That day felt like an eternity of battling, dying and suffering. It was still raining which made everyone feel like complete shit. It was cold but everyone was way too busy fighting their asses off that they didn't even seem to notice. The king seemed to notice how upset Eren was so he purposely removed Eren out of the battle field and put him with another group of first aid. Of course Jaron tagged along and Levi didn't object to it.
There wasn't a lot of injured people because Levi's 'nooby' army had grown stronger thanks to his cruel and rough training but they were all thankful for that. Most injuries were only bruises or cuts but that was about it. The most serious injury was Marco's but he was gone now and no one would ever forget about that.
Eren didn't do much but he did get to wash bloody cloths but that was nothing exciting at all. He just lost motivation to fight because of the incident that occurred a little earlier. Honestly it wasn't really an accident because he did do it on purpose but how he supposed to know that it was his own father?
He looked down at his hands, the hands that stabbed and ended the life of the king of Maria. It was still stained with blood under his nails and lines of his palms. It made him sick to think that this all happened just because he ran off to seek vengeance but only to scratch that thought because he was starting to have feelings for the stupid midget king.
Fuck feelings.
It disgusted him and he didn't want to believe it at all. It was like reading a terrible book and realizing that it was pretty good but you don't want to admit it.
But you're straight, he told himself.
Not for long, lover boy.
Embrace the gay.
Welcome the homosexuality.
Shut the fuck up, brain.
He hated himself for this but it's not like he asked for any of this. Feelings were a part of you but it wasn't a thing that you could completely control. It was like having a period and he knew that only because of Mikasa.
There was not a lot of things for him to do since he finished cleaning all the cloths so he just sat against a sack of sand. He didn't do anything in particular nor thing of anything at all. Eren wanted to know what an empty shell felt like because that's what being dead felt like, right? If so, he wouldn't mind being dead right now. It was better than living in a hell of a world, right?
He fell asleep without intending to when he heard a powerful shout. He was awoken from his nightmares about his father and he sat up quickly to see what the commotion was about.
It was Hanji and she was grinning from ear to ear with a scroll of paper in her hands. She looked as if she were about to explode from happiness.
"They signed for a temporary surrender," she declared and started laughing like an idiot. "We killed too many of those bastards so now they have given up for a while."
Everyone began to scream, shriek and cheer with joy and triumph. Eren felt a pang at his chest but it wasn't of joy but despair. Were they seriously so happy because of the deaths of their enemies? Sure it meant victory but it was cruel to think a death of a fellow human would make you happy. That's what Eren used to think before; he thought maybe if he did end up killing Levi maybe he would be happy but he found out he wouldn't be. It wouldn't change anything. His mother would still be sick, his father was still dead and it wouldn't change the fact that he was as selfish as Levi.
---
They were going to celebrate. They were going to celebrate the deaths and failures of their enemies. They were all going to head back to Levi's castle to throw a really big ball and everyone in the army was going to be there of course. They were all told that the next battle was going to be in a few weeks but possibly even more than that.
Of course most of them didn't have proper attire attend a fucking ball so Hanji made the guys wear these really fancy suits and the girls were dressed in pretty hand-me-down dresses.
That meant Eren had to wear one too since they still thought he was female which scared him. He was a dude so he was as flat as board. What if they made him wear a dress that was supposed to show cleavage? He could pull it off but oh wait he had no boobs. Sure there are girls who are flat chested but at least they had a little bump.
He was silently praying that they wouldn't give him a low cleavage dress and what was so attractive about boobs anyways? Boobs are just boobs.
He had to admit that girls like Annie and Christa did look absolutely stunning in their dresses though.
He was later given a dress and thank God it wasn't low on the chest area. It was long sleeved and reached his ankles. It had such a beautiful, golden, sparling design on the sleeves like feathers or flowers. The end were his feet and hands would be was made of delicate lace and it had a corset -like design on the back and front.
"Stop gawking at it and put it on already," Hanji snickered and shoved him playfully.
