Chapter Text
-March 30, 2025-
Florence, Italy
Love came slowly to Levi – woven in quiet doubt and familiar distrust, though bold and undeniable when it surfaced. It was in the smallest moments. Whenever Eren called him for something stupid – things, that a quick Google search could easily solve: like how to boil pasta; or how to reset the wifi; or if the new jeans made him look weirdly proportioned – because ‘it’s weird, Levi, my legs look like spaghetti’.
Each time, Levi would pick up because Eren’s voice sounded unsure. Or because Eren had the potential to cause a fire or two.
And afterward, Eren would just go, “ok, thanks,” without realizing he made Levi’s heart swell with that sweet ache that came from the distance.
The older man was now planning his yearly leaves around Eren’s schedule and the next overlap was Eren’s spring break. Which also happened to be his birthday week.
Levi knew because Eren had told him. Multiple times. From the moment they returned from Maldives, two out of three texts from Eren were suggesting a location for their ‘birthday-slash-spring break trip, Daddy. I’m basically saving you money, isn’t it so convenient?’
It was convenient. They went to Italy. Which was also convenient. ‘Equal distance from you and from me, romantic, delicious food, lots of places to fuck in.’ Eren had declared, attaching dozens of places he wanted to stay at and eat in, all in completely different cities and one in Switzerland. ‘It’s Europe, Levi, how long could the ride be?’
For Eren, love was different. He had known he loved Levi for a long time. He couldn’t tell when he fell for the older man, or what it was that had him hooked. He wasn’t sure what Levi felt either, but as long as his Dom wanted him, naming those feelings was not important. Eren had decided he would forgive Levi his snobbishness and emotional bankruptcy — for a small fee, of course.
Though the bastard kept making his heart flutter with hope that was hard to ignore: for instance, Levi had booked them a suite at The Four Seasons. The Four Seasons. In Florence. In Italy.
On his 22nd birthday Eren woke up in an ancient palazzo with 17th Century frescoes above his head. Light was pooling through sheer curtains, the sound of soft bells coming from Duomo gently reminded him where they were.
As if Eren could forget. Barely awake, he reached over and threw a leg over Levi’s hip, grinding. His morning wood pressed against Levi’s side, skin warm from sleep. And Levi let him, hand on Eren’s thigh, calm and languid like he wasn’t just woken up by sex-starved brattiness.
“Happy birthday,” The man rasped flatly.
“Gimme my first present,” Eren panted. “The kind that ruins me.”
He rode Levi under the heavy baldachine of their king sized bed, and then dragged him out to make out in front of Boticelli’s masterpieces.
That led to more fucking, which led to a bubble bath, which led to Levi eating Eren out on the marble floor. Naturally, it led to Eren wondering how many historical butts had sat on that exact marble.
“Don’t ruin marble for me,” Levi muttered against his thigh, giving him a sharp slap that echoed off said marble. Eren yelped, then laughed breathily. Totally worth it.
His ass still stung a little as he sat on the velvet-backed chair, and Eren had a brief, treacherous thought that Levi picked it on purpose. The private dining hall was a jewel box carved out of history – angels and saints swirled under the arched ceiling in faded Renaissance gold, the walls paneled in warm wood that had seen centuries of candlelight. A long table glittered with crystal glasses and silver cutlery older than Eren’s bloodline. And it was just the two of them, the rest of the seats empty by Levi’s quiet demand. Eren felt like he was Beatrice to Levi’s Dante, or perhaps Bella to Levi’s Edward. He wasn’t sure yet.
What he was sure of, was that he had been squeezing the MAXimum out of his Duolingo Max subscription like it was a gym membership he was trying to justify and he absolutely had to put his skills to good use.
He straightened in his chair as the waiter appeared with the next course, his mind racing. This was it – the moment to unleash all those hours of Duolingo drills. He cleared his throat, looked the poor man dead in the eyes and declared, with his best accent:
“Io… uh sono pasta.. molto grande.”
The waiter blinked, polite to a fault, and murmured something in Italian. Eren didn’t quite catch it. Levi’s eyebrow twitched in amusement like a perfectly sculpted judgemental mountain peak.
Eren turned to him, eyes bright, wide grin playing on his lips. “You saw that, right?”
“I did.” Levi took a sip of his wine.
“It was perfect.”
“You’re perfect.”
Eren blinked. His heart did a salto in his chest. He could feel the heat rising across his cheeks. “What?”
“Nothing.” Levi placed his glass back smoothly. “Good job.”
Tall candles on their table dripped wax onto intricate candleholders. Eren melted along with them.
Their savory plates were soon cleared, silver cutlery collected, their glasses were refilled, the deep ruby replaced by a golden amber – a sweet Vin Santo that caught candlelight like liquid honey. Levi’s movements were suave as ever: a flick of the wrist, napkin folded neatly, wine tasted with the barest nod of approval. Eren mirrored none of it, sprawled on his chair with the glow of someone warm, full and content, the food and wine softening all his edges.
Then the waiter returned, bearing a plate like it was an offering to ancient gods. Which, was fitting, of course. A tiramisu, reimagined with a delicate fleck of gold leaf. A single line of sparklers fizzed and cracked, flickered at its center, casting a dancing halo over mascarpone and sponge.
Eren’s eyes shifted to Levi. A grin bloomed instantly, but before he could say anything dumb, something shifted in his chest. Levi was watching him, face impassive as ever, though there were micro-expressions, things Eren had learned to recognize over the past months.
The week replayed in flashes: Levi leading him down crooked alleys just because Eren wanted a gelato he’d read about, forty minutes out of their way. Levi making reservations and not saying a single word where Eren made them late. Levi sliding a leather pouch into his hands after Eren had only looked at it once. Levi ordering dishes Eren hadn’t known he wanted until they arrived. Every want, every whim – indulged before he even voiced it. And now this. The flicker of the candle, the quiet flow of gold leaf, the private hall emptied just for them.
And Levi was doing all of this like it was natural. Like all of it belonged to Eren already, Levi was simply facilitating the transactions.
Eren felt his throat go tight. He swallowed.
“You love me.”
Levi sat across from him in the small pool of fizzling light, leaned back in his chair, gaze steady and subtly fond in a way that made Eren’s eyes fill with emotions.
“Obviously.”
Eren stared at him.
“Obviously?”
Levi let his forearms rest on the edge of the table as he leaned forward. “I held your sticky gelato-hands all day. Of course I do.”
Eren blinked fast, a stupid smile breaking across his face before he could stop it. “That was the most emotionally constipated confession I’ve ever heard.”
“Want me to take it back?” There was that divine, intimidatingly attractive smirk on Levi’s lips and Eren wanted to kiss it off his face.
Eren laughed, tension he hadn’t known he carried with him evaporating into thin air. There was no going back now. He shook his head. “No take backsies.”
The sparklers died out one after another, small bursts of light gone, leaving a single candle melting slowly in the middle, waiting for Eren to blow it out.
“Make a wish, brat.” Levi nodded to the dessert, not trying to hide the smirk anymore.
Eren leaned forward, cheeks flushed from wine and a whirlwind of emotions, and blew out the single candle. Smoke curled into the air, sweet and faintly bitter with cocoa. The next thing he knew, he was on Levi’s lap, the velvet chair creaking under them.
Levi didn’t push him off. He let Eren settle against him, like it was inevitable. One hand curled steady at his hip, the other reached for the spoon.
Eren’s grin widened as Levi scooped into the tiramisu, lifting it between them. Levi tasted first, unhurried. Then, he turned the spoon, brought it to Eren’s lips.
Sweet mascarpone, coffee soaked sponge, a hint of liquor… Eren moaned. Licked the spoon clean and then leaned down for a kiss. It was slow, tender in a way they reserved for rare occasions.
And when he pulled back, there was definitely something beside amusement in Levi’s eyes.
“Levi.”
“Eren?”
“Tell me you love me.”
Silver eyes glinted, an eyebrow twitched. “I thought you knew.”
Eren pulled back. He used his hand to balance himself on the man’s lap, as he rolled his hips once, experimentally, over the bulge forming in Levi’s pants. “Well,” he murmured, “it would be nice to hear it.”
Levi’s hand squeezed around his hip firmly. “Brat.”
“What?” Eren breathed out, grinding unhurriedly into Levi’s lap. Green eyes never left the molten silver ones. He shifted his hips once again with purpose, ground them down firmer, rolled them. Something shifted in his pocket, though that had to wait.
“If you’re planning to ride me,” Levi’s fingers dug into Eren’s hips, low voice in his ear. “Do it somewhere that doesn’t have a waiter refilling your wine every three minutes.”
Eren’s hair slid over his face as leaned down lower to offer Levi his lips for a kiss. Their breaths mixed in a dance of espresso and liquor. “I just want to hear you say it.”
Levi breathed out softly. “Fine,” his boyfriend did not move or look away. “I love you.”
Oh.
Oh, how good the words sounded in Levi’s smooth smooth baritone. Like velvet and chocolate, engulfing Eren in a beautiful cloud of floaty feelings. Elevating him above all else. The sub let his eyes flutter shut for a moment. He was floating over the hall, with the golden angels and the frescoes and what not. His heart trembled with the newly found thrill…
…before he forced himself to straighten up.
He quickly composed himself.
“Well,” he said in his usual faux-light tone, like his soul hadn’t just done a lap around the Sistine Chapel. “now that I had to force it out of you, I don’t need it.”
Levi huffed out a frustrated chuckle, “Unbelievable,” he muttered, bringing the glass of wine to his lips. Though through the colored liquid, Eren saw a fleeting fond smirk. The Daddy had been wooed. Completely and unequivocally.
Good. His job here was done.
Eren was up already. He snatched Levi’s wine glass from him with flourish. “Do you know what I‘m planning?”
Levi smoothed his hands over his pants, chasing away the wrinkles that Eren had left behind. “Do I want to know?”
Eren snorted.
“I will leave now. Get us drinks.” He took a large gulp of the wine. It was too good to leave unfinished. “And you,” he leaned down to kiss Levi’s cheek. “You meet me at the hotel bar in thirty minutes. Is that okies?”
Levi leaned his head to a side to let the sub’s lips press against his cheek. Eren’s perfume wafted over him and, for a moment, Levi was tempted to wrap his arm around him and pull him back into his lap, though he’d promised himself to go along with anything Eren started today. An extremely exhausting ordeal.
“Don’t get me anything you would drink.”
Eren huffed out a laugh against his cheek. His head then dipped lower. “I know what you drink.” The younger man whispered against his skin. “Japanese whiskey. Hibiki or Yamazaki if they have it.” An open mouthed kiss brushed the edge of his collar. “Double, neat,” then, the boy was sucking gently.
Levi’s hand came up to Eren’s hair, pulling the sub back, before he could leave a mark. Levi wasn’t in the mood to show off a lovebite. Not now, not ever. Eren still grinned in triumph. He pulled back to peer at the object of his infatuation. He looked impressed. As much as a Levi could, of course. “You’re not the only one who pays attention, Daddy.”
Levi let him go. Though not without a deep, parting kiss that left both of them breathless. It was Eren’s birthday afterall, and who was Levi to deny him one more wish before he fucked him into tomorrow.
“Brat.”
“Mm?” Eren hummed, already halfway to the exit, cheeks flushed with excitement.
“Make that twenty. I don’t trust you unsupervised.”
Eren grinned and disappeared into the dim hall like a stormcloud with great hair and a perfect ass.
Levi just watched him go, face unreadable, like he was trying to figure out how someone so annoying had wrapped themselves around the bones of his very existence.
20 Minutes Later….
The hotel bar sat tucked under vaulted arches, its walls still wearing the faint blush of fifteenth-century frescoes. Cherubs and angels looked down in faded gold, while low, modern lighting threw amber halos across marble and wood. The long counter was polished black stone, mirrored behind with shelves of glowing bottles – Tuscan reds, French champagne, colorful liqueurs Eren loved to see, but had never tasted.
Velvet-lined banquettes curved along the lit up bar, tables gleamed under the flickering candlelight. The music was soft, a low pulse of jazz that dispersed the low hum of people around. The crowd was a dream: tall women in silk dresses and killer heels, their laughter sharp as broken glass; men in perfectly cut suits, voices like low smoke as they ordered negronis and espresso martinis with a flick of the wrist; drowning in Florence’s beauty and the impossibly stylish locals.
Eren was completely giddy with overwhelm. He wasn’t sure whether to take in the ambiance, the crowd, or the drinks… They were an art of their own. Crystal glasses fogged with frost, garnished with springs of rosemary or curls of citrus peel. A martini glass shimmered pale green under the bar lights. A coupe overflowed with foam kissed by some spice. Even the classics were dressed up – negroni on ice carved into perfect diamonds, spritzes in balloon glasses that caught the candlelight like colored glass windows.
A bartender – no, a human sized reincarnation of Michelangelo’s David – slid two drinks across the bar smoothly, before stepping closer to Eren. “Buonasera, signore. Cosa posso portarle da bere?”
Fuck.
Eren felt his heart drop. His loyalty was being tested left and right in this country of sin. Also, it seemed like his Duolingo membership wasn’t premium enough.
Nevertheless, Eren Jaeger would not quit his attempts to speak Italian with Italians. “Uh… Io sono.. uh spritz. Birthday spritz,” Eren thought for a moment, before gesturing sparkles with his hands. “Molto… grande. Glitter and sparkles.”
The bartender’s mouth twitched, before stretching into an amused open smile. “What spritz would you like?”
Fuck. Oh well.
“Am I that obvious?”
“Not at all.” David leaned over the counter and Eren fell in love with Italy again. “Until you said you’re a spritz. Very big.” The words rolled off the man’s tongue like silk, his accent smooth enough to make the whole bar sound suddenly quieter.
Eren groaned and dropped his head into his hands. Thankfully, Levi wasn’t here to witness his humiliation. “That green owl has betrayed me.”
The bartender chuckled, getting a tall fishbowl glass. “Would this be… grande enough?”
Eren peeked at the man between his fingers, caught between humiliation and delight. “Yeah, molto grande! Gigante!” He let his hands slide down from his face, revealing the genuine grin behind. “It’s my birthday.”
“Then, I make you the best cocktail.” The bartender said, reaching for a liquor. “With extra sparkle. You prefer sweet or sour?”
Eren tilted his head. He wasn’t sure whether it was the accent, or the ambience, but this was turning delightfully flirty. “Sweet please.”
“Sweet,” the man parroted easily. Shadows danced over his arms, as he moved. “And I make it beautiful.” He poured with theatrical precision, watching Eren through the shimmer of liquid and glass. “Beautiful drink for a beautiful boy, sì?”
“Sì.” Eren smiled and leaned closer to the bar. “Can I share a secret?”
The bartender’s hands stilled over the glass, curiosity sparkling in his eyes. “Sure.”
Eren lowered his voice, conspiratorial. “A man. A very hot, older man, has just confessed his love to me. He’s flown me here all the way from America.” Eren lifted his eyebrows suggestively. David blinked. “And he will pay for my cocktail. I want it to be as molto grande as his love to me. Can we do that, per favore?”
The bartender laughed softly – somewhere between amused and genuinely charmed – before leaning in just a little closer. God, he also smelled good. “Spritz grande for amore grande.” He said, then pulled back with a wink. “We can do that.”
“Yeah, amore very grande.” Eren pushed his toe against the bar stand, turning a little on his stool to glance at the entrance. Levi wasn’t yet here. Oh! “Can I also get Yamazaki for my amore grande?”
He had almost forgotten. Blame the stupidly hot Italians with their stupidly good flirting skills. Eren watched, utterly fascinated, as the bartender continued his little performance. Liquor poured in measured ribbons, a slow cascade of pale green and gold. Ice clinked, echoed in the glass, mint bruised, lemon peel flew — like perfect choreography under watchful eyes of golden cherubs on ceiling arches.
Suddenly, there was a crystal dome in front of him, smoke curling faintly inside it. Eren blinked. He hadn’t even seen where that came from. The man lifted it and the fragrant smoke swirled away over the smooth bar to reveal a dreamy-green spritz glimmering under the bar lights, the rim dusted with gold sugar, bubbles fizzling like tiny fireworks. At its crown sat a chilled mother of pearl spoon balanced across the rim, a perfect mound of glistening black caviar nestled on top.
Eren gawked. “That’s- that’s for me?”
The bartender smiled, eyes gleaming. “Of course. Birthday spritz.”
Eren laughed, half-delighted, half-scandalized. “I take caviar with my drinks. That’s who I am now.”
The bartender’s smile deepened, pleased by Eren’s delight. “Buon compleanno,” he said easily, voice velvety and low in a way that made Eren’s insides sing. “Happy birthday.”
Eren took the spoon carefully, dizzy already with sparkle and smoke. “God that sounded like foreplay.”
“That’s part of my job,” the man replied, sliding the Yamazaki across the counter beside the glimmering spritz. “You will tell your amore grande I have raised the bar, sì?”
Caviar exploded on his tongue in a burst of salty goodness. Like Nepture himself had cum in his mouth and ordered him to swallow.
He moaned.
Life was so good.
He opened his mouth to shoot back something witty – probably something he’d regret later – when a firm arm wrapped around his waist.
“I thought the bar couldn’t be higher.” Came the familiar voice, smooth as glass. Eren turned, delicate spoon handle hanging from his mouth still, his heart stuttering. They had parted barely 20 minutes ago, but Eren had already missed him.
Levi stepped beside him at the bar, gaze flicking once over the dome, the gold sugar, then his eyes lifted to the bartender – steady, polite, but edged with quiet amusement.
“Nice presentation,” Levi said evenly, reaching past Eren to collect his whiskey.
The bartender nodded once, smiling. “It is his birthday.”
Levi’s hand rested on Eren’s shoulder, thumb brushing the back of his neck. He caught on the thin necklace there, tugging on it gently. “That’s why he’s allowed to flirt with half of Florence.”
Eren snorted gracefully and finally slipped the smooth spoon out of his mouth. “I’m allowed sparkly things on my birthday.” He leaned into Levi’s hand, turning to him on instinct. It was like he melted into his Dom’s presence, drunk on him more than any alcohol.
“You mean the drink,” Levi murmured, leaning in further. His breath brushed against Eren’s ear. “or the bartender?”
Eren chuckled, shaking his head. “A bit of this, a bit of that.” He said easily, taking a moment to take in his man. Levi looked like he belonged. Like a Renaissance painting reimagined into a YSL ad campaign. Sharp black suit, white collar perfectly pressed, even after dinner, hair immaculate, despite Florentine humidity, eyes cool and unreadable, though with a spark of something whenever he looked at Eren.
Wait.
That was why they were in the first place. Eren had to focus.
His brain was mush. He needed to get back on track. He came here with a mission, for fucks’s sake.
“Hold on,” He put a hand onto the lapel of Levi’s jacket, pushing him back a little. “This is serious. I need to tell you something.”
Levi lowered himself onto a stool, heel of his black dress shoe hooked on the foot rest. His hand came to rest around his drink.
“I’m listening.” Low light dancing in mercury eyes was making focusing on their conversation so much harder. But Eren had to be strong. For their future.
“You said you love me.” He started, serious, fingers tapping against his balloon glass. Perspiration was collecting at the base, rushing him to try his beverage. It had to wait.
“Perhaps I’ve been coerced.” Levi murmured, amusement still evident on his ungodly face. Eren couldn’t hold back a soft smile.
“Nu-uh, too late. You said you love me.” Eren tried to breathe around the warm swell in his chest. “I love you too. Very much. More than Maldives and Florence, more than Michelangelo loved DaVinci.”
Eren was sure he wasn’t imagining the slight blush to Levi’s chiseled cheekbones. It could have been a shadow too. His boyfriend just nodded once. “Contextually unfortunate, but continue.”
“This is getting serious.” Eren said again. He seemed to be having some sort of a battle. A battle Levi could only make guesses about. There was softness in the silver eyes that had Eren’s focus slipping, like sand through his fingers. He had to focus, damn it.
“Mhm,” Levi, meanwhile, was not rushing anywhere. His hand covered Eren’s fingers, squeezing gently. He looked… assessing. Which- it didn’t make sense. “Does that scare you?”
Oh…
“What?” Eren glanced at him for a second, before huffing out in annoyance. “No! I mean this is getting serious and we can’t-“ Eren had to stop repeating the same thing over and over again. He ran his hand through his hair, chasing the tiny knots that managed to form already. “We can’t tell our friends I found you through a Sugar Daddy website? That’s so- blergh, that’s terrible.”
Levi laughed. It was breathy and quiet, the ‘head falling forward in a way that made the tips of his hair tickle his cheekbones’ kind. The bastard actually laughed, like they were not in the middle of a personal PR crisis. The man looked at him with fondness in his eyes that could melt icebergs. Well, as much as Levi was capable of at least. “I see. What do you suggest?”
