Chapter Text
His day was almost over. Almost.
Levi sat at his desk in his office. His chin was resting against either of his closed fists as he looked down at the quarterly campaign for the companies current project. Erwin had thrown him a hell of bone for a project. The current account they were trying to advertise was for a line of newly invented vitamins, and while it sounded so dull, the amount of brain power it took to make it seem appealing was ridiculous and most of all fucking draining.
He had been working under Erwin Smith for nearly ten years now. The older man seemed to think he had a knack for over-seeing the rest of the companies ideas and pitches for the campaigns they took and presented. It paid well, it ensured his future, and it was a hell of a lot better than he had been doing ten plus years ago. It also kept Levi busy. Erwin wasn't too much of a pain in the ass. Aside from the ridiculous set of fucking eyebrows he had and his all too ready to go attitude, he wasn't a complete asshole. The two of them had known each other since before college so Levi took a bit of comfort in knowing he wasn't working for some dumbass who couldn't manage a business, let alone a company. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, the man had a vision and did whatever was possible to achieve it.
Dark eyes looked toward his left, downcasting and seeing a neatly stacked pile of papers. He still had other advertising pitches he needed to look over before they were presented to Erwin. Levi sighed and closed the current folder in front of him and began typing away at the computer in front of him. A knock on the door, of course, interrupted him.
Levi looked up and moved his head a bit to see Hange, who was in charge of brand research and development, practically prancing their way into his office.
Goddammit.
"Oh, Levi! I'm so glad I caught you before you headed home!" God, their voice made his eyes twitch. They made their way over to Levi's desk and leaned forward onto it. A hand moved to straighten the glasses falling on against their nose. "Mike wanted me to come by and get the rest of the final touches on the RE Supplement campaign, pretty pu-lease?"
"Jesus Christ, here. Stop bouncing your hyper ass around my office. I've had enough shit for one day. Take it and go," he snapped and without sparing another glance, went back to his computer.
"Sweetheart, don't be like that! How long has it been since we've really had a chance to sit down and catch up?"
Levi made a sort of 'tch' noise before answering, "Not long enough. I've had enough people crawling up my ass today. Get the fuck out of my office."
Surprisingly, this made Hange laugh. Head thrown back and snorting with laughter while taking the paperwork off of Levi's desk. "You're such a stick in the mud. I'll let it slide this time but---"
"Four eyes, I'm not going to tell you again."
"Right-o!" They said while turning their back and leaving. Hange had stopped briefly at the doorway and cocked their head to the side. "By the way, Erwin said he wants you to stop by his office before you go."
Levi groaned at this. Lowly and to himself, but still he did. Fucking hell, why couldn't the day just end he could just go home and get a damn drink---
"Of fucking course he does," Levi muttered more to himself than anybody. Hanje was already out of his office by the time he uttered it. He stood from his swiveling chair and powered down his computer.
Within the next twenty minutes, Levi was heading up three more floors on the elevator until he had hit the 20th. The entire building was beginning to darken from the lack of sunlight, and the fluorescent lights above only seemed to add to Levi's already growing headache. He stood in front of Erwin's door for a few moments before sighing and pushing it open.
Erwin Smith, as Levi recalled, was only a few years older than him. Mid-thirties. Levi was pretty shy of that himself, but a lot of people couldn't really guess his age. The past three years had probably made him age more than he would have liked or realized. His polished shoes clicked against the tile as he made his way inside the office. Blue eyes shot up and blond eyebrows arched briefly before his expression of surprise was replaced with a smile.
"Levi," Erwin greeted. "I'm glad you could spare a moment. Please, sit down."
Levi was already annoyed. He sighed and plopped down on one of the two chairs in front of Erwin's desk. "There had better be a good reason you dragged me up here," he began.
Erwin chuckled deeply. "Pleasant as always," he commented almost dryly. "But there is a reason I wanted to speak to you."
"Let me guess... Do I need to fire somebody? Kick somebody's ass? Which is it?"
"Neither, we're here to discuss you."
Levi stiffened visibly, and he mentally cursed the shit out of himself for it. He sat in silence for a few moments before Erwin continued.
"Levi," he began. "You're a tenacious worker. Diligent, brilliant... you always have been. Over the past few months's I've noticed you're more short-fused than usual. I'm not the only who has seen that. I can understand if the stress of taking on too much is---"
"Cut the shit," Levi interrupted with a snarl. He was too damn tired for this. "My work speaks for itself no matter how shitty my attitude and you know it."
"Your work is flawless, yes. But your relations with our clients and employees is what I'm mostly referring to." Erwin explained while folding his hands in front of him on his desk. His attire practically screamed CEO. A tan suit with a white button-down beneath. "I understand that it can be stressful at times and I also know it's coming up on the third anniversary since---"
Levi stood up abruptly. "You'd better stop right there and shut your fucking mouth," he started. "That has nothing to do with my work ethic, and we both know it."
