Chapter Text
The end of the semester means long, sleepless nights spent grading final papers, beating the mad rush of a grade submission deadline looming over professors’ heads. Erwin drinks another sugary espresso drink, glancing through his office window. It’s already past seven pm, and he is nowhere near done with work for tonight. He marks each section of his students’ papers meticulously, underlining vague passages that need revision, and providing copious feedback. Although he knows his students rarely read his suggestions, the virtue of academic excellence and the respect for scholastic integrity keeps Erwin pushing late in the night, writing long comments in the margins of blue exam books.
The door of his office creaks open. A thin, dark-haired man steps into the room, rolling a janitorial cart. He’s wearing a pair of large unbranded headphones, humming under his breath with a raspy voice. He looks up toward the corner of the office, taking a sharp inhale as he notices Erwin working in the dimly lit office.
“Fuck!” Levi gasps. “You scared me shitless… thought you had already left home for the holidays, Smith!”
Levi takes down his headphones and leans on the mop with a frown. Dark bangs frame his delicate face like two ebony curtains.
“Ah,” Erwin smiles, pointing his pen toward his lips, a bad habit he had from childhood. “Not quite. Lots of work to do.”
“So, how did the brats do?” Levi nods to the stack of blue books sitting on Erwin’s desk.
“Exceptionally well! I have the privilege of teaching some bright minds.” Erwin smiles and affectionately taps the exams.
“Tch…” Levi scoffs, awkwardly averting his eyes. His hand lingers on the doorknob.
“Please, there is no need to clean up here. It’s late. Isn’t your shift done already?”
Levi presses his lips in a tight line, gripping the mop in his hand, shifting the weight of his body on his right leg in a contrapposto stance. He is wearing pink cleaning gloves over a tight jumpsuit. The zipper on his chest is open, exposing the pale flesh. Erwin’s gaze follows the slight slope of his neck, tracing the sharp edges of his collarbones with his eyes. Levi’s tiny, androgynous body curves like a well-honed blade. His elegant features and coquettish posture remind Erwin of Donatello’s David – fiercely seductive.
“Nah,” Levi shakes his hand. “Might as well finish up. Does it bother you if I clean while you’re here working?”
“No, no!” Erwin exclaims. “Of course not! Your presence would never bother me, Levi. I thought we were past that.”
Levi shifts his body weight to the other foot, standing with his arms crossed in a confrontational pose. The tips of his ears are flushed pink. He turns around and reaches for the trash in the corner, hurrying to empty it out. Erwin leans on his hand, watching Levi work. He is a man that can make even a task so simple as disposing of the trash into an act of elegance. It’s an admirable quality – excelling at work regardless of profession. Being a janitor is a thankless job: long hours, minimum wage, and no real career ladder. And yet Levi never seems to complain about his post, doing his job with humble professionalism and care. One couldn’t say the same about Erwin’s fellow tenured professors.
“So, you going back home to Boston for the holidays?” Levi asks, taking the mop to clean the floors.
“Oh no,” Erwin waves his hand. “Holiday travel is a hassle. Besides, nothing really ties me to Boston. It’s just a place where I completed my Ph.D.”
Erwin doesn’t want to overshare his personal affairs at his workplace. But Levi’s calming presence eases him into abandoning the tightly shielded professionalism needed for his post. “How about you?” he adds. “Do you have any family or relatives in Albuquerque?”
Levi glances back at Erwin. His silvery eyes gleam in the gloomy room.
“Nah,” Levi shakes his head and swings his hips as he mops. Twisting, motoric movements, a beautiful curve in his arch from narrow shoulders to the slope of his ass, and swift but imperceptible fluid thrusts of his pelvis. Hypnotizing. “No family. It’s just me.”
Levi licks his lips and cocks his eyebrow in defiance. “Besides, I don’t give a shit about holidays. I’ll finally have a few days of peace and quiet. No toilets to clean.”
Erwin smiles, finishing his long-winded comments in his student’s exam book. His eyes glass over the words. It’s time to call it a night. Levi seems to wrap up. The potent smell of lemon floor cleaner hits his head. Erwin reaches for his wool coat.
“I will be heading out now. I am done for tonight,” Erwin announces, collecting the exams and fixing his eyes on Levi. “How about you?”
Levi stands in the middle of the room, giving him a curious look. It’s the end of the semester, past eight at night, which means they are officially off duty. There’s no one else in the building but them.
“Have to finish up and vacuum a few more offices. Shouldn’t be more than half an hour.”
“I can wait for you,” Erwin offers, wrapping a scarf around his neck.
“What do you have in mind?”
“I thought, If you would like to, of course, we could grab a drink. Celebrate the end of the semester.”
Levi’s eyes widen slightly, the curve of his back straightening into an even line.
“You know I am not much of a drinker,” Levi mutters but doesn’t decline the invitation. The twinkle in his eyes emboldens Erwin to push on.
“That’s alright. How about a quick bite, then? It’s my treat.”
“Okay, Smith.” Levi agrees somewhat reluctantly. “But I need to change. I’m disgusting.”
They end up in the Copper Lounge, a speak-easy bar serving revival-style cocktails close to the University’s main campus. Erwin likes the intimate atmosphere, unique cocktails, and upscale comfort food bites. Levi changed out of his work uniform into a pair of tight black jeans and a leather jacket. He cradles a motorcycle helmet under his arm. The jeans exaggerate Levi’s narrow hips, shapely thighs, and pert ass. Levi fixes his hair and follows Erwin into the bar, looking around the gilded ceilings and star-shaped mood lighting with disgust.
