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The sudden bright light that emerged from the clouds made Levi squint as he ascended from the mountain tops. His silver eyes slightly burned from the natural sunlight, blinking a few times to adjust to the brightness he wasn’t used to. Even though he had to trek through the natural realm in order to get to the cloud realm, the clouded light he was under in the natural realm couldn’t compare to the pure radiation of the sun he was in view now.
He took a tentative step onto the cloudy surface, feeling the white puff recoil at the touch, making him bounce as he tried not to fall. The natural realm and the underground had solid surfaces, so it took Levi a few steps and falling over until he finally got used to the clouds. (It also didn’t help that he was wearing heeled boots, but it was a little too late to go back now.)
Levi breathed in the fresh air as he walked through the sunny and open land. He enjoyed walking through the cloud realm whenever he got the chance to. The place was always white and clean, something Levi greatly appreciated, and the air was crisp and it was nice and warm because of the sun. Though he would’ve loved to spend the whole day soaking in the sunlight, he was on a mission.
The demon snorted at that thought. It wasn’t really a mission than it was an errand ordered from the King of Demons himself. Levi wondered why Erwin asked him to go to the cloud realm to find something he lost coming back to the underground from his meeting with the King of Wings instead of a lower-ranking demon, but he figured it was something about “taking a well-deserved break” from torturing the condemned and corrupted human souls that were sent to him.
Or something along those lines. He didn’t pay much attention after Erwin mentioned that he would reward him with high-quality tea leaves that he picked up in the natural realm.
Well, whatever. He didn’t mind not listening to constant screaming for a day. Actually, he pitied the humans he was in charge of who were now sent to Hange for their daily torture while he was gone; Hange was the best at using the spiked whips out of all the demons after all.
He continued walking, not exactly sure where he was supposed to be going. Erwin didn’t give him any specifics of where he may have lost his item so his only guess was that it was the path from the King of Wing’s castle to the mountain top entrance. It was about a four-hour journey to the castle by foot, but Levi had time to kill.
Levi entered a forest-like area as he continued his walk, bouncing slightly from the clouds underneath. He came to this forest before, and if memory served him correct, there was a nice waterfall that was located near the center of the forest.
With that in mind, he went deeper into the forest, passing through the blue and purple trees but also keeping an eye out for the thing that was missing. His tail whipping back and forth behind him as he tugged on the collar of his white dress shirt, the buttons coming off to reveal his collarbone, and neatly rolling up the sleeves to his elbows. Back in the underground, no one wore clothing but there was a world law that stated that if any demon should enter the natural or cloud realm, they must have clothing on. While Levi thought the law was unnecessary and annoying, they were the rules. Besides, he could handle wearing weird material for a few hours if it meant spending a day under the sun.
His pointed ears twitched at the sound of rushing water and Levi’s lips quirked up as he walked faster towards the source of the sound. While the waterfall in this forest was a beauty sight to behold, Levi was most looking forward to the water as it was fresh and clean (it wasn’t holy water thank goodness).
The memory of bathing in the calm waters distracted him enough that his feet led him to the edge of the clearing between the dense forest and waterfall. He halted in place when he saw movement coming out of the forest on his right side and quickly hid behind a tree, unsure if it was a friendly creature or not.
Levi slowed down his breathing and listened if there was any footsteps coming his way if he was seen. After a moment, his ears twitched again; it seemed as though the other creature was headed towards the waterfall as well. Peeking around the tree, he almost let gasp when his eyes landed on the majestic creature sitting on a rock next to the waterfall.
He concluded the creature was a harpy, based on the green and blue (teal maybe?) feathers that spread from the shoulders down his arms like wings and also covering the ears. A white robe draped across the tanned flesh, and while it was common for the residents of the cloud realm to have darker skin compared to those from the underground (since they were constantly under the sun and above the clouds), this creature had golden skin that glistened under the light, practically glowing. And based on the build and muscle, the demon concluded that it was a male harpy he was ogling from behind.
Levi continued to observe the harpy, watching him as he dipped his wings into the pool of water from the waterfall before lifting them up and shaking it, letting the water fling everywhere and some went under the right light to show a rainbow of colors before disappearing. Though the harpy wasn’t exactly emitting an image of tranquility, he seemed to be enjoying himself from the little smile Levi could barely see from where he was hiding. It seemed like sparkles appeared all around the boy as he splashed the waters, but maybe it was just Levi’s imagination.
