With Erwin staring at him intently from across the table, and a sense of uncertainty lingering in the very back of his mind, Levi began the explanation that he oh so desperately wanted to avoid.

Who the fuck even went through their life explaining what was in their basement to a stranger? Certainly not a regular person but Levi wasn't a regular person in any sense. The fact that he made Erwin clean up with him was enough to indicate.

"Okay, first of all, I knew a room like that existed but I didn't know where," Levi started, deciding there was no use to sugar coat anything. Erwin was a grown man for fucks sake, he'd definitely have to know how to handle truth. "My family comes from a long line of criminals but they slowed when I was born. They mainly dealt drugs as far as I was led to believe and occassionally, well, murder people I guess. I don't know much about what else they did but that's the reason I'm the only member of my family alive besides one of my Uncles who travels the world or something. Everyone else was killed."

Erwin sat in silence patiently and sipped his water slowly as Levi also sat without saying a word and swirled his water around before drinking it in the interestingly peculiar way he always did.

Add one more thing to the list of endearing things the raven hair did that Erwin subconsciously noticed.

"You know, I met you like four hours ago yet you've already told me one of your family's secrets. Aren't you worried that I could possibly tell?" Erwin asked, looking into Levi's eyes.

"No, I'm not. You appear nice enough and even if you did tell, then what could I do?" Levi asked with a shrug. "Well anyway, I think we should clean ourselves up and then find a way to get you home tomorrow unless you wanna leave already."

Erwin weighed his choices. He could immediately call and get someone within the hour and be on his way, simply thanking Levi over his shoulder and never associating with him again which seemed like a logical choice, or, he could remain. Levi was interesting in a good way and Erwin hadn't met someone like him before. Of course, with his profession he met all kinds of weird people but Levi was another kind of interesting that he wished to be around and get to know properly.

How fucking creepy.

"If you don't mind, can I stay the night? I don't think the weather is going to die down anytime soon."

"Stay if you like but just know that you will have to help me with basic chores once again tomorrow morning."

Erwin chuckled and stood from the table to take his glass to the sink. Remembering that Levi exalted cleanliness above all, he washed his cup and set it to dry.

Levi found a pair of clothes that Erwin could use and they both got cleaned up in relatively no time which resulted in Erwin finding his way to the kitchen again although quicker than before and he sat on a chair to wait for Levi to appear. It took another two minutes when Levi appeared in the kitchen with a long-sleeved, blue summer dress paired with a pair of black ankle socks to protect his feet from the cold, marble floor.

"Well, I have no idea what you like to eat but I'm going to cook. So tell me if there are certain things you can't eat," Levi announced, tying the apron strings around his neck and waist."

"You cook as well?" Erwin asked, surprised. "I'm starting to feel more and more useless the more I spend time with you."

Levi gave an amused look and shook his head a bit.

"There's no need to feel useless. All I can do properly is house chores and that's about it. Unlike you, I don't know how to care for a horse, hunt, and I assume heavy duty work. We both have things we're good at but that doesn't mean they're the same things."

Erwin smiled at the uplifting words and nodded in understanding.

"Good. Now is there anything you can't eat?" Levi asked again.

"Nope. Nothing I can think of," Erwin answered. "I'm not picky with anything."

"Great," Levi replied, ignoring the words that could hold double meaning if looked into.

The raven haired took out everything he needed and set off to create the meal. It was quiet at first with Erwin watching the shorter male's movements until the silence was broken not long after.

"Did you get anything?" Levi asked.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't really listening. What did you say?"

"I was just asking if you managed to get anything while hunting," Levi repeated, looking up at the large blond that sat at his hardwood table with crossed arms.

"Oh yeah, I did! It was a stag! Those things are hard to get, you know?" Erwin said with excitement, leaning over the table from his seat as if to try and get the words to Levi's ears faster. "So I was with a few of my friends and one of them saw movement and we thought it was just some fox because we didn't see anything so we brushed it aside. But then like ten seconds later I saw its antlers and boy was I excited. So without making noise or telling my friends I loaded my rifle and shot it in the head! My friends were so surprised and kind of upset that they didn't see it first but anyways," Erwin rambled and Levi smiled to himself at the excitement of the other. Who knew shooting an animal in the head would bring such joy. "Well, we had just started hunting so we dragged it back to our equipment while someone stayed behind to skin it. We managed to get a few more quails and a boar but that's all. We were heading back and we noticed it was going to rain so I handed my bigger rifle so that someone could take our weapons back to where we started and the rest of us would carry the kills. It was on the way back I somehow managed to get so far into the forest I ended up finding you," Erwin trailed off, suddenly realizing he had been speaking enough to tell his life story. "Oh sorry, I'm rambling."

Erwin looked away from Levi slightly embarrassed but the male only let out a slight chuckle. He had to admit, it was quite contrasting to stereotypes that someone big and strong and undeniably handsome like Erwin was capable of expressing such emotions and joy like he had just done and that was beautiful.

"It's fine. You're the first person that I've spoken to in ages. It's kind of nice to talk to someone once in a while."

"Have you taken a liking to my company? Or perhaps me?" Erwin teased.

