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Levi and Erwin are usually in constant contact with each other. They are both there early in the morning and late at night. Many times, Levi is the last to leave the building with the janitors having to run him out per the orders of Mr.Smith himself. As the Vice President of TitanneCorp, Levi worked hard and diligently every day to ensure that the company ran smoothly and that the numbers that were punched in at the end of the day were, in fact, correct. It was questionable whether or not Erwin worked as hard as Levi some days.
It was also questionable, by some but not by people who actually mattered to Erwin, how Levi had gotten to be V.P so fast in his career. He had started out in such a lowly position not so many months ago, with a tiny cubicle in a crowded office. That was no longer the case, as Levi now had a front city view of the entire city with ample room in his almost empty office.
Not many people make an impression on Erwin Smith like Levi did. He was a hard worker and a stern leader. That was partially the reason why Erwin promoted Levi to V.P in such a short time. Levi would work himself to death if anybody allowed it. He constantly brought work home with him and sometimes went a few days in a row without sleep.
And it would show and Erwin would force Levi to take the day off just so his right hand man would not pass out during meetings or in an elevator.
It was not out of favoritism nor some ulterior motive that Levi was promoted to Vice President. Levi was a productive and leveled person who was extremely good with numbers. When the position opened when the last V.P retired to an island deep within the pacific, Erwin saw no other person better qualified for the job.
Levi Rivaille is a man of few words and fewer actions. Yet when he does act, he acts with a purpose and usually is very swift in his decisions and deals out consequences with an iron fist.
Levi was very uncertain how Erwin even ran TitanneCorp without him.
Many of the employees enjoy calling him the “watch dog” or the ever clever “Erwin’s bitch” but neither nickname had ever began to phase Mr. Rivaille. He was there to do his job, not get his feelings hurt by a few jealous men who hate to be told they aren’t really working but actually playing a stupid little game on their company assigned computer.
Levi took no nonsense from a single man, including Erwin himself because Levi is not stupid and does not have a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree for nothing. He knows he is smart and does not allow a single soul to tell him otherwise.
Its not cockiness that Levi has, but confidence in himself and his abilities. He is not modest, in a sense, but does not boast his own talents. That would bring him to the level of the idiots who work under him.
In the most shortest terms possible, Levi did his damn job and didn’t allow anyone to tell him otherwise. He was payed to make sure that Titanne ran accordingly. If he had to piss a few men off, then so be it.
Levi refused to let the standard slip for anyone, yet Erwin constantly made it difficult for Levi to enforce the rules when Mr.Smith wanted to be lax with some of his employees. It was probably Erwin’s kindness that had so many people applying for a job.
The poor souls thought they might have an easy and well paying job. They would learn soon enough when they made it to an interview with Levi.
At the moment, the black-haired Vice President was actually flipping through applications for employment, marking through them silently with red pen when he finds a particular quality the person wrote down that he did not like, or a piece of information that did not match previous records when he looked through the rest of his or her’s file.
Its a tedious job, but for Levi it is almost relaxing. The silence of his office creates of cocoon of serenity that leaves him in more of a pleasant mood than his previous positions did.
He is allowed to think in his office without the annoying interruption of cubicle mates or pesky trainees looking to have his favor because he was floor supervisor.
With a soft, an almost inaudible sigh, Levi leaned back in his office chair and allowed himself to fade back into the past a bit. He is far ahead of schedule and the day is almost at an end, so he figures he has a bit of time to reminisce a little bit.
There is not much left to do when he is this far ahead of work other than to think of past occurrences that so happen to pertain to one certain blond.
He remembers well the first time he met Erwin Smith, the founder and President of TitanneCorp, a company that was solely in the business of keeping financial records for large or small companies alike. It was amazing how many people that did not, or could not keep their own records which caused an array of problems like tax fraud and bankruptcy.
From paranoid businessmen to inexperienced entrepreneurs, TitanneCorp served them all.
Erwin, at the tender age of twenty-six, became an overnight billionaire and was able to expanded into different areas of business that only added to his wealth. He dabbled in stocks and donated to charity. He began a second company that dealt with the repayment of loans, which worked perfectly hand in hand with TitanneCorp.