Now, that was exactly what Eren needed. He got off his stool easily. “Stay there, act like you don’t know me.”
“I’m not doing a bit with you in a public bar.”
“Too late.” Eren was already walking backward. Grinning. Glowing. Chaos in motion. With a drink in his hand. “You’ve never seen me in your life. I’m mysterious. Hot. Probably emotionally unstable.”
Levi sighed. “So just like real life.” he mumbled, bringing the drink to his lips to take a sip. He would need it, it seemed.
Less than 10 seconds later, Eren was slipping into the same spot, gracefully slow. Like he was the side piece in a perfume commercial. He slid his empty glass to the bartender. “Can I get something else? Equally dramatic, but different.”
They didn’t look at each other. At least, not until Eren tilted his head toward Levi like he’d just noticed him.
His smile went lazy. A mix of flirty and dangerous.
“Hi.”
Levi was tempted to shoot Eren down. Say something like ‘I don’t find flings at a bar’, enjoy the jazz band for a while longer and then take the boy to their room. Though one look at Eren’s bright eyes and he was letting out a simple “Hello,” instead.
Eren’s eyes flicked over him slowly – the younger man was fully committed to the role. “You look like someone who drinks really good tea and has strong opinions about how towels should be folded.”
A thin eyebrow slipped up in skepticism. “You’re not wrong.”
“Do you like emotionally chaotic men with nice teeth and lack of spatial awareness?”
“Unfortunately.”
Eren let out a low whistle. He crossed his legs, letting the top of his foot slide over Levi’s calf slyly. “God. It’s like we were made for each other.”
Levi did not reply. Someone ordered a drink behind Eren’s back. The younger man wasn’t phased by that at all. He swirled his new drink. Took a few sips. Then, leaned closer to Levi, like a sea nymph washed ashore with the sole purpose to drag this man into the tide.
“So what’s your deal? Divorced? Cold-hearted?” He batted his eyelashes in a way that was equally comically cute and, for some reason, hot. “Emotionally unavailable but secretly obsessed with one specific feral man-child?”
“My deal,” Levi’s lips twitched. “Apparently, is roleplaying with men who belong in padded rooms.” He could see a genuine grin break Eren’s façade, before the brat slid back into his role easily.
Levi’s drink was half finished, the oversized ice cube barely molten around the edges. He left it on the counter, turning to Eren fully. “And you? What do you bring to the table?”
Eren didn’t even try to hide the excited squeal. He loved when Levi fed into his delulu. He did not think for a second as he launched into the list: “Shameless thirst. Wild energy. Deep-seated daddy issues. Also, I can recite the entire monologue from Howl’s Moving Castle wearing nothing but lingerie.”
Levi’s gaze shifted down momentarily. Somehow, between the dinner and Eren’s evening-long chaotic monologues he’d forgotten about the lingerie… He had caught a glimpse of it earlier when they were preparing for dinner.
“That’s a bold résumé,” He drawled, voice soft but heavy with implication. He stood and took one last sip of his whisky, familiar burst of flavor chasing down the heat of alcohol; then stepped closer to Eren. “Finish your drink. You can present your credentials properly upstairs.”
Eren froze mid-sip, glass hovering just shy of his lips. His pulse did a little nosedive into his stomach. The smirk firmly set on Levi’s mouth didn’t help at all. He could feel his dick shift against the lace in his pants. He swallowed. Gulped down the colorful spritz like it was water and got up. “Gladly.”
His hand slipped into Levi’s pale one like it was meant to be held by someone twice his age and thrice his patience. Only the two of them knew that even that amount of patience was sometimes not enough. It was a good thing that Levi had his own ways of dealing with those times.
They slid through the packed crowd easily, the world rearranging around him. Eren clung to his hand, glued to Levi’s back. It made the younger man wonder briefly if this was what Moses’ followers felt like watching their leader part the Red Sea. It must have been equally impressive…
The difference was, Levi didn’t need faith to part a crowd; he just needed to exist.
Something hungry bloomed in Eren’s chest. He wanted to submit – God, he wanted to. Right here, right now. Let Levi take him apart, let everyone see how the whole world vanished in Levi’s command and touch.
But it was his birthday. The first birthday that he celebrated with Levi. And this was also his chance to finally use the vial. The stupid little vial that Levi refused to use in Maldives and Eren still really wanted to. He slid his free hand into the pocket of his pants, fingertips brushing against the small glass.
The chaos of alcohol and indecisiveness inside him swirled and spun. Did he want to give in and let Levi melt him into a puddle or did he want to suck Levi off with gold shimmer on his lips and no shame in his bones? His pulse thundered with both. It was his birthday. He had a plan.
Though what if Levi’s plan was better?
The elevator dinged and Eren’s breath caught. Levi stepped inside, still holding his hand. But this time, he tugged, spun Eren into the corner of the elevator. The younger man gasped, laughing, breathless. The doors shut behind them and they were alone. The cool metal wall kissed Eren’s back, as warm mouth met his own. Levi kissed him slowly, deeply, like he meant to undo him. Strong hands on Eren’s hips, chests just shy of touching.
Eren gasped into it, lips parting on instinct. It felt so good. It was a kiss that set the pace of their evening. And Eren could sink into it, let Levi take him where Eren yearned for the most. But his fingers squeezed around the vial in his pocket.
Levi’s tongue flicked at his bottom lip, then pressed in – and Eren whimpered.
It would be so easy.
But-
Gold shimmer. Birthday. Choking on Levi’s dick while he drooled all over his own chest in glitter and precum.
He had a vision!
Levi pulled back slightly, breath ghosting over Eren’s cheek. “You’re distracted.”
“I-” Eren’s eyes fluttered. His pulse was all over the place. “I want to be good… but-” He took a steadying breath.
Levi put more distance between them, eyes narrowed. “Spit it out.”
Eren flushed a little, and then a little more. His voice dropped. “I really want to suck you off with glitter. Today.”
Levi blinked once. “Glitter?”
Eren nodded, hand slipping out of his pocket to reveal the tiny vial – the same one he’d smuggled from their Maldives trip like a horny pirate. “I kept it for this. I promise it’s edible. And it’s gold.”
There was a long silence.
Then: “You’ve been carrying this around all evening?”
“A couple of days now. But it’s more of a birthday kind of thing, isn’t it?”
Levi’s gaze dropped to the vial, then returned to Eren’s face – unimpressed but undeniably entertained. He exhaled once through his nose, like this was both the most predictable and the most ridiculous thing Eren had ever done.
“Only because it’s your birthday.”
Eren lit up like the cathedral.
“But!” Levi stepped forward, crowding him against the back of the elevator. “You will clean up every single spec afterward. If I find a single sparkle in the sheets, on my dick, or on the hotel towels, you’re sleeping on the balcony.”
Eren grinned, eyes glassy with alcohol and glee. “Yeah.”
A hand came to rest around his throat. Eren’s breath hitched. His dick pushed against the lace in his pants to remind him it had needs.
“Say it properly.”
“I will clean every spec, sir.”
Levi kissed him hard – then pulled away before Eren could completely melt.
“You’re fucking lucky I love you,” he muttered as the elevator doors slid open.
Eren grinned, breathless and clutched the vial tighter.
Out of all 22 birthdays he’s had, this was turning out to be the best one by far.
They stepped into the hallway. Plush carpet muffled their footsteps, but Eren barely noticed anything – he was floating, buzzing, too high off the kiss and the promise. He didn’t walk, he glided over the carpet, not taking his feet off the ground. The stupidly overpriced shoes he’d guilted Levi into buying slid smooth over woolen runner. The vial was gripped tightly in his hand, as if it would evaporate if he let it go. His other hand was gripping Levi’s, for a similar reason.
His Dom was leading him towards their room with quiet authority. Eren followed in thrilled silence. His brain was already running too fast, picturing glitter and slick and the sounds Levi would make if he did it just right.
The moment their door clicked shut behind them, Levi turned. The air shifted.
“Strip. Let’s see that lingerie.”
That was it. The usual calm command that turned Eren inside out.
His fingers fumbled at the buttons of his jacket. The first slip into the scene was always a surprise. As excited as he was, he hadn’t expected it to start this fast – to be undressed in the first thirty seconds. It sent heat licking up his spine. His breath hitched when Levi stepped forward, knuckles grazing over his bare stomach as he plucked the vial out of Eren’s hand.
“I’ll keep this for now.”
Eren’s throat went dry as Levi sat back on the edge of the bed, legs spread, expression cool and unreadable. Pale fingers rolled the vial impassively, studying the contents.
Eren’s fingers picked at the buttons for a moment, before he was toeing his shoes off, sliding the pants down and off along with the socks; shirt following suit.
The moment Levi looked up from the vial, his sub was ready. Like a painting stepped out of a Florentine frame. Cheeks flush with the heat of the night, skin glowing with the hotel lotion he’d smothered himself in before leaving the room. But it was mainly what he wore that had Levi’s attention. He finally has the chance to see it in full.
The high-cut garter belt rode low on his hips. Slim, dark bands traced the hollows of his waist, converging around his cock like the frame of an artwork Levi was being asked to ruin. The pouch was sheer – unashamed. A thin strap looped behind his balls and disappeared between his thighs.
It was obscenely beautiful.
And Eren knew it. Everything about him demanded attention, wanted to bask in it, though whenever he got it – Levi’s full, undivided attention – he trembled under the weight of it.
Levi’s voice was low and final. “Come here.”
Eren took a step forward on instinct, thighs brushing, lips parted to say something-
“Tch, on your knees.”
Eren froze mid-step. His breath caught. His muscles reacted before his thoughts did. The moment registered in a tremor in his spine.
The room spun, but Eren slid down without hesitation. His knees hit the polished wood, cool against overheated skin. He shifted slightly, unsure, then glanced up.
Levi’s expression hadn’t changed. He was still seated on the edge of the bed, legs spread, fingers tapping once against the vial now resting on his thigh.
“Crawl.”
Eren’s lips parted slightly, a flicker of something feral in his eyes, and then he began to move.
Each movement was slow and fluid, like he’d been born to perform. The garter straps swung gently with each sway of his thighs, and the thin fabric shifted against him – a constant reminder of how much he was offering.
He could feel Levi’s gaze tracking every inch. His dick swelled deliciously under the absolute attention. (Can attention be pristine?)
By the time he reached his Dom’s feet, Eren’s heart was thudding in his ears. He placed his hands gently on Levi’s knees, looked up, lips slightly swollen from earlier kisses.
And Levi smiled – barely there – like the most beautiful thing in Florence was now exactly where it belonged.
“I should make you earn this,” Levi murmured, voice a low rasp. “You’ve been a brat all day.”
Eren smiled, lips already parted, pupils blown wide. “I can earn it a thousand times over.”
Levi gave a quiet scoff. But he uncorked the vial anyway, running his thumb over the neck to collect a shimmer of edible gold.
Then, he painted it onto Eren’s bottom lip in a single stroke.
Eren’s breath stuttered. His tongue darted out instinctively, but Levi caught his chin.
“No licking it off yet,” he said coolly.
Eren whimpered. Levi traced a thumb over his jaw, fingers still glinting with gold.
“Look at me,” Levi said.
Eren did – eyes wide, pupils so blown his irises were barely visible.
“Show me how badly you want it,” Levi’s voice was edged with indulgence. Like he was giving Eren just enough rope to hang himself with. “You’ve got until I get bored.”
Then he slid the vial into Eren’s hand. Squeezed his fingers around it firmly, and let go.
“Make it count.” Slender fingers loosened his belt, the other rested casually on the bedspread – that was the only invitation Eren was getting.
Glitter still shimmered on Eren’s lips and jaw as he shifted forward.
Finally! He’d been thinking about this for months.
He wanted to remember this birthday forever.
“Take pictures.” His breath was already shaky as he undid Levi’s button, tugged the zipper down, and eased the man out. He wrapped his fingers around the entire girth, gripped the base – just like Levi liked it and pumped his fist twice.
Levi didn’t move. Eren didn’t mind. He knew what to do.
Gold shimmer cascaded down as he shimmied the vial over the man’s member. But it slipped slightly in his grip – just a tilt too far – and the gold dust rained out, like stars tumbling from the sky.
Levi’s entire dick was covered in a respectful mountain of edible glitter.
“Oops,” Eren let out a nervous giggle. Some had landed onto his own knuckles, sticking stubbornly like frost to metal.
Levi looked down slowly, then up again. There was no saving his pants now. Or the sheets. “Tch, we’ve barely started.”
Eren grinned, eyes wide, almost high on excitement. “I’m making it count.”
He pressed a kiss to the tip, soft and glittering. Gold shimmer caught on his lips like lip gloss. He kissed again, slower, letting the heat of his mouth linger before parting his lips. His lips slid over the side of Levi’s dick, covering the erected length in open mouthed kisses – reverent in his focus. He let out a long breath, sending fine gold flying, spiraling in the air like fireflies caught in a breeze.
Eren’s tongue slid out, licking a long, flat line over the underside of Levi’s dick, and then he wrapped his lips around the head.
The first stretch was always the sweetest. The sub moaned low in his throat as Levi filled his mouth, salty and warm and perfect. He didn’t rush. He swirled his tongue around the head, flicked it over the sensitive spot right under it, sucked.
Levi’s breath hitched. He still didn’t move.
Eren sunk down lower. Slowly. One millimeter after another. Torturously slow. Soaking every moment in. His lips – a taut ring over Levi’s cock.
His tongue dragged slow, greedy lines along the underside, every flick catching on the shimmer, every slide mapping the veins on his Dom’s dick. Levi’s hand finally came to rest at the back of his head – not to guide yet, just to feel the weight of him. Fingers carded his hair back, away from his face, gathering them in a loose fist in the back of his head.
Eren sucked deeper, slid up. Then lower again. His jaw ached. His eyes watered. And still, he kept going.
Levi groaned low. The sound barely escaped his throat, but Eren caught it. It felt like a reward. He let his eyes flutter shut and pushed further, then further, until the tip of his nose was brushing Levi’s abdomen and his throat clenched reflexively around him.
That earned him a soft curse. Levi’s fingers curled into his hair.
“Good boy” he said, voice tight. “Keep going.”
Eren moaned around him – and Levi twitched in his mouth.
That did it. Eren started bopping his head, cheeks sucked in, eyebrows knitted upwards as he settled into a rhythm. Levi let out a breath. The tight heat, the way Eren looked so committed, so eager to please was an arousing image on its own.
Levi’s hips rolled forward on their own. His hand fisted the sub’s hair and he held Eren there, fingers threaded through soft brown hair. “Stay down,” He ordered, voice tight – until Eren’s throat fluttered again.
Then he let him breathe.
Eren pulled back with a gasp, lips slick and glimmering, strings of spit clinging between them. His chest rose and fell like he’d run a marathon. Then, he grinned. Giddy and wild and fuck-drunk.
“More,” he whispered, voice wrecked and breathless.
Levi’s eyes burned. He pulled him back in.
The sub worked for it.
Levi didn’t thrust all the way immediately. Just watched with that glacial focus of his, as Eren dipped again, faster this time, glitter-slick lips wrapping around him like silk and honey. Saliva pooled quick. Every motion left Levi even wetter, sloppier, until his cock gleamed under the low lights – a mix of gold shimmer and Eren’s eagerness.
His boy couldn’t stop moaning. It rumbled in his throat like a secret hymn. He pulled back every few strokes to catch his breath, glitter kissed across his chin, drool webbed between his lips and Levi’s shaft. As if drunk on the idea of it more than the actual act.
The shine was everywhere now – flecks clinging to his lashes, dusted across his cheeks, glimmering at the corners of his mouth like some twisted halo.
Levi slipped his phone out and snapped a picture. He stroked Eren’s jaw with his thumb.
“You’re disgusting.”
Eren nodded – eagerly, messily – like it was the highest compliment he’d ever received. His hands trembled a little from the intensity, but he still fisted Levi’s trousers, mouth stretched and eyes glassy.
Eren pulled off slowly, gasping as strings of saliva clung from lips to tip – all of it streaked with gold. His voice was nothing but wreckage now.
“You… like it.”
“Unfortunately,” Levi muttered, thumb brushing the corner of his mouth – collecting a trail of drool, swiping a gold flake off his lower lip. Then, after a beat, he shoved it back in. “Suck.”
Eren obeyed instantly – no hesitation. He sucked Levi’s thumb like it was sacred. Like he wanted to pull a sound out of him just with that.
Levi’s jaw tensed. “Greedy brat.”
Another picture.
And then he grabbed Eren’s hair again.
“Open wide.”
Eren’s mouth dropped open like a man born for it.
Levi was even thicker now. He thrust in deep and Eren gagged on the first push – barely halfway. Glitter smeared up his cheek, his nose – he was drowning in it. But his fingers stayed firm at Levi’s thighs. Begging silently for more.
“Ah, you’re perfect,” Levi said, and thrust deeper.
The noise Eren made couldn’t be called anything human.
The room filled with it – the wet sound of him choking, gasping, swallowing around spit and cock and the taste of everything he asked for.
His eyes streamed. His nose ran. His whole body trembled.
And Levi held him down. Counted to five in his head before easing out – letting Eren drag a gasp of air into his lungs before pulling the sub to swallow him again.
It was mindless glitter-covered devotion.
Eren pulled off again only when his vision blurred, mouth still slack. A gold trail ran from the corner of his lips down his chin and neck. His chest heaved. A shaky little moan slipped out – not for show. Just a helpless little thing.
“Please,” he whispered, voice cracking.
Levi’s thumb slid over the sub’s chin, he was out of breath as well. “Please what, baby?”
Eren was too gone to perceive anything except for the question. “More please.”
Levi didn’t smile. He squeezed Eren’s nose between two fingers and pulled him in again.
Eren was done for.
Glitter clung to his throat in streaks of precum and mucus. His jaw trembled as he completely submitted to the task – lips stretched wide, breath coming ragged through his nose when Levi slipped his cock out to let him breathe. The spit was endless now, dripping in strings down his chin, pooling at his collarbones and sliding further down like a necklace made of sin.
His eyes were pure starshine – dazed, floaty, and a little dumb – exactly how his Dom liked him best.
His hips shifted on their own, rolling tentatively against Levi’s shoe. He groaned around the man’s slick cock in his throat. Once he felt the firm pressure against his dick, there was no going back. His hips thrust forward and down, his mesh thong fully soaked through and dragging against Levi’s glossy oxford shoe.
Levi pulled his head up with a wet squelch. Eren whimpered breathily, one hand falling onto Levi’s calf, grinding down with no control. Open-mouthed little gasps and whimpers spilled out like he was trying to form language but had forgotten how. Drool mixed with glitter trickled down his chin, catching light. He looked utterly ruined. Barely there. But his eyes – wide, wet and unfocused – said what his mouth could not.
Levi leaned down. “You’re close, aren’t you?”
Eren tried to shake his head, but the movement turned into a twitchy little nod. He didn’t know the answer. He didn’t care. He just wanted more. More of Levi, more of this, more ruin. He was grinding his hips down on Levi’s foot, unaware of that too.
Levi leaned in further, lips brushing his temple. “Not yet, I want you to cum with my dick in your ass.”
Eren was a mess. Eyes glossy, face wrecked in glitter and tears and drool. He blinked up like he was dreaming.
Levi pulled the sub up.
“Balcony.”
Eren’s head snapped to him.
Levi’s hand was on his jaw, squeezing firmly. “You said you wanted a birthday to remember, didn’t you?”
The balcony door was cold under Levi’s fingers. He pushed it open. The warm Florence night rolled in – city lights glowing, hum of distant traffic, the soft sound of music from the restaurant courtyard below.
Levi stepped out first.
Then pulled Eren forward by his soaked garter belt.
The air kissed Eren’s skin, still wet from tears and spit. His knees almost buckled – from the exposure and instinct to please, from the knowledge of where they were. Of what could happen.
Levi steadied him easily. “You wanted everyone to see, didn’t you?” He murmured, voice like silk stretched over steel.
Eren whimpered, tear tracks drying fast on messy cheeks.
“Answer me.”
“Yes,” he choked out. “Please…”
Levi turned him around. Bent him forward against the balcony rail – the stone cold on his chest, stars glinting in his tear-wet lashes. Below, Florence lived a life of its own, glittered like a city in love.
Levi lined up behind him, hands framing his hips like a sculptor about to finish his masterpiece.
“Good.” He leaned in close, voice a blade against Eren’s ear. “Then let’s see if you find your audience.”
A church bell rang somewhere in the distance – slow and reverent – like every deus wanted to hear what Eren sounded like fucked.
