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bitterlikesweets · 1 year

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Love Bites Ch 30

This is the thirtieth chapter of a modern/vampire AU riren fanfic. You can also read it on Ao3. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Special | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30

“You want us to… come to Levi’s house?” Mikasa asks, and Eren sighs, futilely searching through Levi’s bedroom closet for clothes large enough for him to wear.

“Yes, Mikasa, that’s what I just fucking said to you.”

“Jesus,” Mikasa says, her voice dripping with sarcasm and a hint of annoyance. “Somebody’s having a rough morning.”

Eren leans his head against the wall and sucks in a deep breath, his free hand clenched into a tight fist at his side. His breath escapes him in a hiss.

She doesn’t know. She doesn’t know. She doesn’t know.

“Can you come or not?”

“I can, but why at the house of the little gnome? You’re not home?”

“I’m not, and I can’t go back to my place because of the stupid fucking sun,” Eren says, letting out a sigh when he checks the size of the last of Levi’s shirts. Nothing’s going to fit. Maybe jackets…?

“Right, okay, vampires and sun. But then how did you get to Levi’s house?”

“I slept over,” Eren says without thinking, and he doesn’t realize the implication of those words until Mikasa lets out a little gasp. It’s not even the first time that he’s spent the night at Levi’s place. Sometimes he forgets how little he’s told her.

“You slept—Wait. Did you guys…? You didn’t—did you?”

Eren rubs his face. It was only last night, but it feels like ages ago already. Kind of hard to think fondly on it when one of his friends has been fucking kidnapped in the aftermath.

She doesn’t know. She doesn’t know. Calm down, Eren.

Eren’s eyes lock on a hoodie in Levi’s closet a size larger than the others and yanks it out before sliding the door shut. He’s not going to bother checking for pants.

“Can we talk about this another time? We’ve got more important things to worry about.”

“More important than your first—?”

“Yes, Mikasa, so would you just fucking tell me if you can get here or not?”

Mikasa is silent, and Eren sighs, sagging into the closet door, his forehead pressed against the wood. She doesn’t know. It’s not her fault. He shouldn’t take it out on her. But it’s hard, it’s hard when Mikasa is trying to pry regular gossip out of Eren when Isabel is in danger right fucking now—

“What’s going on, Eren?” Mikasa asks, and all of her teasing amusement is gone, replaced by genuine concern. It suits Eren’s mood better, but it also makes his shoulders sag with guilt.

She wasn’t supposed to know about any of this. She wasn’t supposed to worry. But if something were to happen to her or Armin without them even knowing why—

Eren’s stomach churns, and he squeezes his eyes shut.

He doesn’t even want to think about it.

“Can you just… Can you get here? I don’t… I don’t want to tell you over the phone.”

“Okay,” Mikasa says softly. “Do you want me to call Armin for you? So you don’t have to… Do this again?”

“Yeah,” Eren mumbles, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. “Please. I’ll text you the address.”

“Is Levi going to be there?”

“No… He’s—” Out trying to make sure the people he cares about are still safe and alive. “—Busy. He’s… busy.”

“...Okay,” Mikasa says, and the slow, cautious way she says that one word makes Eren press his hand harder against his eyes. “I’ll be there soon.”

They say their goodbyes before Eren hangs up, sagging to the floor and burying his face into Levi’s hoodie as Isabel’s face lingers in his mind. Where is she now? At Zeke’s club? How hurt is she? Eren knows Zeke drank her blood—Is he going to turn her? Is she even conscious right now? Why her?

And Eren hates himself for thinking it, for wondering why Isabel, why not someone else, because of course losing anyone from the restaurant like this would’ve crushed him, but Isabel—Isabel is the first person Eren met at the Kitchen, before even Levi. Isabel was the one who let him in, who took him to Levi when he was in agony and his fangs were desperately crying for blood. She was the one who helped him when he fucked things up with Levi’s confession, the one who told him that story about her childhood that loosened him up and allowed Eren to make things right with the man he loved again.

“It was ten years ago... Little Isabel sits in the corner of the room, her vampire captors still asleep in their beds. Then bang! It’s Furlan, throwing the door open. And Big Bro Levi with a crossbow!”

Now she’s captured again, but they can’t go to her. They can’t save her. Eren can’t do a fucking thing for her, can’t make up for all that she’s done for him because Zeke has her and Eren is fucking useless, useless—

Eren takes a deep breath, clenching his hands into fists again. He just has to wait until tonight. He just has to wait. Levi’s going to come back with a plan. They’re going to save her. They have to. And then they’ll have a new story for Isabel to tell with a smile on her face.

Eren has to tell himself that, over and over again, so that he doesn’t drive himself insane.

~ ~ ~

Armin arrives first, blue eyes narrowed and a backpack slung over his shoulders. Eren expects to be bombarded with questions instantly, but Armin just stands in front of the closed door, scanning the vampire from top to bottom, silent. Eren frowns a little, taking a step back to let his friend in. Armin moves inside, his lips pressing into a thin frown, blond eyebrows furrowing, and Eren winces, expecting a scolding or something worse—

And then arms are around him, tight around him, a blond head against his chest. Eren’s eyes go wide, his own arms hanging helplessly at his sides, not caught up with the situation he’s in.

“Armin…?”

“I don’t know what’s going on,” Armin says, and Eren hears a hint of bitterness, hears frustration in the way Armin seems to speak through clenched teeth. “But I’m always here for you, Eren. No matter what it is.”

Eren’s eyes water, guilt building like a layer of acid coating the inside of his ribcage. Painful. Spreading.

“I’m—” Eren falters, throat tightening, wet eyes threatening to spill over. “I’m sorry for—for hiding things from you. I didn’t—I didn’t want you to worry.”

Armin laughs a little, lifting his head away from Eren’s chest to look up at his friend with a lopsided smile.

“Yeah, because going radio silent on us for a month wasn’t going to worry me at all.”

Eren grimaces.

“Sorry,” he says again. “I’ve been… busy. Things have been—”

Eren’s throat clogs, breath hitching and he doesn’t know if it’s the stress of everything or if it’s the instinctual way having one his best friends around lowers his guard, but all his emotions are building up in his chest, in his throat, in his eyes, about to overflow. Armin’s lips curve down into a concerned frown as Eren presses a hand over his eyes, tears finally escaping, sliding down his cheeks.

“Things have been—”

“Eren?” calls out a voice from outside. “You said to just open the door once I got here, but you’re not close to it are you? I’m not going to open this and accidentally turn you to dust?”

Eren and Armin turn towards the door before looking at each other again. Their gazes meet, briefly, before they both burst into startled laughter. Armin pulls himself away from his vampire friend, and Eren wipes his eyes as he continues to laugh, feeling a bit delirious. This day is fucking ridiculous. It feels as disjointed as a dream.

If only that were actually the case.

“Give me a second,” Eren calls out to Mikasa, teardrops still sliding down his jaw, his voice garbled, throat still tight. What a mess. What a fucking mess.

Armin watches him with a smile as Eren crosses to the opposite side of the room, where any light from the doorway has no chance of reaching him.

“Alright, you’re good.”

Mikasa cracks open the door, poking her head inside and glancing back and forth before her dark eyes land on Eren and grow wide. She rushes into Levi’s living room, slamming the door shut behind her as she crosses to him. Mikasa’s hands land on Eren’s shoulders, dark eyes scanning the vampire from head to toe as he continues to wipe salty droplets off of his cheeks.

“What—What’s wrong? What’s going on? Did you already start explaining to Armin—Why didn’t you wait for me—?”

“Mikasa,” Eren says, prying her hands from his shoulders. “I haven’t told Armin anything yet.”

“But you’re—”

“I just got here,” Armin pipes up, walking closer to Mikasa and Eren. “This is just from…”

Armin glances at Eren, smile fading, and Eren sighs, rubbing his damp cheek with the back of his hand.

“...Just from seeing each other again,” Armin says.

“Oh,” says Mikasa, though Armin’s explanation only makes her frown deepen. “Whatever it is—it’s that bad?”

Eren nods and wipes his eyes again, though they’ve finally begun to dry. The energy he had briefly gained from Mikasa’s entrance is quickly fading, replaced by a heaviness in his limbs and a nauseating swirl of dread in his stomach.

This isn’t a fun little reunion. They’re here so that Eren can warn them. So that he can try to prevent them from getting hurt.

“Eren?”

His closest friends are looking at him with eyes full of concern, matching frowns on their lips. Eren takes a deep breath.

“Let’s… sit down for this.”

Mikasa and Armin exchange a somber glance before following Eren to Levi’s black couch. They crowd in on either side of him, Armin’s shoulder pressed against Eren's own, and Mikasa’s hand resting lightly on the center of his back. Ready to comfort him, to ease him, like always. Worrying about him, like always. Even though that’s what Eren wanted to prevent.

Where is he even supposed to start? Levi would probably know how to broach the subject, how to fill them in on what’s necessary and nothing else. But Levi isn’t here. Levi is checking on his family, scouting out Kingdom, worrying about Isabel—Fuck, Isabel, please be okay—

Eren rubs his face with his hands. Isabel. It isn’t going to make any sense to his friends, but he has to start there. Start with the problem at hand.

Armin reaches over and squeezes Eren’s arm. Eren takes another deep breath.

“Bear with me for a second,” Eren says. “Do either of you remember the waitress who took our orders the day we met Levi? You might have met her the last time you came to the restaurant too. Red hair, usually in pigtails.”

“Waitress…?” Mikasa echoes with a frown.

Armin gasps, snapping his fingers.

“The one Mikasa yelled at when you ate garlic?” Armin asks, and Mikasa winces, seemingly remembering her too.

“That’s the one,” Eren says, curling and uncurling his hands into fists in his lap. “Her name’s Isabel. I—we’ve gotten pretty close, and she’s like family to Levi, and—”

Eren falters. And now she’s gone. Taken by the Feral King. By Eren’s brother. And he can’t help her. He can’t do anything for her. Fuck. Fuck.

“And?” Armin urges, and Eren squeezes his eyes shut. There’s so much to explain, so much to say, and Eren doesn’t want to say any of it. He wishes more than anything that he could keep them out of the loop, keep them thinking there’s nothing more serious going on than his relationship with Levi, but—

“Tell your friends. Best case scenario, we’re overly cautious.”

“What do you think the worst case would be…?”

“The worst case scenario is that we’re already too late, and your friends are being held as hostages without knowing why. Or they’re already dead.”

They’re not dead. But Eren can’t guarantee that they’re safe yet, either.

“And she’s—” Eren starts, but he falters, even though he knows he should continue. There’s no other way to say it. “She’s been kidnapped.”

Mikasa and Armin are silent. Eerily silent. Eren reluctantly peels his eyes open, looking back and forth at his friends. Mikasa is wearing a frown, but she looks confused, not concerned. Armin’s expression is blank, blue eyes aimed at the ground.

“What… what are you talking about, Eren?” Mikasa asks. “Are you serious?”

Eren meets her dark-eyed gaze, eyelids heavy. He doesn’t answer her question out loud, but he doesn’t need to. Mikasa goes pale, mouth falling open.

“So that’s why you’re—Oh my God. Is she oka—”

Mikasa snaps her mouth shut. Is she okay? Obviously not. Eren’s hands clench into fists again, his nails pressing hard into his palms until they begin to ache.

“I know that it’s—it’s a heavy thing to drop on you guys all of a sudden, but…”

“No,” Mikasa says quickly. “Eren, don’t worry about that. I—I’m glad we can be here for you. Have you called the police already? Are they looking for her? How did you find out?”

Eren bites his lip with his flat front teeth. How much does he have to tell them? Maybe—maybe he can still limit their concern. All he really needs to do is make sure that they’re careful, make sure that they’re aware of possible danger. Maybe he doesn’t need to fill them in on everything. Yeah, he can just keep it to the bare minimum. They don’t need to know about the ferals, about Zeke, about what Eren’s going to do. He can be vague about it. It’s scary, and Levi and I don’t know if other people close to us are in danger too. So be careful, just in case. That’s enough right? They don’t need to know the rest. Then Eren doesn’t have to tell them about the plan. Then they won’t have to argue about Eren throwing himself headfirst into danger—

“Eren,” Armin says, voice low, his gaze still on the ground. “Where’s Levi?”

“What?” Eren blinks, still trying to find a way to phrase the warning without giving too much away. “He’s out checking on his other employees.”

“So it’s not a random kidnapping.” Armin finally raises his head. “Someone specifically went after her.”

Shit.

“What? How did you—”

“Someone important to him was kidnapped,” Armin says, “and Levi’s out checking on his other employees instead of looking for her. So they must be in danger too, right? She wasn’t randomly taken.”

The swirling mass of dread in Eren’s stomach grows bigger. Colder.

“That’s—”

“And you called me and Mikasa here, so you both must think that the kidnapper is targeting people close to Levi. Right? People who know him?”

Shit. Shit.

“Armin,” Mikasa starts, “what are you talking about?”

“You didn’t just bring us here to keep us in the loop, did you, Eren?” Armin asks, pushing himself off the couch and onto his feet. His blue eyes are dark, blond eyebrows furrowed into a scowl. “You brought us here because we’re in danger too.”

Eren hears Mikasa’s breath hitch behind him, her hand falling away from his back, and fuck, fuck this conversation is getting away from him, spiraling too quickly. He jumps to his feet too, reaching for Armin, but his friend steps away, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

“That’s not true, alright?” Eren says, turning his head back and forth to keep his eyes on both his friends. Mikasa begins to slowly curl into herself the couch, and Armin’s expression gets darker by the second. “Yeah, Levi’s worried about the people close to him, but he’s not really connected to either of you, right? So you two should be perfectly fine! He just—we just wanted to warn you to be as careful as we could, but I promise, you both don’t really need to worry about it!”

The words spill out of Eren’s lips frantically, trying to hurry to ease them and assuage their worries, but his friend’s expressions don’t get any lighter. What can he do? What can he say? He isn’t going to let anything happen to them. And—and if somehow he can’t protect them, he and Levi would go save them, just like they’ll save Isabel. Everyone is going to be alright. Everyone Eren cares about is going to be alright.

He has to believe that. He needs to.

“Do you really think that’s my problem with this, Eren?” Armin asks softly.

“What?”

“Did you really think we were going to hear about people close to Levi being targeted and be worried about ourselves?” Armin asks, louder now, blue eyes ablaze with frustration.

“I…” Eren blinks. “But… aren’t you?”

“Eren,” Armin says. “People close to Levi aren’t safe. And you’re the one that’s closest to him.”

Eren’s mouth drops open.

He’s so stupid. What was he thinking? Of course that’s what would really scare them. Of course that would be their biggest concern. How had he not seen this coming?

…Had Levi seen this coming?

“Oh my God,” Mikasa says, and when Eren looks at her, she’s hunched over, her arms wrapped around her abdomen like she’s about to throw up. “Is this why he was teaching you to fight? Did he know that being around him was going to put you in danger?”

“What? No, that’s not—”

“Did you know?” Mikasa snaps, and when she whips her head up to look at him, her face is warped by anger, dark eyes brimming with tears. “Did you know that your life was at stake all the way back then? And you’re just telling us now?”

“No, I—”

Eren stops himself, body sagging. He wants to say, No, it’s not like that. He wants to say, No, I haven’t been hiding anything from you. But he’s been keeping secrets from them from the very start and doesn’t want to start adding lies to the list of ways he’s wronged his best friends.

So Eren falls silent.

“Oh my God.” Mikasa buries her face into her hands. “Oh my God.”

“So he knew?” Armin asks. “Levi knew that being close to him meant trouble. That you might be kidnapped—”

“No!” Eren exclaims, stepping toward Armin again. “This—Isabel was a surprise. We never—Levi had no way of knowing things would end up like this.”

Levi had no way of knowing Zeke would go out of his way just to torment him. No way of knowing he would take hostages just to force Levi to fight him, once and for all.

“He knew enough to feel like he had to teach you to defend yourself,” says Armin, and Eren’s chest aches like one of his ribs has pierced his dead heart.

“No, that’s not—”

“I knew it!” Mikasa snaps. “I knew he couldn’t be trusted—I knew something wasn’t right about him being a vampire hunter. I told you!”

“But that’s not why—”

It’s not Levi’s fault. None of this is Levi’s fault. Eren being in trouble, Eren learning to fight. None of that was started by Levi. Levi has done nothing but try to give Eren ways out, try to keep Eren safe.

“Did he force you into it?” Mikasa asks. “Was it too late to back out by the time you found out? Oh my God, Eren, this asshole was your first—”

No, that’s not it at all—

“What?” Armin gasps, blue eyes growing wide before they narrow into an even harsher glare. “That piece of—”

“Stop!” Eren shouts over the voices of his friends, the swirling mess of stress and dread within him quickly being replaced by the familiar heat of anger. “It was me. I was the one that asked him.”

Finally, Mikasa and Armin are quiet. They exchange glances over Eren’s shoulders as he heaves a sigh, sinking down to sit on Levi’s carpeted floors. He buries his face into his hands so that he doesn’t have to see their accusatory gazes anymore.

“You’re wrong,” Eren says, and his voice is weak, muffled behind his hands. “You’re wrong about all of it. Please don’t blame Levi. It’s my fault.”

“I doubt Isabel being kidnapped is your fault,” Mikasa says, and Eren exhales harshly, pressing his hands harder over his face.

“Not that—Fuck, will you just shut up and listen to me for a second?”

Eren can hear the click of Mikasa’s teeth as she snaps her mouth shut. He sighs again. This is not how he wanted any of this to go. He hadn’t wanted any of this to happen in the first place.

But it’s too late to take it all back.

“He didn’t know it was dangerous just for me to be close to him,” Eren says. “Shit, if he did, don’t you think he and all his friends would be way more cautious? Do you think they’d be casually running a restaurant where any idiot vampire could walk in and see them?”

He raises his head from his hands. Mikasa is still on the couch, her legs folded and pulled close to her chest as she stares at the wall. Armin is standing nearby, his hands in fists as he frowns at the floor. Eren rubs his chest with his palm, the burning inside him gradually cooling.

“...He only taught me how to fight because I asked him. I wanted to know how to kill vampires.”

Two pairs of eyes snap up to look at Eren. He hunches lower towards the ground and avoids their gazes.

“I…I never told you guys about it because I was…”

I was scared of what you would think of me.

“I never told you guys,” Eren starts again, “but ever since I turned, I’ve been…”

It’s too late to hide it anymore. All this arguing isn’t worth it. Levi getting blamed isn’t worth it. If Mikasa and Armin think of less of him… then so be it.

“I’ve… been planning on killing the guys that killed my mom.”

Mikasa lets out a quiet gasp. Armin doesn’t make a sound.

“Everytime I thought about them, I—I would get so angry, like I was going to explode if I didn’t do something. So, Levi helped me, once he was sure that was what I wanted. That’s why we were training. At first.”

It’s quiet for a moment. Then Eren hears footsteps. Someone shuffling closer. Out of the corner of his eye, Eren sees Armin crouching down to sit beside him.

“At first?” Armin asks.

Eren nods. No more trying to hide things or make things vague. That was what caused this misunderstanding in the first place.

“I found out… That what happened to my mom—to me—it’s bigger than I ever thought. It’s complicated to explain, but there’s—there’s a cult of vampires out there doing what they did to me and my mom on a regular basis. Levi’s been getting ready to take them down for ages.”

Mikasa slides off the couch, shuffling on her knees until she’s sitting close to Eren and Armin.

“The leader—he calls himself the King, and he hates Levi’s guts. We’ve all—Levi, me, and the others from the restaurant, I mean—we’ve been trying to get ready to get rid of the guy once and for all, but…”

“But Isabel’s been taken,” Armin finishes, and Eren nods.

“Why… Why did you hide all this from us?” Mikasa asks.

“Because I knew you guys wouldn’t want me to do it,” Eren says, and he frowns. “And apparently because you’d blame Levi for all of it, too.”

Mikasa and Armin wince in unison.

“We… were a bit too quick to do that,” Armin says. “Sorry. We can even apologize to Levi later, if you want.”

Eren scoffs, rubbing his face with his hands.

“Levi would probably agree with you on some of it,” Eren mumbles. “He’s been—we’ve gotten into a lot of arguments because he wants to keep me out of the worst of the danger.”

Though Levi has finally agreed to let Eren be in a more risky position. Probably best not to tell his friends that yet.

“So you’re…” Mikasa bites her lip, reaching out to grab hold of one of Eren’s pant legs. “You’re—you’re really going to do it? You’re going to fight this… this cult? Even though they’ve already kidnapped someone close to you?”

“Even more reason for me to go,” Eren says immediately.

He owes Isabel that much. He has to help her.

“But isn’t it going to be really dangerous—”

“That’s what I’ve been training for all this time.”

“But—”

“Mikasa, this is exactly why I didn’t tell you.”

“I know,” she snaps, holding tighter to Eren’s clothes, lips trembling. “And maybe you were right to not want to tell me! Because I—I don’t want you to go. Losing Mrs. Jaeger was already so much, I can’t—”

Mikasa falters, and there’s a piercing ache in Eren’s chest again, prodding into an already open wound.

“I… I know how you feel,” Eren says. “But I won’t change my mind.”

“It—It doesn’t even have anything to do with you,” Mikasa says, but her voice is a mumble. It doesn’t even sound like she’s trying to convince him anymore. She’s just feebly offering excuses, hoping he’ll take them.

“It does. Two of them killed my mom.”

“But doing what they did is…”

Eren shakes his head.

“I already decided it’s what I want.”

Mikasa squeezes her eyes shut.

“You could—you could just let Levi do it—”

“He offered already. I said I wanted to go.”

“But the leader’s problem is with him, not with you—”

“But the King’s connected to me too.”

Armin jumps in, his voice quiet.

“Connected how?”

Right. Somewhere in that messy explanation, Eren had missed one of the most important parts.

“It’s Zeke.”

Armin frowns, and Mikasa’s eyebrows furrow.

“What about Zeke?” Mikasa asks. “Your asshole brother, Zeke?”

Eren nods.

“But didn’t he… years ago…” Armin gasps. “No. He’s—”

Eren nods again, and Mikasa’s eyes grow wide.

“Oh my God,” she whispers.

Despite everything, Eren manages a half-hearted smile.

“Finally see why I have to go?”

Mikasa’s shoulders sag, and she doesn’t nod or agree, but she stops trying to ask him not to go. When he holds out his hand, she rests hers lightly over his own, letting out a small sigh. Eren looks at Armin next, waiting for his hand to join the pile, waiting to see if he will also give his acceptance.

Armin is staring at their hands, but he doesn’t move.

“Levi’s going to be there?” Armin asks. “At the fight.”

“Yeah. Right beside me.”

Armin’s frown deepens.

“He’s going to protect you?”

“We’re going to protect each other,” Eren says firmly.

“You’re not going to do anything reckless?” Armin asks, lifting his head so that blue eyes meet green.

“I…” Eren averts his gaze, and Armin huffs, the corners of his lips twitching a little.

“At least lie to make me feel better, jerk,” he says, and Eren manages another smile, this one more genuine than the last.

“Well… I’ll try.”

“You’re the worst,” Mikasa mumbles, but Eren’s smile only grows wider.

“Listen,” Armin says, finally laying his hand over Mikasa and Eren’s. “My brain can barely process what’s going on right now, but I… I won’t tell you not to go. But I—”

Armin stops, clearing his throat as his cheeks are slowly stained with red.

“But we love you, so you better come back, alright? Come back in one piece.”

Eren’s smile softens as he meets the gazes of both his friends, their hands still over his own. The weight is comforting. Familiar. It’s something he wants to—needs to return to.

“I will,” he says. “I promise.”

Everything’s going to be alright. They’re going to go stop the Feral King, get Isabel back, and everyone’s going to come home safe and sound.

For a moment, with his friends there beside him, Eren truly believes that.

#riren #riren fanfic

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bitterlikesweets · 1 year

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Love Bites Ch 29

This is the twenty-ninth chapter of a modern/vampire AU riren fanfic. You can also read it on Ao3. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Special | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 Next

Eren wakes up in Levi’s bed. Again. His fingers slide against the sheets, pushing past discarded pieces of clothing and displaced pillows until he bumps into something firm and warm. His palm moves over it, grabbing hold and squeezing.

