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there's a sense of calm in the seconds before a storm. when the sky darkens and the clouds hover, when the wind picks up the pace and starts whistling the song of the rain. in those times, there's a second squeezed between the last ray of sun and the first blur of darkness; in that second, in that space, time stops and the world holds its breath, still, waiting for the first drop to fall to start its symphony again.
you see, that's the thing: the world's always singing. it's singing in the lazy mornings you wake up to the sound of birds at your window; its singing when when you're late for work, and the sound of your steps mix with the other passerby's, the tap tap tap an indication that you weren't the only one to mistake friday for saturday that day.
the world sings when you're in love, because that's the moment you hear the gates of heaven open, the angels showing you the road of yellow bricks up to your lover. the world also sings when you're angry. the accelerated beats of your heart, the blood boiling through your veins, the way your stomach drops.
the world's symphony only stops for a moment, in that space between light and darkness. in that space the static lives freely, away from the shackles of emotion in the world. in that space between the clouds, lives the peace and quiet of silence, in its purest form.
there's a sense of calm in the seconds before a storm. levi knows that very well. but more than knowing it, he misses it, longs for it, because it was in one of those stormy nights that he met them.
them.
soaked to the bone and with their hair all over their face, levi wouldn't be able to see their smile if it wasn't for his special senses. there, glinting madly like the mid-winter moon, their sharp teeth and crazy face sent a chill down his spine, the lights of the passing cars reflecting against their glasses, a carbon copy of a movie's mad scientist.
oh, they were mad. levi knew that very well too.
the day of the storm wasn't the first and last time they met. (though they didn't exactly meet, not by regular standards anyway, because all they did was stand in front of his house, smiling wildly, like they just found the final ingredient for their potion's recipe. levi didn't wish that then, but now, he can't help but think of how convenient it would've been if lightning struck them right on the face). there was the grocery store, where levi was browsing through the tomato sauce aisle when he felt, deep in his nose, an unbelievably strong stench.
he looked around for the source of that disgrace, until his eyes met them again. them, with their greasy hair and their muddy clothes. them, the same freak from last night that stood by his house and didn't leave until the fifth car splashed water as it drove off. them, who clearly didn't shower that night.
levi gagged and brought a hand up to his mouth, trying to keep his composure as he threw in his shopping cart as many canned tomato soups as he could find before storming off, very much aware of the stench that followed him from behind.
the third time they met, levi thought he had enough. the smell wasn't worse, really, it was actually much better, but that didn't matter much to him if their shoes were still an inch deep in dirt. he was at the grocery store again, this time on the cleaning aisle, his hand ready to grab a bottle of bleach and throw at them and light them on fire, much like what you'd do to kill a vampire.
(though, in levi's opinion, a bath of bleach didn't sound like a very unappetizing way to die.)
"what do you want from me, four eyed creep?"
levi watched with bored eyes the way that they shuddered at the sound of his voice, like they somehow thought they were ever doing a good job at hiding. when they turned to face him and he saw that their glasses weren't dirty, he almost rolled his eyes. at least one thing has to be clean, huh?
"hahaha, so you saw me?" they scratched their neck, not even trying to find an excuse. levi crossed his arms and scoffed.
"you're not exactly spy material."
you see, the thing is, levi wouldn't let his guard down like that with just anybody. this wasn't his first time being followed, having experience in the business thanks to creepy vampire conspirators and angsty teenage kids, so it was safe to say that he knew how to identify a real threat when he saw one. and that four eyed creep, as messy as they were, were nothing but a little fly in the great scheme of things. but levi hated flies. he really did.
"hah, then i guess i shouldn't bother hiding anymore!"
" bother hiding?" now this time, levi rolled his eyes for real. "you weren't being sneaky, you shitty creep, that's what i was trying to say. now stop breathing on my fucking neck, you got that?" he waited for a response, but all he got was silence. he nodded, thinking it was good enough, and walked away. soon, though, like smoke in the wind, their heavy steps caught up to him.
"i've noticed that you buy a lot of cleaning stuff, don't you?" they pointed at his cart, and levi threw them a dirty look.
"what part of 'leave me alone' did you not hear?"
"somewhere between the start and the finish," they giggled, and followed levi when he walked in the tomato soup aisle.
"i've also noticed that you buy a shit ton of tomato sauce, wow! what's all that for, you run a pizza business?"
