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Erwin stood silently in front of the stylish black couch almost in the middle of his neat living-room. He contemplated what to say, thought through the words again and again. It couldn’t go on like this, though he had no idea when things got out of hand so much. Of course he noticed it earlier, but the possibility of this turning into a habit never crossed his mind. Until this evening. Now it reached the point where they needed to talk about it, before someone got hurt. Or sued. Although he wasn’t entirely sure if anyone would sue somebody for this. And if they did, no one would guess the case is related to him. So probably they were safe, but still, he felt that his worries need to be said. Erwin mentally prepared himself for the storm that was coming then cleared his throat.
“Levi.”
He waited patiently until the other person, who lied on the aforementioned couch and picked on his nails, looked up at him with cold steel-grey eyes.
“It’s not mine” Erwin showed him the vivid-green piece of cloth in his hand. The other stared at him for a few seconds with a blank face before turning back to his nails.
“No shit.”
Erwin sighed tiredly. Levi was exactly the opposite of him: he was tall, Levi was short. He had blond hair, Levi had black. His eyebrows were like caterpillars, Levi’s were thin and perfect (he envied him for that sometimes). He tried to be nice to others, Levi usually acted like a grumpy old man. And while he wanted to talk about problems, Levi didn’t.
But Erwin wasn’t the man who gave up easily.
“I don’t think it’s yours either.”
“Well, since you’re the one who buys me clothes, you’re probably right” was the calm answer.
Erwin crouched down, knees cracking in the process. “So you have stolen it?” his voice was full of disappointment. Actually he wasn’t as sad as he seemed, but he wanted to make Levi feel a bit guilty, he wanted him to understand that this was wrong, it was a big no-no. And when the other male looked away uncomfortably, he knew he succeeded at some degree.
“It’s not like it’s never happened before” Levi managed to sound nonchalant somehow, encouraging Erwin to try even harder.
“Care to explain why you do this?”
The question was followed by silence as the smaller of the two pondered whether answering it or not. Finally he stopped observing his immaculate nails and looked back at the blonde from behind his black locks.
“I’m bored.”
Erwin was surprised. “Bored?” he echoed.
“Yeah” Levi nodded. “You go to work early and come home late, and during that time I have nothing to do. It’s natural that I get bored of cleaning and sleeping after a while.”
So if Erwin understood it right, it was his fault after all. But there was still one thing that wasn’t completely clear for him.
“But why do you have to steal? Couldn’t you just wander around?”
“That wouldn’t be too exciting.”
With a deep breath Erwin turned away from Levi, sat down on the floor and leaned against the couch. Well, at the end they didn’t ended up screaming profanities at each other, which was good, but he had to realize that he couldn’t solve the problem as easily as he hoped. Suddenly he felt exhausted. He regretted doing that certain favour to Hange. Hell, he regretted even knowing the woman’s name.
“I think I’ll take a bath” he decided, because he needed and deserved it.
Hearing this, Levi pushed himself into a sitting position and for the first time his face showed concern instead of the usual scepticism. He knew very well that Erwin preferred showers, and only took baths when he had a shitty day or bad mood.
“What’s wrong?” he asked and he looked honestly interested for a change. Okay, the blond man thought, maybe he didn’t regret it entirely.
“I just found out that my cat is an underwear thief because of my poor abilities as an owner” he admitted, but saying it out loud sounded terribly stupid. Levi grimaced.
“First of all” he began “you aren’t my owner and I’m not your cat, it’s the other way around. You’re my human. And secondly, I’m not a perverted underwear thief. I also steal socks.”
“Much better” Erwin said sarcastically with an eye-roll then got up from the floor. “So, what should we do with this?” he held up Levi’s newest plunder, the vivid-green boxer briefs. The other only shrugged his shoulders
“Put it to the others.”
Erwin did so: while he was walking to the bathroom he tossed the article of clothing into a box in the corner which already contained some colourful clothes.
* * *
It was Friday, which meant two things: Eren didn’t have classes, and Mikasa was leaving. She’d spent the past week at her adoptive brother, and while they loved each other, none of them was too sad because they had to say goodbye soon. Eren didn’t like being treated as a 12-year-old when he was already 20, and Mikasa got a bit tired of the constant worrying for his well-being. Distance did good to their relationship.
They were having the last lunch together in Eren’s apartment.
“When does your train leave exactly?” the male asked glancing at the clock.