He did as he was told but it wasn't easy at all. It was a little heavy and he questioned himself why would girls wear things like this. In a way it felt like having another layer of skin yet it was comfortable at the same time.
He was the last to enter the ball room because of course castles are fucking huge and to make it worse it was Levi's so it was two times bigger than a regular castle. He pushed through the big, wooden doors to the ball room and immediately gasped. It was bigger than his own ball room.
There was a glistening, crystal chandelier high above the painted cieling. It was simply breath taking; the whole cieling was painted with pictures such as beautiful mermaids and horses. It hurt to crane his neck to look properly above but damn these were beautiful paintings. It was as if they were captured at the perfect moment and froze forever.
The floor was amazing too; it was painted with really intense swirl designs of golden looking paint that any artist would kill for. It looked as if it took forever to be painted.
"You're going to snap your neck if you keep looking around like that, Ho,"
Eren spun around gracefully to meet the frowning face of the king. It was odd seeing him in anything else but his army uniform. He was not wearing something the rest of the other boys were wearing but honestly it looked a lot better on Levi. The only thing different from the others is that he had the green cloak flung over his shoulder and a golden crown specked with jewels perched on his head. It surprised Eren how his gloves were different too; they were still white but they had flecks of gold near the wrist area.
It was completely decked out with rubies and emeralds and it kinda of hurt Eren's eyes to look at it. It looked a lot better than his own crown; his barely had any rubies or emeralds or jewels in general.
Eren's face started to heat up when he realized that Levi was staring at him up and down, studying the way he looked in a dress. Eren awkwardly shifted his feet as the king made a clicking sound with his tongue.
"You look great," he managed to say after a few moments of silence and smirked a little.
"Thanks, sir," Eren muttered as he looked down at his feet.
"Well it seems like you're the only antisocial one here and didn't get a dance partner. Seems like I'm stuck with you."
"What?"
"Did I fucking stutter?"
"N-No it's just..." Eren trailed off and the red tint on his became more visible. "Why me? Why don't you ask Hanji or something? You're the king and I'm just....I'm just a soldier, you know? You're the superior one."
"Hanji is going with Erwin and it's sort of like a tradition so in a way I'm kind of forced to dance. Rank doesn't matter at this moment anyways so we better get it over with, right?"
Eren was silent for a moment and mentally punched himself for letting himself feel weak and vulnerable whenever Levi talked to him.
"Dance with me?" Levi officially asked and offered Eren a gloved hand.
The younger male was still looking down to avoid the king's gaze before mumbling a quiet 'sure' as a reply. He placed his hand and his and let him guide him all the way to the area where everyone else was. At the sides of the rooms there was a small group of people with instruments such as violins, flutes, saxophones, clarinets and even a piano and probably other instruments Eren couldn't recognize.
There were many couples who seemed to be already dancing to the slow paced music and were enjoying themselves. It was sort of like a waltz because they were never in the same spot and it contained a few spinning from here and there. Although it wasn't actually a waltz it made Eren awfully scared.
They joined the crowd and Levi rested his right hand on Eren's waist while his other hand cupped his hand. Eren hesitated a little when he had to put his hand on Levi's shoulder because anything could happen. What if his waist didn't feel so female and Levi found out? It was stupid to think about but there was always a chance.
For some stupid reason it made him feel safe to be holding the king's hand and he hated it. He shouldn't even be feeling this way. He was his enemy and you're not supposed to feel safe when you're with an enemy. Levi's hand was firm on Eren and the way his hand was on his waist felt sort of nice to him.
Eren was trying really hard to avoid Levi's piercing gaze but the king seemed to be doing to apposite. The king was slightly shorter than Eren so it was easier to try to meet his embarrassed and awkward stare.
"You've danced before, haven't you?" the king asked in a low voice.
"Yes," Eren answered in a quiet voice.
"I'm going to assume that you've been taught?"
"Yes," Eren repeated again.
