight.

"Yes, please," she smiled.

"Anything else?" he almost chuckled when she snatched the menu out of his hands.

After a few more moments of deliberation, Eren handed Levi the menu and went over her choices, which surprisingly, he agreed to.

"Anything in particular you want to drink?" Eren shook her head, "Alright, then I'll pick something for you then."

She nodded. "Sounds fine to me."

Levi waved the waiter over and was about to start listing off their order, but the man directed his attention to Eren, who was currently still taking in the room and not entirely paying attention to either man at the moment.

"Did you find something you like Mademoiselle?" The words were spoken low and slow, he purposely drew out the "moiselle," as if he were letting it linger on tongue so he could taste it.

It made Levi shudder.

"Hmm?" Eren turned around and met the chocolate gaze again, "Oh, yes, I wanted a few desserts, Levi, what were they called again?" She reached for the menu, but he kept a firm grip on it.

"Ahem," Levi cleared his throat and brought the man's attention back to him, "We, would like a chocolate cotillion, the flower pâte à choux, a mixed berry tart, and the dark chocolate raspberry macarons. She'll have a Shirley Temple and water, and I'll have a cup of coffee. Black."

The waiter quickly scrawled down the order and all but scurried back to his hovel upon seeing the cold, threatening glower Levi fixed him with.

"Shirley Temple?" Eren questioned, unconsciously reaching across the table to play with Levi's hand.

He let her do as she pleased, running her soft fingers along his neatly kept digits. "Mhm, I'm sure you'll like it." He sighed, relaxing with the continued contact as she began to massage his hand.

Less than ten minutes later, Levi's favorite waiter arrived with the decadent spread, leaving each treat on the table along with their drinks. Without a word, he nodded and hurried away from the table just as quickly and silently as he had come.

Eren giggled as she watched him retreat into the back of the room, "I think you scared him."

Levi smirked and took a sip of his coffee, "Good, you should have seen the way he was looking at you, little punk."

Eren chuckled and reached for the tall glass filled with the sweet red drink, garnished with a lime and a cherry, "Well I wouldn't exactly call him little," she took a quick drink and tried to hide behind the glass when she saw the look on Levi's face, "Mmm, this is yummy, thanks for ordering it for me."

When the abrupt subject change didn't did nothing to alleviate the heated gaze he sent her way, Eren turned to the side and pretended that he wasn't glaring bullets into her skull. 'Okay, so height is definitely an issue with him, note to self, don't mention it ever again.' She set her drink down and coughed a little, before trying to push the steely gray focus onto something other than her face, "Ah, well these sweets look amazing," she smiled sheepishly at Levi then looked back down to the spread, "Shall we?"

With a gruff grunt, Levi started for the cake that Eren had been excited to order in the first place, just to spite her. The childish antics settled after they both took their first bite of the chocolate cake, relishing in the smooth and airy sponge layers, delicately flavored with a hint of lemon, coupled with the rich chocolate mousse layers, all topped off with a dark chocolate ganache, and the thin slice of the candied lemon with the candy ribbon on top of the cake to complete the look.

After they'd finished the chocolate cake, Levi set the dish to the side and placed the flower choux between them. Not a moment later, the empty dish was cleared and before either of them could say anything, the waiter was already fast walking away. Eren shook her head and Levi just laughed.

Each choux was glazed with a different color, and topped with different flower petals or herbs. One had a rose petal, another had a mint leaf, the next had a lavender sprig, and the next had a violet, the final choux had a tiny orchid on top of it. Eren smiled widely at the cute display, she took out her phone and snapped a few quick pictures to show Mikasa and Armin later, then reached for the rose colored choux.

She reached across the table and placed the choux to Levi's lips, he looked at her questioningly, but opened his mouth nonetheless, taking a bite of the choux and letting the flavors of the vanilla and raspberry cream meld together with the lightly flavored rose glaze. Each flavor was mild, but when paired together, they worked incredibly well and tasted fresh and delicious. He smirked and tried to finish off the rest of the puff, but Eren had already popped the last half in her own mouth, grinning widely at momentary twitch of disappointment in Levi's features. They playfully finished off the rest of the choux puffs in this manner, alternating between serving one another. The berry tart and the macaroons were also shared, and soon, the table was empty, save for Levi's second cup of coffee and Eren's nearly finished, virgin drink.

"I'm gonna run to the bathroom real quick, I'll be right back," Eren stated, standing up from the low chair.

"Alright, I'll be right there, we can go to the next room." He paused, then looked up to meet Eren's eyes, "Unless you want to stay here longer?"

Eren smiled and shook her head, "No, that's fine. We can come another time right?"

Levi smirked and nodded, "If you'd like to, I'll gladly bring you back."

"I would love that," she smiled, then started towards the exit, intent on getting to the bathroom without further interruption.

When she'd left the room, Levi waved the waiter over and handed him his card. A few moments later, Rafael returned with his card and the check for him to sign. Levi was reluctant to tip the creep, but he did do a good job on waiting on them, so he swallowed his dislike for the man and left him a tip anyway.

Once everything was in order, he left the room behind and made his way back towards the restrooms, taking his place on the wall to await Eren's return, all while glaring at anyone who dared look his direction.