"I fucked up, like big time fucked up!" Levi cried. He squatted near a rock hugging his legs to his chest. Isabel sat down on the rock.
"Eren?" She guessed. Levi nodded. "Spill." She stroked his back. He shivered.
"I had sex with him this morning, like with all of his friends in his tiny ass apartment and I just fucked him!" Levi sprang up pacing around the rock. "Now he won't even talk to me!"
"Yeah. You fucked up." Isabel stated. "Did you fuck him because you really wanted to at that moment, or is it more because of the guilt you feel over Furlan?" She folded her arms across her chest. Levi sank down beside her.
"I don't know." He ran a hand through his hair. "You're the only one who knows I was planning on breaking up with him before he vanished." He added.
"Yeah, I know." Isabel hugged Levi. "And if Furlan comes back, well we won't know what he remembers or how much time he will feel has passed. For him it could be just seconds..." She rested her head on his shoulder.
"I really, really like Eren, Izzy." Levi whispered.
"Then you need to tell him." She said. She lifted her head to look at him. "Time to be a big boy, runt. Admit you fucked up and tell him how you feel." She ordered.
"I tried. I told him I thought I loved him, like while we were doing it." Levi muttered. "After, before we left to come here I tried talking to him again and he just moved me out of the way and walked out. I have no idea what that was about."
"He was probably embarrassed. You did say you fucked him with all his friends around. I'm sure they heard..." Her voice trailed away.
"Yeah, you know how much of a dick I am. I made sure they heard." He muttered. She tossed her head back laughing.
"My god. Levi you are the same asshole you have always been!" she laughed. He snorted. As she started to tear up from laughing so hard, he too began to laugh. This was life with Isabel. She may not be able to help you fix your fuck ups, but she could make you feel better.
As they were leaning against each other trying to regain their breath they heard Hange call out. "ALRIGHT WE'RE READY."
"Fuck. I may get my human life back, but I'm not sure I want it. Maybe I could just become the cat forever. Eren seemed to like him better." Levi muttered pulling Isabel to her feet. They walked back out to where everyone was standing.
"OK, Levi stand here." Hange grabbed him as soon as he came out of the woods. She put him in front of one of the metal rods. "Do not touch this, at all. Do not cross this line, got it?" She demanded. He nodded. She went to put Isabel by the next one, then Armin and Eren were placed by two and Erwin took the last. Hange and Moblit went over to the side were they had more equipment set up.
"You all need to watch your rod. If it looks like it is coming out of the ground, you yell to us. If it starts to vibrate faster or slower than the other rods, you yell to us. If it changes color..."
"We yell to you!" Eren said. Hange laughed clapping her hands together.
"You got it." She cried.
"OK, here we go. We are going to start at low levels you may feel like butterflies in your stomach or the ground quaking. That's ok." Moblit said. He twisted some dials and flicked a switch. At first nothing happened. Eren shivered as he felt a cold breeze slither over his skin. Moblit turned a dial. The rods began to vibrate.
Eren felt the vibrations in his feet. He glanced up. Across from him, Levi stood starring at him. When the two locked eyes, they both looked away. They all began to feel the vibrations throughout their body. Every few minutes it changed. After about ten minutes, Eren felt a ringing in his ears. He tried to wiggle a finger in it to stop it.
"It's OK, the frequency is coming into audible levels." Moblit explained. The rods started sending off a high pitch sound. This went on for a long time. The pitch increasing every few minutes. Finally, after what felt like hours, the frequency went above what the human ear could hear. In the distance they heard dogs whining and begin to bark.
"Wait, what's that?" Armin pointed. Off center a few feet a light began to appear.
"Hold it there!" Hange cried. Moblit spun some dials. The two rushed forward.
The light grew brighter as the rods vibrated faster. They could see lines appearing in the light.
"Oh, no is that a spinal cord?" Armin made a gagging sound.
"Please tell me we are not going to have to watch him materialize from the inside out." Levi hissed
"Maybe." Hange said sounding way more interested then disturbed. As the rods vibrated all around, they saw a red color coming into the glow.
"I'm going to be sick." Eren tried looking away, but his eyes were drawn back to the light as it flashed and flickered. Slowly a body began to appear. Legs and arms, a head torso it came into focus. A teen wearing jeans, a white shirt and brown jacket laid on the ground.
The body was on its stomach. One leg out stretched the other curled up into its chest. The hands were above his head as he laid unconscious. Soft ash blond hair settled over his face.
"FURLAN!" Levi yelled the mans name. There was a groaning sound. Moblit rushed back to the device.
"Stay where you are. NOBODY MOVE!" Hange yelled. Everyone waited. Furlan made more noises of a person slowly waking up. The rods stopped vibrating. The hum in the air went away. Levi glanced at Moblit.
"You're good." He said. Levi rushed forward. He knelt down beside the lanky teen.
"Furl, hey, you good?" he asked. Shaking his shoulder. The light grey eyes blinked at him.
"Here, some water." Isabel held out the bottle. Levi helped Furlan sit up. The pale hands shook as the newcomer reached for the water.
"Thanks Izzy." He muttered. He tried to twist the cap off, but his body felt weak. Levi took the bottle opening it for him. Furlan sipped the water. He looked around.
"Uh, what happened to my lab? Who are these people?" He asked.
"I'm Zoe Hange. What is the last thing you remember?" She asked Stepping forward. Furlan scratched his head.
"Well, it's weird, but I remember floating. Like through the woods and stuff. Like no one could see me. No one would talk to me. Then I felt this pulling sensation." He blinked.