"Now, now Blondie. Don't get ahead of yourself. I can't possibly like you. You don't even know how to clean properly yet."

"Is that all I need to know?" Erwin asked with a glint in his eye.

"That's the most important thing," Levi answered, looking at Erwin who was in his original position and leaning back in his chair with crossed arms.

Erwin smiled and continued watching Levi cook. They remained quiet for a while longer before Erwin thought of a question that he wasn't sure if he wanted to ask. He didn't want to be foolish and say something that could land him in the basement. Surely, Levi didn't seem to be that kind of person but that didn't mean it didn't run in his blood.

"What's wrong? You're making that constipated face again but I doubt it's because I'm short."

Erwin glanced at Levi and chuckled. "No, it's not because of that. I just wanted to ask you a question but I'm not sure if I should."

"Just spit it out. I don't think whatever you ask will bother me."

"Well, I just, I was-"

"Blondie, I don't think forming a sentence is that hard," Levi interrupted with that bored look he had when he was getting antsy.

"Well, I was just wondering why you like wearing dresses. There's nothing wrong but I was just wondering if you have a specific reason."

"Oh," Levi glanced down at his dress and thought for a bit. "I think it's just because my Mother let me do almost anything I wanted when I was younger. I would always try on her clothes or makeup and she didn't mind. My grandparents never said anything because Mother said it was okay which meant they were okay with it as well. After a while, I didn't like makeup because it felt weird but I loved my Mother's dresses so she bought me a few and I would wear them when I felt in the mood."

Erwin nodded in understanding and smiled at the story.

"She must have been a nice woman," Erwin said quietly.

"Definitely. She was a wonderful woman but she died because she was from the Ackerman family. The people that killed them believed that leaving all of them alive could be dangerous. Well, that's what I assume. I wasn't murdered because I was only nine and I didn't realize what was happening around me."

"So you've been living alone since then?" Erwin asked, surprised.

"No. I had my uncle. He watched over me until I was around thirteen before he left to travel or whatever he does."

"I see, I see. How old are you now?"

"Geez. Am I being interviewed?" Levi asked with an amused voice. "I'm twenty-one. It's not fair that you know that so tell me your age as well."

"I'm twenty-five."

Levi squinted his eyes at Erwin with doubt. He couldn't figure out if he was doubtful because he assumed Erwin to be older or because his cheerful nature seemed to make him younger. Either way, it wasn't like it was his business to be concerned.

"What?" Erwin asked, noticing the other's expression. "I really am twenty-five. I'm not that much older than you even though it's four years."

"Alright. By the way, there's a landline by the front door. You can use it to call someone."

Erwin nodded and got up to use the phone. He quickly dialed his Mother first, ensuring her that he was okay. He figured someone had told her that he was 'lost' and he was right. He then called one of his friends to see if they could come and meet him at the castle estate the following morning. He didn't take long before he headed back to the kitchen where Levi was busy dealing with the food on the stove.

"Do you need help?" Erwin asked, walking closer to where Levi was, glancing in the pots.

"Be a dear and set the table, will you?"

Erwin was surprised by the way the question was said but said nothing, figuring Levi had once spoken like that at some point before he was left with no one and now was the time it slipped so naturally.

"Oh damn, I didn't mean to say that," Levi lied. "I was gonna say something else but that came out instead." He yelled at his insides, knowing full well that the him inside of him had been experimenting with the type of speech he had read inside books. Besides, he hadn't spoken to anyone in a while and he decided to just blame it on that. Why did everything suddenly feel so fucking domestic?

"It's fine. It didn't feel like that would be something you would say anyway."

Doing as told, Erwin set the table right before the food was ready. As they sat across from each other, really fucking domestic, Erwin praised Levi for the delicious meal and Levi couldn't help but feel his insides swim and his throat restrict from the praise. Fuck that feeling.

But considering they were tired from the long evening and still learning how to tango instead of dance around each other, they decided that heading to bed early so that they would be well-rested for the next day was the best option.

Levi took Erwin to a room on the second floor and wished him good night. But while Erwin was peacefully sleeping, Levi headed to the attic and sat by a window to look at the stars.

He had decided he would sleep within a few hours but spending some time looking at the stars had always comforted him. He didn't know how long he sat there, talking to himself, to his dead Mother, to whoever listened, but after a while, he got up and switched on the light.

In a corner stood his piano and he walked over to it to play a song. He knew that if he got carried away he would end up waking up Erwin so he decided on a quiet song like 'Clair de lune' to which he could allow himself to feel sucked into without being aggressive. He rested his fingers on the correct keys and closed his eyes while his fingers did their job of using muscle memory to construct lovely music. It relaxed him from the stress he had gathered throughout the day and that was exactly what he needed.

Levi played until he felt completely relaxed and then walked to the middle of the room to do some stretches. It was nearing 3 AM already and that's when he decided he would get dressed into softer clothes and try to get at least an hour's worth of sleep. He did get sleep but unfortunately, it was normally only for near an hour before he was woken up for no reason and that night was no different from the others.

The only thing keeping him from throwing a rage fit due to lack of sleep was the blond who would definitely hear him and that he did not want.