Growing more and more curious about the harpy, Levi stepped away from the tree and into the clearing, walking in a steady pace towards the creature who was still sitting on the rock.
He managed to make it about three feet away until the harpy took notice of his presence and turned around. Levi felt as though someone suddenly attacked him because he immediately lost air when he saw bright, green eyes shining underneath strands of brown hair. This harpy boy was truly beautiful in Levi’s books he continued staring into the other’s eyes.
(It also didn’t help that this boy had a pronounced jawline that Levi deemed lickable but that was beside the point.)
Said harpy boy took in Levi’s appearance, eyes widening once he registered what he was looking at and let out a yelp before shuffling backwards to the edge of the rock he was sitting on. “Wh-what business does a demon have here?” the harpy boy demanded, looking as though he was two seconds away from flying away.
Levi sucked in a breath, anticipated this kind of reaction, before lowering himself onto the ground cautiously, making the harpy’s eyes widened even more. A demon that sits down in front of any creature was a sign that he meant no ill-harm.
The harpy looked at the demon with a curious look as he slid off the rock and slowly knelt onto the clouds in front of Levi, folding his wings in front of him.
The two looked at each other for a moment, taking in the other’s appearance before Levi cleared his throat and spoke up. “I’m Levi, a demon of the underground.”
The brunet nodded. “And I’m Eren, a harpy of the cloud realm. It’s nice to meet you, Levi.”
“Likewise, Eren.”
Eren nodded again as he stared into the demon’s eyes. “So, Levi, what’s a high-ranking demon like yourself doing up here?” Eren asked.
Levi blinked, realizing that Eren noticed his eye color and what it meant. In the underground, demons that have eye colors closest to white were considered one of the strongest demons and were high up in the ranks and hold lots of power – both physically and politically. Levi never gave much thought about his position since he did what was ordered of him to do and executing them in a timely manner. As for his position in power, he didn’t give a shit about that stuff and let the king handle it for him.
He probably got lost in his thoughts for too long since Eren let out a noise from the back of his throat. Right, harpies don’t like being ignored. “I’m on an errand for Erwin.”
“The Devil?”
“The one that looks like that Captain America guy from the natural realm? Yeah, him.”
Eren chuckled. “What kind of errand if I may ask?”
Levi clicked his tongue as his tail swished behind him. “The blond prick lost his stupid bolo tie when he was here the other day meeting your king, so he asked me to find it for him.”
“Ah, but why are you here at the Crystal Falls?” Eren asked. “The castle is a little more west from here if you use the other pathway.”
“I’m just killing some time,” Levi explained. “Erwin told me that I needed a break so I’m enjoying my time here before heading back down.”
“I see.”
“What are you doing here then? This place is on the outskirts of your kingdom is it not?” Levi asked.
Eren huffed and Levi almost smirked when the harpy subconsciously puffed out his chest to show his irritation. “I was just going through my normal route but then I found myself in the middle of a dust war between a pixie and a fairy. I got blinded by the dust and crashed into the Forest of Whispers and decided to go wash myself off of the stupid dust before returning,” he explained.
So that explained the glistening skin.
(The harpy still glowed in Levi’s eyes though.)
“Do you need assistance?” Levi offered.
“What?” Eren gave him a confused look as though he didn’t hear the demon correctly.
“I said, do you need assistance? I’m a meticulous demon and I’m certain that I could clean your feathers thoroughly.”
Eren bit his lips and looked down at his wings that still had speckles of the glittered dust shining at him. It already took him a good amount of time to clean himself on a normal basis, but with the glitter, it would take him the whole day if he did it himself. “If... if you don’t mind,” Eren said cautiously.
“I don’t,” Levi said as he got up. “Cleaning is therapeutic for me so this benefits us both.” He offered his hand but then quickly brought it back to his side, remembering that harpies didn’t like to receive help getting up. He coughed to this side to hide the action as though Eren didn’t see it and stepped towards the pool of water. “Let’s get started then.”