“That’s my leg,” says Levi.

Eren smiles, his eyes still closed, and squeezes again. Levi snorts.

“Morning,” Levi says.

“Actually morning?”

There’s a pause, and Eren guesses that Levi’s rolling his eyes.

“Yes, brat. Actually morning.”

Eren yawns, dragging himself closer to wherever Levi is on the bed before opening his eyes. Levi is already dressed, though still in yesterday’s clothes. When Eren sees that his hand is on Levi’s thigh, he gives it another squeeze before pushing himself even closer so that he can drop his head into the man’s lap.

“Good morning then, Levi.”

Levi shakes his head and lets out a brief scoff. But his fingers find their way between the strands of Eren’s hair, as gentle as always. Eren smiles before reaching for his clothes, slowly getting dressed as Levi combs his fingers through Eren’s hair.

“How are you feeling?” Levi asks, pulling his hands away, briefly, so that Eren can tug on his shirt.

“Hmmm…” Eren stretches his arms up, yawning. Levi’s fingers land among his brown strands again. “Feeling like I could’ve handled it if you fucked me senseless.”

Levi’s soft touch on his head becomes rough, tugging hard enough at Eren’s hair for the vampire to wince, though it’s more out of surprise than pain.

“Don’t quote that shit at me,” Levi grumbles. “I said it in the heat of the moment.”

“You have no right to say that to me!” Eren exclaims, pulling on his pants. “How much of my ‘heat of the moment’ shit gets quoted all the time? You’re lucky only I was around to hear it. Furlan still calls me ‘Levi’s good boy’ every time I see him.”

“You should hear those shitheads when you’re not around,” Levi says. “I swear you’ve become like a fucking slang dictionary for them. Isabel says ‘big chillin’’ enough to drive me insane.”

Eren groans, burying his face in his hands.

“First: I’m going to strangle Isabel. Second: Never say big chillin’ again. It sounds so wrong coming from you.”

Levi chuckles, nudging Eren’s cheek with his knuckles.

“I’ll agree to that.”

Eren pulls his hands away from his eyes to curl his fingers around Levi’s. The man’s pale fingers are warm in his.

“Both parts?” Eren asks. “Isabel strangling included?”

“As long as she lives after it.”

Eren lets out an exaggerated sigh.

“That ruins the whole thing!”

A ringing phone cuts through their conversation, and Levi sighs, leaning over to the bedside table to answer it.

“Speak of the devil,” Levi says, narrowing his eyes at the screen. “It’s Isabel.”

“Tell her I’m gonna strangle her if she keeps saying ‘big chillin.’”

Levi rolls his eyes and presses the phone to his ear.

“What is it?” Levi asks before Isabel can even speak. “I’m coming to the Kitchen soon.”

Eren’s sensitive ears catch the voice on the other line, even with Levi’s volume low.

“You’re going to work this early? How diligent of you, Ackerman.”

It’s not Isabel.

Eren sits up. Levi’s face has gone hard, holding his phone with a white-knuckled grip.

“Who is this?”

“You don’t recognize me? That’s a shame… I could never forget the sound of your voice.” A laugh comes from the phone. “It grates on me now as much as it did back then.”

Eren’s chest squeezes like there are walls pressing in on him from all sides. His mouth falls open. It’s been years since he’s heard it, but Eren knows the owner of that voice all too well.

Zeke.

“What the hell did you do to Isabel?” Levi snaps, and his eyes are narrowed into slits, the gray of his eyes nearly black.

“I borrowed her,” says Zeke, voice as light as if he were talking about borrowing a book. Eren’s hands clench into fists, a burning, painful heat igniting his chest. “We aren’t supposed to feed for a week or two more, but… Mr. Ksaver is getting thirsty. You know better than anyone how he gets, Ackerman.”

Levi sucks in a breath, and Eren’s eyes snap towards him, unsure why Levi’s eyes have gone wide, why the man’s hands are clenching into even tighter fists.

Zeke laughs through the phone again, and the sound of it puts a bitter taste in Eren’s mouth. He feels his chest heaving, feels his body tensing as the burning continues to build, build, build in him because he doesn’t know what Zeke is talking about or who Ksaver is, but he knows that Isabel is in danger, and he can’t stand the thought of Zeke hurting someone he cares about again.

Eren doesn’t want to lose his family again.

“Hm? There’s another person with you?”

Levi and Eren make eye contact. Eren tries to hold his breath, to calm his unsteady lungs, but it’s hard when he’s burning up from the inside out, when his hands want to do something, hit something, hurt something—

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Levi says flatly, narrowing his eyes at Eren.

Eren sinks his fangs into his bottom lip in an attempt to quiet himself, but the intensity of his breathing doesn’t calm. Eren’s nostrils flare as Zeke continues speaking, his fangs biting deeper into his lip until Eren can taste blood on his tongue.

“No need to lie. It’s not like it matters to me. Having one of your little dogs is enough for my purposes.” Eren can hear Zeke smacking his lips. “Though her blood was… low caliber.”

No. No. Eren can imagine it too easily. Isabel, neck bloodied, Zeke standing over her—just like those two ferals and Eren’s mom—

Levi slides off the bed and onto his feet. Eren watches him with wide eyes before quickly pounding his fist against his chest, breath stuttering. He can’t panic. Not now. Not when Isabel’s in danger.

But Eren can’t stop his hands from trembling.

He can’t even remember to wipe the blood from his lips as he hops off the bed and follows Levi out of the room.

“Where are you?” Levi asks, marching down the hall.

“I’ll be at Kingdom by the time you’re capable of doing anything.”

Levi hisses out a sigh, dragging his fingers through his hair as he rushes down the stairs. Eren keeps his hands in tight fists at his sides as he follows. The painful press of his fingernails into his own skin is the only thing keeping his mind clear, grounding him enough to really listen instead of having his mind filled with images of the night he lost his mother, the night he lost everything—

Eren presses his nails even harder into his palms, taking a deep breath. He has to listen. He doesn’t want to miss any information that could help them bring Isabel back safe.

They have to bring her back safe.

“What do you want?” Levi snaps, making a sharp turn towards his coat closet once they reach the bottom of the stairs. “I’m tired of you dragging this bullshit out. You want me at your fucking club; fine. What else? What do I need to do for you to give me Isabel?”

Eren bites his lip and paces back and forth across the room, unable to do anything, wishing he could do much more, do anything as his mind fills with a frantic swirl of questions. Zeke—how did he—why did he—

No. Wondering why is useless. Eren knows Zeke is a sick bastard, and he doesn’t need any more explanation than that. No reason would justify kidnapping Isabel in Eren’s mind, anyway. No reason would justify anything Zeke has done until now.

Eren blinks and sees his mother’s smiling face behind his closed lids. He takes in a ragged breath as Zeke speaks again.

“I want a trade.”

“Of what?” Levi shouts into the phone, dragging his fingers through his hair again as he throws open the door to the closet. “Tell me what you fucking want, or I’ll—”

“You’ll kill me?” Zeke laughs again. “That’s exactly what I want—for you to try. Come to Kingdom, Ackerman. Do your best. Bring whoever you’d like!”

Zeke’s voice rises in volume as he continues. Eren’s eyes narrow, his stomach swirling with disgust at the sound of his brother’s voice. Zeke sounds almost… joyful. Excited.

“The more the merrier, Ackerman,” Zeke says. “Nothing would make me happier than your whole fake family being present to watch you die.”

A beep signals the end of the call. Levi’s hand drops from his ear, the phone held loosely in his grip. Zeke is gone.

For a moment, there is nothing but silence between them. Levi stands in front of his coat closet with his head lowered. Eren stares at the floor, mouth open, lips still bloody. Isabel—their plans—everything they’ve been getting ready for fell apart so quickly, so easily—

Eren presses his hands against the side of his head, the calm he forced upon himself during the call quickly evaporating. His fangs pierce his lips again, and his green eyes are wide as he stares at the carpet. Unsteady breaths leak out of him, chest trembling as his whole body begins to shake. How—how much time do they have? How hurt is Isabel? Is this a trap—No, fuck, obviously it’s a trap, but what else can they do? They can’t leave Isabel for dead, they can’t—

A loud thud drags Eren’s gaze from the floor to where Levi is standing. The man is hunched, his fist buried in a dent in the wall that wasn’t there before. He sees Levi’s chest heaving, sees the ragged rise and fall of his shoulders.

“Levi—”

“Give me a second.”

Eren falls silent at Levi’s harsh tone, fingernails pressing harder at his scalp, bloody lips trembling as he tries to breathe, to calm down, but he’s only spiraling further and further. He’s seeing red eyes whenever he blinks, seeing his mother’s bloodied form overlapping with Isabel’s behind his closed eyes, no, no, please, anything but that—not again, not again—

No.

Eren pulls his hands away from his head and sinks his fangs into his fist, grounding himself with that burst of pain, or at least trying to, desperately trying to drag his mind out of that dark hellhole of thoughts because there’s no time, no time for panic, no time for reliving nightmares.

Their current situation isn’t a nightmare yet. Isabel is alive. Zeke could be lying to them, could have already killed her, but Eren doesn’t want to think about that possibility. She is alive. They’re going to find her. Get her. Save her. Isabel is alive. She has to be.

Eren pulls his fangs out of his shaking hand, wincing at the sensation and the taste of his own blood, his mouth coated in it. He can taste it now that his mind is back in the present. He looks at Levi across the room again, absentmindedly licking his wounds to get them to heal again.

Levi is still hunched with his fist in the wall. Eren takes a few cautious steps closer to him, waiting after every movement to make sure Levi can ask for space if he needs it.

But Levi does not send Eren away even when the vampire moves close enough to bend down and rest his head against Levi’s shoulder, nuzzling his face into the man’s neck.

Levi takes a deep breath, pulling his bruised fist away from the wall to cradle Eren’s head and pull him closer.

“You okay?” Levi asks, and Eren nods into his shoulders.

“Okay enough.”

He still tastes his own blood on his tongue.

“‘Okay enough,’” Levi echoes, leaning his head against Eren’s. “Me too.”

“What do we do?” Eren asks, and Levi sighs.

“I need to make sure the others are okay,” Levi says, and Eren nods again. “And scout out Kingdom as much as I can without getting caught.”

“I’m coming with you.”

“No, you’re not,” Levi says, and Eren scowls, pulling away to glare down at Levi.

“Levi—”

“You can’t,” Levi says with another sigh, placing his hand on the vampire’s cheek. “I know how you feel, but it’s daylight, Eren.”

Eren’s eyes widen before his whole body sags, disappointment weighing him down like sandbags piled on his shoulders.

“I… forgot about that.”

Eren can’t do anything. Isabel is in danger, Levi is about to put himself at risk, and Eren can’t do anything. He’s not going to be of use to anyone if he goes out just to burn to ash in the sunlight. Not that he’s any more useful just sitting around, waiting for things to get done. Fuck.

Levi sighs again, running his fingers through his hair.

“Listen, I won’t do anything risky without you. We probably need to wait until night before going to get Isabel anyway.”

Eren winces. Isabel stuck with Zeke and the ferals all day… Eren hates the thought of that. But Levi’s right. What else can they do? They can’t send Levi alone, and Erwin and Hanji can’t go with him for the same reason that Eren can’t. Even if all the people from the Kitchen went, that’s a lot of vampires against a group of humans… Plus, Zeke has a hostage…

Eren’s shoulders hunch.

“If… If Furlan’s okay, take him with you,” Eren says, though he hates that there has to be an ‘if’ in that request. Fuck, everyone else better be okay. If there’s someone else besides Isabel in danger—If anyone else is hurt or worse—

Eren bites his lip again, and Levi’s eyes narrow, reaching up to brush his thumb against the corner of Eren’s mouth.

“I will,” Levi says. “Don’t worry so much. Isabel…”

Levi falters, lowering his gaze.

“...Isabel’s strong,” Levi says. Eren gets the feeling he’s saying so to comfort himself as much as it’s to comfort Eren.

Eren lowers his head, Zeke’s insufferable voice echoing in his head. Borrowing Isabel because one of his fucking ferals is already thirsty… Yeah, right. This is to torture Levi; his comment about wanting to see Levi die in front of his “fake family” is proof of that. Fuck, Eren’s blood boils just thinking about it. As if he’ll ever let that happen. Eren will tear out Zeke’s fucking throat before he can even get close—

Eren takes a deep breath, trying to quell the burning, violent heat in his chest, at least temporarily. He can’t act on it right now. He needs to focus on what he can do. Or at least what he knows. Zeke has Isabel… One of the ferals wants to drink early…

Eren frowns, glancing at Levi, whose gray eyes are narrowed, the man’s gaze clouded as he stares at the ground.

“Levi,” Eren says, “who’s Ksaver?”

Levi’s hands retreat from Eren’s face, his expression warped by a scowl.

“Ksaver’s the bastard who killed my mother.”

Eren’s eyes grow wide, and he takes a step back.

“What?” Eren asks. “Did—Did you know he and Zeke were working together?”

Levi presses a hand against his forehead, hissing out a sigh through clenched teeth.

“I’ve known for a while. I think the little shit’s been protecting Ksaver to fuck with me,” Levi says, massaging his temples with his fingers. “I don’t know how the hell they even met each other. Kenny and I searched for him for years with no luck, and one day I heard from Hanji and Erwin that he’d been spotted at the King’s fucking club—”

Levi sighs again, shaking his head.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Doesn’t matter?” Eren asks with a frown. “If that guy was able to kill your mom—”

“He’s just an old man,” Levi snaps, shaking his head again. “My mother only died because I was too weak to fight for myself.”

Eren’s frown softens, eyebrows curving in concern as Levi stares down at his fists. He can’t imagine the stress Levi is feeling right now—the stress he’s trying so hard to hold back. Isabel being taken—being used as a potential bloodbag for the same person who killed Levi’s mom—

“That old fuck isn’t going to do anything to Isabel,” Levi says, his gaze still lowered. “I won’t let him.”

Eren reaches out, placing his hand over one of Levi’s fists.

“We won’t.”

Levi takes a deep breath, his gray-eyed gaze slowly rising to meet Eren’s before nodding.

“We won’t.”

Eren manages an unsteady smile.

“So… You’re going to check on everyone,” Eren says slowly. “What should I—what can I do?”

Eren can’t—he can’t just sit here doing nothing. He might not be able to leave Levi’s house until the sun sets but… But there has to be something he can do, right? Some way he can help? Something he can do for Isabel or to help Levi get revenge on this Ksaver guy, or to stop Zeke, or—or something. There has to be something.

Levi frowns.

“...Tell your friends about what’s going on.”

Eren blinks, brown eyebrows rising.

“Wha—You mean Mikasa and Armin? Why? They don’t even know… Well, anything, really.”

He never told them about Zeke, about all the training, about the plan… He wanted to prevent them from worrying.

…And he wanted to prevent them from trying to stop him. He’s done everything he can to keep them completely in the dark. Telling them now would be… messy. And that’s putting it lightly.

“I know,” Levi says, stepping away from Eren and turning back to the coat closet. “But if Zeke is kidnapping people, we can’t be too careful. We don’t know how much he knows.”

Levi glances over his shoulder at Eren.

“Or if he knows about you at all.”

Levi turns back to the closet and pulls out a black leather trench coat, and the smell of garlic makes Eren take a few steps back, sensitive nose twitching.

“You’re saying…”

“I’m saying why the fuck should we think he’s going to stop at just Isabel?” Levi asks, tugging on the coat and tucking stakes of different sizes into pockets sewn into its lining. “We’re lucky you were with me. If he had tried to get you instead, I—”

Levi stops, and Eren hears a wooden stake begin to crack in the man’s hand.

“...I wouldn’t be here right now,” Levi says, voice low, and Eren swallows, easily able to imagine Levi rushing straight to Zeke’s club alone, despite how stupid and reckless that would be. Despite the fact that that would definitely get him killed.

Eren knows he’d probably do the exact same thing.

“Tell your friends,” Levi says, kneeling down and pulling some small vials of clear liquid out from the bottom of the closet. “Best case scenario, we’re overly cautious.”

“What do you think the worst case would be…?”

Levi looks back at Eren with a dark gaze, his lips in a tight frown.

“The worst case scenario is that we’re already too late, and your friends are being held as hostages without knowing why. Or they’re already dead.”

Eren clasps a hand around his neck, pressing his fingers against his Mark as he tries to take in a steadying breath.

He shouldn’t have asked.

“But Zeke would’ve told us that,” Levi says, grabbing a crossbow before getting to his feet and kicking the closet door shut. “This is just a precaution.”

Eren stares at the floor, his hand still around his neck as he tries not to imagine his best friends tied up somewhere, necks torn open, dark figures with red eyes standing over them, waiting—

Eren bites into his lip again, forcing himself to suck in a deep breath.

“I’ll call them,” Eren says.

“You can let them come here, if you want,” Levi says.

He steps closer, but Eren’s sensitive nose scrunches in reaction to the overwhelming garlic smell emanating from the hunter’s clothes. Levi notices the reaction and stops, letting out a weary sigh. Guilt and longing swirl in Eren’s chest, but he doesn’t speak, doesn’t move, and Levi doesn’t attempt to get any closer either.

For a moment, they stand in silence on opposite sides of the room. Eren, still in yesterday’s clothes, a hand clasped around his neck, shoulders hunched. Levi, in his heavy coat laden with weapons, his expression dark, and a crossbow held tight in his grip.

“...I’ll be back soon. As soon as I’m done checking on everyone, I’ll come straight back to you.”

Eren nods, forcing his lips into what he hopes is an encouraging smile.

“Don’t go dying on me, asshole.”

Levi scoffs.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, brat.”

They lock eyes, gray meeting green, hanging on for a moment longer, just a moment longer.

But then Levi turns away, heading out of the room, out of the house, out to make sure the rest of his family is still intact.

When Eren is left alone, he can’t help but think of the last promise he made Levi. Hoping that he can keep it.

Hoping, even more so, that he won’t have to.

#riren #riren fanfic

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bitterlikesweets · 2 years

Text

Love Bites Ch 28

This is the twenty-eighth chapter of a modern/vampire AU riren fanfic. You can also read it on Ao3. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Special | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 Next

Also... this chapter contains mature content.

Eren can’t even blink before Levi’s lips crash into his, forceful and impatient. Any hesitation Eren had left fades instantly, his hands sliding away from Levi’s shirt to wrap his arms around the man’s neck. Eren pulls Levi down until they’re pressed chest to chest, lips not parting even for a moment, not even to breathe, not yet. Not yet because Eren wants more. Because it’s not enough, it’ll never be enough, even if they never stop.

Eren feels the press of teeth against his bottom lip, and his mouth parts with a gasp, fangs throbbing, but for once, not for blood. His jaw tenses as Levi nips at him lower, at his jaw, still moving downwards, hovering over Eren’s throat. Fuck, fuck, fuck, he wants to bite Levi, but he shouldn’t, he can’t, not with fangs like these, not with Levi’s fragile skin… Smooth, pale skin… Fuck.

“Eren…” Levi says slowly, and just the sound of his name in Levi’s voice makes Eren tremble, his hands grasping onto Levi’s shoulders to keep himself grounded. “What do you want from me, Eren?”

“I…”

Eren’s fingers press into Levi’s shoulders as he tries to pull his thoughts together enough to process the question, but it’s hard when he can still feel Levi’s breath against his neck, can feel the press of the man’s flat teeth as they nip and pinch his skin. It’s hard when his Mark begins to burn, heating, hurting as Levi makes his way lower, closer to that spot.

“Eren,” Levi whispers. Eren shivers. “Tell me.”

“I… want…”

Without warning, Levi shifts, biting down on Eren’s shoulder hard. Eren’s body jumps, head pressing back into the bed, but at the same time, he clenches his teeth, frustration bursting to life in his chest because this bastard knows what Eren wants, otherwise he wouldn’t bite so fucking close to the damn Mark, wouldn’t be such an insufferable fucking tease.

“Levi,” Eren says, and he’s trying to make the words a snap, but there’s not enough breath in his lungs. “Stop being a dick and fucking bite my Mark already—”

A pair of canines pierce that aching, burning spot on Eren’s neck before he can even finish his sentence, and Eren’s fingers dig into Levi’s shoulders, his mouth falling open, eyes squeezing shut. Tingling, electric heat spills out from his Mark, spreading all across his body until he’s not even fully conscious of all the ways he’s trembling, writhing. All he knows is that it’s hot and Levi is close and fuck everything feels so, so good.

When Levi pulls away, Eren sags onto the sheets, breath escaping him in short pants. His green eyes are half-lidded as Levi moves up to be face to face with him again, leaning down for an open-mouthed kiss.

“Eren,” he mumbles against Eren’s lips, “I don’t know what you’re always going on about.”

“Huh…?”

Levi kisses him again, deeper this time, tongues intermingling. Eren tastes something… familiar. Metallic.

Levi pulls back again, moving down towards Eren’s Mark to lick across it, and Eren shudders again, fangs throbbing as he looks at Levi’s neck, pale, smooth, exposed, right there just for him—

“When you talk about blood,” Levi continues, coming back to kiss Eren once more. “You always talk about how it’s delicious.”

“And?” Eren asks, a bit impatient because he’s still hot, blood buzzing through his veins in anticipation, still wanting more, more.

“And,” Levi says, pressing a kiss against Eren’s jaw, “your blood tastes like shit.”

Eren laughs, in spite of the situation, in spite of the way his body is still trembling and tingling every time they make contact, in spite of everything.

“Levi, what the fuck?” Eren asks, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. “Why are you making jokes right now?”

Levi is quiet, and Eren pulls his hand away from his eyes to look up at the man with his eyebrows raised. But as soon as they make eye contact, Eren’s breath stutters, something soft fluttering in his chest.

Levi’s expression is gentle, gray eyes narrowed, the smallest of smiles on his lips, black eyebrows raised slightly, relaxed. It’s so openly fond that Eren feels almost… shy about it. Even though they really should be past the point of being shy by now.

“Eren.”

“Y-yeah?”

“I love you.”

Eren’s breath stalls, and he turns his head away, lifting his arm so that he can hide his face in the crook of his elbow. When he responds, it’s a strained whisper. He hopes Levi can hear it.

“I-I love you too.”

Levi laughs, pressing a kiss on the arm hiding Eren’s face from sight.

“That’s what gets you? We say it all the time.”

“Shut up! Dumbass!”

Levi laughs again, and Eren pouts, slowly letting his arm fall back down to the sheets. Levi is still staring fondly down at him, one of the man’s pale hands sliding idly up and down his side, lifting up Eren’s shirt slightly in the process.

“Levi?”

“Hm?”

“What do you want?”

Levi’s eyes widen for a moment, but his lids slowly lower, black eyebrows dipping down.

“What do I want…?”

Levi shifts over him, moving back slightly on the bed. His hand lingers by Eren’s hips, pale fingers grabbing hold of his now exposed waist. Eren looks up at him with a confused smile, eyebrows raised. Why is he drawing this out so much?

“You sure you want to know?” Levi asks, his thumb rubbing slow circles into Eren’s hip. Eren’s eyes narrow.

“I do,” he says. “Tell me.”

“Eren…” Levi leans down, voice low. “I want to fuck you senseless.”

Eren’s thoughts slam to a halt. He doesn’t remember how to breathe.

His lungs are forced to remember when Levi’s hips grind down against his, pulling a gasp from Eren’s lips, green eyes wide from the sudden onslaught of sensations especially because fuck, fuck, it’s not just one burst of friction, Levi’s still moving—

“L-Levi…”

Eren’s eyes squeeze shut, fingers curling into the sheets, mouth opening and closing soundlessly as he struggles not to cry out. So much—all of sudden—so much—

“God fucking dammit,” Levi says, taking in a sharp breath, and he leans lower, pressing harder, fuck, fuck, fuck. “Tried so fucking hard to be patient about it… Take it slow…”

Eren sinks his fangs into his bottom lip, hips jerking, arms trembling as Levi practically pins him to the bed, pressing against him, trapping Eren against him. Eren can’t—he can’t—fuck, he can’t think—he can’t even control how his body moves—

“Wanted to make things easy on you,” Levi continues, “even though you were always fucking testing me.”

