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ruluxe · 6 years

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On Another Plane

Pairing: Erwin Smith/Levi Ackerman Fandom: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Parallel Universe, Fate & Destiny Words: 2077 Summary: Levi wakes in a foreign place with no memory of how he got there. Notes: Plane 1 noun 2. a level of existence, thought, or development. "everything is connected on the spiritual plane" For @dipuc & @for-the-saba AO3

When he opens his eyes, Levi is sitting on a bench in front of a piano centred in a room of a large building. Its walls are lined with floor to ceiling windows which give way to a concrete view with strange metal carriages not pulled by horses and large birdlike apparatuses that take flight with a call as loud as thunder. He blinks for several minutes, taking in the bustle of unfamiliar sounds and foreign faces. He is no longer dressed in his uniform but clothing made from material alien to his world. It makes sense, Levi reasons, as this is unlike any place within the walls.

He does not get up from his place, not even when an overwhelming urge to stretch his fingers across the ivory keys alarms him. He doesn’t know how to play such an instrument yet he succumbs to the urge. His hands are trembling when he presses down on the first note and inexplicably they begin to move fluidly over the keys, creating a sound melody that is strangely serene. Levi closes his eyes to the music and allows his fingers to glide effortlessly across the board. The pounding of his heart and anxious knot coiled in his gut seem to ease, unwind to a calm along with the music so much so that he doesn’t heed the crowd that has begun to form, surrounding him and the piano.

He’s only been playing for a few minutes when his ears pick up a higher note, one not of his doing. Another one comes, perfectly in tune with Levi’s. There is definitely another presence next to him. He opens his mouth, readies to bark something in regards to personal space but when Levi looks up, he’s met with soft, kind eyes the colour of crystal clear skies. They make whatever snide remark about to leave his mouth die out on his tongue. A man stands to his right with hair the colour of spun silk, boyishly parted and neatly combed to the side. He’s dressed in a crisp white shirt, buttoned up to the collar. Laced around it is a leather strap adorned with an oval stone, deep jade or maybe agate, set in a silvery brass. He offers a warm, gentle smile in place of an apology as he reaches around Levi and settles his fingers on the keyboard. The scent of spice and sandalwood fill his nostrils and Levi’s breath catches in his throat.

The man strikes him as someone he knows but Levi can’t seem to place the name that belongs to the intense eyes and high cheekbones, the plush pale lips and square-cut jaw. He suddenly feels as if he’s spent many moments of his life familiarizing himself with every inch of this man’s body and the thought of it flares instant heat across his cheeks. He can’t remember how he got here and yet these intrusive thoughts feel more like memories to him.

Rather than getting up and retreating, Levi finds his legs have become weighted and his feet cemented to the floor. So, he clears his throat, ducks under the curtain of dark hair that falls over his face and continues playing a song that is as nameless as his stranger.

The tune takes on a melancholy air as Levi and the other man’s notes bleed in harmony. Seconds fold into minutes and the more attuned he becomes to the music, the sadder it sounds. His chest tightens but he continues to play. It reaches a crescendo and Levi imagines the mournful warble of a cello’s strings serving as a backdrop, slowly easing into the soft pluck of a violin. He can’t explain it, but a single tear rolls down his cheek, catching strands of hair in its wake. The ending feels far more significant than it should.

He lets out a breath, takes his hands off the keys. His mouth opens but there's no sound to wrap around words.

“My name is Erwin,” the man whispers in Levi’s ear. The heat of his breath raises the hairs on the back of Levi's neck. “Erwin Smith.”

The name echoes in his head like the toll of a church bell. Levi knows it but cannot recall. The ringing snakes into an infuriating itch as Levi searches even the darkest corners of his memory but comes up empty.

“Levi,” he grates sharply under his breath. He hasn't a clue as to why he's revealing his name and is confused when his tongue spills not one but two surnames. Neither one of them really seem to fit, so he leaves it at that.

“Very nice to meet you, Levi.”

Suddenly he's overwhelmed by anxiety; his heart races and sweat beads at his temples. He feels like he's running out of time.

There's an announcement overhead, a sugary disembodied voice explaining that a flight to Sweden is boarding now. Erwin looks up as if the woman's voice is a message he's receiving from the gods.

“If you'll excuse me,” he says with the softest of smiles Levi's ever had the wonder of seeing. “That's my flight. It was a pleasure to be able to play alongside you.” He looks thoughtful for a moment and then laughs as if those thoughts passing through were incredulous. “Almost like we've been at each other's sides for years. Almost as if this were fate.”

Incredulous, perhaps. Ridiculous? Rightfully so, yet Levi can't seem to shake the same feeling. Like Erwin is the final piece of a puzzle Levi has yet to figure out.

“Yeah,” Levi answers for lack of anything better.

Erwin pats his shoulder before turning on his heel and leaving, a jacket hooked over one arm and a briefcase in the other hand. With each step he takes, Levi feels more and more anxious. The pressure in his chest can hardly be contained, ballooning out until it threatens to snap every rib as if they were mere twigs. It hurts to the point that Levi has trouble breathing.