“At 3:05” she said and followed the others gaze. It was around quarter to two. “I’ll pack my things after we finish, and then we can go to the station.”
“Okay” Eren nodded. Well, maybe he was going to miss the woman after all, even if he never admitted it. Deep in his thoughts he looked past her shoulder, out to the small balcony of the apartment. There weren’t too much things, just a white plastic chair and an airer with their washed clothes on it. And a cat. It was black except the white mark around its neck and on its chest, had blue eyes and Eren identified it as his neighbour’s. He turned back to his food only to look back at the animal a spilt second later. He couldn’t believe his eyes as he watched the cat stealing one of Mikasa’s panties. It was unbelievable. Eren could swear the feline looked him right in the eye in a challenging way before it jumped out of his view, underwear in its mouth, probably back to the neighbour’s balcony.
“What’s wrong?” Mikasa’s voice brought him back to Earth.
“Huh? Oh… No-nothing” Eren shook his head. He wasn’t able to tell his sister that a cat had just stolen her panties. No way. He only hoped Mikasa wouldn’t notice the loss.
He understood a lot of things though. A while ago his underwear and socks had begun to disappear, and now he had an idea what happened to them. He needed to talk with his neighbour, but he was a creepy guy, so this thought didn’t make Eren too excited either.
They finished lunch, and while Mikasa gathered her belongings (and said nothing about missing pieces of clothing) Eren washed the dishes. After that he took her to the railway station, and came back home. For a while he paced around in his apartment, putting off the unavoidable, but around 4 o’clock he put himself together and decided to pay a visit to the owner of the “light-fingered” cat.
However, his determination lasted only until he stopped in front of the door of the apartment next to his. He was nervous and he would’ve gladly gone back to the safety of his own home, but he was also afraid if he didn’t do something he’d have to buy a bunch of new clothes unnecessarily. He couldn’t afford to throw money around aimlessly, he was a college student after all. Even if he had a supportive father who happened to be a rich doctor.
The problem was that Mr. Smith, his neighbour, was such a weird man. Firstly, he was extremely handsome: a tall, well-built male with fair hair, blue eyes and a jawline that could cut diamonds. Then he always behaved polite and had a nice smile. If his well-cut suits, branded shoes and elegant watches were anything to go by, he didn’t have to struggle to pay the bills too. Yet the man lived in this average apartment-building alone with his cat. Eren bet he was a mafia boss or a serial killer. Or both. That’s why, even though Mr. Smith’s looks and personality made Eren’s little gay heart beat faster, he rather avoided the man at all costs.
But now he couldn’t do that, so after a deep inhale he knocked firmly on the door. For long seconds nothing happened, not even the sound of footsteps came. A part of Eren felt relieved that he didn’t have to face the man and he was about to turn around and walk back to his apartment, but then the door opened, scaring the hell out of the young man.
It just made him more confused that the person in front of him definitely wasn’t Mr. Smith. And although this stranger was kind of short and had the most uninterested face ever seen, Eren decided under no time that he wouldn’t mind if he appeared in certain kind of dreams of his. The man had soft-looking black hair styled in an undercut, contrasting his pale skin perfectly, and his steely eyes could possibly see right into Eren’s soul, and the way his grey t-shirt and sweatpants hugged his muscular body was completely sinful.
And those collarbones…
Eren wanted to lick them.
He swallowed instead and tried to force a nice smile onto his face.
“Uh… hi” he managed to falter out. “I’m looking for Mr. Smith.”
The tiny Greek god in front of him only tilted his head slightly to the side. “He’s not home.”
A shiver run down Eren’s spine as he listened to the deep but quiet voice which enchanted him so much he forgot to react.
“Oh” he said after blinking a few times, totally embarrassed. “Oh… and when will he come?”
He didn’t get an answer, the black-haired man only pulled up an eyebrow. A couple of minutes passed like this, the two of them staring at each other, before Eren thought he should probably introduce himself before asking such questions.
“Ah, I’m Eren. Eren Jaeger” he extended his hand, but the other didn’t accept it so he lamely put it back in his pocket. “I live next door and I’d like to talk to Mr. Smith about…” about his cat that steals my underwear, he finished in mind. “About something” he simply said instead.
He couldn’t help but notice that this good-looking man in front of him liked taking his sweet time responding. But finally, at long last he spoke.
“Erwin usually arrives around 6.”