Erwin was quiet as if he was contemplating what to say next. After a few moments of Levi glaring daggers at him, he sighed. "We both know, as I've said, your work is impeccable. Your social standing leaves much to be desired. Which is why I'm putting you on paid leave for two weeks."
Levi was stunned for a moment before gritting his teeth. "You've got to be shitting me, eyebrows! We both know without me here the entire team is going to be fucking mindless and we the entire campaign I've been busting my ass for is going to---"
"It's been taken care of, and it's already fallen through. We are working now for the commercial as we speak," Erwin replied calmly. "Well, Hange is. That's why I made sure she got to your office before you left. You're working yourself into the ground. You're going through a lot. I'm not doing this to demean you or place you beneath anybody else. We both know nobody can do this job the way you do. You have a remarkable eye for talent. I'm simply telling you to take some time for yourself."
And that was it.
Levi didn't bother saying another word as he stormed out of Erwin's office, down the elevator and made his way into the city streets. The New York air was brittle and cold, and the raven-haired man did his best to adjust his leather jacket as he made his way to the parking garage across the street and got into his car. Levi drove home the entire way cursing and screaming at himself. Fuck Hange. Fuck Erwin. Fuck them all. How dare they assume he needed more time to process and think--- This was nobody's fucking business but his own, dammit.
When Levi arrived at his apartment, it was dark and cold. He flicked the lights on and, with care, placed his shoes on the mat by the door. He dropped his keys in the holder on the side table by the living room wall and shrugged his jacket off to hang up. He stood for a few moments before making his way to the island counter by the kitchen and ripped open a bottle of brandy. He poured himself a glass and threw his head back in favor of drinking it down. His muscles were tight, and he might felt constricted and fuck he was so damn pissed off---
Levi's dull blue eyes wandered onto the mantle above his fireplace, and the picture of Petra was the first thing that had caught his eye. Still holding the glass of brandy, he walked over and examined the picture. A bright smile reflected off the glass with her fall colored hair and golden eyes looking back at him. It had been almost three years since Petra had passed away in her sleep. An autopsy later revealed it was a blood vessel bursting in her brain. They had been married for almost six years. Levi never considered himself much of a husband, let alone much of anything in any relationship. He did care about Petra though and wanted her happy. She was one of the few that could honestly have made him smile.
It wasn't something that was typically brought up in conversation. Levi had distanced himself from her family after so long. He couldn't handle hearing other people crying and grieving when he, himself, was trying to do the same thing. So he pushed forward. But he had never actually moved forward. His hand was gripping the glass in his hand to where it hurt.
His days were consistently the same. Work, home, alcohol, and bed. He stared at Petra's picture a few moments longer before he sighed and turned her picture away to pour himself another glass of brandy. He had no idea what he was supposed to do the keep himself from going insane in the next two weeks. He wasn't sure if drinking this much alcohol was a healthy start though.
"Hange, this is a terrible and I mean terrible idea," Moblit explained from the couch as he jabbed his fork into his takeout carton. "You really don't need me to repeat that, right?"
Hange was giggling. Giggling. That was always a scary sign. "Would you hush already? I'm not doing this for any other reason than good faith."
Hange heard a snort. A snort, dammit. "Whatever you say."
Directing their attention away from the man sitting on the couch of their small home, Hange continued to browse the web. "I know exactly what Levi needs. It's been sooo long since Petra passed away," this was said with a sad sigh. Hange had truly loved Petra. She was sincerely dedicated and sweet. How she ended up with somebody like Levi was beyond her. Hange knew deep down though that beneath that hard exterior, Levi was a pretty incredible man. He had many flaws but who the hell didn't these days?
"What're you getting at?" Moblit asked as he ate the rest of his meal and kept his eyes glued to the television.
Hange's eyes brightened when something caught their eye on the laptop. "Well, my dear, what I'm getting at is Levi needs to get laid."
The sound of a brief choking could be heard. "You can't be serious!"
Long Lasting Memories Escort Service. $300 per hour usual rate. Selection of 30 females and 24 men. Ages ranging from 19 to 40. Book your favorite for an event or your entertainment today!
Hange didn't even hesitate, clicking away.
"I'm deadly serious," Hange said with the utmost sincerity as they reached for the cell phone on their lap. After tapping away a few numbers, the phone was brought up to their ear. "Hello, yes, I was interested in hiring one of your escorts for a friend in dire need of company."
Deep and dark emerald eyes looked down briefly when he felt his phone vibrating against his jeans pocket. Very much distracted to continue focusing on what was going on around him, Eren pulled out his smartphone and was glancing down discreetly at it while unlocking his password. An email icon caught his eye, and he looked up during dinner to make sure nobody was paying too close attention to him. He swiped his thumb and his heartbeat quickened upon reading---
"Eren Yeager, your services have been requested for November 17 at 7:30 pm at address 5618 NW 26th Street. Dress accordingly. Requester name: Levi Ackerman."
And just like that, everything changed.