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It was raining. Or rather, it had rained earlier that day, and the moisture still hung in the air around them, like curtain drapes weighed down by the city smog. It was the kind of humidity that clung heavy in the throat, made one’s clothes stiff and unwieldy. Especially police uniforms. Those were annoyingly unwieldy as it was.
Point was, the weather was fucking shitty, and Levi was feeling pretty fucking shitty too. And to top it all off, he had a fucking shitty brat to take care of right now. Levi glared down at the boy crouched before him in the street dirt, his eyes narrowed to contemplative silver slits.
“Well now, brat. Here we are again,” he drawled in greeting, crossing his arms over his chest and cocking a hip.
Blue-green eyes stared up furiously, the untarnished passion in their depths burning deep into Levi’s impassivity with the force of that emotion. Eren himself was passion incarnate, that much Levi knew for certain. The boy yanked futilely at the handcuffs that bound him to the streetlamp behind him, jean-clad knees already soaked through with the muddy grime of the alleyway. There was a streak of blood on his forehead from where Levi had slammed him into the wall ten minutes prior.
“Looks like your time is up, hm. There’s nowhere left to run.” He gestured lazily to the empty alleyway. A stray cat eyed him from the darkness, and then vanished. “Any last words?” Levi snarked, letting his hand drift seductively over the barrel of the gun in his holster.
Eren spit on his newly-polished shoes.
And earned himself a sharp, perfectly-aimed kick to the ribs for that insolence.
“Cops don’t kill their suspects,” Eren snapped once he’d regained his breath. “And I haven’t even done anything wrong. You have no grounds for this.”
“Oh, I think I do, Jaeger.” Seeing the frightened shock register in Eren’s beautiful eyes was far too satisfying for Levi to ever admit.
“How do you know me?” the boy hissed, meeting Levi’s gaze squarely.
Levi hmmed. “Eren Jaeger, nineteen, of German descent. Living on the streets since the turn of the decade, with quite a nice price over his head. Oh, and incidentally, he was the cause of death of one too many of my fellow colleagues. Believe me, I know everything about you, sweetheart,” Levi ticked off with sickly-false amicability.
He slid out his gun and used it to tilt Eren’s chin up, liking the tight grit of the boy’s teeth.
“I’ve played by the rules all my life, but for you, I’m willing to make an exception,” Levi smirked and loaded the pistol with an audible click. Eren’s eyes flickered from the gun to Levi’s face, and the deep green of his irises seemed to darken.
Levi stepped in closer and trailed the nose of the gun up the smooth column of Eren’s neck, up his jaw to the corner of his mouth. He pressed it against the tight seam of the boy’s delicious looking lips, staring straight into Eren’s eyes with a raised eyebrow.
“What are you doing?” Eren blurted, recoiling from the foreign touch.
“Debating which part of you to stick my gun in first,” he replied, choosing his words purposefully and relishing in the subtle blush that stained Eren’s cheeks. He pushed the gun in sharply, Eren’s pained grunt and attempt to twist his head to the side futile against Levi’s quietly deadly strength. He shoved the gun in as far as it would go, till Eren gagged and tears sprung up in the corner of his eyes.
“My my, doesn’t this make a pretty picture,” Levi sneered, tilting Eren’s head up further to get a better view of him, arousal snaking feathered touches of fire through his body. Eren mumbled something incoherent, trying to pull away, but Levi only pushed further into that beautiful mouth. He’d look quiet fetching with those pretty lips stretched around Levi’s dick, too.
“What if I pull the trigger now, and paint the wall over there with your blood?” His finger twitched. “I’ve always had an affinity for contemporary art.”
He yanked the gun out, however, strings of saliva joining it to Eren’s lips as the boy gasped for precious air, his head dropping to his chest. Levi touched the disgusting tip of the gun to the side of the brat’s head, shoving him sideways against the metal lamp at his back.
“Or maybe like this, so that it gets all over me too. That would be filthy, wouldn’t it?” His tone was almost conversational. Eren glowered at him heatedly from under his dark brown fringe, and Jesus Christ, did the brat really have no idea what those eyes did to him?
Levi lowered the gun.
“Well? Aren’t you going to say anything?” He stroked Eren’s bare cheek, feeling the boy tremble under his oddly gentle touch, then let his fingers slide over his smooth skin, brushing against those tantalizing lips to see if Eren would bite him.