“Okay, thanks. I’ll come back later then.”
“Okay” the man nodded. “I’m Levi, by the way” he added.
Eren showed him a charming smile “It was nice to meet you, Levi.”
“Yeah, sure” he said and closed the door.
* * *
Erwin sat down on the couch, stretched his legs, opened the beer in his hand, and after taking a sip from it he let out a satisfied sigh. It was the end of a long week spent with hard work. He couldn’t complain though, he loved his job, since his private life sucked. Five years ago the love of his life married the man he once called his best friend, and since then he wasn’t a too big fan of romance. Apart from that, most of the people he called ‘friends’ were his colleagues. Mike, for example. But they already had their own families – around 30 it wasn’t surprising – and sometimes it made Erwin feel a bit lonely.
On Friday nights, like this one, he had nothing to do, and nobody to call.
As he sat there lost in his thoughts, a wild idea popped into his mind: maybe he should try it again with Hange. She wasn’t so bad after all. A bit crazy, a bit noisy, but kind-hearted and cheery, always full of life and energy. Maybe that was all Erwin needed. They could be like a happy family, he, Hange and the little Levi.
He looked at the other male who was sitting on the fluffy white carpet in front of the radiator. He ate. Cat food. From a can. With a fork.
Forget it. Hange was mad and should’ve been arrested.
When Levi noticed Erwin watching him he held the can tighter and closer to his chest. “What?”
“Don’t worry, I don’t want to take your food away.”
Despite the blond man’s declaration, Levi kept glancing at him until he finished eating. Then he stood up and disposed the can (along with Erwin’s empty beer-bottle), and washed the fork.
In this moment someone knocked on the door. Erwin knitted his brows and checked his watch. Who the hell could it be at 7 pm? He stood up anyway and as he walked to the entrance he shot Levi a questioning look. He only shrugged and wiped his hands with a dish-cloth, but as impossible as it sounded, Erwin could’ve said, he seemed curious.
Behind the door his neighbour waited for him with his always messy brown hair, huge green eyes and somewhat nervous smile. He’s been living next to Erwin for two years, but apart from the occasional “Good morning” they’ve never talked before, so the blond man was kind of surprised at seeing him. They didn’t have problems with each other this far, and he hoped that this fact wasn’t about to change. Maybe the boy had a headache and ran out of painkillers, Erwin guessed.
“Good evening Mr. Smith. I hope I don’t bother you…”
“Please call me Erwin” he waved with his hand. “You’re Eren, right? How can I help you?”
“Ah, well, you see…” the brunet seemed to be uncomfortable as he scratched his nape. “It’s about your cat.”
“Oh.”
“I’m afraid that… it tends to steal my clothes.”
“Oh” Erwin’s grip tightened on the doorknob and he sensed the air freeze behind his back where Levi stood. He didn’t say anything else. Honestly, he had no idea how he should react. However, Eren probably misunderstood his silence, because he began to ramble.
“I-I mean, I guess it was your cat, because I’ve seen it on your balcony several times, but of course it could be another cat, I don’t even know if you have one at all, I’m sorry for accusing you, please just forget it-”
“No, it was indeed mine” Erwin cut in his words. “He has this… hobby. If I’d known those were your clothes… I apologize for this trouble” he hoped this would do, and the boy won’t make a bigger fuss out of the situation. “Come in, I give them back to you” he stepped aside to let his neighbour in.
After closing the door he directed Eren to the living-room where Levi was, standing in front of the bookshelf. Erwin didn’t know when he decided to leave him alone in the doorway and walk back here. Damn cats and their ability to move soundlessly. However, it didn’t escape his attention how the black haired man looked at the younger when they entered the room. No, his face was as unreadable as ever, but that glint in his eyes told everything what Erwin needed to know.
“Eren, let me introduce you my… friend, Levi” he said. “Levi, he’s my neighbour, Eren.”
The brunet mumbled a shy “Hello” with a sheepish smile and got a noncommittal grunt as a response. Erwin just sighed, fed up with Levi’s antics, and went to pick up the box that contained the stolen clothes.
“So these are yours?” he asked Eren showing him its content.
“Uh, yeah… Most of it.”