“What kind of fancy overpriced place is this?” Levi mutters under his breath, visibly uncomfortable. “Can’t you just get a pint like any other guy?”
“I know this is a bit extravagant. Thank you for indulging me,” Erwin smiles, following the waitress to be seated. “I gathered it would be nice to pick a place where we could talk a bit — unwind from all the end-of-semester pandemonium.”
“Pandemonium. You’re such a weird guy,” Levi snorts, sitting in a booth in the corner of the bar.
Under the dim lighting, his features appear more delicate, almost pretty. A deep frown has relaxed, and the permanent scowl softens into tranquil indifference. His sharp eyes, thin frame, and diminutive stature make him look ageless, wise beyond his years, and boyish all at once. Erwin does not know how old Levi is. He could be as young as his early twenties to mid-thirties. The mystery adds another layer to his attraction to Levi.
They order food; Levi a Greek salad and sparkling water, while Erwin indulges in an overproof Bourbon cocktail with amaro nonino and an orange peel. The bittersweet amber liquid bites his tongue with complex sharpness. Erwin closes his eyes, savoring the taste, letting out a satisfied hum as he sips the drink. Levi sips on his water, taking small bites of his greens.
After a few silent moments, Erwin coughs and breaks the ice.
“Are you looking forward to the winter break?”
Levi just shoots him an angry glare.
“Look, blondie,” Levi spits, annoyed. “Why don’t we skip the small talk? If you wanna fuck me again, just say so. You don’t need to butter me up with overpriced drinks. I’ll suck your cock for free.”
Erwin’s expression hardens. Ah, there it is, the venomous sting and unabashed bluntness. Levi stares at him, daring him with those expressive pale eyes. His lips wrap around the straw, sucking the water with small, sultry sips.
Goddamnit, Erwin never stood a chance. A smile dances in the corners of Erwin’s lips as he reaches for Levi’s petite hand, caressing it in his. He thumbs circles on Levi’s dry palm, feeling the calluses on his needle-thin fingers.
“Oh, don’t you worry,” Erwin whispers, leaning across the desk. “I will take good care of you tonight, I promise. But I would like to talk to you a little first. I would like to get to know you better, Levi! I find you very interesting.”
“Interesting,” Levi scoffs. “And here I thought you were only interested in fucking me in a supply closet.”
Well, Levi isn’t wrong. Since Levi started to work as a janitor at the UNM’s Anthropology department, there were numerous occasions when they hooked up after hours, fucking late hours of the night in a bathroom stall, or Levi sucking his cock under his desk. It was a casual arrangement born out of undeniable, unwavering attraction. They were both young, unattached, and clearly each other’s type. However, before tonight, their arrangement has never transcended into anything more serious or resembling a proper date. Levi warned him he was not interested in dating the first time they fucked, but Erwin couldn’t help but keep hoping that, with time, he would melt the icy walls of his taciturn companion.
“You know I am always interested in fucking you, but that’s not all I care about.” Erwin licks his lips, and he brushes the knuckles of Levi’s chilly hands. “I want to talk to you, learn what you like, where you’re from – anything, really.”
“What the fuck, Smith? I’m not gonna get soft on you because you’re lonely for the holidays.”
“I’m not lonely.”
“Tch. Whatever.”
“I am not.”
“No? So why are you spending time with your department’s designated janitor after hours?”
Erwin bites his tongue. He doesn’t like Levi’s self-deprecating jabs. But if he were to bring it up, he knows Levi’s mood would only grow more sour. The more Erwin pushed, the more Levi would retreat into his shell. That’s just how Levi operates. The more Erwin insists on something; the less likely Levi is to comply. He’s just so, so — stubborn. A brat. Ah, but isn’t that also why Erwin likes him so much?
Erwin tries another tactic. It’s a gamble, but he thinks Levi might as well take a bite.
“No, you’re right,” Erwin confesses. “It’s true that I haven’t made many friends since I won the tenure post here at UNM. The truth is, Levi, that I get sucked in my research – my lectures, grading, students, editing the chapters of my book… It’s exhausting. And sometimes, I would just like to talk to another person, not a colleague or a student. Just another person. And I like to talk to you the most.”
Levi averts his eyes and takes another bite of his salad.
“Fine,” he says, exasperated. “We can talk. But I get to ask you a question first. So – why did a guy like you from Cambridge and Harvard degrees end up teaching in New Mexico, of all places?”
Erwin looks at Levi, fixing his eyes on his delicate pale face. “Didn’t think you were the type to read my CV?” he smirks, but Levi shoots him a dangerous look.
“Don’t flatter yourself. Of course, I didn’t. But people talk, Smith. I hear what they say about you.”
Yes, Erwin knows the rumors circulating around him. People wonder why he declined a prestigious postdoctoral research position at Columbia University and took a 55K - a - year assistant professorship, teaching mostly undergraduate-level courses. Even though winning any academic job is a miracle in itself. Erwin had many other opportunities he could have pursued: fieldwork in Peru, guest lecturer at Cambridge, and a postdoc at Harvard…. and he left it all behind. He knows people talk and make wild guesses about why he moved to Albuquerque. He’s heard it all; an ugly divorce, an affair with a colleague, research malpractice, plagiarism… all fabricated slander.
“Honestly, there was no scandal if you are referring to rumors following me. I was always passionate about the history of this region. This is a beautiful land with a rich ancient history. UNM is a reputable university with expert faculty. It’s a privilege to study all the ancient wonders in the area and work with the students.”
“Oh, spare me, Smith. Save that motivational speech for your Provost. Tell me, what’s the real reason?” Levi scoffs.