Surprisingly, all he did was clench his fists and grit his teeth.
“Why don’t you just get it over with, officer.”
“Ah, see, I like to play with my food a little before eating it,” he shot back. At that, Eren’s lips twitched under his thumb just slightly, the hint of a smile, but he held his composure. Fuck. The two of them had shared sushi downtown just a few months ago, and Eren knew as well as Levi that the older man had very particular eating habits. And playing with his food was certainly not one of them.
Levi nearly scowled. That hadn’t been part of the plan.
He pushed Eren’s face away and hooked a boot behind the boy’s knee, yanking him forward so that he landed sprawled in the mud with his legs out in front of him, still chained to the lamppost at his back.
Eren’s eyes had a challenging glint in them now, and Levi knew he was in danger of losing the upper hand. Damn brat.
He dropped into a crouch so he was at eye-level with the boy, hovering over his body without touching him. He pressed the gun to Eren’s chest, right over his heart, imagining he could feel the rapid thump of his pulse through the weapon.
“What about here? This would be quick, painless. But I’m not a merciful kind of man when it comes to brats like you.”
Eren watched silently.
Levi trailed the gun further down, painfully slowly, following the line of buttons running down the front of Eren’s white shirt. The boy’s breath hitched in his throat and his leg twitched involuntarily under Levi, as if he was desperately trying to restrain himself from reacting. Levi smirked and let the gun drift feather-light over the front of Eren’s crotch.
“Or here, hm?” Eren’s eyes widened. Levi dipped the gun even lower, stepping swiftly in between Eren’s legs as the boy tried to draw them in protectively against his body. “I think this is a good place too, no?”
Eren tried to scramble away, something resembling panic crossing his features. “N-no… not there…”
Levi twirled the gun casually around his finger, and then reached down to pop open the button of Eren’s jeans. “What’s that, Jaeger? I expected more of a fight from the kid who didn’t hesitate to stab three of my best men to death just a few weeks ago.” He couldn’t quite keep the bitterness out of his voice.
Eren swallowed, his eyes flickering over Levi’s face and then down to his hand which was now slowly pulling down Eren’s fly. Levi snickered internally; shitty brat was already half-hard and they hadn’t even gotten to the good part yet. He’d almost forgotten the perks of a teenage libido.
He tugged Eren’s jeans down, ignoring the boy’s half-hearted protests, and made a face at the way the wet fabric clung to Eren’s skin from sitting in the rain earlier. Fucking shitty weather. Couldn’t Eren have picked a nicer day for this shit? He was going to get so dirty.
Whatever. Divested of his pants and boxers within seconds, Eren blushed prominently in a mixture of left-over fury, arousal, and fear. It was a strangely attractive look on him.
Levi resettled over Eren’s body, nudging his long legs further apart and trying not to touch the ground any further than was absolutely necessary. Did he already mention the shitty weather? Because it really was shitty. If it started raining again before they were done, Eren was definitely going to have hell to pay.
He touched the muzzle of the gun to his own lips, contemplatively, looking down at the brat with hooded eyes. The boy twitched, trying to twist his body so he wasn’t in such a vulnerable position, an unintelligible sound falling from his gently-parted lips.
“Shit… Levi…”
Fuck you, you’re not supposed to know my name.
Levi pressed the barrel of the gun swiftly to the sensitive skin of Eren’s thigh, and the boy gasped, back arching against his bonds. Levi dragged it seductively up his inner leg until he could touch it to the soft skin behind his balls.
Eren’s eyes flew open and there was true panic in his eyes when he stared at Levi.
“Fuck, wait, hold on a minute,” Eren choked out, and Levi did as he was told. He measured the boy’s flustered expression, waiting in silence to see if he’d use the safe-word or not.
But Eren remained quiet, and after a moment his body relaxed. He had schooled his expression back into what it should be. But his green eyes didn’t quite meet Levi’s again when he nodded, inviting the other to continue.
And Levi was a cruel man, but he wasn’t going to push the brat this far if he was truly afraid. They could always do this again another time, after all. Levi tossed the gun to the side, regretting it a moment later at the wet squelch it made, landing in a puddle. Oh well. He could clean that later, too.