Eren didn’t know what to make of this demon. Though the paler male was strong and powerful, enough to be a King if he so wished based on the almost-white eyes, this demon seemed to be aloof about his surroundings and even offered to clean Eren’s wings. It was unheard of any demon doing these kinds of gestures and Eren even noticed that Levi put out his hand to help him up before dropping it. While harpies wouldn’t like that, coming from a demon on the other hand meant that they saw you as an equal and would help you – and if Eren remembered from what he was taught about demons, even this compassion was a rarity in the underground.
Wordlessly, Eren distributed his weight on the balls of his feet before standing up straight. He sat next to the demon on the rock he previously sat on and waited for further instruction with a cautious look on his face.
Levi sighed at the apprehensiveness of the harpy and gave the brunet a look. “I’m not going to claw you out, alright? I just want to help you clean off the herpes of the art world so pass me a wing.”
Eren raised a brow at the choice of wording and shuffled to sit face-to-face with the demon. He slowly draped his wing onto Levi’s lap, almost purring when Levi ran his fingers through his feathers to inspect them.
It was weird, a harpy and a demon were sitting in from of each other with the demon cleaning the harpy’s wings. This kind of situation was unheard of, but Levi seemed like an oddball compared to other demons (then again, Eren hasn’t seen many demons in his realm). Even letting Levi touch his wings would seem absurd if anyone was watching them, but Eren had no reason not to trust Levi since the demon has been respectful so far and did everything he could not to scare Eren off.
Eren allowed himself to observe the demon since it was rare to see one up close and his eyes immediately went up to the large, curved horns on Levi’s head. What was the purpose of horns again? If Eren recalled properly, the size of a demon’s horns can represent the size of their…
The harpy squawked at that train of thought, blushing when Levi asked him what was wrong. Shaking his head to reassure him that everything was fine, the demon just shrugged before going back to the task at hand.
Seeing the male distracted, Eren roamed his eyes around Levi’s form again, deliberately making sure he didn’t stare at the horns, and noted the pointed ears before trailing his eyes down Levi’s jaw and neck to the exposed collarbone. Not once had Eren ever thought that a collarbone would be an attractive feature on anyone, but it was something about Levi’s dress shirt being unbuttoned at the top to show off the pale flesh made Eren stare at them for a good while.
He was then distracted by movement from the corner of his eyes, looking behind Levi to see the demon’s tail swaying back in forth in a gentle manner. He was almost hypnotized as he watched it go left and right, left and right, and then up then down, up and down, and then little turning into little circles and-
“Hey, my eyes are down here you know?” Levi said with a smirk.
Eren flushed again as he looked into amused silver eyes. “I’m done with this wing. Show me the other,” Levi said.
The harpy gave a look of surprise before lifting the wing that was on Levi’s lap, twisting and turning to see that yes, the wing had no traces of glitter anywhere. “How did you do it so quickly?”
“What? Cleaning?” Levi snorted. “Please, this is nothing. You should see the nasty shit the other demons in the underground leave around. Disgusting.”
“What’s it like in the underground?” Eren decided to ask, thinking it would be a safe conversation topic.
“Dark and dreary,” Levi replied as he started cleaning the other wing. “Lots of humans screaming everywhere and it’s hot as balls too. Why? You plan on taking a vacation there?”
“When you put it that way, not really, no,” Eren answered truthfully. “But I heard that the Pit of Fire is beautiful in the summertime.”
“It is,” Levi agreed. “But truthfully, the Aurora Borealis in the natural realm is far more beautiful.”
“I wish I could see it,” Eren sighed.
“Why can’t you?”
“Pollution,” Eren explained. “Our lungs can’t breathe in too much of the natural realm’s air or else we would die.”
“I thought there was medicine for that?”
“It’s really hard to obtain the ingredients. My dad’s a doctor and he said that you would need the soil and mountain drips from the underground and the saltwater and oak leaves of the natural realm to make the medicine. It would be a suicide mission to gather all those things,” Eren ended off bitterly.
“Sounds like you tried to.”
Eren jolted at that, staring at Levi’s amused face. “Am I right, or am I right?” the demon stated.
The brunet looked away. “…I may have attempted to go down before to see the world below, but was stopped by my sister halfway down the mountain.”
Levi hummed as he brushed the last feather he was cleaning, gently pushing away the wing to let the harpy know he was done. “If you want, I could gather the stuff for you. Demons have better air filtration than those in the cloud realm.”