"shouldn't you know, creep?" levi ignored their laugh as he browsed through the soups for his favorite brand. the only good one.
"you really don't mind me following you around like this?"
"oh, i fucking do."
"then why don't you send me off?"
at the sight of their genuinely confused face, levi's brow twitched.
"the fuck do you think 'leave me alone' means?"
"no, yeah, yeah, but I mean," they leaned forward as if to tell him a secret, but levi stepped back. they leaned in again, and he stepped back again, and again-
"oi, stop leaning on me!"
"then stop stepping back, are you stupid?! i can't say this out loud!"
"how about you leave, then you have to say nothing at al-"
"AHAM."
they both looked to the side, at a woman whose eyes were turned into a very hard frown. behind her, tugging at her skirt, was a little girl that poked her head out every couple of seconds only to be shoved back by the protective hands of her mother. "this is a family shop, don't you know?"
"...ok, and?" levi frowned, not understanding what was happening anymore. the woman scoffed loudly before eyeing them up and down hard, making a point with her eyes before walking away, mumbling curses under her breath.
it was only then, at that moment, that levi realized he was pressed up against the wall of soups and that the ache on his back was actually one of the cans poking his side, and that they were hovering over him a lot, and that their faces were mere inches apart. he also realized, then, that he had to look up to meet their eyes, and that behind those glasses there was a distinct gleam. time froze for a second, but thawed quickly and they stepped back, clearing their throat while levi scoffed.
"what i meant was, why don't you use your powers?"
"my what now?" levi answered them half-heartedly, grabbing his cart and walking to the cashier. as expected (but not appreciated), they followed him.
"oh you know! your p-o-w-e-r-s? powers?"
"you know you don't have to whisper like that, don't you? it doesn't help maintain your 'non-creepy' image" he did quotations with his fingers, flipping them off too, just for good measure.
"but you have them, don't you?"
they both waited in line for their turn levi's turn.
"i don't know what you're talking about. if i had them, clearly i'd be the first to use them to send you off to the most isolated place in siberia."
they laughed again, and levi began to realize that was something they did a lot.
"that's why i'm asking! why don't you, if you have them??"
"and what makes you think that i do, again?"
sure, he was dragging this out. not even he understood why, but something felt funny in his chest as they had that conversation. was it fun, maybe? he couldn't tell, but it certainly couldn't be that.
"you're..." they leaned in again, but less this time, "a vampire, aren't you?"
levi started putting his canned soup on the conveyor belt, staring at them dead in the eye. "if i was, do you really think i'd just say so?"
"uh…" they looked around before meeting his eyes "...no?"
"well, you're wrong." he turned to the cashier and handed her his credit card. "i really am a vampire. all the cleaning products are to clean the mess the last body did, and the canned soup is just an excuse as to why my kitchen rags are always stained fucking red." he grabbed a mint from one of the little shelves near the register and paid for it too. the cashier didn't bat an eye as she handed him his credit card back. he turned to face them, and was pleased at the sight of wide, positively horrified eyes.
"a-and the mint?" they pointed a trembling finger in his direction, watching levi open it and pop one in his mouth, shrugging.
"oh, this? i just like 'em."
as he grabbed his bags and walked away, he was pleased to see that they were no longer following him.
inside the store, the cashier watched the scene unfold with bored eyes.
"so, you buying anything?"
they turned to her, eyes wide. "did you not hear what he just said?!?"
the cashier shrugged, and pulled her phone out.
"i've heard crazier shit in this job, believe me."
the fourth time they met was the time levi stopped counting. he was at home, writing the fifth and last report for the day, and the screen's brightness was starting to burn his eyes. he promised he'd never procrastinate on those reports ever again, especially because he knew erwin would send them right back for redo if he thought they were half assed. levi could almost see erwin's furrowed brows and pursed lips, and scoffed at the sight. if only something would come up to pull him away from work, even if only for a few minutes, he'd be eternally grateful. though he knew that wouldn't happen with his luck. suddenly all door to door sellers decided to stop business, just when he was ready to waste some money in return for a break-
DIIING
maybe not all sellers, after all.
levi jumped to his feet, stretching before walking to the front door, palming the pockets of one of the coats that were hanging by his doorway, snatching his wallet from one of them. he opened the door, but was met with the image of the old scenery of his neighborhood. then, somebody cleared their throat.
