Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

 

Levi liked sleeping. Sleeping was when he wasn't dragged from one social event to the next. Sleeping was when he wasn't trying to finish neverending towers of paperwork. There were absolutely no worries in his sleep. So long as he gets to sleep.

 

But tonight, he definitely wasn't getting any.

 

A finger pokes his cheek. He ignores it but it comes back. Again. And again. He feels himself snap as he reaches out and grabs the damn intruder's hand.

 

It's a boy, brown hair and striking green eyes. He looks rather harmless, clad in an oversized maroon sweater, tinted shirt, and white pants. After assessing there were no weapons being carried to strike him dead, he gives the kid an intimidating glare. What this time? Stalker? Psychopathic admirer? Some maid's lost son?

 

"You're not a kidnapper, are you?"

 

The brat had the dignity to look insulted, pulling his hand away and huffing. "Excuse me? What part of me looks like a kidnapper?" The young brat replies indignantly.

 

Every part. Like how you're in my room in the middle of the night. "So you’re one of those crazy fans? Tell me how you got in so I can seal it up with cement."

 

The boy eyes him angrily. "I'm not your fan and no, I did not crawl in here through a hole like a dog. Who do you take me for!?"

 

Levi sits up, rubbing the bridge of his nose tiredly. And here he'd thought he could get a good night's rest now that those goddamn ambassadors were gone and far away from his kingdom. "You're in my room at a time that is way too fucking early and you expect me to know who you are?"

 

"I'm your Fairy Godmother!"

 

Silence follows and Levi tries, with his sleep-deprived mind, to comprehend what the fuck this kid was saying.

 

"Fairy. God. Mother." The brat clarifies. Like he didn't hear him the first time.

 

"I don't know who raised you but you're definitely not a woman."

 

"Fine! Ok. Uh....I'm your Fairy Godfather."

 

He glares at his nighttime intruder, the one that was making absolute nonsense. "In fifty years, maybe."

 

His supposed 'Fairy Godmother' throws his hands up in the air and gives a frustrated groan. "Fairy Godbrother! Brother! That's it and I'm not changing it."

 

Despite being sleepy, he feels far more intrigued than he should be. Fine, you brat, I'll play along. "And what are you doing here, my dear Fairy Godbrother?"

 

"I'm here to make you happy," he proudly announces. Levi has no idea why he looks so pleased about it.

 

You would have had better luck if you hadn't come at all. "Well, I'm not very happy right now."

 

"Oh," the kid crosses his arms, staring confidently at his challenge. "And what would make you happy right now, your highness?"

 

"Sleep," Levi answers truthfully, because god knows how early he'll be forced to wake up tomorrow to do god knows fucking what.

 

"Granted."

 

The next second, he watches as the corners of his vision fade as he blacks out.

__________

Levi wakes to a dull ache pulsing through his head. He groans as too much light filters through his vision. Shit, did I go drinking? He doesn't remember shoving any hard drinks down his throat, but, then again, you don't remember much when you're drunk. He starts to get up and immediately regrets it as the pain seemed to have increased by movement.

 

There were soft footsteps and humming to his right and he turns to see who it could be.

 

"Brat."

 

Nothing about the boy has changed except for the missing maroon cardigan, which he sees discarded on the end of his bed from the corner of his eye. The kid from last night doesn't bother looking away from Levi's book collection to greet him. "Good morning to you too, Mr. Grumpy."

 

So his annoying visitor wasn't a dream as he had hoped. He should be irritated by this fact. Except he was much too curious to muster up the irritation.

 

"You knocked me out, you little shit. And why are you still here? I'd thought they'd kick you out by now for trespassing on royal property." And my guards obviously need to be sacked if someone like you managed to get past them.

 

Those green eyes stare at him, looking a little guilty and very much offended at the same time. "I didn't knock you out. I put you to sleep. It's just...there's a little side effect, that's all."

 

"You mean this god awful headache?"

