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Erwin, yur dad is hott

High school Levi happens to think nerdy little Erwin’s dad is kinda hot.

For the crazy talented @Cherrymoyaya who requested, and as always, tinypredator who inspires all my eruri feels ;; Based on my HS AU with some jerk

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The final bell rang, and Levi carefully packed away his things in his backpack as the other kids scrambled out the door amidst shrieks and whoops of laughter. The hallways were already packed with boys and girls herding each other out the double doors and into hazy afternoon freedom, but it was a fair few minutes until the only two left were him and Erwin standing on opposite ends of the hall, grinning knowingly at each other.

Every day was much the same: Erwin was at the lockers at 2:55 everyday without fail, waiting for Levi with the same eager grin, hair combed neatly to the side, uniform still pristine in spite of the day’s length, hands in his pockets, satchel slung over his shoulder and looking every bit the proper prep school boy. Levi, on the other hand, had his tie pulled loose, shirt untucked and crested jacket thrown over his shoulder the moment he was allowed to be unkempt, a slovenly example in close juxtaposition to the perfect one, though Erwin never seemed to mind.

They usually walked through the park and got hot dogs or pizza, depending on their mood, then took the 1 train to the Upper West Side and get to Erwin’s apartment just in time to watch Yugioh at 4PM while eating rocky road ice cream. The rest of the afternoon was spent in comfortable silence as they did their homework, shooting each other stupid faces over calculus problems and long passages about the Russian Revolution.

Sometimes, if a project took too long, Levi would stay over, and they’d fall asleep in Erwin’s bed, facing each other without touching, though sometimes when he was sure Erwin was sleeping, Levi would reach out and hook their pinkies together and fall asleep just so.

Today, they had vanilla roasted nuts by Lincoln Center and picked up a few roasted pork buns for the road from Ollie’s Chinese restaurant before going home, racing out the subway toward Riverside. Breathless, laughing, they bounded up the stairs and down the long, circuitous corridor towards Erwin’s apartment, and slipped inside to be greeted not by the customary reverberate stillness, but something quite new.

"Crap," Erwin muttered under his breath, and Levi looked up from where he was carefully removing his shoes in the doorway.

"What’s wrong?" he asked, following Erwin’s line of sight to see the satchel on the table in the hall, precariously propped up against a vase full of lilies that threatened to slide off under the weight of it.

"My parents are home," Erwin explained soberly, sounding more than a little mournful.

"Is that bad?" Levi asked, trepidation seeping in as he noted Erwin’s discomfort.

Before he could reply, a peal of laughter like a graceful arpeggio sounded just beyond the threshold, and two people who could be no one but Erwin’s parents appeared with surprised expressions at the appearance of the boys.

Severine Smith was an unfairly beautiful woman, lithe and cygneous, with delicate hands like doves that alit on Erwin’s shoulder and brushed fondly against his pale blond hair. “Darling, where have you been?” she asked, her voice as sweet as a larks, large blue eyes framed by long, mascaraed lashes, looking over her son as though she were examining him.

"I went to get some food," he mumbled, the tips of his ears turning red at her affections. “I went with my friend, Levi.” He turned to look at him with a mordant expression on his face that Levi had never seen before, and he gestured to him with an open hand. “This is Levi. Levi, these are my parents.”

Erwin’s mother smiled warmly and extended her hand, which Levi took tentatively. “I’m Dr Smith,” she introduced herself, grasping with both hands delicately. “So lovely to meet you. Levi, is it? Am I saying that right?”

Levi nodded silently, smiling as best he could, though he was awkward in spite of her congenial welcome. But if Levi was intimidated by Erwin’s mother, he was terrified of his father.

As the face of The Aletheia News Hour, Corvus Smith was a well-known journalist, recently granted a Peabody Award for his coverage of the Gulf War. He’d braved war zones and enemy territories, uncovered the scathing truth about truly dastardly military tactics on both sides of the conflict, and all sorts of sundry, foolhardy gambles which Levi, along with the rest of America, had followed with baited breath over the years. The legend was enough to deal with separate from the man, and Levi found he was moments away from having to negotiate both.

