FicWad

Warm . . .

Through the haziness of lifting unconsciousness that fogged his mind, Erwin could tell he was warm. Very warm. The warmth was radiating from something pressed up against him, nestled comfortably in the curve of his body, its head resting against his chest. Mumbling something so incoherent that even he wasn't sure what it was supposed to be, Erwin pulled the small form against his chest and nuzzled a mop of silky hair as his eyes flickered open sleepily.

Wait . . . warm?

"Awake, are you?"

Erwin let out a rather unflattering yelp when the bundle of blissful warmth spoke in an amused chuckle, and he hurried to disentangle himself from the creature. A chuckle reached his ears, and he blinked rapidly, trying to speed the process of his vision clearing. He didn't know if it helped, really, but he saw pretty blue eyes crinkled at the corners, and then a face shimmered into view, much too close to his own.

The vampire - Levi, his mind helpfully supplied - hovered over him on all fours, amusement written all over his face in the squinting eyes and crooked smile. It took a moment for Erwin to realize Levi was checking him over, and a warm hand pressed against his forehead moments later. Levi held it there for a few moments, staring intensely into his eyes, and Erwin fidgeted under the stare. Then, nodding to himself in what seemed to be satisfaction, he withdrew his hand.

"You recovered well. No fever, good blood circulation." The vampire sat up, crossing his arms. Erwin had so many questions, but Levi didn't give him an opportunity to ask them. "You've gotten quite a few messages over the past two days."

"Two days?"

Erwin rubbed at his eyes blearily, a little more comfortable now that he had space and Levi had proven he wasn't going to maul him or anything. It took a long moment, but the memories from before he passed out came back in a rush, and he made a strangled noise between a grunt and gasp as he tried to get up.

"Two days! Zoe must be worried sick!" His eyes flickered to his wrist, and he did a double take at the sight of smooth, unmarred skin. "What the - what? Didn't you - ?"

"I did," Levi intercepted with all the quiet patience of a kindergarten teacher explaining something to a baffled five year old. "I bit you, and admittedly, perhaps got a little carried away. So I sealed it up, and stuck around to make sure you didn't die because of me." He shifted, sitting cross-legged on the bed. "Don't worry about your friend for the moment. You have other concerns, I'm sure."

Erwin nodded mutely. Levi stuck around to make sure he didn't die. That was . . . more compassion than he expected from an undead immortal, though he didn't exactly know standard vampire hospitality, either. Did he really have a vampire in his bedroom? Sitting across from him?

Erwin mirrored Levi's position, crossing his legs and taking in the man's appearance. He looked absolutely impeccable now. The bags under his eyes from before were completely imperceptible, and not a hair was out of place. He definitely didn't look sickly anymore, though his skin was like porcelain, a barely there hint of fleshy color making him look much less unnatural than he would otherwise. His eyes were a piercing blue, and it contrasted so sharply with his hair and skin that it took Erwin's breath away.

He cleared his throat. "First thing's first, I suppose. Are you really a . . . you know?"

"Yes" In an instant, all that ethereal beauty shifted to something akin to irritation, and Erwin knew right then that this wasn't Levi's first rodeo. Before he could ask another question, the vampire rattled off, "I am a vampire, yes, I am infinitely older than I look, and as you may have noticed, I do, in fact, drink blood."

Erwin was ticking the questions off on mental fingers, rather embarrassed. All standard questions, and Levi knew to answer them before he even asked. Not only had he clearly answered them countless times, but Erwin apparently couldn't even come up with unique ones for a creature he'd spent his entire life researching.

"I am not terribly susceptible to sunlight, but I am sensitive. I am far stronger than any human, and no, I am not willing to demonstrate that. I can process human food but have no need for it nor does it gain me anything. And yes, I am capable of magic."

Erwin was silent for a moment. He felt small under the vampire's expectant stare, despite being much larger, but he refused to show it, because he'd just thought of a question Levi hadn't answered.

"Are all vampires capable of magic?"

"Capable, yes. Adept?" Levi let out a quiet scoff, surprising Erwin. The vampire had something of an attitude when he wasn't gravely injured. He supposed vampires couldn't all be regal. "Let us say it is easier for some than others."

Erwin wracked his brain, thinking back to the previous night, or whenever it was Levi woke up. What else was there? Had he done anything? Said anything?

A curious thought struck him. Alpha. He remembered reading up on dynamics, on the way vampires worked back when the war happened. There wasn't much known besides that there was a power structure - and that as far as humans knew, Alphas stood at the top. Erwin was not particularly interested in that, at the moment; all he had was one vampire, so power dynamics did not mean much to him.

More interesting, though, was the reasoning behind Levi's use of the name. "You called me Alpha."

The vampire's eyebrows shot up like arrows fired from a bow and his eyes widened ever so slightly. Surprise? Embarrassment?

"I . . . I called you that?"

Based on the flustered response, Erwin could make a few guesses as to what it meant to him. Grinning suggestively, Erwin asked, "Does it have anything to do with you sleeping with me?"

Levi shook his head and covered half his face with a hand. "It is nothing. I slept next to you to share heat. You restored my life, so I could restore my magic and warm you while you recovered. Nothing more." He removed his hand, and his expression was composed once more. "Next question."

Erwin had a very strong feeling there was a lot more. "Are you sure?"