"down here."
levi looked down, and met the big turquoise eyes of a little boy. his brows were furrowed, and levi thought it had something to do with the stupid scout's hat he was wearing.
"wanna buy some cookies?" his voice was the epitome of emotionless, eyes looking to the side at someone levi couldn't see from where he stood, someone that made the boy's eyes roll before he repeated himself, even angrier this time:
"would you be interested in buying some cookies? please, sir, my sister is very sick and she needs a transplant and our father just abandoned us last week-"
"alright, eren, that's enough." the person pushed him to the side and took his place, and levi could finally see who it was. when he did, he sighed deeply.
"didn't i tell you to get a life? stop fucking following me!"
"hey, there's a kid here!"
levi looked down at the boy again, and scoffed. "that little rat is worse than me and you both, i'm sure of it."
"rat?!?"
"brat, eren, he said brat." the stranger (though really, how many times do you need to stumble into someone for them to lose their stranger status?) pushed a very angry eren back, putting their palm beside their mouth before saying "just between us, he really is though. i'm starting to get worried."
"aunt hanji!" the boy whined louder, and they patted him on the back saying sorry.
ah. so hanji it was. for some reason, levi thought the name was fitting.
"so, hi. wanna buy some cookies?" they took the box of cookies from eren's hands and held it in front of him. levi scoffed and crossed his arms, leaning against the doorframe.
"no rehearsed catchphrases this time? 'm not interested."
hanji laughed bitterly, slipping into their acting shoes very poorly, and levi didn't even know if they were actually trying to look convincing.
"you know, the truth is... it's not his sister that's sick. it's him himself. his family's in such a bad place right now that their son is having to sell cookies for his own transplant! how sad is that!" their arms flailed around as they spoke, a single crocodile tear slipping from their eyes.
levi squinted, his eyes turning into two very suspicious slits. "transplant for what?"
"what?"
"what transplant does the kid need, hanji?" he said the last word mockingly, but later he'd discover it didn't have the desired effect.
"uh..." they looked around, hoping for an excuse to pop mid air. "nose..?"
"really? a nose transplant? you had a whole body to choose from and you picked the nose?"
"the pollution's crazy these days, okay! he's gonna grow a third nostril if we don't act fast!"
hanji's desperation got to eren and he touched his nose with trembling hands, "it will?!"
levi thought the scene was pathetic. so pathetic he felt a rumbling in his chest, letting out the tiniest sound as he took a bill out of his wallet and handed it to eren, grabbing the cookie box from hanji. eren's eyes gleamed as he scrutinized the crisp bill, and he ran away holding it over his head, screaming.
"use it to pay for some acting classes, four eyes."
hanji laughed. "will do."
levi stepped back so he could close the door, but they stopped him.
"wait!"
he didn't say a thing, just waited for them to continue.
"i still don't know your name "
levi's eyes met them in a hard stare, and suddenly a light bulb lit up inside his head. then he said, right before closing the door that
"name's erwin."
the next time they met, levi was hungry.
he could feel it in every part of his body. there were goosebumps on his skin and his blood was like fire in his veins, carrying with it the venom that flooded his gums and made his fangs grow. it hurt. god, it hurt more than anything in his life, hurt more than anything in this world. he could feel the itch in his gums, telling him it was best for him to bite onto something before he died of pain, of burn, of the hunger that grew in the pit of his stomach and spread like fire through his body.
no.
he stumbled, legs quivering at every step. he had to get to his car, had to slip in and close the door first, he couldn't do this outside. a wave of fire broke over him, and he shuddered.
no, shit, shit, wait!
"erwin?"
levi didn't turn around, too scared he'd fall to his knees if he did. he didn't have to, though. because hanji was soon standing in front of him, holding his arms as he stumbled forward and fell, his plastic bag falling with a thud, cans of soup and fresh tomatoes rolling out. then, he saw it.
their neck, right in front of his face. they were kneeling in front of him, their grip strong on his arms and levi could almost taste the blood in his tongue. metallic, strong, thick and so sweet. he looked up at their eyes, and saw there a glint of panic that made his hair stand.
"shit, fuck, wait-"
he tried to speak, but the itch was getting worse, the venom in his veins sending shots of electricity to his brain.
bite.
eat.