“Ah, well,” Erwin admits, looking at the gilded ceiling. “There is another reason I moved to the US Southwest. You see, Levi, since I was a child, I only dedicated my life to archeology because I was interested in exploring a particular field of study.”
“And what is that?”
“Xenoarcheology.”
Levi grimaces, nearly choking on a sip of his water. Ah yes, there it is, the reaction that most people have when Erwin tells them his genuine field of interest. Well, at least Levi seems to know what it is.
“Like ancient aliens? That shit?”
“Oh, so you’re familiar with it.”
“This is New Mexico, Erwin! UFOs and Breaking Bad filming locations are our major tourist attractions. Didn’t think you were one of those Roswell freaks who believe aliens crashed here, and the government covered it up.”
Erwin is silent for a moment. Yes, he doesn’t trust the government in the slightest. There are too many coincidences, freak accidents, and military bases with the highest level of secrecy, from Roswell, Area 51, to the Disclosure Project. The Government was hiding valuable information from the public – things that would change the course of humanity. Most would call him a conspiracy theorist and dismiss his theories as ravings of a madman. But it’s easier to hide in plain sight and label every skeptic a madman. His theories have damaged his academic integrity. Ivy-league universities aren’t interested in uplifting a voice of a researcher whose primary field of study is focused on extraterrestrial visitations in the ancient past.
But there was another reason he vehemently believed in alien life. When he was a boy, he went on a road trip with his father from Las Vegas to New Mexico. One night, strange lights flew over their RV. And Erwin heard a strange wheezing noise. When he looked over at his father’s bed, he was missing. Gone — vanished into thin air. Erwin found him in the desert, naked and in a state of shock, claiming that the aliens abducted him. Nobody believed him, despite talking about the case to the authorities and speaking about it to the reporters.
After the incident, he wrote a book reporting his experience, warning the public about the dangers of extraterrestrial life. But just before his father’s report got the attention of a major publisher, men in long black coats took his father away for an important conversation. When he returned, something changed. He was distant, apathetic, and disinterested in continuing his pursuit of the truth. His father never spoke about the accident again, and when asked about it, he dismissed it as a psychotic episode. Just eighteen months after, he passed away. Cancer. When he died, so did the story of his abduction.
Erwin has never shared this story about his father with anyone. He’s seen what being vocal about it did to his father.
Some things need to remain a secret.
“Something like it. My research is focused on extraterrestrial visitations in humanity’s ancient past.”
“And what, you believe in it?” Levi asks, softer this time. “That is some conspiracy theory territory, Smith!”
Ah, yes. Erwin’s been told that many times. There is no room in academia for speculative science.
And yet, Erwin can’t let it go. Erwin just needs to know what happened to his father, seeking proof. He needs to prove that his father wasn’t crazy, that there is something out there - something so terrible the mere mention of it would change the course of humanity.
But Erwin will find it – he alone can prove his father’s experience really happened!
“I believe it’s foolish to think we are the only intelligent life form in the universe, don’t you?”
Levi scoffs and rolls his eyes.
“So you would ruin your academic career because what – you wanna chase after UFOs?”
Erwin is quiet for a moment, his lips a hard line. Yes, he knows it is a lot for most people to handle. Yet, he hopes Levi is not like most people.
“I want to know the truth,” Erwin admits. “It is all I care about.”
Levi leans his head on the leather cushions of the booth and sighs deeply. “Ah, I knew it,” he grumbles under his breath. “There was no way you could be that perfect. There had to be something wrong with you.”
“Oh yeah,” Erwin smirks, “and what is that?”
“You’re completely insane.”
Erwin cocks his head, watching Levi’s exasperated expression.
“Is that a deal breaker for you?” he asks dangerously low, waiting for Levi’s response.
Levi waves his hand. “Nah,” he says. “At least you’re not just a boring nerd. Don’t worry, I can handle crazy.”
“Good. I was hoping that might be your answer, Levi.”
Erwin sips on his cocktail, watching Levi adjust his oversize band shirt. He seems more relaxed than at work, opening up just a bit. Erwin wants to peel him, layer by layer, strip him down, and explore his beautiful body with his tongue. He wants to unveil the mystery sitting in front of him.
Erwin orders a few more drinks. Levi reluctantly takes a few sips of Erwin’s mojito, grimacing at the taste. Erwin finds this quirk unusually charming.
But even the smallest dose of alcohol seems to loosen Levi up and make him share safely guarded pieces of information about himself. Erwin learns Levi’s an orphan. Dead mom, no father, deadbeat uncle. Levi grew up traveling from place to place, never settling anywhere long enough to call it home. Last spring, he moved to Albuquerque on a whim after he got laid off as a park ranger in Utah.
“Figured, might as well try to hold a normie job for a few months until I get bored with it or get fired again.
“Nobody is going to fire you. Come on, Levi, you are doing an incredible job! I have never seen our department so clean!” Erwin smiles, making the tips of Levi’s ears red. Who would have thought that prickly, brash Levi would blush when receiving a heartfelt compliment? Erwin stores this new revelation in his memory, knowing he could use it to make him squirm and melt in the sheets.
“Nah. It’ll happen sooner or later. They’ll figure I am more trouble than worth.”
“I highly doubt that,” Erwin says softly, brushing Levi’s dark bangs away from his forehead.
“Smith, you might not think so, but from my experience, people always eventually sniff out I’m a freak. Look, It’s not anyone’s fault – ‘ tis just how it is.”
Erwin decides to drop it. He knows minimum wage workers are always the first to be mistreated. Later, he’ll talk to Levi about joining a union to have support and advocates who could help him negotiate and enforce a contract, affordable health care plan, job security, and a stable schedule.
