Chapter Text
Levi stood on the sidewalk outside of the building, waiting for Eren to, ‘fetch,’ him. The air was brisk with the absence of sunlight. The other large buildings around Levi stretched towards the sky. The pollution from the many city lights blocked the stars from the naked eye.
Levi wasn’t one for meeting with business partners, or talking to them in general, and he figured that Eren was aware of that. Before the brat had acquired his company, Erwin usually took care of meeting with important people; he was a lot more personable than Levi.
“Tch.” Levi ticked. He was beginning to think Eren enjoyed pushing Levi out of his comfort zone. The raven rolled his eyes as he worried his bottom lip. After his earlier conversation with Eren, Levi’s mind became clouded with uncertainty. He felt like he’d lost his mind for even considering what Eren had offered, but he couldn’t deny that something in him was screaming for Levi to serve Eren. Since he’d met the ravenous incubus, Levi felt something awaken within himself, only to linger in the recesses of his mind. It was as if the boy had rattled the chains on a part of Levi he had locked away years ago, and it was determined to rear its ugly head once more.
If Eren were anyone else, Levi would’ve found his ramblings to be delusional. Levi knew better; he could feel when Eren was assessing risk versus reward with his analytical eyes. Levi had become a vital piece to Eren’s well orchestrated game of cat and mouse. He had made a very calculated risk with Levi, but the raven still didn’t understand how that risk played to benefit Eren. Each honeyed sentence that fell from Eren’s tantalizing lips was crafted in a way Eren knew would draw Levi closer. Every interaction was a dance choreographed by the golden skinned boy, pulling Levi deeper into the depths of his world. Levi was starting to lose grasp of his perceived reality, and he wasn’t sure if it was a grand awakening, or a manipulative brainwashing.
A black limousine pulled up beside Levi, shaking him out of his thoughts. The back window closest to Levi rolled down; the interior glowed a soft pure. When Levi saw Eren, he was at a loss for words. Eren’s chocolate hair was slicked back, making his brilliant eyes appear brighter, and larger. His skin looked golden and soft to the touch in his light grey suit. The top three buttons of his white dress shirt were unbuttoned, and a baby blue, satin scarf was draped around his shoulders. Levi assumed that when Eren stood, the scarf was the length of the boy’s toned torso on each side.
“Are you ready, Mr. Ackerman?” Eren let his eyes traipse up and down Levi’s body, drinking in his appearance. Levi’s face flushed when Eren’s brash words caught him off guard. “No need to be bashful, Levi.” Eren grinned with a playful glint in his eyes. Levi was a mere mortal in the presence of a god-like siren that sang his lament with an alluring vigor, and Levi was incapable of ignoring him. “You’re a beautiful person; you should feel praised when people look at you with such desire.” Eren gazed at him as he opened the door and patted the seat across from him. Levi noted the sinful intent musing in his eyes as he clambered into the limousine.
“You seem to be a lot more forward than usual, lately.” Levi observed. He eyed Eren cautiously. He wasn’t convinced that Eren didn’t have a motive behind his change in attitude. Eren shrugged. The vehicle started to move to whatever destination Eren had chosen for their dinner.
“I figured you knew enough for me to be more… emboldened. I told you, Levi. I’ve offered myself to you ; any questions you have can be asked, and I’ll answer. You really have no reason to be this suspicious of me. I’ve been as transparent as I can be.” Eren crossed his legs and sprawled one of his arms across the top of the empty seat next to him.
“So you’re telling me that you’ll answer any question I ask you?” Levi narrowed his eyes in disbelief. Eren pursed his lips and considered Levi’s words for a second.
“To the best of my abilities, yes.” Eren stated plainly. “I told you I need you, Levi. You wouldn’t be useful to me if you weren’t in the know, and I’m sure you’re aware I won’t be satisfied until I get what I want. I’ve been working too hard to lose my momentum now. Everything and everyone that’s involved has been perfectly manipulated in this plot line of my design.” The hair on Levi’s neck rose. He felt like he was being surveilled by an apex predator. His heart thudded in his chest, and he couldn’t tell if it was because of fear or desire. Eren dragged his apathetic eyes over Levi’s body and smirked. Levi glowered at him. “I did say we’d chat later, right? I’m a man of my word, Levi.” Eren said in a low, seductive tone. Levi felt heat dance across his skin. The dark haired man took a deep breath, and looked at the surprisingly clean floor of the limousine.