He was a prince so of course he knew how to step properly or how to twirl a girl without getting their arms and hands jumbled up. His parents would host balls for Christmas or for birthdays but only the middle and high class would be invited. Eren has always thought ill of that because it wasn't fair to the poor people but it's not like they could afford a fancy dress or a special carriage to go there. Of course he only came for the food because he hated dancing with girls he barely knew. The way they would flirt just because they wanted to become his future princess disgusted him.
There were many people murmuring and muttering small comments about Levi dancing with Eren as they continued to dance around the ball room. It wasn't bad insults but a lot of people were guessing that Eren was Levi's favourite soldier. Some couples began to leave which left them and a few people who were dancing. Most people were just chatting or eating.
"Ho," Levi mumbled in a whisper.
"Yes, sir?"
"Thanks for finding Jaron. I really appreciate it."
"No problem, sir."
"I apologize that he seems to be stuck with you all the time," Levi said. "I hope you really don't mind that at all."
"I don't mind at all, sir. He's a great kid."
"I know it doesn't seem like it but I really do care about him. I'm just a terrible father. I wouldn't be surprised if he preferred you over myself, really. I don't even know why he dislikes me. I buy his stupid toys and shit but he doesn't seem to change his attitude towards me," the king muttered and scoffed.
"You're not terrible father," Eren admitted. "You just don't know how to act like one. He once seemed upset over the fact that you wouldn't read bed time stories with him. You could even give him a whole room of gold and toy trains and candy and he still wouldn't be happy. He just wants a father figure."
Levi's lips parted like he was about to say something but he didn't. He was a little surprised at Eren's answer. He never really thought about it that way before. Don't all kids like candy and toys? Don't they make them happy? In Jaron's case it was the apposite.
"Thank you for telling me that," Levi told him and grinned a little.
"You're welcome, sir."
They both continued to dance for a few hours with breaks here and there. Eren never had this much fun while dancing with someone and that was a first. They talked a bit and without even realizing they were the only ones who were dancing now. The ball room was still crowded but it was like there was some invisible fence surrounding both Eren and Levi because no one would walk past it.
Eren was beginning to feel dizzy and a little tired and Levi seemed to notice that too by the way his eyes were drooping closed a little so they stopped suddenly and a few people applauded for them. Levi was still firmly gripping onto Eren's hand though and he didn't seem to notice because they've been dancing for so long. Before Eren could tug his hand away he suddenly froze when he felt a pair of lips press softly on the top of his hand.
He spun around frantically to see the king holding Eren's hand and giving a feather light kiss to it like that one time after he was tending to his wounds. His heart was violently hammering against his rib cage and he feared that it was going to escape his chest. His breath hitched in his throat when the king finally let go of his hand and frowned a little.
"You look a little sick."
"I-I'm fine," he stammered in a response.
"Are you sure? You look a bit red. Maybe you have the flu?"
"I'm fine, s-sir."
"If you insist."
Get a grip, Eren, it was just a small gesture.
Ha! I knew you were gay.
Looks like Eren has a crush.
Too many things were running through his head at the same time which resulted in him getting a head ache. He had to sit down for a while and have a few drinks of water but the bad migraine wouldn't go away. He couldn't think of anything but Levi and it was starting to piss him off. He knew how wrong this was but he couldn't help it. It wasn't his fault he was starting to fall for his own enemy.
It was almost 1 AM and the party was still going on full force; so many people were drunk and they began to dance an actual waltz which contained a lot of twirling and dipping your female partner. Eren had to leave because the smell of alcohol made him feel sick to his stomach so he was assisted to a guest room. He was guessing that Levi was going to sleep too because he couldn't see him much at the ball afterwards.
He told that only a few people were able to stay in guest rooms in Levi's castle so he was lucky because the rest were going to stay at a nearby inn. Being told that didn't make him feel any better though because he felt as if his brain was going to explode. He was pretty surprised about the guest rooms; they were bigger than his own bedroom. It was mainly empty but was filled with a king sized bed, a desk, drawers and a book shelf. To top it all off there was also a door that lead to a balcony shared with the room next door.
Thank goodness there was a balcony because he needed fresh air. After getting dressed stubbornly in a night gown, he head outside to greet the fresh, night sky. He was thinking to remove his wig for a while but there was slim chance someone would see him and he couldn't risk that at all.
