“Arrogant…” Levi grumbles, turning away from Erwin to focus on the task at hand — kneading a fresh loaf of bread for them. He punches and folds the dough roughly. “Hey,” Erwin tries to sooth over his misstep. Entering Levi’s space and placing his hands over Levi’s biceps in a comforting gesture. “I didn’t mean to offend you. I know that this world can be cruel.” Levi tenses, but doesn’t shake Erwin’s hands off of him. “Yeah? And just what do you know of the cruelties of this world?” “I know what it’s like to never know one's own history — to be the cause of another’s death.” “Stop speaking in riddles, I’m in no mood for your cryptic enigmatics.” “My mother perished while delivering me,” Erwin’s voice is a ghost of a whisper against Levi’s ear. The admission eases Levi’s kneading of the dough, Erwin’s hands sliding down to his forearms. “I never knew my father.” “My father was put to death because of my actions…” Levi can hear the strain in Erwin’s voice as he unravels his tale. He can feel the way Erwin’s heart staggers against his spine with how close they’re pressed together. “He was a scholar, but he wanted to say goodbye to her, my mother. Nothing nefarious, nothing evil, he simply wanted to let her know that she could rest easy. That we loved her and that he would protect me.” Levi bites his lip at the admission. Communing with the dead is dangerous — even if the intent is whole and good. “I was excited to talk to my mother, mentioned it while in the market. The royal guards were on our doorstep the next day, and they strung my father up in the gallows.” Erwin’s hands are now on Levi’s own and Levi finally relents on his working of the dough. He knows Erwin doesn’t worry about filth in the same way he does, so he simply spins around in Erwin’s hold. It forces Erwin to drop his hands from Levi, but Levi places his own flour covered fingers to Erwin’s jaw. “Don’t blame yourself. Those people, the masses,” Levi swallows, he’s never been good with words. He’s brilliant with the ancient tongues that summon power from his core, but he’s shit when it comes to talking to people. “They never understand. They always fear what they can’t see. Only trust what those pious lot in the church tell them about the unknown.” Erwin let’s Levi’s words pull at the corners of his lips, but the look in his eyes is still downturned. “They burned my mother,” Levi confesses. “She was an herbalist, but that didn’t garner enough to put food on the table. So she had other clients in the evenings. One asked for too much…” Levi swallows, emotions he’s never quite faced bubbling in his stomach. They’re sour and acrid, and leave a rancid taste of sulfur on the back of his throat. “They asked for me, and she…She told him no.” Levi is shaking now, using his hold on Erwin and the counter behind him for support as he remembers that night. The way his mother had screamed at the man. He’d torn her dress, and she’d ripped out a chunk of his hair as he’d made a move towards Levi. She’d yelled at Levi to run, but he’d been too afraid to move — he’d cried for his mother, begging her to make the bad man leave. In the end, she’d thrown a vial of giant hogweed sap at him. The glass shattered against the back of his head, glass digging into his neck and ear while the burning extract seeped into the pores of his skin. He’d screeched in agony and called Levi’s sweet mother a witch. “The village burned her that very night.” “Oh Levi…” Erwin wraps his arms around Levi’s slim waist. “Oh my sweet Poppy.” Levi allows the contact, slipping his arms further up and around Erwin’s neck. He buries his face against the soft skin of Erwin’s throat and breathes in the scent of pine and leather and musk. He doesn’t see the way Erwin’s grin turns nefarious above his head.
The amazing @gravesecret and I teamed up for an exciting Halloween Collab, and it has been a ton of fun working with them. They're so gosh talented it is insane, and the art they created for this one-shot is stunning. It took my breath away from the very first rough-sketch. The final piece left me absolutely floored.
Make sure you go give the artwork a like and reblog here on Tumblr or over on X. And give them a follow on the new haven that is Bluesky.
Read "My Poppy Witch" here on AO3
Rating, Tags, and Summary Beneath the Cut ✂