"Next."

Erwin was stumped again, but despite the vaguely chiding looks, Levi waited patiently. He asked the next most obvious question he could think of. "What happened that night? The night I took you in. What happened to you?"

The airs Levi put up dropped in an instant. His expression was guarded, expectedly so. Erwin couldn't say he was surprised by it. Finding a half-dead vampire in an alley so desperate he begged a human to take him to safety? That was definitely bound to be a hell of a story to tell the grandkids.

"I have enemies," Levi finally said, notably evasively. Erwin couldn't fault him for it. "A lot of them. Had you not arrived, they would have killed me. Had you left me there, they would have returned to finish the job. So . . . I thank you."

Erwin was a tad baffled at the earnest way Levi spoke, but tried to take it in stride, rubbing at his neck a tad awkwardly. Obviously, the situation had been dire, as Levi was dying, but he'd had absolutely no idea it was quite so black and white.

"Well, I can't turn down someone in need," he said modestly, and Levi cracked a smile at the sentiment. "And you - you're proof what I've been trying to say for years. You actually exist!"

"Yes, Erwin." It was the second time Levi had ever said his name, and now that he was properly awake, Erwin found he very much liked the curious way he pronounced it, rolling the 'r' a bit. "I do, in fact, exist."

"Imagine if I could tell Hange!" And then Erwin's face fell. "But I shouldn't tell them, should I?"

Surprisingly, Levi merely shrugged. "I don't care who you tell," he said honestly. "You have this knowledge, and you can do whatever you want with it. Just remember that I am not an exotic animal," he warned, "and that I will not be placed in danger."

The end of his sentence was punctuated by a startling flash of silver eyes, so brief Erwin thought he had imagined it. His throat was suddenly dry; he swallowed past the lump in his throat and nodded.

"That's reasonable," he agreed.

They sat there for a moment, staring somewhat awkwardly at one another, Erwin waiting for some cue that he was free. Levi granted it to him in the form of picking up his cell phone from the end table and handing it over. He pressed it firmly into Erwin's hand, staring into his eyes, and gave a curt nod.

"Message your friend. I'm sure they're quite concerned about you. Tell them what you've found, if you'd like."

"Who, you mean," Erwin corrected. Levi rolled his eyes and granted him a brief smile.

"I'm flattered."

Erwin took the flat tone as his cue, unlocking the phone and opening the messaging app. Seventeen missed texts flashed at him, ranging from bubbly to concerned, and three missed calls winked at him from the notification pane. He felt instantly guilty, and tried hard to think of something worth sending. Finally, he settled on short and to the point:

I'm fine. I think I found something huge, Hange, but I can't just tell you over the phone. Come over? We really need to talk.

.-.-.-.-.

"Erwin Smith!"

Hange made a beeline for him the moment they were out of the elevator and spotted him standing outside his apartment door. He held his arms open and they threw themselves at him in a massive bear hug, both squeezing the other tight. Hange pulled back and swatted his chest, annoyed.

"You've kept me waiting far too long!" they griped. "You have that look in your eyes, Erwin. I demand to know where the hell you've been."

"Resting," Erwin answered truthfully. Hange did not look impressed.

"This had better be a hell of a discovery," they said flatly.

"It's crazy," Erwin admitted. His smile slipped a notch, his voice going from pleased to see them to serious. "You may ridicule me, or even think I'm flat out stupid, but you have to believe me, okay?"

Hange placed their hands on their hips. "Spit it out, Erwin."

"I found a vampire."

Erwin didn't know what response he had expected from his best friend. He honestly and truly hadn't thought about it. He could say for certain, though, that he didn't expect a deadpan stare.

"Did you, now?"

They thought he was pulling their leg, he realized. They looked so exhausted, so dead inside. Had he done this? No doubt they had spent the last two days absolutely miserable, worried sick for him, and now he was spouting what she had always thought was nonsense. Erwin felt guilty, but furrowed his eyebrows determinedly. He was going to convince Hange this time.

"I have proof," he insisted. Hange only stared at him as if he'd grown a second head, probably wondering why they had even bothered to worry about him.

Erwin opened the door to the apartment and allowed Hange inside. On a couch in the living room sat Levi, picking at his nails idly with his legs crossed. He had dressed himself in simple gray sweats and a t-shirt of Erwin's - not exactly the epitome of undead immortal, but it was better than the tattered clothes he'd arrived in. Erwin cleared his throat.

"Levi, meet my friend."

Levi didn't bother to look up at them. He seemed so very over the whole thing, and it hadn't even started. "Hello, Erwin's friend," he greeted blandly. "My name is Levi, and as this wonderful idiot probably already told you . . . "

He trailed off, staring at Hange with a strange expression, like he was thinking hard. For an instant, his eyes turned brilliant silver, then they widened, and he stood up with his mouth hanging slightly open. Erwin looked at Hange and found them in a similar state. Hand over their mouth, eyes open wide, tears pricking at the corners. Their shoulders trembled, and they lowered their hand to show an also trembling lip.

Levi's voice was hoarse, thick with emotion when he spoke into the silence.

"Four-Eyes?"

Hange swallowed hard, and the tears fell shamelessly down their cheeks. They reached out with a hesitant hand, and Levi did the same, linking their fingers together.

"Short-stack . . . "