Bite Me.

12.

Archer sat down next to his brother's toy in the classroom. He'd wormed his way into this class, and he couldn't wait to watch his brother squirm with anger and try to pretend like he didn't care. The boy blanched when he saw who had just dumped their bag on the desk next to him.
'Hi,' Archer smiled. 'I believe we met last night when I tried to kill you.'
Eren was struck by how nonchalant he was about all of this, as if a murder attempt was a mere chance encounter. Why was it that these brothers both viewed death with such complacency?
'You're Eren Jaeger, aren't you?' Archer laid a slender hand on his shoulder. 'I'm sure we're going to be great friends.'
Eren really really hoped they wouldn't. He'd had quite enough of this family. One was bad enough, he didn't think he could survive in a school where two were. Especially with one somehow in his class. He'd only turned up yesterday- how had he already joined the school? He could only assume he had the same powers of persuasion as his brother. That made for even more reason to be concerned. And the fact that he was in Eren's class was too much of a coincidence to he anything other than him possibly having a mild obsession with him. This was not a vain thought; he had singled him out and attacked him unprovoked. That seemed a little bit obsessive.
'So how do you know my brother?' Archer asked conversationally, apparently completely unaffected by Eren's panicked expression.
'I- I was accidentally invited to a party and umm... He stopped some people trying to feed from me,' he said this with disbelief, still a little befuddled by the existence of vampires. 'And I stayed at his house for two nights after that.'
'I know. To be honest, I'm trying to work out just what he thinks of you. It's uncommon for him to keep people so long. He also excused somebody when they scratched his car because you told him to stop. And judging by those marks, he did more than just feed on you...'
Eren blushed and crossed his arms, hunching his shoulders so his neck was a little more covered.
'Yeah, well he also tried to strangle me and slit my wrist, so...'
'He's touchy like that. But overall, he hasn't treated anybody as well as he does you in a long time.'
'You mean he wasn't always like this?'
'Oh, come on- who is born thinking the world owes them everything, and what child refuses to let anybody like them? That's what he's doing, you know. He's not the emotionless psychopath he
makes you think he is. He makes everybody hate him.'
'Why does he do that?' Eren was skeptical; Levi hadn't seemed too fussed by anything. Half of the things he did were completely unnecessary or just a power play.
'Many reasons. He's a complicated person. He doesn't think he deserves love; he associates it with weakness; fear of letting people down; he doesn't want the pain of seeing somebody he loves eventually hate him. Like I said, he's complex. He is a pretentious, violent thug but he was never like this until a year ago.'
'Why are you telling me all of this?' Eren couldn't believe what he was hearing. Levi had a weakness? And he was afraid of something? That explained why he pushed everyone away with such unnecessary force, and why he found solace instead in power. He didn't know why, but he actually found himself feeling a little pang of guilt for judging him so completely when he didn't know the slightest thing about him. Now that he thought about it, nobody became like this without some form of trauma.
'So you can understand why I have to ruin your life for just a while,' Archer's smile was dazzling enough that it almost smoothed over the sinister time of his words. 'I need to break him completely so I can restore some humanity to him, and I think you might be a vital part of that. If this doesn't work, I'm afraid he might be lost forever.'
That sounded promising; a vampire actively making his life hell rather than just doing it for convenience. He wished he had never gone to that damn party. How was it fair that he got all the short straws? Levi didn't care for him at all; Archer had got the wrong end of the stick here. He just used him for a bit of fun. That wasn't being cared for, that was being taken advantage of. But then, if Levi pushed everyone away, maybe he did the same to the people he loved because he assumed that was how people showed their feelings? He didn't know what to think anymore. Everything he had previously believed about the King was apparently wrong, according to his brother who probably knew him better than anyone. He also didn't know just how his life was about to be ruined, because by the time he looked up Archer had put some headphones on and closed his eyes.

Archer just couldn't figure this boy out. He reclined in the dark on his new bed in his brother's oversized house, trying to understand just what was going on, and how best to antagonise his brother. He frowned, biting his lip and furrowing his brow, sitting up to turn the light on. When he did, he was shocked to see his brother standing in the corner of the room.
'I'm not sure what you're trying to achieve,' he ground out, his jaw tensed. 'But I want you to stop. Why can't you just accept that it's better this way and stop trying to bring me back?'
'I actually do have a question...'
'What?'
'Why do you not speak French to me anymore? Yesterday you started to, then you stopped suddenly.'
'My patience is wearing thin. I'm going to bed. Don't wear yourself out by thinking too hard, Ash.' He moved quietly out, avoiding difficult conversation as usual. Archer noted with interest that he had used his affectionate nickname. It had sounded quite brotherly, surprisingly. It saddened him to see his brother in such a state; he'd always been inclined to push people away, but this was the most extreme he'd ever been. So to hear that nickname, although such a small and meaningless word in the grand scheme of things, gave him fresh hope that perhaps all was not lost. It also reminded him of when they were younger, before everything went tits up and they were thrust into a brutal world of supernatural mafias, drugs and death. He missed all of that; running round like the guttersnipes they were and pick-pocketing valuables to pay for the cheapest food they could find. They had been an odd pair of allies, ever since that first day they'd met at the 'children's home' and conspired to run away together. They had been assumed dead after two months of hiding in the dumpsters of Paris, and nobody had enquired any further into it. After all, who would miss two six-year-old orphans? They weren't brothers by blood, but they may as well have been. Their values and opinions were remarkably similar. Of course, they'd never learnt any morals so that probably accounted for both of their blasé attitudes towards crime. But their personalities had been polar opposites, meaning they had become staunch friends. Whereas Levi was a rash, hot-headed, temperamental maniac who despised people when exposed to them for too long, Archer was by contrast calmer, more rational and less socially inept than his counterpart. That was part of why they were so close- whenever Levi had a bad day and wanted nothing more than to press self-destruct and ruin all relationships he had, Archer was there through it all. The amount of black eyes and even broken bones at times due to his insistence on remaining with his brother would be enough to put anyone else off. Whenever Archer had been afraid of the other people on the streets, Levi had been this huge unstoppable force to protect him. One of his clearest memories was being just ten years old and some lecherous old man on the streets had tried to pilcher what little money they had left, and Levi had shoved Archer into a doorway and returned two hours later clutching their money and covered in blood- not all of it his own. He'd cracked a rib in the process, and for this he apologised and said he'd still be able to fight everyone off, but Archer had still seen him as a godlike warrior. In that moment, he'd decided to toughen up and be just like his brother. They'd complimented each other nicely like that when they were smaller, then grown into equally cynical and street-hardened troublemakers. They were still infamous on the streets of Paris, and people could only be relieved that the brothers had relocated to London. When Levi had disappeared a year ago, everyone had suddenly seemed a little more scary. Archer didn't like to admit it, but he had still hidden behind his brother's tough exterior at times. So when he had been abandoned like that, it had forced him to run into darker areas. Hopefully now that he was here, he could leave all that behind. The channel put some space between him and his past of conflict and danger. Was it enough, though?