“Then tell me why you’ve been disposing of people left and right. You said you don’t care about capital gain, and your agenda was more… personal ?” Levi was disgruntled and tired of participating in Eren’s games. He couldn’t allow himself to make irrational conclusions about the younger anymore; his sanity couldn’t take all of the possible theories he had concocted. Levi looked up to see Eren staring at him, a cocky grin on his face. His eyes burned with triumph; Levi had fallen right into his trap. Eren uncrossed his legs, and leaned forward. He propped his chin on the palm of his left hand as a wicked, insidious smile crept across his lips. The air around them surged with power as Eren chuckled darkly. Levi could feel himself sink a little deeper into Eren’s intoxicating aura.
“My god . You have no idea how good it feels to have reached this point.” Eren bewitchingly bit at his bottom lip and peered at Levi. “I’m sure you understand how it feels when a long awaited moment comes into fruition.” He threw his head back and let out a husky growl. Eren looked downward, and winked. “ Revenge , Levi.” He laughed gratingly. “This has all been about revenge.”
“For what ?” Levi urged. He was starting to feel like a marionette being tugged by a vindictive puppeteer. The raven watched his face twist. Eren’s smile faded as his lips turned downwards. His nose crumpled as if he had smelled something rancid, and his eyes glowed with pure, unadulterated malice. He looked down for a second, then raised his head. Eren’s iris’ were once again being consumed by gold specks.
“For things I doubt the average person could ever comprehend.” Eren hissed.
“I don’t… understand.” Levi muttered. His head was swimming. “What happened to you?” Levi furrowed his brow. Levi never suspected that someone as young as Eren would have grand, meticulous schemes for revenge and death. Yet there he sat, with most of Levi’s world in the palm of his hand and at his disposal. Eren removed a needle from his jacket and punched it into his leg. Levi watched as the gold slowly drained from Eren’s iris’.
“My ‘condition,’” he air quoted, “is as irreversible as death, I’m afraid.” Eren explained vaguely. He then removed his wallet, and passed Levi a photograph. It contained a younger, happier Eren Jaeger. The smile he wore was innocent, and didn’t have the normal enmity Levi had grown accustomed to. Levi noticed he was with an even younger, ginger haired girl; she looked pale and fragile. He looked closer, and realized that her eyes were the same gold that Eren’s had been moments before. His confusion grew.
“Who’s that?” Levi pointed to the girl as he passed the photograph back to Eren. Levi studied the boy's face, and, for the first time, Levi saw emotion beyond Eren’s raging deceit.
“Her name was Isabel. She was my sister.” Eren looked up, a vengeful twinkle in his eyes.
“ Was ?” Levi repeated. Eren nodded. “What happened to her? Who did this to you?” Levi itched to know more of Eren’s tale of woe.
“Levi, what do we sell ?” Eren gave him a dull expression.
“We sell pharmaceutic-“
“ Drugs, Levi. Be honest about what they are. They’re drugs .” Eren sneered. Levi pressed his lips into a tight line and nodded. He knew it wasn’t as pretty a job when you learned the hard truths of the business, like how many people were addicted to the products. Levi and Erwin had strived to be an ethical company as they grew, and were one of the only ethical pharmaceutical companies many could think of. “As you know, not every sickness in this world has a cure, and not all drugs work for all sicknesses.” Eren paused and inspected Levi’s face to see if the raven was following. “Have you ever heard of project Titan?” Levi shook his head. The right corner of Eren’s mouth curled into a half smile. “Of course you haven’t, because I’m one of the only living people that knows about it, and the others that are alive, are more than content to keep their vulgar mouths shut. I’m sure they’d deny it if anyone tried to ask them about it, anyways.” Eren said in a chillingly calm tone.