Their conversation flows naturally, without any pretense of barriers. Levi’s lips even draw in a slight smile as he leans closer and closer to Erwin, whispering anecdotes from his travels into the closing gap between their lips. Their breaths mingled together, Levi’s minty scent with Erwin’s boozy exhales. The space between them tingles, a magnetic force pulling them dangerously close. The world swirls in a dizzying vortex, bringing them to the bathroom stall where Erwin pins Levi’s arms to the wall and kisses him senselessly, his neck, lips, and the delicate skin behind his ears. He’s drunk on the feel of Levi’s ribs and sturdy muscles rippling under his thick fingers and skin as soft as lilac petals.
He wants him – here – now. Yet he knows Levi deserves better than a quick drunken fuck in a toilet stall.
“Your place or mine?” Erwin asks him between feverish kisses. Levi moans into his mouth, scrapping Erwin’s lower lip with his teeth.
“Yours,” he says breathlessly, clinging onto Erwin’s broad shoulders. “Come on, big guy, show me what you’ve got.”
They don’t make it to bed before undressing in the hallway of Erwin’s two-bedroom flat. It’s a rushed, frantic, sweaty battle for dominance. He loses himself in the feel of Levi’s body, twisting in his lap, scraping his teeth alongside Erwin’s muscular neck and pressing his wet lips on his chest. Erwin marvels at Levi’s body, melting under his fingers and losing all tightly coiled composure, unwinding like a tangled string. When Erwin pushes into him, Levi lets out a guttural moan as if something cracked deep inside him. He lets go, his muscles contorting as he throws his head back, and his jaw slacks open and reveals the pink slippery tongue. His eyes are glassy, clouded by lust and wolfish need.
Levi takes control, pushing Erwin onto the bed with strength unnatural for someone so small. His thighs grip Erwin’s hips as he rides his cock in a wild frenzy. His slick hole sucks Erwin in, soft and impossibly tight. Maddening. Almost inhuman. Levi growls as he seeks his release with the demanding rocking of his hips, impaling his pulsing hole on Erwin’s hardness. Levi comes first, reaching his climax with a thundering, toe-curling ferocity. Moaning unabashedly, he falls limply on Erwin’s broad chest, breathless and spent. Erwin fucks him through his peak, thrusting into the tender bundle of nerves mercilessly until his own climax washes over him like a wave to the shore.
“Goddamn,” Erwin exhales, in a post-orgasmic glow, kissing Levi in the crook of his slender neck, tasting the salt on his skin. “That was –”
“Mm, yeah,” Levi mutters, panting in his embrace. “Gotta wash. Need to run.”
“No. Stay,” Erwin’s voice sounds like a faint plea. He asks it, already knowing Levi’s response crystalizing in his stormy eyes. “Please –”
“Can’t. But – thanks,” Levi averts his eyes. He withdraws back into his shell, the fucked-out bliss returning to a guarded shield. “It was good, yes?”
“More than good. You’re incredible,” Erwin reaches for him, tracing the sharp hip bones one last time, unwilling to let him go into the night. “Can I see you again soon? I don’t have anything planned for the next two weeks. We could get together again for drinks or – see the lights?”
Levi’s body turns stiff under Erwin’s fingers, and he pulls away as if burned. Ah, Erwin pushed it too much again.
“No,” Levi whispers, hard and assured. Then his expression softens. “Dunno. Maybe,” he mumbles and disappears into the adjacent bathroom.
Maybe…
Erwin smiles and lets the sleep overtake him as the water hisses in the shower.
After all the grades are submitted, and all the frantic end-of-semester business eases into a sleepy lull, Erwin finds himself fidgeting on the couch, fighting the spell of itchy boredom and existential dread. There’s nothing good to watch on between five streaming services he pays for and never uses. Books seem like a chore. It had been a while since Erwin read a book solely for leisure and the pleasure of losing himself in fiction. He tries to set a healthy routine; visit the gym for longer than a quick workout, decompress in the sauna, purchase green vegetables and make a home-cooked meal for once. But nothing helps, and the gnawing emptiness announces its presence with inescapable imminence.
The trouble is not being alone. The trouble is being lonely.
He reaches for his phone and types a quick text message:
Hi Levi! This is Erwin
Would you like to go to the River of Lights with me? I would love to see you again soon!
Three dots appear immediately and then disappear in a flash. A reply only comes half an hour later, broken into three consecutive messages:
got sick.
fucking flu.
can’t leave the house.
Erwin stares at three short texts, each punctuated with the definitive period at the end of the brief statements. Oof, the texts smelled of rejection. There is no other way of interpreting it. Still, Erwin persisted.
I am so sorry you’re sick. That’s terrible!
Let me know if you need anything. I don’t mind bringing you over some medicine or just some tea and soup.
But, if you would rather be alone. I certainly understand! Get well soon, Levi!
The dots blink on his screen again, disappearing and appearing as Levi types his replies:
just sucks, uno?
on my birthday too.
When’s your birthday?
sunday
Erwin looks at the calendar on his phone, checking the date. Oh, this upcoming Sunday is the 25th! Levi is born on Christmas! Erwin realizes with a slight smile. But the idea of Levi spending his birthday and Christmas alone in his apartment doesn’t sit right with him. And he also knows that what he’s doing is slightly unprofessional. He can access Levi’s address through their university’s shared employee database. It’s easy to find out where Levi lives. The worst that can happen is Levi won’t let him into his apartment and Erwin will leave his gift and a care package in front of his door. It’s a gamble worth taking. Nobody should spend their birthday alone. Erwin has spent his last three grading midterms and having a drink at the bar just to uber home alone. It isn’t the greatest feeling.