Levi had barely given him a moment to breathe. His lips were red, glossed from kisses and glitter, chest heaving as Levi pushed his thong aside with one hand and guided his cock in with the other.
Eren’s knees wobbled. He groaned as Levi pushed in, the familiar stretch making his dick weep with a fresh wave of precum. It dragged over the stone railing. He threw his head back in a silent shout.
The glass vial was long abandoned on the floor inside. A thin shimmer still clung to Eren’s lips, his cheeks, chest, smeared onto Levi’s hands, caught in the dip of Eren’s hips.
It was a mess.
“You look obscene,” Levi murmured, half-admiring, half-possessive. “The city should see what a perfect boy you are. A fucking gem made to bend for me.”
Eren moaned as Levi grabbed onto his hair once again, pulling him up. Bare back pressed against Levi’s shirt. The night air licked at his sweat-slick chest, contrasting the warmth of Levi’s body behind him. His legs nearly gave out when Levi pulled back, only to thrust back in, one hand flat over Eren’s stomach, the other anchoring his hip in place.
Another moan slipped out of Eren’s mouth before he bit it down. He turned his head to speak – to say something, maybe, or to beg – but Levi grabbed his jaw and turned it to himself.
“No.” Levi’s breath was hot against his ear. “Let them hear. Let everyone hear what you sound like when I’m fucking you.”
The wind teased at the sheer curtain. From the street, it would be hard to see details – but the silhouettes, the unmistakable movements? The thought alone made Eren dizzy. The idea of being taken like this, owned like this, while the city spun on below them…
His hands gripped Levi’s forearm. There was nothing else to hold.
He moaned again – louder this time. Levi didn’t stop him.
If anything, he pushed deeper in reward. There was no holding back. The air filled with Eren’s open mouthed moans – every sound punched out of him by Levi’s hips snapping into him. His hole stretched, sucking his Dom back in whenever he pulled out, fingers digging into the man’s arm, dick crying for attention in his soaked thong.
As if reading his mind, Levi’s warm hand came down to cup his dick. That was all it took.
Just before Eren could slip entirely into the stars behind his eyes, Levi leaned down and muttered, “Happy birthday, brat.”
Eren cried out, thrusting, thrashing between the dick that owned him and the hand that held him still. The sounds were pouring out of him, wrecked and shameless. His cum spurted out in white, hot lines, mixing with glitter on Levi’s hand and dripping down between his fingers. Somewhere deep in his tsunami of sensations Eren felt Levi thrust deep into him, once, twice, three times, before he felt his ass fill with release of his Dom. Eren was molten. All muscle had surrendered – he was nothing but a puddle of syrupy pleasure, cum, drool and glitter – with no structure to uphold him but Levi’s hands.
The man pulled back slightly just to look, panting.
Eren was flushed pink and gold, stretched over the stone railing like a sculpture post-ecstasy. Chest pressed to cold stone now that Levi let go, fingers curled loosely around the edge, back still arched in a way that made Levi want to ruin him all over again, though trembling with every shaky breath. His thighs trembled with effort to keep himself still. His skin shimmered brightly with sweat and molten gold, catching the soft yellow glow of the balcony lantern like gold on marble. It was everywhere — drying on his cheeks, his chin, down on his chest and all over his lingerie…
Whatever speckles Levi had left on his skin, were left on Eren’s hips, his thong, around his hole… It was a story told in metallic fingerprints and cum.
If Florence had a museum for blasphemy, Levi would’ve submitted this moment as its centerpiece.
He brushed a thumb along Eren’s spine, almost reverent. “Do you have any idea what you look like right now?”
Eren tried to turn his head – to speak, maybe – but his breath hitched too hard. He let his cheek fall onto the stone railing. The only thing he managed was a weak, wrecked whimper.
“Like a fucking Bernini’s statue,” Levi murmured, crowding him again. “Gangbanged by a swarm of pixies.” Levi leaned down and bit at the back of Eren’s shoulders.
Eren sobbed out a laugh – trembling, helpless, absolutely loving it.
“Like something painted by a man who went mad halfway through.” He dragged his teeth along Eren’s back, like he physically couldn’t stop marking the sub. Even when both of them were completely spent. “God, you’re perfect.”
The curtain blew higher behind them. The city didn’t look up. It never did. But if it did – if anyone did – they would see a boy bent in half, his body an altar to surrender, a crime scene of two men lost in something too intimate to name, too feral to explain, though too sacred to share.
Levi straightened, tucking himself back into his pants, cum, glitter and dried drool included. His clothes were beyond saving anyway. The wind cooled too fast. Eren trembled now that it was over.
He was too tired to care though, his arms draped over the railing like ribbons left on the floor after a prom. His legs still shook from everything Levi had wrung out of him. His lashes fluttered.
Levi caught him before he slid down completely.
“Easy,” he murmured, rearranging Eren gently – one arm under his knees, the other cradling his shoulders. Eren let out the softest sound, somewhere between a sigh and a sob, nuzzling into Levi’s chest with that dreamy, floaty look still haunting his gaze.
The balcony door swung shut behind them.
Inside, the light was low and golden – the exact way they left it. Levi set Eren down on the bed, fingers brushing across sticky thighs, trembling skin and flushed cheeks. He whispered something low, something only Eren would understand.
For once, he didn’t rush to clean up the glitter or the mess.
Instead, he sat beside Eren, ran a hand over the sub’s hair once. The air buzzed with leftover heat. Eren blinked up at him slowly, like he was trying to remember how to breathe.
“You did so well,” Levi said softly. “Absolutely perfect.”
Eren nodded. He looked wrecked. Radiant. A little stupid, honestly. But loved. Utterly, devastatingly loved.
“…Still with me?” Levi asked, brushing a thumb beneath Eren’s eye where gold shimmer clung too.
Eren’s lips curved into the smallest, goofiest smile. “Always.”
And Eren, for all his bratty chaos and glitter-planned schemes, let out a tiny sigh and reached for Levi’s hand, just to hold it.
The rest of the night was a lucid dream. Eren only remembered bits and pieces. Levi peeling his thong off him, tender kisses on his spine, the warm bath they shared… He remembered being carried back to the room, remembered the clean sheets, though not how they got there.
Morning came in like a soft apology, sunlight kissing the sheets where two bodies lay, clean and relaxed now, warm with a full night’s sleep. The room was completely clean, half-finished bottle of champagne from yesterday long gone and replaced with an equally large bottle of water and two glasses.
Even their clothes from yesterday hung on the door outside, fresh from the dry cleaning and glitterfree. That included Eren’s thong and garters. Every trace of their night, gone, except for marks blooming on Eren’s body and a few stubborn specks of glitter stuck to his hair, refusing to be washed away.
Eren groaned quietly, turning to nuzzle into Levi’s skin. “Do I have to pack myself?” He rasped, taking a deep breath of Levi. He’d miss this so much once they parted again.
“Good morning to you too,” Levi’s hand came to rest on his ass easily. “I’ve slept well, thank you, how about you?”
Eren chuckled, without pulling away. “You know how I slept, old man, you’ve literally fucked me into sleep.”
The thought nudged him upright. He blinked, scanning the room. It was perfectly clean. It seemed that Levi, like the freaky tyrant he was, had ordered a clean up at night. While they showered. “Did you change the sheets?”
“Housekeeping did.”
Eren rested his cheek against the man’s chest. “Do you think they know what we did?”
“I doubt it,” Levi’s fingers were tracing small circles on Eren’s bum, “though I’m sure laundry workers drew strings on who got to wash your thong.”
“Levi!” Eren scrambled up. He looked like he might faint. “You let them touch it?!”
“I don’t know, maybe they used tongs.” Levi looked absolutely unfazed. Eren’s heart was ready to explode with mortification.
“I- I need to apologize.” One fist was on Levi’s chest, the other pulling the blanket down. “We need to tip them. With Euros. Hundreds of Euros. And therapy coupons.”
He groaned, flopping onto his stomach and pulling the sheet over his whole body like a funeral shroud. “I’m never coming back to Florence.”
He slid his face out to peek at Levi. “They will take me to the Vatican for an exorcism, won’t they?”
“You’ll probably explode in glitter there too,” Levi pointed out, before getting up.
Eren chose to stew in his humiliation until breakfast. It arrived like a quiet farewell.
The sun was higher now, soft morning light spilling in through balcony doors and painting their plates into golden streaks. Eren’s cappuccino sat untouched, waiting patiently for its owner to be done with his cornetto alla crema. Eren had eaten two, but left the last bite of the second one abandoned, angry at Levi for reminding him, again, to pack. The cream oozed slightly from the bitten edge like a wound, but Eren didn’t care.
“Bet you can’t wait to get rid of me,” he muttered, eyes fixed on the last bit of pastry like it had offended him. It was a loss, really – the thing was delicious, but his mood was soured. Sulk sat heavy in his chest.
Levi didn’t immediately look up. He took a quiet sip from his tea – black, no sugar, steeped perfectly to get the full flavour, just shy of bitter – and set it down with quiet finality.
“Don’t start,” he said, low and steady. “We’re not doing this.”
Eren’s glare was quick but hollow. He didn’t want a fight either – just didn’t know what else to do with the ache in his chest.
Levi’s eyes met his – dry, steady, leveled in that way that always managed to cut through Eren’s spirals. The brat in him deflated. The boy in him leaned in.
“Sorry,” he muttered, eyes flicking away.
Levi didn’t sigh. He just reached out, pulling him in with the same ease he always had. He leaned down to press a kiss to his temple.
“I get it. But stop testing me, brat.”
Eren melted into him, cheek against Levi’s shoulder. The rich smell of bergamot still clung to Levi’s skin. Or perhaps it was the tea. “I just don’t want to go.”
“I know.” Levi’s voice was soft now, barely above the hum of the city below. “But you know how this goes.”
“I hate how this goes.”
He stayed quiet for a beat, listening to the quiet chatter of people under the balcony, then: “You could just let me come to Japan. I could… I don’t know. Get a job there. Do something.”
Levi cupped the back of his neck gently. It was very on brand for Eren, to suggest grand things without really thinking them through. “And give up school? No.”
Eren took a deep breath, unsure if he believed his own argument. “I don’t care about school if it’s far from you.”
“That’s not how this works, brat.” Levi’s voice remained calm, but there was a hint of firmness in it now. “You’re finishing what you started. If you run now, you’ll regret it later and it will somehow turn into my fault.”
“You don’t know that. What if I wouldn’t?” Eren trailed, unsure. He was not angry, just grasping at something – anything that would keep him here a little longer.
Levi didn’t flinch. He simply leaned forward, tilted Eren’s chin up with two fingers. His voice was gentler this time. “I do. You just say that now because you don’t want to leave.”
Eren’s defiance faltered. His bravado cracked like thin sugar glaze on top of cannoli. Then he exhaled – slow and long – and rested his forehead back against Levi’s shoulder.
“You’ll be okay,” Levi murmured into his hair. “And you’ll text me every night like a good boy.”
Eren groaned softly, half whine, half promise. “You better answer.”
Levi’s smirk was quiet, fond. “I always do.”
It took Eren two cappuccinos and a croissant to start packing. Start packing. Finishing was a much harder task. His suitcase lay open on the velvet bench at the foot of their bed – because Levi did not let him put it on the bed – inside it, was a half-hearted mess of folded underwear, jeans, shirts and a tangled charger cord. Eren stared at it, as if expecting it to pack itself.
Levi’s suitcase stood zipped and upright by the door, polished shoes beside it, a pressed jacket draped neatly over the handle. It was infuriating.
Eren stuffed his socks into shoes Levi had bought him a few days ago and slid them into the suitcase too. “This is literal punishment. You’re punishing me with responsibility.”
Levi didn’t even look up from his phone. “You’re punishing yourself by dragging it out. We leave in an hour.”
Eren groaned, glancing at the mini-mountain of jars and tiny bottles he’d stolen from the bathroom. Next to it sat the calfskin bag Levi had gotten him – after Eren whined about it for the better half of a day.
“I can’t prioritise…” He moaned. “My brain is pure pastry now.”
“You’ve had three cornetti and no protein. Priorities are skewed.”
“Two and a half,” Eren muttered, eyes flicking between the toiletries and a bag. “I sacrificed the last one in protest.”
Levi finally stood to investigate the dilemma the sub was facing. “What’s the crisis?”
Eren waved his hand dramatically over the bottles. “If I pack the bag, the shampoos won’t fit. But if I pack the shampoos, the bag will crease. And they smell so good, I can’t just leave them behind. I mean, you used that one – the amber – after we showered that night. The night we-”
He stopped himself. His shoulders dropped with a whimper.
Levi raised an eyebrow.
“I’m just saying,” Eren groaned. “If I leave it behind, I leave you behind too. In spirit.”
A beat of silence. Then:
“You know,” Levi began, voice as dry as his morning toast. “For someone who’s loudly pro-wealth redistribution, you’re turning out terribly materialistic.”
Eren whipped his head around. The fucking audacity!
“This is wealth redistribution.” He snapped, “It’s going from you – a filthy-rich arrogant snob – to me, a broke, misunderstood political theory student. I’m basically Robin Hood.” He waved a hand around. “If he was hot and wore lace.”
Levi huffed out what Eren assumed was a laugh. “I admire your logic.”
That did nothing to relieve his anger. His brain was spinning in full gear.
“Besides, Locke says property’s an extension of the self, so technically, by buying me all of these, you’re giving me a piece of you. Because you refuse to stay, this is the least you can do.” Eren breathed out. “Give me something to hold until we meet again.”
Levi gave him a long, unreadable look. Then returned to his emails. Eren was about to follow him, before –
PING.
Eren’s eyes fell onto his phone. He blinked. Opened the email. Read it. Read it again.
“…Oh my god.”
Levi didn’t look up . “That sounds like a reaction.”
“They gave me the internship.”
That got the man’s attention. “You sound surprised.”
“No, Levi. The internship!” Green eyes ran over the screen again, quickly skimming the email. He snorted. “They quoted me.”
He turned the phone around to show to Levi.
~~~
Subject: Internship Offer – Ethics & Accountability Board
Dear Mr. Jaeger,
Thank you for your impassioned interview. While we were, admittedly, taken aback by certain phrasings (namely, your assertion that “capitalism has a choking fetish”), your commentary was informed, sharply argued, and – somehow – correctly-cited in your application materials.
We appreciate your… passion.
Welcome aboard.
~~~
Eren was vibrating. “They quoted the kink line, Levi. In print!”
Levi looked up from the e-mail slowly. “Did you really kink shame a political system?”
Eren squealed, pressing the phone to his heart, like it was a love letter. “Details. I don’t really remember.”
He did, in fact, remember. He remembered it in vivid detail.
It had been a simple question, one he had prepared for. Something like, ‘Why should we hire you?’ Or ‘What makes you right for this role?’A safe question he was planning to bullshit his way through. Though, giddy with too much caffeine, righteous indignation, and 4 hours of sleep, he had gone off on a rant nobody asked for.
And somewhere in that rant, this had come out:
“Corporations don’t just ignore suffering – it’s like they are into this full-blown choking fetish with capitalism. They want to feel their power while pretending they are being restrained.”
And then he had blinked. Realized what he’s said. Tried to recover:
“-I mean, economically speaking.”
No one had believed him. He still remembered the silence in the room.
One panelist had coughed into their hand to hide laughter. Another had been scribbling something that Eren had thought was a complaint. But it was apparently a job offer.
He squealed. He was sure he had failed the interview! And this was the interview. The one he had applied for while still in Maldives, the one he really wanted to get. An NGO specializing in youth engagement programs, running several corporate accountability campaigns, full of active, unhinged people who made change happen.
Eren had almost cried when he realised he had flopped back then. And, as it turns out – he did not.
He snorted. Then laughed. Then launched into Levi like a missile, half-tackle, half-hug, all joy. “You love me.”
“I’m dangerously invested in your chaos now.” Levi muttered, catching him with only a small grunt.
“Same thing.”
Somewhere across the world, in a dimly lit office in NY, an NGO officially made room for its first problem child with a politics degree and a terrifying sense of metaphor.
Here, in Florence, their goodbye came slightly easier once Eren was distracted with the internship news.
He still whined about how they were making this relationship thing harder than it had to be.
According to Eren, Levi was wasting a fully devoted twink in favour of an artificial concept of university – a concept imposed on them by capitalistic boomers in order to control the masses.
They agreed Levi would have to restore his aura points over their next FaceTime. Whatever that meant.
Levi didn’t argue. He just kissed Eren’s temple, muttering something about emotional blackmail.
When he landed, Levi’s phone exploded with notifications from a certain AURAFARMER EREN THE LOVE OF MY LIFE POOKIE TWIN SUGARBABY followed by a line of eggplants cumming on peaches and an explosion of heart emojis.
Levi had no idea when the little menace found the time to do it. On his way home, he deleted the flare, trimming the contact name to a small Eren with a dynamite emoji. It had been accidental at first, but it felt right. So the dynamite stayed.
So did the 20+ messages in his inbox that needed to be addressed.
-April 1-
Eren 🧨 [7:42 PM]
i can’t believe you took that many pictures 😭😭 i’m livingggg aaaaaaaahh
Eren 🧨 [7:42 PM]
like sir. who gave you permission to turn me into museum-grade smut????
Eren 🧨 [7:46 PM]
i’m gonna be insufferable about this for WEEKS
Eren 🧨 [7:47 PM]
thank u for immortalizing me 🧎🏻♂️✨
The rest of the messages were pictures of Eren’s face with glitter, drool and glitter on the floor, Eren hung over the balcony railing, Eren’s ass, covered in golden fingerprints and cum dripping out of his hole. Each picture was followed by Eren’s commentary about how this one was his favourite.
Eren’s screen only lit up with one short message.
MY KING 👑💦💳💥 [9:42 PM]
You asked for pictures.
MY KING 👑💦💳💥 [10:42 PM]
Also, I’m still pissing glitter, you will pay for this.
Eren 🧨
[1:38 long voice message of excited squealing]
An hour later, Levi got a sulky message about how Eren was sad he couldn’t post the pictures anywhere.
Another hour in, Eren was setting up an anonymous finsta for everything he could not yet post on his actual account. Which basically meant everything from their joint vacations to Levi’s gifts, to the meals Eren got every evening. An aesthetic heaven of a sad college student.
Levi did not follow it. Though he did save the handle to check it out from time to time. Incognito. Only to make sure Eren didn’t somehow flash their personal information.
They fell easily into their routine. Talking over FaceTime whenever both were available, scening once or twice a week, texting… constantly. Eren’s digital presence in Levi’s life was unstoppable. It was a constant flow of messages that ranged from one extreme to another.
From “ i miss you like a Victorian widow misses her husband lost at sea. but hornier.”
To selfies with Eren’s tongue out, telling Levi to “slap your cock against my tongue and call me a good boy.’
To complaints about the stupid people who came up with this curriculum.
Every time Levi got a ping, it was something new and completely unhinged.
-April 7-
Eren🧨 [11:42 PM]
i saw a couple holding hands and it made me want to throw myself into traffic and then crawl into your arms.
-April 17-
Eren🧨 [03:48 PM]
if i ace this midterm i get a reward. if i fail, i get punishment. i literally can’t lose.
MY KING 👑💦💳💥[03:55 PM]
If you fail, you’re not cumming until you pass the make ups.
Eren🧨 [03:58 PM]
fuck that was so hot now can you say that in a voice message?
asking for a friend
-April 22-
Eren🧨 [02:37 PM]
what if i just suck the soul out of you like a capri sun the moment we see each other? just thinking out loud.
Eren🧨 [06:21 PM]
so this is how you leave me. cold. alone. untexted.
Eren🧨 [06:22 PM]
?????????
Eren🧨 [06:25 PM]
fine. I’m telling the groupchat my mysterious boyfriend died.
(The groupchat didn’t believe in the existence of the said boyfriend much anyway.)
Eren🧨 [08:02 PM]
(voice memo: 10 seconds of loud sniffing)
me sniffing for loyalty in this chat. found none.
-April 23-
MY KING 👑💦💳💥[01:03 AM]
I was sleeping, brat. Time zones are a thing.
Eren🧨 [01:05 AM]
a couple of redbulls would solve that issue just fyi
-May 3-
Eren🧨 [09:08 PM]
(link to a TikTok of a raccoon humping a human’s arm)
this is me if you don’t come over soon feral trembling dangerously affectionate
-May 9-
Eren🧨 [12:15 AM]
(link to TikTok of a cat creeping toward the fridge whispering)
me at 3 am looking for your approval. im cat, youre fridge
-May 12-
Eren🧨 [12:44 AM]
(no context)
i want you to spit in my mouth and tell me i’m good while i’m crying
Eren🧨 [12:45 AM]
anyway how’s your day going.