“My mother grew very ill with a rare disease that didn’t have a cure when I was a child. She died of it when Isabel was born, and it drove my father to the brink of insanity. I mean, he was a brilliant man that had saved so many lives with his ideas and creations… but he couldn’t save his own wife.” Eren’s face hardened as he reminisced. “My father, Grisha, did not cope well with her death. Instead of accepting it and moving on, he became obsessed with it. How could he have performed better to save her? What combination of drugs could he have put her on to minimize her suffering? And then one day, he came up with the most extreme solution: what if there was a drug that cured everything ? With this new plan he became more detached from reality and his need for money to fund his practices became the priority. His ethical way died there with his mind.” Eren’s expression shifted; his face was spiritless and his eyes were dull. “We became guinea pigs. I guess the easiest way for me to explain what happens to my eyes is to call it forced heterochromia iridum, but the truth of it is that my body is in a constant cycle of destroying and repairing itself. Sometimes an organ will fail, and my body races to revive it.” Eren explained. Levi was bewildered. “While this may sound like a cure all, it’s quite the opposite.”
“In what way?” Levi broke his silence. Eren had his full attention.
“For one thing, it is excruciatingly painful. It’s not like I don’t feel when a kidney starts to fail, when one of my lungs collapses, or when my appendix decides to burst for the hundredth time; I’ve just grown accustomed to it. The shot I took earlier was the non-addictive morphine my labs developed; I’m sure you saw the headlines when it was approved for the market. It was actually developed years before it was released, but my father was more interested in the money he could gain from the opioid epidemic. Since I’ve taken over, I’ve been working on moving the company far from that way of thinking; one's vulnerabilities should not be the prime factor of our success. The other part of this is that one day, my body will start deteriorating at a rate in which it won’t be able to save itself. The irregularity is in my blood and embedded in my nervous system, so it’s not like I can just get organs replaced and be ship-shape again.” Eren exhaled. Levi was silent and he processed everything Eren had told him.
“How long do you have until your body fails you?” It was the only thing Levi could think to ask. Eren whipped his head to face Levi.
“That, even I don’t know. I’m the only person in the world with whatever this is. Everyone else that my father tried this on is now... dead.” Eren breathed. Levi was stunned by how composed Eren was.
“I take it you’ve… come to terms with all of this in your own way?” Eren snorted.
“I suppose you can say that. Death is inevitable; I’ve already experienced a lot of loss in my life, Levi. No matter what we do, we’re all doomed to the same fate. It’s those that change someone’s lifespan for their own benefit that are the true monsters of this world.”
“Then what does that make you ?” Levi narrowed his eyes. Eren grinned and breathed out a laugh.
“I never said I wasn’t a monster.” Eren admitted. “If removing vile people, that use people’s weaknesses to make money, from this world makes me a monster, then so be it.” Eren shrugged.
“So these people you’ve targeted are monsters in their own ways?”
“In my eyes, yes. I’m sure if Isabel, or the other two children he tested on, were alive, they would agree, too. These people encouraged my father in his insanity. They worked with him, and funded him. It’s because of them that innocent children didn’t live to see their lives play out.”
“What exactly ended their lives?” Something dark lurked in Levi’s mind.
“Whatever they injected in me that turned me into what I am today was the one that caused their deaths. They were younger than me, and their bodies were so much more delicate than my own. It wasn’t compatible with their bodies, so their immune systems attacked.” Eren’s tone was somber, but his eyes were scornful. “Like I said, it’s ingrained itself into my genes, Levi. It’s in every nook and cranny of my being.” Eren offered a tight lipped frown. Levi was silent as he allowed himself time to absorb everything. Eren watched as the cogs in Levi’s head turned. “I understand that this is all a bit… overwhelming , to say the least.”
“That’s the understatement of the century.” Levi chuckled. He rubbed his face and exhaled roughly. “My god . Honestly, it’s like you just ran me over with a fucking truck.” Levi was exasperated. “So, what then? You want me to just join you on your murder spree and take out these people you have a very reasonable grudge with?” Levi shot startledly. The idea that the people responsible for Eren’s forced fate, and the death of innocent children, were alive and well made Levi sick. The fact that they had lived their lives without repercussions for their atrocious acts made Levi resentful. As much as he tried to deny it, Levi knew he had a connection with Eren unlike anything he had felt before. Eren was right about him; Levi knew he could be just as ruthless as Eren. He felt himself giving in.