 

His Fairy Godbrother flushes and looks a lot more guilty now. The drumming pain in his head must have impaired his senses because he doesn't hear or see the boy move until warm fingers ghost over his temple and a soft voice whispers, "I can do something for that."

 

The fingers leave, brushing aside his bangs and he stares, slightly dumbfounded as the piercing ache in his brain disappears. He feels a pleasant hum replace it, not sure where it's come from. The tiredness leaves his body, and for once, he feels refreshed and awake.

 

Levi swiftly tugs those fingers back before they move too far from him. "Why are you still here?" His voice dropping low as he pulls the boy closer.

 

He had hoped to sound intimidating and put the brat in his place but youngster smiles slightly as he answers,"They can't kick me out if you're the only one that can see me."

 

Levi gives an annoyed huff. Well, wasn't he lucky. A scowl appears and he mutters, "If I'm going to be the only insane person to see you, I should get your name, at least."

 

"I'm your Fairy Godbrother, what more do you need?" The boy gives a miffed glance down at him and Levi starts to dislike the height difference from where he was sitting on the bed and the lanky kid standing in front of him.

 

"Name," Levi demands, his tone bordering on a growl.

 

The kid had the nerve to laugh at him before replying, "It's Eren."

 

He doesn't realize he'd been holding Eren's hand the entire time until Eren and his warm fingers disappear in a cloud of smoke before him as loud knocking reverberates through his room.

 

"Prince Levi, are you awake yet?"

 

Chapter Text

Erd had come to fetch him for a meeting and Levi would have been awake ages before Erd had think to come by had it not been for his new 'Fairy Godbrother'. And now Levi's going to be fucking late. Erd runs when he hears Levi yell to give him “ten fucking more minutes” to get ready.

 

He's going to throw that kid out the window the next he sees him. If Eren's a fairy, he should be able to fly. Fly far, far away and never come back.

 

Levi takes the quickest shower he's ever took, almost scrubbing his skin raw just to feel clean. He just about rips the closet door off its hinges until he spots a folded pile of clothes on a freshly made bed, that he's sure, wasn't there before.

 

[ Have fun today. :) ]

 

He crumples the note, barges through his balcony, and chucks it at the sky.

 

He feels a bit better.

 

Maybe Levi won't throw him out the window. Maybe he'll just kick him. Hard. In the face.

 

__________

 

Levi barely, barely stopped himself from strangling Hanji when she bursted into the meeting room to explain the new discovery on squid reproduction. Well, that solves the mystery on why the dungeon smelled like sludge and sulfur for the last few weeks.

 

"...and they're kinda like jellyfish but they squirt ink and stuff. Though they don't-"

 

"Hanji."

 

She doesn't look like she's breathing when she spits out her entire report, despite having made enough copies for the entire population.

 

"The best part, now, is that despite the relationship-"

 

Irwin forces a not-so-subtle cough and Hanji quiets. Levi is not so subtle with his menacing glare, which Hanji blatantly ignored.

 

"This meeting will be over soon enough, so how about you give us a live demonstration later, Hanji?"

 

Hanji yelps cheerfully and mutters something about 'the pool' and 'squid twins' before announcing, "I have so much to get ready! Don't come down just yet!! Give me one hour! One!!" The door is thrown open and a wild eyed mess of papers, lab coat, and glasses runs out.

 

Irwin calmly reorganizes his folders, the epitome of royalty. As any King should be. "With our remaining hour, let's go back to our discussion on our border treaty with Zhiganshina and minimizing tax cuts..."

 

__________

 

The cravat and jacket are thrown into the laundry barrel and the boots follow next to it. Levi lets his leaden body fall onto the bed as he heaves a tired groan.

 

He closes his eyes and hopes he'll never have to open them again.

 

Strands of hair brushes his left cheek and he knows its much too soft to be his. He shifts slightly to see who he already knows is here. Lying besides him was his scrawny fairytale guardian, seemingly mesmerized by a rather large book hoisted above his head. Despite his soreness and tiredness, Levi manages a good kick on the boy's shin.