“But why?” Eren was confused, not knowing what to make of this demon. “I do not understand you, Levi. Why are you offering so much yet not asking for anything in return? First you cleaned my wings and now this? You are not like the demons they teach us.”
“I assure you, my intentions aren’t as pure as you may think.” Levi slowly ran his nail along the feathers of the harpy’s wings, licking his lips when he saw Eren shuddering from the fleeting touch. “You have such beautiful wings, Eren. It would be a shame to have them trapped up here.”
“You think they’re beautiful?” Eren asked, subconsciously curling his wings in towards him like a protective shield. But instead of trying to defend himself, his instinctive reaction was trying to hide from the praise in a shy manner.
“Stunning,” Levi stated. “The color of a harpy’s wings is a direct correlation of their beauty is it not?”
“My colors are hereditary; the green is from my dad and the blue is from my mom.”
“Yet they are uniquely you and that’s what makes them wonderful, no?”
Eren covered a squawk that he almost let out, ducking his head under his wings to hide his blush from the smirking demon. All the stuff that he learned about demons and how to act around them was now in a jumble mess and he was having a crisis until a red tail pushed down his wings.
“Hey, Bright Eyes, don’t hide yourself from me,” Levi said gently.
Eren peered under his bangs and sheepishly looked at Levi and bit his lips.
“Is there anywhere in either in the natural realm or the underground that you want to visit?” Levi asked, hoping that it would make the harpy less nervous around him.
“The beach!” Eren blurted out. “I heard from my best friend that the natural realm have sands that are hot and grainy and I want to try dusting my feathers in it. Oh! And it has large masses of saltwater called the ocean that takes up majority of the world. And- and there’s a lot of different types of creatures that live in the oceans that glow and some are big enough take down a ship!”
Levi grinned at Eren’s enthusiasm. It was endearing to see the harpy’s eyes light up and the big smile as he animatedly talked about the other wonders that he wanted to see.
Eren was very, very cute, Levi concluded.
The demon folded his legs in so he could stand up to stretch, but ended up slipping on the water that he used to clean Eren’s feathers and into the pool.
“Levi!” Eren leaned over to see if the demon was alright, but slapped a wing over his mouth to conceal his laugh from seeing an irritated and dripping wet demon staring at him. “Ha ha!” was what managed to escape from his lips until he couldn’t hold it in anymore and his wings clutched around his stomach as he continued laughing.
Levi grumbled as he tried to stand up, but only to fall again as the clouds under the water was making it difficult for him to stabilize himself. “Of all fucking things…” Levi sighed, realizing there was no use unless he waddled his way over and unbuttoned the rest of his dress shirt and flung it to the laughing harpy.
Eren let out a cry when the wet fabric landed on him. He was about to yell at Levi for getting his feathers wet again but gulped instead when Levi took off his heels and his pants and-
Oh.
The thing about the horns was true after all.
Levi raised a brow at the sound of a squawk and looked at Eren who covered himself with his wings. “What’s wrong, Eren?”
“N-nothing!”
Levi only hummed at that and turned to wade towards the rushing water of the waterfall.
Eren peeked behind his feathers and tilted his head at the mark on Levi’s back. Standing up, he hopped up before lifting his wings and flew over to a rock near Levi and stood on it. “Hey, what’s on your back?”
Levi ducked his head into the water and scrubbed his face with it before answering, “It’s my clan’s insignia. Each demon is branded from birth with their clan’s symbol somewhere on their body; the twin wings are my clan’s symbol and it just so happen to be marked on my back. It’s quite ironic, isn’t it?”
Eren absentmindedly nodded through Levi’s explanation as his eyes traced over the blue and white wings and tail that spread across the demon’s back. “I think it suits you. Like you were meant to be free.”
Levi silently watched Eren’s face and let out a small smile. He reached over and tugged on the end of a wing and pulled Eren into the water with him.
He laughed when Eren emerged from the water and sputtered, trying to breathe. “What the fuck, Levi?” Eren gasped out. He glared at the laughing man. “Why’d you do that for?”
“There’s still some glitter up there and you’re too damn tall so I thought this way would be easier to clean those feathers on your head,” Levi reasoned.
Eren huffed but slowly moved over to Levi and indeed they were at the same level. Levi gestured Eren to come closer and the harpy made sure his limbs didn’t accidentally touch Levi’s body as he ducked his head forward to the demon.