Now, at the ripe age of thirty-five, and with two divorces under his belt, Erwin was still the headstrong and determined man that made him so successful. He was charming and charismatic and Levi actually had to thump his temple to stop that particular train of thought.
Levi himself had started working at the company the second year it was up. He was twenty-four at the time and fresh out of college with a degree in accounting and actuarial science. He knew his own potential and at the time, he had been very defiant towards his supervisor.
It didn’t help his supervisor was both stupid and brash wrapped up into one boneheaded package of testosterone.
An error in numbers is what started it all. Levi had entered his supervisor’s office, who’s name completely escapes Levi’s memory now, in an attempt to explain how there are some discrepancies with the logs.
The numbers were just not adding up and money was coming up missing. Not only was that bad management, but that type of negligence could arise legal actions from clients. Levi had no intentions of arguing, loudly, with his ‘boss’ but it had happened. Levi himself had almost been ready to quit that day.
It turned into a heated match of wits and insults in which Levi would never fully admit to participating in and at one point, the man was ready to strangle his supervisor when Erwin sauntered into the office and both Levi and his supervisor silenced almost immediately.
“Matt. I was just coming to talk to you about some issues that are showing up on the feed.” The blond stated, not even bothering with a greeting. He moved across the carpeted office and sat on the edge of the desk, Levi watching the man carefully.
He knew fully well who the blond man was without asking. Erwin’s portrait was on almost every floor of the tower they worked in.
Matt, the incompetent supervisor, had tensed up with the arrival of his boss and straightened in his chair. The words that spilled from the man’s mouth literally had Levi’s jaw dropping.
“I was just discussing the issue with Mr. Rivaille here. It seems he has been making errors in his number punching. Almost as if he was trying to steal from our clients.”
“You just told me there was no error in those numbers.” Levi snarled out, halfway standing from his chair and ready to jump over the desk to knock a few teeth out. The black haired man had not been the calmest person in the workforce when he was younger.
He’d never admit to that either.
A solid and firm hand came down on Levi’s shoulder and pushed him back to a sitting position. Erwin silenced any kind of noise Levi had planned on making with a single look. A look that still was stored somewhere deep within his memory banks.
Erwin had turned to the man and in the most serene voice Levi had ever heard, told him that he was a liar. The utter shock on Matt’s face had been priceless.
Levi had apparently not been the only one to notice the errors. Levi just happened to of gotten to Matt before Erwin had. Erwin knew all along, but allowed Matt to dig himself a deep enough hole to where he could not escape when the time came to hang.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” the supervisor defended, an edge to his voice at that point. He went on the defensive and if that was not an admission of guilt then Levi was not sure what was.
“Matt. I’m not as blind, stupid, or air-headed as you give me credit for. Everyday those numbers have to be approved by you. And everyday I get the rough copy and your final copy and those numbers are always different. Can this young man access your computer and change data?” The blond asked as he motioned to Levi with a large hand.
“Sir-”
“You’re fired Matt. And Mr. Rivaille will be taking your place.”
Thinking back on it now, Levi was not sure how Erwin knew who he was. Levi had been just a lowly accountant who worked with checking numbers and in a matter of fifteen minutes he became a supervisor. The world was just funny like that sometimes.
It was sad that Levi just didn’t have a sense of humor though.
Levi had not seen much of Erwin after his promotion. The President would drop in very rarely to check in on work and of course they would see each other at meetings every so often, but the two never ran into each other in one of the hallways or elevators.
The black haired man had been fine with that, not really one to be social and enjoy company of others, Levi worked just as hard as when he was on the floor and did what was asked of him, instead of abusing the system like Matt had.
One day, as Levi recalled, Erwin walked into his office and sat down without a word to Levi, which had been extremely rude in his opinion anyway. Levi continued to type away on his computer, ignoring the other’s presence as if he was not the man who owned the company and the man that Levi worked for.
“I’ve been watching you.” Ewrin stated, interrupting the abrupt sounds of keystrokes. Levi stopped and saved his information before turning his unimpressed eyes toward his boss.
“No. I won’t have sex with you.” Levi bluntly stated as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back into his chair. He was rather surprised when the blond in front of him bursted out into a fit of laughter.