 

"Hey!" Eren curls up immediately, one hand nursing his injured shin while the other was wrapped around the book, protecting the last page he was reading.

 

"Get your filthy butt off my bed," Levi commands loudly. Eren turns and gives him a heated look.

 

"Mine's a lot cleaner than yours, I've already taken a bath," he taunts back. Levi grumbles before dragging his weary body over to the washroom. Stupid nosy brat.

 

Eren allows a small victorious smile to paint his face as he flops back down and flips open the leather bound book to where he'd left off. He doesn't get to enjoy this luxury for long before the book was snatched from his hands.

 

"Levi!" Eren tries to reach for it be Levi steps away.

 

"Get me some new bed sheets."

 

"What?! But the book-"

 

"Will be returned to you," Levi says sternly, "when I get some nice clean bed sheets."

 

Eren folds his arms in front of his chest, expression extremely cross. "You were the one rolling on it dirty," he accuses.

 

"And how clean are you fairies? Bathing under a waterfall doesn't get you clean, brat." Levi replies sarcastically.

 

However, with Eren sudden frantic blushing, he's probably guessed something right.

 

"Oh, so you do bathe under waterfalls," Levi's amused smirk widens as Eren continues to gape at him dazedly.

 

"That's...I don't...I-" More inarticulate words follow and the kid seems to be considering whether to jump off the bed and sprint for the door or hide under the covers as a faster method to get away from his embarrassment. He settles for jabbing his finger at his book and yelling "Give it back!"

 

"Clean sheets or nothing." Levi waves the book he's held hostage. "I thought you were suppose to make me happy."

 

Eren looks down, clearly beginning to mourn his choices and decisions.

 

There was a sigh and then brown hair and green eyes disappear instantly into a cloud of vapor, just like the morning earlier.

 

Levi takes his time drawing his bath, musing while the water heats up to an acceptable temperature. He examines the book he's stolen and is surprised to find it to be one of Hanji's textbooks. ‘Evolution of Sea Mammals’? Why would he have that?

 

He wasn't sure where the kid had been all day, Levi had kinda forgotten about him since the day began, much too busy to be worried about a disappearing stalker from fairytales.

 

He's knows he is much too curious for his own good. He doesn't know who Eren is or how much Eren knew about him.

 

I'll worry about it later, he thinks, sinking into the warm tub. He sighs contentedly. Yes, definitely later.

 

____________

 

"You're taking this rather well."

 

Levi flickers an inquisitive glance over to the youngster lounging comfortably on his sofa by the windows. Eren tilts his head, waiting for his answer.

 

"If you were expecting a punch in the face for fucking violating sixteen trespassing laws, I can still do that now."

 

"No, I just thought you'd be more... I don’t know... wary."

 

"You had some bad experiences in the past?”

 

Those green eyes gander to the curtains, fingers awkwardly picking at the gold tassels, because this thread is really lovely isn’t it? Levi drops his pen and turns to face Eren. The letter to the mining guild can wait because this uncomfortable teenage brat is infinitely more interesting.

 

“Nothing bad, no. Well, maybe, there is one but it was a timing issue on my part. Actually, if we had to put the blame on someone, I’d say it was the kidnappers’ fault.”

 

Hold it, there’s a big, black line between ‘timing issue’ and ‘kidnappers’. You just don’t cross it in two sentences. “Kidnappers, brat, what the fuck are you going on about?”

 

Eren feels cornered as Levi stares hard at him, looking rather angry for someone who is supposedly shocked. “Well, I’m rather new to this Fairy Godmother position-”

 

“No shit.” If your first impression was anything to go by.