"Something went wrong with the potion didn't it?" he asked Levi.
"Yeah, it fucking exploded. I told you to wait for me!" He snarled.
"Well, I knew it would be volatile. I didn't want you caught up if I messed it up." Furlan snickered. "Guess thats what happened." He chuckled. "But I couldn't have been out for long, your still a shrimp." He laughed.
"Fuck you." Levi pushed himself up to his feet.
"Awe, don't be like that Lev! Come on, help me up." He held his hand out. Levi glared at him. Furlan smiled upwards. Levi tsked and reached his hand out. He pulled the taller man to his feet. Furlan sagged against him.
"I heard what you and Isabel said in the woods. It's ok." He whispered in Levi's ear. Levi jerked as Furlan's arms tightened over him.
"We were always opposites. I still want to be your friend though." He pulled back his legs shaking as they tried to take his weight.
"Of course." Levi said.
"Come on, let's get you seated somewhere. Not sure what all your body went through to get you here." Moblit came to help walk Furlan to a chair. Levi was slightly too short to walk with the taller males. Eren gently pushed him out of the way. He took Furlan's arm across his shoulders.
"Hey, bright eyes." Furlan smiled. Eren blinked at him.
"Eren." He stated. "My names, Eren and that's Moblit."
"Ah, I see the attraction. Levi and I always had the same taste in guys. Sucks he met you first." He chuckled. Eren looked at him like he was on something.
"You must be hungry." Armin came forward once they sat Furlan down. The others pulled up more folding chairs and sat around him. They broke out their lunch.
"Just so you know, we are all aware of Levi's cat side." Erwin said once they finished introductions.
"Has Eren begun to show signs of cat like behavior?" Furlan asked biting into a sandwich.
"Well, he purrs from time to time." Levi said.
"He was knocking crap off the table at his party." Armin pointed out.
"He hisses sometimes." Erwin noted.
"That's not good." Furlan shook his head.
"Why? What was the potion you were working on when you got blasted out of this frequency?" Moblit asked.
"It's not good, because Petra was using a love spell. Levi can break his curse by getting someone to fall in love with him. Like true love, not just the puppy dog honeymoon shit." Furlan explained. "The curse will switch to the other person." He paused glancing at Levi. "If they have intercourse, then well the curse could be shifted completely." He said. "Otherwise it's a slow gradual shift over time. The more time they spend together the faster it will become." He added finishing his food.
"Levi, shift. Shift right now!" Isabel cried. Levi looked up at her. His face was pale, his eyes huge.
"I, I can't." He whispered. "I've been trying. It's not working." He said.
"Damn, we're screwed!" Furlan slumped in his seat. His head fell back against the back part of the chair, as his eyes closed.
"WHAT THE HELL!? YOU CAN'T JUST PASS OUT NOW!" Levi bellowed. He jumped up to race over to the teen. Erwin, Moblit and Eren stood protecting the wizard.
"His body went through a lot. He needs to readjust to this frequency. He's told us all he can for right now." Moblit stated. They laid Furlan in the back of Erwin's SUV as they broke down the tuning fork and repacked everything. Isabel step to Eren's side.
"Try to change." She told him.
"I have no idea how." Eren said.
"Think about what it would be like to be a cat." She shrugged. Eren looked at her. For a long time they just stared at each other. Isabel began to grow. She was getting taller than Eren.
"Oh, Eren." She whispered. He shrunk lower and lower until he was even with her ankles. She knelt to pick him up.
"At least you're a cute kitty. Soft brown fur, and those eyes are perfect for a cat." She chuckled petting him as she held him against her breast.
"Is that...?" Levi came up to them.
"Yeah. He broke the curse for you, simply because he fell in love." She turned away from her friend walking over to the vehicles. Levi picked up Eren's clothing. He folded them up neatly, placing the bundle in a bag.
Isabel, holding Eren, got in on one side of the car. Levi hauled Furlan up to a sitting position and climbed in the other side. He saw the green eyes watching him. Slipping the bracelet off, he reached over and put it on the cat.
"I should have given it to you before you tried to change. It will adjust when you go back to human form." He said.
Isabel insisted on returning with them to Eren's place. "Oh crap, Eren's the only one that knows the codes." Erwin stated.
"No he isn't." Levi and Armin said together. They looked at each other. Levi led the way. He punched in the code taking them up to Eren's place. It was early evening. Erwin called for pizza. Isabel set Eren down. Levi followed the cat into Eren's room. He closed the door.
Picking the cat up, he sat down on the bed. "I hope you can understand me." The cats head bobbed. Levi sighed.
"Good then you might remember this. I'm sorry. I fucked up big time this morning. I don't even know why I did it. I mean I've thought about it ever since meeting you, but it was all wrong. That shouldn't have been our first time." Levi sighed as he petted the cat in his lap.
"It was almost like it wasn't me, but this thing inside of me. When it was over and we were laying together, I felt something inside me change. I felt ashamed at what I did, knowing that today was the day we were bringing Furlan back. I saw how wrong having sex with you was." He shook his head, rubbing his face against the cat.
"No that isn't true. I tried to stop myself from doing it. It was like something else had taken over my body. I, I just couldn't stop." Tears ran down his face wetting the cat.
"Eren, I'm so sorry! I'm such an ass. Once we fix you, once I take the curse back. I will leave. You deserve so much better than me. I'm so sorry!" Levi jumped up running from the room. He closed the door trapping the cat inside as he fled the apartment and the people calling out to him. He just needed time alone.