“Well, go ahead and pick out which belongs to you” Erwin encouraged him, putting the box down on the coffee table. While Eren sorted out his underwear and socks from the pile of clothes the blonde turned towards Levi. The short male was obviously sulking, apparently it wasn’t to his liking that his purchases were given back to their rightful owner. Erwin gave him a pointed look, which was quickly required. A stare-down match developed between them, and the blonde decided that this time he won’t lose. Even so, he was still surprised when the other looked away. Soon he had to realize it wasn’t completely due to him: Levi watched something that was behind his back, with slightly pulled up eyebrows and a tiny but amused smirk.
Erwin turned back around to see Eren taking black, lacy panties out of the box.
Oh well. Young people nowadays.
More importantly, when the hell did Levi stole that?
When Eren noticed he was being watched his face became a bright shade of red.
“No, no, no, it’s not mine, it’s my sister’s! She was there this week” he explained quickly, voice shaking from embarrassment. Erwin nodded understandingly, Levi just let out a little snort.
After Eren finished and claimed approximately 95% of the clothes as his, Erwin reassured him that he’ll try to pay better attention to the actions of his cat, and they said goodbye. He saw him out, then came back and sat down on the couch again, next to Levi.
“I should’ve had you fixed” he said, dry-washing his face with his hands. The other tensed.
“You mean…”
“Well, it’s never too late for that.”
“But I swear, I’m not responsible for any kittens out there” for a change Levi sounded slightly desperate.
“That can be, but you keep stealing the underwear of my neighbour because you have a crush on him. Maybe it would help you calm down.”
For seconds Levi only opened and closed his mouth for a few times like a fish out of water, then he spat out: “I don’t have a crush on him.”
“I don’t care” Erwin looked him in the eye. “The next time you steal something I call the vet for an appointment and you can say goodbye to your balls” finally he found a way to threaten the small one.
“No, you won’t” Levi said, confidently for some reason.
“Yes, I will.”
“Do you want me to be fat and lazy? Do you want to live in a dirty apartment? Think it through, Eyebrows.”
This being said, he stood up, stretched and walked into the bedroom, probably to curl up in the middle of the bed and have a nice sleep, leaving Erwin on the couch alone and defeated.
* * *
Eren didn’t know what Erwin had done, but it was definitely effective, because his clothes stopped to disappear. Or he was just too blind to notice it. Anyway, a few days passed in peace, before the cat visited his balcony again.
In the moment Eren caught a sight of the black animal, he ran to the glass-door which led to the balcony – almost tripping over his own legs in the process – and tore it open.
“Don’t even dream of it!” he yelled at the cat. It just stared at him astonished for a while then sat down and began to groom itself. Eren watched as it licked its pawns with closed eyes. Seriously? He didn’t felt like standing there and waiting for it to go back home, but if he’d left the cat alone, he surely would’ve lost a sock or boxer brief. He huffed, the animal looked at him.
“Okay, now would you go? You can lick your ass at home too” he tried to get it to move by slightly pushing it with his foot. “Shoo! Shoo!”
It was an unsuccessful attempt, the cat only gave him an intimidating look. Eren swallowed. Maybe he imagined it, but the fur ball didn’t act like a normal cat at all. He wanted, needed to get rid of it. But how? After a few moments of thinking he decided to simply put it back to his neighbour’s balcony. Yeah, he could do that: pick up the feline, lean over – there was only an arm-long space between the two balconies –, and release it. Easy. There was a chance that the cat would come back in a second, but he had to try.
“Don’t dare to claw me” he warned it as he crouched down and reached out to grab it. It didn’t do anything, calmly let the male put his hands around its little body, and when he lifted it up the cat even made a soft purring sound. A sound that melted Eren’s heart.
“You fucker” he muttered. “It was on purpose, right?”
The flea bag had the guts to purr louder. The brunet couldn’t resist, he held the cat to his chest and stroked it. What a soft fur it had! The next thing he knew was that he sat on the plastic chair, cat in his lap, and he was 100% enchanted. The animal kept making this oddly calming sound and rubbed its head against Eren’s hand. How lovely. Eren had no idea how much time he’d spent with only caressing this oh-so-fluffy being. Weird, he always deemed himself a dog-person.
Suddenly the cat stiffened and held up its head, turning its ears around in a listening way. Eren looked around, wondering what had caught the feline’s interest, and after a few seconds he heard it too:
“Leeeviiii~?” it was definitely Mr. Smi-… Erwin’s voice, coming from the other apartment. “Where are you, Leelee?”