Eren’s fingers claw at the mattress, eyes wide as Levi continues to move against him, slow, almost rhythmic, fuck.

“I—” Eren sucks in a breath, swiping his tongue across his bitten bottom lip to stop the bleeding. “I wasn’t—”

“You weren’t?” Levi asks, and his hips grind down with more force than before.

This time Eren can’t hold back his voice, back arching, head pressing back against the pillow, his body writhing in tandem with Levi’s nearly without his own permission. It’s instinct, it’s heat burning throughout him uncontrolled, it’s so much all at once. So good, too good.

“I—Levi—”

“What do you call sitting in my lap, telling me you want me?” Levi asks, and Eren lifts his shaky arms from the sheets to curl into Levi’s shirt. “Calling yourself my good boy?”

Eren trembles, a whimper escaping him, and Levi’s face dips into the crook of his neck, teeth nipping at his collarbones, skirting around the Mark, close but never on that sensitive spot directly.

“I…” Eren grits his teeth, writhing on the sheets, trying feebly to keep enough focus to form a full sentence, but fuck, it’s so damn hard when he can feel Levi against him, when the man relentlessly reminds him of their positions with every thrust of his hips. “I was… drunk… And you were the one who… put me on your lap.”

“You tried to strip me that night.”

“Just…” Eren gasps, fingers scratching Levi’s shoulders, barely holding back. “Just your shirt…”

“You’re arguing with me over nothing,” Levi says, lips sliding across Eren’s neck to hover over the Mark, and Eren’s entire body tenses in anticipation of that burst of tingling heat, waiting for the familiar press of Levi’s teeth against his skin. “You were testing my patience, Eren. I know you were.”

Eren feels a puff of breath against his shoulder. He knows, he knows Levi is lingering over the Mark, lips parted, and Eren’s own fangs are throbbing, waiting for it, wanting to bite and be bitten. Fuck, fuck, fuck, please—

“My patience is gone now,” Levi says, “and I told you what I want.”

Without warning, Levi stops, his body stilling over Eren’s, lips still hovering tauntingly over Eren’s neck. A small, frustrated sound escapes Eren’s throat, still trembling all over, still burning, tingling, wanting more, because it’s not enough, not yet.

Though some of Eren’s impatience subsides when Levi speaks up again, quieter than before, the rough edge to his voice temporarily absent.

“Are you okay with that, Eren?”

Eren’s hands on Levi’s shoulders shift to curl around the man’s neck, a small smile on his lips. Levi raises his face away from Eren’s Mark, gray eyes meeting green.

“You’re going to tell me you’re out of patience then give me a way to back out?” Eren asks, raising his eyebrows.

“I’m not going to be fucking happy about it if you run out on me,” Levi grumbles, “but I’m not going to force you, Eren.”

Eren laughs a little, leaning up to press his lips against Levi’s briefly, sweetly. Then, he leans up, until his lips are close to Levi’s ear.

“Levi,” he whispers, grinning when he hears the man’s breath hitch. “...Fuck me senseless.”

“Eren.”

Pain and pleasure bloom on Eren’s neck in tandem, and the suddenness of Levi’s teeth on his Mark makes Eren arch upwards, his back off the bed. The second their bodies make contact again, Levi’s hips press down, and Eren gasps, eyes wide, clinging to Levi’s shoulders with shaking arms as a tightness forms in the pit of Eren’s stomach, his body pulsing in two places at once.

“W-wait—”

“Wait?”

Eren’s mouth falls open, feeling lighter bites against his Mark, his neck, his collarbone, everywhere, while Levi’s hand slides along his chest, pushing his shirt up towards Eren’s shoulders.

“A little late for that, Eren.”

Levi reaches up to remove Eren’s arms from around him, tugging the vampire’s shirt up and off. Eren trembles beneath Levi’s fingers as a pale hand slides across his chest, down his abs, fingers hooking into Eren’s waistband. But his hips pause their movements, and Eren does his best to take a deep breath.

“You want me to stop?” Levi asks, shifting back on the bed a bit, his other hand dropping onto Eren’s knee.

“N-no,” Eren says weakly, green eyes half open. “It’s just… a lot..”

“Hmm…”

The pale hand on Eren’s waistband moves to grip his other knee. Eren’s hips twitch as Levi slowly, slowly begins to push his legs apart, gray eyes never leaving Eren’s gaze. Slowly, slowly, Levi’s hands slide downward, until he’s gripping the inside of Eren’s thighs.

“Good.”

Eren squirms on the bed as Levi strips off the rest of his clothes one by one, torn between wanting to hide himself and wanting to pull Levi's clothes off too. Wanting to see more of Levi, more of his pale skin… Eren reaches up, his hands curling into Levi's shirt as the man stares down at him, hands roaming along his hips and thighs.

Levi's eyes narrow and Eren stiffens, suddenly realizing that this is the first time Levi has seen him like this—the first time anyone has seen him like this, touched him like this, been with him like this.

And Levi's hovering over him with an unreadable expression, still holding Eren's legs apart.

"Eren…"

Eren pulls hard on Levi's shirt, yanking the man down until Levi's chin is nearly touching his chest, cheeks warming.

"Don't," he says, and Levi frowns.

"Don't what?"

"Don't… stare so much."

Levi's eyebrows raise a little, one of his hands moving to cover Eren’s, which are still gripping tightly to Levi’s shirt.

“Hearing that makes me want to stare more,” Levi says, guiding Eren’s hands upwards, pulling his shirt up with it.

Eren’s breath hitches as Levi lets him pull the shirt all the way off, eyes filling with pale, pale skin. Muscular, scarred. Eren’s fingers drift to a small scar on Levi’s chest, a dark indent on his skin, right over his heart. Eren can feel it pounding beneath his fingertips.

“That night, Levi had one of Kenny’s crossbow bolts stuck between one of his ribs.”

Petra’s words echo in Eren’s mind, briefly, as his fingers trace every scar he can find. Faded scratches just below Levi’s ribs. Healed gashes along the sides of Levi’s abdomen. A long, raised scar cutting across the bottom of Levi’s stomach.

“Now you’re the one staring, brat.”

“Mmmhmm…”

Eren’s hands push Levi’s waistband down almost without thinking, leaving it low on Levi’s hips so that he can finish tracing that big scar on his stomach to where it ends a few inches below his navel. Eren only realizes how low his hands have gotten when Levi’s stomach twitches in reaction to his touch.

Eren looks up at Levi, a teasing smile on his lips.

“Ticklish?”

Levi huffs.

“Something like that.”

Levi leans down. Eren closes his eyes as their lips meet.

“Levi.”

“Hm?”

“You’re being pretty slow about all this… considering what you said earlier.”

“You fucking brat,” Levi grumbles. “‘Bite me already.’ ‘Wait.’ ‘Don’t stare.’ Now I’m too slow. You don’t even know what you want.”

Eren’s face grows hot again, and he scowls up at Levi.

“I—I’m new to this, okay? I don’t—I don’t really know what I’m doing.”

“I know.” Levi leans down to kiss him again. “That’s why you should just shut up and leave it to me.”

“Don’t be a dick,” Eren mumbles, but his voice lacks animosity, too busy trying to chase Levi’s kiss as the man pulls away again. Levi’s hands are back on Eren’s hips, pale lips traveling to Eren’s ear.

“I don’t mind being one,” Levi whispers, “since either way, I’ll be buried in your—”

“Levi!”

Levi laughs, loud and boisterous, and it’s so strange to hear it from him, so different from his usual restrained chuckles. Levi’s head drops onto Eren’s chest, the laughter fading quickly, though the man’s shoulders are still bouncing with the remnants of it.

“Too much?”

“Way too fucking much.”

“You’ll get used to it.”

“Levi.”

Levi moves up to press a kiss against the underside of Eren’s jaw, and Eren can feel the smile on the man’s lips. Asshole.

“You’re supposed to be the one who has a hard time saying shit,” Eren grumbles.

“I have exceptions.”

“Clearly.”

Levi smiles at him, and Eren glares back, though it’s hard to keep the angry expression when Levi’s gaze is so soft, when his touch is so gentle, when they’re so close like this. Exposed like this.

“More comfortable now?” Levi asks.

“Huh?”

Levi pulls one of his hands away from its resting place on Eren’s waist to brush the back of his hand across Eren’s cheek.

“You seemed like you were getting stressed.”

Eren’s shoulders hunch, and he averts his gaze, catching his bottom lip between his flat front teeth.

“...I’m sorry. Even in a moment like this, you’re having to accommodate me…”

Even though Levi said earlier that his patience was gone, that he was tired of waiting, he’s still…

“I don’t mind,” Levi says. “I can wait for you.”

“I just—I hate that you have to wait for me. I even asked what you wanted, and we’re still—”

“Eren.”

Levi’s hand on his cheek grabs hold of Eren’s chin, turning his head and forcing the vampire to look up at him.

“I want you,” he says. “That’s it.”

“But you said—”

Levi leans down, pressing their lips together, hard, almost forceful. Eren’s mouth parts beneath the pressure, but Levi pulls back. Eren can feel the man’s breath on his lips, gray eyes staring right into his own, impossible to look away from.

“Tell you what,” Levi whispers, both his hands back on Eren’s hips, sliding lower. Inward. “Let’s make a deal.”

“A deal…?”

“This time…” Levi says, hands inching to a place that makes Eren’s breath stutter, even though Levi hasn’t touched it yet, even though he’s just getting closer, closer. “...Is for you. As slow as you need.”

“Okay…”

One of Levi’s hands retreats, and he can hear clothes rustling, something sliding off, but Eren can’t focus on it when Levi’s eyes are still holding his gaze hostage, when Levi’s other hand is rubbing circles into the inside of Eren’s thigh, so close, so close—

“Next time,” Levi continues, eyes narrowing, voice husky. “I get to fuck you as rough as I want.”

Eren’s breath hitches, eyes widening.

“Deal?” Levi asks, moving closer, slightly closer, close enough that their lips nearly touch as he speaks.

“D-deal.”

Levi smiles.

“Good boy.”

It's like something snaps. The thin thread containing all their hesitation breaks and suddenly Eren's fingers are digging into Levi's shoulders because Levi is hot and hard against him, two pale hands wrapped around them, pressing them together and fuck, fuck, Eren can't breathe, can't think—

"Sounds like you like that," Levi mumbles, his lips near Eren's cheek, panting above his ear, and Eren's hips are jerking hastily, messily.

Eren doesn't have a fucking clue what Levi is talking about until he realizes his mouth is open, moans spilling out from the vampire’s lips.

"Shit," Levi mumbles, and Eren can hear the man's heavy breathing so well, can feel it against the shell of his ear, and fuck, Levi is biting again, nipping at Eren's neck—fuck, Levi’s grip just got tighter—

"L-Levi…"

"Feels good?" Levi asks, and Eren sucks in a shaky breath, trying not to claw his fingers against Levi's back too hard, not wanting to hurt Levi, but it's so much. Almost too much to handle.

"Good, but I—I can't—"

"Shit, just—" Even Levi is stuttering, his words interrupted by sharp gasps and grunts. "Just a little more."

"Levi—"

Eren gasps, legs trembling, feet sliding back and forth across the bed sheets as one of Levi's hands pulls away and moves lower, pressing but not entering.

"A little more," Levi says again. "You okay with that?"

“Yes, fuck—” Eren’s mouth opens, fangs throbbing and he wants to bite Levi so bad, but he shouldn’t. He can’t. “Please.”

Pale fingers plunge inward without further hesitation, and Eren gasps, squeezing his eyes shut. His fingers flex against Levi’s shoulders, but he can’t even focus fully on the new sensation because Levi is still pressed against him, hot against him. Levi’s lips are still pressing distracting kisses and bites along his skin, Levi’s pale shoulders are still close enough to bite. Levi’s warm skin beneath his fingertips, covered in a sheen of sweat. Levi’s unsteady breaths, Levi’s pounding heart, Levi’s blood rushing through his veins—Eren can’t think of anything else. His senses are full of the man he loves, completely absorbed by him, overwhelmed by him.

Eren loves that. Him and Levi intertwined. Like it’s just the two of them in their own world, like all their worries are nonexistent. He doesn’t want anything more than that.

Well… No. That’s not true. Right now, there is something else. Something else he wants. Something to connect them completely.

“A little more,” Levi whispers in his ear, and another of Levi’s fingers joins the first. “You okay?”

“Y-yeah, but—”

Levi strikes a spot that sends a surge of heat through Eren, stopping his train of thought as his back arches, eyes wide. Levi chuckles against Eren’s ear.

“You like that?”

“Ye—” Eren takes in a deep breath, or at least the best one he can manage in this state. “Y-yeah, but…”

“But?” Levi asks, even as his fingers and hips pick up speed, even as his hand around them both starts squeezing tighter, tighter, fuck.

“Levi,” Eren says, his own hands sliding helplessly along the man’s back, “you need to slow down, or I’m—”

Levi stops immediately, obediently. Eren sags against the bed as Levi rearranges himself above him, green eyes slipping shut.

“You want to stop here?” Levi asks, and Eren scowls, though he doesn’t open his eyes.

“Fuck no. Don’t be stupid.”

Levi scoffs, and Eren feels a kiss land on the top of his head.

“But you don’t want to finish like this.”

Eren shakes his head, breath still stuttering, body still sensitive, still impatiently desiring more.

“What do you want then, Eren?”

Eren sighs.

“I feel like…” Eren grumbles, finally opening his eyes again, “part of your reason for asking me every step is just so you can fuck with me.”

The corners of Levi’s lips twitch.

“Maybe it is.”

“Don’t make me say it every time,” Eren says, placing his hands on Levi’s chest, his thumb brushing across the scar over the man’s heart. “You know what I want, Levi.”

“Do I?”

Levi leans down, and Eren holds his breath as Levi’s face comes close, their lips meeting once before Levi pulls away.

“I…” Eren shakes his head, trying to keep his focus on the conversation, even as Levi continues to move closer to him. Eren can feel the heat of Levi’s body, even without their skin touching. “I know you do… Don’t be an asshole, Levi.”

“I’ll be an asshole if I want,” Levi says. “I want you to say it.”

“Levi—”

“I want you to say it,” Levi says again, firmer now. “I want to know you want it.”

“Seriously, Levi—”

“I need—” Levi pauses, and a frown forms on his lips, gray-eyed gaze wavering. Eren’s stomach twists for a different reason than it has been all night.

Levi averts his gaze, leaning away.

“I…” Levi’s voice is quiet. It feels heavy in the quiet room, hanging between them. “I need to know you won’t regret it, Eren.”

Seeing Levi like this, Eren remembers the first time he drank from Levi’s neck. The night of their promises to each other.

“Eren. This… If you were sober, this would scare you.”

“Not with you. Not if it’s you.”

“Eren… Just… Pretend you’re me for a second. Think about what it would do to me if I believed you now, just for you to regret it tomorrow.”

Maybe Eren’s not the only one who needed this to go slow. Who needed to make sure that it was okay at every step.

“Levi…”

Eren reaches up, placing his hand on Levi’s cheek. Levi sighs, covering Eren’s hand with his own.

“Sorry,” Levi says, but Eren shakes his head.

“I get it.” Eren smiles. “Probably better than anyone else.”

Levi sighs, closing his eyes.

“Levi.”

“Hm?”

“I love you.”

The corners of Levi’s lips twitch up.

“I love you too.”

Eren places another hand on Levi’s cheek, pulling him down until their foreheads press together.

“I’m not going to regret it,” he says quietly. “Because it’s you, Levi.”

Levi takes a deep breath.

“You’re sure?”

“Mmhmm.”

Levi snorts.

“Real reassuring.”

“Yes,” Eren says quickly. “Sorry. Yes, I’m sure, I just—”

Eren takes in a shaky breath, cheeks warming.

“Just feeling…” Eren averts his gaze, shifting a bit on the sheets. “...A little impatient.”

Levi laughs, and it’s more breathy than boisterous, like it’s half a sigh of relief.

“You really are a brat.”

Eren’s cheeks burns, and he squeezes Levi’s face between his hands, glaring up at him.

“Well, you’re making me wait again, so of course I’m gonna—”

The press of something hot against him from below makes Eren’s mouth snap shut, breath stalling. Levi pulls Eren’s hands away from his face, one of his hands moving to prop himself up. The other pale hand lands on Eren’s thigh, lifting his leg up, Eren’s hips raising with it..

“What?” Levi asks. “Nothing else to say?”

Eren shakes his head, lips pressed tightly together, green eyes locked onto Levi. Levi shakes his head, a small smile on his lips.

“Well,” Levi says, and his low voice is soft, like a caress. “Thank you for waiting, Eren.”

Eren opens his mouth to speak, though his attention is split, his eyes on Levi, every other cell in his body focused somewhere much lower.

“I… should be saying that to you.”

“I’ve got a brilliant idea,” Levi says, his grip tightening on Eren’s thigh. “Let’s just not say a fucking thing anymore.”

Levi presses into him slowly, infuriatingly slowly, but even that is overwhelming, even as part of Eren’s brain cries out for more, even as his fangs throb and long to connect in more ways than this. And it’s good, so good, especially when Levi slowly, carefully begins to move. But Eren knew it would because of course it is. Because he didn’t expect anything else from Levi, because they were already intertwined before they made their bodies slot together. Because with Levi, everything feels good, feels right. Even before Love Bites and love confessions—even before they came to rely on each other so deeply, everything about being with Levi felt right. His touch. His voice. His presence. Everything.

“Levi…” His name falls out unsteadily from Eren’s lips. Eren’s hands wind around Levi’s shoulders to keep steady, to keep the man closer, closer, even though he’s already closer than he could ever possibly be.

Levi doesn’t answer out loud, but he feels the man nodding against his shoulder, and Eren’s mind is struggling to string together the words as his body burns and throbs, as Levi moves harder, faster, fuck—

“Levi…” Eren mumbles between heavy breaths. “Love you… Love you so fucking much… Levi…”

More than anything. More than everything.

But it’s futile continue trying to form the words on his tongue when the sentences are punctuated by moans Eren can’t hold back, so he presses his lips to every inch of Levi’s skin within reach and hopes he understands.

When they finish, it’s in sync, Levi biting down on Eren’s Mark at the last second, and everything spills out at once. Levi’s name tumbles out of Eren’s lips over and over, and the build up of emotions, of heat, of everything, erupts out at once.

Levi lingers above him for a moment, chest heaving, sweat dripping off of pale skin. Gray eyes hazy, narrowed to slits as they look down at Eren from above. Eren’s limbs feel weak, his whole fucking body does, still trembling, still twitchy and sensitive in the aftermath.

But he pushes his heavy body up one more time, just far enough that he can kiss Levi again.

As soon as Levi’s mouth parts from his, Eren collapses back onto the bed, shaky and exhausted. He can barely keep his eyes open. He hears Levi rolling off of him instead of seeing it, feels the warmth of Levi’s body retreat. The bed bounces when Levi drops down beside Eren, and when Eren works up enough motivation to crack his eyes open, he sees Levi face down, his head buried in the pillows.

“I need…” Levi says slowly, voice muffled. “...To wash my sheets…”

Eren barks out a laugh immediately, pressing his hands over his eyes, unable to stop the way the laughter shakes his shoulders, even as his tired body protests the movement.

“That’s—” Eren sucks in a deep breath. “That’s the first thing you say?”

“Hmm…” Levi mumbles. “You’re right… I need a shower first.”

Eren laughs again, pulling one of his hands away from his eyes to smack it against the mattress, even though he’s distantly aware of the fact that it’s really not that funny. Maybe he’s just fucking delirious at this point. Maybe they both are.

“Oh, shit…”

Levi rolls onto his side, and Eren forces himself to take a few more steady breaths before turning to face him.

“What is it?” Eren asks, and Levi’s hand drifts over to Eren’s neck, fingertips brushing lightly across his Mark.

“I love you too,” Levi says. “I… forgot to say it earlier.”

Eren laughs a little.

“It’s okay.”

Levi shakes his head.

“I told you I would say it back every time.”

Eren rubs his eyes. Right… Another thing he brought up to Levi while drunk. But things were… different back then. Even though it wasn’t that long ago.

“It’s okay,” Eren says again, letting out a yawn. “You… don’t have to. I know.”

“I don’t mind saying it,” Levi says, and Eren yawns again, green eyes falling shut.

“Okay… but you don’t have to… It’s not like… with other people.”

“Other people?”

Eren shifts closer to Levi on the bed, letting out a small sigh when he finds himself close enough for Levi to press his head against Eren’s chest.

“I feel better… when people say it,” Eren continues. “‘Cause it’s… hard for me to believe they really do. But when it’s you… I know. ‘Cause you…”

Eren yawns again.

“You always show it too…So I… can trust that you love me.”

Eren feels a hand curling around his, fingers intertwining with his own. Lips touching down on top of his knuckles.

“I’m glad to hear that, Eren.”

Eren can feel it, can feel his whole body slowing. His mind descending into fog. When did he get so tired? Maybe the side-effects from drinking Levi’s blood earlier in the day haven’t completely worn off yet…

“Mm… you too…” Eren mumbles. “You can trust me… Love you so much…”

Levi chuckles.

“I know.”

Eren smiles, yawning again. Levi’s lips press against his knuckles once more.

“Levi.”

“What?”

“I really love you.”

Levi huffs, pressing another kiss on the back of Eren’s hand.

“I love you too, goofy brat.”

“Your…” Eren yawns. “...goofy brat.”

The last thing Eren hears before falling asleep is Levi’s laugh.

“Yeah,” Levi mumbles, pressing a final kiss to the sleeping vampire’s lips. “And I’m so damn lucky to have you.”

#riren #riren fanfic

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bitterlikesweets · 2 years

Text

Love Bites Ch 27

This is the twenty-seventh chapter of a modern/vampire AU riren fanfic. You can also read it on Ao3. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Special | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 Next

Eren wakes up with aching fangs and a dry mouth. He frowns, fingers curling into his comforter as he unconsciously lets out a few grumbles and stretches his legs out beneath the covers. He’s so fucking thirsty… When did he fall asleep? He was supposed to drink yesterday. Now he needs to drive all the way to Levi’s with his stupid achy teeth—

“Finally up?”

Eren’s eyes snap open, mind going completely blank when he sees Levi standing above him, drying off his black hair with a towel. Levi raises a thin black eyebrow at him, a droplet of water slipping off the ends of Levi’s bangs and landing on the black blanket.

Black blanket? Eren’s blanket isn’t black…

Eren slowly pushes himself into a sitting position, glancing around the room. The dark walls, the desk by the window with the worn recipe books—this isn’t Eren’s apartment.

“I’m still at your place,” Eren says, turning to look back at Levi.

Levi snorts, patting his head dry with his towel.

“No shit.”

Eren places his hand on his forehead, trying to remember what happened as his fangs throb, reminding him that he still needs blood. They finished sparring… Levi fell asleep while Erwin and Hanji were leaving, and then… and then…

It’s no use. Eren can’t remember a thing. He must’ve fallen asleep not long after Levi.

His fangs throb again. Eren sighs, massaging his jaw with his hand.

“Thirsty?” Levi asks, moving to drape his towel over the edge of his desk.

“Mmhmm…”

Levi chuckles, walking back to the side of the bed. When he’s close enough, pale fingers grab hold of Eren’s chin, tilting his head up.

“Come here then.”

Eren swallows, green eyes immediately drawn to Levi’s neck, where the collar of his shirt is low enough for Eren to plainly see the Mark on his throat. The two small scars made by Eren. The physical imprint of their promises to each other on Levi’s skin.

Eren’s fangs throb. Again. He reaches out, hesitant fingers ghosting over the Mark.

“Here is okay?” Eren whispers.

“You’re going to ask that every time?”

Levi tilts his head, making room. Eren sits up a little taller, and Levi steps closer.