That got him a call. Levi slipped one AirPod in, adjusting the notebook on his table. Eren’s languid ‘Hey, Daddy’ purred in his hear like an invitation Levi had no time to accept.
“It’s late for you.” Levi said, eyes flicking to the clock. “Shouldn’t you be asleep?”
There was a soft rustle of sheets. “I was trying, but then I started thinking about you and Tokyo and you in Tokyo…” Eren breathed out softly. “And then I started a Duolingo Japanese course… and now I’m hard, so... Thanks.”
Levi’s tone was dry enough to sand wood. “Mm. Aroused by pre-intermediate Japanese. That’s new.”
“Say ‘hōkokusho’ and I might actually come.” Eren breathed.
Levi didn’t reply. He rose, adjusted his cuffs, buttoned his blazer. The meeting was in five – just enough time to give Eren instructions for the night.
“I have a meeting, brat. Tell me how hard you are.”
“Too hard,” Eren’s whiny voice came through. The sub was definitely jacking off already. “Wait… Can you just- can you leave me in your AirPod?”
Levi paused at the door, hand on the handle. “For what purpose, exactly.”
“I just wanna listen to you talk.” Eren said. “I’ll be quiet. Promise.”
“You’ll be jerking off.”
“…Maybe.”
Levi took a deep breath, checking the time again. “You are about to edge yourself to my corporate quarterly updates.”
“It’s not edging if I come.” Eren countered, voice a breathy grin. “Can I? Please, Daddy… I’ll make it fast. I’m desperate.”
Levi’s lips curved. “You’re a brat.”
“Your brat.”
Yes, he was.
“You can cum as many times as you want while I’m in the meeting.” Levi said finally. “You will count and if I hear a single moan, I’m hanging up. Orgasm privilege suspended. Clear?”
“Yes, sir.” Eren whispered, smiling against the pillow. “I’ll just lie here and stroke my cock while you say intimidating things in Japanese.”
Levi exhaled slowly, the faintest smirk ghosting his lips.
He stepped into the conference room. Eren bit his lip and adjusted the pillow behind his back, pulse thudding. And then, Japanese began to pour into his ear — sharp, low and confident. He had no idea what Levi was saying, but his hand was pumping beneath the sheets like it’s gospel.
The conference room was warm. Warmer than usual. He’d have to tell Petra to check the thermostats later. Or maybe it was just the brat in his ear.
Levi adjusted the AirPod in his left ear as the quarterly revenue report began. His other ear was free – out of habit more than necessity – in case someone directly addressed him. The team was seated, notebooks out, projectors humming. His voice was steady, cadence precise, each phrase in clipped, formal Japanese.
“営業収益 に比べ 昨年と同じ四半期” (Operating revenue compared to the same quarter last year)
A sharp inhale bloomed faintly in his left ear. Levi didn’t react. His pen moved fluidly over the printed spreadsheet.
He continued speaking. “...15.2%の増加を記録しました” (...has shown a 15.2% increase)
A rustle. Soft and quick. Skin on sheets.
He tilted his wrist slightly to check the time without breaking rhythm. Three minutes in. The brat wasn’t going to last ten.
Across the table, someone asked a question about overseas expansion. Levi nodded, gave a short answer, and resumed the presentation. He asked for points on the Seoul launch stats next.
The sound of a stifled exhale threaded into his ear.
Faint. Barely there. But Levi knew exactly what it meant.
He shifted slightly in his seat, one leg crossing over the other beneath the table. His jaw remained tight as he flipped to the next page.
“顧客維持率は現在89.4%です。それは改善されなければならない” (Our client retention rate is currently at 89.4%. It must be improved.)
Silence.
Then the tiniest click – a hitch in breath, possibly teeth gritted, a hand moving faster.
Levi’s pen scratched a note on the margin of his copy: Q3 event budget – trim by 10%
His fingers were steady. His mind was not.
He could feel Eren on the other end, desperate to be good. Stroking himself with one hand, the other probably gripping the sheets for dear life, holding back moans with bitten lips.
Probably pink in the face.
Definitely sweating.
Perfectly needy and obedient.
Levi continued answering questions, delegating follow-ups, issuing corrections in flawless Japanese. His voice never faltered. His heart rate didn’t even spike. But in the back of his mind, he was keeping count.
Two times now, based on the rhythm of Eren’s breathing. Maybe three.
He’d ask later. Make him say it out loud. Find a way to use that number later.
But for now-
“次の話題に移りましょう” (Let’s move on to the next topic)
He didn’t smile. But the faintest curl teased at the corner of his lips.
Across the table, one junior executive leaned toward Petra and whispered. “Is he… having a stroke?”
Petra didn’t miss a beat. She snapped her pen down and hissed, “Shut up. That’s his pleased face. Keep working.”
Levi didn’t hear them. Or maybe he did.
The junior put his head down, quickly jotting down notes.
Tokyo – 2:04 PM
Michigan – 2:04 AM
Levi stepped out of the glass conference room, sharp as ever. One AirPod still in. His suit jacket was folded neatly over one arm, tie slightly loosened.
He exhaled once – a small closure to the meeting. And tapped his headphone.
“Still alive?” He asked finally, voice low and steady.
Silence. He glanced at the screen on his phone – call still active. The timer read 76 minutes.
Then – a soft, barely-there inhale. The faint rustle of sheets. A muffled, dazed little whimper.
“Mhm…” Eren sounded sleepy and wrecked.
Levi’s lips twitch upward. Not quite a smile. Just… satisfaction. “How many times?”
“Three.” The sub rasped. “Kinda. The third one… leaked out. Like a surprise attack.”
Levi’s brows lifted, amused despite himself. He walked down the hall toward his office, shutting the door behind him.
“You realise you’ve just jacked off to a random quarterly meeting.”
“I was so good though,” Eren mumbled, words slurred with exhaustion and dopamine. “I didn’t moan. I covered my mouth and everything. I think I died at ‘gyōmu renraku.’”
“You need therapy.” Levi said flatly.
“I have you.” Eren shot back, smiling into his pillow.
Levi’s tone softened, curiosity finally threading through. “What are you wearing?”
A pause.
“Nothing.”
“Hm. Messy?”
“My thighs are disgusting.” Eren admitted softly. “The sheets are… okay. Your voice ruined me.”
“Change the sheets. Hydrate. And take a picture for me before you clean up.”
“Of the sheets or my thighs?”
“You.”
There was a pause, then that familiar bratty tone: “I’m tempted to post a selfie on my finsta saying you just ruined me.’”
Levi didn’t even blink: “If you do, I’ll ship you a chastity cage and control the code.”
There was a gasp – soft, scandalized, entirely Eren. “…Can I actually earn that?”
Levi chuckled, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You’re impossible.”
“You love me.”
Levi exhaled through his nose, quiet, the words slipping out like a truth he’d stopped trying to fight long ago. “Yeah. I do.”
Eren’s breath hitched, then melted into a slow, content sigh.
“Go to sleep, brat.”
Eren sighed with a soft ‘kay.’ And settled in for the night. Levi went on with his day, but it became slightly less heavy.
-May 14-
Eren🧨 [04:33 PM]
(photo of Levi’s shirt he’d stolen in Florence)
this is now my hostage. send the cage or i’ll cum on your shirt and ship it to you.
CEO of My Soul™️ 📈🖤[04:36 PM]
Keep it. I’ll just take interest in flesh.
-May 15-
-Michigan-
The box arrived with his name typed neatly, return address unrecognisable, customs slip marked ‘personal training device’. Eren’s pulse jumped the moment he saw it. He knew exactly what it was – and that Levi had delayed this on purpose, knowing anticipation alone would undo him.
He glanced around the room for scissors. Levi had sent him at least a dozen, but none of them were in plain sight, misplaced and forgotten wherever he opened the last package. Not that he needed them. The tape fought back, but he clawed it open anyway, cardboard scraping his knuckles.
Inside was sterile wrapping, glint of polished steel, a folded note on top with printed instructions.
His fingers burned a little from opening the box, but he didn’t care. He shook the box out: a packet of wipes, lubricant, cage and a key. The metal clinked in quiet promise.
Eren snapped a picture of the small pile and sent it to Levi.
Eren🧨 [08:27 PM]
it’s here
He slid the phone onto the table, too excited to wait for a reply. The thing looked intimidating. Weighty and polished, with a black box-like structure on top of it. Eren turned it in his hands. Frowned. Then, without thinking much, shoved his pants down to try it on.
Mr OolongDick🍆💦🍑[08:28 PM]
Wash your hands, disinfect everything with the wipes inside and out.
Put the key somewhere safe, it is for emergencies only.
Wait for instructions.
Eren🧨 [08:29 PM]
(attached blurry picture of the cage already locked on his dick)
Oops.
Levi saw the photo come through while he was between meetings. Of course. The brat had no concept of patience – especially not when temptation was involved.
He stared at the blurred image for a full three seconds before setting his phone face-down on the desk. Breathed. Counted to five. Then picked it back up.
Mr OolongDick🍆💦🍑[09:06 PM]
You didn’t wait.
Eren🧨 [09:07 PM]
technically, you didn’t say how long
Mr OolongDick🍆💦🍑[09:07 PM]
I said wait for instructions.
Eren🧨 [09:07 PM]
curiosity keeps us young
Video Call incoming Mr OolongDick🍆💦🍑[09:08 PM]
Eren accepted immediately, propping his phone against the open box.
“You’re suppressing my artistic instincts.”
Levi’s jaw ticked, that familiar muscle jump when he was questioning Eren’s sanity. Or his own. Whatever.
“The only thing I’m suppressing right now is the urge to duct tape you to a chair.”
Eren grinned. “… kinky.”
“You’re not getting away with this.” Levi was in full Dom mode now and Eren wondered briefly if the man also talked to his employees like this. It was command hidden beneath the calm. Eren’s dick started filling with heat inside the cage tube.
“Show me your hands. Palms out.”
That caught the sub by surprise. He hesitated. Looked down on his hands.
“Uh-“ then, held them up to his phone. Pinkish welts from where he was tearing into the box clearly visible through his front camera. It wasn’t a big deal.
Though Levi’s expression didn’t soften. “How many pairs of scissors do you own now?”
“Uh- ten?” Eren smiled sheepishly. God, Levi had no right to be this hot talking about scissors. His dick tried desperately to harden, though it had already filled the cage out to the brim… Focusing on Levi was becoming difficult.
“Fourteen, Eren. Use them. They’re not decorative.”
There was a pause. Levi tapped something off screen. Then – click. Eren gasped. The cage fell open.
“How did you-?”
“Take it off,” Levi said evenly. “wash your hands. Disinfect the cage. Then disinfect your hands and put the cage back on. Repeat it back to me.”
“You can open it from there?“ Eren’s dick was too hard to put the cage back on now. Fuck he wouldn’t survive.
“I can do a lot from here.” Silver eyes stayed on the sub, voice – unyielding calm of a saint dressed in Tom Ford and carrying a riding crop. “Repeat what I just said.”
“Ah- wash my hands. Disinfect them and the cage, then put it back on.”
“Close enough.” Levi’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Report once you’re done. I will wait.”
“Yes, sir.”
Eren scrambled to get everything done: pants pulled up haphazardly, he trotted to the bathroom. His heartbeat skyrocketed, thudding in his ears in a constant pattern of:
Hands, wipes, cage, hands.
He threw himself back in the same chair less than two minutes later, hoping that was enough. Levi was still there, head lowered as he was reading something off screen.
Eren slid his thumbs under his waistband, pulling his pants down along with underwear – letting it bunch up under his balls. He wondered briefly if he’d lost his touch, no longer attempting to look good for Levi, but he was simply too excited. He’d make it up to the Dom later.
His dick sprang out from under the elastic waistband, fully hard.
Uh- that was a problem.
“Daddy?” He called, slightly breathless. “I- uh, I don’t think it will fit now-”
Levi didn’t look up. “How is that a me problem?”
Levi was sitting at his office, all sharp lines and unrushed efficiency. His posture was effortless, eyebrows slightly furrowed, mouth set into a displeased line as he read over something that remained out of view, off of Eren’s screen.
Eren groaned, flopping back into the back of his chair. He bounced his leg impatiently, the cage still in his hand. “I’m a you problem, come on.”
His Dom huffed out in amusement, still not looking up. “Think about your statistics professor.”
The absurdity of the suggestion hit like a cold shower. Eren laughed, despite himself, before the image of an anti-erection man visualised in his mind – monotone voice, beige everything… He’d complained to Levi about how the man’s enthusiasm had been dead since the Reagan era. The only thing he’d ever be able to rise was collective fatigue.
It didn’t help immediately, though it certainly took a certain edge off. Eren took several deep breaths. Didn’t look at his screen. Or the cage. Or his dick. Instead, he let his eyes flutter shut, forcing himself to think about anything non-sexual. Kittens, and trucks, and kittens under trucks, and football, and kittens playing football with trucks…
He wasn’t completely soft, dick still half-hard with the premise of what was about to happen, though it was finally down enough to strangle into the cage.
“Ok,” Eren breathed out. “Okay, I think I’m ready.”
A quiet rustle of papers. A shift. And then Levi’s full attention was back on him again. “There was lube in the box. Get that first.”
Eren got the perfectly ergonometric bottle and jerked the lid open. A squeeze. Thick liquid blop squelched onto his fingers.
Too little.
Another squeeze.
This time too much.
Oh well.
Eren wrapped his fingers around his length, letting out a quiet breath.
“Don’t get carried away,” Levi’s voice cut through his arousal. “you’re just getting your dick lubed enough to get into the cage.”
Eren whined quietly, tightening his fist around his reawakening erection. “Fuck- it doesn’t feel as good as when you do it…” He complained.
Levi breathed out slowly. He didn’t reply to that. There wasn’t much he could say anyway, they had discussed this a thousand times already. Both knew this was not ideal, but it was temporary. And they’d made the best of this longdistance period too.
“Get the cage,” Levi instructed instead, “there should be a metal latch, open that, it goes under your balls.”
“Uh-“ Eren did as told, movements a little awkward… “It- ugh, cold.”
“Good, it’s supposed to be. Now put the cage on too.” Levi watched closely, waiting for Eren to pull the metal thing on, until it was sitting snugly. “Good boy.”
Eren groaned lowly, staring down at his dick. There was a small click and it was locked. His breath hitched. It felt weird, a foreign weight to his member that was not necessarily uncomfortable, but certainly there. “I- I’m not sure I like it.”
“Mhm, you’re not supposed to like it.” Levi pointed out, voice – cruelty in kindness’ skin.
“This is to remind you that I can keep your focus where I need it. Even when we’re apart. And to remind you that this,” Levi motioned between them. “Is for exploring everything you’re curious about. But on my terms.”
The sub whimpered. His dick protested against the new confinement. A small jab of electricity sent Eren jolting into the air. “ARGH!! What the fuck was that?!”
“My terms.” Levi’s smug smirk was barely there, though it burned through Eren’s trembling frame. He stared at his dick with a mix of appall and betrayal. Then, slowly, lifted his eyes to the screen. Levi was waiting patiently. “You will get 14 of those. For every pair of scissors you could have used but chose not to. Fair?”
“Wha- NO!” Eren panted, patting the table for the emergency key. There was one. He could just snap the thing open. His poor cock still stung with the aftershock… His spine was on fire. “No- no- no! Not fair.”
“Eren,” Levi was too calm. Infuriatingly calm. Eren wanted to throw his phone into a wall. Or maybe burn it. He just stared at the older man instead.
“What?”
“You will keep the cage on.” Levi said – the epitome of tranquility. “You will message me every time you feel this-“ There was another jolt that shocked Eren’s dick, before shooting up his spine. The sub screamed. Then whimpered, stomping his feet onto the floor.
“That’s two done.” Levi continued. “You will wait until the evening, like a good boy. And then, you’ll get to cum and we will talk about whether or not you want to try it again. Is that clear?”
Eren’s chest was still rising and falling with deep breaths. “I-”
“You can safeword now or at any moment over text.” Levi reminded. Eren whimpered loudly. It was so unfair.
Eren just glared tearily at the screen. Levi waited patiently. “Use your words, beauty.”
“I- fine.” The green eyed sub let his back hit the back of the chair, arms crossed over his chest in the only form of protest his shocked mind came up with .”But I’m not happy about it.”
Levi only chuckled, before hanging up. Eren just stared at his poor enslaved dick, wondering how he could think this was a good idea. His dick agreed, from inside the cage. He tugged on it, involuntarily. Just to see if it had any give. But the metal pulled uncomfortably on his balls, sending dull ache pulsing through his core.
“Fuck- sorry, buddy.” Eren muttered, ignoring the thrill fluttering in his stomach.
12 more shocks.
The anticipation made Eren almost hyperventilate.
He bitched about the whole thing in every message.
For hours.
By the time Levi called, his dick was weeping precum through the front hole of the cage, tortured, sad and begging for mercy.
Eren was not much better either.
And then, Levi made it all worth it during their evening call. Eren cleaned the device up thoroughly, hoping his Dom would let him use it again soon.
-May 20-
Eren🧨 [10:55 PM]
(photo of his waistband pushed down just enough to tease)
i didn’t do anything. i just wanted you to see what you’re not letting me touch.
-May 25-
Eren🧨 [01:59 AM]
did you know cum has zinc? i’m thinking nutritional benefits. win-win.
-June 2-
Eren🧨 [08:54 PM]
(link to a post about love languages)
mine is acts of service but like, specifically if it’s servicing your cock. bend me over respectfully.
-June 5-
Eren🧨 [11:40 PM]
(photo of himself with his tongue out, captioned “place dick here”)
-June 8-
Eren🧨 [03:30 PM]
reminder that my throat is free this weekend
-June 11-
Eren🧨 [11:09 PM]
post hole or i leak your tea obsession to the press
-June 15-
Eren🧨 [12:14 AM]
Your absence has ruined my sleep schedule, my serotonin levels, and my will to finish this paper. Congratulations.
Full punctuation, including a period at the end – which Levi had learned, in their strange little language – meant Eren was serious. Not just sulking for attention, but genuinely low.
Levi tapped the call button without hesitation. He left one AirPod in and turned from the floor-to-ceiling window of his office, walking toward the corner chaise he rarely used.
Eren picked up almost immediately.
“Hi,” came the faint voice – soft, like it had been twisted between grief and pillows.
“You’re being dramatic again,” Levi murmured, not unkindly.
“Can’t help it. I’m full of feelings and artificial dye,” Eren replied, sniffing. “Also, I’ve had like three Red Bulls tonight. The blue ones. You know. For serotonin.”
Levi shut his eyes and exhaled through his nose. “What have we said about caffeine?”
“Come and stop me from drinking it then.” It was a mix of a light joke and petulance.
Levi didn’t laugh, but he didn’t hang up either.
A beat passed. Then Eren spoke again – quieter this time. “Hey… so you know the summer internship?”
Levi’s eyes opened again. “The one where you kinkshamed capitalism?”
“Yeah. The nonprofit.”
Levi let that sit for a second. Eren didn’t continue.
“What about it?”
“They want me to stay in New York. All summer break.”
“Mhm,” Levi’s fingers curled slightly over the back of the chaise. “Will you stay with Carla then?”
“It would make sense.” Eren said, as if apologising. “She’s closer to the city. I’d commute from there.”
A long pause.
Eren’s voice broke the silence, sheepish. “So. I guess you’re not coming to see me.”
Levi’s jaw tensed, just slightly. “I wasn’t planning to camp in your childhood bedroom while your mother tried to guess the nature of our relationship.”
Eren went quiet again. Then – soft, raw:
“I was really looking forward to falling asleep next to you soon.”
Levi leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “I know.”
He stared at the city skyline across the street. He let the ache settle in.
“This is more important,” he said finally. “And I will still be here after summer.”
“Yeah,” Eren let out a shaky breath, before trying to collect himself. “My offer to be your housemaid – slash – inhouse whore still stands.”
Levi chuckled, there was little amusement in it though. He pressed the heel of his hand to his brow, massaging the spot there. He hated how well the kid chose his moments to deliver his layered hints and clues.
“Tell me when you’re done with your paper,” Levi said eventually, voice firm but quiet. “Send it to me. I’ll edge you once for every inappropriate metaphor. If I like it, I’ll let you cum. Balance will be restored.”
Eren sniffed a laugh. “Promise?”
“I never lie about your homework.”
Another silence passed – a peaceful one this time.
“I love you,” Eren said softly, like he was scared Levi would once not say it back.