On Christmas, Erwin packs his present; assorted teas in tiny tin lids, chocolate-covered dates, and two bowls of ramen from a local joint. He plans on keeping it casual. Texting Levi just before his arrival and pretending he was in the area.
The neighborhood Levi lives in is rough. Real rough.
Levi lives in the La Mesa neighborhood off Route 66. Although this area is called the International District on a map, the locals continue to refer to it by its longtime nickname, the “War Zone.” This area is associated with most gang-related crimes, narcotics, gun violence, prostitution, poverty, and child abuse. Since he moved to Albuquerque, Erwin avoided the sun-baked streets of this part of town awash in drug deals, fast food trash, and discarded needles.
Levi’s house is a single-story residence with a cracked yellowish facade and barbed wire fence protecting the dry, dust-covered yard. The iron grills cover the white-framed windows, and the doors have protective bars meant to withstand 350 pounds of brute force. Erwin parks his car next to Levi’s cruiser bike and grimaces as he steps out of his car.
Erwin sends Levi a short text message to announce his arrival. He shakes the yard gates and finds they aren’t locked despite the warning signs. Still, Erwin probably shouldn’t trespass. The possibility of Levi greeting him with a gun instead of a warm holiday greeting rises with each step Erwin takes.
Before Erwin reaches the entrance, the door creaks open, revealing Levi’s shadowy face peeking through the cracks.
“The fuck you doing here?” he growls with a raspy, frail voice. He sounds sick. Levi wasn’t just saying it to turn Erwin down.
“Happy birthday!” Erwin says, grabbing on the iron bars. Levi keeps the doors cracked open, staring at Erwin with glassy, feverish eyes. “I wanted to bring you a care package.”
“Stay away from me, Smith,” Levi rasps. “I mean it, I’ll get you sick –”
“Hey, Levi, it’s okay. A month ago, I got a flu shot. I won’t get sick,” Erwin licks his lips, looking at Levi’s slumped, obscured figure hiding behind the door. “I am sorry for showing up unannounced. I thought it would be a nice thing to surprise you. Let me just give you my present, and I will be out of your hair.”
Levi stares at him and coughs a bit. There is a strange rattling in his lungs, like a high-pitch whistling of a boiling kettle. He’s never heard that kind of sound come out of a human’s mouth before.
“Hey, hey – are you alright?” Erwin asks in concern and reaches for Levi’s gripped hand wrapped around the barred iron gates. Levi flinches and tries to pull back, but Erwin’s quicker and, before he can get away, grabs his hand first.
But instead of dry, callused fingers, Levi’s hands feel slick and chilly upon contact. Erwin gasps as Levi’s hand slips through his fingers, transforming into a jelly-like oozing texture, translucent and tingling like an eel.
“What?” Erwin’s voice trembles with a lingering question. A silent dread twists in his stomach and rises at the gorge of his throat.
Erwin stares at his slicked hand, covered in a viscous coating of fluorescent plasma. “Levi, what is happening – what is this?”
But as he asks, the answer forms in his mind. He already knows.
“Shit,” Levi spits, frustrated, and opens the iron gates. “I told you to leave me alone!”
Erwin stands frozen, staring at Levi with wide, fascinated eyes. But then, something foreign and slippery slithers on the floor, leaving wet smears behind it. Erwin looks down in horror as the flexible, muscular tentacles circle around his feet and grip him at his ankles.
“Levi – what?”
But Levi growls, his grey eyes flashing with electric sparks. The grip on Erwin’s body tightens as some strange entity forcefully pulls him through the door. Slam! He loses balance, struggling against the restraints.
A loud bang – the doors slammed shut. Another sudden pull. Then Erwin slips and falls to the floor with a loud thud into a puddle of glowing goo.
Levi stares at him in a dark corner, his form trembling like a desert mirage.
Idiot! You should have stayed away from me!
Levi’s voice resounds around him, penetrating his ears like a sonar wave. The ear-piercing shriek makes him dizzy and disoriented. His head stings as if someone had stabbed him with icy needles. It’s too much. The pain makes him numb and slow. He can’t move. There’s no way out – no escape. Erwin’s vision darkens, blotches of darkness splattering over his eyes. He sinks into a shapeless void with a smile on his face.
I knew it.
Erwin’s last conscious thoughts swirl in his mind as he slips away. Father, you were right! They are real, and they live among us.
The moonlight drowns out all the deep blue darkness from the night sky. It’s big – staring down at Erwin with one huge lidless eye. Erwin walks in the desert in a thin nightshirt, the sand cold under his bare feet. He reaches up to the moon, shivering.
“Father? Where did you go?” Erwin cries, desperately searching for his missing father. “Don’t leave me –”
No response, but the deafening silence and a soft rustling of the wind. He stumbles, his small feet scraped raw, tripping over the gravel. A cry’s stuck in his throat, but Erwin’s mouth is so dry it even hurts to breathe. He looks up again, reaching his arms to the sky.
“Dad!” Erwin tries again, whimpering.
And then the strange whooshing sound surrounds him, and a swirl of dust and dirt picks up from the hazy night sky. The whirlwind dances in the sky, sucking the sand and debris from the dry ground. Erwin crouches, desperately holding on to the rock not to be lifted into the air. A dark hole opens up in the center of the enormous moon, like an ever-expanding iris. The noise rattles, rising in pitch to an ear-piercing sounding siren call. The rising pressure is so excruciating Erwin’s brain will squish like a grape and ooze out of his ears and a cracked skull.
And then the storm settles down, vanishing as suddenly as it arrived. The giant hole closes, and from the sky, a man’s naked body floats down, unconscious.