“Go for it, Eren,” Levi says, and Eren takes a deep breath, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed so that he can face Levi properly.

Eren places his hands on Levi’s shoulders, green eyes locked on the Mark, fangs aching, mouth watering. He swallows, scooting closer to the edge of the bed.

“You’re going to stop me?” Eren asks. “So I don’t drink too much?”

“I will.”

Eren takes another deep breath, his grip tightening on Levi’s shoulders. When he leans forward, one of Levi’s hands moves to the back of his head, pale fingers curling into long brown hair, ready to pull him back. Eren closes his eyes, and his lips find their way to where blood thrums strongly beneath Levi’s skin. Levi’s skin is still damp from his shower.

Eren tries to take a deep breath again, but the inhale is shaky, mouth watering, fangs aching, throbbing, and his brain full of thoughts of blood and Levi—fuck, he’s thirsty.

“I’m gonna start.”

“You’re drawing this out too much, brat.”

Levi’s right. Eren doesn’t waste any more time, mouth parting and biting down hard. His fangs pierce the pale skin, and he sighs in satisfaction as the warm liquid hits his tongue, sweet as always. Eren’s hands slide down Levi’s shoulders, clutching the man’s biceps instead. Levi’s fingers massage Eren’s head as the ache in his mouth subsides, and Eren sags, focused completely on drinking his fill, on Levi, on the heavenly taste on his tongue.

“Happy now?” Levi asks, and Eren hums slightly in response. So good. It’s so good, like always. Warming him from the inside out, filling his mind with a pleasant fog. God, it tastes so good. He wants more, wants to just keep drinking forever—

But a firm tug on the back of Eren’s head reminds him that he can’t.

Pouting, Eren pulls his mouth away from Levi’s neck with a gasp, though he remembers last second to dive down and sweep his tongue along the scar.

“Too much… Too fast,” he grumbles, squeezing Levi’s biceps with a frown.

“What is?” Levi asks, running his fingers through Eren’s hair.

The movement is distracting… And relaxing. Eren’s going to get sleepy again. Even though he just woke up. It’d be nice to sleep again, actually. He and Levi have been training so hard… So much sparring. Eren’s so glad he doesn’t feel sore anymore. Thanks to Levi’s blood. Nice, warm, sweet blood…

“Eren.”

“Huh?”

Levi nudges Eren’s chin with his knuckles, a tiny, half-hearted punch.

“What’s too fast, Eren?”

“Oh.” Eren scowls, squeezing Levi’s arms again, as if the man is a stress ball. “The blood… from your neck. Comes out too fast. Wanna drink for longer… since you taste so good…”

Levi scoffs.

“Really.”

“Yeah!” Eren exclaims, leaning back. Immediately, Levi’s hands on his head move to circle around his waist, holding Eren upright. “When I drank from your wrist, I got to drink for a long time… Taste for a long time…”

“Hm.” Levi’s arms around Eren’s waist curl in a little more, holding him tighter, closer. “We can switch back if you want.”

“Switch back…?” God, Eren feels so warm. Drinking blood is like drinking a super hot coffee… Heats him right up. “But, uh…”

Eren scowls again, nose scrunching.

“What are we talking about?”

Levi rolls his eyes, dropping his forehead against Eren’s.

“It feels like you get more drunk the more we do this.”

Eren frowns, lightly punching Levi’s arms instead of holding them.

“‘S not my fault I get all drunk…”

“I know, big guy,” Levi says, leaning close until their lips meet, briefly. That tiny bit of contact immediately puts a smile on Eren’s face, a different kind of warmth flickering to life in his chest. “We were talking about if you wanted to go back to drinking from my wrist.”

“Right,” Eren says, nodding, though his range of motion is a bit limited by Levi’s forehead pressed against his. “No, I don’t want to.”

“Why not, if you want to drink for longer?”

“Mm… Cause…”

Eren’s cheeks burn, and he pulls away from Levi a bit, a frown on his lips.

“Eren?”

“It’s…”

Eren tilts his head from side to side, debating on whether or not to say it.

…Fuck it.

“It’s more… exciting to drink from your neck,” Eren says. “Don’t wanna switch back.”

Levi is quiet, and Eren frowns, leaning close to get a good look at Levi’s face. The man’s expression is relatively flat, though his eyes are narrowed slightly, darker than usual as he meets Eren’s gaze.

“Levi? What’s wrong?”

Levi’s mouth opens and closes for a moment before his head suddenly lowers, and the man heaves a sigh. Eren’s eyes grow wide, clasping his hands on Levi’s arms again.

“Levi?!”

“I’m fine,” Levi says, his voice low. “Just… debating whether I should ask you what you mean by that shit.”

“Oh.” Eren’s entire face scrunches as a confused frown forms on his lips. That’s it? “I could tell you—”

“No,” Levi says quickly. “No. I’m just not going to think about it.”

“Ohhh…” A grin forms on Eren’s lips, and he slides his hands back up to Levi’s shoulders, then down the man’s chest. “I get it.”

Levi sucks in a breath, removing one of his arms from around Eren’s waist to hold Eren’s wandering hands in place. Levi lifts his head again, and green eyes lock onto gray.

“Do you?” Levi asks.

“Hmmm…” Eren leans closer, glancing at Levi’s lips but stopping just before they can kiss. “Maybe?”

“Maybe,” Levi repeats, and Eren can feel the press of Levi’s fingers on his hips, the man’s grip getting tighter, firmer.

“Mmhmm… I wonder if I do…”

Eren leans up a little, lips landing clumsily on the shell of Levi’s ear as he fails to hold back a smile.

“Want to tell me what you’re thinking?” Eren whispers, and Levi inhales sharply, fingers pressing harder into Eren’s waist. Pale fingers. Strong fingers.

“I’m thinking…” Levi says slowly, “you really like to fuck with me when you’re drunk. Little shit.”

Eren’s not sure what about Levi’s words causes a giddy bubble in his chest, but that bubble rises up his throat and bursts out of him in a loud laugh. Eren throws his head back far enough that his upper body swings back with it, and he grabs the front of Levi’s shirt and drags the man down with him. Levi barely catches himself in time to stop himself from falling on top of Eren, two hands braced on either side of Eren’s head to keep them separated.

A deep scowl is etched onto Levi’s face, and the sight of it makes Eren laugh again, his shoulders shaking. God, Levi’s face. Eren’s laughter continues, flooding continuously out of his chest until he can barely breathe. God, and he’s still so warm, warm all over. His face is warm, his stomach is warm, his struggling lungs are warm, and—how do people stop laughing again? God, it was so fucking funny.

“Ha ha,” Levi says, still frowning, and Eren covers his mouth to stifle the sounds escaping him, still not quite remembering how to make the laughing stop.

“‘M sorry,” he says before the sound forces its way out again, and Eren’s eyes are watering at this point. Fuck, he can’t breathe.

“No, you’re not,” Levi says, and Eren squeezes his eyes shut, trying hard to get himself to stop now. Fuck, he can’t breathe. How is he supposed to stop?

Eren moves his hands away from his mouth to slam his fists against his chest, and finally, the laughing stops slipping past his lips, stops shaking his shoulders. Eren gasps, trying to get as much air into his lungs as possible, eyes still watering. Fuck, his throat even hurts.

What was he laughing at, again?

“Levi?”

Levi sighs and shifts over to lie beside Eren instead of hovering over him. The bed wobbles a bit as Levi plops down beside him.

“What, brat?”

“Blood really messes with my head.”

Levi snorts.

“No shit.”

Eren frowns, still warm, but now his throat is sore, and his eyes feel heavy. He rolls over onto his side, grabbing hold of Levi’s arm and squeezing.

“‘M sorry…”

Levi sighs again, turning to face him.

“It’s alright.”

Eren blinks slowly. Fuck, he’s so tired all of a sudden. Didn’t he just wake up? His throat hurts. Why did he laugh so fucking hard? It wasn’t even that funny.

Levi’s expression softens, and he reaches out, brushing a strand of Eren’s brown hair behind his ear.

“What’s wrong, Eren?”

“Mmm…” Eren rubs his eyes. “...Don’t know… Don’t feel good all of a sudden.”

Levi frowns.

“Are you going to throw up?”

Eren quickly shakes his head.

“No… I just… I don’t feel good.”

His eyes are watering again, even though he’s not laughing anymore. And now they’re filling up, spilling over—fuck, fuck—

“Sorry,” he says, trying to wipe his eyes but his hands feel heavy, clumsy, and suddenly there are so many tears, even though there shouldn’t be any, even though he was fine, and even in his clouded headspace, Eren knows this is more than just being blood drunk. This is Eren being fucked up as always—

“Hey.”

Levi’s fingers are on his cheeks, wiping away the tears as they come. Eren sniffles, turning his head away, pressing it into the sheets.

“Sorry.”

“It’s alright, Eren.”

“It’s not.”

One of Levi’s hands lands on the back of Eren’s head, pulling it closer to Levi’s chest, and the other moves to the center of Eren’s back, moving in slow, soothing circles that make Eren’s body feel heavier, that make it harder for Eren to open his eyes, even as the tears continue to slip through his closed lids.

“Go ahead,” Levi says, and Eren can feel kisses against his shoulders, his arms, everywhere. Little reassuring presses of Levi’s lips all over him. “It’s alright.”

Eren shifts a little, turns just enough so that his face is pressed against Levi’s chest instead of the sheets. His fingers curl into Levi’s shirt. Eren’s so warm. So heavy. So tired.

“Thank you,” he mumbles, and another kiss lands on top of his shoulder.

Fuck. Fuck, Eren’s so lucky. So, so damn lucky. He puts Levi through so much and yet somehow they’re still here. Together.

Happy together.

“I love you, Levi.”

For some reason, Levi chuckles.

“I love you too, dumb brat.”

~ ~ ~

Eren wakes up in Levi’s bed with strong arms wrapped around his waist. This time he can’t mistake where he is. Who he’s with. His eyes still feel puffy from earlier. How long has he been asleep?

When he looks down, Levi’s head lifts away from his chest, as if sensing that Eren woke up. Levi’s eyes narrow, blinking slowly.

“...Morning,” says Levi, and Eren smiles.

“Is it morning?”

Levi scoffs, curling his arms tighter around Eren’s waist.

“Fuck if I know.”

Eren laughs, and the corners of Levi’s lips twitch.

“Feeling better?” Levi asks. Eren’s cheeks warm, and he averts his gaze.

“Yeah… I don’t know why I was… like that.”

Levi shrugs.

“You were drunk. And I’ve been putting you through stressful shit for the past month.”

Eren rubs his eyes, smiling a little.

“Yeah, I guess planning to go kill my own brother and end his weird death cult is kind of stressful, huh? Who would’ve guessed?”

Levi rolls his eyes.

“You think you’re funny, don’t you?”

“I am funny,” Eren says. “You laugh at me all the time.”

“Yeah. At you, not with you, dumb brat.”

“Shut up.”

Levi chuckles, shifting upwards to press his lips against Eren’s. Eren’s eyes slip shut, leaning into the kiss as Levi’s lips slide against his own, gentle but firm.

As usual, Levi is the one who pulls away first, but his thumb finds its way to Eren’s bottom lip, brushing across it slowly, teasingly. Eren’s breath stutters, green eyes narrowing.

“I could get used to this,” Levi mumbles, leaning in to kiss Eren again, a brief touch that Eren wants more of. His fingers curl into Levi’s shirt, by his waist. Levi’s eyebrows dip down slightly.

“Get used to what?” Eren asks.

“Hm.” Levi shifts beneath the blanket, moving up and forward until he and Eren are chest to chest. Eren tenses, able to feel Levi’s heartbeat through his own ribcage, that strong, steady thumping. A sensation Eren can’t mimic. “Waking up like this. Next to you.”

Eren’s cheeks burn instantly, and he slides back on the bed so that he can cover his face with his hands.

“Levi.”

“What?” Levi asks, and there’s a teasing lightness to his voice, an air of playfulness. “That was too much for you?”

“You can’t—can’t surprise attack me like that right when I wake up! I’m the one that’s supposed to say that kind of shit! You’re not allowed.”

There’s a moment of silence, and although Eren’s hands stay stubbornly pressed over his face, he can imagine Levi rolling his eyes.

“You’re banning me from the sappy shit?”

“Yeah,” Eren says, as seriously as he can manage. “You’re forbidden.”

“I can never win with you, brat. You used to get mad at because I couldn’t say shit like that.”

“Well, I changed my mind.”

Levi scoffs.

“You’ve got to be able to handle more than that, Eren,” Levi says.

Eren can hear the rustling of the sheets and the blanket, can feel the bed dipping slightly as Levi moves, can feel the heat of Levi’s body as he gets closer, as his lips get close to Eren’s ear, fuck—

“This isn’t even me at my worst.”

Eren shivers, breath catching in his throat, cheeks burning with an even more violent blush, and he’s so, so thankful that his heart can’t beat because he’s certain it would give away how much Levi has wound him up with just a sentence—

Levi sighs a little, moving away again, and Eren frowns, lowering his hands away from his face just enough to look at Levi over his fingertips.

“Alright,” Levi says, flipping to the other side, “I’m done fucking with you. I’d better find out what time of day it is before I miss my shift—”

Eren only realizes that he’s grabbed the back of Levi’s shirt when the man looks back at him, thin black eyebrows raised in question. But Eren’s tongue is clumsy, uncooperative, and the blush painted on his cheeks feels nearly permanent. He can’t even bring himself to look at Levi’s face.

“Eren?”

Eren jolts, biting his lip, fingers gathering more of Levi’s shirt in his fist. He opens his mouth. Snaps it shut. Opens it again but falters, and his mouth falls closed once more. Levi turns to face him in the bed again, the corners of his lips pulled downwards.

“What?”

“N-nothing,” Eren says quickly, pulling his hand back. “I… I just…”

This is stupid. Maybe… Maybe now isn’t the time.

Even though he really wants to kiss Levi again. And again. Over and over again. Fuck.

“What is it, Eren?”

Fuck it.

Without warning, Eren reaches up, grabbing fistfuls of Levi’s shirt and dragging the man down on top of him. Levi barely has the time to fling out his arms and prop himself up, and Eren keeps hold of him, not wanting the man to pull away.

Levi’s eyes narrow, and he raises an eyebrow at Eren.

“This feels familiar,” Levi says.

“I know. But I’m not laughing this time,” Eren says, tugging on Levi’s shirt, and the man leans down, closer to Eren, without resistance. “I’m not drunk. I’m not fucking with you.”

Levi’s gray eyes darken, like a storm cloud in the nighttime.

“What are you saying, Eren?” Levi asks, but his voice is flat, and it doesn’t feel quite like a question. It’s demanding, almost like an order.

“I—” Eren’s face is burning again, and he shifts a bit beneath Levi, trying to get the words to form on his tongue. “I, uh—Isn’t it obvious?”

“I don’t want ‘obvious,’” Levi says, voice low, eyes narrowing even more, and now he’s leaning down, leaning closer without Eren having to pull him down. “I want you to say it.”

Eren’s breaths are shallow, heat pooling in his stomach along with his cheeks.

“L-Levi—”

“I need to know you’re sure, Eren,” Levi says firmly, and he’s close enough that Eren can feel Levi’s breath on his lips. “Tell me what you want. Say it.”

Eren’s chest jumps with the small inhale he manages to take in. That… That was an order.

“I… I want you… Levi.”

#riren #riren fanfic

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bitterlikesweets · 2 years

Text

Love Bites Ch 26

This is the twenty-sixth chapter of a modern/vampire AU riren fanfic. You can also read it on Ao3. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Special | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 Next

“Finally!” Hanji exclaims as they throw open Levi’s front door. “Do you know how frustrating it’s been for me to know you’ve been having fun with Erwin this whole time, never inviting me?!”

“Excruciating, I’m sure,” says Erwin from his place on the couch.

“Exactly!”

Levi sighs, shutting the door behind the loud vampire as they stomp into the center of the room.

“It hasn’t been that much fun.”

“Not at all,” Eren grumbles from his place on Levi’s floor.

“Eren!”

Hanji bounds over to where the vampire is lying spread eagle on the carpet, leaning over him with a smile on their lips.

“I’ve heard you’ve been going through a lot lately, huh? Especially because of this—”

Hanji taps a familiar pair of scars on their own neck, smiling wider. Eren absentmindedly raises his hand to his Mark, rubbing the scars with his fingers.

“Lucky for you, I have several hypotheses,” Hanji says, “and several experiments that I could use to—”

“I didn’t call you over here so that you could experiment on him, Geezer Glasses,” Levi says, kicking them in the back.

Hanji stumbles forward, a gasp leaving their lips as they turn a wide-eyed stare on Levi.

“Geezer—I’m only thirty-three, thank you very much! And it wouldn’t be just Eren; you have to be part of the experiments too, of course.”

Levi narrows his eyes and pulls a stake out of the pocket of his sweatpants. Immediately, Hanji sprints away and dives to the ground behind Eren, their hands on his shoulders as they lift him into somewhat of a sitting position. Eren groans as Hanji pushes him up, holding him directly in front of them like a shield.

“Okay, okay! No experiments! Just sparring! See? I know why I came!”

“Levi’s not going to kill you, Hanji,” Eren says with a yawn.

“He might,” says Hanji.

“I might,” Levi says, flipping the stake in his hand.

“Well, aren’t we all just rays of sunshine today,” Erwin says, getting to his feet. “Why don’t we let Hanji say their hypotheses so that we can move on and get to work?”

“Oh, I like this plan!”

“Can’t we skip the science bullshit?” Levi grumbles, tucking the stake back into his pocket. “We’ve only got a week left; I don’t want to waste any more time.”

“It’ll be extremely quick, I promise,” says Hanji, sliding away from Eren to stand beside Erwin.

Without Hanji to hold him up, Eren falls flat on his back again, letting out a groan. Hanji blinks, looking down at him with a small frown.

“Is… Is he okay?”

“Everything hurts and I want to die,” Eren says, dropping the back of his hand over his eyes.

“The brat’s sore,” Levi explains. “Today’s the day he normally drinks, so his healing’s not working as well as usual.”

“And I’m…” Erwin tilts his head. “Not the gentlest sparring partner, let’s say.”

Eren groans at just the thought of getting brutally slammed to the ground by the blond vampire again.

“Why don’t you let him drink, then?” Hanji asks.

“If I do, any more sparring is out of the question. He’ll barely be sober enough to stand up on his own.”

“Sounds great,” Eren mumbles. “Sounds so good right now.”

“Eren.”

“Why don’t I say my hypotheses while you help him get up, Levi?”

Levi sighs.

“So we are doing the science bullshit…”

Eren feels fingers curling around his hand, and with a gentle tug, the barrier between Eren’s eyes and the outside world is removed. Eren frowns, weakly trying to cover his eyes again, but Levi’s grip is firm, his other arm moving to slip beneath Eren’s back, curling around him.

“Alright!” Hanji says. “A few weeks ago, Eren reported to Erwin that his Mark felt like it was burning because he used his vampire abilities against Levi. This is an unusual phenomenon I’ve never heard of before. Typically, being Marked is symbolic and doesn’t cause extra abilities or symptoms.”

As Levi starts tugging Eren up, Eren wraps his arms around Levi’s neck, slumping onto the man and letting his head rest on Levi’s shoulder. Levi lets out a brief chuckle, releasing Eren’s hand to wrap another arm around the vampire’s waist.

“Come on, brat,” he whispers. “You’re twice my size; cut me some slack.”

Eren just nuzzles his face into the crook of Levi’s neck and tries to hide his smile.

“Mm… You’re strong. You’ve got this. I’m not that big.”

Levi scoffs.

“So, I have three hypotheses,” Hanji continues. “Hypothesis 1: This is related to your soulmate connection—”

Levi stumbles, nearly dropping Eren, but Eren clings tighter to his neck and barely stifles a laugh.

“—And it’s simply that soulmate connections are so ingrained that they attempt to punish you or warn you against doing harm to your partner,” Hanji explains. “Hypothesis 2: It’s related to Levi’s Ackerman blood in some capacity. Perhaps the old rumor about their blood being poisonous stemmed from vampires who drank from them being unable to fight the Ackermans without some sort of physical consequence—like having their scars burn when they used their abilities.”

Levi finally manages to lift Eren off of the ground and onto his feet, but Eren stays with his arms wrapped around Levi a bit longer, letting out a small sigh. Levi huffs, though he accepts the lingering hug without any complaints.

“Hypothesis 3: Eren is the perfect outlier I’ve been searching for, completely unique from other vampires, in which case, I would need to conduct many experiments—”

“Not going to fucking happen, Geezer Glasses,” Levi says, stepping out of Eren’s arms.

“I told you, I’m thirty-three!”

“You can tell me that as much as you want, but it doesn’t change the fact that I know your real age.”

“Levi, you never let me have any fun—”

“Alright,” Erwin says, stepping forward and clapping his hands together, “now that we’ve appeased Hanji—”

“Hey!”

“—We can get back to work,” Erwin finishes as if Hanji hadn’t interrupted at all. “Hanji, you’re here so that we know that Eren is comfortable fighting any vampire, not just me. Levi, shall we spar in the other room?”

“No,” Levi says, heading over to his coat closet. “Change of plans. You and Hanji are going to attack me and Eren. We won’t spar separately.”

Eren blinks, a frown on his lips.

“But don’t we need to make sure I can fight without you?”

“Not anymore,” Levi says, pulling two small wooden poles out of the closet. They’re the size of stakes, but they don’t have any sharp ends. “Because you’re going to be with me the whole time.”

“I…” Eren tilts his head. “Huh?”

“When we go to the King,” Levi says, “you’re going to be with me.”

Eren’s eyes grow wide, a smile curving his lips as Levi’s words settle in his mind. Levi… He must have really taken their argument the other day to heart.

“He’ll be entering with you from the front, you mean?” Erwin asks.

“Unless you have a problem with that change,” Levi says, tossing one of the blunt poles at Eren, who catches it with a wide grin.

Erwin’s blue eyes dart between Levi and Eren for a moment, a frown on his lips. Eren bounces on the balls of his feet, unable to hide his smile even in the face of Erwin’s hesitation.

“...I suppose it doesn’t affect things that much,” Erwin says. “As long as you both remain level-headed with each other in potential danger.”

“We will,” Levi says, and Eren nods several times in agreement.

Erwin sighs.

“Alright. I’ll inform the others when I get the chance.”

Eren turns his giddy smile towards Levi, who rolls his eyes as he comes closer.

“What are you all excited for?” Levi asks.

“You’re taking me with you,” Eren says, leaning down. “Changing your whole plan. For me.”

Changing the plan so that Levi won’t be alone. So that Levi will be a bit safer, thanks to Eren being by his side.

…Hopefully safer, anyway. Safer as long as Eren’s actually able to put all this training to use.

“Yeah, well,” Levi says, “I thought about it, and you might be even better bait than me. The King’s shitty kid brother? That’s a fucking distraction.”

“Hey!”

“And…” Levi sighs. “I’d probably feel better with you with me there anyway.”

Eren’s smile returns, this time with a teasing edge.

“Can’t stand to be without me, Levi?”

“Shut the fuck up, Eren.”

“Gentlemen,” Erwin says sharply. “Sparring. One week left until a gruesome battle with a murderous cult. Running out of time.”

“We get it,” Levi says flatly.

“Sorry,” Eren adds with a small smile.

Erwin sighs, massaging the center of his forehead with his fingers.

“Jeez,” Hanji says, “you were not kidding when you said this wasn’t all that fun.”

Eren and Levi move into the center of the room, much to Erwin’s relief, and Eren looks to Levi for further instruction, unsure of how this is going to go.

“Okay,” Levi says, spinning the blunt weapon in his hand. “Eren, stand with your back to me. Hanji, Erwin, attack from wherever, whenever. But Hanji, go after Eren more than you go for me. Erwin, the opposite.”

“Understood,” Erwin replies.

“No actual fangs, right?”

“I explained this to you before you got here, Hanji,” Erwin says with yet another sigh. “No fangs. We can’t injure our fighters just before the battle.”

Hanji grins, flexing their hands.