“Levi, you’re missing the point . This isn’t only about me. We all have our peppered pasts, and I’m sure many would like to enact revenge if they had the means necessary.” Eren said suggestfully. “I’m sure you have some demons of your own; I’m letting you know I have the tools necessary to eradicate them from your life.” Eren raised an eyebrow at Levi. The look on Eren’s face implied that the boy knew more about Levi than he had originally let on. It unnerved the raven, but Eren was right, again. “I’m not going to pressure you into telling me whatever it is that may be haunting you, but I do need an answer.” Levi was silent as he thought. Eren had made Levi feel the disgust and animosity for the world he had put away for so many years. “I want you to join me in much greater capacities than I think you know, Levi.” He purred as he leaned forward, and placed a hand on Levi’s thigh. Levi inhaled sharply, letting his body fold to Eren’s electric touch.
“In what ways?” Levi snarled. Eren’s eyes danced with devilement; a villainous grin slithered over Eren’s beguiling lips.
“In ways no other could possibly satisfy.” Eren crouched forward and knotted his hands in Levi’s hair. He tugged Levi’s head to the side, and latched his silky lips to Levi’s pale neck. Levi didn’t stop the groan that escaped his lips; he wanted Eren to hear him. Eren growled hungrily as his teeth scraped softly over Levi’s skin. “ You are the only person I need .” He murmured. “Levi Akcerman,” his hot breath caressed Levi as his hand wandered further up Levi’s thigh, “the god of the business world. The one man that no one dare challenge.” Eren pulled Levi’s head back to expose his throat. Eren dragged his tongue from Levi’s collar bone to his chin, earning a hasty moan from the raven. Levi could feel Eren’s lips curl into a smile. “I see the ways you look at me when you think I’m not paying attention.” He breathed huskily. “I know you feel what I've been talking about; it’s been eating away at you, hasn’t it?” His hand wrapped itself around Levi’s hip, and yanked him forward. Eren rested his right knee between Levi’s legs, and arched over him to face Levi. He could see the desire in Eren’s flaming eyes; he could feel the longing ache in each of Eren’s luring touches that praised Levi’s body. Levi was in breathless awe of the domineering boy. “You know, deep down, that we would be unstoppable . We’d be capable of achieving whatever we want. What do you say, Levi?” He raised an eyebrow as he grinned. Levi’s mind went blank as he wrapped a hand behind Eren’s neck, and pressed the younger forward. Their mouths collided in urgent, heated kisses. Eren dug his hand under Levi’s dress shirt and pressed hungrily into Levi’s skin, pulling him even further into his body. Levi’s body hummed in Eren’s presence.
The limousine came to a stop, and Eren pulled away from Levi. Levi felt like the younger was staring into his soul as they sat for a moment, chests heaving simultaneously. Eren gave Levi a coy grin. He pressed his lips to Levi’s cheek. “We have dinner to attend.” Eren huffed in a sultry tone. The younger let his teeth graze over Levi’s earlobe as he spoke, sending shivers through Levi’s body. Levi felt Eren’s warm body disappear as Eren sat back in his seat, and straightened himself out. Levi did the same, but couldn’t help but feel flustered. “I have to say, Levi,” Eren’s words dripped with lust, “you seem to exceed my expectations every day. I may have underestimated you.” It was Levi’s turn to cast a wicked smirk Eren’s direction, and Levi could tell it only reinforced Eren’s desire for Levi. He moved so his hands were on Eren’s knees as he leaned forward, their faces a mere inches apart. Eren stared at him with yearning.
“Never underestimate me; that will be your downfall.” Levi murmured, one hand slowly moving up the inside of Eren’s thigh. The younger bit his bottom lip and grabbed Levi’s wandering hand. He held eye contact with Levi as he brought the hand to his lips, and placed the most gentle of kisses on Levi’s knuckles.
“If my downfall involves losing myself to you , that would be a wonderful end, my dear.” Eren hummed. Levi buzzed as he stared at the tantalizing person before him. He felt alive in a way he hadn’t felt in years. Eren had unravelled the tightly wound confines of Levi’s mind that he had felt forced to keep together, day after day. Eren saw the darkness in Levi, and embraced him for it, rather than telling him he needed to be better. Levi took a deep breath, and felt like a new person. Eren wouldn’t expect him to be personable, or business-like; he expected Levi to be Levi , and that excited him.
The pair exited the vehicle, and Levi stared at the building that was in front of them. Eren turned and extended his hand to Levi. He stared at the hand, and looked at Eren. The younger’s face glowed with power as he smiled devilishly. Levi took his hand, and knew he was handing himself to Eren. He had locked in a deal with the devil, and he felt invigorated.