Levi leaned back, eyes shut again. It certainly wasn’t ideal, he’d been hoping to steal Eren for at least two weeks mid-summer. But the brat worked hard for the internship, bravado and nonchalance aside. They’d make it work.
“Yeah, love you too.” he said. Then added, “And I’m proud of you.”
Eren’s grin was bright enough to light up the whole campus.
-June 26-
Eren🧨 [01:05 AM]
do you think when we sleep in the same bed again i’ll still reach out for you in my dreams or will you already be holding me
-June 28-
Eren🧨 [09:32 PM]
(screenshot of a google search: “why is my dom so hot it’s distracting”)
fix this
-June 30-
Eren🧨 [03:09 PM]
(link to a tweet that says “brat tamers make the best husbands”)
yes or yes?
-July 1-
Eren🧨 [12:22 PM]
(link to an Etsy listing for a giant tentacle-shaped dildo)
do we need this i think we need this
Knowing Eren, the thing was probably in his basket already. Levi slipped his phone under the table to reply.
CEO of My Soul™️ 📈🖤[12:23 PM]
Definitely not, you’ll shove it up your ass too fast and then complain for weeks.
If it’s something you want, we can discuss and work you up slowly.
-July 8-
Eren🧨 [02:27 AM]
(sends pic of Levi from a random FaceTime)
this is now an NFT. it’s called “daddy didn’t say goodnight.” starts at 0.03 eth.
User named A.L. bought it 30 seconds later. The maniac.
-July 9-
Eren🧨 [10:40 PM]
(sends a reel of someone slapping meat on a grill)
idk this gave me flashbacks to your hand on my ass.
-July 10-
Eren🧨 [09:15 PM]
(photo of a sad penguin captioned ‘me when my boyfriend is busy’)
-July 12-
Eren🧨 [10:46 PM]
(photo of his ass covered by a peach emoji)
a visual metaphor of what you’re missing. fix it.
-July 16-
Eren🧨 [02:41 AM]
(link to an academic paper about obedience conditioning)
i feel like you’ve read it.
Eren🧨 [02:43 AM]
have you read it or are you naturally a scary sexy man?
CEO of My Soul™️ 📈🖤[02:44 AM]
I wrote it.
-July 28-
Eren🧨 [05:51 PM]
(link to a TikTok of someone struggling to walk after leg day)
this is how i want to walk after next time. consider this a formal complaint about how intact my thighs still are.
-August 1-
Eren🧨 [12:20 PM]
(photo of him shirtless but only the shadowy silhouette)
this is art. do not sexualize me unless you’re going to do something about it.
-August 3-
Eren🧨 [06:09 PM]
(link to Twitter post: “I am both the baby girl and the war criminal in this relationship”)
this is us and I fear nothing.
-August 6-
Eren🧨 [08:33 PM]
(DMs Levi an Instagram reel of some guy slapping dough)
what if that was me and I said thank you after.
CEO of My Soul™️ 📈🖤[08:45]
I would call you a good boy.
-August 11-
Eren🧨 [01:30 AM]
do you know how peaceful my brain gets when you say my name soft
Levi saw it on his watch but didn’t respond right away. He was working out, halfway through his routine, but the moment he saw Eren’s name, his focus frayed like wet paper.
He willed himself to finish the flow. An hour passed. His watch lit up with another notification from Eren, some link to a brainrot meme Levi would neither get nor laugh at. It was 2:47 AM in New York. He still called.
Eren picked up within one ring.
“You were right,” he said, no hello.
Levi’s lips stretched into a small smirk, as he leaned back, relaxed.
“I always am,” Levi replied dryly. “About what, specifically?”
“I’m too smart to waste myself on some boring corporate ethics board.”
Levi hummed. He remembered that conversation differently. Levi was sure what he actually said was: ‘you’d stab your own eye out after a week of ethics oversight meetings and then unethically milk your paid medical leave’. But Eren seemed to have his own truth, so Levi chose not to remind him.
Eren sounded electric.
“We’re working on a real project now. Actual implementation. Like- not just the usual ‘discuss problems in theory’ bullshit. I sat with this girl today who used to be in juvie, and she’s now helping design a whole youth reintegration plan. I swear it made me wanna cry.”
Levi leaned back against his armchair, placing the phone on his desk. He said nothing, just let Eren talk – half-listening, half cataloging the joy in his voice.
Eren kept going.
“They’re letting me lead part of the pitch next week. I built the slide deck. Like the real one. I even used bullet points.”
“Revolutionary.”
“Shut up,” Eren laughed. Then his voice softened. “It’s the first time I’ve felt like I wasn’t wasting my energy on theory. Like I could actually do shit that matters.”
Another beat passed.
And then – quietly:
“But I still really want to come live with you.”
Levi let his eyes fall shut. This wasn’t new. It was just one of the brat’s grand ideas.
Eren worked in interesting ways Levi had figured. He’d pick himself a challenge, not one he necessarily actually wanted and would test both of them to see how long it took them to achieve it. It would start with small half-joking suggestions. Then, whining, some tears, perhaps a meltdown or two. The stronger Levi held, the more Eren pushed.
“Eren,”
“What? I’m just saying…”
“You’re just saying you want to drop everything – your degree, your life – and move across the world like it’s nothing.” The man started. He regretted doing this so late at night, but the sub had been dropping all these hints, and Levi would rather stop this unrealistic nonsense while they were just that – hints.
“You don’t speak the language. You have no job lined up. No diploma. You can’t even drive on the right side of the road there.” He paused, letting it sink in. “How long before you’re bored, miserable, and looking at me like I ruined your life?”
There was a rustle in the sheets, like Eren was snuggling in deeper. “Okay, first of all, rude. Second of all – hot. But mostly rude.”
He breathed out, tone still bright, but edged with sleepy drawl now.
“I’m not blaming you for anything. Yet. But if I do spiral and start screaming in the middle of your house because I can’t read the microwave instructions, I expect to be held. Maybe hand-fed. Maybe spanked. You know,” he yawned. Levi couldn’t hold back a chuckle. “-like a responsible partner would.”
A pause. Then, lower:
“Besides… if I’m going to fall apart, I’d rather do it in your arms than alone on my shitty twin bed in Michigan.”
There was another beat of silence. Levi shook his head. “Enough of this, brat.” His voice dropped to a murmur, threaded with finality and something gentler than usual. “You’re sleeping now. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
Eren’s only protest was a sigh, as he settled into deep slumber, planning to sleep in on the weekend. Guiltfree, but not about to give up.
-August 15-
Eren🧨 [08:00 PM]
(sends video of Eren licking Levi’s printed photo)
do NOT test me.
-August 17-
Eren🧨 [11:18 PM]
i just failed a task so hard i moaned. help me.
-August 18-
Eren🧨 [07:41 PM]
i just whimpered. at your contact photo. what is wrong with me.
-August 20-
Eren🧨 [03:57 PM]
(photo of his laptop, 43 tabs open, all blinking)
this is why i need structure. and dick. mostly structure. but also the other thing.
Eren🧨 [10:13 PM]
(voice memo of him whining for seven minutes and ending with “i miss your lap”)
don’t listen to that yet. just hold it until you’re free. or drunk.
-August 22-
Eren🧨 [09:25 AM]
can you send me a video of you saying “focus, brat” in your boss voice. no pressure but i’ll cry otherwise.
-August 23-
Eren🧨 [04:19 PM]
(link to “Brat kink explained in 30 seconds”)
look. i didn’t choose the brat life. the brat life chose me. and you.
-August 25-
Eren🧨 [10:17 PM]
i hope you know i’d fight god if he looked at you wrong.
CEO of My Soul™️ 📈🖤 [10:20 PM]
I would watch that.
Eren🧨 [10:21 PM]
You’d totally cum to that you pervert
-September 1-
Eren🧨 [09:00 PM]
LEVILEVILEVILEVILEVILIEVLIELVEIKVLEIVELVIELVEIV
PLEASE URGENT
DADDY
LEVI
PLEASE
THE LOVE OF MY LIFE
MY CEO SAMURAI PLEASE
CEO of My Soul™️ 📈🖤 [09:01 PM]
This better be an emergency, brat. I’m in a meeting.
Eren🧨 [09:01 PM]
i need forehead kisses and a full body cuddle immediately or i’ll perish
but also, my rent is late
can you please help
you can have my ass my throat and my left kidney
please and thank you I love you forever
CEO of My Soul™️ 📈🖤 [09:05 PM]
I sent your rent two weeks ago, what happened?
Eren🧨 [09:06 PM]
I forgot it was my rent and I kind of donated it to a better cause…
The next notification came 3 minutes later from his bank account about a transfer of funds. Eren immediately sent a previously taken butt pic back as a thank you.
CEO SAMURAI™️ 📈🖤 [09:33 PM]
I do not appreciate you manipulating me like this. We’re discussing this later.
Eren🧨 [09:34 PM]
don’t call it manipulation
call it enthusiastic negotiation
a girl I was curating at the ngo needed some funding for her project, I helped
Levi didn’t go too hard on him with the punishment. He couldn’t punish the brat for a poor attention span and a heart too big for his own good.
-September 3-
Eren🧨 [01:44 AM]
(voice memo whisper) “i miss you like an ache in my ass.”
-September 5-
Eren🧨 [02:15 AM]
you’re the only man i trust with my feelings. and my hole.
i’m feeling sad and horny
sorny
horad
need to be fucked with lana del rey playing in the background
CEO SAMURAI™️ 📈🖤 [02:17 AM]
I miss you too, brat.
I’ll arrange something soon.
Eren🧨 [02:18 AM]
:((((((((((
-September 6-
Eren🧨 [02:23 AM]
(voice memo, whispery, slurred) “called myself your good boy out loud. didn’t help. need you to say it.”
-September 7-
Eren🧨 [03:02 AM]
i don’t remember how to be a person. i only remember how to kneel and beg
can’t even do that because you’re not here
-September 8-
Eren🧨 [11:56 PM]
(voice memo: literally just soft whines and heavy breathing)
interpret that however you want.
-September 10-
Eren🧨 [09:50 PM]
(sends gif of someone being aggressively thrown onto a bed)
manifesting.
And then, several days later, completely unprompted, something absolutely diabolical happened.
Levi had been scrolling through his phone.
The algorithm, clearly infected by Eren’s digital footprint, offered something up:
A reel:
A hot guy with brown hair and green eyes, putting on a black dress shirt with slow, purposeful movements. The audio was “When you get dressed, knowing fully well he will tear it off you in less than an hour.”
Levi, without a single emoji, sent it to Eren. Didn’t think much of it either.
Eren’s reply came 3 minutes later:
A 40-second voice memo that was just him squealing, gasping, whisper-yelling “WHAT THE FUCK,” with a loud thud near the end that may, or may not, be him falling off the bed.
CEO SAMURAI™️ 📈🖤 [08:33 PM]
Your algorithm has contaminated my phone too. I can’t help it.
-September 15-
By mid-September, Eren had begun to realize just how much time he had now that the internship was over. Too much time, maybe. Enough to think. Enough to miss Levi.
Levi, whom he hadn’t seen in four and a half months.
Weekends were the hardest. He tried to rotate between visiting Mikasa, Armin, Sasha, and Connie – keeping himself busy, convincing himself he was fine. But spending time with friends usually meant not talking to Levi much.
Unless he was drunk enough to forget the rules. Which he was tonight.
And nobody could blame him — he was celebrating. Celebrating the end of his first serious internship. Celebrating meeting with his friends. Celebrating friendship and love and beauty and sexting.
The music was loud enough to shake the table, laughter spilling between clinking bottles and half-finished drinks. Eren smiled, wide and easy, but it didn’t reach his eyes. His head felt floaty: part alcohol, part arousal. He wanted to get another drink, but knowing it wouldn’t go on Levi’s tab kind of assassinated his buzz.
Mikasa was arguing with Sasha for stealing her fries; Connie was recording the chaos; Armin was trying to mediate with that soft smile that said he’d already given up. Eren laughed along, but his gaze kept flicking toward the hallway – the door, the quiet beyond.
Levi’s face had been hovering behind his eyelids all night. That half-smile, that voice that could slice through static.
He pushed his chair back, careful not to draw attention. “Bathroom,” he mumbled, but no one was really listening. He slipped out, past the music, into the narrow hall where the air was cooler and still smelled faintly of beer.
The phone felt heavy in his hand. He didn’t check the time – somewhere across the world, a Levi would always be waiting for an Eren.
Eren’s thumb hovered over the call button. Then, with a half-drunk grin and a heart that wouldn’t stop thudding, he pressed it anyway.
Levi’s phone buzzed once across the desk. He didn’t hesitate.
“Eren?”
“Hi,” Eren breathed, glee tucked somewhere in the word. “You sound serious.”
“I am serious,” Levi said. “It’s one in the morning there.”
“Yeah, but time is… subjective.” Eren chuckled, a small, helpless sound. “Listen, I figured something out- in uhm,”
He leaned onto the wall behind him heavily. “In the scope of our relationship… I’m a butterfly.”
Levi pinched the bridge of his nose. “…you’re what now.”
“And you’re – this is important – a military boot.”
Levi paused. “I’m sorry?”
“You heard me. Strong, sturdy, terrifyingly shiny. And I-” Eren motioned with one hand. “I flutter. Around you. Because you’re the gravitational pull of my little… ecosystem.”
Levi leaned back in his chair, letting silence hum through the line. “You realize butterflies don’t have gravitational pulls, right?”
“That’s because they’re light,” Eren said solemnly. “You’re heavy. And- and you could easily crush me.”
The boy hiccupped, huffed in annoyance at himself, before turning to look at the phone. “But you choose not to. And that – is love.”
Levi let out a quiet breath, not quite a sigh, not quite a laugh. “You’re drunk.”
“Maybe. But also wise.”
“Mm.” Levi rested his elbow on the armrest, eyes half-lidded. “Go on then, Socrates.”
“No-no,” Eren scoffed, shaking his head. “I’m more like Russeau… because I’m free, but also chained- uh… forgot what I was saying,” Eren confessed after a pause.
“I figured.” Levi’s voice softened. “Drink some water.”
Eren hummed. “You sound nice right now.”
“I’m always nice,” Levi said, but the corner of his mouth lifted, just enough to give him away. “You just take that for granted.”
Eren ignored that. Alcohol was obviously hitting hard right now, his mood shifted, breath wobbly. “You know, Levi,” he said quietly, “you’re kind of amazing. I mean, you’re, like… scary sometimes, and you never smile, but you’re also, like, the best person I know.”
Levi paused, surprised by the sudden sincerity. “Is that so?”
“Yeah,” Eren mumbled, his gaze dropping to his lap. There was a stain on his jeans from ketchup. He didn’t remember eating anything. “I don’t say it enough, but… you make me feel like I matter. Like, even when I’m being a brat or doing something stupid, you don’t give up on me. And that… that means a lot.”
Levi‘s expression softened despite himself. He leaned his head towards the phone. “You do matter, baby. Even when you’re being a brat.”
Eren sniffed, wiping his face. “I hate you so much. Why are you so nice and so far away?”
Levi chuckled quietly. “You’ll forget all of this by morning.”
“No, I won’t!” Eren protested, though his slurred words said otherwise. “I’m gonna remember every word, Levi Ackerman. And when I see you next, I’m gonna… I’m gonna hug you so hard you’ll cry… or maybe I’ll cry-”
It was endearingly honest.
“You’re not bad company yourself,” he said after a pause, voice softer than usual.
Eren blinked, surprised by the rare compliment. “Did you just say I’m not bad? That’s, like, a huge step for you.”
“Don’t get used to it,” Levi replied, smirking faintly. “I don’t know what you want to hear right now, brat, but I know what I feel when I’m with you.”
Eren’s heart skipped a beat, his green eyes wide as he stared straight ahead. “And what’s that?”
“Peace,” Levi said simply. “Like the world isn’t as heavy when you’re around.”
Eren sobered up almost immediately. Only to melt in a completely different way.
-September 17-
Eren🧨 [08:42 AM]
woke up before my alarm. not sure if it’s growth or just loneliness
-September 18-
Eren🧨 [01:36 PM]
(link to a TikTok of someone hugging their phone screen)
me pretending it’s you. statistically ineffective but emotionally fulfilling.
Eren🧨 [11:09 PM]
you know what’s crazy? i keep saving memes to send you and then realize you’re probably asleep so now i have a “daddy’s busy” it’s just chaos and patheticness
-September 19-
Eren🧨 [11:57 PM]
(voice memo: a long exhale, faint sniff)
ignore that. i was just… tired.
-September 20-
Eren🧨 [09:12 AM]
(photo of the sunrise through his window)
it’s pretty but like, uselessly pretty
i hate it
-September 21-
Eren🧨 [01:04 PM]
can’t tell if i’m touch-starved or just dramatic again probably both both
-September 22-
Eren🧨 [11:30 PM]
i watched a romcom and physically had to pause it. they kissed and i went feral. this is your fault
-September 27-
Eren🧨 [10:07 AM]
(photo of Eren’s hoodie sleeve pulled over his hand)
emotional support sleeve. performing miracles since you left.
-September 29-
Midday light spilled across the polished table in the conference room, gleaming off chrome pens and open folders. The air hummed faintly with the weight of numbers, strategy, and Levi’s quiet authority.
He was halfway through a report when his phone buzzed once against the wood. The vibration was sharp in the stillness. Every head at the table twitched toward it – then away again. No one breathed wrong when Levi was speaking.
He didn’t look at first. Just finished his sentence, clipped and precise. Then he glanced down, screen lighting up his expression in the smallest flare of white.
Eren.
Levi’s jaw flexed. He counted automatically, tracing time zones in his head out of habit. It was three in the morning for the boy. He wasn’t with his friends, so it wasn’t a drunk dial either. There had to be a good reason for him to not be sleeping.
He exhaled through his nose, the faintest crease forming between his brows. “We’ll pause here,” he said.
Chairs squeaked faintly as the team exchanged glances – confused and cautious. Their pens hovered mid-note, unsure whether to write or wait.
Levi rose, buttoning his jacket with practiced precision. “Ten-minute break,” he added, already stepping away from the table.
Sharp eyes daring anyone to question him, he stepped out onto the empty balcony outside the conference room.
Thumb slid to answer immediately.
“Eren?”
All he heard at first was breathing. Wet, shaky, broken breathing.
“Baby,” Levi murmured, voice dropping to a tone he reserved for no one else. “Talk to me. What’s wrong?”
Eren let out a sob, muffled like he had pressed his face into something – maybe the pillow, maybe his own arm.
“I can’t do this anymore,” Eren choked out. His voice was hoarse, sleep-rough, soaked with misery. “I miss you so much- it’s so late… and- and tomorrow’s weekend, Levi… I tried, Levi, I really tried but I can’t-”
Levi closed his eyes, jaw tightening against the pain in Eren’s voice. “It’s three in the morning there,” he said, softer. “You should be sleeping, not crying over me.”
“No, Levi, I mean it,” Eren said, more urgently. “I don’t want to be here anymore. I hate it. School’s a mess, my apartment’s cold, everyone’s too loud or too fake and – fuck, I’m just done, Daddy. Please. Please just let me come stay with you. I can transfer, or- or quit, I don’t care. I just want you.”
Levi stayed silent a moment, listening. Eren’s breathing was uneven, maybe on the floor of his room again, or in bed, knees to his chest, curled around the phone like it was the only thing tethering him.
When Levi finally spoke, his voice was gentle and steady. The kind of softness you use to pull someone out of a storm.
“I know, brat.”
“I don’t wanna be here anymore,” Eren couldn’t stop now, his voice raw and desperate. “I don’t wanna do school without you, I don’t wanna wake up alone – I don’t wanna do anything if you’re not here.”
Levi heard the sound of something knocking over – Eren must have fumbled with the phone, struggling to breathe and talk at the same time.
“I wanna come to Japan,” Eren gasped, reckless and young and sure. “I wanna live with you- I don’t care about anything else — please. I can’t do long distance anymore. I can’t.”
Levi closed his eyes briefly, not out of annoyance – never that – but because this was familiar. Painfully so. The words hit him square in the chest. It was pure Eren – all heart and no filter when it came to pain. With zero tolerance for discomfort, he always went to unthinkable extents to avoid it. Levi knew he was hurting. The distance wasn’t easy on either of them.
He hadn’t let himself admit it until now. How much it fucking gutted him to go to bed alone every night, to roll over expecting Eren’s warmth and find cold sheets. They’d only spent three weeks together, physically, though the light of those weeks coloured Levi’s entire life into brighter colours.
Levi stood outside the meeting room, Eren’s quiet, broken breathing still in his ear.
His initial instinct was to solve it. To promise Eren that they’d figure it out. To give the sub the out he begged for.