"fuck," he breathed out, much deeper than anything hanji had ever heard before. they didn't know how to act or what to think, how to help, or what to do to contain the excitement that frothed in their chest with a rumble. levi's lips were parted and glistening with spit, his fangs poking out like two white snakes; thin and sharp, and hanji knew they had to do something before somebody walked in the parking lot and saw them. so, without a second thought, they pushed their hair back and exposed their neck. levi's nostrils flared, and he almost melted at the sight.
he knew it was an invitation. he knew, could see it in their eyes, feel it in their scent, smell it all in the air. he opened his mouth wider. leaned closer, closer, felt the hold on his arms tighten, heard hanji suck in a sharp breath, and when the itch became unbearable, he bit.
hanji closed their eyes. waited for the pain, the pleasure, anything to come out of it, but all they could hear was the sound of chewing.
"wha…?"
levi pulled away. his face was red and covered with a thin layer of sweat, glistening. his bangs were like messy curtains against his forehead, and his brows were furrowed deeply. in his lips, a line of juice dripped down to his chin, but he wiped it before it could go lower. up close, hanji realized his eyes were pure steel. he was still chewing.
"...idiot."
hanji looked down, and realized he was holding a bitten tomato. they looked back up, their mouth agape. they tried to speak, but no sound came. levi finished the tomato, his breath evening out. it was only then that hanji realized they were still holding his arms. their grip dropped, and they tried speaking again.
"erwin-"
"levi."
they frowned, and he searched for another tomato.
"just levi."
after that, levi's only escape for their questions was the guillotine.
"what'ya want? i'm busy." he opened the door to the minimum, only leaving a slit of himself to be visible to the outside. to hanji, and their stupid questions.
"i want, to know, everything! let me in, levi, let me iiinn!" they hopped on their feet like an insistent little child, and levi slammed the door shut.
"no."
"guess i'm just gonna scream to the entire neighborhood that you're a vampire then!"
levi leaned against the door and scoffed. "please, be my guest."
he heard hanji inhale dramatically, like they were giving him seconds to change his mind, but he didn't. he just felt a rumbling in his chest again, because hanji really was an idiot. in the end, they didn't go past a whispered yell of "levi is…!"
he opened the door, and sighed. "you have ten minutes." then he walked away, and hanji shouted yahooo!
"so, you don't shine in the sun, or anything?"
they were now sat across from him at the dining table, their feet kicking under the furniture, excitement rushing through their veins. at the center of the table levi's phone sat, counting the seconds before the ten minutes were up. "god, i feel like i'm in interview with a vampire!
levi frowned, and took a sip of his tea. "and i feel like i'm looking at doc brown right in the face."
hanji only giggled harder, barely swallowing their tea before speaking, "aren't you scared somebody's gonna find out?"
he shrugged behind his mug. "nah, not really. i can say it aloud at any time of the day, and nobody's gonna bat an eye, just like that time at the grocery store."
"but why? how?? i mean, if somebody saw your fangs you'd be done for!"
"you think so? nowadays, there's plenty of fake fangs you can buy anywhere, isn't there? and it just seems like the world's become desensitized to these type of stuff, so i don't really care. i could shout to the world that i drink the blood of virgins on every full moon, and nobody'd give a fuck. they just wouldn't believe me."
"but you don't, do you? drink people's blood, i mean."
levi shuddered, twisting his face in disgust. "no, i fucking don't. it tastes like fucking shit."
"huh?" hanji's head tilted to the side, and their eyes were wide and unblinking.
"so you don't…"
he shook his head.
"but HOW??!"
he flinched, and told them to shut up. they apologized, and instead whispered "but how??"
"i just need something that's red and juicy. a little hard, too, so my fangs can feel something, but that's about it. if i'm hungry i start to think blood tastes fucking good, but it's really just liquid shit in real life."
"woow..." hanji nodded, wrapping their head around what he just said. "is that why you buy so much canned soup?"
"pretty much."
"but what about all the cleaning, though? there really is no body in here?" they looked around the kitchen, their eyes lingering on the fridge. levi rolled his eyes.
"i just like cleaning."
"wooow…"
he took the last sip of his tea, and put the mug back on the table.