He was unexpectedly tall, stately in his posture which was augmented by the well-tailored navy suit he wore. Broad shoulders pulled back into a stance like a dare, ice blue eyes unabashedly scrutinizing him as he prudently held his hand out in greeting. “Nice to meet you, Levi,” he said evenly, and it was impossible to discern whether this was his strange brand of serious welcome or whether he was wary of Levi. Either way, Levi regretted his disheveled appearance and avoided Corvus’ eyes as much as he was able.

"Nice to meet you," Levi repeated, doing his best to smile and instead producing a fantastically awkward grimace.

"You must be the new boy," Corvus said, his tone not unkind, relaxing himself a bit as he noted the kid’s unease. “Ackerman, right? I recognize your name from the class list this year. If I’m not mistaken, you’re the scholarship student?”

Levi colored, his cheeks and ears turning crimson, as though the question were an accusation. “Um. Yeah. That’s … that’s me.”

"Well, good for you," Corvus said, raising a thick brow in amusement. “It’s nearly impossible to get into Rose Lyceum without money or a name.” Corvus noted a twitch in Levi’s brow that indicated it might have been a sensitive subject and reached out to clap him reassuringly on the shoulder. “Nothing to be ashamed of. Embrace it. I matriculated from that school. So did my wife. In fact, she was a scholarship student, as well. The kids there may not take kindly to you only because you’re an outsider. I’d like to be kind say it’s because they’re protective of their own kind and their way of life, but really, they don’t know how to handle people who are unlike them. But we live in a meritocracy, and I still fully believe in the virtues of a self-made man. You’ve already made it into their world, now take them for all they’ve got, and show them the success of hard work. My wife did it, and I know you’ll do the same.”

Levi was bright crimson, but now the smile on his face was genuine. He nodded and whispered a shy, “Okay,” to which Corvus drew back with a satisfied grin.

"Good man," he said approvingly, and Levi blushed anew. "Do you two want anything for dinner or should we leave you alone?”

Erwin held up the bag of pork buns in his hand, and his parents made understanding sounds and wandered on back towards the living room. “Let us know if you need anything at all,” Severine called, voice echoing shallowly from down the hall.

"They’re nice," Levi said, once they were comfortably alone in Erwin’s bedroom.

The blond shrugged, focusing a little too intently on the task of extracting his science textbook from his satchel. “They’re fine,” Erwin agreed tersely, tossing his book onto his desk with a dull but accosting thud. “They’re never around. My mom’s always following him on location, or they’re taking extended vacations together. One time, my mom took a 4 month sabbatical and they left me here with the butler. So, I don’t know, I’m used to them being gone. Whenever they’re around it just sort of cramps my style, you know?”

"At least they like spending time together," Levi said quietly. "They look like they’re really in love.” Erwin said nothing. “Your mom’s really pretty. And your dad seems really cool.”

"Yeah, you were practically drooling over my dad," Erwin said, a bitterness in his tone that shocked and unnerved Levi. “Join the club. Everyone does.”

Levi stared a moment at Erwin as the blond scribbled furiously in his notebook , purposefully avoiding looking at Levi. The hard knit of his brows was intimidating, but there was a sadness to the paleness of his eyes that broke his heart. Of course Erwin would feel lost in the shadows of his family’s accomplishments, especially of his father, who was so present in the public eye, whose renown must have made it nearly impossible to escape the mention of.

It was true Corvus was charming, handsome, a bit dashing, even. But how was Levi supposed to tell Erwin that there was nothing more evocative to him than the hue of Erwin’s eyes, that nothing in this world allayed the pervasive devastating loneliness Levi felt every second of every day like the scintillating brilliance of Erwin’s easy smile, that everything wrong with the world disappeared and faded into the periphery when Erwin was around, that contentment was something he’d never known until him. He wanted to reach out and tuck away the lock of soft blond hair that fell over his eyes, to stroke his cheek and tell him every fond, clandestine stirring of his heart. Instead, he opened his textbook and plopped down into the chair next to him, spreading his knees a little wide just to brush against Erwin’s own, his silent way of saying “I choose you, you idiot.”

It was as close as he dared to a confession, this boy who only dared touch his best friend’s fingers while he slept. And until he summoned the courage to say or do anything more, he prayed at least this much would suffice.

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