His legs twitch, reminding him that he's still capable of moving. He swings them over the bench and attempts to stand but his knees lock and he has to catch the edge of the piano to keep him from crumbling to the floor. When he dares, he takes a step but doesn't walk before he runs and only ends up stumbling. Anger floods his veins, the heat of embarrassment flares up his neck to the tips of his ears.

His arm flies out involuntarily as if it were to extend long enough that his fingers could reach out and snag the back of Erwin's shirt. No matter how fast he seems to run and dodge through this sea of people, he can't seem to catch up.

Something incredible happens as Levi enters a panic. A ball of sound from the depths of his gut comes bellowing out of his mouth and he calls out not Erwin, but Commander and suddenly all his memories come crashing in at a force that nearly knocks him off his feet.

He was a captain, fighting a war they couldn't seem to win. Faces he once knew, once loved, flash before his eyes. Their memorials haunt him.

Then there is Erwin. His commander, his friend, his lover. Skin on skin, his name whispered against the shell of his ear. Fingertips that grip his thighs and later ghost down his spine. Arguments and stupid decisions and Erwin's dying breath.

But these aren't his memories. They belong to another life, one he's lived a long time ago. Levi can't seem to make sense of it now, there are too many things spinning round in his head; too many emotions that fill his chest and heavy his heart.

Erwin turns, and Levi isn't ready for the soft look of confusion the other gives him. He should have known better than to expect recognition.

“Pardon?” he asks, his head tilting slowly as the politest smile forms.

“Nothing,” Levi spits, swallowing the bitterness crawling up the walls of his throat. “You just… reminded me of someone.”

“I see,” Erwin says with a nod. “Is he a good man?”

He hesitates, choking on a truth his heart is reluctant to admit. “He was,” Levi finally manages.

“Oh,” and then comes a pause, followed by a slight furrow of his brow and a heavy frown. “I’m sorry.”

Levi can’t seem to focus, there is only the memory of Erwin’s broken body at the forefront of his mind yet there Erwin stands, perfectly fine wearing exactly the same smile. There is a rush of adrenaline that ignites in Levi’s veins as an idea so absurd comes to fruition yet the urge is too strong to deny, so much so that his feet begin to move of their own accord, closing the distance between him and the other man. Guilt that feels an awful lot like betrayal rots his insides as he makes his way to Erwin, but Levi represses it. He knows if he doesn’t act now there will never be another chance like this. He may not be a firm believer in fate and destiny, but he knows Erwin is, and this is what he would have wanted. He would have wanted Levi to seize this opportunity because some kind of divine intervention put them here together, in this place, for a reason.

A hesitant breath before he reaches forward and wraps his fingers around the leather strap that dangles around Erwin’s neck. Jolts of electricity shoot through the digits, leaving them tingling and numb but Levi ignores this. He's too focused on the way Erwin’s mouth drops open in a soft yet startled gasp as Levi uses the strap to yank the other down to his level. Blood rushes in his ears, the sound of his heart thudding against his chest is overwhelmingly loud. There are knots in his stomach, coiling tighter and tighter on top of one another but Levi thinks if he stops now he'll regret it for the rest of this life. No more. There were too many of them in the past.

Erwin’s lips are as soft as Levi remembers, which, he thinks fleetingly, is strange as this is not the Erwin of Paradis. He expects Erwin to push and pull away but all he does is stiffen, ever so slightly; enough for panic to set in and the reality of Levi’s actions to catch up with him. This is a most ridiculous idea but when Erwin’s hand finds his waist, when his fingers firmly grip his hip, Levi is convinced otherwise. Heat spreads like wildfire through his veins as Erwin’s tongue sweeps over his lips, his stomach bottoms out as Erwin presses him closer. There’s nothing to think of in this moment, as much as Levi’s mind is reeling, other than the way Erwin tastes faintly like malt liquor with a hint of smoky-sweet, perhaps a cigar. He tastes like new beginnings but he also tastes like home.

He parts then, still holding on to the strap, as he takes a much-needed breath.

“I apologize,” Erwin huffs. “I don’t know what came over me.”

I’m the one who should be apologizing, idiot. Yet he can’t seem to open his mouth to say anything. Levi hasn’t thought this far ahead and his mind is bombarded with a myriad of responses to questions he’ll have to answer, even if he doesn't know the answers himself.

“Can I buy you a drink?”

Levi wasn’t prepared for this one.

“Of course, it would have to be when I return. I uh…” Erwin laughs nervously. Levi’s heart clenches. “I took the liberty of slipping you my business card.”

The tips of his ears burn once again as Levi reaches around to the back of his pants and finds this Erwin’s business card tucked neatly into the pocket. How or when Levi is unaware and thinking of it is giving him a wholly different feeling.

He doesn't know what will happen next or in the future but he knows that Erwin will be part of it. Just like he was always meant to be. So “Yeah,” Levi answers as he lets go, knowing that this time it won't have to be for good. “I'll call you sometime.”

Erwin’s cheeks are blooming with colour. He adjusts his tie, clears his throat and gives Levi the warmest smile. “I’m looking forward to it, Levi.”

Inspired by this video.

#eruri #erwin smith #levi ackerman #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #進撃の巨人 #ru.writes #my fics

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