“Oops. Guess I’ll just have to use my other gun then,” he said to break the quiet, registering Eren’s quickly hidden smile of relief. “I’m sure it’ll be equally as effective.”
They’d lost the thread a bit because of Eren’s wimpiness, but this now was familiar territory. Levi dug into his pocket for the ever-present condom and lube, tearing the packet open with his teeth in a practiced kind of movement. Eren whined a bit and tugged at the handcuffs around his wrists.
“Turn over,” Levi ordered.
Eren’s eyes glittered in the gathering dusk, bright with malice. “No.”
At that, Levi stilled, one hand in the process of removing his pants. “No?” he repeated incredulously. “Do you really think you have a choice in the matter, shitty brat?”
“No,” Eren answered with a cheeky shrug. “But I’ll still never lower myself to the point of taking orders from someone like you.”
Levi ‘tch’ed derisively. “I think this brat needs to be taught a lesson. One doesn’t talk to one’s superiors in that tone of voice.”
But Eren grinned suddenly, slipping out of his role. “Superiors? I’m taller than you, for the record.”
Oh hell no. Levi didn’t tolerate slights against his height no matter what the circumstances.
“Fuck you,” he snarled, grabbing a fist-full of Eren’s hair and slamming him against the lamppost at his back. He took advantage of the boy’s pained gasp to slate their lips together, biting hard enough at Eren’s mouth to taste coppery blood in his own. The brunet choked on his own breath like the uncoordinated little shit that he was, but Levi didn’t let him go, didn’t give him any respite, only shoved his tongue deep into Eren’s mouth to plunder him like a pirate’s bounty. Eren tried to bite down on the unwelcome intrusion but Levi held his head back with the unforgiving grasp in his hair, forcing Eren to submit.
Of course, that was easier said than done, as Eren brought his leg up and kneed Levi in the stomach, hard. Without the use of his hands, however, his self-defense was limited, and Levi was only waylaid for a fraction of a second. Enough to make him about ten times more pissed than he already was, but then again, maybe that had been Eren’s intention all along.
“Turn over, you little shit,” he hissed, grabbing Eren by the hips and flipping him over with little difficulty, all that physical training in his early years as a cop finally paying off. Eren cried out as his wrists twisted, not able to turn fully within the tight clamp of the handcuffs. Levi felt no remorse; served him right for thinking he could one-up Levi anyway.
Levi dropped the uniform pants to his ankles and rolled the condom on easily, simmering anger lending a quick efficiency to his movements. He dribbled some of the clear liquid over his fingers, making a face at the filthiness of this whole endeavor. And yet, it never stopped him. Sex might well be disgusting but… sometimes it was worth it.
He leaned over Eren’s trembling body, resting his chest against the smooth curve of Eren’s clothed back. He grazed his teeth over the soft skin at the nape of the boy’s neck, nipping gently at the skin as he searched for that one spot at the junction of his shoulder that always made the boy shudder. Eren smelled like cheap soap and rebellion: it was a smell Levi always characterized of him.
Levi trailed wet fingers down the cleft of Eren’s tightly clenched ass, pressing just enough for Eren to feel him but not enough to actually enter him yet. The brat groaned deep in his chest, arms starting to shake from the strain of holding this twisted position. Levi couldn’t care less… Where was that spot, dammit.
Eren suddenly jerked, his breath hitching – ah, found it – and Levi sank his teeth sharply into that extra-sensitive skin.
“Ow, fucking hell!” Eren yelped, trying to writhe out from under Levi’s body. But the other man only took advantage of Eren’s distraction to work his fingers in past the first ring of muscle, and Eren’s protests died under his sudden cry of pain.
Levi sucked on the salty skin of Eren’s neck, thrusting first one and then two fingers into the boy, a little harder than was necessary, perhaps. Eren flinched with every movement, a soft sound falling from his lips as Levi shoved another finger in, though whether it was still in pain or in pleasure Levi couldn’t tell. He scissored his fingers, smirking at the way Eren arched under him, his muscles slowly giving away to the unforgiving strength of Levi’s digits. He curled his index finger sharply, finding that bundle of nerves that had Eren suddenly moaning like a fucking professional.
“Oh my g-god, Levi,” the brat gasped, rocking his hips back jerkily against Levi’s hand, searching for more friction. Levi only smacked Eren’s ass as a rebuke, purposefully halting his motions.