But it wasn’t sustainable. Not for Eren’s future.
The image of Eren, alone and crying, was hard to shove down, but Levi did it.
He suppressed the instinct to book a flight, and did something much harder. This was certainly the cruelest part of their relationship for the older man.
Levi was pragmatic, quietly self-critical, and always asking himself if he was doing right by the person he loved. And when it came to Eren, that question hit deeper than he’d like to admit.
Sometimes, he felt like he was stealing years from Eren. Because beneath all the possessiveness and control, Levi would never want to hold Eren back. The passionate, stubborn, fiercely loyal brat that for some reason still chose to stick by him.
Levi just wanted to make sure Eren was not settling for him, that he was growing with Levi rather than despite him.
This was his job now.
Holding the line, when Eren was ready to give up.
Holding Eren.
Holding both of them together.
Eren was hurting, yes, but he wasn’t weak. He might feel like drowning, but Levi didn’t save people by pulling them out. He saved them by helping them swim.
When Eren stirred on the other end, voice still hoarse and miserable, Levi said, “You’re not quitting.”
Eren immediately tensed. “What-? But I said - Levi, I can’t–”
“You can,” Levi interrupted, definite but calm. “And you will. Because you’ve worked too fucking hard to throw it away when you’ve got less than a year left.”
“But I miss you-”
“I know,” Levi said quietly. “I miss you too. Every night. Every goddamn morning. But you are not going to throw away your future just because you miss me right now.”
A pause. Eren was crying again, quieter this time, more from frustration than heartbreak.
Levi softened, but his voice didn’t waver. He had to be solid for both of them.
“You want to live with me?” he asked.
“Yes,” Eren whispered.
“Then graduate. And if you still want to by then, we can talk.”
“That’s so long though.”
It was. Levi didn’t even know if Eren would still want to be with him then. Perhaps he would grow out of their relationship. Decide he wanted to try himself in a more equal partnership. Or focus on his work instead. That was even more of a reason to wait.
“It will all be worth it, love.”
“Promise?”
Levi’s lips twitched faintly. “Tch. I don’t make promises I can’t keep.”
There was a long, exhausted silence before Eren sighed, his voice quieter now. “I should let you work.”
Levi smirked lightly. “Like I could work with you whining in my ear.”
Eren let out a weak laugh, but Levi could still hear the heaviness in it. “I’m not whining.”
“You are.” Levi glanced at the clock. He had 1 minute before he had to go. “And you should get some sleep too.”
Eren hesitated, but finally murmured a defeated: “Fine.”
Levi waited, listening to the rustling as Eren shifts under his blankets, the occasional sniffle still slipping through. “Good night, brat,” he says quietly, and Eren only hummed in response, softer now.
Before the call ended, Eren’s voice came through once more, barely above a whisper. “Love you.”
Levi’s response was immediate, firm in a way that never left room for doubt. “Love you too.”
-October 2-
Eren🧨 [10:14 PM]
(photo of his coffee mug beside a half-finished essay)
i made it through the day without crying frfr
don’t ask for evidence
Levi only replied back with a heart emoji. Eren cried again.
-October 5-
Eren🧨 [06:52 PM]
i swear i’m fine. like, totally fine now
cap no cap you decide
-October 6-
Eren🧨 [11:49 AM]
do you ever miss me in waves or are yours more like quiet earthquake
Emotional Support HOTline ❤️🔥🔥🥵 :(( [11:53 AM]
Like a constant fog in my brain.
Eren🧨 [02:18 PM]
(link to a tweet: “clinginess is just love with bad PR”)
i feel seen and called out and possibly ashamed
Eren🧨 [08:42 PM]
(photo of his dinner plate, half-eaten)
over salted with my tears
Eren🧨 [11:16 PM]
miss your voice but i’m too proud to admit how much so i’m admitting it in lowercase with no punctuation
fuck you
-October 7-
Eren🧨 [12:02 AM]
(voice memo, half-asleep whisper) “i keep reaching for you in my sleep. my bed’s starting to feel like a liar.”
Eren🧨 [09:11 PM]
(sends photo of his study desk)
everything’s organized. i’m still a mess.
Emotional Support HOTline ❤️🔥🔥🥵 :(( [09:12 PM]
I wouldn’t call that organized, but it will do.
Eren🧨 [09:14 PM]
the vibes are set to chaotic neutral, deal with it
or come and spank me idk your call
-October 8-
Eren🧨 [01:24 PM]
remember when you said you liked me quiet?
congratulations, i’m your dream man lately
Eren🧨 [10:37 PM]
(photo of his open palm with “focus” written on it)
placebo method. not working.
Eren🧨 [11:52 PM]
it’s weird how even the air feels different without you. lighter but emptier. like diet oxygen.
-October 9-
Eren🧨 [08:59 AM]
(link to a song titled “Love You, But I Don’t Know How to Miss You Less”)
accidental emotional damage of the day.
Eren🧨 [04:11 PM]
i’m good, i promise
Eren🧨 [11:24 PM]
(voice memo: faint hum of a song, followed by a shaky laugh)
if you ever ask, this is just insomnia. not longing. definitely not longing.
-October 10-
It’s been six months.
Five months since Eren felt Levi’s hands on his skin.
Since they shared a bed. Since Levi pulled him into line with a glance and a single word: ‘now, brat’.
It started simply. Eren joked about moving in with Levi. Again. Levi said no. Again. Though this time, it didn’t feel like a joke. It felt like rejection. Like…
It felt like he was entrapped. Stuck in a constant loop of call – study – success – gratification – failure – meltdown – relief – hurt over and over again. Like a cursed RedBull and kombucha driven merry-go-round.
And now, Eren was pacing. The phone was propped up against his laptop, Levi’s face lit by the dim glow of his desk lamp. He was still wearing a button-down, his tie loose, eyes shadowed by tiredness.
Eren’s thoughts were a jumble. Breaths left his lungs in small caffeine ridden bursts. He wasn’t sure why each of Levi’s ‘no’s felt heavier than the last. What he knew was that Eren was not ok. “Do you even want this anymore?”
Levi blinked, a hue of irritation gone as soon as it appeared. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me!” Eren was staring at the screen now, standing a few steps away. His jaw ached with bitter emotion.
“That’s not a real question.”
“It is a real question if I’m the only one making sacrifices.”
Levi’s shoulders rose with an exhale. Slow and controlled. “I make sacrifices every day, Eren. Just because I don’t let you drop everything and move halfway across the globe on some bratty whim doesn’t mean I don’t love you.”
Eren’s heart dropped into an open crater he didn’t know was gaping in his chest. “You say that, but you act like-“ His breath hitched with outrage. “like I’m an inconvenience! Like I’m just something you have to manage!”
“We’re not doing this.”
Levi rolled his chair back from the writing table, moving a little further from the screen. That only seemed to infuriate Eren further. Before he could reply, Levi was talking again. “I’m serious. You’re yelling, and nothing productive comes from that.”
“Oh, so now it’s my fault?” Eren snapped, going back to pacing the room. “I can’t believe this. You’re- you’re just going to sit there and ignore me?”
“I’m not ignoring you,” Levi said, his tone steady. “I hear you. You’re upset because I’m not giving you what you want right now. I get that. But I’m not going to yell back just to match your energy. That’s not how we handle things.”
Eren stopped pacing and stared at him, his chest heaving. “So what? You just expect me to calm down and pretend I’m fine?”
“No,” Levi said, leaning forward, his elbows resting on the table. “I expect you to calm down so we can talk like adults. You’re upset, and that’s valid. But I’m not going to fight with you, brat. I care about you too much to let this turn into a shouting match.”
“You care about me, or your precious little reputation in the office.” Eren threw. Not at Levi in particular, just in his general direction.
The older man didn’t reply.
“Oh my god.” Eren threw his hands up. It was like raging against a wall. He turned to step away from the phone, then turned back, turned away again. Growled.
“You know what? Fine.” He snapped finally, raising the chair up and throwing it roughly onto the floor. It didn’t topple over. Eren plopped himself down on it. “Let’s not talk. Let’s both just be cold and silent and great at everything, right? Let’s be adults.”
“Stop.” Levi had lowered his head onto his hand, slender fingers massaging tension points on the bridge of his nose, just beneath his furrowed brows.
The single drop of guilt Eren felt was swallowed by an inferno of rage. Gone and forgotten as soon as it appeared. “Or what? You’ll mute me?”
“Eren-”
“I’m fucking lonely, Levi!” Eren’s voice cracked finally. “I go through entire days without a single fucking person asking if I’m okay! And then you call like you’re checking an item off a list and you think I’m the problem?”
A beat of silence. Levi looked at him for a long time, head leaning onto two fingers by his temple. “I think you’re trying to make sure someone else hurts like you do.”
Eren stopped. Breath caught, red-faced and trembling. Levi didn’t even blink.
“I think you’re overwhelmed and instead of asking for help, you’d rather push me away so you can prove to yourself no one stays.”
Eren’s breath caught. He wanted to be angry. Wanted to scream at Levi for having the audacity to psychoanalyze Eren in this- this arrogant tone-
But all that he managed was: “That’s not it.”
“It is.”
Eren wished he was there right now. So he could slap the tranquility off Levi’s face. Punch the man square across his jaw to-
To hear it crack and maybe, just maybe the gaping, screaming hole in his chest would somehow feel a little less painful.
“But I’m not going anywhere.”
The words hit like a fist to the chest, he looked away. Then, just hung up.
Next morning started with a call from Levi.
Eren rubbed his eyes, sore from crying. Everything still felt tender. Raw. Like he had screamed at someone he didn’t want to lose. Which – yeah. That tracked.
He swiped to answer.
“Good morning.”
Eren’s voice cracked. “Hi.”
“Did you sleep fine?”
“Yeah, okay.” Eren breathed out. Swallowed again. He didn’t know what to say. Guilt was crawling up his throat like bile. He wanted to say sorry, but that felt like it would undermine his own pain. He wanted to say never leave me, but he couldn’t take another ‘no’.
So instead, he said the only thing that felt safe: “I hate fighting with you.”
Levi’s breathing was quiet. “Then let’s stop doing it like that.”
Eren closed his eyes. “I just feel so alone.”
“I know.” Levi exhaled softly. “You’re not, Eren. Even when I’m tired. Even when I don’t say it the way you want me to. I’m still here.”
Another pause. Eren curled tighter into the blankets. “Are we okay?” he asks, fragile.
“You’re still mine,” Levi says.
Eren choked on a small, shaky laugh. “Yeah.”
“Tonight,” Levi said, “I want you to shower. Eat something real. And wait for me at nine. Your time. I’ll walk you through something slow.” He said, before pausing. “If you feel like you can take it.”
“I do.”
Levi nodded once. “Then it’s done.”
And just like that, the air shifted. Not fully clear – but lighter. Eren’s chest felt quietly stitched back together with the same thread that Levi always picked – quiet understanding, love, and offering Eren a choice.
The evening was supposed to help. They’d planned it, talked about things Eren thought he could take. Things that felt a little too raw right now. Levi had him prepare the tools. Water, snack, blanket for aftercare too.
It was what Eren needed, what they agreed on, but instead – Levi’s voice sounded too sharp. His iPad was angled wrong. The room was too cold. The bed – uncomfortable.
“More lube, Eren.”
Eren’s fingers fumbled with the bottle.
“Eren.”
“I heard you,” he snapped.
Levi paused.
Silence stretched. For a moment, his ragged breathing was all he could hear. His heart was pounding.
Eren was kneeling on the bed, flushed and tense, breath already shallow – but none of it felt right.
Nothing was right. Not the screen. Not the silence in the room. Not his fucking fingers in his ass, trying and failing to to match the way Levi did it.
“Sit back,” Levi says, calm and deliberate. “Let me see your face.”
“No.”
Eren flinched from his own voice. There was another pause. Eren tensed, every muscle felt locked up with tension. He waited for Levi to give him a reaction. Raise his voice. Scold him. Make him obey. But orders never came. It was just Eren’s thundering heartbeat in the cold and lonely room.
“This is where you use your safeword.”
“No,” Eren gritted through his teeth. He slipped his fingers out of his ass, wiping them off on the bed, but didn’t turn around yet. He didn’t want Levi to see his trembling lips. Or maybe he knew, that if he saw his Dom’s stupid, perfect face, he’d lose it. “It’s your fault.”
“My fault?”
“Yes. I wouldn’t need to safeword if you were here. But you’re not. This is stupid.” Eren felt stupid for lashing out at the screen, naked, save for his thong stretched between his thighs.
“Then say the word.”
“I don’t want to use it!” Eren barked. “I want you to get on a plane! I want you to show up at my fucking door and put your hand on the back of my neck and finger me properly!”
Levi’s face didn’t move. But the entire room sharpened.
Eren kept going, voice cracking at the edges now. “You think I like jerking off to my imagination while you sit there giving me orders like you’re actually here? You’re not. You’re not here and I’m losing my fucking mind.”
He panted. His fists squeezed the pillow in front of him. He grabbed it and threw it at the opposite wall. It slid down and folded on the floor. Eren wished it would explode.
“Coup.” He let out finally, plopping himself violently onto the mattress. If Levi wanted to see his face, so be it. Let him see what he was doing to the person he was supposed to take care of. Eren had nothing to hide.
Levi closed his eyes for one beat. When he opened them, his tone shifted completely. “Good. That’s all I needed to hear.”
Eren’s chest heaved, like the word alone cracked open the pressure valve in him. His tablet was in perfect kicking position. Right next to his foot. If Eren swung really hard, it would probably fly all the way across the room and hit his cabinet with a juicy crack. Perhaps the screen would shatter…
Levi watched. Not cold, just waiting for Eren to find his equilibrium before the older man stepped in.
“I can’t fucking do this anymore,” Eren whispered. “Not like this.”
“I know,” Levi said quietly. “That’s why we stop.”
“Maybe if I use -”
“No.” Levi cut in, sharp but low. “We stop.”
Eren huffed out, red-faced. He kicked his thong off his ankles, before tugging a t-shirt on over his head in spite. “So now what. You gonna give me a lecture about patience?”
“No.”
Oh.
“Then- what?”
“I’m going to stay on this call,” Levi said, softer now. “And you’re going to breathe. And when you’re ready, you’re going to tell me what hurts the most.”
Eren swallowed. He’d much rather get through the patience lecture. Or tase his balls with that wand Levi used for punishments a couple of times.
“I want to throw the laptop across the room.” He said instead.
“That’s honest.”
“I want to punch a wall.”
“Very on brand.”
Eren gasped in a laugh that turned into a dry sob mid-way. “I miss you so fucking much it makes me vibrate, Levi. And you’re just sitting there like – like nothing.”
For a moment, Eren thought Levi wouldn’t answer. The older man stared at him for a beat, face a perfect armour. Then, he finally leaned in, voice low.
“I’m sitting here like that because if I feel it all, I’ll book the next flight and walk into your room at 3 a.m. and get arrested for unlawful conduct.”
Eren stared. His lip trembled just slightly. The screen became a blurry patch of light.
“So yeah,” Levi continued. “I’m calm. And I’m patient. I’m holding both of us together right now, and I’ll keep doing it until you feel like yourself again.”
Eren didn’t reply. Just breathed. Shaky and embarrassed and humbled. “I don’t think I can scene like this.”
“We don’t have to scene.” Levi didn’t sound disappointed. Eren felt a little relieved.
He bit the inside of his cheek, irked by the silence that hung over them like a passing storm cloud.
“…I still want a spanking for yelling though.”
Levi exhaled a small laugh. “You’ll get it.”
“And aftercare?”
“You’ll cry from the spanking” Levi murmured, “then you’ll cry from how gentle I am with you.”
Eren whined and flopped backward dramatically on the bed, then covered his eyes with his arm. “I hate you.”
“I love you too, brat.”
Somehow, his chest felt softer. Like he’d burned out of eruption and into stillness. A little less volcano and more like a dirt grazer.
Eren let out a deep sigh. “Why can’t you take me seriously?”
“I do take you seriously.” Levi’s tone was softer now too. Still tired, but Eren kind of hoped it was due to a rough day and not because he had a sub screaming into his ear for the past two days. “But I know you. And I know you say things you don’t mean when you’re upset. Moving in with me is not something you decide in the middle of the night because you’re lonely.”
Levi had dealt with Eren’s stubborn streak long enough to know when to push and when to hold back.
Eren’s silence was deafening. Levi could hear him breathing, still a little uneven, though not flailing anymore.
“Baby.” Levi’s tone softened, a rare gentleness slipping through. “I’m not saying no. I’m saying think about it.”
Eren slid his hand off his eyes, turning to look at his screen, so Levi continued.
“You move in now. It’s a new country, with a different language. No friends, no work, no education. Two months later you decide you’re overwhelmed and want to leave. What will we be then?”
Eren hated the way Levi voiced the worries that he kept carefully tucked away under thick layers of stubbornness and fragile ignorance. It was infuriating really how the older man always tugged at his vulnerabilities.
Nevertheless, Eren shrugged. “Then we’ll be a couple who’s lived together for two months.”
One look from Levi was enough for him to huff out. Fine, if Levi wanted valid arguments, Eren would give him valid arguments. Even if he was butt naked post-meltdown.
“Then maybe,” He slid his hand over the bed, angling the tablet a little lower. It felt more intimate that way. “Just maybe. If I get overwhelmed and want to run… you could do the same thing you do every day.” Eren’s voice shook, but he willed the tears back again. Swallowed down the lump in his throat. “You could stay close, hold my hand and take me through my tantrums over and over again until death do us apart.”
There was a small pause. Levi blinked. “You’ve got to stop proposing to me if you want me to take you seriously.”
“Levi!” Eren sat back, as if electrocuted. His face crumpled again. “You’re such an asshole.”
Levi clicked his tongue quietly. “Eren, you’re 22. You keep proposing because you’ve got absolutely no impulse control.”
Eren was biting his lower lip, to stop it from trembling. His eyes cast away. Levi continued.
“I’m almost 40. It would be very wrong to force you into something you might regret later.”
“As if you could force me into anything,” Eren scoffed, shaking his head. “No, I refuse to accept this reasoning.” He said, voice more petulant that he would want it to sound. He took a deep breath. Slowly blew it out. Then took another slow breath in, channeled his internal Levi and evened his voice:
“If you don’t want me, say it now and I can take it.” He was lying, he’d cry so much his mattress would grow mold overnight. “But if you do want me and are holding back for some shitty noble cause, then fuck you, I’m your mate and you’re mine until death. Do us. Part.”
Levi’s face had softened just a sliver. Like a man, who recognised his own influence in someone else.
“I can’t promise you that.” He said eventually. “What I can promise is, I’ll be here for as long as you want me. And if you wake up one day realizing that you don’t, I’ll accept that too.”
Eren was too tired to argue. He’d have to accept that as a win for now.
They talked quietly after that. Levi did most of the talking, telling Eren about everything and nothing. The younger man barely replied back, slowly descending into restless sleep.
-October 15-
What came after was the most frustrating period in Eren’s life. Which meant, inevitably, it was also the most miserable time in Levi’s.
Because when Eren was frustrated or hurt, he didn’t cry or mope. He lashed out for reasons unrelated to his actual wound.
He didn’t care if Levi was in a meeting with the Minister of Finance or at a black-tie gala. If Eren felt rejected, or, God forbid, neglected — he made it known.
Text at 3:12 AM (Tokyo Time)
Eren 🧨
I hope your precious stakeholders are keeping you warm.
Just ignore me some more. It’s fine.
Levi, reading it mid-flight, stared at the screen for a long time.
Typed. Deleted. Typed again.
Daddy💸❤️
I’m on a plane to Seoul, baby. You know that.
No response.
Later, when he landed:
Eren 🧨
Must be nice to be wanted by everyone but the one person you actually care about.
Another time, during a board lunch:
His phone buzzed four times. He checked discreetly.
Eren 🧨
Hey
Do you ever think about me?
Or what
Is it just when it’s convenient?
He texted back under the table:
Daddy💸❤️
You’re all I think about.
Eren 🧨
Then why does it feel like I’m the only one in this relationship who hurts?
Levi closed his eyes. Pressed his fingers into his temple.
Because what could he say to that?
He was hurting. But his pain didn’t explode, like Eren’s, it calcified.
And Eren’s pain detonated like a landmine, again and again, catching Levi in every explosion.
The sub himself couldn’t explain the spiral. He hated himself for it.
He’d wake up in a mood – something in his chest twisted, unsettled – and all it would take was Levi not replying within five minutes for the panic to spike.
And from panic came rage. And from rage, came texts he couldn’t unsend.
He tried: tried to stop, tried to journal, to breathe, to sleep it off. Apologized to Levi.