 

He receives an annoyed look from Eren but the boy continues anyway. “I met the first child under my care later than I had expected and she had been kidnapped by a group of terrorists planning to weasel their leader out of jail by using the princess of that kingdom’s sovereign. I really wasn’t expecting our first meeting to be me trying to break her out of a makeshift jail cell under a church. But I got her back home, rounded up the terrorists, and we went about our merry way. A nice, happy ending.”

 

Eren smiles innocently as he says the last part and Levi can’t fathom how he could possibly smile at such a memory. Granted, he’s had his fair share of kidnap attempts by petty crooks thinking they’d get easy money by putting ransom on a kid from the royal family. Naturally, they hadn’t expected Levi, which was a fatal mistake on their part. He’s escaped unscathed from all of them but they weren’t something to be fond of. This kid is unexpectedly scary.

 

“What part of that shitty story was happy?”

 

“Well, it ended happily, right? You know what they say,’The road up the hill is always rockier than the way down’,” Eren recites seriously. Levi rolls his eyes at the intuitive scholarly wisdom the fairy spouts.

 

“What do you mean when you mentioned ‘child’?” Levi asks.

 

“All the princes and princesses I serve are considered ‘my children’. You’re the only rebellious one who calls me ‘Fairy Godbrother’ instead,” the brown haired teen points an accusing finger at Levi.

 

“I don’t recollect ever calling you anything besides ‘brat’ or ‘idiot’.”

 

“Meanie.” Eren turns away from him on the sofa to sulk. Levi sighs and returns to his previously abandoned letter as his brain continues to mull over the new information regarding his Fairy Godbrother.

 

Several minutes later, the letter is finished half-heartedly, sealed, and thrown into the pile of finished paperwork. A pile that has yet to catch up to the height of unfinished paperwork he has on the other side of his desk.

 

He’s come to a great conclusion that Eren probably isn’t out to kill him but there’s something he still doesn’t understand.

 

Light snoring escapes from the lanky body on the sofa and Levi pads softly over to it. He sits down but the deep sleeper does not wake.

 

“Eren.” The young man stirs at his voice, hands coming up to rub away the drowsiness, and Levi swore those eyes flashed gold when they first opened.

 

“It’s late and I’m still mad at you,” he replies sluggishly.

 

“That’s fine.”

 

Eren gives a small snort at his statement, “Of course it’s fine.”

 

The prince allows the fairy to do his grumbling before asking, “Tell me Eren, why are you here?”

 

Confusedly, Eren speaks, “What do you mean?”

 

“I’ve lived 34 years without a ‘Fairy Godbrother’. I don’t see why you’re here now.”

 

Eren looks down, a mixture of pain and guilt twisting at his mouth. It never ceases to amaze Levi how easy it was to read the open book of Eren’s emotions. He’s too honest, and Levi doesn’t know if that’s a good or bad thing.

 

“I’m here to make you happy.”

 

“Eren.”

 

Levi refuses to believe words that Eren obviously didn’t believe, not with that look on his face.

 

Green eyes close and the fairy lets out a long-suffering sigh. “Humans are real magnets for trouble.”

 

“Well, thanks,” Levi answers dryly.

 

A few minutes of silence follow as Eren wracks his brain for the right words. He’s never discussed these things with his children before. They are a lot smarter when they’re older, Eren surmises.

 

“I can’t tell you much, I’m not allowed to. Something bad is going to happen, I don’t know what until it does, and I wish I knew beforehand but...I have to make sure it doesn’t happen.”

 

Levi doesn’t make Eren look at him. He thinks it’s for the better. He’s not sure what he’d do if he sees Eren cry.

 

“How does me being happy play a part in this?”

 

“Everyone deserves to be happy. Especially you and those wrinkles between your brows from all that scowling you do.”

 

Levi doesn’t answer and he reminds himself to check the mirror later to see if they’re really that bad.

 

“I’m sorry, Levi. But, everything will be fine, I promise.” Eren is earnestly at its purest, eyes gleaming a stubbornness to not disappoint.

Don’t make promises you can't keep, brat.