“No. You don’t get to call the shots here, Jaeger.” He purred the words into Eren’s ear, his voice already half and octave deeper and rougher from the burning fire thrumming through his veins. It was enough to make Eren shudder violently and slip somewhat in the mud as his arms gave out, his weight left suspended from his own handcuffs.
God, he looked gorgeous like this.
Levi bit at the shell of Eren’s ear, using his free hand to slick up his dick with the rest of the lube. The empty packet dropped to the ground as Levi readjusted his position, gripping Eren’s hips in a bruising hold and lining himself up, pressing against the cleft of his ass teasingly.
“How’s this then, hm?” Levi sneered against his ear. “Slut. Tell me how much you want this.”
Eren dropped his head slightly, glancing behind him to meet Levi’s gaze. His pupils were blown wide with lust, nothing but a luminous ring of sea-green still visible of his irises, and Levi could feel his throat go dry.
“Jaeger,” he growled, surprisingly himself with the guttural quality of his own voice, but judging by the way Eren’s body shivered that was a good thing.
Eren bared his teeth, like a dog.
“I w-won’t let you humiliate me.”
Levi bucked his hips slightly in a controlled kind of movement, the tip of his cock just sliding half a centimeter into Eren’s warmth. He held himself there with an incredible force of will. “Tell me, brat. Say it. I want to hear you say ‘please’ like a good boy.”
Eren actually moaned from that alone, dropping his head and twitching. Levi leaned forward and pressed his lips to Eren’s flushed skin, knowing he was close.
“Say it, Eren.”
“Please,” he choked out, sounding wrecked and furious and perfect. “Please fuck me. I want it—ah!”
Levi slammed his hips against Eren’s, sliding in to the hilt with one smooth movement. Eren groaned, throwing his head back, his knees sliding forward in the mud.
It did things to Levi, hearing Eren sound so broken. To think that he could reduce the boy with the blazing eyes to this, to know that he was the only one Eren trusted enough to submit to, no matter how fucked up their relationship was. Levi could kill him at any moment, but Eren had willingly held out his wrists for Levi to chain him down.
He’d been captivated by Eren’s passion from the very first time they’d met, when Levi was still a rookie and Eren had barely crossed the line into ‘teenager’. He’d stood there, cornered against a wall, facing a group of perverted thugs who didn’t even deserve to live in the sewers. And Levi had come just in time, furious, and beaten them all to a pulp in front of the boy’s wide green eyes. Eren had looked at him with such adoration and respect, and he’d told Levi with a determined fire in his eyes that ‘I want to be just like you when I grow up!’ Levi had cuffed him over the head and left without a word.
But they’d met again, and again, on the streets, in a café. Somehow, Eren’s number ended up in Levi’s contacts. He’d listen passively as Eren chattered on about every goddamn thing under the sun, but Levi never could bring himself to look away from those eyes.
Yet one day Eren’s life had gone to hell, and Levi had thought it would be a wonderful decision to push him away callously instead of stand in there for him when he had no one else. So that the next time they’d met, it was Levi bursting into a warehouse with his gun raised, shouting ‘get down, hands above your head!’, except it was Eren smiling smugly at him over the dead body at his feet, someone else’s blood on his fingers. And Levi had let him go, he’d watched silently as Eren walked away, saying “if you lose, you die. If you win, you live. If you don’t fight, you can’t win! That’s all there is to it, Levi.”
He’d chosen to fight on the wrong side of the law is all, and Levi could understand that. He’d been there himself a long time ago.
Regardless, here they were now, the City’s strongest and most capable police officer, known for his skill, uncanny intuition, and ability to wrangle any kind of information out of anyone; and Eren Jaeger, the kid with four homicides under his belt and his name top of the Wanted list, ending up like this whenever they ran into each other.
The whole situation was disgusting. Maybe it was a mutual release for them, a way to forget about all the shit they had to deal with. Maybe it was the tantalizing pull of pain and danger, dominance and submission with no regrets that characterized them. Maybe it was Levi clinging on to a small shred of hope that he could still change Eren’s ways, because the kid still retained some kind of hero-worship for him despite it all.
The other thing that was disgusting was the mud that was staring to seep in through Levi’s clothes as he thrust deeper into Eren’s tight, warm body. (Well, the mud that is, not Eren’s body.)