"but to think blood tastes horrible you'd have to taste it in the first place, wouldn't you?"
levi raised his eyes to meet theirs, his lashes shadowing his cheeks where the light hit, and for a second hanji thought that he looked just like a crow.
watching.
waiting.
"...yes."
"and.." they gulped, and if it was from excitement or fear, they didn't know. "have you?"
before levi could answer, the alarm went off, and he dismissed it with a swipe of his finger
"time to go, four eyes."
hanji just nodded, walking to the door.
once outside, they wondered if levi's gaze had suddenly hardened or if it was a trick of the light.
in the weeks that passed, hanji learned everything about levi.
he was a vegetarian vampire, which meant he didn't drink any type of human blood. hanji thought it was ridiculously comical the way the man's face twisted into a frown everytime blood was mentioned, like he could taste it in his tongue just by imagining.
he also had to train himself to survive off of tomato. the venom in his body thinks that he's drinking blood because of the color and all the juice, and hanji knows it would be pissed if it found out levi was doing nothing more than munching on an inhumane amount of tomatoes. speaking of inhumane, he had special senses too. he could smell and taste more than anyone, and his reflexes were unbelievably fast, as discovered by hanji through deep research.
("oi, will you stop throwing things at me already!"
"but you always catch them anyway!")
he also didn't shine in the light, unless he was hungry. because you see, being a vegetarian vampire didn't have as many perks as one would imagine. levi had to eat more than a normal vampire, much more, and that explained his constant visits to the grocery store, because while he didn't care if people thought he was a vampire, he still didn't have the heart to buy a month's worth of tomato soup in one go and have the entire neighborhood thinking he was a freak. so, because of that, he went shopping every other week.
because he deprived his body of normal food, he was hit by a wave of hunger almost every month, this one much stronger than just a little stomach burn telling him he needed to go eat. in those days, levi could barely walk. hanji had only seen it happen twice, and all they could think of was how it seemed like levi was holding all of his instincts in, making his whole body tremble as he walked to the fruit basket.
in those times, levi's voice became deeper. it was nothing but a rumbling in his throat, and hanji felt their hair stand in the few times they listened to it. his chest heaved and all he did was throw them a look that said it was best for them to go. they didn't come back until levi told them it was ok, through a simple text message after hanji begged him for his number.
levi vamp i'm ok.
hanjo banjo THANK GOD!!!
levi too learned a lot about hanji, though most of it was against his own will.
"…and that's the story of how i lost my first tooth!"
"if you don't mind refreshing my memory….when did i ever ask to know that?"
"you said it between the lines."
levi huffed and shook his head. "between the lines, sure."
besides their crazy childhood stories, levi also learned that they were staying in town for vacation with their brother, eren's father. now, the only thing levi actually asked to know was
"how the fuck did you find out that i was a vampire in the first place?"
at the question, hanji looked down at their lap and sheepishly scratched their neck. levi learned they did that when they were nervous.
"you know moblit, my partner in the lab? so, i told you that he forced me to take a break didn't i? so, well, i decided that i at least had the right to choose where i was going!"
levi huffed again, this time because hanji really was acting like vacation was some sort of violation of their employee's rights.
"so i browsed online for a while, tried to find the perfect place for a new adventure, when i landed on a public chat about vampire conspiracy."
levi's eyes rolled without his command.
"it was old and most of the members had signed off, but i read some of the messages anyway. that was when i saw it. in the same street where my brother lives, somebody thinks there's a vampire! they described him as grumpy, asocial and incredibly short-ow! their words, not mine!"
levi flicked their ear again. "so you just decided to stand in front of somebody's house because some weird kid told you there was a vampire there?"
hanji opened their mouth to deny, and levi hummed in victory when no sound came.
and just like that, they spent almost every day together. levi had erwin visit a couple of times, and the blond was really confused as to how the bespectacled stranger seemed to already be familiar with his name. levi reluctantly answered to all of hanji's questions and, very slowly, he started to ignore the buzz of the phone that indicated their ten minutes were up. so he stretched the minutes from ten to fifteen, to twenty, to thirty, and before he knew the phone was no longer necessary in their conversations.
it was only necessary once, at night, when levi was sitting in bed, looking out at the moon through the window. he heard his phone buzz once, then twice, and picked it up after the fourth time, rolling his eyes when he saw the caller ID.
shitty hanji.
"go to sleep."