Soon the man appeared on his balcony. When he saw Eren with the cat, a genuinely surprised expression appeared on his face. An awkward silence later the brown haired boy jumped up from the chair and handed over the cat to its owner. Despite surviving a visit in the man’s home – which was way cosier than Eren’s, even though it was in the same building – he still felt uneasy in his company.
“Thanks” Erwin smiled at him, taking the cat. “I was looking for him.”
“Wait” Eren knitted his brows “It’s Levi?” he saw confusion and… panic (?) crossing the blonde’s face. “I mean, your friend and cat are called the same?”
Erwin let out a short, kind of awkward chuckle. “Ah, yeah… The great coincidences of life. It causes a lot of misunderstandings though.”
“U-huh” Eren nodded, his mind leaving him without anything else to say.
“It seems I forgot to close the balcony-door again, and he took advantage of that” the older sighed. “I hope he didn’t cause any trouble.” While he talked the cat in question decided to climb up onto his broad shoulders. Erwin didn’t bat an eyelash, he was probably used to it, but Eren couldn’t help but stare at them in awe. It took a while until he realized he should say something.
“N-no, he didn’t. I think I have all of my socks” he smiled, but then the cat gave him an unamused look, like it understood his words.
“I’m glad. Well, I still have some things to do. See you later, Eren” with a friendly wave, Erwin stepped back into his apartment, and Eren did the same.
Somehow playing with the creepy neighbour’s creepy cat, Levi, became part of Eren’s daily routine. He couldn’t have enough of stroking its silky fur, and the animal didn’t seem to mind it, in fact, it demanded the attention. Eren thought it’s alright as long as the fur ball doesn’t decide to steal his clothes again. So every time the cat showed up on his balcony, he went out and caressed it for a few minutes.
It went like this for a couple of weeks, until one certain Friday evening.
Eren was going out with his friends, and he was already late, so he ran around in his apartment like a madman. It didn’t help the situation when his phone went off. It was Jean.
“What?” he asked when he answered the call, while trying to put on his sneakers.
“We’re standing in front of your place for, like, 10 minutes. Stop perfecting your make-up, you won’t be prettier, and drag your sorry ass down.”
Kind as always.
Eren ended the call without a word, checked himself in the mirror for the last time and began to look for his keys.
“Meow.”
The black feline sat right in front of the closed glass door of the balcony and stared at the young man. Eren felt a pang of guilt in his chest, but he really had to go, and if he’d given in the cat, he wouldn’t have met his friends that evening.
“Oh Levi” he said half-loud. “I can’t. Go back home” he turned away and continued to search for the keys. He really should’ve always put them to the same place. Finally, he found them on the top of the microwave (How did they get there?) and he was ready to leave. He glanced towards the balcony to see if the cat was still there.
It was, sitting at the same place as before.
The only difference was that it had one of Eren’s boxers in his mouth. The dark-grey one, with pink little hearts.
He didn’t wear that too often, but it was the last clean one, and it turned out to be unexpectedly comfortable, anyway, he couldn’t let Erwin see it, that was something he couldn’t live down.
He ran to the balcony, but Levi was faster, and by the time he opened the door the cat had already escaped back to its rightful territory.
Eren let out a curse.
His phone began to ring again.
Fuck it, he thought, the next day he’ll have to pay another visit to Erwin.
* * *
On that Saturday morning Erwin wore an elegant, white button-up with a light-grey tie, and grey slacks, and his hair was pushed back perfectly. He had 15 minutes before he had to leave to go to the airport. Luckily, he wasn’t like his neighbour, and he was already ready to go, his suitcase waiting in the hall, everything else on its respectful place.
So Erwin lied on the carpet in his living room, in front of that certain couch, head turned to the side so he could look under the piece of furniture. Yesterday evening Levi, the damn cat slipped in there and didn’t come out since then.
“Come on Levi” he tried for the umpteenth time with no avail, but de didn’t dare to reach out for the cat. He didn’t felt like being clawed. “I know you don’t like being left alone, but I can’t do anything, it’s work” the blonde felt guiltier and guiltier as time passed. He really was the worst owner, and Levi never missed to point this out, even without words. “But hey, it’ll be only four days, and I leave a lot of food here for you. And you can always go to Eren, he doesn’t seem to mind.”
Right after he finished the sentence he heard soft knocking on his door. Oh, just great. He stood up, dusted off his clothes (not like it got dirty on the squeaky clean floor or anything), and went to see who had any business with him on Saturday at 9:23.