“Just checking.”

Come to think of it, Hanji is the only person Eren hasn’t seen fight, except for Petra. When Eren took part in that big group sparring match with everyone from the restaurant, Hanji wasn’t even on the lineup.

Eren frowns, moving to stand behind Levi, the wooden pole gripped tight in his hands.

He’s going to have to be careful.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Levi says, and Erwin and Hanji exchange glances, beginning to walk a slow circle around the two men.

Eren takes a deep breath, crouching slightly as his eyes dart between Hanji and Erwin. Which one of them is going to go for him first? Erwin is still standing up relatively straight, not leaning forward like he usually is when he’s about to attack… In that case, the first will probably be—

Hanji drops to all fours out of the corner of Eren’s eye, throwing their body forward like a wild animal pouncing on its prey. Eren stiffens, eyes trying to track their movement before their speed activates—

“Down!” Levi snaps, and Eren ducks immediately, Hanji soaring over their heads like a plane cutting through the sky.

His gaze darts to where Erwin was just standing as Levi darts forward to attack Hanji. The blond vampire is gone. That means…

Eren spins to the left, holding up the wooden pole Levi gave him, just in time for Erwin to appear beside him, moving too fast to stop his momentum. The man’s head collides with the blunt weapon in Eren’s hand with enough force to make Eren slide backward on the carpet, though he manages to stay on his feet. Eren’s eyes grow wide when he realizes that he not only stopped Erwin’s assault, but that the blond vampire’s fangs are lodged into the wood.

“I su’ofe I ouf of co’ifion,” Erwin says, but the wooden pole prevents him from pronouncing anything properly. Eren’s eyebrows furrow.

“What?”

Erwin places his hands over Eren’s and pushes down on the blunt weapon to extract his fangs.

“I suppose I’m out of commission,” Erwin says, massaging his upper lip with his fingers.

“I thought you said no fangs,” Eren says with a frown.

“I want to be realistic about how you’re going to be attacked,” Erwin says after snapping his jaws together a few times, probably feeling discomfort from biting so hard into a piece of wood. “Though I would’ve switched to my hands once I got close enough.”

Behind him, Eren hears an exaggerated cry of pain, and he looks over his shoulder to see Levi with Hanji pinned to the ground, a foot on their shoulder, and the blunt weapon pressed against their chest.

“Oh, the agony! The pain! I’m—”

“Dead,” Levi snaps, “so shut the fuck up already.”

“Alright, alright,” Hanji says with a laugh.

Levi sighs and moves off of them, flipping the pole in his hand. Hanji gets to their feet, though they wince, rubbing their chest where Levi struck them with the blunt weapon.

“Actually, that did hurt,” Hanji says with a frown. “Did you use your full strength?”

“Why do you think I’m not using real stakes, dipshit?”

“Wait—you’re using enough force to kill me? If that had been a real stake, I would be dead right now?”

Levi rolls his eyes.

“Calm down. If I was using that much strength, you’d be dead even with this blunt piece of shit.”

Hanji’s mouth drops open so wide that Eren can’t help but laugh, walking over to drop his arm on Levi’s shoulder. Adrenaline is surging within him now, his soreness temporarily forgotten.

“Come on, Hanji, this is the fun you’ve been missing out on. Let’s hurry up and go again.”

Hanji adjusts their glasses, their mouth still open as their wide eyes dart between Levi and Eren. After a moment, they snap their mouth shut, still rubbing their chest where Levi hit them with the little pole.

“You people are freaks,” Hanji says, and Levi scoffs.

“You’re the last person who has any right to say that, Geezer Glasses.”

~ ~ ~

Eren wipes the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand, breathing heavily as he adjusts his grip on the two wooden poles in his hands (He and Levi both grabbed second weapons as things got more serious). Eren feels Levi’s back against his as he watches Hanji and Erwin through narrowed eyes. They’ve been practicing for over an hour now, match after match of sparring sessions, and Eren’s struggling to maintain his energy. His mouth is dry, calling for blood as his body strains to heal the bruises caused by every hit the other vampires manage to land on him.

He and Levi have yet to collectively lose any of these miniature battles, although Eren has “died” several times along the way. The skill of a hunter is not to be underestimated, Eren supposes, even against vampires that are supposed to have leagues better strength and stamina than him.

Though Eren can tell that the man is exhausted. Levi’s sweat-drenched t-shirt is evidence of that. It’s alright; this is the last one. Just one more battle. One more and then they’re done.

“Anytime you’re ready,” Levi says.

Eren’s eyes dart between the two vampires as they exchange a glance, trying to scan for them for any hint of when they’re going to attack, of when they’re going to activate their powers.

Hanji and Erwin move to opposite sides of Levi and Eren, one on the left and one on the right. Eren takes a deep breath. Alright. He just needs to figure out which one of them is going to go for him. Left or right? Are either of their feet angled towards Levi instead of Eren? Left or right? Are either of them glancing more at Eren than at Levi? What’s their plan? Left or—

The two vampires take off just as a chill runs down Eren’s spine. Neither of them were paying any attention to Levi. Not even a single glance. It’s left and right. Fuck, fuck, who does he go for? What side does he protect—

A hand slams into Eren’s back from behind and shoves him forward. Eren’s eyes go wide as he falls forward, but he catches himself and rolls across the ground instead of dropping flat onto his face. Eren pops back onto his feet as quickly as possible, spinning around to join the battle, eyes wide and frantic, adrenaline making him nearly shaky, breaths escaping him in harsh pants.

“Dead!” Someone exclaims—no, two people, Eren thinks as he lunges towards Erwin, who’s still standing.

Eren doesn’t have time to think about what’s going on with the other two, not while the battle’s not over. Erwin is still standing; a vampire’s not down. Erwin’s head snaps to look at Eren, starting to turn towards him, and Eren immediately moves into that opening, crouching down to build momentum and then surging up, slamming one of the blunt poles against Erwin’s chest just as the vampire fully turns to face him.

Eren heaves a sigh of relief, lowering his head and letting his tired arms fall limply to his sides.

“You’re dead, Erwin.”

“Indeed,” Erwin says, letting out his own small sigh. “And what a way to end—knowing even the mighty can fall.”

What?

Eren raises his eyes again, really taking in the scene in front of him now that he has the time to. Eren took out Erwin, but Erwin is half-hunched over someone—half-hunched over Levi, the man’s hand around the back of Levi’s neck, mimicking fangs against the hunter’s throat. Below Levi, Hanji squirms on the ground, pinned down by Levi’s two poles pressed to either side of Hanji’s chest.

So the people who called out “Dead!” earlier were Levi and Erwin… Eren didn’t even realize. Eren was so used to Levi skating through all of these sparring matches unscathed that he didn’t even think about it.

“Fuck off, Shitty Brows,” Levi grumbles, stepping away from Hanji as he tries to wipe away the sweat on his forehead. “I’m tired. And human.”

“And still too strong!” Hanji whines, rubbing the upper part of their chest with a scowl. “Seriously, Levi, you didn’t need to hit me on both sides.”

Levi just sighs and sits on the ground, still trying to wipe away his sweat, though more comes to replace it. Eren moves to sit beside him, and Levi drops his head onto Eren’s shoulder.

“I’m not trying to ridicule you, my friend,” says Erwin. “I think it was a noble sacrifice, risking yourself to save your lover.”

Levi waves his hand dismissively and doesn’t give much of a response other than that. Erwin sighs.

“Well,” Erwin says, “I think we can head out, Hanji. Gentlemen, get some rest before the fight, hm?”

“We definitely will,” Eren says, resting his hand on top of Levi’s head, an ache beginning to settle in his limbs now that he’s not moving. Fuck, and he’s so thirsty too.

Erwin beckons Hanji over with a wave of his hand, and they obediently follow him to the door, mumbling something under their breath about wanting to do experiments on Levi’s superhuman strength. They exit before Erwin does, and the blond man pauses just before closing the door, looking over his shoulder one last time.

“Eren.”

“Yeah?”

“You’ve greatly improved since we began. It’s incredible how much you’ve progressed.”

Eren’s cheeks warm a little, and he looks down at Levi, whose eyes are now closed.

“I had a lot of help.”

“Indeed,” Erwin says. “But… This is still not the same as facing the source of what made it hard for you in the first place.”

Eren frowns, shoulders sagging.

“...I know.”

“I tell you this not to discourage you; I only want you to remember that there is no shame in retreating. The most important thing is that you make it out alive.”

Eren stares at Levi, still resting on Eren’s shoulder with his eyes closed. He might even be sleeping.

Eren runs his fingers through the man’s black hair and takes a deep breath.

“Thanks, Erwin. I’ll remember that.”

Erwin smiles.

“Good.”

And with that last word, Erwin slips out the door, leaving Eren and Levi alone.

Eren continues to comb his fingers through Levi’s short hair, listening to the sound of his soft, steady breathing, and the consistent drumming of Levi’s heart beneath that. The strong, reliable thumping shows that Levi’s human, that he’s alive.

Eren leans down, resting his cheek against the top of Levi’s head. Levi shifts a little, letting out a small sigh, but he doesn’t wake.

Erwin was almost right. It’s important that Eren makes it out alive, but there’s more to it than that.

The most important thing is that Eren and Levi survive this. Together.

#riren #riren fanfic

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bitterlikesweets · 2 years

Text

Love Bites Ch 25

This is the twenty-fifth chapter of a modern/vampire AU riren fanfic. You can also read it on Ao3. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Special | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 Next

“Eren! Left or right?”

“Uhhh…” Eren tenses as Erwin takes off towards them like a 6-foot-tall bullet, gritting his teeth. “Left!”

Eren lunges to the left at the same moment that Levi dodges to the right in front of him. Fuck. Erwin barrels into Eren, his shoulder colliding with Eren’s chest and sending the brown-haired vampire to the ground. Erwin follows him down, pinning Eren down with a large hand around his neck, fangs bared, his breath like a hiss as his blue eyes narrow.

“You’re dead, Eren,” Erwin says, pulling his hand back, and Eren groans, slamming his fists against the top of his head.

“Fuck! Fuck!”

Eren pushes Erwin off of him, sighing through his clenched teeth as he gets to his feet. Frustration boils through his veins until he’s practically shaking with it, and he clenches and unclenches his hands into fists, unable to release it. He won’t calm down until he beats this. He can’t calm down until he does.

“Eren,” Levi says, moving back into place, “you need to—”

“Anticipate,” Eren snaps, shaking his head as he lets out another frustrated sigh. “I know already, so let’s just go again.”

Levi narrows his eyes but doesn’t argue, stepping in front of Eren and crouching slightly.

“Whenever you’re ready, Shitty Brows.”

Eren bounces on the balls of his feet, green eyes locked onto Erwin. What’s his tell? How is Eren supposed to know where he’s going when he can barely see the vampire’s body as he hurtles through the air? He doesn’t even know when the bastard is going to move—

“Left or right, Eren!” Levi shouts, and Eren sucks in a breath as Erwin pushes off.

There’s no time to think.

“Right!”

Levi dodges left as Eren slides to the right. Fuck.

Eren holds up his arms to brace himself, and Erwin’s fist slams into Eren’s forearms just as he raises them in front of his face. Eren stumbles back but remains on his feet, sucking in an unsteady breath. Now, now, while Erwin’s still slow, Eren needs to—

He blinks. Where is…

“Behind you.”

Eren hears the low voice just before a hand wraps around the back of his neck, blunt fingernails pressing into his throat. The substitute for fangs while they’re sparring.

“You’re—”

“Dead!” Eren snaps, shaking off Erwin’s hand. “I fucking know! Goddammit!”

Eren drops into a crouch, shoulders shaking, his fingernails digging into his scalp as he drops his head into his hands, mumbling an incoherent string of curses. He’s not getting it. There’s less than two weeks left, and he’s still not getting it. At this rate, he’s never going to get it in time, and he’s going to have to let Levi go alone, and all of it, everything he’s done until now will be useless, useless—

“Eren.”

A hand lands on Eren’s shoulder. Eren pushes it off. He’s shaking, still boiling from the inside out.

“I’m not making any progress.”

“Yes, you are, Eren,” Levi says.

“Not enough!” Eren shouts, shaking his head. His breaths are short and harsh. He wants to punch something, break something, do something that will quell the boiling. “I keep—I keep messing up!”

“In the real battle…” Levi says, his hand finding its way to Eren’s shoulder again. This time Eren lets it stay there. “Someone would have covered for you. I didn’t for the sake of your training, but you still did good. You made up for a mistake and created an opening. Isabel or Furlan would’ve been able to use that moment Erwin slowed down to get a kill shot from farther out. Understand?”

“But that’s not—If someone has to cover for me the whole time, then what’s the point of me being there? That’s not—I don’t want—”

“Eren. Breathe.”

“I am fucking breathing!” Eren shouts, yanking his hands away from his face to slam them down on his knees.

Levi, sitting in front of him, lets out a sigh and drops his fist on top of Eren’s thigh.

“Then breathe slower, shitty brat.”

Eren throws his head back, heaving a sigh, but he forces his next inhale to be slow and deep, head clearing slightly.

“Eren,” Erwin says, moving to sit beside the two of them. “I encourage you to remember that you are training for a battle with many allies, not for a fight as a solo hunter.”

“I know,” Eren says. He takes in another slow breath, in and out. His arms finally stop shaking. “I know.”

Eren rubs his eyes, shoulders sagging. He knows that he’s doing better. It wasn’t that long ago that Erwin running at him would send Eren straight into a panic. Now Eren can actually fight. That’s better. But there are less than two weeks left, and Eren still doesn’t feel ready.

“Shall we take a break?” Erwin asks. “I don’t think we’ve run through the plan with Eren yet.”

Eren brightens a little at the mention of the plan, though a frown forms on Levi’s lips, gray eyes sliding to look at the ground.

“...Now?”

Erwin frowns, already halfway standing.

“Unless you would prefer to run your lover ragged for a while longer.”

Levi scoffs, turning his head away. Eren looks at the man curiously, but the back of Levi’s head holds no answers for him.

“...Fine,” Levi mumbles. “Can’t put it off forever, anyway.”

Erwin nods and heads to where he left a briefcase by the door, popping it open and grabbing a rolled-up piece of paper from inside. When he returns to sit on the carpet with Levi and Eren, he spreads the paper open, revealing a floor plan for a large building.

“This is…” Eren frowns, leaning down, gaze snagging on areas labeled things like dance floor and bar. “...Zeke’s nightclub?”

“Indeed,” Erwin says, his blue eyes narrowing and shifting to look at Levi. “How much have you told Eren about the details?”

Levi turns his head towards them again but averts his gaze, a frown tugging his lips down.

“...A bit.”

Erwin sighs, turning to Eren instead.

“How much is ‘a bit?’”

“Well, obviously I know we’re going to go kill Zeke and his little feral freaks,” Eren says, reaching up to pull his hair out of its bun. “And I know most of the people from the restaurant are coming, plus you and Hanji. But we haven’t really worked out the details since we’re—”

Eren swallows, stretching his hair tie between both his hands once his hair is free.

“...Since we’re not sure if I’m coming.”

“I see,” Erwin says slowly, blond eyebrows furrowing. He turns to Levi again, frowning. “So that’s why you’ve been acting like this.”

Levi turns his head away again. Eren frowns.

“What do you mean?”

Erwin sighs, reaching up to massage the center of his forehead with his fingers.

“Levi—” Erwin starts.

“I was waiting to make sure he could fight without me in his sight.”

“And what would you have done if he never managed it?”

“Then he wouldn’t have had to know,” Levi snaps, and Eren scowls.

Secrets again?

“I wouldn’t have to know what?”

Levi crosses his arms over his chest, staring up at the ceiling. Eren turns his confused glare on Erwin instead, who sighs once more, muttering something about “young people these days” under his breath.

“Eren,” Erwin says slowly, “there is a reason why it matters for you to be able to fight without Levi being near you.”

“Huh?” Eren tilts his head. “Isn’t it just because I need to be able to fight on my own?”

“Not at all. We’re all going to be fighting together. Someone is always going to be beside you or watching your back. We should have close to the same numbers as Zeke. Perhaps a bit less, but nothing we can’t make up with skill. And you proved quite some time ago that you are just as capable as Levi’s comrades.”

Levi lowers head a little, though he’s still avoiding Eren’s gaze. Eren rubs his eyes, thoroughly confused.

“Okay, so… what? I’m… ready then?”

“No,” Erwin says, smoothing his hands over the floor plan of the club. “You need to be able to fight without Levi specifically. Because Levi is going to be fighting alone.”

Eren blinks. And then blinks again. And then blinks a dozen more times in rapid succession.

“He’s—what? What did you just say?”

Levi moves back slightly on the carpet, away from Eren.

“Listen to me, Eren,” Erwin says slowly, his gaze falling to the floor plan. “The plan is for all of us to enter here—”

Erwin points at a door that leads into a room at the back of the club. No, not a room—a hallway, connecting to several other rooms at the back of the building.

“We’ll be sneaking in, taking out any ferals we can as quickly and quietly we can, before circling around to the main room from behind. That’s where the King and his main lackeys should be, cut off from their hiding spaces and lacking reinforcements.”

Erwin glances up at Eren briefly before continuing, his finger sliding across the page to the front of the club.

“And they will be there… because Levi is going to enter from the front. Alone.”

“What?”

Eren’s head whips towards Levi, who still has his arms crossed over his chest, though this time the man’s gray eyes are already looking at Eren, meeting his gaze head-on.

“You’re—” Eren starts, but his brain is floundering, and his tongue is clumsy. “You—alone? What—Why—?”

“I’m going in alone,” Levi says, “because I’m the bait.”

Eren’s mouth opens and closes uselessly, his fingers sinking into his hair as he tries to process. Levi—Alone—Going in alone—As bait—As bait?

“But-But Zeke—Zeke hates you, he’s—you’re probably the one he would want to kill the most out of everyone!”

“I know,” Levi says. “That’s the point.”

Eren’s palms press against the sides of his head, the shaky energy returning to his limbs, shoulders trembling. That’s the point? That’s the point? The point is for Levi to walk into a room of ferals—alone—and draw them all to him? That’s—that’s—

Eren sucks in a breath, trying to regain a semblance of control even as his lungs feel like they’re filling with helium, trying to escape his body and leave him without a way to breathe.

“Whose idea was this?” Eren asks finally, green eyes darting between Erwin and Levi.

The two men exchange a glance. Levi lowers his gaze.

"Mine," Levi says, his voice low, and Eren barks out a laugh, palms pressing harder against his skull.

"And you didn't think about talking to me about that when you made that decision?"

Levi shakes his head.

"It's been part of the plan since before I met you."

"And you weren't going to tell me?”

“I was, once you were ready.”

“And if I was never going to be ready, you were just going to go alone!”

Levi doesn’t respond, and a frustrated growl of a sound tears its way out of Eren’s throat.

“Levi, you—you really weren’t going to tell me? The only reason I know right now is because of Erwin!"

At the mention of his name, Erwin stands, rolling his floor plan up again. Eren turns his glare onto the blond vampire, anger bubbling up in Eren's chest, heating to a boil.

"Where are you going?"

"It's my preference not to be placed in the middle of a lover's quarrel—"

"Well, I'm not fucking done with you yet, Shitty Brows," Eren snaps, shoving himself onto his feet, and Erwin’s blue eyes grow wide. "Why the hell didn't you try to change his mind?"

Eren's head swings to look down at Levi, still sitting cross-legged on the ground, gray eyes dark.

"Why doesn't—" Eren's voice catches in his throat, eyes watering, but he pushes through, his hands gathering into fists at his sides. "Why doesn't anyone around you ever try to make you give a shit about your own life?"

For a moment, the only sound in the room is Eren's ragged breathing and the sound of him frantically swiping his hands across his wet eyes. This is bullshit. This is bullshit. Over and over again. Levi does the same thing over and over again, the same self-sacrificing bullshit. Trying to prep Mikasa and Armin to help Eren in case "something happens" to Levi. Trying to push Eren away after he learned about Zeke because he felt like Eren should hate him. Fuck—even becoming a hunter again after retiring! Just like Petra said—Levi was out. And yet here he is again. Here he is again, throwing his life away.

And Erwin can't even muster a fucking response.

“Eren—” Levi starts, pushing himself to his feet, but Eren shakes his head. This is bullshit. This. Is. Bullshit.

“No!” Eren exclaims. “No, I don’t want to hear shit from you, Levi. We went through all that—all that bullshit about promises, just for you to pull this?”

“The promise is for you to stick by me,” Levi says, “and even with this plan, you still would, once we regrouped.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure. Right after you get yourself fucking killed!”

Eren drags his fingers through his hair, turning away and walking a few steps towards Levi’s stairs, chest hot, eyes hot, the whole of him burning with anger. Here they are again! Here they are again, even though they’ve talked about this, even though Eren has begged him not to do shit like this.

“Do you really think I’d think up a plan that ends in my own death?”

“I do, Levi; that’s the problem!”

Eren whirls around and finds Levi in front of him, gray eyes narrowed into a scowl that probably mirrors his own.

“For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve talked about your own death like you were just waiting for it to be over any day now—you invited my friends over just so that you could basically include them in your fucking will—”

“Yeah, I fucking did!” Levi snaps, throwing up his hands. “And it was for you. But I—”

Eren groans, dragging his hands down his face with enough force that his skin stings in the aftermath of his trailing fingernails.

“Do you think I want to hear that shit? That it makes me feel better?”

“If you would just let me finish, you fucking brat—”

“Gentlemen,” Erwin interrupts from a distance, “I think it’s best if I leave—”

“Shut the fuck up, Shitty Brows.” Eren and Levi growl out the words in frustrated unison, their heads swinging to glare at him before locking onto each other once more.

“This isn’t even something I want to be angry with you about, Levi, but I just—” Eren hisses out a sigh, slamming the base of his palms against his temples. “How am I supposed to let this slide knowing what I know about you? Fuck, with how much guilt you feel towards my fucking brother, how am I supposed to be sure you won’t let him kill you?”

“You really think I’d pull that shit? After all this? After everything we’ve talked about?” Levi pulls on the collar of his own shirt, the two small scars of his Mark popping into view. “Everything we’ve done?”

“Well, when you obviously set it up so that no one can stop you—”

A hand launches up and grabs Eren by the collar of his shirt, yanking the vampire down with enough force that he falls to his knees on the carpet. Levi leans down until their foreheads are nearly touching, upper lip pulled back slightly, almost like a snarl.

“You’re the one stopping me, you insufferable piece of shit,” Levi shouts the words right in Eren’s face, jerking his hand back and forth, still clutching Eren’s shirt and forcing Eren to move along with it. “I know I have a life to come back to! That I have to come back to. Because of you.”

Eren’s mouth falls open, half-baked counterarguments about Levi’s guilt complex dying in his throat. Levi releases Eren’s shirt to press a hand against his forehead, heaving a sigh and taking a few unsteady steps backward.

“Fuck’s sake,” Levi says, his voice quieter now, but there’s still a rough edge to it, a hint of lingering resentment. “I can’t even be mad at you properly. Fucking brat.”

Levi stumbles back a few more times before he drops to the carpet, sitting with his legs out in front of himself. Something about the pose strikes Eren as childish until Levi hunches forward, his head in his hands.

“...You’re right about why I made that plan originally,” Levi says, voice muffled through his hands. “The others weren’t even supposed to come. I was just going to go. Kill a few ferals. Fuck with their system. And if I died along the way, so be it.”

Eren’s stomach twists, anger quickly simmering away, and guilt settles in his veins in the aftermath like falling ash after a fire. Shit. He shifts to his hands and knees, slowly working his way over to Levi across the carpet.

Levi rubs his face with his hands, voice strained as he continues.

“Erwin realized my plan sometime before I could leave. Made a big show of coming to the restaurant and trying to recruit everyone into the fight, so that I couldn’t hide it from them. He caught a lot of shit from Petra for it, too.”

Levi’s hands move up from his face to rake through his hair, gray eyes narrowed as they aim a harsh enough glare at Eren to make him stop in his tracks.

“And you’re fucking right, Eren! I didn’t give a shit about my own life, so I came up with the idea of being bait, to keep everyone else safe, and—and get what I wanted too, while I was at it.”

“Levi—”

“But that was before everything!” Levi snaps. “Before all those fucking promises you love to bring up so much—before I changed because of you, Eren.”

Every word sends a shot of guilt through Eren’s chest, a syringe of regret straight into his dead heart.

“I—”

“You didn’t trust me, Eren.”

Eren’s mouth snaps shut, and he sits back on his heels, chest aching, wanting the world to swallow him whole.

You didn’t trust me, Eren.

Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Eren’s fingers tangle into his hair again, palms squeezing the sides of his head.

Levi’s right. Eren didn’t trust him at all. Didn’t even give Levi the benefit of the doubt. Eren jumped straight into accusations and didn’t even let Levi explain. And harsh accusations at that. Cruel, cold-hearted words that he spat out without thinking for a second about how Levi would feel—So worried about Levi’s safety that he didn’t spare a thought for the man’s feelings—Fuck, fuck, fuck, why does he keep doing this? Why does Eren never learn a goddamn thing—?

“But I didn’t trust you, either.”

Eren blinks, looking at Levi with wide eyes. Levi sighs as Eren meets his gaze, moving a bit closer, until they’re close enough that they can reach out and touch each other. But Eren keeps his hands at his sides, his mind swirling with a mess of guilt and confusion and the vestiges of frustration that never seem to leave him completely.

“I should’ve just told you about the plan,” Levi says, “but I was hoping that I would never have to. Hoping that you’d have to stay out of the fight, out of danger.”

Eren presses his lips into a thin line but says nothing, not trusting himself, not trusting the storm of emotions within him to get the words out right. His chest feels heavy, tight.

Levi takes a deep breath and moves closer again, shifting from his knees to sit with his legs crossed.

“I never seem to fucking learn,” Levi says, “so I can see why you would think I haven’t changed. But I have. Because of you.”

For the first time all night, Levi cracks a smile.

“The fact I managed to say that whole fucking speech to you should prove it, brat.”

Levi reaches out, but he pauses before grabbing one of Eren’s hands. After a moment, the hand retreats to Levi’s knee and rests there, palm up. Waiting.

Eren knows what it is. A peace offering. A silent way of asking if they can smooth this over. And he knows that he should take Levi’s hand, dig deep, and bring out a speech of his own. Make things right between them again. Eren knows that’s what he wants to do. He wants to smooth things over. He wants to make things better. He wants to pay Levi back for this heartfelt talk, for the patience he always has for Eren—patience that Eren’s not always sure he deserves.

Eren knows that he wants to take Levi’s hand, tell Levi he loves him, and make everything right again.

But the moment Eren opens his mouth, a garbled, whimpering noise escapes his lips, and the world becomes blurry in front of him.

“Oh, fuck me, not now,” Eren mumbles, raising his fists to his watering eyes and now he really can’t see a goddamn thing and fuck, fuck, fuck—how does he manage to ruin every single nice moment between them—

A laugh interrupts his thoughts, loud and smooth and deep. Eren pulls his hands away from his face, trying to see past the tears and his damp eyelashes, but before he can there are arms on his back, tugging him forward and down until his face is pressed against a cotton shirt, a firm chest. He can feel the rumbling of Levi’s shoulders as the man continues to laugh, pale fingers curling into Eren’s clothes and hair, pulling him closer, pressing him closer.

“We’re such a shitty pair,” Levi says, pressing his lips onto the top of Eren’s head, and it’s like the last string holding Eren’s sanity together snaps.

He doesn’t really know what he’s saying or what he’s doing, but he can feel himself shaking, heaving with sobs, and he feels his lips moving; his wet, snotty face trying to form words as his mind thinks over and over, again and again, I’m sorry, Levi, I’m so sorry.

Eren’s mouth moves and his head screams apologies and his throat strains with the effort to make it all coherent through the heaving breaths and the sobs, and he doesn’t know where his hands are on Levi, but he knows he is clinging on for dear life, like the man he loves so much will disappear if Eren ever lets him go.

But he’s not disappearing. He’s not. He’s right here with his arms around Eren, his lips peppering kisses on the top of Eren’s head, his arms wrapped around Eren, hands cradling his head and holding his waist. Levi’s here, he’s right here, even though Eren fucked up so bad, even though he’s done nothing but fuck up over and over again since meeting this man and Eren wants to apologize again, wants to apologize over and over, till the end of time, and even then would it even be enough—

“You don’t need to apologize anymore, Eren.”

No, no, it’s not enough! He needs to keep saying sorry, he needs to make up for it, make up for what he’s done, every mistake he’s made and will make for the rest of the time they’re together—

“Then, I’m sorry too.”

No… No, that’s not right—Eren has to make up for it, for everything, or Levi’s going to disappear—

“Eren.”

Two hands land on Eren’s cheeks, moving him, and Eren doesn’t know how they got here, but when he opens his eyes, he and Levi are face to face, foreheads pressed together.

“I’m here,” Levi says, one of his hands rubbing firm circles into the center of Eren’s back. “Breathe.”

Eren sucks in a stuttering breath through his mouth, his nose too stuffed up to be of any help. In. Out. In. Out. Breathe.

“Good, good,” Levi says, brushing away stray tears with the back of his fingers. “Keep going.”

“I’m sorry—”

“Eren.”

Eren does his best to swallow up some oxygen, trying to force the air into his swollen throat. In. Out. In and out.

"Good," Levi says softly. "Good."

In and out. In and out.

"...'m sorry."

"That's your last one, brat. Say it one more time, and I'll start getting mad at you again."

Eren laughs a little, shaky fingers finding their way to land on Levi's cheek.

"Love you, Levi."

Levi curls his fingers around Eren's, gray eyes narrowing as he briefly leans in close enough for his lips to brush across the tip of Eren's nose.

"I love you too."

"I—" No more apologies. Eren bites his lip. "I love you."

Levi chuckles.

"I know. I love you too."

Eren closes his eyes for a moment. Levi's always so kind to him… So indulgent of all the ways that Eren's mind is an emotional hellscape, even when that leads to Levi getting hurt.

The least Eren can do in return is resolve himself to truly trust the man he loves.

Eren closes his eyes.

"Levi."

"Hm?"

"I'm not gonna doubt you anymore. Never again."

"...Don't say that just yet."

Eren's eyes snap open, a frown forming on his lips. Levi averts his gaze, pulling back slightly.

"Why?"

"There's one last thing I need to talk to you about."

Eren's frown deepens, and he pulls himself out of the warm cocoon of Levi's arms. One last thing? Another secret…? Eren doesn’t want any more of those. He doesn’t want to argue anymore.

"What is it?"

"It's—" Levi stops, glancing around the room.

"What now?" Eren asks, impatient.

"Just wanted to make sure we were alone."

Oh. Right. Erwin was here earlier, wasn't he? When did he—?

Eren shakes his head. Not important. Not right now. Not when Levi's gray eyes have gone dark again.

"I need you to promise me something," Levi says, holding out his hand.

Eren frowns, placing his hand over Levi's.

"Another promise?"

"The last one," Levi says, his voice low.

Levi squeezes Eren's hand. Eren sucks in a deep breath. In. Out.

"Okay. Let me hear it."

In this moment, Eren doesn't care what it is. He's resolved himself to trust Levi wholeheartedly. No more doubt. He’ll gladly accept whatever Levi wants of him, regardless of the consequences.

He’ll accept anything, as long as it doesn’t prevent Eren from keeping Levi safe.

#riren #riren fanfic #ereri riren #ereri

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bitterlikesweets · 2 years

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Love Bites Ch 24

This is the twenty-fourth chapter of a modern/vampire AU riren fanfic. You can also read it on Ao3. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Special | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 Next

The next time Eren spars with Shitty Brows (yes, Eren has decided he wants to use the insulting nickname now too, especially because the stupid vampire has decided he likes teasing Eren by wiggling those big dumb brows at him whenever Eren and Levi so much as stand close to each other or show any sign of affection) Levi stands behind Eren the whole time. At first, it's the same as last time—Levi’s hands on Eren's upper arms, close enough that Levi could lean forward and have his head rest against Eren's back. They practice that way a few more times to make sure it's not just a fluke. But sure enough, Eren panics and his powers activate against his will. Then, the moment he slams against Levi, Eren's Mark burns like someone's pressing white hot metal against his scars, and he snaps out of it.

Next, they try it without Levi holding Eren’s arms, and then with Levi standing a few steps back. It’s partially to test the limits of Levi’s effect on Eren and partially to spare the poor man from getting slammed into the ground every time. But that's a bust; the Mark doesn't get hot just from Levi being in harm's way; it's only when Eren's about to make contact—or already making contact—that he's able to stop.

"We've made no progress," Erwin says. "There's no point to it if Eren can't keep his eyes open."

Eren clenches his hands into fists, digging his fingernails into his palms. This is useless. He thought they had improved, but really all they’ve done is make it so that Levi takes a beating from Eren's back instead of the walls and doors of the house getting hit.

Levi stares at Eren for a long moment, deep in thought, before opening his mouth to say—

"I left my water bottle upstairs. In my room. Do you think you could grab it for me?"

Eren frowns at Levi, glancing at the stairs.

"I mean," Eren says, looking back at Levi. "Yeah, I can? But..."

He hesitates to ask why Levi can't get it himself, not trusting his poor mood to allow the words to come out as anything other than an annoyed snap. And it's just a bottle. Eren can do that much.

…But so can Levi, no?

"Erwin and I will stay here and brainstorm a little more," Levi says, and Eren thinks it's really just his own grumpy, tired brain that wants to start a fight over a water bottle, so Eren tells that part of his brain to shut up and goes to grab his boyfriend his drink.

The water bottle is half-empty, and Eren decides that since he already has it, he'll fill it in the kitchen once he gets downstairs. He descends back to the first floor, thinking that the two men are being very quiet for people who are supposed to be brainstorming, and—

Eren sees a blur rushing at Levi in the living room and his mind goes blank. He forgets everything for a moment, forgets where he is, what they're doing, who they're with. He sees the blur of movement, he sees Levi not even attempting to block or dodge the violent mass launching itself at him, and he forgets everything.

And as he forgets everything, the world slows down. The blur becomes Erwin, moving at a jog, turning his head to look at Eren with a confused frown. But Eren is not focused on Erwin. He's focused on Levi, standing so still it looks like he's not even breathing. Eren takes off at a dead sprint towards the man, tackling him onto the couch and out of harm's way—

"Holy shit—"

Eren hears Levi's voice and the world speeds up again. He's on the couch, on his hands and knees, Levi below him, gray eyes wide as he looks at Eren. Eren is practically vibrating all over. He feels shaky and his head is pounding and the blood is buzzing through his veins like thousands of little bees racing past each other, and he can't breathe .

"Eren," Levi says, blinking up at him, "what the fuck was that?"

Eren can't form words yet. His mind is struggling to catch up. Erwin was so fast and then he was so slow and now Eren and Levi are over here and how much time has passed? His blood is still roaring in his veins, like his body and his insides are operating at two different speeds. He can’t breathe. How does he breathe? His lungs are like rocks in his chest, stiff, unmoving.

"Eren," Erwin says, and Erwin is behind him— when did Erwin get behind him? "Calm down. Breathe. I think you've just consciously used your increased speed for the first time, and that's quite different than doing it purely by instinct."

Eren manages to take a ragged breath, rolling off of Levi, off the couch, and landing on his back on the floor with a thud. He feels nauseous. His blood is so fast, so loud he can hear it rushing by, assaulting his ears, fighting against his veins as if the blood wants to burst out of him.

"Eren, listen to me," Erwin says and God, his words sound so slow , "you need to focus. Listen for the sound of Levi's heartbeat, alright?"

Levi's heartbeat? Eren closes his eyes, trying to hear over the sound of his own veins, over the rushing sound like the current of a river in his eardrums. He can hear his own staggered breathing, can hear clothes rustling as Levi shifts on the couch. Everything is so loud— fuck where is Levi’s heartbeat in this absolute mess of sound? Eren needs to focus. Focus.

After a moment, he finds what he's looking for. The steady thumping in Levi's chest, like a metronome—no, like the beating of a drum, heavy and firm.

Eren latches onto it, that steady rhythm, the only sound in the house firmly anchoring Eren to a sense of time, real time, and the blood starts to slow, starts to flow in a way that doesn't make his internal organs feel at risk of exploding. Soon, he can breathe normally again, though his body aches with every rise and fall of his chest.

"What..." is what Eren manages to croak out when he no longer feels like he's on the verge of a second death. "Why...."

"Well," Erwin says, "it's like breathing. Once you become conscious of doing it; it becomes an effort to maintain. Except in your case, you had no idea how to maintain what speed your body was operating on. It's like if you never learned how to swallow and suddenly someone shoved food in your mouth; of course, you'd choke."

"I..." Eren takes another steadying breath, body aching with the movement. "I hate that."

"You'll get used to it, I assure you."

Eren sincerely doubts that. Completely avoiding his powers is becoming more and more favorable the more he uses them. Fuck, is it going to hurt like this every time?

"Eren," Levi says, pushing himself up into a sitting position on the couch. "Why the hell did you do that anyway?"

"I..." Eren rubs his eyes. "I don't know... I should've known it was Erwin.... but I just... I saw a vampire attacking you and freaked."

"Hmm..." Erwin places his hand beneath his chin. "I really thought you were being overprotective when you sent him away, Levi, but clearly you were correct."

Eren rubs his eyes again. He's way too exhausted for this no-context conversation. He can’t even bring himself to sit up.

"What're you talking about?"

"I wanted to have Erwin run at me like he did to you as a way to get more ideas,” Levi says. “I figured it might make you nervous, so I sent you up for a second."

"That fucking backfired," Eren grumbles, and Levi sighs.

"Next time, I'll be more direct."

"Please."

Eren feels a hand on his head and reluctantly pulls his hands away from his eyes. Levi is kneeling over him, his gray eyes darker than usual.

"What am I going to do with you, brat?" he asks softly, running his fingers through Eren's hair. "If you're going to be like this just from watching me spar..."

Eren's lips twist into a frown, and he averts his gaze.

"Sorry, Levi..."

"No," Levi says. "Don't apologize. I get that you worry, but..."

Erwin clears his throat, and Levi's fingers pause their motions through Eren's hair.

"If I may pose a suggestion," Erwin says, "I have an idea that might get Eren used to seeing you in danger and get him to keep his eyes open."

"What's that?" Levi asks.

"Levi, instead of standing behind Eren, why don't you stand in front, as if you're blocking Eren from the path of danger? Making sure that Eren doesn’t move, of course."

Levi brightens up at this suggestion, but Eren just gets a sinking feeling at the pit of his stomach.

"Something tells me you just want to see me suffer, Shitty Brows,” Eren grumbles.

"Nothing of the sort, Eren. If it seems so, it's purely Hanji's influence."

"Not even Hanji would do this to me."

"Trust me, my friend," Erwin says with a grin, "I can only imagine that Hanji would conjure up an idea much, much worse."

Eren heaves a sigh, slowly pushing himself off the ground and onto his feet. He feels Levi's hand on the small of his back, easing him up.

“Don’t be a brat,” Levi says, though his touch is gentle at Eren’s waist. “You’ve got to be able to see me in danger, or this isn’t going to work.”

“I know, but—”

“No buts,” Levi says, pushing Eren into the center of the room before stepping in front of him. Erwin moves to his own spot across the room, stretching his arms in front of himself with a small smile. “I can’t have you trying to knock me out of the fight when I’m the one who’s supposed to be on the front lines.”

Eren sighs. Levi looks up at him over his shoulder, but the vampire doesn’t respond. What is Eren supposed to say? What can he say?

Levi looks forward again.

“Okay. Ten.”

Erwin crouches slightly, getting ready to move. Eren keeps his eyes wide, trying to be as alert as possible. He needs to keep his eyes open. He has to.

“Nine.”

Eren hates the idea of not being able to go to this fight after everything. But he knows that Levi is right. Eren can’t be dead weight, and he definitely can’t be holding back the best fighter they have. He’s just going to get Levi hurt.

“Eight.”

But being forced to watch Levi get attacked—Being forced not to move, not to attempt to help him—

“Seven.”

It feels cruel even though it’s just practice. Even though Eren knows Erwin isn’t actually going to hurt Levi.

“Six.”

If knowing there was no danger was all that it took for Eren not to worry, he’d have been able to move on to the next part of their training already. But it’s not enough. That’s why he can never keep his fucking eyes open.

“Five.”

Eren takes a deep breath.

“Four.”

He just needs to keep his eyes open. Keep his eyes on Erwin, who’s smiling at him over Levi’s head.

“Three.”

Something moves across the room. Eren just needs to—wait, what?

Levi hasn’t finished counting down yet, but there is a blur moving towards them, hurtling towards them, and immediately the breath floods out of Eren’s lungs, every muscle in his body tensing. His arms move to grab Levi before he can even think about it—

“Eren, don’t .”

Eren freezes, mouth open, arms half outstretched, hands hovering by Levi’s arms but not touching. Levi’s words ring clear through Eren’s ears even as he can’t tear his eyes from the blond blur that’s so close but not stopping—why isn’t Erwin stopping? Levi’s not ready—fuck, Levi didn’t even grab his practice blade before they started, he can’t defend—

There’s a slam, the sound of something hard hitting flesh, and Erwin becomes a solid being rather than a blur of movement. He’s looming over Levi, a stupid smile on his lips like always, one of his hands held in front of his chest, just over his heart.

Right where the flat end of a stake is pressed against Erwin’s palm.

Everything’s fine. Levi blocked. Levi’s fine.

Eren sags all the way to the ground, letting loose a heavy sigh of relief he didn’t realize he was holding in. His hands are shaky. He really thought—Well, Eren doesn’t know what he thought because he should’ve known that Erwin wouldn’t actually attack Levi and that Levi would be prepared—

Eren buries his face into his hands, shoulders hunching as he kneels on the ground. Fuck . If he’s this stressed over something this small—over fucking nothing —how is he going to survive the battle against Zeke?

“Kind of you to use to blunt edge instead of killing me, Levi,” says Erwin.

“Yeah, and real shitty of you to not wait for the end of the countdown, Shitty Brows.”

Erwin laughs.

“I simply thought you needed a bit of training too.”

Levi scoffs.

“You’re a dick, Erwin,” Eren grumbles from his spot on the ground, earning him an unwanted laugh from the big blond vampire.

“Apologies, but I thought if I didn’t properly put Levi in danger, you might not keep your eyes open.”

“You’re a dick , Erwin,” Eren says again, pulling his hands away from his face to glare up at Erwin, but instead he sees Levi kneeling in front of him, his expression soft.

Eren’s frown deepens, adrenaline fading. His eyes feel heavy. His body feels heavy.

“What?” he grumbles, and the corners of Levi’s lips twitch.

“Erwin,” Levi says, even though he’s looking at Eren. “Did Eren keep his eyes open?”

Eren’s mouth falls open, wide eyes shifting to the blond vampire standing nearby. Erwin smiles, thick eyebrows rising slightly.

“He did indeed.”

Eren blinks slowly, jaw still dropped.

Did he really? Eren didn’t even think about it. He was so focused on Erwin moving before he was supposed to—so worried about Levi not being able to block or get out of the way…

But Eren didn’t see blackness or red eyes lingering behind his closed eyelids. He saw Erwin and he saw Levi. He saw them.

“Holy shit,” Eren says, the corners of his lips slowly curving upwards. “Holy shit. ”

He shuffles closer to Levi across the carpet, eyes bright as a grin continues to spread across his face.

“Levi!” he exclaims. “Holy shit!”

Levi snorts at his excitement, reaching out and pulling one of Eren’s hands into his own.

“Holy shit,” Levi echoes with a tiny fraction of Eren’s energy, but for Eren that’s more than enough.

A giddy mix of pride and relief spill out of Eren’s lips in the form of a laugh, and he squeezes Levi’s hand with his own.

“Holy shit,” Eren says again, grinning, and Levi rolls his eyes.

“Shall we end today’s sparring session on a high note?” Erwin says, already heading towards the door. “Seems to me like we’ve cracked the code.”

“Not quite,” Levi says. “We’ve still got to make sure this brat will be able to fight without me in his sight.”

“ Levi ,” Erwin says, and the blond vampire’s smile drops, voice lowering. “We’ve made progress. Celebrate.”

Eren frowns at the change in mood. Erwin’s words are positive, encouraging, but… something doesn’t feel right. Why are Erwin and Levi exchanging somber glances? Eren kept his eyes open! That’s good, right? That’s progress, right?

Right?

“I’ll see myself out,” Erwin says, sending one last small smile in Eren’s direction before slipping out of the house, not waiting for goodbyes.

The door closes quietly, but the click sounds loud to Eren’s sensitive ears. Levi’s thumb sweeps over the back of Eren’s hand, his gaze shifting to the ground.

“We need to make sure you can fight even when you can’t see me, Eren,” Levi says, and Eren’s shoulders sag a bit. “But…”

Eren shifts a bit closer.

“But?”

Levi’s gaze rises, gray eyes gentle. His other hand moves to rest against Eren’s cheek, pulling him closer until their foreheads touch.

“But you did well today.” Levi leans closer, his lips landing at the corner of Eren’s mouth before pulling back again. Eren’s cheeks warm, and the half-faded Mark on his neck tingles.

“Do you think I’ll be ready in time?”

Levi frowns, his mouth opening and closing a few times before he lets out a deep sigh, his hand falling from Eren’s cheek.

“I don’t know, brat.”

Eren winces and ducks his face into the crook of Levi’s neck. If Eren can’t go… If he just has to sit at home, hoping that Levi and everyone else will be okay without him there…

It’s going to be torture.

“Sorry,” Levi says, his fingers finding their place in Eren’s hair again, combing through. “But I’m not going to lie about your odds just to make you feel better.”

“I wouldn’t want you to,” Eren mumbles, his fingers curling into Levi’s shirt. “It’s just hard to hear it.”

Eren takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. He has to work harder. Twice as hard. He has to improve before the month is over. He needs to be there for Levi. He promised. He’s not going to back out now.

Because if something were to happen to Levi without Eren there—if the ferals who killed Eren’s mom got to Levi—If Zeke ever hurt Levi because Eren was not there to protect him—

Eren would never be able to live with himself.

“Eren.”

Eren’s fingers curl tighter into the fabric of Levi’s clothes.

“Yeah?”

“You did make good progress today. Keeping your eyes open was a big step for you.”

One of Levi’s hands moves away from the soothing motions in Eren’s hair to brush against Eren’s neck. Eren shivers when Levi’s thumb slides across his Mark.

“Thanks, Levi.”

Levi’s fingertips brush over Eren’s neck again.

“...Want a reward?”

Eren’s eyes fly open, his head lifting away from Levi’s shoulder to look the man in the eye.

“A reward? Like what?”

“Hmm…”

Levi leans down, and Eren stiffens when he feels Levi’s breath on his collarbone, Eren’s lungs stuttering.

“Looks like this needs to be redone,” Levi says, his voice low, rough.

“Oh?” Eren asks, trying to keep his voice smooth and teasing, even as the blood in his veins starts to buzz in anticipation. “What does?”

“Don’t make me say it’s cheesy ass name,” Levi grumbles. His lips land on Eren’s skin, and Eren’s shoulders jolt. “Your… Love Bite.”

Eren laughs briefly in spite of himself, his head dropping onto Levi’s shoulder.

“It is cheesy when you say it.”

Levi’s heavy sigh is nearly like a growl, and it simultaneously makes Eren laugh and shudder.

“Shut the fuck up, Eren,” Levi snaps.

“You’re so s—”

Eren’s teasing words die on their way out the second Levi sinks his teeth into Eren’s throat, the sudden pain and burst of heat making his upper body jerk. Eren has to hold onto Levi’s waist to keep himself upright as he gasps, trembling as the tingling heat rushes out from the bite on his neck down his back, across his arms—everywhere, everywhere, he feels it so much , everywhere, all at once.

And just like that, it’s over. Levi pulls back, the press of his short, human canines and his flat front teeth removed from Eren’s skin. Levi’s arms curl around Eren’s waist as the vampire sags against him, trembling. Still hot all over, so damn hot, fuck.

“I’m so what?” Levi asks, his lips against Eren’s ear, and even that small gesture makes Eren jolt again, breaths stuttering.

“Huh…?”

“You were saying something,” Levi says, his voice still low, lips still lingering on Eren’s skin. “‘You’re so…’”

“Oh… I…”

Eren swallows, trying to reorient himself, even as the now fresh Mark on his neck throbs.

“I was…” Eren clears his throat. “I was going to say… You’re so sensitive…”

Levi chuckles, and Eren shivers again, his fingers digging into Levi’s waist.

“Something tells me you’re the sensitive one between the two of us.”

Eren works up just enough energy to raise his head and glare at Levi, though this just makes the pale man laugh again. Levi catches Eren’s chin before his head can loll forward onto Levi’s shoulder again, leaning in to press their lips together.

“Don’t even think about disagreeing with me, brat,” Levi says, a small smirk forming on his lips as he leans back, his hand still beneath Eren’s chin. “I have no problem proving you wrong.”

Eren groans, shaking his head free of Levi’s grasp to drop his head into the crook of Levi’s neck again, tiredness overcoming him as the heat fades and his Mark settles down. Eren closes his eyes.

“Levi…”

“What?”

“You’re the worst.”

Levi laughs again. It’s almost a little strange, how freely he’s able to do so these days.

God, Eren loves the sound so, so much. If only he could keep Levi laughing like this over and over again, for the rest of time.

“You’re right, Eren,” Levi whispers, and Eren feels Levi’s fingers cradling his own, moving them up. He feels the press of the man’s lips against his knuckles, gentle yet firm. “I’m the worst.”

#riren #riren fanfic #ereri riren #ereri #what???? me with a love bites update????#sorry it took so long guys haha

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bitterlikesweets · 2 years

Text

This is chapter one of a sidlink fic in which no Hylian has come to aid Zora's Domain, so Sidon has to go out and find one himself. (And he just so happens to find one that is extremely capable and somehow... familiar).

The chapter is around 4000 words. The fic will likely be titled "Is It Worse To Remember Or Forget" but I'm currently unsure

Sidon can’t remember the last time he’s been so far from the Domain. It’s been weeks, at least, since he’s seen the sky like this. With the sun beaming down at him from the cloudless sky overhead, it seems unfathomable how greatly the Domain is suffering, tormented by endless rain.

Yet, the sight of Vah Ruta, pouring water into the Eastern Reservoir, waves lapping at the weakening dam, is all too vivid in Sidon’s mind.

The prince had been waiting for a Hylian to aid them—waiting at the edge of the Domain, searching for any traveler daring to come close, to come to their aid. When it became clear that no one would be coming, Sidon pleaded with his father to allow him to travel outwards and recruit a warrior to aid them before it was too late.

He left Zora’s Domain two days ago, and so far, he has found nothing, despite having traveled all the way to Lake Hylia. He’s passed by a few stables, many of the buildings housing weary travelers that all guiltily tell him that they wouldn’t be able to help. However, more often than not, Sidon finds that the many Hylian towns and outposts are nothing more than abandoned ruins now. He supposes he should’ve assumed that the old map of Hyrule his father gave him would be outdated, but he never imagined the extent of the damage. The Domain, while currently plagued by the Divine Beast’s rains, is far from being in ruin—except for a few outlying villages here and there. Sidon begins to wonder if any of the Hylian villages on his map are still intact.

Sidon floats on his back and lets the water carry him as he scrutinizes the waxy parchment in his hands. He was able to travel using primarily the water until now, but his next destination, Hateno Village, appears to be surrounded by land. With a frown, he rolls up the map and tucks it into a small pouch tied around his waist, swimming to the farthest point inland he can manage—a small body of water just west of the village, Lake Jarrah.

~ ~ ~

It’s late afternoon by the time Sidon makes the swim from Lake Hylia to Lake Jarrah, and though he’d love nothing more than to stop swimming and rest his tired legs, he pauses a bit away from the shore, treading water as quietly as he can.

There’s a dirt path surrounding a small area of ruins; small signs with painted red targets. Likely a place for archery practice, but Sidon’s gaze doesn’t focus on the scenery for long. There's a small hooded figure kneeling in the grass by the water, their white tunic covered in a variety of leather belts and armor pieces. Small, clawless hands—Hylian hands, Sidon realizes with a start—slowly pull back the drawstring of a bow that looks like it's made of sharp metal and bone. They release an arrow and strike the face of a black moblin a few feet away. The beast crumples to the floor, clutching its face with clawed hands. The Hylian shoots another arrow, inching forward, and the moblin bursts with a great cloud of black and purple smoke.

Sidon watches in awe as the Hylian dispatches monster after monster in this way, red legs kicking eagerly in the water to stay afloat and watch. The Hylian’s swift shots to the head are enough to immediately eliminate a number of blue bokoblins, though the moblins seem to need an extra arrow or two. Sidon is floored. This is the first time he's seen a Hylian fight (many of the travelers he ran into on his journey from Zora's Domain simply turned and ran if they encountered any of Ganon's beasts), and he's enthralled by the precise way the Hylian shoots their bow and by their stealth as they make their way across the grass.

A rattling growl erupts from the trees beside the ruins, and Sidon swims a bit closer, trying to catch a glimpse of the creature that made the noise. A bokoblin most likely, but there’s something… different about the sound. Sidon watches the Hylian crouch even lower, their hands moving to a strange object hooked to a belt on their waist.

And for a moment, Sidon is sure he's hallucinating.

Tendrils of thin blue light swirl around the sword strapped to the Hylian's back, glowing brightly until Sidon can't even see the weapon anymore. He watches the Hylian swipe their fingers across the strange rectangular object by their waist, and then the blue light fades.

A sword, spiked and split down the middle like a forked tongue, replaces the simple broadsword that was previously on the Hylian's back. The blade glows bright yellow, and the crackle of electricity sends Sidon sinking slowly into the water of the lake until his eyes are just above the surface, a shot of nervousness bleeding into his awe. He continues watching warily as the Hylian notches a new arrow, with a blue tip; it appears to be covered in frost. Sidon has seen similar arrows being sold in the Domain.

The growl erupts from the trees again, and a bokoblin the likes of which Sidon has never seen before lumbers out, wielding a bone club. Its skin is shining, golden, and its beady red eyes lock onto the Hylian. It raises its bone club over its head, a screech tearing out of its mouth as it begins to run forward.

The Hylian shoots the frost tipped arrow, and the golden bokoblin is suddenly enveloped by frost, its expression locked in an unpleasant sneer, its arm still raised. Sidon watches with a mix of fear and respect as the Hylian plants their feet firmly on the ground before pulling out their electric sword with a violent swing.

Green veins of electricity shoot out in every direction, and Sidon shudders to think of what it might feel like to be on the business end of that strike.

While the bokoblin is still stunned from the shock, the Hylian lets another arrow loose, freezing the monster again, and Sidon begins to see the pattern—freeze and shock, freeze and shock, freeze and then—

The electric blade snaps in half in the Hylian's hands, and the bokoblin shakes free from the stun and the frost, reorienting itself enough to swing at the Hylian with its bone club. They hurry to try and freeze it one more time, but just as they pull an arrow out of their quiver, the bokoblin's club strikes them in the chest.

The Hylian flies through the air. Their back slams against a crumbling stone pillar, and they tumble to the grassy ground with a groan. The golden bokoblin is still advancing, its club raised over its head, poised to strike.

Sidon is out of the water before he realizes what he’s doing.

He’s not nearly as swift as the Hylian had been, but the splash of his large body rising out of the lake causes the bokoblin to pause, to look his way, and that’s all the time Sidon needs. He has a silver spear strapped to his back, and as soon as the golden monster shifts to face him, he yanks it off his back and throws it with all the strength he can muster.

The spear strikes it right between its red eyes, and it stumbles, dropping its club as it tries to dislodge the spear. Yet it somehow survives the attack, crying out in agony as it claws weakly at the silver weapon lodged in its skull.

As Sidon runs to finish the job, he sees a small hand grab the discarded club off the floor, and the Hylian struggles to their knees, flinging the bone club at the bokoblin with enough force that it shatters upon impact against the side of the beast’s head. Finally, the monster crumples to the floor, a screech leaving its mouth before it disappears into a cloud of black smoke.

Sidon hurries over to the Hylian as they struggle to their feet, rubbing at their chest with a small hand.

“Are you alright?” Sidon asks as soon as he’s close enough to be heard. “I apologize for taking too long to help; I was so amazed by your fighting style that I hadn’t thought to join you.”

The Hylian takes a hesitant step away from him as he approaches, and Sidon stops advancing, unsure of what’s wrong. It takes a moment before he notices the wary hand poised to raise a bow, another hand hovering over the strange rectangle that previously brought forth the electric blade.

Sidon realizes his mistake then. This Hylian—he assumes they’re a Hylian, anyway—likely hasn’t seen a Zora before. Sidon's people haven’t strayed far from the Domain during the century after the Great Calamity; he’s sure that suddenly seeing a Zora must be quite a fright.

He has no idea how to make himself seem like less of a threat though. He’s at least double the Hylian’s size and he’s all claws, scales, and sharp teeth, quite literally a fish out of water.

Sidon decides to kneel in the grass, his hands held out, palm up, in front of himself—a show of surrender, almost. The ground is warm beneath him, water dripping off his thighs and fingertips onto the green blades below.

“I assure you, I’m not here to harm you,” Sidon says. “I’d like to apologize again for being slow to come to your aid.”

The Hylian relaxes their stance slightly but doesn’t move any closer. Sidon stares as clawless hands push away the white hood obscuring their face, and the prince gets a glimpse of blond hair, pointed ears, blue eyes, and an angular jawline. A Hylian man, Sidon now realizes, through what he vaguely remembers of the Hylians he met as a child and the few he's met on the way here.

Somehow… There’s something familiar about the Hylian’s face, though Sidon can’t place what makes him think so. From what he knows about Hylian life spans, there’s no one that he should be able to recognize. Perhaps this man is the grandchild of someone he met long ago.

Sidon watches as the blond man grabs something hooked to his belt: a small leatherbound journal and an attached pencil. He scribbles something across a page and then places the journal on the grass and nudges it towards Sidon with his foot. Sidon lets his hands fall to his sides and leans forward, still unsure if the Hylian is comfortable with him moving around, and peers down at the quick question written in the journal.

‘What are you?’

Sidon smiles at the blunt question.

“I’m a Zora,” Sidon explains. “My people live a bit farther north. We’re water dwelling beings for the most part, as I’m sure you can tell. It’s a rare occasion that we stray from the Domain, so I understand why you would be wary. However, I must assure you, we are peaceful people.”

Blue eyes stare curiously down at him. Sidon watches with interest as that bright-eyed gaze darts across his figure. He even sits up a little straighter, allowing the blond man to get a better look at him. Sidon wonders what Hylians know of the many people around Hyrule. The travelers at the stables seemed surprised to see Sidon, though they did also seem to recognize what he was. He wonders about the other groups, if there are some that Hylians have continued to interact with even after the Great Calamity.

In any case, this little Hylian’s wide-eyed stare seems to be evidence enough that there are some out there who have completely forgotten the Zora’s existence.

The Hylian darts forward to pick up his journal again, writing something new. He then seems to frantically scribble it out before writing something again. Now apparently satisfied, he passes the journal to Sidon with the same hesitant method as before, pushing it with his boot. The scribbled out words are completely illegible, so Sidon pays them no mind and focuses on the message below.

‘Your name?’

“Sidon,” the prince says with a grin. “And yours?”

Another hasty scribble later, and Sidon has his answer.

“Link,” Sidon says slowly. “Am I saying that right?”

He looks over at the Hylian—Link, Sidon quickly corrects—and he receives a nod as Link’s tense expression is finally broken by a small smile.

Link steps closer, picking up Sidon’s spear on the way over. As he returns Sidon’s weapon, he writes something new in the journal and then turns it for Sidon to see.

‘Good throw.’

After a moment's consideration, Link adds another comment to the end of that message.

‘I could’ve handled it on my own though.’

Sidon breaks into a sharp-toothed grin, and he shifts his spear so that it's strapped to his back once more.

"I don't doubt it. You're an exquisite fighter. Why, you might just be the strongest Hylian warrior I've seen!"

Granted, he hasn't seen any Hylian warriors besides Link in a very long time, but Sidon feels as though his point still stands.

Link smiles bashfully at him, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, and Sidon's grin brightens in return.

"Are you well known for it?" Sidon asks.

Link tilts his head slightly, a silent question.

"For fighting, I mean. Surely a warrior like you gathers quite a bit of respect."

Hope bubbles in the Zora prince's chest. Link may be the very Hylian that he needs. He's certainly a capable fighter—had his blade not broken, Sidon is certain that he would've defeated that golden bokoblin without getting so much as a scratch on him. Sturdy weapons can easily be arranged for him, and Link has already proven that he is adept at working with electricity…

The prince's excitement stalls when he watches the Hylian's smile drop, his blue-eyed gaze dropping to the floor. Has he said something to offend Link? Sidon desperately hopes not. The man may be his last hope, and it wouldn't do if Sidon ruined things before he had the chance to ask for aid.

"Link?" Sidon asks, and Link takes his time writing out a response.

'Not well known. It’s better to not be.'

Sidon stares at the little journal, nodding slowly, his hand beneath his chin. He can imagine that it would be troublesome to be a well known warrior in times like these. With monsters roaming all of Hyrule, Sidon can only imagine the amount of requests that would be asked of someone with Link’s fighting prowess…

Ah.

Sidon can't possibly ask him for help now. Not only would a request like Sidon’s likely be exactly the sort of thing Link is trying to avoid, but it would certainly give Link more attention than he would ever want.

Sidon shakes himself before he allows even a shred of disappointment to well up within him. It is fine. There is all of Hyrule left for Sidon to search for help. Surely there is at least one Hylian out there with Link’s skill level. Hope is not lost. Sidon is just… back to square one. Back to square one with a little less time than before. It will be difficult, but not impossible.

Link kneels in the grass in front of Sidon, large blue eyes staring questioningly at the prince still deep in thought. The Hylian reaches out to take the journal, writing with the journal angled so that Sidon can see what he’s writing as his pencil darts across the page.

‘Are you trying to head up to town?’

Sidon smiles as he reads, and he responds with a quick nod.

“I’m in need of a Hylian,” Sidon says, “Any Hylian that could be willing to help me. I was hoping that there might be someone in town that I could ask for assistance.”

Link frowns at that and begins writing again.

‘What do you need help with?’

“Well,” Sidon begins, trying to keep his voice light in spite of the dark topic, “I’m afraid that Vah Ruta—ah, the Divine Beast in Zora’s Domain—has suddenly begun to spray water over the area. It’s been causing rain without pause for weeks now, overfilling the lake nearby. My father fears that our dams might burst, causing a flood that would not only damage our lands, but a significant portion of Hyrule.”

Sidon watches as Link’s expression darkens, and the prince is quick to grin, swinging his fist up to his chest and hoping to lighten the Hylian’s mood.

“It’s nothing to be concerned about! All I need is a single Hylian who’s willing to travel with me for a bit, and all will be well.”

Link’s blue eyes stay dark, much to Sidon’s dismay, and the Hylian stares down at his journal, pencil held over the white pages. Link is poised to write, but he bites his lip, and his hand stays hovering, the tip of the pencil never quite meeting the page.

Sidon is unsure of what to do for Link. Perhaps he shouldn’t have spoken about it, or at least kept some of the more disastrous possibilities to himself. It was probably disheartening to hear that Hyrule could be flooded. He can only imagine how terrifying of a prospect that may be for people born without gills.

“In any case,” Sidon says, deciding that it's probably best if he simply changes the subject. “May I ask you to show me the way? I’d like to get my bearings a bit before nightfall.”

Link’s frown doesn’t fade, but he nods, hooking the journal's attached metal clip and pencil to his belt before getting to his feet. He swings an arm, beckoning, and Sidon hurries to follow.

Link walks at a brisk pace, slightly ahead of Sidon as they march up the trail. The prince uses the moment of silence to take in the sights, loving the feel of the warm sun above him. Sidon takes in a deep breath, already seeing the Domain in his mind: bright, beautiful stone glittering in the daylight, Vah Ruta appeased and watching over the land as the diligent protector it was always meant to be.

Soon, Sidon thinks, soon my people shall see the sun again.

It’s funny, how those weeks of rain have made him appreciate what he had previously taken for granted. He vows to appreciate every good day of weather that comes his way from now on.

The rattling, guttural laughter of a bokoblin interrupts Sidon’s thoughts. He looks up the trail, into the trees, but Link is already moving, his bow out and ready. Sidon reaches for his spear at the same moment that Link shoots a blue bokoblin straight in the forehead, dispatching it instantly. Sidon zeroes in on the source of the monster’s laughter, and he sees a small Hylian woman lying on the floor, her hands clasped over her head.

When he gets closer, Sidon sees that she’s unconscious. The prince’s heart sinks, and he immediately rummages through the small pouch tied to his waist. He only brought a few healing elixirs, and he hurriedly places one at the woman’s mouth, not wasting even a second to worry about his small supply. She’s bruised, and there’s a bump on her head the size of a small apple, but, fortunately, the elixir works quickly. Sidon grins as she begins to open her eyes.

“My sister…” she mumbles, her hands moving to press the bump on her head.

Sidon’s smile drops when he hears a screech, and he looks over his shoulder to see Link engaged in another battle already—a golden bokoblin standing over another Hylian woman. Sidon scrambles to grab his spear again, watching with wide eyes as Link jumps over the bokoblin’s swinging club, moving in to strike with such quick swings of his sword that Sidon can only view the flurry of attacks as a blur of movement. He again finds himself floored by the Hylian’s skill, but he keeps enough of his focus to not just stare dumbly in awe this time.

Sidon keeps his spear raised as he edges around the battle being waged in the center of the woods, ready to help Link if necessary, but more focused on helping the woman on the floor while the beast that attacked her is still distracted.

Sidon kneels in the grass, readying another bottle of elixir, and he glances up just as the bokoblin swings haphazardly at Link again. Sidon watches in horror as the shield Link uses to defend himself breaks upon impact with the club, only managing to slow the hit enough that Link doesn’t go flying when the bone and wood club slams against his abdomen. The Hylian’s whole body hunches upon being hit, but he simply grits his teeth and swings his sword again, sending the bokoblin stumbling back and buying him enough time to swipe his fingers across the strange object hooked to his belt, a new shield materializing in his hands with a flash of blue light.

The woman’s eyes flutter open, and Sidon pushes the rest of the bottle of red liquid into her hands so that he can hurry and help Link. Sidon approaches the bokoblin slowly from behind, the golden monster still focused on Link as the Hylian warrior darts back and forth in front of it, dodging the swings of its club but not quite finding the right moment to rush in. Link meets Sidon’s gaze, briefly, and then he swings his sword at the golden monster. It jumps backwards, easily dodging the attack that wasn’t quite in range. Sidon’s grip tightens on his own weapon, halting his own advance to ready himself and put more force into the next attack.

Another misleading sword swipe from Link is all that it takes for the bokoblin to stumble backwards into Sidon’s range, and Sidon stabs his spear into the monster’s back, thrusting it with enough force for the blade to emerge from its chest. Its rattling screech of agony is loud and piercing, but Sidon simply tightens his grip on the spear as the bokoblin drops its club and squirms and thrashes about—

A crack rings out through the woods, and Sidon watches the bokoblin burst into a cloud of smoke, banished until the next blood moon. Link drops the bokoblin’s bone club to the floor with a sigh while the two Hylian women stumble across the grass to each other. Sidon hears one of them complain about truffle hunting, but he’s quickly distracted when he sees Link crouch in the grass, the Hylian releasing a sigh as he rubs his stomach with his hand. His white tunic is unstained—a little dirty from the club maybe, but nothing a quick dusting won’t fix—and Sidon is relieved at the realization that Link isn’t bleeding.

“Are you alright?” Sidon asks, dropping to kneel in front of Link, who hums a little and nods, still rubbing his stomach.

Link raises his head and points at Sidon, tilting his head slightly.

“I’m alright as well,” Sidon says, hoping that he understood Link’s gestures correctly.

Link smiles at him and then pats Sidon’s knee, and Sidon grins at the touch.

The prince’s urge to ask Link to be the one to help him grows stronger, but he manages to stop himself from saying anything.

He just can’t help it. Link would be so perfect for the job. A skilled fighter, quick to help others in danger. A Hylian able to wield electricity, well versed in battle with Ganon’s beasts… If Link could only see what Zora’s Domain was like now, surely the part of him that immediately jumped into battle when he saw those injured women would spark up again. He would be an incredible ally to have.

But Sidon can't force him. The prince will ask others first, and then come to Link only as a last resort. And if that plan fails then…

Images of Vah Ruta—trunk raised, water pouring relentlessly from the sky—flash in Sidon’s mind. His gaze shifts to his hands, and he thinks of the electric arrows scattered near Shatterback Point.

If that plan fails, then… Then Sidon will attempt it himself. His duty as prince is to protect his people, and he refuses to give up on that duty, even at risk to himself.

His sister chose that path as well.

Sidon feels pressure on his knee, and he looks down to see that Link has placed the journal on his leg. Sidon smiles at him before shifting his gaze back to the pages.

‘Ready to go?’

Sidon gently takes the journal and closes it before holding it up to Link, already standing with his weapons put away.

“Yes,” Sidon says as Link takes the journal back. “Let’s be off.”

#sidlink #fanfiction #sidlink fanfic

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bitterlikesweets · 2 years

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I kept forgetting to post on Tumblr when I updated this story so I decided ahhh I'm just not gonna put all the chapters on here haha, it's completed on Ao3 now anyway. A full narusai fic covering nearly all of Shippuden

#fanfiction #narusai

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bitterlikesweets · 2 years

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That Strange Feeling Called Love Ch 19-24

This is chapters nineteen through twenty-four of a narusai fic. You can also read it on Ao3.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7-12 | 13-18 | 19-24

“Sakura.”

Time was running out. War was on the horizon, and Sai wouldn’t have the luxury to think of things like this anymore.

But he had to know. He had to know what his feelings were, or else they would weigh on him, distract him, even in battle. Especially because this war, in part, was one to protect Naruto and keep him safe. Sai could not afford to be distracted.

“What is it, Sai?”

“How did you know that you were in love with Sasuke?”

Sakura’s cheeks became pink, nearly matching the color of her hair. She had been cataloging their medical supplies, but now, she set her clipboard aside.

“W-why are you asking me that right now?”

“I want to understand what love is,” Sai said firmly. “I want to know if I…”

Sai couldn’t finish that sentence. He wanted to know if he was capable of it at all, if he was feeling it right now. Somehow, it was… hard to admit.

Sakura’s expression softened, and she pulled up a stool for Sai. He reluctantly sat down, his hands clasped together in his lap.

“It’s different for everyone, you know. Knowing how I feel about Sasuke won’t necessarily help you.”

Sai frowned.

“If it is a different feeling for everyone, how can anyone be sure?”

“Some people never are.” Sakura smiled. “Here, why don’t you tell me about Na—I mean, the person you think you might have feelings for.”

She cleared her throat, but, fortunately for Sakura, Sai’s mind was too muddled to notice her slip up. He stared at his lap, holding his hands together even tighter.

“I’m not sure what I should say.”

“Why don’t we start with things you like about them? Do they do things that make you happy?”

Sai tilted his head. Things he liked about Naruto… Things that Naruto did that made him happy…

He liked Naruto’s optimism, and Naruto’s smile. He liked Naruto’s dedication to his friends, and how easy it was for Naruto to make even more of those tight bonds. He liked Naruto’s determination to get stronger. He liked how stubbornly Naruto stuck to his promises, how he really did his best to never go back on his word. And he liked how beneath a layer of childish immaturity, there was patience. Because even when Sai was unkind, when they didn’t get along, Naruto never truly turned his back on Sai. He was always willing to change his mind about Sai if Sai were to make the effort to change, even if Naruto often acted otherwise. He griped and grumbled about how he was annoyed by Sai, but, when it counted, he always made it clear that he really did see Sai as a friend, as someone he could trust.

Sai liked that Naruto had changed him, and changed him for the better.

Sai explained as much to Sakura as well as he could—not mentioning Naruto by name, of course—and she listened patiently, smiling fondly all the while.

“And I suppose,” Sai said, “they don’t do anything in particular that makes me happy. If they are nearby, for me, that’s enough.”

Sai lifted his head to see Sakura’s eyes bright, her smile wider than ever.

“Sai,” Sakura said softly, “that is love.”

Sai’s face grew hot.

“What?”

“I get that you’re still not familiar with a lot of emotions, but… I think you do know what love is, Sai. You know that you’re feeling it. You’re smarter than you think when it comes to this sort of thing. Weren’t you the one that told me that Naruto was in love with me? You knew it, even though it had never crossed my mind.”

Sai hunched down on the stool, his grip on his hands growing so tight that his nails dug into his skin. That warm feeling in his chest, the one he could now admit was love, was aching.

He had suspected this, and he wanted to know for sure, but… But now, knowing the truth…

“Sakura… What do I do? Naruto is—”

Sai covered his mouth with his hands. Sakura had been kind enough to not ask who it was he had these feelings for, just for him to give it all away. He expected to see surprise in her expression, but she just narrowed her eyes a little, pity mixing into her smile.

“You’re worried because you think Naruto is still in love with me, right?”

“H-how did you…?”

“Well…” Sakura tilted her head. “To be honest, Sai, I’ve thought you were in love with Naruto for a while now.”

Sai’s blush spread, heat inching across his cheeks and up towards the tips of his ears.

“H-how can that be? I’ve only just…”

“Well, when you had really become a part of our team, and you were just starting to try to become our friends, I noticed that you would put in even more effort to get Naruto to acknowledge you compared to the rest of us. It felt like you were always… watching over him from the sidelines.”

Sakura’s smile turned bitter.

“I think you reminded me of myself, chasing after somebody who wasn’t interested in you…”

Sai’s gaze dropped to his lap. Someone who wasn’t interested…

“B-but things are different now!” Sakura said quickly. “Naruto feels differently about you now; I’m sure of it.”

Sai let her words sink in for a moment, his eyes still downcast. He understood what she was telling him; Sakura thought there was a chance that Naruto felt the same.

Sai was much less sure. He had watched Naruto enough to know how Naruto acted around the people he loved. He had seen how strong those feelings were for Naruto, how he seemed willing to toss his own life away for the sake of those he loved. He had seen the warmth in Naruto’s gaze when he looked at Sakura, seen the passion that ignited in those blue eyes when it came to Sasuke.

Sai found it hard to imagine Naruto ever looking at him that way.

Sai grasped at his chest, an ache resonating deep within his ribcage.

Maybe it would have been better for him to have never known.

“Sai,” Sakura said. “I’m not going to tell you to confess to Naruto or anything like that, but… leave a little room for hope, alright?”

She got up from the stool, patting Sai on the shoulder before grabbing her clipboard.

“I’ve got to get back to work, but if you need to talk about anything else, I’m here for you.”

Sai stood as well, but he couldn’t bring himself to meet her gaze.

“Alright,” he said. “Thank you.”

Leave room for hope?

Wouldn’t that just make it hurt even more if that hope amounted to nothing?

Sai forced it out of his mind as he left the room Sakura was in. It didn’t matter. He had done what he came to do. He knew his feelings now; they were no longer a lingering question weighing on his mind.

As for whether or not Naruto felt the same… Sai resigned himself to never knowing. He had no intentions to confess or ask Naruto about such things.

Because Sai truly didn’t know if he would be able to handle the answer.

Sai loved Naruto so much that it ached in his chest like a deadly wound. But now it was time to package those feelings away. There were bigger things to worry about. War was coming, and Sai wanted to help keep Naruto safe.

As far as the ache in his chest and the messy, confusing feelings that Sai felt towards Naruto….

The best thing Sai could with those feelings right now was make sure that Naruto never found out the truth about them.

~ ~ ~

Something wasn’t right. Naruto wasn’t stupid—or at least, not as stupid as they thought. For a few weeks, he bought the excuse that he needed to be trained to control the Nine-Tails, and he even bought their “Ecological Survey S-Rank Mission,” excuse for a while.

But that was before what should have been a stationary island flipped upside down multiple times. And then he sensed the Nine Tails’ chakra, coming from somewhere other than himself, even though that should have been impossible. And that was all without even mentioning how everyone was clearly walking on eggshells around him, reluctant to look him in the eye. He knew something was off, something wasn’t right.

And then, when Naruto forced his way outside to find out the truth, he sensed it all at once.

People fighting. His friends getting hurt. Kakashi in a battle. Sakura tending dozens of wounded. Sai—

Sai, his pale, usually inexpressive face warped in agony, crying out for his brother.

Naruto’s heart twisted in his chest.

“What…What’s going on? Why is all this happening?”

Iruka, among the men who had tried to stop him from going outside and finding out what was happening, looked at Naruto head on, his expression grim.

“War’s being waged.”

Naruto rushed to the battlefield as fast as he could. He needed to be able to go help. He could help win this war. His friends were all fighting, suffering, dying on his behalf. Sai was—Sai was—

Naruto had to help. He had to fight. He wouldn’t let anyone stop him.

When Tsunade and the Raikage tried to make him go back into hiding, Naruto refused to give in. People were waiting for him. People needed him. More so than he had even realized at first.

His presence single handedly changed the tide of the war in favor of the Allied Forces. He revealed every single spy hidden in their midst, gave aid to every battlefield, joined every fight. He was helping them win this war. He knew he could save them all. Even when the Ten Tails was revived, he was so sure, so certain that he wouldn’t let any of his comrades die—

He was so certain, so confident, until Neji died protecting him.

Naruto had seen the war, seen the battlefields, seen the medical tents filled with the injured, but… But it was not the same as having a friend die in his arms. It was not the same as watching someone he had known since childhood take their last breath because of him. Because they were protecting him.

And Obito was yelling at him from across the battlefield, telling him that things would only get worse from here, that he would lose more people. And Naruto didn't know if he could handle more death like this. What if he lost Sakura? Kakashi-sensei? If Sai—If Sai were to die then—

Naruto's friends pulled him out of those dark thoughts quickly. This was no time for him to be succumbing to sadness. He had to carry the will of his friends in his heart. If he did that, they would live on forever. He had to win this for them. For Neji.

His friends gave him the strength to keep going. And then his father, reanimated along with the other previous Hokage came to aid them as well. And Sasuke…

Sasuke was here again. By his side. He was going to fight with Naruto, with everyone. He was going to help them protect the villages they held so dear.

He also made some joke about trying to become Hokage that the others didn’t take kindly to, but Naruto didn’t care. Sasuke was back. Sasuke was on his side again. They didn’t have to fight each other anymore. They were together now. All of Team 7 was back together now.

Well… Almost.

~ ~ ~

Sai refused to be useless in this battle. Naruto was working so hard, giving his all to protect his comrades. Sakura was beside him, using her strength and healing abilities to back him up. And…

And even Sasuke had returned. He was fighting by Naruto’s side. Naruto’s childhood friends were joking and laughing and fighting harder than ever because of the return of Team 7. But Team 7 was not just Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. Not anymore.

“Actually, I’m technically on Team 7 too!”

He had to prove that he belonged there. He had to prove he deserved a spot by Naruto’s side. At least as a comrade—at least as an ally in battle—surely, after all this time, Sai had earned the right to stand beside him—

But his attempts were literally shot down. His aerial attack failed when his ink bird was destroyed by the Ten Tails. He was falling with no defense, with dozens of projectiles being launched at him from below. He couldn't prove himself. He wasn't like Sasuke, he wasn't good enough—

“Sai!”

A large, glowing hand caught him by the waist. It was Naruto’s chakra, enlarged and extended all the way up from his spot on the ground. Naruto retracted his long arm back to a normal length, pulling Sai towards him and out of harm's way.

Sai practically fell onto Naruto’s chest, his head dropping onto Naruto’s shoulder at the same moment his heart threatened to fly right out of his ribcage. Naruto’s arms moved to support Sai’s waist as the pale ninja tried to gain his bearings and catch his breath. Sai had new injuries and Naruto was so close and there was blood on Sai's cheek and Naruto was so close and it was hard to stand and Naruto was so close.

Sai hadn’t really seen Naruto at all since before the war began. He hadn’t seen him since before that talk with Sakura, since coming to terms with the feelings that had been growing in his chest since the day they met—

They didn’t have time for this. They were on a battlefield. In a war. Sai shouldn’t—he couldn’t be thinking of this right now.

But Naruto’s arms were around him, holding him close. Naruto was warm, incredibly warm as he glowed with the power of the Nine Tails. Naruto was right there. Right beside him.

They didn’t have time for this. Sai needed to be able to stand on his own two feet. He shouldn’t be basking in the joy of Naruto’s touch. It meant nothing; it was just what Naruto had to do in order to save Sai from his own foolish mistake. Sai needed to suppress his emotions, at least for now. He needed to refocus—

Naruto’s arms tightened around his waist, and Sai could feel Naruto's breath on his ear as he spoke.

“You alright?”

Sai took in a shaky breath, and he wasn’t sure if it was because of his injuries or because Naruto’s close proximity made his heart stutter.

“...Yes.”

“I want to talk to you,” Naruto said, “once this is all over.”

Sai’s mind whirled. Talk to him? About what? Had Sakura found time between battles to talk to Naruto about Sai’s feelings? Was this about Sasuke’s return? Would Sai no longer be part of Team 7? What if—

No. They were in a battle. In a war. He needed to focus. Emotions could be valuable, but they were not right now. He needed to push them down. Put them away. Suppress them.

Once this was all over, he could let them all out. But not a moment before then.

He pulled himself out of Naruto’s arms, pushing his physical pain to the back of his mind as well. He needed to focus.

Sai was not going to be the one that burdened Naruto or held him back.

“Understood.”

~ ~ ~

As soon as this war was over, Naruto was going to have Sai in his arms again.

That was the promise he made to himself the moment they pulled apart. He had to promise himself that, or Naruto may have never let go.

It just felt so good to be near Sai again. And there were so many things he wanted to say to Sai, words lingering on the edge of his lips, threatening to spill over.

Soon. Soon, they'd have the time. But not yet.

Right now, Naruto had a battle to finish. They couldn’t talk in peace until it was over.

So Naruto threw himself back into the fight, with Sasuke beside him and the rest of his friends behind him, supporting him. The sooner Naruto could end this war, the better, for a multitude of reasons.

And one of those reasons was Obito Uchiha.

He was a villain, a cruel man who had led to the deaths of so many people in the war, and he had led to the death of Naruto’s parents long before that. But he was also Kakashi’s old friend. He was someone who used to wish to be Hokage, just like Naruto did. Someone who grew up not knowing his parents, who found himself continuously in the shadow of a rival he could never catch up to, just like Naruto.

Naruto could barely stand the sight of him. He couldn’t stand him because Obito reminded Naruto so much of himself. Like a dark future that could have belonged to Naruto if one tragic thing went wrong in his childhood. Obito lost Rin and it made him forsake everything. If Sakura had died right in front of Naruto’s eyes when they were kids, would he have succumbed to darkness too?

If Sai… If at some point during this war, Sai had been killed—

Naruto didn’t even want to imagine what he might have done.

Naruto could have been on the side to end the world. He could have become a hopeless, pessimistic shell of a man that saw the whole world as a type of hell, just like Obito.

Maybe it was because they were so similar that Naruto didn’t want to defeat him through battle alone. He didn’t want to believe someone so similar to himself could be purely evil. There had to be a part of Obito that could change and realize how wrong he was. Naruto had to defeat him by changing him on the inside. He had to, as a way to prove to himself that he would never do things as cruel as Obito did. As a way to prove to himself that he would always choose the right path, even if he stumbled along the way.

And Naruto did get Obito to see reason, to backtrack, to find the parts of himself that saw good in the world. He stopped Obito without killing him, and with Sai’s help, Naruto was going to seal Madara away for good too. The two villains would be defeated. The war would be over.

But of course, of course things didn’t go that way.

Madara was alive again. Truly alive again, not just a reanimated corpse. He struck out at Naruto first, and then at Sai, and Naruto couldn't stop the surge of panic that went through him when Sai went flying through the air.

But he had to believe that Sai would be okay. He had to trust Sai. Sai was strong. Sai would be fine.

What Naruto needed to do was to continue fighting Madara. He would check on Sai when this was all over.

Sai would be fine. Sai had to be fine. Sai was fine. He was pushing through, persevering, just like Naruto was.

Naruto had to focus. Naruto needed to stop Madara, to save the Tailed Beasts, to prevent the Infinite Tsukuyomi—

He knew what he needed to do, but he couldn’t. He wasn’t strong enough.

Kurama was pulled out of him. And a jinchuriki without a Tailed Beast could not survive.

Naruto was… dying.

(Temporarily.)

What happened after all that was… messy. Not that everything before that wasn't messy. On the contrary, the whole war had been one big mess right after the other.

But everything started to happen so fast. Naruto was dying, and he was meeting the soul of an old ghost, the Sage of the Six Paths, and he was discussing reincarnation and gaining new powers, and he was alive again and saving Bushier Brow-sensei and fighting Madara again, and giving Kakashi a new eye, and, and—

And it was a mess. A fucking mess.

He didn't really understand what was going on as it was all happening. He didn't have the time to try to comprehend it all. And now Madara had gained more power and was launching meteorites at them from above. Naruto was so focused on that, on protecting Sakura and Kakashi and everyone else, that he hadn't even realized that bigger things were happening.

He hadn't even realized that even though he had stopped a disaster in the form of the massive rocks in the sky, worse things were happening. Not just worse things—the worst thing.

Naruto didn't realize until Sasuke was coming down to him, shielding him, protecting him.

After all that fighting, the battling with Madara and the attempts to stop him, they had all failed.

The Infinite Tsukuyomi was upon them.

Sai, he thought, please be okay.

~ ~ ~

Sai was trapped inside the loveliest dream.

He wasn't aware that it was a dream while he was in it, but it was.

"Sai!"

He turned at the sound of Sakura's voice to find her jogging at him from down the street, followed by several of her childhood friends. He waved at them, and a part of him was a bit surprised when they all smiled and waved back with enthusiasm.

"Your smile looks great as usual, Sai!"

Sai lifted his hands to the corners of his lips. His smile?

He hadn't even realized he had been smiling.

Ino, the woman he had only spoken to a few times before, came up to him too, her blue eyes bright.

"You really have a beautiful smile, Sai!"

He felt himself smiling wider. Sai's smile was beautiful? Beautiful, not creepy? Did it finally look natural? Did it finally look real?

Was his smile finally like all of theirs?

"It's really cool!" Rock Lee chimed in.

That's right, Sai and Lee were close now too because of the war—

The war? What war? How was it that he and Lee became friends anyway?

Perhaps it wasn't important.

"Sai!"

Just the sound of that voice filled Sai with warmth, and it burned even warmer when he saw Naruto coming towards him, grinning widely. He wrapped an arm around Sai's shoulder, pulling him closer until Sai could feel blond hair against his cheek.

"Sai," Naruto said, "your smile is the best in the whole Hidden Leaf!"

Sai's chest was burning up, burning up so pleasantly. It filled him in ways he couldn't describe, in ways that he couldn’t hold back. It poured out of him in the form of laughter, and Naruto's own grin brightened at the sound of it.

Sai couldn't tear his eyes away from Naruto, couldn't tear his gaze away from that grin.

The best smile in the Hidden Leaf did not belong to Sai, but that thought didn't dampen his mood at all.

Because the best smile in the village was Naruto's, and Sai wouldn't have it any other way.

"Sai…"

Naruto's voice softened. His arm dropped from Sai's shoulder, and Sai felt warm hands gripping his waist, tugging him closer until they were nearly chest to chest. Sai's laughter stopped, his breath stalling. His gaze darted away for a moment, trying to look at Naruto’s friends—no, not just Naruto’s friends. They were Sai’s friends too.

But they were just sending knowing smiles Sai’s way, trying to sneak away, to give the two of them more space.

Sai’s cheeks began to warm too, not just his chest. He looked at Naruto again. That blue-eyed gaze was still locked onto Sai like it had never looked away. Like it never would. Like Naruto had always been looking at him and would forever.

"Sai, you're… really important to me." Naruto stopped himself and shook his head. "No, you're the one who's most important to me!"

Most important…?

"But… What about Sakura and Sasuke—"

"Sakura's just my friend," Naruto said, his grip tightening, the warmth of his palms pressed against Sai's skin.

"Am I not also just your friend?"

"You're more than that to me, Sai."

Sai's heart jumped. He couldn't mean…? No. No way. Naruto couldn't—He didn't feel that way about Sai—

"And I don't care about Sasuke," Naruto said, firmly. "I care about you."

Something nagged at the back of Sai's mind, even as his heart grew warmer, fuller because of Naruto's words.

He didn't care about Sasuke? At all? After everything? After all those things he said, all the things he sacrificed, all the pain he endured?

How could Naruto simply not care?

"Sai."

Naruto leaned closer until their noses brushed, and any lingering doubts were forced out of his mind. Sai found his own arms wrapping around Naruto, unable to look away from those blue eyes he adored so much.

"Sai, I—"

"Don't say it, Naruto."

Naruto's eyes widened, his lips falling into a frown for a moment.

Sai wasn't sure what made him stop Naruto. Sai knew what he was going to say. Sai knew there was a part of himself that desperately longed to hear it.

But… not right now. Not like this.

"Okay." Naruto pulled one of his hands away from Sai's waist to brush his hand against Sai's cheek. "Whatever you want."

"I'm… not sure what I want."

Naruto's grin returned, with a bit of a teasing tilt to it.

"Why don't I try and make a guess? I've got a pretty good idea of what you might like, you know?"

Naruto leaned closer, tilting his head slightly. His lips pressed against the corner of Sai’s mouth, and Sai couldn’t suppress a gasp, his fingers digging into Naruto’s orange jacket. Sai never thought—Naruto had never—Sai had never thought Naruto would ever do something like this.

Sai wondered if he was dreaming, not knowing at all how true that was.

“Naruto—”

“Don’t worry.” Naruto shifted, his breath ghosting across Sai’s lips but not touching. “I know. There’s a place you don’t want it, right?”

Naruto’s lips landed at the opposite corner of Sai’s mouth. Then they touched down again at the tip of Sai’s nose, then again on both his cheeks.

“I’ve got you,” Naruto whispered. “You can trust me, you know?”

Naruto pulled back a little, pulling one of Sai’s hands away from his side and moving it to rest on his cheek, Sai’s pale skin in contrast to the warm tan of Naruto’s face. Sai could barely believe what was happening. He couldn’t believe Naruto was allowing this—initiating this. Naruto was touching Sai, encouraging Sai to touch him in return. He was saying all these kind things. He was understanding Sai without Sai even having to say a word, despite Sai knowing himself to be someone notoriously hard to read.

It was so good. Too good. Almost too good to be real.

But the warmth of Naruto’s skin beneath his fingertips made Sai believe, even if it was just for now, for this moment.

“You can trust me, Sai. Just like I trust you. Like I’ve always trusted you.”

“Always?”

Had Naruto always trusted him? Even when they were first getting to know each other? Even when Sai didn’t trust him? Even when Sai betrayed him, briefly, before coming back to Naruto’s side?

Naruto leaned close again, as if silently requesting for Sai to no longer think about it, and Sai’s eyes fell shut. He felt gentle kisses land on his eyelids.

“Always, Sai. Since the day we met.”

It really was such a lovely, lovely dream.

So much so that even despite his doubts, despite the fact that Sai could feel deep down that something was off, Sai couldn’t help but bask in it.

“Sai, you really do have such a beautiful smile.”

If only Sai could truly believe that, from the bottom of his heart.

~ ~ ~

Naruto couldn’t stand being in Sasuke’s Susanoo for much longer.

It wasn’t like he was ungrateful; Sasuke had saved him, as well as Sakura and Kakashi, from the Infinite Tsukuyomi. The giant purple lump of armor over their heads was the only thing keeping them from being trapped in dreams like everyone else.

But it was because everyone else was trapped that Naruto was itching to be free of Sasuke’s help. He was supposed to be the protector, not the protected. Madara was still out there. All his friends and comrades were out there. He had to do something. He promised Neji he’d keep Hinata safe. He promised Gaara that when this was all over, when Naruto was finally Hokage, they’d go out for drinks. He promised Sai that they would talk as soon as the war was done.

Naruto had promised too much just to stand here and wait while his friends were suffering.

“When can we get out of here?”

Sasuke glanced at Naruto, and despite the familiarity of his cold gaze, there was something a bit… unsettling about his mismatched eyes. Maybe Naruto just wasn’t used to the combination of the purple Rinnegan and Sasuke’s usual red Sharingan.

“The genjutsu seems to use the moon’s light,” Sasuke said, shifting his gaze upwards, “and over time that light’s going to wane. But while there’s still light, it’s useless.”

Naruto hissed out a sigh, his hands clenching into fists at his side.

“Dammit.”

He marched to the edge of the Susanoo, only to be stopped by a firm hand on his shoulder.

“Did you listen to a thing I just said, Naruto?” Sasuke snapped. “You’re just as annoyingly stupid as I remember.”

Naruto scowled, shaking Sasuke’s hand off.

“How am I supposed to sit here when my comrades are out there in need of help?”

“You’re not going to help anyone if you’re trapped in a dream.”

“Naruto,” Kakashi jumped in, “you know he’s right. We just have to wait for now.”

Naruto heaved another sigh, his shoulders sagging.

“...I know. I just… It’s hard to sit still.”

“Deal with it,” Sasuke said. “There’s no point in going to save your little boyfriend just to get caught in the genjutsu and become useless.”

Naruto’s mind whirled, Sasuke’s words rattling around in his head until he could barely speak.

“B-b-boyfriend?”

How did—How did this come up? Naruto never said—Did he bring up Sai at some point during his complaints about sitting still? He knew he did in his head, but not out loud and certainly not to Sasuke. Was Naruto that obvious? Was he so bad at hiding his feelings that Sasuke guessed just based on Naruto’s short interactions with Sai during the war? Sure, Sasuke and Sai met a long time ago at Orochimaru’s hideout, but Naruto didn’t feel that way about Sai back then, so why—

“Sasuke! Do you think now is the time for bringing up something like this?” Sakura exclaimed.

“Are you sure you of all people have the right to be asking me that, Sakura?” Sasuke asked, not even bothering to look at her over his shoulder.

Naruto saw Sakura’s face go red, and he could guess that she was running through all the times she got distracted on missions because of her crush on Sasuke. Naruto couldn't stop himself from thinking of those moments too. Sakura’s lips pressed into a tight frown, and she lowered her head.

With one ally crushed, Naruto looked at Kakashi for help, but Kakashi pointedly avoided his gaze. His lack of assistance forced Naruto to face Sasuke again, to look at that cold gaze and find an excuse.

“S-Sai’s not my…”

That feeble response was the best Naruto could manage in the current circumstances, and all he earned was a scoff from Sasuke.

“The fact that you came up with a name even though all I said was ‘boyfriend’ proves he’s enough of a distraction without you even dating him.”

Naruto let out a garbled noise, cheeks burning with red hot shame as he buried his face into his hands.

“I get it alright?!” Naruto snapped, though his voice was muffled by his palms. “I won’t go anywhere until the light’s gone. Happy now?”

Sasuke just rolled his eyes and moved away, seemingly confident that Naruto would no longer try to run off until it was safe to do so.

But on the contrary, part of Naruto was more tempted to run into danger than ever.

Maybe an infinite dream would be better than the painful, awful reality of his embarrassment.

He would never ever let Sai find out about this.

#narusai #narusai fanfic #sainaru #fanfiction

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