"levii!"
at the sound of their voice, levi felt something move in his chest.
"trouble sleeping?"
"yeah, because you just fucking called me."
"aha, sorry!" the silence stretched for a few seconds, but levi didn't mind. "i can't sleep either."
"what, your smell is keeping you awake?"
"that too, but… starting tomorrow, it's my last week here."
their words were a whisper, and levi's lips pursed at the sound of sorrow in their voice.
"back to work, huh?"
"yeah…"
levi realized that, for the first time, they didn't seem to be excited to talk about their research. he felt something flutter in his chest again, but it was so quick, he could barely register it.
"you sound like a dog crying, hanji." he looked down at the floor, where the moonlight spilled out like fine tea, and whispered, "it's ok."
"i really liked meeting a real vampire. though you're a little fake." they laughed, and levi did too. the silence stretched like a blanket over them, but none seemed to fall asleep.
"… hanji."
"hm?"
"wanna know the story of how i turned?"
the words spilled out of his mouth with ease, and he wasn't even surprised. somewhere in the walls of his heart hanji must've opened a hole, because he was sure they could walk in and out as they pleased.
"you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, though."
"i do." he looked up at the moon again, and felt the fluttering cascade down to his stomach.
ah.
he breathed.
so those were butterflies
and, like that, he told them the story of his life.
"i was born in the 1900's, i can't remember the exact date. it was just me and my mom, and we struggled to make ends meet every month. she had men going in and out of the house every other day, but i didn't realize what they were doing until i was about ten.
i told her she didn't need to work anymore because i'd get a job for us, to put food on the table, and i remember she just held my face and told me it'd be alright. i stopped going to school so i could work more, but she didn't know that. things were ok for a while. i didn't see bruises or scars on her skin anymore, and she smiled at me everytime i came home. of course there wasn't enough for a new house or fancy shoes, but we could pay off our bills and eat. i was satisfied.
i grew up and got stronger, so i got a better job. i was twenty at the time. i got back home, and saw her in the bed."
a pause, and levi took in a breath. hanji didn't say a thing, but their breathing on the other side of the phone was comforting enough. levi matched their breaths. he tried again.
"she was sucked dry, that's all i remember. i tried waking her up, but somebody hit me on the head. i figured it was the bastard that did that to her, so i tried to beat him up, but he was holding me down like i weighed fucking nothing. then he bit me, and i blacked out."
hanji swallowed, unsure of what to say, or if they should even say anything at all. levi broke the silence for them.
"i figured what it was quickly, and i hated every second of it. my mind told me i had to suck on something and that it was gonna taste fucking good, but it didn't. i only had human blood once, and she probably thought it was some kinky shit, but i was really just hungry as fuck. so i bit, and it made every hair on my body stand. tasted horrible, and i knew i couldn't do that. so when i found out that i could just fool myself with tomatoes, that's what i did ever since."
once it was clear levi wouldn't speak again, hanji asked, very lowly,
"does erwin know?"
"he does. he wouldn't leave me alone if he found out i hid it from him for so long."
they both laughed, and levi felt lighter.
"will…will you live forever too? i mean you look young, but not twenty."
"i won't. i can't fool my body forever. i am aging, just very slowly. if a hundred years ago i looked twenty, now i just look thirty. but it's ok. i don't wanna live forever anyway."
hanji sighed, and levi gave them time to assimilate things.
"thank you for telling me, levi."
he just nodded, and closed his eyes. "but if you ever post this on some conspiracy chat, at least make sure people don't sign off out of boredom."
hanji laughed, and levi thought that it sounded like the twinkle of a star.
"you know, levi, i think you're very strong."
that caught him by surprise, and he stilled. the butterflies in his chest danced, and he had to put a hand over his heart to calm them down.
"i think… i think you're strong too, hanji."
the next time they met, levi thought of a quasar.
a quasar happens, in simple words, when a supermassive black hole is surrounded by big amounts of gas and dust. as the gas falls towards the black hole, energy is released, and it only ends when the black hole consumes all of the gas and dust near it. quasars are bright, and powerful, and enormous, and levi doesn't know why he thought of that until hanji smiled.
a quasar, indeed.
he let them in and walked to the couch, redying himself for another hour of questions about his bowel movements and whether or not he knew werewolves.
("for the last time, i don't know anybody that fucking howls to the moon."
