Sphynx: What started as a rather crack idea that turned into an actual plot, my roommate and I have been working on this religiously since earlier this month. This story is going to be long, guys - prepare for a ride! While the end game will be ereri, we will have multiple, multiple pairings. And one tiny surprise as we we enter the canon period :) Jump on guys, let us know your feels, and we hope you enjoy everything!

Jenforthewin: Hello lovelies! I wanted to give a run down on how the chapters are going to go. Sphynx is going to be writing from Eren's point of view and I shall be writing from Levi's. Seems like teach time period is going to take 2-3 chapters, and we're each in charge of one time period so we will specify which author is writing what as it goes on but eventually I'm sure you'll get it. ANYWAY. Have fun reading and flailing. *gives kisses and puppies and chocolates or fruit, whichever you prefer*

ALSO!

you can find us on tumblr. I am JeneralGrievous and she is Websterwolf. Feel free to add us or message us or whatever, yo. 3

1792 - London, England

Eren can tell he is being watched. At first, he thought perhaps it was only a mirage or a figment of his imagination that he has seen over the past couple of days. A dark figure that darts in and out of the corner of his eye and disappears the moment Eren turns to see the figure closely. However, as he begins to see the figure more and more often, Eren realizes this is not something of the imagination, but an actual person that seems to be stalking him.

Tonight is no different than any other night and most certainly no different than every Wednesday night. Eren pulls on the rest of his clothing and turns to smile at the girl on the bed who is stretched out like a content cat. Her eyes meet his momentarily and she stretches once more before she sits up and moves toward the end of the bed, the closest she can get to Eren without standing up. "Will you be back next week?" she asks, her voice quiet.

Eren nods once and bends down, kissing her gently on the spot right next to her mouth. They never kiss on the lips, Zoe's one rule in their small, strange affair. She smiles and accepts the kiss as a yes. "I'll be back," Eren confirms, shrugging on his coat. "Like I am every week."

"You certainly are consistent."

"It has become the only thing I look forward to in the week."

Zoe raises an eyebrow ever so slightly at his comment. "You must leave a sad life, if your only joy in your week is a night with a whore."

"You're not a whore." Eren mumbles, digging in his pockets for the spare change he knows he keeps there. The word was a small jab to him - yes, Zoe was a prostitute and Eren knew she sold herself to many different men in exchange for what was probably a ridiculously small amount of money. Yet, to him, she wasn't a whore. A whore was a nasty, dirty word and not one that fit the sweet, beautiful girl that had slightly taken him under her wing and didn't tease him for being relatively inexperienced. Eren holds out a handful of coins and Zoe takes them with a smile. He always gave her extra as he was leaving - a small secret between the two of them that had started the first time they were together. She always gave more than she should have and never asked for anything extra. Eren knew she had herself to take care of, plus the money she sent to her young son and he didn't trust the madam to give Zoe her fair share of the money. It was their little secret.

Eren left the room and Zoe behind, nodding at the Madam and the other gentlemen who were crowding the entrance, all hoping to have even a few hours of what these girls could give them. He couldn't help but feel ashamed each time he left - he had been raised to be better than this, Eren knew. He knew that Annie knew about the affairs (she was having them herself), but he still couldn't help the shame. Shaking it off, Eren stepped outside and wrapped his coat around him further, trying to block out the cold.

He was so caught up in his thoughts, he didn't even see them muggers until they were straight in front of him.

Eren tensed up, assessing the situation and realizing very quickly there was no way he could get out of this without at least a fight. Slowly, Eren reached into his coat pocket and toyed with the money. "There is no need to attack," Eren said carefully, looking at them and careful to not make any sudden movements. His entire body was telling him to attack, to bring down the men in front of him, but Eren knew there was no way he'd survive that. Slowly, he held out his hand, money clearly visible. "Just take it. This is all I have."

"Doubt that." A voice said from behind him, and Eren jumped. "If you can afford a whore, you have more money than you're letting on."

It was then that Eren felt it - that dark, overwhelming feeling that something was watching him. He knew, somewhere - that dark figure that had been stalking him for the last couple of weeks was in the background watching him. Eren barely felt the fist as it connected with his jaw and he thew a punch as well, hitting one of the men straight in the nose. They took him down easily, and made sure to pummel him into near unconsciousness. There was a sharp, stabbing pain in his side and Eren cried out loudly. Suddenly, the body on him was pushed to the side and Eren heard the sound of screaming.

"Don't die." A voice said very close to his ear and Eren felt something pressed against his lips, a metallic taste against his mouth. "You can't die on me. Not yet."

It was the last thing he heard before he drifted into unconsciousness.

Warmth was all Eren could feel around him. His head throbbed and he was slowly becoming aware of all of his limbs and aware of how much they ached. His eyes opened slowly, groaning with the effort. "God," he groaned as he squinted against the light of the lamp and with the effort of sitting up. "God."

