Erwin watches him with less-than-innocent curiosity. The brown-haired boy looks rather bored for someone who's getting publicly paddled by a fairly handsome Dominant in the middle of a sex club. Almost as if he had only agreed to getting spanked by a stranger because he has nothing better to do.

The boy has been coming to Ludus for a little over a month now. Erwin's been keeping tabs on him in a totally non-creepy fashion. The kid comes in every Saturday night at exactly 9 p.m., always wearing the bright pink wristband that indicates he is a sub who is "free to play."

Erwin watches each night as the boy situates himself on one of the leather couches, watching the various goings-ons at the club. Then, eventually—inevitably—he catches the eye of a Dom, who approaches him and asks to play. The boy always says yes, even though he never looks particularly excited by the prospect.

Erwin just doesn't get it. Why would someone come to a BDSM club every weekend if they weren't all that happy to be there in the first place? He's talked to Levi about it, and has been advised to "just ignore the brat if it bothers you that much." But Erwin can't do that. The boy has piqued his interest, and Erwin is just narcissistic enough to believe that he can be the Dom who would be able to bring the boy to life.

Erwin continues to watch as the boy declines the Dom-of-the-night's offer to go to a private playroom, before straightening out his rumpled clothes and heading for the exit. Erwin watches him go with hungry eyes and tingling hands.

He's a challenge, a puzzle.

And Erwin has to have him.

The following Saturday, Erwin waits a few minutes after the boy's arrival before approaching him.

"Hello."

The boy looks over at Erwin with a bored expression. Erwin sees his eyes dart from the black band around his wrist, to his arms, chest, and finally to his face. The boy quirks an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed. Erwin is not deterred. He is determined in his mission.

"My name is Erwin," he says, extending a hand. The boy eyes it critically before accepting the greeting, reaching out with his own hand.

"Eren," he says in response.

"It's very nice to meet you, Eren."

Eren rolls his eyes before turning away and Erwin tries not to bristle at the blatant disrespect. Obviously Erwin's usual methods of charming the pants off of a sub aren't going to work on Eren. And Erwin is nothing if not strategic. He decides to take a different approach. It's risky, but he has a good feeling about this one. Besides, Eren seems like the kind of submissive who's worth a few risks.

"What are you fucking around here for, Eren?" Erwin keeps his tone measured and his voice soft, so as not to come off as too aggressive. Eren looks back at him, blinking in surprise.

"Excuse me?" Ah, now he has his attention.

"You come in here every week as if it's some great big inconvenience and accept every offer that's thrown your way as if you couldn't care less about the Dom doing the offering. My question is: why?"

Eren narrows his eyes, now looking a little pissed off.

"What I choose to do and not to do is none of your business, old man. So fuck off."

Oh Erwin likes him. He likes him a lot.

"Would you like to join me in one of the private rooms, Eren?"

Eren's eyes widen incredulously before narrowing again.

"What are you after, blondie?"

Erwin chuckles at the name, delighted.

"I'd like to play with you," Erwin says simply, gesturing to the pink wristband Eren is wearing. Eren's wide eyes follow Erwin's gesture and stare down at the wristband, as if he can't quite believe that it's there. Eren opens his mouth to no doubt deliver a scathing remark, when his eyes focus on something over Erwin's shoulder. His expression morphs into one of barely concealed horror before he is ducking his head down and pushing past Erwin towards the exit. Erwin turns in confusion, watching him go.

"Eren?"

Rather than acknowledge Erwin, Eren speeds up his pace even more.

"Eren!" It's a different voice calling his name this time, decidedly not Erwin's. He turns and sees a boy with two-toned hair holding the leash of a shorter blond boy. Erwin's not sure which of them called Eren's name. Both of them watch Eren go with wide eyes before rushing off after him. But Eren's already out the door.

So. A new piece to the puzzle that is Eren. This is starting to get interesting.

Erwin watches the door intently, waiting for Eren's arrival the following Saturday night. He's not sure what exactly it was that he had witnessed last week, and Erwin has a hard time letting things go. Especially when it comes to feisty subs that reject his advances. For some inexplicable reason, he has quite the weakness for them. It's how he got so attached to Levi, after all.

When Eren finally arrives, the boy moves quickly through the room and plants himself on one of the couches tucked into the back corner of the room. His eyes dart around the club, searching. When he decides the coast is apparently clear, Eren slumps back in his seat and lets out a heavy sigh. Erwin quietly approaches.

"Friends of yours?" he asks, knowing that Eren will understand what he's referring to. Erwin sits on the couch a respectful distance away, but close enough that it will be obvious to any other Dom in the room that Eren is currently engaged with someone.

Eren glances at Erwin out of the corner of his eye before letting out an annoyed huff. "I don't want to talk about it," he mutters angrily "and I know that sometimes people say that when they want someone to prod but I really really don't want to talk about it." With that, Eren turns his face away from Erwin to watch as a young girl is getting whipped against the wall. Erwin considers it a win, as it's the most that Eren has said to him at once thus far. So, despite Eren's insistence, Erwin decides to prod anyway.

"Ah, so one of them must have been a previous partner of yours." Eren turns toward him with a scowl firmly in place. Erwin smiles brightly. "Tell me I'm wrong," he says amicably. Eren glowers, looking like he would very much relish the opportunity to murder him. Such facial expressions are like catnip to Erwin.

"Don't you have anything better to do than bother me." Eren says, the question clearly rhetorical. Nonetheless, Erwin decides to answer.

"Yes. I could have you bent over a table and at the mercy of my sub right now, but you never gave me an answer last week. I would like one now." Erwin experimentally injects the teensiest hint of a command in his tone. Eren looks dumbfounded.

"Your sub?" he asks dubiously. