Rags and Riches ~ Levi x OC

18. Public Streets

"Come on, Levi!" Enyo ushered him to the tall wooden gate with a big grin. "You haven't seen much outside of the Scouts HQ, right?"

    "Yeah." Levi trailed behind Enyo when she flashed her papers to the man at the gate. He let them pass and Enyo bounced on the heels of her feet while she waited for him to catch up. Levi was dressed in his Scout uniform minus his jacket, while Enyo wore a pale blue day dress that pranced around the bustling crowd of people.

    Enyo hooked her arm around Levi's and before he could recoil, Enyo shook her head. "It's a gentleman's duty to escort a lady. Look," Enyo pointed at a couple a few feet ahead of her.

    Levi huffed and Enyo pulled him past wagons that cracked against the sun-reflecting cobblestone and people chattering too fast to understand. His nose was the most confused. Baked goods, then sewage, then roasted meat. It was like above ground the world couldn't decide what it was. Everything was hectic and Levi with his extremely pale skin felt...uncomfortable.

    They walked down the bustling streets to a tailor and Enyo pushed the door open. A quiet ding cut through the air and a large lady with a mole right on the tip of her nose came scrambling out of a door in the back. Enyo beamed. "Hello!! We need some clothes for a Ball!"

    "Matching?" The seamstress looked at Levi and Enyo.

    "Nope." Enyo pulled away from Levi. "I can browse through your dresses for me, but we have no idea what he should wear."

    "No worries, sweetie!" The seamstress seemed extremely motherly as she waved Levi to her side. "I'll get him all dressed up. Why don't you take a seat?"

    And that's how Levi wound up standing in the center of the room with black pants slipping off his hips and pooling at his feet. The seamstress shook her head thoughtfully as she ran and grabbed a belt.

    Enyo laughed when the shirt the large woman put him in came down to his thighs. "I'm sorry," Enyo snorted when Levi glared at her. "I didn't realize how petite you were till just now."

    The seamstress tied a piece of fabric around Levi's neck and then disappeared to grab something else from the back. He stared at Enyo, "What is this?"

    "A cravat." Enyo sat up straight and stared at Levi when the seamstress returned. "Men in higher social classes wear them. Cravats are luxuries that men with money to spare buy. I don't think you'll need it."

    The seamstress nodded and made to remove it when Levi pushed her arm away. "Keep it."

    Enyo pursed her lips as the seamstress grabbed tacks to pull Levi's clothes tight and pin them. Now, they seemed much more Levi sized. The seamstress pulled his sleeves tight and pinned them, then pulled the loose fabric across his chest and pinned them on the seams on the sides of his body. Enyo licked her lips and looked away with a blush on her cheeks. She wiped her hands on her skirt and stood, making her way through the shop. Levi's chest was so broad and his waist was so slender...

    "I can finish alterations in a few days, sweetie," The seamstress called to Enyo as Levi changed back into his uniform. "I can deliver them too."

    "Okay!" Enyo held a dress out to the seamstress. "Delivery would be perfect. We're in Section Commander Erwin's squad, Squad Four, at the Scouts' HQ."

    The woman hesitated before she wrote on a piece of paper and pinned it to Enyo's dress. She wrote it again and pinned the second paper to Levi's suit jacket when he appeared. They paid and were soon back on the raging streets. Enyo hooked her arm through Levi's again and pulled him around.

    "That's an alright bakery," Enyo nodded to a tall building. "I used to work in a bakery back at home. That was a ton of fun. Oh look!"

    "What?"

    "The orphanage is doing a fundraiser. Come on!"

    The sun pestered on Levi's skin and he felt sweat drip down the nape of his neck. Disgusting. They approached a building with a ton of kids running around and carrying bustles of flowers.

    "Look! It's Enyo!" a little boy, who couldn't be older than ten, yelled.

    Enyo let go of Levi and knelt as the boy sprinted right into her for a hug. "Hey Harry!"

    Two other children, a four year old named Juliet, and a six year old boy, Joshua, ran and jumped into Enyo's arms. She laughed and squeezed them tightly. "What are you selling today?"

    "Flooors," Juliet pushed her cheeks and held up a limp blade of grass.

    "You're selling flowers?" Enyo exaggerated. "What's the occasion?"

    "The festival of the Walls!" Harry announced. "We want to make sugar sticks!"

"That's next week," Enyo pondered. "How fun! Is everyone helping?"

"Yup!" Joshua declared. "'Cept Rain."

"Rain's a busy girl," Enyo commented. "Is she home?"

"No!" Juliet whined. "Rain's gone."

Enyo furrowed her brows at Harry. "Rain's gonna to become a Scout just like you, Enyo!"

The golden woman in front of Levi seemed to have completely stopped. She just knelt there, without responding. Juliet pushed her blade of grass in Enyo's hands. "For Enyo!"

Enyo shook herself out of her trance and gave Juliet a giant smile, "thank you, Jules."

Levi stood with crossed arms as he waited for Enyo to finish. He hadn't realized there was a place for orphans. In the Underground, it was all for themselves, even children. Giving birth in the Underground was promising yourself and the bastard child hell.

"Hey mister, would you like to buy some flowers? They're freshly picked!"

Levi turned his blank stare to the girl and she took a step back. His breath caught as he stared at her, a little girl with auburn hair and hazel eyes, in two pigtails. She looked so similar to Isabel.

"M...mister?" The flowers shook in her hands.

Levi reached in his pocket and pulled out two coins, silently giving them to the girl. She gave a forced smile and handed them over before she ran off. He watched her and gripped the flowers tightly. That could've been Isabel, he realized, if she had lived above ground.

"Levi?" Enyo stood next to him and waved her hand in front of his eyes. "Walls to Levi!"

He snickered and shoved the flowers in her direction. "Here."

"Oh." Enyo slowly took them and stared at the different colors. She took a deep breath and looked back up at Levi, "thank you."

"Let's get back to HQ," Levi quietly said and walked away.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Leave a vote and comment!