"Are you okay?"

A voice - that voice - spoke and Eren felt a small involuntary shudder run through his body. He looked to the right and saw nothing other than a a lounging couch and a table with a lamp glowing softly. He turned his head to the left and his eyes widened slightly as they fell upon a body. A man, a young man, sat in the corner - almost in the shadows - staring intently at Eren. He was seated on a wooden chair, one leg firmly on the floor with his other leg propped up against the leg of the chair. Eren could tell he was a shorter man, judging by the length of his legs, but his height had no effect on his intimidation factor.

"Are you okay?" He spoke again, his gaze never wavering from Eren. The voice he used was soft, with a slight bit of an accent, but demanding at the same time. Eren could only stare at him for a moment before he found his own voice.

"I feel alright." Eren said slowly, raising a hand to rub the back of his neck. "I feel as though I have been trampled by a dozen horses, but I am alive. That is more than I could have asked for." Eren paused for a beat. "Who are you?"

There was a huff of breath from the man, so slight Eren almost could not hear it. "How do you feel? Any dizziness or light-headedness? I want to make sure you are okay."

Eren did not miss the fact that the man completely ignored his question. Instead, he decided to answer instead of pursuing the question. "There was a slight bit of dizziness when I sat up, but I feel okay now."

"Good." The man stood and Eren noted he was not entirely incorrect about his height. He moved toward Eren, dark narrowed eyes scanning his eyes over his body as he took two, three steps to stand at the side of the bed. His hair was a dark black, pulled at the nape of his neck with a tied string and his narrowed, dark eyes looked intimidating from Eren's perspective. Eren unconsciously swallowed. "You have spent the last two days unconscious and healing. I did for you what I could, but your body had to do the rest. It needed to recover."

"What happened?"

"You were stabbed." The man said simply. "Do not worry about the muggers now. They will not hurt anyone again. I made sure of that."

There was a sort of darkness around his words, something Eren could not quite pick up on, but they scared him nonetheless. Still, this mysterious man had saved Eren's life.

"Thank you."

It was only then Eren was met with a smile. "You are welcome. I couldn't have you dying on me, not so suddenly. After all, I never had a chance to meet you properly. I do apologize, this was not exactly how I expected our first meeting to go. I imagined it a little . . . Less frightening, on your part."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Levi." The man said. He let out a huff of breath, sitting on the side of the bed and reaching out a hand to let a finger graze Eren's cheek. "I wasn't ready to lose you. Not yet."

The finger against his cheek was cold - like ice even. Eren stared at Levi hard, his eyes wide. He could not miss that even in the dim lamplight, Levi was pale - paler than any human should be. He swallowed again. "What did you do to me?"

There was a small flinch, one Eren would have missed had he not been scrutinizing Levi so much. "I told you, I did what I could. What I had to do."

"You don't look old enough to be a doctor, and my wounds," Eren reached down and placed a hand where he had felt the stabbing pain and felt nothing. No open gash, no scabs, nothing at all to indicate a knife had entered his body only two days previous. "My wounds are healed as though they have been there for years. What did you do to me?"

"I saved your life."

"How?"

There was a small, amused laugh. "You could start by thanking me, first of all."

"I did thank you." Eren said, starting to become slightly annoyed. The man - no, Levi - was speaking in almost riddles. "The first thing I did was thank you, and all you have done thus far is answer all of my questions with either questions of your own, or nonsense statements that don't mean anything. For once, just answer the damn question! How did you save my life?"

"I gave you my blood."

Out of everything Eren had been expecting to hear, that was certainly not even on the list. He blinked at Levi before he narrowed his eyes. "You're doing that again."

"I assure you that I'm not speaking any riddles at you. You asked me a question and I gave a truthful answer. You should actually be honored - you're the only person outside of my family I have ever answered honestly regarding any of this whole manner." Levi's eyes bored into him, as if asking him to accept this answer as truth. "I gave you what I needed to save you - my blood."

The room fell silent as Eren stared hard at the sheets surrounding his legs, his hands idly playing with the threads of the fraying blanket. Beside him, he could hear slow, steady breathing and the seconds passed into minutes as they said nothing to one another or in general. It was Levi who broke the silence. He reached down beside the bed and pulled forth a brown bag, gently laying it on Eren's lap. "Here. You'll probably want something to eat - you've been unconscious for two days. Your body needs the nourishment."

Eren took the bag, opening it slightly and taking a hesitant sniff. The smell of bread - fresh bread - invaded his nostrils and Eren couldn't keep his stomach from growling at the thought. He took a bite and it was like the hunger hit him all at once. He took a large bite of the bread, reaching to the bedside table to take the wine Levi had placed there just moments ago. He took a sip and exhaled. "This is good. This is very good."