“Eren?”
The brown haired boy eyed him up and down. “Can I bother you?”
“Well, I have to leave in…” Erwin checked his watch “10 minutes, but if it’s enough, then I’m listening.”
“Oh, sure, it’s just… your cat stole one of my… boxers again, and I’d like to get it back if…” Eren went quiet, because Erwin closed his eyes, clenched his jaw and began to massage his temple with a shaking hand.
“Goddamnit” he whispered. That useless cat of his didn’t hide under the couch, because he pouted, but because he stole again. And he wasted so much fucking time apologizing him. Erwin was beyond pissed. “Come in” he said to Eren, who reluctantly obeyed, and marched back into the living-room. He looked into the box, where he kept the stolen clothes, but there was nothing new. The flea-bag put it somewhere else. With two steps he was in front of the couch again, crouching down. After a glance he noticed the piece of clothing not too far from the cat. He grabbed it and tossed it to Eren, without looking at it, then reached back for Levi. Loud hissing, claws scratching the floor, and Erwin pulled out the struggling feline from under the couch.
“I’m so done with you” he stated while standing up, cat in his hands. “I’m so fucking done with you. It was the last time, Levi.” The cat fought for freedom, but it was useless. “You know what?” Erwin continued. “Fuck the vet. I’m taking you back to Hange.”
Hearing the name the animal went completely motionless and there was a beat of utter silence.
A flash of blinding light.
Levi the cat disappeared, but there stood Levi the human, in his naked glory, grabbing Erwin’s arm, the expression of pure horror on his face.
“No, please, anything but Hange!”
Before Erwin could give him a piece of his mind, they heard a quiet sound that made them turn towards its direction. They watched as Eren fell on the floor unconsciously.
“Fuck” the two male said in union.
* * *
When Eren opened his eyes he saw huge, blonde eyebrows. It was pretty confusing at first, but then he remembered he’d planned to visit Erwin. It still wasn’t clear why he lied on something soft, and why did the older male look at him so concerned. Anyway, this situation was awkward, so Eren tried to sit up, but Erwin pushed him back gently.
“Maybe you should stay like this for some time. You fainted, and your face is still pale.”
Eren obeyed, but he didn’t understand what he’s just been told. Did he really faint? What? Why? And in front of Erwin? Oh Lord, it couldn’t be more embarrassing, could it?
“Unfortunately I have to go now, but you can stay and rest” the blonde continued. “I know that it’s an… unusual situation, but Levi will explain you everything. Good bye, Eren” he finished with a reassuring smile and walked out of the boy’s field of vision. Eren heard his footsteps moving away, then the sound of the door being opened and closed.
He just lied there – on the couch he realized - , more and more lost with every second.
What will Levi expl-?
Oh… Oh sweet baby Jesus.
Eren’s memories of the cat turning into a human came back, and he felt like sinking back into unconsciousness. Problem was he couldn’t. And now he was in Erwin’s stylish apartment, alone with that… being, but he couldn’t hear any noise, and it was driving him crazy, but he was also terrified to move and…
Levi soundlessly stepped next to his head. He was in his human form, and Eren thanked God, or anyone who listened, that he wore clothes, even if those were only black boxer briefs and a few sizes too big white tank-top.
“I brought you water” the velvet-like voice informed the internally panicking male on the couch. After a few deafeningly silent moment later, while nothing happened, Levi put down the glass he held in his hand on the coffee table and sat down to the carpet, close to Eren’s head. Then he waited.
It didn’t take long until Eren couldn’t bear the tension anymore.
“So…” he swallowed “you… you can t-turn into a cat, huh?” his voice was an octave higher than usually.
“Well, no, technically, I’m a cat who can turn into a human.”
“Oh, that changes everything, really” the brunet didn’t mean to say it out loud, but his tongue slipped, earning him an intimidating glare. He looked away, and then slowly sat up, and he was really happy when the room didn’t begin to spin with him. The black haired man climbed up from the floor next to him.
“Don’t you want to drink the water?” he asked.
Eren didn’t want. The only thing he felt like doing was standing up and running as far away from here as he could, but he was sure that Levi would try to keep him back. So in the end he reluctantly reached out for the glass… and saw his grey-with-pink-hearts boxers next to it. Feeling his cheeks warming up, he knew he wasn’t pale anymore.