He leaned against the balcony fence and heavily inhaled the cold air and his mind began to immediately clear up a little which made him feel relieved. He looked up at the night sky flecked with shining, gold stars and they were breath taking and beautiful.
"Can't sleep?" a voice asked him.
He looked around in a panic only to see Levi still dressed in his fancy, ball attire but this time he was no longer wearing his crown.
"Just needed to get some air," Eren replied with a sigh.
"Same here."
There was an awkward silence as Levi walked over next to him and he felt his side graze Levi's slightly. It was like a small shock of electricity ran through his blood and bones for half a second.
"Thanks for dancing with me tonight, Tatsuya."
"It was an honour," Eren said although it sounded a bit wrong. Was it really an honour to be dancing with your enemy?
Eren continued to stare up at the dark sky but Levi seemed to be staring straight at the younger boy as if he might be demanding for his attention for some reason.
"Are you feeling lucky?"
"No not really. Why ask, sir?"
"You're the only person who gets to sleep in a guest room of my castle."
"I was told there was other people who got that opportunity too...is this a trap?" Eren asked frantically but at the same time he was being a bit sarcastic.
"No, you idiot," the kind replied with that cold laugh of his.
"Why only me? Did I do something wrong?"
"Quite the apposite in fact," Levi answered. "Kind of like a small reward for saving my son."
Eren scoffed and hid half his face with hand. "Anyone could have done it so I'm no special. I was just willing to."
"Shut up and be grateful, shitty brat. I heard that inn is filthy as fuck."
"Thanks for your concern," Eren said and laughed a little.
"Also you're one of the most skilled soldiers I've ever seen in my life. You're what...eighteen? You have the skill level of a man who's been training for almost forty years and that's very impressive and me finding things impressive is quite rare so you better feel special."
Eren finally turned to face Levi who was smirking while crossing his arms in a menacing way.
"I appreciate the praise, sir."
Levi slowly leaned a little closer so that he was basically whispering in Eren's ear and he suddenly felt his heart speed up. He could feel Levi's warm breath tickling his ear lobe and his vision immediately began to fog up. Levi being too close was always bad news.
"It isn't really fair that I have a favourite, isn't it?"
"I-I don't know," Eren stuttered and tried to get farther from Levi but the king's hand was suddenly on his wrist. It suddenly hit him; was this the reason to why he was the only one out of Levi's entire army who got to spend the night at his castle?
"Honestly I was not lying. You are my favourite."
Eren couldn't remember how it happened and why but all of a sudden the king's lip were on his. He was a little too shocked to react for the first ten seconds which resulted in him accidentally parting his mouth and deepening the kiss all by accident. This was wrong and it should feel wrong but for some reason it didn't feel so bad for Eren.
Levi's mouth was soft as fuck and his breath tasted of something light and calming like mint or lemon. Eren desperately wanted to pull away and just run but he couldn't, he just couldn't. He found himself kissing back and actually enjoying this.
Levi's hand was firmly planted on the balcony fence while the other was lightly resting on Eren's hip. The younger male was hesitant to put his hands on Levi's shoulders but he ended up doing it anyways. Kissing the king made him feel weak to the knees and he was trembling really bad. He felt like he was safe yet in danger all at the same time and that emotion was confusing.
Everything just felt so damn wrong. Why was this happening? Was this the way Levi kissed Petra when she was still alive? He was gasping for breath once Levi finally pulled away and was looking right at his flushed face.
"Why are your eyes green?"
AN:
now things are getting heated up amirite ;)
longer chapter than usual bc i love all of you.
updates might be slower bc i rlly have to catch up on so many anime omf and bc writing has been stressing me out lately ;-;
i want to live to all of your expectations so writing my fics have been my top priority. ive been writing for five hours straight but at least ereri fluff haS FINALLY STARTED.
thank you so much for reading! votes and comments are very much appreciated! id love to hear what yall hafta say! ill try responding to any if necessary c:
-Trash Queen Takeshi