Way to kill the mood, Levi, he berated himself. He had a bad habit of thinking about the past when they were in the middle of something.
So Levi closed his eyes tightly and let himself fall into the present, stop thinking. Lose himself in the primal instincts of touch and feel… taste, scent. He rammed into Eren’s inviting body, riding out on the sound of wet skin against skin, moans and gasps, his grip painfully tight around Eren’s slender frame. The pace he was setting was bound to be painful, especially with the angle Eren’s wrists were still twisted at, but maybe the kid had a masochistic streak in him because he only threw his head back and panted for ‘harder, faster, Levi, faster!’.
Levi suddenly wished he could see the boy’s face, but that was probably not a good idea. They very rarely did it facing each other, and it always left Levi feeling oddly vulnerable.
He pushed Eren’s face into the ground and fucked into him in earnest, shifting his angle just slightly to find the right thrust that made him slam into Eren’s prostate, and sank his teeth into Eren’s neck to stifle his own sounds. Eren made enough for the both of them anyway… Not that Levi was complaining. He slid his hand down Eren’s body, tracing his sweat-slicked ribs under his shirt and then wrapping his fist around the boy’s straining erection. He gave it a few hard pumps, wanting to hear that strangled sound Eren made when he was over-stimulated.
Levi licked an ear, burying his nose in Eren’s dark hair and breathing in his musky scent.
“Follow one last order for me, can you, brat?” Levi murmured. Eren answered by bucking his hips up violently, making Levi’s knees slide in the mud as he fought for balance. What a fucking brat.
“I want you to come for me when I tell you to,” he declared with a snarl, digging his fingernails into Eren’s soft skin.
“Got to hell,” Eren spat.
Levi hid his smirk against the boy’s sweaty skin. “I already have a suite there waiting for me, brat, no need to send me an invitation.”
Eren almost laughed at that, but his voice rose up into a moan at the end as Levi tightened his grip, twisting over the top of his cock and spreading his precome over his length.
It wouldn’t be much longer now.
Levi’s thighs were starting to burn from the effort of fucking someone fast and hard for this extended period of time, and he could feel sweat pooling in the small of his back and beading at his temples which was a disgusting feeling, but he prided himself on his stamina nevertheless. Eren better be appreciating this.
“Come on.” Eren’s ass clenched around Levi’s dick and he swallowed down his own moan. Dammit, the kid was going to do everything in his power to not come first. Levi set a brutal pace on his cock, concentrating on thrusting in at a complementary rhythm to his hand, and smirking when he felt Eren start to fall apart under him. His hips seemed caught between rocking forward against Levi’s hand or backwards against his cock, and both canceled out in a stuttering kind of motion. Levi squeezed harder.
“Eren,” he panted breathlessly against his ear, waiting for just the right moment. “Come. Now.”
And Eren did, with a broken scream as his orgasm was ripped out of him against his volition, his body shuddering in multiple waves as he painted the ground below him with milky-white streaks.
His wordless cry of simultaneous ecstasy and fury made Levi’s stomach flip, and he nearly lost control entirely; he fucked into Eren’s limp, post-coital body at an impossible pace, only needing a few more seconds to fling himself over the edge as well. His arms gave out under him and he collapsed on top of Eren’s warm body, closing his eyes to blot out his swimming vision as he rode out the last waves of his own orgasm.
Fucking hell.
It would be nice to just lie here and fall asleep, but Levi was so revolted by his current state that that wasn’t even a foreseeable option. Even though Eren’s ass did look like it could make a nice, plump pillow.
He lifted himself up on his hands and knees with a groan, feeling the ache start to settle in his bones already. Damn, he was growing too old for this kind of rough shit. He pulled out with a wince and tied off the condom quickly, tossing the thing far away from him with a shudder. And that was probably the least of his worries…. This mud, for instance, was never going to come out of his skin.
It occurred to him then that Eren was still chained up, and with Levi’s weight on his back that was probably incredibly painful. Whoops.
He fished out his key ring from his pocket and reached across Eren’s oddly-silent form, unlocking the handcuffs. Levi frowned, seeing the torn and bloody skin subjected to his earlier writhing, but figured Eren had probably dealt with worse… The boy slumped to the ground in a boneless pile of limbs, eyes closed. It lent his features an innocent, boyish kind of look.