“Dad?” Erwin asks, reaching for him. “Dad!?”
He crawls on the dry desert ground towards the unconscious man, lying with his face turned to the ground. His fingers reach for the man’s shoulder, turning him around.
He cries, stumbling back.
Instead of his father, he sees his own adult face, staring vacantly with empty blue eyes.
“No… no!” he shakes, holding his knees. “What did you do to me? Who are you!?
Erwin jerks awake in a cold sweat, his vision still swimming. Below the knees, his legs are numb, wrapped by the slippery muscles holding him in an inescapable grip. He lies in a puddle of tingling neon liquid that soaked through his clothes. A shiver runs down his spine. He scans the room, lying perfectly still, not daring to move a muscle. From a corner of the room, the soft wheezing fills the room with rumbling vibrations, shaking the floorboards like an earthquake deep underground. The noises aren’t threatening or predatory but stuttering throaty cries like the gekkering of a wounded kit fox.
Erwin struggles to turn around, searching for the source of the strange noises.
In the corner, a strange translucent creature lies curled on the floor. Its small, slender body shimmers with dimming electric sparks. But despite the changed appearance, Erwin recognizes Levi right away. His new shape is humanoid, maintaining the same facial features, and although his skin was almost see-through, his body kept its muscularity. Below the knees, his legs split in stringy, translucent gossamer tendrils, pulsating with glowing neon lights at their tips. The same appendages dangle from his spine and shoulder blades like angel wings, glowing like northern lights on a night sky. A myriad of bursting lights blinking like glittering molten stars.
Levi didn’t move when Erwin turned around, gasping for air and thrashing as a fish washed ashore. He barely moves, just wiggling his hips and rocking on the floor. Erwin narrows his eyes, observing him with arresting fascination. Some of the thicker tentacles growing from his spine are wrapped around his own small body, disappearing between his legs as he circles his hips around them. Oozing slick leaks between his legs, soiling the floor. The sight looks oddly familiar; Levi’s heaving chest, the slightly opened mouth, and twisting body. It’s a strange agony verging on pleasure, almost as if he’s —
The realization hits him like a sack of bricks, accompanied by a burst of liquid honey pulses in his groin.
Levi’s pleasuring himself!
Erwin inhales sharply, staring unabashedly at sight before him. Levi must have felt Erwin twitch because his neck jolts and alert eyes find Erwin’s.
As if burned, his tendrils slip out of his body, and he retreats further into the corner, making himself as small as possible. Levi clings to the wall as if he wants to slip through the cracks of drywall and hide beneath the floorboards.
He’s frightened, Erwin realizes. Levi thinks I’m a threat!
Erwin tries to sit up, but slimy tentacles around his legs make it impossible to move.
“Stay away!” Levi growls, using his human voice. “Don’t move!”
Levi tries to sit up, blinking fatigue out of his sharp eyes. The tendrils from his back shoot out, growing longer and thicker like spikes. It reminds Erwin of a natural defense of pufferfish, appearing larger and more dangerous to deter the predators.
“It’s alright,” Erwin says, extending his hand. “Levi, it’s me – It’s okay!”
Levi whimpers, wrapping his arms around his legs. The tentacles on his back appear stiff now, like muscular octopus limbs, powerful and cursing with strange electricity. The colors of his tendrils change from yellowish to black. He shouts again, a high-pitched, ear-splitting noise.
“Shh, shh,” Erwin crawls towards him. “Easy now. I will not hurt you.”
“Shut the fuck up!”
“No, listen. I don’t want to presume, but you look unwell” Erwin keeps his voice steady. Getting closer to Levi’s translucent body. “Are you hurt, Levi?”
Levi’s tentacles unwind, lessening the grip from Erwin’s body, and he retracts them back into his body. The spikes from his back softened, floating in the air like seaweed. “I‘m not hurt,” Levi whispers, meeting Erwin’s eyes. “It’s just — ngh — how my body gets –”
Erwin nods, urging him to keep going. Levi’s face looks the same as in his human form, retaining his unique mannerisms. Erwin can read between the lines, sensing discomfort in the deep frown between his eyebrows and tightness in his jaw. Levi’s facial features are pale, shifting from blue to yellowish hues. Beneath the skin, Erwin sees the web of nerves sparkling like fireflies.
“How can I help?” Erwin offers without needing further explanation.
Levi’s web of neurons sparks a warm orange glow, but instead of an answer, he stubbornly shakes his head. Erwin disregards his hesitation and keeps nudging.
“Hey, hey, it’s just me,” Erwin says, standing up and getting closer to Levi’s crouching form. “You know me, yes?”
The glow intensifies, and the floating tendrils turn from black to the hues of a desert dawn. Enchanting.
“Maybe you could help me to the bathroom.”
Levi’s voice is small. Erwin has never seen him lose his biting snark and gruff bravado.
“Alright, of course,” he agrees without thinking.
His fingers touch Levi’s shoulder, feeling the jelly-like texture of his slippery skin. Levi winces upon contact, his tendrils spiking out of his thin fingertips. But Erwin doesn’t move, doesn’t even flinch. He has to be the steadfast anchor, assuring Levi that his intentions aren’t hostile.
“Can you walk?” Erwin asks, immediately biting his tongue. He stares at Levi’s spilling tendrils shooting out of his knees, limply lying on the floor. Levi shoots him a vicious stare and floats up a few inches above the ground, swimming through the air like fish in the aquarium. But instantly, the weakness overcomes him, and he falls again with a wet thud, letting a low groan escape his throat.