"Thank you," Levi said, smiling and obviously pleased. "My mother made it this morning, actually. It would be a great offense to me and to her if you hadn't liked it." His eyes followed Eren's movements as he devoured the bread and continued digging in the bag. "There is also cheese in there. Please, eat some. You need the protein."

Eren scrunched his nose without thinking. "I am not a lover of cheese, to be honest. Nothing against … well, whoever made this. It just isn't something I care for."

"At least take a few bites. This is French cheese - better than your English ones." Levi poured himself a glass of wine and sniffed it, swirling the red liquid around in the goblet. "If you have never had French cheese before, this will be a treat for you."

"I think I may have," Eren answered honestly, taking a small bite of the cheese and finding it was actually delicious. He chewed slowly before he spoke again. "At my wedding - my wife is French. I know we had cheese at the party afterward."

Levi went still. Completely still. He stared at Eren hard, as if staring would change the words he had just heard from Eren. Finally, he gave a small shrug as though it didn't bother him. Eren had his doubts. "I was not aware you were married. This complicates things."

"I haven't been married very long, and we aren't exactly close." Eren said quietly. It was true - his marriage to Annie had been an arrangement that benefited both the Jaeger and Leonheart families. Having no other prospects and nothing against the pretty blonde girl who was to be his wife, Eren had agreed without much hesitation. Her family was wealthy, she was young and quite beautiful, and they would be a fantastic match. Annie had been lively during their courting, smiling and laughing as they grew to know each other, but everything had changed when they were married. For the first week after the marriage, Annie had not allowed Eren to touch her. Once the lights were off, she turned her back toward him, curled in a small ball with her body, and went to sleep.

It had been confusing for Eren, who hadn't understood what was going on. She acted fine with him in public, but behind the closed doors of their home was a completely different story. She was quiet and she was distant, only speaking or interacting with Eren when she absolutely had to. For the most part, she kept to herself in one of the extra bedrooms, choosing to spend her time reading. Over time, she slowly allowed Eren to finally touch her, to consummate their marriage in every way, but Eren did not believe for one second that she enjoyed it. He had spoken with his friends about her behavior in their marriage bed and had returned with the same opinion each time. The way she laid there, letting him move above her and do all the work, was not normal. Most of his friends' wives had enjoyed lovemaking - Eren didn't understand at all why his wife didn't.

He tried to not take it personal, but it was difficult when she wouldn't even look at him. Eren understood that for her, this was a duty. They were expected to bear children together, to continue on the Jaeger family line and preferably soon. In a way, Eren had almost hoped a child would happen. The sooner one did, the sooner they could end anything unpleasant. It had been then Eren had turned to others - to Zoe. He had bought her for the first time, expecting something fast and quick, but it didn't matter. For her to actually respond, to make him feel as though he wasn't just subjecting whoever it was to torture, was all Eren wanted. He wanted to feel something, and not to feel as though his partner was only a means to an end. Luckily for him, Zoe had understood completely. She had taught him more than he had ever expected - not just about the sexual part, but also about intimacy.

Annie hadn't been a fool, of course, and had figured it out quickly that Eren was having an affair. He remembered standing red-faced in their sitting room, head in his hands as she confronted him about it. He apologized over and over, not knowing what else to say. Her answer, however, had baffled him. He wasn't the only one having an affair - she had been in love with a man since before they had married.

And as odd as it sounded, and Eren would never be able to explain it to anyone else as long as he lived, it actually eased things between the two of them. Because Annie was no longer their only outlet of his emotions and she no longer felt as though she had to give him what she never could, they formed a small relationship. It would never be love, and they would probably never be the best of friends, but it was better than the way they had previously ignored one another. Annie bantered with him and asked questions about his lover, and Eren returned in kind. They were as close as they ever would be, and for now, Eren could accept that.

"Close or not, your wife has to be worried for you." Levi said quietly, taking a sip of his wine. "I can take you home."

"No!" Eren said, a little louder than he had expected. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, shaking his head. "No, there is no need. She is out of town, visiting family." At least, that's what she said she was doing. Eren had to wonder if she wasn't going to be making a side trip to see her lover. "I'm home alone for the next two weeks. I have nothing to go home to - I'm comfortable where I am. And," Eren hesitated just slightly, feeling like a small child. "I don't want to be alone. I hate being alone."

"You're not alone." Levi said automatically, leaning closer than he ever had and Eren felt the blue-grey eyes drill into his body. He took a shuddering breath as Levi stared at him hard, one long fingered hand reaching out to rest against Eren's leg. "You're not alone now, and you won't be alone. Ever."

Eren didn't understand what that meant. He was too tired, and he was sick of Levi only speaking in riddles. He leaned weakly against the pillows, his eyes fluttering slightly. He felt a hand against his cheek and Eren unconsciously leaned into it. "Sleep." Levi said, his voice only but a whisper. "Sleep now. We will talk more later."