"but they could be living among us, oh my god!"
levi pinched his nose and threw a pillow at them, "you could be a werewolf for all i know. you already smell like wet dog.")
they sat on the couch beside him, and turned his tv on without anything as simple as a please . levi tched. he was sure they were all over the place as a kid.
he watched them get comfortable on the couch and put their head against it, and that was when he had enough.
"that's enough, hanji."
"huh?"
"i'm washing this rat nest today, if it's the last thing i do."
"what? but i washed it last week!"
levi gagged and snatched the remote from their hands, grabbing their wrist and pulling them up and towards the bathroom.
"you know that showering too much is bad for the skin, right?" they said as levi put a towel around their neck, smacking them in the process.
"is that what you tell the health surveillance when they come banging at your door?"
"pretty much, yeah." hanji laughed and levi scoffed, pulling them towards the bathtub. he made them sit on a stool near it, while he sat on another stool beside them. he undid their ponytail, throwing the hair tie right on the trash bin.
"hey, that was my favorite!"
"why, because it helped you camouflage in the trash? lean down and throw you hair over your face. yeah, like that."
he grabbed the little shower head and started soaking their hair.
"i don't know how you survived the 1900's, being such a clean freak! did you know that back then, the stronger the body odor the more respected you were?"
levi sneered in disgust. "yeah, you pulled that one right out of your ass. stay still or i'm gonna get shampoo in your eyes."
hanji realized, then, that levi was very gentle with his hands. he massaged their scalp gently, calmly, like he was a single snowflake drifting down to meet a flower, his fingers telling them more about him than his words ever could.
the smell of his shampoo was citric and soft, barely a whisper of scent twirling in the air as he washed it off with cold water.
"ouch! couldn't you at least choose warm water??"
"if your hair gets into contact with even a little bit of heat, i'm sure it's gonna catch on fire."
hanji raised their head and looked at him dead in the eye"…was that your subtle way of calling my hair dry?"
levi pushed their head back down and smirked, "oh, was i subtle?"
hanji threw their head back and splashed water all over his face, laughing at the way he cursed.
when he was done washing, levi told them to sit with their back to him so he could brush their hair. he started from the ends and slowly made his way to the top, gentle enough so that they wouldn't get a headache afterwards. he was surprised to find that their hair was slightly curly at the ends, and for some reason seeing hanji, now sitting facing him with a huge smile and wet hair, made the butterflies in his chest sigh contently. they didn't wear glasses, and he could see the stars twinkling in those eyes.
their lips were moving so he was sure they were saying something, but he didn't know for sure. didn't know, because he was lost in a trance looking at those big brown eyes.
"…levi?"
"hm?"
"everything ok?"
he looked down at their lips and back at their eyes, and his hand touched their hair on its own accord.
"can i kiss you?
a whisper, softer than the flutter of a butterfly's wings.
hanji's cheeks went pink, and they nodded wordlessly.
when levi leaned in, it was like a star was born.
there's a sense of calm in the seconds before a storm. in the seconds that it takes for the sun to leave and for darkness to take over, in those times, the world holds its breath, still, waiting for the first drop to fall to start its symphony again.
you see, that's the thing. the world's always singing. it's singing in the seconds you take to compose yourself in front of your parents, having called them there because you have something important to say, something that starts with 'this is not my dream' , and 'i don't know what i want to do with my life yet.'
it's also singing when you're angry because your parents didn't approve of your choice, and now you'll have to start all over again, from the beginning, because 'we know what's best for you' is always more important than 'i don't wanna do this for the rest of my life.'
the world sings when you're in love, and the song is different for everyone. to the boy across the street it sounds like heavy metal in a soundproof room, and to the cashier at the grocery store it sounds like the ding ding ding of coins falling to the ground. to levi, though, it's none of these things at all.
to him love sounds like the first snowflake of a snowstorm, and smells like lemon, and orange, and just a little bit of dirt. to him love feels warm, and tight, and soft where he lies his head on hanji's chest, breathless because of love, love, love.
there's a sense of calm in the seconds before a storm. levi knows that very well, but that calm is no longer his favourite. because in the next morning, when he wakes up to an extra weight on his matress and an arm around his waist, he thinks that calm is best hidden between the first rays of sunshine, when they hit his window and project light on his lover's hair.