Levi finally shakes his head in defeat, a gushing sound bubbles between his legs, oozing with another spill of translucent liquid. He’s too weak to move, overcome by his body’s arousal.
“That’s okay,” Erwin says, undisturbed, touching Levi’s hair. It’s as silky as he remembers. “I can carry you. Would that be alright?”
“m’kay,” Levi says. “But –”
“But?”
“‘m disgusting.’”
“No, you’re not,” Erwin smiles, touching his cheek fondly without fright. “Not in the slightest.”
Another pulsation of pink spills under Levi’s skin. Ah, he likes this. My words bring him comfort. Erwin realizes with pride.
“Come on, hold on to me,” Erwin says, scooping Levi into his arms.
Levi’s light, almost weightless body slopes against Erwin’s chest as he lifts him with unbearable ease. Levi’s head lulls on Erwin’s shoulder, soft wheezing trembling in his chest. As Erwin walks toward the bathroom, Levi’s tentacles drag behind them, leaving trails of foreign neon plasma.
The bathroom is covered with goo, coating the once-white tiles with slime. Levi points to the bathtub, filled to the brim with the same liquid. Erwin frowns but doesn’t protest, lowering Levi into the gelatinous liquid. When his body is submerged, Levi exhales, finally relaxing. The tentacles on his back fall out of the bathtub like wet clumps of hair. Unsure of what to do, Erwin brushes his fingers against Levi’s hair again, hoping the touch would provide some comfort.
“Thanks,” Levi murmurs as soft as a fresh coat of snow on dry ground.
One thick tentacle disappears between his splayed thighs again, pushing the appendage into the small hole between his legs. He exhales with a mixture of aching relief and pleasure, shifting his hips to adjust around the thickness. He cries again, but this time in frustration, like he’s trying to itch a spot, he cannot reach. Erwin averts his eyes, focusing on Levi’s eager expression.
“I am in the middle of my mating cycle,” Levi explains, embarrassed. “It’ll pass in a few days. But until then, all I can do is fuck myself through it. It’s annoying.”
Erwin hums but doesn’t want to be intrusive with his questioning.
“I’ll wipe your memory now,” Levi speaks softly. The thin string grows out of his fingertips, touching Erwin’s head like a thousand probing needles. “Nobody can know about me,” Levi tries to explain, but his words die in his throat as his body shivers, his thighs involuntarily twitching. A low rumbling moan, lusty and deprived, escapes his lips. His skin turns from pink to bright orange, glowing around his groin. The tentacles engorge, slipping in and out of Levi’s hole, running against his flesh and a thick growth above it.
“Ah – ahh –mnh – fuck,” Levi’s eyes roll in the sockets, his body going limp for a few brief moments; tiny beads gush out of him, like glass marbles, floating to the surface.
“Shit,” Levi curses, recovering from a sudden climax. “Fuckin’ embarrassing. At least you won’t remember any of it.”
He laughs, but Erwin’s expression remains unchanged.
“You’ll take my memories away?” He asks carefully. “Why? Don’t you trust me?”
Levi shakes his head.
“Nobody can know. It’s dangerous.”
“And what then? Will you suffer here alone? Levi, you were just whimpering in the corner, unable to move. I can’t just leave you like this,” Erwin says firmly, touching Levi’s shoulder. He glides his hand over Levi’s narrow frame, resting it on Levi’s back, right where his tentacles spring out of his spine like wings. Levi doesn’t pull away this time, staring at Erwin with an inquisitive look.
“Is there anything I can do to make it easier on you?” Erwin asks. “Anything at all?”
Levi shuffles, his body changing to dark crimson. He looks painfully uncomfortable.
“What?!” Levi spits, the strings from his fingers traveling from Erwin’s temples to his neck. They wrap around him like a snake constricting its prey. “Want me to fuck you, Smith? Huh? Want me to stuff you with my feelers until I am normal again?” his voice lowers and turns back to a soft whisper. “Tch… you don’t know what you’re asking –”
“Well, would that help?” Erwin’s voice remains steady, although it sounds frail against Levi’s grip. “Hmm, Levi? Would it make you feel better?”
Levi stops moving and stares at him for a moment; the air sparks with tension. Finally, Levi lowers his eyes and nods.
“Alright,” Erwin says, touching the tendrils around his neck. “Then why don’t we try that first? You can always wipe my memory after you feel better.”
Levi pulls his tentacles away, retrieving them back to his fingertips. He grips the bathtub’s edge, entirely baffled by Erwin’s proposal.
“I – I could kill you, you know,” Levi stutters. “Aren’t you scared of me?”
“Do I have a reason to be scared?” Erwin retorts.
“Yeah, you do,” Levi growls. “I’m not human, Erwin.”
“Right, I can see that. But do you want to kill me?”
Levi shakes his head and drops it on his chest, nearly disappearing in the neon liquid.
“No… no, ‘course not.”
“Good,” Erwin leans in, brushing Levi’s wet bangs away from his forehead. “I’m happy to hear that, Levi.”
Levi’s forehead tingles when Erwin’s fingers touch, lighting up like stars in the night sky, one by one, in hues of dazzling colors.
Erwin wants to tell him how magnificent he is – how fascinating he finds his newly revealed ethereal form. He thinks of jellyfish – floating gracefully in a dark ocean, emitting their own magical light. But if touched without warning, they attack with a poisonous touch. And Erwin feels the boiling desire, a growing need to touch the inhuman parts of Levi’s body, even though the contact might sting — even if it hurts.