Levi massaged the feathers on the side of the brunet’s head and smirked at the green eyes closing in content and the low humming sound that Eren was unknowingly emitting as Levi cleaned the blue-green plumes. It felt very peaceful, the water rushing behind him and the cute little sounds Eren was making while he finished cleaning off the glitter.
Without him realizing it, he leaned forward to peck Eren’s cheek, making the harpy snap his eyes open in surprise. “L-Levi?”
Levi let go of his hold on the brunet and backed away. He frowned when he saw nervousness in Eren’s eyes and looked away. “My apologies, Eren. Demons like to claim things they like and though it doesn’t justify what I did, you looked so beautiful that I couldn’t help myself.”
“It’s okay,” Eren said slowly. He waded over to the paler male and brushed his left wing against Levi’s cheek to make silver eyes look at him. “Is that how demons court in the underground?” Eren whispered.
“Kind of. As I said, demons like to claim and the way they do things can be vicious and can get messy.” After a moment, Levi asked, “How do harpies court?”
The brunet hummed. “Well, the one courting must present their feather to the one who they’re courting to. If the one being courted accepts it, the two will engage in a dance in the skies until nightfall.”
“That sounds exhausting,” Levi mentioned as he made a disgruntled face.
Eren chuckled. “That’s why a lot of harpies prefer to court just before the sun sets.”
Levi placed his hand on top of the wing that was still on his cheek and pressed it closer. “Then, how does a demon court a harpy?”
“I don’t know, Levi. I haven’t heard anything about demon-harpy relationships but…”
Eren pulled his left wing back from Levi’s cheek and brought it to his lips and bit off one of the feathers with a wince before letting it drop onto his wing, presenting it to Levi with a small smile. “We can always make our own way, yeah?”
Levi chuckled as he accepted the offered feather and twirled it between his fingertips before reaching to grab the back of Eren’s neck with his other hand and pulled the blushing harpy into a kiss.
Eren’s heart was beating rapidly in his chest when he felt a tongue trace his lips, opening them to allow the hot tongue inside. The harpy moaned at the sensation and if it weren’t for the water, he would’ve collapsed in bliss. The tongue was, for lack of a better word, wicked; it wrapped around his tongue before it licked the roof of his mouth, drawing more groans and whimpers from the brunet.
When they pulled away, Levi watched with burning silver eyes and Eren’s half-lidded ones. A dark pink stained the harpy’s cheek as he tried to regain his breath. The feathers were quivering as Levi ran his hands over them before pulling Eren to his chest.
The golden-skinned male whimpered at the touch and looked at Levi with lust-filled eyes. Levi chuckled when he felt Eren not-so-subtly grind into him underwater and making desperate sounds to seduce the demon into doing more. “Ah, I forgot to mention this, but a demon’s saliva holds aphrodisiac-like properties to make you go crazy and compliant to our touches. And as much as I want to take you now, I want you to be conscious enough to remember every pleasure I can give you.”
Levi chuckled at Eren’s pouting face and kissed the harpy’s forehead before resting his own on it, making him look straight into bright green eyes that finally cleared from his lust-clouded state. “One day, okay? I want to come back and give you all the necessary ingredients so that we could explore the natural realm together. That could be our form of courtship if you’d like. How does that sound, Eren?”
Eren blinked at the proposal before he huffed in amusement. “You truly are an unusual demon, Levi.” With a chaste kiss, Eren smiled. “But I like that. And I like you. So yes, it sounds wonderful to me.”
“Good.”
That was all Levi said before he pulled Eren into the water again, making the harpy shriek. When Eren came back onto the surface, he tried to chase the laughing demon who was swimming away.
The two stayed in the waters for the whole afternoon, laughter rang throughout the forest of their happiness.
As Levi descended the mountain tops after watching Eren fly back to his kingdom, the demon realized he forgot to retrieve Erwin’s lost item.
‘Oh well,’ Levi thought with a shrug. That just meant that he would have to come back to the cloud realm the next day.
There was plenty of time for him to retrieve everything for Eren so that the harpy could go on a vacation with him to the natural realm. And he was certain that Hange wouldn’t mind torturing more souls for the next few days.
Couldn’t say the same for the humans he was in charge with though.