But by the time the damage was done, it was too late. Their FaceTimes ended with petty fights; messages succumbed to Eren complaining about something Levi did or did not do. Gifts did not make him feel loved. Attention felt forced, since Levi didn’t want Eren living with him anyway. Eventually, Levi stopped checking his phone first thing in the morning.
He loved Eren.
He adored Eren.
He missed Eren.
But waking up to fire every day, to accusations and sarcasm and raw, unfiltered insecurity – it chipped away from his own confidence and peace. He was nearing a point where he didn’t know whether Eren was testing him to see if he would stay or if he actually wanted Levi out of his life.
The last meltdown didn’t even start with a fight. Levi had not reacted to some video Eren sent for 4 hours.
Levi was asleep.
Eren did not care.
He had spiraled alone in his apartment, pacing like a caged animal. And this time, he didn’t call Levi to wake him up or to yell.
He just blocked Levi. Everywhere. iMessage. Instagram. LinkedIn. WhatsApp. Signal. He was pretty sure Levi didn’t have Pinterest, but he blocked a couple of Levi’s there as well. Out of spite.
Even changed his email filter to send Levi’s name straight to spam. That night, he shoved the dinner Levi had sent him right back into the courrier’s hands, telling him he was unsubscribing from whatever service this was. He told himself he was done. Repeated it like a mantra between sobs.
Done.
Done begging for Levi to let him move in. Done with living phonecall-to-phonecall. Done with the whole longdistance thing.
Over it.
Over crying. Over waiting. Over checking his phone every five seconds like it might cough up an apology.
No.
He was moving on.
He was free.
Until the bank notification hit.
[You have received $1.00 from: Levi Ackerman]
Message attached:
Unblock me.
Just a dollar and those two words, dropped like a Trojan horse of regret in Eren’s notifications. A pixelated slap from across the world. And Eren – pretending he wasn’t checking his phone goddamnit – stared at the screen.
Jaw clenched. Lips trembling. Chest burning with feelings he had successfully suppressed for a day. He wanted to laugh. Wanted to scream.
Instead, he opened his banking app, punched in the return transfer, and added a message of his own:
Fuck you.
Another transfer never came. Neither did the dinner that evening. Nor the presents. Nor the calls, the messages, the attention – none of it.
Eren should have felt relieved.
Happy, that the cold privileged bastard was out of his life.
Though he felt neither of those.
Instead, he felt like a huge chunk had been torn out of his chest; felt pathetic for glancing at his phone every couple of moments even though he knew Levi had no means to contact him anymore; felt disgusting as he ate the three day old stale pizza straight out of the fridge. Cold and greasy.
After the pizza came ice cream he had lying in his freezer. Then a can of Red Bull that he totally could drink at 8pm because Levi wasn’t there to judge him for it. And another. And one more.
Then came regret. And angry tears. A kick on the table. A chair thrown into a wall. And a bowl of microwave mac and cheese that provided zero comfort whatsoever.
He was angrily shovelling the cheesy carbs into his mouth, when his doorbell rang. Eren ignored it. It was probably some neighbour with a noise complaint. God forbid a boy had a meltdown.
Then a knock came.
And another one.
“Fuck off, I got it.” Eren shouted from the inside, hating how rough his voice sounded. He shoved another forkful into his mouth, frowning at the door when another knock came.
More insistent this time.
He crossed the room, ready to shout at whoever stood behind it. Barefoot, hoodie inside out, a streak of cheese on his cheekbone and a RedBull stain on his pants.
Eren threw the door open.
And froze.
Levi.
Looking like a God. Like the Yamato blade wrapped in cashmere. If only a little tired. It was the look of a man who flew halfway across the planet for someone who blocked him on Pinterest.
Eren couldn’t move.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” He couldn’t control his mouth either it seemed. “This is borderline harassment.”
“If you tell me to leave, I will leave.” Levi’s voice was calm. It made Eren want to punch him. His fingers squeezed the door harder instead.
Levi stepped forward just slightly, rain still beading on the shoulders of his pitch black wool coat. “If this is you testing my endurance, brat, I can take much more than your little tantrums. But I want to know if I’m fighting for someone who still wants me.”
Eren felt Levi’s cologne hit his senses, crumpling his defenses. “If you want me to leave, say it now. I will not force this. But I flew halfway across the world for you. So be man enough to say it to my face.”
Eren tried to shut the door in his face, but Levi’s hand was on it before it would budge. “Do you want me gone, Eren?”
There was a beat of silence where both of them stood still, the sound of two hard breaths filling the air between them. The tension was too much. Eren felt it coil in his chest – shame, want, grief, love – all of it knotted together.
Eren’s eyes burned through Levi’s icy expression, the way his jaw shifted with emotion, the faint twitch of restraint in the muscles around his mouth. Like he was holding back everything he wanted to shout about. Rain caught at the end of his hair, cold air still clung to his skin.
His chest ached. One hand fisted Levi’s coat, he surged forward, pure muscle and desperation, mouth open, aiming straight for the lips that had haunted him all this time.
But Levi caught him with a firm hand against his chest. There was a breath of space between their mouths.
“No,” Levi murmured, voice low. Not angry, but not warm either. “Use your words.”
Eren’s lip trembled. He couldn’t look away. “I didn’t think you’d come.”
“I shouldn’t have to prove I care every time you fall apart.”
“I know.”
“Then tell me now. Do you want me out of your life?”
The question hung in the air. Eren felt it crush his heart. All he could manage was a whisper:
“No.”
Levi exhaled slowly, like he hadn’t let himself breathe in days. His shoulders sagged and Eren felt his own heart drop with how exhausted Levi suddenly looked. He swallowed around the ugly lump in his throat. His own anger felt stupid now — flimsy and unimportant next to what Levi carried in with him.
“I don’t want you to leave,” he breathed out, hot tears spilling out of his eyes again, like they never stopped. His fingers were still clutching the door, knuckles white from how hard he was squeezing.
Levi held his gaze, his sharp edges softer now. “Then can I come in?”
Eren stepped back, letting the door fall shut and sunk to the floor. He felt too heavy and wrung out to stand. Levi lowered himself beside him, tucking the edge of his coat underneath, leaning back against the wall.
Neither of them spoke for a long time.
The air thick with everything they haven’t said.
Then Levi, staring at the cheap rug, broke the silence: “Idiot. Scared me half to death.”
Eren looked up, startled. “What?”
Levi glanced his way.
“I thought you were done with this. Maybe found someone your age. Someone easier. Who doesn’t correct your grammar or send you vitamins in the mail.”
The sound that left Eren was half a laugh, half a cracked sob. As if he could think of someone else.
“I don’t want anyone else.”
He let his head drop against his knees, voice muffled and trembling. “I’m just so tired, Levi.”
“Tired of sleeping next to my phone. Of crying in lecture halls. Of pretending like one call a night is enough.” His throat burned, chest ached. But the words kept coming. “It’s not. It never was.”
He felt fresh tears burn his eyes once again. “I live call to call, always waiting for another vacation, it’s just too much.”
“I don’t want someone else. I want you. But I want you with me. Not behind a screen.”
Levi exhaled slowly beside him. “You don’t want to give up on your degree.”
“I don’t,” Eren said. Then added, as an afterthought, “But I’d give it up to not lose you.”
Another pause. Then -
“It’s not a game I’m playing, I actually want it.” He sucked in a shaky breath, before letting out.
“I know I’m a lot…” He murmured, finally lifting his head, eyes puffy but steady. “But I want to come live with you. If you’ll have me.”
Levi turned his head. Looked at him, really looked at him. Eyes swollen, face blotchy, voice wrecked. But there was no emotional thrashing anymore. No layered emotions. He was centered and true. Bright green eyes brimmed with tears that hadn’t stopped.
“I’m tired of feeling like I’m halfway to a life I want.” Eren whispered. “If you still want me… I’ll move to Japan. I’ll transfer schools. I’ll start over. Just – let me be close to you.”
Levi’s face didn’t move at first. But one of his hands curled into a fist on his knee.
“Eren, you’ve only been with me on vacation.” He paused, gaze unreadable. He was sure the younger man did not fully understand what he was asking for.
“If you move in with me… I barely have any time off work, I come home tired and grumpy. That’s not going to change just because we’re under the same roof. I’m not going to be gentle either,” he added, tone lower now. “I like my things where I left them. I expect communication and honesty. You don’t get to disappear into a tantrum and expect me to chase you.”
Eren nodded, fast and tearful. “You weren’t much fun over the phone either.” He spoke, more spiteful than accusing. “I just want you. Whatever you come with.”
Levi let his head fall back onto the wall with a thud. His eyes closed. A deep breath in. He had to think…
“You’re not transferring.” He said finally. Eren was about to protest, but Levi held a hand up, stopping him.
“You will finish this term. And then, this summer, come live with me for a month or two.” His voice softened, just slightly. “See how it feels. If we work. If you like Tokyo at all.”
Eren blinked. The breath he’d been holding tumbled out of him in a quiet, choked sound – somewhere between relief and disbelief. His spine straightened, but lips trembled.
“… wait,” he whispered. “Really?”
His voice cracked. That was all it took. Eren’s face crumpled, a sob catching in his throat as if something in him had finally unclenched.
“I thought you’d keep saying no, and I’d have to keep begging.”
He folded sideways into Levi’s shoulder.“I just missed you so fucking much, it’s crazy.”
Levi leaned forward to wrap his arm around Eren. His other one came to rest on the sub’s nape, fingers slipping into the soft matted hair there. “I’ve missed you too, you little shit.”
Eren sobbed out a laugh into the fabric of Levi’s coat. They stayed like that for a long time, Eren’s tears dried, Levi’s breathing deepened. The world around them slowed down, until the window darkened fully into night.
“I’m sorry,” Eren whispered eventually, lifting his head up slightly. Levi’s coat was dry already, beads of raindrops evaporated in the heat of Eren’s apartment. “Can we slap a ‘lol’ over it and move on?”
Levi scoffed, the sound almost affectionate. “I’d rather hold a grudge for a while.”
Eren wiped at his face, already smiling sheepish. His heart hurt less, crusted with guilt and a thin layer of hope. He still tried to even out his tone into light nonchalance. “Your loss. Could have resolved it with a spanking.”
“Oh, you’re getting one.” Levi replied dryly, placing his fist onto the floor, to get up. “As soon as I’ve had my tea and maybe a 10 hour nap.”
Levi was too tired to comment on the state of Eren’s apartment: the piles of laundry scattered across the floor, the giant mountain of chaos that was allegedly a couch, the coffee table so sticky, it could feed a hive of bees for a month.
Eren made him tea – chamomile and roasted barley from the stash Levi had sent him before – in the only mug that wasn’t chipped. The roasted scent filled the air, cutting through the stale chaos, grounding the space in something warm and cozy.
Eren wondered who he was trying to punish in the months where he refused to brew it out of spite.
Or maybe the warmth came with Levi himself. Eren couldn’t stop staring. Levi looked so impossibly out of place in his student apartment – black wool coat draped over the chair, cufflinks glinting weakly in the weak kitchen light, every inch of him neat and deliberate against a backdrop of half-eaten mac and cheese, toppled chairs and an overall mess.
Still, the man chose not to comment. Digging the sofa out from under its burial mound was a lost cause. Neither of them had the energy. Besides, Eren wouldn’t let Levi sleep on the couch anyway. His bed was large enough for two.
Levi, exhausted and jetlagged, was asleep in seconds, head sinking into the pillow, breath evening out almost immediately. Eren lay beside him, very much awake, like a redbull-buzzed sleep guard, full of disbelief and trepidation that they were together once again. Six months later.
By the time morning cracked through the blinds, the rain had long stopped. Levi woke up first, with a groan that sounded too human for someone who functioned like clockwork.
He looked around the room, gaze scanning the chaos – papers, half-finished meals, three empty Red Bulls lined on the bedside table like dysmorphic trophies of rebellion.
Eren was on him, heavy and warm, tangled in Levi like he was owed comfort for six months of abstinence. Online orgasms not considered. The man took a deep breath. It was too hot. Suffocating.
Levi breathed out slowly and began the delicate operation of untangling himself from Eren’s octopus hold. The younger man mumbled something incoherent and latched onto the pillow instead.
Levi felt disgusting post flight. He needed a long, thorough shower. Except– the man froze in the bathroom doorway.
The place was… an atrocity. Toothpaste fossils on the sink. Towels that had clearly died serving. A mirror cracked after what was probably another meltdown. Bvlgari perfume bottle shards gathered into a careful pile next to the trashcan and left to disappear on their own.
He cleaned it before he could even think about showering: muscle memory kicked in from his own student-era survival tricks. He wiped, scrubbed, rearranged, muttering under his breath about filth and degrees.
When he finally stepped under the water, the steam loosened the tension in his shoulders. The past 48 hours had been his personal hell. A day packed with back to back meetings, Eren’s tantrum, a dawning realisation that what Levi saw as the need for firm boundaries was actually a cry for help.
For Levi, thirty-eight and already halfway through a life defined by structure, patience and success, the wait felt manageable — bearable even, in the grand scheme of things. It was half a year, a blink. He could afford to wait while Eren finished his degree, build something steady, give him space to grow. But for Eren, it was different. He was burning through every hour like it might be his last. For him, at 22, half a year was a lifetime. Each month felt like a test of devotion, each day without Levi felt like proof that time moved differently for them.
What Levi saw as discipline, Eren felt as distance. And somewhere along that marathon, he decided Levi hadn’t come because Eren simply wasn’t worth the flight. So, he did the only thing Eren could do. He screamed until there was nothing to scream about and then he lost his voice.
With no means to contact the boy, he had done the only thing that made sense: jumped on the plane to Michigan, not sure what he’d find upon arrival.
A dirty apartment was nothing compared to the things he imagined he’d have to face. Filth was easy to scrub away. As long as Eren was still willing to let him in, accept help, there was a foundation to build on.
Levi stepped out of the shower, patted himself dry with the only clean towel he’d found in the bathroom cabinet and pulled on a fresh set of clothes from the emergency suitcase he had in the back of his jet.
The rest of the apartment wasn’t any better. It looked as neglected as Eren probably felt. For two months, Levi had been walking a tightrope: pushing Eren hard enough to keep him focused, but not so hard he’d break. Checking his apartment was so far down on his priority list that Levi never got to it.
It all made sense now: Eren would only call him from the bed, white wall behind him. It wasn’t that the younger man wasn’t trying; between finalising his non-profit projects and preparing for midterms he had no time to take care of himself, let alone the apartment.
Levi always made sure to track what he could from afar: Eren’s coffee intake, balancing his moodswings, making sure the sub ate at least once a day, but clearly, it wasn’t enough. Not this term.
Levi sighed. Rolled up his sleeves. And dug into the sink that was an archaeological dig of plates and takeout containers.
An hour later, the living room looked almost habitable.
Levi had cleared the couch, wiped down everything that qualified as visibly bio-hazardous, and taken out three bags of trash. The sink no longer looked like an archaeological site; dishes stood drying in neat rows, the kind of order the place probably hadn’t seen in months.
He’d found all fourteen pairs of scissors he’d mailed Eren over the year, retrieved one by one from improbable places – under a sofa cushion, a shoe box, the fridge. Next to them sat a Cartier bracelet that had somehow migrated into a dirty mug in the sink, a single sneaker, a couple of vibrators, a riding crop and a taser. He lined the loot up on the counter. It was a quiet parade of bad decisions and mislaid priorities.
By the time he finished, the air actually smelled of citrus cleaner instead of Red Bull and regret. He’d opened a window. The city hum slipped in, cool and sharp. Levi straightened the rug with the side of his foot just as a knock sounded at the door.
Groceries. He’d ordered them after discovering Eren’s fridge only held radio-active hazard and a bunch of ketchup packets. The delivery kid stared for a beat at the man in a pressed shirt taking bags from his hands, then fled with a polite nod.
Eren stirred on the bed at the sound of rustling paper and clinking jars. The moment he walked out into the living room, groggy and disoriented, he thought he was dreaming.
Levi – the Levi who chaired meetings in glass towers, whose calendar had more color-coding than a map – was standing in front of his kitchen counter, arranging vegetables like it was his sole responsibility.
Eren looked around in awe and confusion, voice still rough.
“What did you do?!”
Levi didn’t look up. “You own fourteen pairs of scissors. Next time you cut your hands on a shipment I’m tasing your fingers.”
Eren’s brain stalled. He looked at the scissors now lined in two perfectly straight rows. Like loyal soldiers ready to protect his fingers from cardboard and tape. “That’s what you start with?”
“Would you rather I start with the fridge?” Levi straightened, leaning onto the counter. “What do you call that?”
Eren didn’t look at his Dom, his eyes were taking the room in slowly. “Uh- I call that… minimalism? Modern art? A tale of a broke student? I don’t know, you pick.”
“More like a health hazard.”
Eren gasped when his eyes fell on the Cartier bracelet. He’d been searching for it for weeks, then finally gave up, decided he’d lost it and already plotted to guilt Levi into buying him a new one. Before… everything.
Eren felt the guilt unravel in his chest and form a disgustingly heavy lump in his throat. He frowned, trying to swallow the hot and stubborn thing down.
He snapped the bracelet on with more force than absolutely necessary. Then snapped a picture of it for his finsta. Nonchalant.
“This also had a tiny screw to tighten it,” he said lightly. “you didn’t happen to find that too, did you?”
Levi didn’t even look up from the stove. “You can email Cartier and request a new one.”
Silence stretched. Eren didn’t reply.
When Levi finally glanced over, the boy was still, head bowed, pretending he hadn’t heard.
Levi sighed, “Fine,” He said, “I can email them and request a new screw.” with a disbelieving though fond chuckle.
Eren deflated a little. No longer as tense. “I’m really sorry for blocking you everywhere.”
“We’ll call it a plot point and move on.” Levi’s tone was mild, but there was something in the set of his shoulders. Eren decided it looked like quiet relief. Which was absolutely surreal.
A week ago the man was on the cover of Forbes Japan, and here he was, sleeves rolled up, saving a college student from his own chaos, relieved that Eren’s meltdown was done.
Eren rubbed a hand over his face, throat tight. “I can’t believe you cleaned my apartment.”
“I had to. I could feel my lifespan shortening the longer I stayed in your mess.” Levi opened a cupboard, frowned, and got a pan out. “You need a housekeeper.”
Eren was already wrapping himself around the shorter man with a scary big aura. He took a long deep breath, pressed his lips to Levi’s neck. “I just need an Eren keeper.”
Levi’s glance was dry enough to kill weeds. “If you ever let it get this bad again, I’ll be your ball keeper.”
Eren laughed. Small, breathless, the sound cracking under the weight of everything else. He stayed attached to Levi, peppering his neck with kisses and nips as his Dom cooked for both of them. It was nothing too fancy, a spinach omelette and crisp toast, but Eren didn’t remember anything tasting this good in a long time. He hooked his arm around the older man’s, delicately shoveling his food with a single hand.
“Only you can make spinach taste decent,” he moaned, twisting the green devil onto his fork like spaghetti. “My taste buds are having an orgy with this right now.”
Levi didn’t reply to that, cutting his omelette up with as much movement as Eren’s arm let him. He hummed, nodding to a door that hadn’t been open since he came in. “What’s in there?”
Eren hesitated, eyes flicking toward the door right next to his bedroom. His posture stiffened, the same way it did before he said something he knew sounded ridiculous.
“It’s another bedroom. But it’s uh.. out of service,” he said quickly.
Levi’s brow lifted. He glanced down. “Out of service?”
“Yeah.” Eren waved a hand, suddenly fascinated by a crumb on his plate. “Just… smells weird. Don’t open it.”
Levi stared at him, deadpan. Didn’t say anything. Ten minutes later he booked weekly deep cleaning and grocery refills into Eren’s apartment until the end of the academic year.
When the crew arrived next week, they would find a moldy half-rotten sandwich left behind a stack of books. Eren would never tell Levi it had once been his.
Later that evening.
Studying in a clean apartment felt so much better. Studying next to his older, hot, handsome boyfriend who emanated Zaddy energy was a blessing. And a curse...
Eren could barely sit still. His ass still burned and pulsed after the most thorough spanking of his life.
Levi had taken him over his knee and he did not hold back. He’d used his hand, a crop, and finished it off with a paddle. Eren wasn’t sure which one was worse. Tears mixed with sweat and precum, he had been squirming and twitching, grinding against Levi’s thigh and twisting out of his hold. And begging to cum. The whole time. Levi didn’t let him.
He didn’t stop until Eren’s entire ass and thighs were burning with searing pain, his skin raw and tender. Until air felt like sandpaper and his eyes stung from all the crying.