Gulping down the cool liquid somehow helped him to calm down and think. This cat-to-human thing was definitely unnatural. Levi was something he should stay away from. He glanced at the short male from the corner of his eye. Despite of these facts… He still found him incredibly attractive, getting into a great contradiction with himself. And he also couldn’t deny that he enjoyed every second he spent with stroking the cat-Levi. Eren knew he would miss that, it was his daily stress-relief. And then something else was added to his mix of emotions: curiosity. Why is Levi able to do this? Feeling more and more frustrated from his own thoughts he let out a deep sigh. He decided: he would try to understand. Gripping the empty glass tighter he asked:
“How… is it even possible?”
“Well, I don’t exactly know how” Levi answered with a thoughtful face. “I was picked up by a strange woman who made weird experiments on me, and one day I was able to do it. But she couldn’t keep a cat in her apartment, and at her workplace crazy experiments weren’t appreciated, so she handed me down to Erwin, who used to be her boyfriend back then. And since then I’ve been living here with him.”
“I see” Eren nodded, processing the information. In his opinion, he didn’t get any wiser from this answer, just a bit more amazed: there were people out there who could turn cats into humans. Levi observed him in silence, but after a while he lost his patience.
“Eren?”
“Yes?” the boy looked at him with his bright green eyes.
“Are you afraid of me?”
Levi tried his best to hide it, but Eren still felt that the short man was worried about his answer. He couldn’t really see why though. Anyway, for once he thought before he began to speak, and tried to be as frank as he could.
“I’m not exactly afraid… it’s more like…” he looked for the best word or words to describe his feelings, but it was hard. It wasn’t entirely fear, but it wasn’t confusion or disgust either. “I just don’t know how to handle…or accept it. My brain says it’s impossible. But I’ve seen it. It’s just… weird. Incredible.” He knew it wasn’t a too good explanation, but he seriously couldn’t say anything else. However, Levi seemed to understand it.
“Do you think it’s possible that you get used to it one day?” he asked.
Eren was a bit insecure, but he nodded anyway. “Yeah, maybe… I hope so.”
“Good” Levi let out a little sigh. When the brunet looked at him questioningly he simply added: “I wouldn’t mind spending time with you.”
Eren remembered how nice it was listening to the calm purring of the cat and threading his fingers through the soft, black fur, and he realized he wouldn’t mind it either. He lifted up his gaze at the man next to him to reassure him about his feelings being requited. He couldn’t help but admire those amazing muscles while he did so. Then something stuck him. The blood rushed into his face, as the embarrassing reality hit him.
Levi watched the younger’s cheeks turning into a brilliant shade of red. Was it because of what he said? Poor boy, if this innocent sentence made him blush like this, he’d die if he knew what was on Levi’s mind…
“I…” Eren said barely above whisper. “I’ve let you… sleep… in my lap.”
The smirk he got as an answer only made him more flushed, and it didn’t help him either when he noticed the black haired male moving slowly closer and closer to him.
“Yeah. That wasn’t bad” Levi’s voice made him tremble. “We should repeat it sometime.”
Now they were so close they could practically feel the warmth radiating from the other’s body. Eren looked at everything but Levi, and listened to his extremely loud and fast heartbeat, wondering if he’ll die soon.
Levi let out a little laugh. As much as he liked to tease the brat, he didn’t want him to faint again, so he pulled a bit back.
“Come on, I don’t think this is the most embarrassing thing that happened to us. You forget that I’m the one who used to steal your underwear.” Eren groaned and hid his face in his hands. Levi enjoyed the effect of his words, and he decided to say one last thing before he really stopped torturing the brunet further. “And about half an hour ago you fainted when you saw me naked.”
“It-it wasn’t because of that!” Eren protested, making Levi chuckle again.
Silence settled in the room, none of them knew what to do or say, but there wasn’t anything uncomfortable in the situation. They just sat on Erwin’s couch, thighs and shoulders slightly touching, Eren slowly regaining the natural colour of his cheeks.
At the end Levi broke the silence.
“So, will it be okay for you spending time with me?”
“Yes” the taller nodded, now more confidently than earlier. “I think I’ll enjoy your company.”
Time proved Eren right, he really got to enjoy the strange, sometimes bunt, sometimes sarcastic man’s company. Especially after he found out how flexible Levi was, and what kind of other sweet sounds he could make apart from purring