That made Levi frown harder, because usually Eren was in a catatonic state for only a few minutes before he recovered enough to clean himself off, at least for Levi’s sake. The older man hoped he hadn’t accidentally killed him. That would make a funny epitaph, wouldn’t it? Here lies Eren Jaeger, wanted criminal, fucked-to-death by a police officer. He snorted.
“Oi, shitty brat. You gonna snap out of it or what? You are so revolting right now that I can’t even bear to look at you, so unless you want me to actually put a bullet through your head, I suggest you get a move on.” Levi hauled himself to his feet, pulling up his pants again and tightening his belt, pretending he couldn’t see the dark stains covering his clothes. Fuck this fucking weather. He was so beyond pissed right now.
Eren still hadn’t moved, so Levi kicked him (gently) in the ribs, more than a little disturbed. He’d been joking about the fucked-to-death thing, Jesus…
To his relief, Eren groaned and curled up on himself, one eye cracking open blearily.
“Nhgh… what?” He stared at his wrists for a long moment, as if it was beyond his mental capabilities at the moment to realize he was free again. What an idiot. Levi ‘tch’ed.
The sound made Eren glance up, and his eyes focused on Levi’s face. His own split suddenly into a deranged looking grin that reminded Levi disturbingly of his colleague Hanji. What an absolutely wonderful comparison to make.
“Oh my fucking god. Wow.” He blinked. “I hate you so much.” Eren’s bright expression contrasted fundamentally with his words, and after a moment of silent staring, Levi gave up trying to understand this kid. It was really pointless sometimes.
“Al…right… Good to know…”
“I have a tennis tournament tomorrow and I can’t even stand right now,” he elaborated. Ah. “And look what you did to my wrists.”
Levi glared, motioning Eren to stand up. “For the record, I am not at fault here. You were the one being a little shit; I only gave you what you deserved.” Eren attempted to scramble to his feet, but like he’d predicted, he gave a gasp of pain and collapsed in a heap. Levi rolled his eyes and steadfastly refused to feel guilty. Nope. Not happening.
He crossed the alleyway on stiff legs and retrieved his gun from the puddle he'd thrown it in earlier, picking it up between thumb and index finger and resigning himself to the tedious hours he would be spending tonight getting all the mud out of this thing.
Eren was watching him with sharp eyes, the kind of look he got when Levi was sometimes afraid Eren understood more about him than he let on.
“You haven’t been this rough in ages.”
Levi ignored him, pulled out a handkerchief and patted his gun dry as best he could.
Eren sighed. “Levi. Can you help me up?” he asked finally, and when Levi glanced at him he was relieved to see the familiar blaze in Eren’s eye, challenging him to say something. Levi’s lips twitched, but he turned back nevertheless to haul Eren to his unsteady feet with a firm grip on his shoulder.
The world suddenly spun around him, and he found himself pinned to the wall with Eren’s arms caging him in.
“What do you think you’re doing, brat?” Levi growled, making as if to knee Eren in the gut. But the boy only pressed closer and fitted his lips over Levi’s, taking advantage of their height different to crowd Levi into the wall.
This, this was what Levi hated. He liked being in control, and that was easy enough with Eren’s young body chained up and pinned under him, to physically manhandle him into submission. Kissing? He’d never cared much for the act as anything other than to assert dominance or as simple foreplay. It was too intimate. It gave the false impression of something more, and Levi was too old to deal with volatile emotions like these. This whole thing was mutually unhealthy enough as it was.
But Eren was always like this post-sex. He was probably the type to curl up and cuddle under the covers, were they ever to do this in a bed like normal people.
Levi pressed his tongue tentatively against Eren’s lip, and tasted the dried blood from where he’d bitten down earlier. Feeling suddenly nauseated, he turned his face to the side. Eren just kept on pressing kisses to his jaw, his throat. His lips were curiously soft, now that they weren’t tearing into each other’s skin.
“You wanna come back to my apartment?” Eren murmured against his skin. “It’s closer.”
Levi froze, his eyes snapping open. No, no, this was not what they did. This was not the routine. They were supposed to just part ways, Levi wouldn’t speak or answer Eren’s teasing questions; he would leave and take the most roundabout way back to his apartment to make sure Eren wasn’t following him.
He attempted to push Eren’s body away but the boy gripped his hips and nudged him back, still too fucking gentle.