A thick tendril floats in the air, twisting like a grapevine around Erwin’s chest. Although the appendage appears to be made of a luminous, water-like texture, it feels firm against his body. The glowing tip grows, expanding upward as if it glides up Erwin’s neck, slithering towards his face. Erwin trembles, his skin spiking with goosebumps upon feeling the slimy limbs. But the magnificence of Levi’s body makes all fear melt into unadulterated awe. The tentacle touches his chin, resting on Erwin’s closed lips, chilling and slippery.
“You sure?” Levi asks, his eyes glazing over with dazed lust. “It’s not too late to –”
Erwin opens his mouth wide, like a parishioner before a holy communion, waiting eagerly for Levi’s next move. A curiosity burns through him, urging him into the unknown.
“Go on, take what you need,” Erwin says, touching the glowing tip with reverence.
Levi slips the tip of his tentacle inside Erwin’s mouth, sliding against his tongue with velvety ripped polyps, tingling as it explores the wet cavity. Erwin closes his lips around it, meeting Levi’s dazed expression. His entire body lights up with warm colors, painting his body in a dusky pallet of shimmering pleasure. Erwin sucks on the thick tendril, bobbing his head up and down to encourage Levi to fuck further into his throat. As he flattens his tongue, he hears Levi let a frail moan out of his wet lips.
Ah, there is it – this makes Levi feel good.
Erwin continues to suck on the engorged tentacle, swirling his tongue around the rubbery texture, fucking it back and forth. Levi tastes clean and aquatic; the leaking neon liquid gushing out of the glowing tip tasted odorless, leaving just a thick coating in his throat. Levi leans his head over the bathtub’s edge, gripping it in a throe of pleasure. His limbs splayed over the tub’s edge, spreading his legs wide as he thrusts his pelvis up.
Erwin’s eyes water and blur as Levi’s tendril searched deeper in his throat, fucking down, deep, almost to his stomach. And Erwin feels an exhilarated adrenaline rush, like walking over two skyscrapers on a wire, unsecured, without anything to catch him. Just one step, and he would undoubtedly face his death. A hissing noise increases in his ears as he chokes on the alien vein in his mouth, the fluorescent liquid mixed with his own drool bursting out of his mouth.
“Shit, ahh – fucking hell,” Levi curses, breathless, rocking his hips coordinated with the thrusting of his appendage. “Holy shit, Erwin —”
A tentacle from Levi’s back slips between his legs as he fucks himself fast and deep while Erwin sucks on his other sensitive appendage. And Erwin closes his eyes, losing himself in a shapeless void, like swimming in a sensory deprivation tank. He leaves, forgets about fear, and submits to the inner want to be used by this godlike deity, giving all the pleasure his body can offer. He yearns to worship at the altar of this apparition, and build a shrine dedicated to his new god. Like ancients did before him. What a privilege to be chosen for such a dark, mystical ritual!
Levi comes with a deep rumble, filling Erwin’s throat and stomach with thick liquid. As he twitches and splashes through his climax, his body levitates from the bathtub, sparking with blinking lights, pulsating like a heartbeat. He looks rejuvenated and alive, made of cosmic dust and broken shreds of faraway galaxies.
He flies close to Erwin, swaying in the air, growing the web of strings out of his fingers, connecting them to Erwin’s temples. And for a moment, Erwin thinks Levi will wipe him clean and erase his memories into oblivion. But Instead, Levi pulls away his tendril from Erwin’s mouth, and encircles his whole body with his twisting limbs, tangling them in the embrace of a thousand hands.
“Don’t be afraid,” Levi says against his lips.
He captures his lips, slipping his tongue into Erwin’s mouth, scooping all the neon gunk out of Erwin. Levi’s mouth goes soft as water, their bodies merging like molten glass. And Erwin wonders if this otherworldly communion is what saints experienced when encountering biblical angels. A terror that’s worthy of worship — a sublime annunciation.
He feels Levi’s body pressing against his own throbbing cock, pressing against his trousers. A wave of pleasure tingles in his spine, flowing into his belly, bubbling with an unexplainable lust for this strange yet oddly familiar creature.
Levi lets him go, lessening the pressure of the embrace and allowing Erwin to catch a breath. He doesn’t look as frail anymore, his body bursting with a surge of newly found power.
“Mmm, you’re so warm inside,” Levi mumbles, brushing his nose against Erwin’s jaw.
His tentacles ooze again at the tip with a glowing liquid that, despite its alien form, looks a lot like human arousal. Erwin touches the tip of one floating limb, catching it in his hand and gently massaging it. Levi’s head lulls as he sighs with relief. The warm orange hue changes to sunset red as Levi twists in an aerial dance.
“Does this make you feel good? Fucking your feelers inside me?” Erwin asks, curious, stroking his tentacle as he would a human cock, hoping his assumption about erogenous zones would be correct. “Hmm, Levi?”
“Ah,” Levi cries, leaking with unrepressed want. “Yeah – fuck —more. I need —”
Erwin wants to feel those twisting vines on his body, squeezing around his cock, slipping inside him. God, it’s obscene, and yet – it’s all he can think about.
“You should do it, if you want to.”
Erwin’s expression darkens with fantasies not suitable for a man like him.
As if reading his mind, Levi puts his graceful hand on the outline of Erwin’s throbbing cock. A smirk dances on his plump lips. “ Already so hard for me. You’re really insane, Smith.”
“And you said that it wasn’t a deal breaker for you,” Erwin replies, staring into Levi’s eyes while giving his sensitive tentacle tip a firm squeeze, drawing another needy moan out of the alien creature. He enjoys making him squirm and pulsate like an open heart on his palm.
“Nah, I like it,” Levi licks Erwin’s lips and untangles their limbs, floating in the air before him. “Now, don’t make me wait any longer. Strip.”
My design and art for jelly!Levi