It took Erwin several minutes to calm himself down. His whole body was trembling with laughter and he wiped a few stray tears from the corner of his eyes. Levi didn’t find a single thing funny of what he had said.
“Oh no. No, boy. Not like that. I’ve been watching your progress. The numbers are impeccable and the improvement from Matt to you is superb. I am surprised I had not noticed you before hand. Considering your studies in actuarial sciences.”
Levi raised a fine and thin eyebrow, but did not comment on how Stalker-ish Erwin was sounding. Levi found that it was always best to keep certain comments to himself, lest he end up like the previous supervisor: without a job and out on the curb.
They talked for a bit after that. Erwin actually talked the most. It wasn’t even like he was the boss. He was leaning back in his chair, tie loosened and his feet kicked up on Levi’s desk even though the dark haired man had asked politely and then not so politely for him to remove his shoes from the mahogany.
That day had been the first day that Erwin had asked Levi to join him for a drink after work. It had also been the first, but definitely not the last time, Levi had declined that drink. It was just not professional.
However, things sort of snowballed from that point on anyway. It was still strange to Levi, how things worked out. It was difficult to wrap his head around the events that had occurred in his life in the last few years.
With another soft sigh, Levi turned his attention the the sound of his office door opening.
“Spacing out again I see.” Erwin smirked as he entered Levi’s office, foregoing knocking because he knew, at this point, it irritated to Levi to no end.
The taller man flopped down ever so gracefully in one of the chairs that was situated in front of Levi’s desk. Like most afternoons, Erwin’s tie, (Blue today) was loose around his neck, and he had lost his suit jacket probably sometime during lunch.
“I was wondering when you were leaving.” Erwin stated when Levi did not speak up. The younger man instead closed the files of work he had across his desk and tidied up a bit. He glanced at the clock and was a bit shock by the time.
“Yeah.” Erwin chuckled, noticing Levi’s surprise because nothing got past Erwin. “I figured you weren’t aware of the time. Not that it matters. I have to run you out of here anyway. So are you ready to leave?”
“No.” Levi replied swiftly as he shuffled through some more folders. It was not an odd occurrence for Levi to clock in some extreme overtime hours on weekdays and weekends.
“Alright. Let me rephrase. You’re leaving.” And Erwin used that voice in which there was no argument to have and his word was final. He used it rarely and most of the time it was used towards Levi.
They held eye contact for a few brief seconds, Levi debating if it would be worth it to protest Erwin’s bossiness, but decided against it.
“Why do you enjoy getting under my skin?” Levi asked as he stood, grabbing some of his personal belongs and carefully arranged them into his bag.
“So what are you doing after work?” Erwin asked, a smirk curling up like a satisfied cat.
“I have declined every one of your offers that involved anything after work. Why do you keep trying?”
“What can I say? I’m resilient.” The blond retorted as he stood as well, smoothing out the wrinkles in his white dress shirt and flashing Levi a toothy grin. Silence passed between them once more as Levi packs up, a bit perturbed with that fact that he had to go home early.
“So, do you wanna go get a drink?”
“No.”
“You know this is business. I’m not afraid of replacing you Levi. TitanneCorp works need to be a bit more social and you have the social skills of a corpse.”
If it had been anyone else, they would have thought Erwin was serious. Levi stopped worrying about his position at the company after Erwin had made that exact same threat three times in one week.
It was like a game to the blond man. He tried and tried and tried even more to get under Levi’s skin and irritate him. It was like the annoying little kid on the playground that enjoyed talking your ear off while you were trying to swing.
Erwin was the ideal annoying little kid.
Erwin looked at him intently like he usually does when waiting for an answer. Levi waits a bit, counting backwards in his head until all his things are packed up before he finally opens his mouth.
“You won’t fire me.”
Erwin shrugs slightly. “You’re probably right. But it was worth a shot right?”
Levi finds himself chuckling before he can stop and he notices out of the corner of his eye, that Erwin is laughing with him.
“I suppose one drink won’t hurt.” Levi states as he places his bag over his shoulder.
It was not like Levi had anyone waiting at home for him to begin with.
Levi would never understand what kind of door he opened the night he went to the bar with Erwin, until he was too far down the path of loving the older man.