They’d cuddled for an hour after. Levi fed him, made sure he had a tall glass of water, wiped away the tears. Coaxed him back with gentle touch and voice of smooth silk. But now, Eren was sat on a scratchy sofa cushion, wearing boxers and a sweatshirt over his bare chest.
He was supposed to be reviewing for a quiz. Instead, his feet kept shifting where they rested on Levi’s lap. His hips were rolling subtly against the cushions – it was sweet torture – like his body couldn’t help but seek friction. His thighs clenched with every movement.
And Levi, on the opposite end of the three seat sofa, didn’t even glance up from the book he was reading. His hand remained on Eren’s foot, thumb tracing lazy circles around the bone of his ankle.
That made it worse. Eren bit his lip. Crossed his legs. Uncrossed them. Shifted again.
Levi finally turned a page.
Without looking up, he said: “Stop squirming, Eren.”
Eren stilled. For maybe ten seconds.
Then he whimpered quietly and shifted again – the worn out fabric of the couch made his ass prickle like an extreme sunburn. It sent another wave of arousal into his dick, adding to the dark patch of precum on his boxers. He shifted his foot against Levi’s crotch, rolling his sole against the zipper there. “Daddy…”
Levi’s gaze slid over the book in his hands, eyes finally lifting. Calm and lethal. Like a tax associate facing a financial felon.
Eren wriggled his toes against Levi’s cock. “I’m… I can’t focus.”
“I noticed.”
“I can’t help it.” Eren whined, breathily. He dug the edge of his own book into his boxers to get some stimulation. Frustratingly enough, it didn’t do shit.
His Dom didn’t even set his book down. Just lowered it onto the sofa, finger still caught between the pages to keep his place. He looked Eren dead in the eyes. “You’re horny, brat. That’s not new.”
“But please, it’s uncomfortable.”
Levi didn’t do anything. For a moment, he just fixed the sub with an even look. Then, unhurriedly, he set his book down and leaned over. Eren tilted his head, eyes wide, his breaths caught in his throat.
Levi’s hand reached up and slid into his hair, firm but not rough. The perfect mix of gentle control. “Do you think you get to come just because you’re needy?”
Eren swallowed, shifting his hips again – uncomfortable. It took all of his willpower not to thrust into his book. That would be a new low even for him. “No, sir.”
“Do you think I’ll let you cum just because you can’t sit still?”
Eren shook his head. “No.”
“Then why are you grinding into thin air like a cat in heat?”
A soft, humiliated whimper escaped Eren’s throat.
Levi fisted his hair in one hand, and leaned in further – lips barely an inch from Eren’s bitten ones. “You’ll finish your reading.” His voice rolled like Cadillac over gravel. The epitome of sleek power.
“You’ll keep your hands where I can see them,” Levi continued. Eren’s book fell from his crotch immediately. Green eyes glued to the older man’s lips, breath shallow.
“And only, when I think you’ve covered your material well enough, I’ll let you cum.” Levi’s hand came to his chin, lifting the sub’s face slightly. Eren’s eyes reluctantly slid to Levi’s molten silver ones. “Understand?”
Eren’s whole body trembled. He breathed out shakily, shoulders dropping in defeat. His voice was nothing but a whisper.“Yes, Daddy.”
“Good,” Levi’s lips touched his, briefly. And then, he withdrew completely. Returning to his spot on the sofa like he hadn’t just made his sub internally combust. “Now spread your legs wider and stay still.”
Eren let out the quietest broken breath. Then opened his book again. And did exactly what he was told. As best as he could.
Less than two hours later, the book lay forgotten somewhere under the coffee table. His clothes – in a pile behind the couch. Discarded like the last shred of Eren’s focus. He was fully laying on his back now – knees bent, thighs spread wide – head propped up on the armrest, breathing uneven.
Levi knelt between his legs, fully clothed, sleeves rolled up, two lubed fingers circling Eren’s hole – all slow patience. His other hand rested firmly on Eren’s thigh, keeping him grounded and wide open. Eren whined softly as Levi slipped both fingers inside, slow and shallow, barely giving him enough to push against.
“Focus now,” Levi said, as if Eren was ever capable of that.
The sub groaned, hole fluttering in a desperate attempt to suck Levi’s fingers in deeper. “I am.” He lied, hips grinding down.
“No, you’re squirming,” Levi said calmly, pushing his fingers in just a little deeper. Not even halfway in. “Not nearly the same thing.”
Eren’s back arched slightly. Not from the stimulation, more like the lack of it. His hands fisted the cushion under him. He was already flushed and Levi hadn’t even started.
Then:
“Who theorized the concept of ideological state apparatuses?”
Eren blinked, dazed. “W-what?”
Levi twisted his wrist slightly, dragging his blunt nails over Eren’s inner walls. Eren gasped.
“Political theory, brat.” He drawled out, “You said you were ready. I’m testing you.”
“Levi-” Eren’s eyes widened. He couldn’t do this. Not when he’d been hard all day… Not with his ass on fire and with Levi’s fingers so close to where he’d wanted them the most.
“Daddy, please-“
A third finger joined the other two, slow and relentless. Eren’s whole body keened with the much wanted sensation. The stretch burned so good.
“Answer the question.”
Eren’s eyes fluttered. He pushed against the fingers, one hand jolting to his dick, before he tucked it in behind his back gingerly. “A-uh Althusser.”
Levi hummed his approval and pushed deeper, curling his fingers just slightly. His thumb pressed against Eren’s full balls. Electricity cursed through the younger man’s spine, eliciting a deep groan.
“Good boy.” Levi continued, voice calm and even, like he was not knuckles deep inside his sub. Eren let his eyes flutter shut. There was a familiar click of the lube bottle, before more cool liquid slid lazily down his balls. Goosebumps erupted.
“Now – what’s the difference between coercive and ideological control?”
Eren’s breath shuddered. Levi was pumping his fingers in and out slowly, thumb drawing firm circles at the base of his balls, his shaft leaking precum like a broken faucet. He wondered if his neighbors could hear this-
“C-coercive is… physical force. State violence. Like… police, army. Ideological is… shaping beliefs. Consent.” His voice faltered into a whimper. “Uh - education, religion – ngh… media.”
Levi smirked lowering his face down. He dragged his teeth against the inside of Eren’s thigh, his mouth ghosting at the side of his knee now, breath warm. “Impressive.”
He spread his fingers slightly, two finder pads on either side of Eren’s prostate, third pushing against his walls, rubbing firmly. The sub whined loudly.
It was so much. His vision swam. He was a puddle.
“And which one do you think I’m using right now?”
Eren let out a shocked laugh – part gasp, part groan. Thoughts were mush. “B-both. You’re… such an ass.”
“Wrong.” Levi teased his pinky against the stretched out hole, hooking it in just past the rim, smug and unhurried. “I’m shaping your long-term responses through discipline, expectations, and reward. That’s pure ideology.”
Eren let out a shout, hips locked in place, hole tight around Levi’s fingers. His hand flew to catch Levi’s wrist. He nearly sobbed.
Levi guided the sub’s leg over his shoulder, pressing a kiss to his calf. He pushed in just a little more… “Breathe, baby.”
Eren couldn’t breathe. He was shaking, barely focusing on Levi’s question, let alone thinking about the answers. His hole was clenched down on the slender fingers in a vice grip, protesting against the unfamiliar intrusion.
“You’re doing so well,” Levi praised, voice perfectly measured. “Next question.”
Eren’s thighs trembled with every slow shift of Levi’s digits, slick and relentless, stretching him open with a kind of surgical patience that bordered on unbearable. The older man was infuriatingly calm, crouched between Eren’s legs like he had all night and no interest in mercy.
“Which theorist argued that power is diffuse and not just top-down?” Levi asked, pinky shifting and squeezing in fully, watching Eren writhe with a new kind of burn.
“F-Foucault,” Eren gasped. His head fell back into the armrest, chest rising and falling quickly with hot strain. “He- urgh- he said power’s everywhere. In everything—ah— networks of knowledge- apparatuses ugh- Levi, please.”
Levi’s fingers curled just right. Eren’s head rolled back with a moan, lips parted, the answer barely finished. He didn’t even care anymore. His dick stood full and bright against his stomach.
“Correct,” Levi said, pleased. Hot breath brushed against Eren’s trembling thigh. “And what does that make you, right now?”
Eren blinked, eyes glazed over. Somewhere, on the back of his mind his brain tried to fathom the fact that Levi had four of his fingers knuckles deep in his ass. His dick twitched against his stomach, smearing precum over his navel. “Wh… what?”
“In the structure of this dynamic.” Levi’s fingers curled upwards, knuckles pushing against the stretched rim but didn’t go in. “Are you the apparatus or the subject?”
Eren whimpered, eyes wide with overwhelm. One wrong breath and he’d cum… His hand squeezed around Levi’s wrist. “Daddy-“ he gasped. Levi ground his knuckles against the tight ring of muscles again, free hand firmly planted on Eren’s thigh, keeping his legs apart.
“I’ve got you.” Levi soothed, his voice low – a secret seeping under Eren’s skin, raising goosebumps all over. “Answer the question.”
“I’m- uh…S-subject- fuck, Levi, if you don’t let me cum right now-”
Levi leaned in, lips brushing his inner knee, voice low. He bit down. “Language.”
“I am using language,” Eren groaned loudly, voice cracking. “Power flows through — oh my God — through me right now-”
Levi laughed under his breath. He twisted his fingers, pushed in a little more… a slick squealch — and Eren screamed. Levi fingers pressed tightly against his insides, filling him to the brim, knuckles hooked into his rim as they stretched him taut.
It burned. Fuck, it hurt.
And yet, his dick screamed for attention.
“Good boy,” Levi praised, hand moving in micro-rolls inside Eren’s ass, waiting for the sub to adjust. Eren was barely breathing by now, his entire focus drawn to the single point in his body. “I know you can take more for me,” Levi continued.
“I won’t take you anywhere you can’t go,” he murmured, free arm wrapped around Eren’s thigh and pinning his hips down with a bruising grip. “Last question, brat. Ready?”
Eren nodded frantically, fingers clutching at Levi’s arms like lifelines. Eyes blown so wide, his irises were barely visible. Every breath made his chest tremble, every movement sent sparks of fire all over his body.
Levi’s lips almost touched his skin when he asked – low and deliberate:
“If power is relational and consent is negotiated, then what does it mean when you choose to be under me?”
Eren froze – body trembling, breath broken, but mind still trying to cling to the thread. Levi’s thumb was rubbing against his rim, slick with lube, Eren’s sweat and whatever else his body produced in it’s despair.
The sub couldn’t think. Couldn’t fathom where he was. What they were doing…
“It means…” he whispered, voice cracking, eyes filling with tears from overwhelm.“Ah- it means power is not something you steal from me.”
Eren tried to twist his hips away, but Levi had him pinned into the couch. He whimpered. “Ngh- it means I have power. But I’m giving it to you. Because I trust you not to break me.”
Levi stilled. Eyes dark. Approval so quiet it thrummed between them. Levi slid his hand out half-way, pressed his thumb into his palm and pushed it back in.
He leaned in, voice — smooth silk against skin. “Exactly.”
Air left Eren’s lungs. His mouth fell open in a silent scream as he arched off the sofa. Levi curled his fist up inside him.
Eren shook. His foot planted on Levi’s shoulder, the other trembling where it was lifelessly hung over the floor. Sounds poured out of him on their own accord, tears poured down his cheeks as he stared – dumbstruck – at Levi.
The man twisted his fist in Eren, rubbed his middle joints against the sub’s tortured prostate, eyes not once leaving Eren’s glazed ones. The sub’s dick exploded. He didn’t even understand it, but his body shook in an intense, all-encompassing burst of white-out orgasm.
“Good boy.” Levi murmured against the sub’s ear, voice cutting through the deafening moans. “that’s it. You’re so perfect for me, all mine.”
Eren barely registered the words. His ass seized around the balled up fist, dick erupting over and over all over his chest and Levi’s shirt. Levi twisted his hand in small circles, knuckles pushing against Eren’s walls as the sub rolled freely in the waves of his pleasure.
It took a moment, but Levi finally withdrew entirely, fingers slick and glistening. Eren cried out, breath catching once again, though this time it was from the loss. Levi was in front of him once more, crowding his vision, holding his hand to his lips and tapping twice.
“Clean.”
Eren obeyed without thought, both hands curled on Levi’s forearm. Small sobs and moans and keens left his lips as he licked the back of Levi’s hand, took his fingers into his mouth, licked them clean, twirled his tongue between the long digits, messy and eager.
Levi watched. He did not stop the sub once, letting him worship the hand that had just split him open. Eren was panting, tears pouring over his cheeks from appreciation, gratitude and the pure tide of emotions he was drowning in.
“Good, that’s enough.” Levi’s voice was steady – low and grounding. Eren’s eyebrows knitted upwards, sucking harder on Levi’s fingers as his Dom pulled them out. The younger man keened loudly at the loss.
“Tch, shh,” Levi’s mouth hovered just over Eren’s, breath warm, eyes sharp and focused. “Behave now, I’ve got you.”
Eren gasped out a sob, wet lips connecting with Levi’s in a desperate attempt to get more. Not even physically. Every ounce of his soul, every atom of his existence demanded Levi. Yearned for the man in a way it had not longed for anything before.
And then, in one long stroke, Levi thrusted in. Eren gasped into their kiss, his back arched off the cushions, pressing fully against the older man.
Levi’s arm slid under his back, holding Eren up, their hips pressed together, flush as Levi rolled in deeper with every wave. Eren’s hands grasped against his shoulders, his arms, back, clawing at Levi’s shirt the way a drowning man chased the shimmer of light above him.
“That’s it, every time you move tomorrow, you will feel me-” Levi murmured against his lips. He thrust in, deeper and deeper into the slick fucked out heat, groaning quietly. He wanted to commit the sub to his memory exactly like this, at his purest, unguarded, when their breaths synced – every tremor, every moan – an equilibrium of extremes. “Ungh- you’ll remember who you belong to-“
Levi thrust in deeper and Eren twisted, hands clinging to Levi’s shoulders – pulling and pushing all the same. They came together, the sub’s hole twitching weakly around Levi’s dick, dick reacting as an afterthought. The older man grunted, ramming his hips deeper in, before stilling.
They panted, out of breath, bodies glowing with sweat and sweet exhaustion. There was no hiding this from the neighbors now.
Later that night, everything was quieter.
The lights were low. The books – long forgotten, iPad shut and pushed to the edge of the coffee table. Eren had migrated from drooling and sulking to straddling Levi’s lap, head on his chest, arms tucked between them like he was trying to hide the last few hours inside Levi’s shirt.
Levi’s hand moved slowly over Eren’s back. Long, steady strokes. No teasing now, not when his boy was completely spent. Just contact – warm and assuring and wordless.
“You okay?” he asked softly.
Eren nodded against his shoulder, muffled. “Mhm.”
“You melted pretty hard.”
Another nod. “Still feel kind of floaty.”
Levi shifted just enough to press a kiss into Eren’s forehead. “Good. You were perfect.”
Eren flushed again, even though the room had long cooled from their heat. The air held something softer now. It was an evening of Saturday that had the vibe of a lazy Sunday morning.
“Can’t believe you just fisted me to political philosophy,” Eren muttered. The words still shaky. His tired chuckle fanned over Levi’s crinkled shirt. “Do I get visitation rights to my dignity?”
Levi’s chest rumbled with a gentle laugh beneath him. “No, you get cuddles and water.”
“Boring.” Eren huffed, but he didn’t move. His hand slid into Levi’s collar, fiddling with the edge of it gently.
His breathing slowly synced with Levi’s rhythm, letting the warmth of his body and the steady rise-and-fall of his chest press him back into the world.
“Sir,” Eren said quietly, after a long pause. “Can we… do that again sometime?”
Levi glanced down at him. “The fisting? Or the intellectual foreplay?”
Eren laughed, short and nervous, before covering it with a small groan – his ass still hurt. Inside out now. “Ow- both.”
Levi’s hand came to rest on his bum. The perpetually cool fingers felt like a calming gel on burning skin. The man’s voice dropped to a hum. “I’ve got a few more theories I could quiz you on.”
Eren breathed out slowly, his eyes still closed. He could hear footsteps in front of his apartment door – probably people making the best of their Saturday evening. The reality slowly slithered into their perfect oblivion. His arms wrapped tighter around him. “I don’t want to let go.”
“I’ve got a few more hours.”
“Levi-“
“Don’t, Eren.” The man’s voice was laced with quiet authority. Gentleness that left no space for argument. “It’s just two more months.” He ran his hand through Eren’s hair, catching one strand to twirl it gently around a finger, before letting it fall loose again. “We don’t have to scene, I can just keep the daily check-ins to keep you on track. You set the pace.”
Eren felt his back tense with those words. He didn’t want to set the pace.
Eren mentally buried a full TED Talk on why Levi should not leave. Or, alternatively, take Eren with him. He mentally hit the delete button on that, yeeted it into the void.
He wasn’t coherent enough to deliver it properly anyway…
“I want to scene it’s just-“ He felt the familiar guilt uncoil in the pit of his stomach, before settling like lead in his arms. He squeezed them tighter around Levi. “I only freaked out because it’s been too long.”
His breath came out shaky, fanning over Levi’s shirt and tickling his own cheeks.“Six months is too long, Levi.”
“I know, love. It won’t happen again.” Levi’s voice was not apologetic. Just calm control and clarity. Like a man who’d analyzed customer feedback and was planning service improvement strategy for the next quarter. “You were right to be angry.”
The words struck like lightning. Eren’s shoulders dropped. He should have known, by now, that he didn’t need permission to feel angry. But hearing it from Levi still felt cathartic. Dizzyingly freeing.
“Just-“ He lifted his head, eyes searching the man’s profile. “-is there a way for you to take more control this time?” He murmured. “Even when you’re not here?”
Levi’s gaze softened, faint amusement ghosting across his mouth. “There is.”
Eren waited for the older man to elaborate, but Levi didn’t. Just brushed the brown hair away from the sub’s face. Eren preened under the touch. His lips curved, lazy and small. “I’ll still bitch about it.”
“I know you will,” Levi chuckled. The sound filled Eren’s insides like quiet music. It was velvet and chocolate and jazz wrapped in a sheer layer of intimacy.
For a while, neither moved. The city breathed outside – sirens, tires hissing over wet asphalt, rain drumming unapologetically against the loose window panes.
Eren closed his eyes again, refusing to look at the time. He could ignore it some more. Levi’s heart was the only metronome he needed – right here, the familiar, grounding rhythm in his ear.
“What happens now?” Eren murmured quietly, eyelids closed.
“I’ll come over for Christmas and you can choose what we do then.”
Eren went still for a moment – shoulders curled inward, just an inch, fingers twitched. Then, he took a deep breath, a mix of Levi’s cologne and Eren’s bodywash… something he wished to bottle up and inhale every moment.
“I can’t go on vacation again.” He said instead, letting his forehead roll over Levi’s shoulder in mini-despair. Rejecting luxury when it was right here, sprawled under him was a pain far worse than the one in his ass. “Mom side eyed me all summer. She knows I’ve got something going on.”
“Then tell her.” The words sounded gentle.
Levi’s fingers were tracing feather-light circles on his bum, somehow alleviating the burn. Eren mumbled something incoherent into the man’s neck.
“What was that?”
Eren barely lifted his head up. “I said maybe I’ll fake my death instead.”
Levi chuckled breathily. “Less paperwork if you just come clean with it.”
“Come clean with what?” Eren’s lips were touching Levi’s skin with every consonant, making the words slur a little as he talked.“Like ‘hey, mom, remember Uncle Levi? Yeah, his hand’s just elbow deep in my ass like I’m a hand puppet. Yeah, no cap.”
Levi ducked his head down, amusement dancing in his eyes like Eren was the sole source of entertainment in his life. Perhaps it was true. Eren’s heart fluttered. “You have to say something if you want to visit Japan next summer.”
Another flutter. Or was it trepidation? Or, perhaps, maternal terror lightly seasoned with guilt.
“Can you do it?”
“Not my place to speak.” The look on Levi’s face could only be described as sympathy. Eren reckoned this was the same look villagers gave their virgins before tossing them to whatever ancient god demanded tribute.
“Ugh, fine. I’ll try. Maybe not the full truth-truth. Just-“ Eren sighed, burying his head in Levi’s neck again. “A diet version of the truth. I can handle that.”
Levi’s hand slid up to the sub’s back, resting there. “You’ll handle it.” He said, voice low.
Eren would handle it. Probably. Would he survive that conversation and get to Japan in one piece?
He wasn’t so sure.