“No.” Levi twisted out of Eren’s hold and kept him at arm’s distance. “I’m not coming to your fucking apartment. Who do you even—”
“But I’ll never get properly clean unless you do it,” Eren countered, lowering his head and looking at Levi with those ridiculously green eyes. Fuck.
“Eren,” he said warningly.
“What?”
Levi glowered and smoothed out his jacket, trying and failing to remove the wrinkles. He turned on his heel, planning on just walking out of there without a backwards look, but the soft pat of feet against pavement behind him, matching his step-for-step, spoke otherwise. He clenched his fists and sighed, heart feeling too heavy for his chest.
“We’re going to my apartment, first of all, because I never want to set foot in another shitty college dorm ever again. Assuming you even go to college…”
“I do go to college,” mumbled Eren. “I’ve told you that before.”
Levi shot him a look. “We haven’t had a proper conversation in months, brat. Our interactions lately have been limited to fucking our brains out like animals in the gutters.”
Eren sped up so that they were walking side by side, trying to keep up with Levi’s surprisingly fast gait. He was limping rather obviously, wincing at every other step, and Levi was mildly impressed he could keep up this well.
“I thought you wanted it that way.”
Levi didn’t answer.
Eren hobbled closer, not quite touching him but close enough that their shoulders almost brushed when they stepped in sync. Levi was possessed with the sudden urge to just grab Eren and hide from his worries in the boy’s unnatural warmth.
“Well, you’re very good at it. Fucking, I mean.” Eren grinned down at Levi’s scowling face. “I’m pretty sure I’ve enacted more fantasies in the last few months than I ever even dreamt were possible. But you’re also very good at something else.”
Levi raised an eyebrow, feigning curiosity. The yellow streetlight made Eren’s eyes look like molten gold.
“Oh? And what might that be?”
“Pretending you don’t care.”
Levi stopped, suddenly enough that Eren nearly walked into him from behind. “Kid, don’t even try.”
“You’re taking me home,” Eren snapped, eyes sparking with fire again. “To your apartment.”
“Because you’re filthy. We both are. And I have a Jacuzzi.”
Eren seemed torn between continuing their argument, and jumping in joyous disbelief at the mention of a Jacuzzi. He managed to rein himself in, however.
“You come out whenever I call, you never say ‘no’, Levi! Even after… even after everything. You always have. You say I’m the stupidest brat you’ve ever met and that you can’t stand me, but then you kiss me like that and…” He broke off, voice turning soft and miserable. “I just miss what we used to have.”
Levi rolled his eyes, but he felt like he’d just been punched in the gut. And then run over by a monster truck. Twice. “Yes, well, you fucked that up the moment you slit that man’s throat, Eren.”
Eren swallowed. “I know. But he was threatening my best friend, I couldn’t really help myself.”
“Armin?”
Eren’s face lit up. “You remembered!”
Yes, Levi remembered the kid with the giant blue eyes and the girly face who’d been petrified of Levi’s blank stare. That had been years ago. Levi sighed, turning away and running a hand through his messy hair.
“So you stabbed the guy to death.”
Eren smiled sheepishly. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
Typical Eren.
The boy’s face morphed into an expression Levi couldn’t quite place. “If you kill someone, I’ll turn myself in, and we can live together in jail.”
Levi would have slammed his palm to his face, had the situation been different. “I’ve never heard a more brilliant plan, let’s just go do that right now, huh,” Levi deadpanned.
Eren’s shoulders dropped and his eyes slid away from Levi’s piercing glare. They stood there in silence for a long moment, neither willing to step away, nor to break it.
We should just end this.
“Hey Eren.”
“Yes?”
But I can’t bring myself to lose him.
“Let’s not think about this now. I have a nice warm bath waiting for us… If you’re lucky, maybe I’ll join you.” His lips twitched sadly into something almost resembling a smile, but Eren’s bright expression more than made up for it.
“Yes sir! Though I think I’ve been a good boy already today, haven’t I?” He grinned, sidling closer sneakily and slipping a finger through Levi’s belt loops.
Levi could almost fool himself into thinking this would somehow work out one day.
Damn the stupid brat.
(Maybe Eren would stab him in his sleep tonight as well, and maybe that would just be the best option.)
“Come on home, Eren.”