Bite Me.

34.

Eren's heart forgot how to keep a steady rhythm whenever he met Levi's eyes across the corridor, even for the briefest of moments. He could no longer pass the queasy feeling at the pit of his stomach off as lunch not sitting well with him. He knew full well it was butterflies. Overall, a very bad sign. Quite a few times, his friends had told him off for not paying attention and he'd already walked into several people. Even worse, he got the feeling that a few of the younger girls he'd walked into had directly placed themselves in his path. If only they knew... He wondered if Levi knew about that poll. If not, it would be amusing to tell him. The guy was so arrogant he'd probably be flattered rather than creeped out like Eren was.
Since it was such a hot day, especially for early May, he and his friends sat outside in the juniors' playground at lunch, having sneaked their food out of the canteen. Connie was enlisted to chase off any juniors who tried to use the equipment, as he probably looked the scariest with his buzz cut. Still, it didn't stop a gaggle of year elevens invading the swing set and talking way too loudly. Finally, they'd had enough and decided whoever got them to leave would be bought lunch the next day.
'On it,' Jean stood up, stamping his cigarette out and rolling up his sleeves.
'You're telling them to go away,' Eren reminded him. 'Not starting a fight. They're a bunch of 16 year old girls.'
'So come with me,' Jean's tone was sly and he was obviously about to say something really annoying. 'We all know they're here for you, anyway.'
Eren flipped him off, but grudgingly stood up to help him get rid of the pesky girls.
'Do you wanna move?' He stood over them, aware that they were already giggling. God, did he hate young girls.
'Nah,' one of them grinned up at him, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
'It wasn't really a question,' Jean stepped in. 'Just piss off, yeah?'
'We're allowed here,' a short brunette screwed up her face unattractively.
'Yeah, but see, my friends and I are here and you're annoying, so...'
'We ain't even doing shit,' the first girl whined, standing up. 'So we ain't moving.'
'Alright, whatever,' Eren raised his hands in mock surrender. 'No need to be a bitch.'
'What the fuck did you just call me?'
'Woah, chill,' Eren took a step back, keeping his hands in front of him, palms facing outwards and trying to de-escalate the situation. Just as she launched at him with her claws out, lashing at him and swearing like a fishwife, he was saved from getting his face scratched. Well, almost. She did manage to slash his face with her shellac nails and draw a little blood before seconds later she was wrenched off of him by... A bodyguard? Oh. This was going to be awkward.
'Can't make it a day without getting into another fight?' Levi chuckled at him, walking over. 'Let her go, Ivan.'
The girl and her friends were white as a sheet, terrified to be so close to the King, and scrambled away.
'You know, I was fine,' Eren muttered, trying to ignore the incredulous stares of his friends. 'I just make a point of not hitting girls.'
He felt bad as soon as he'd said it. He hadn't meant to make it personal, but it could definitely be taken that way. A flash of pain crossed Levi's face before he could compose himself.
'Quite the gentleman,' he forced himself to remember that they were friends. Friends were nice to each other, right? 'I'm sure she appreciated it.'
'Lets go,' Jean whispered and nudged Eren with his elbow, really uncomfortable. Everybody else was already on their feet, not wanting to stick around where Levi was.
'You go. I'll catch up with you later,' Eren waved his arm vaguely. Mikasa shot him a very dirty look, which he pretended to ignore. Once they were all out of earshot, Eren relaxed a little more.
'How's your chest?' He inquired.
'All patched up,' Levi beamed. 'Healed quicker than I thought it would.'
'Why do you only have one bodyguard today?'
'Figured I didn't need the rest. After all, a substantial percentage of my enemies were dealt with yesterday, as I'm sure you'll recall.'
'Good. Makes you less scary.'
'Oh, then I'll have to get them back straight away.'
Eren laughed, aware that he liked to keep up his 'scary guy' reputation. For some reason, he wasn't that scared of him anymore. He had been for a long time, but now he was just a lot less intimidating. Maybe it was now he'd seen the more human side of him- no, actually, when he'd believed Levi was human he had seemed scary and untouchable. Now that he had been around him for a while and grown a little more accustomed to his strange ways and the reasons behind them, he wasn't so bothered by it all.
'Don't worry. My friends still think you're plenty scary,' he assured him. 'They're gonna shout at me later, too, for ditching them for you.'
'Why? I'm far more interesting.'
'Because for one, you scare them. For another, I told Mikasa and Armin I'd stay away from you. And lastly, I'm pretty sure they didn't know we were friends.'
'They know we hang out,'
'It's more like they thought I was buying drugs off you, or something.'
'Tch,' Levi snorted. 'As if I'd ever sell you drugs. I have something way better.'
'What, venom? That's essentially a drug.'
'Far more enjoyable than that... I know you enjoyed it, at least.'
Eren went bright red and told him to keep his voice down, lest the others heard. Did he really have to bring that up now? More importantly, was he flirting? Yes, he was obviously flirting. But sometimes he did things like that and was unaware, such as now when he sat down on the edge of a table and crossed and uncrossed his legs. Eren guessed that he still hasn't learnt what kind of a message that sent. Or maybe he knew exactly what he was doing. It was hard to tell with him.
'You not rejoining them?' Levi nodded his head towards the gaggle of people glaring at him.
'They'll survive without me,' Eren shrugged, signalling to them to leave without him. They didn't look eager to leave him alone, out of anybody's sight, with a possible drug dealer. 'Friends hang out, right?'
'Yeah,' he looked surprised, as if he'd forgotten about their agreement. 'I'm having a party tomorrow. You should come, invite your friends and maybe show them that I'm not as bad as they think. I reckon you don't want them constantly telling you off for being around me.'
'I can't promise they'll come... But I'll ask.'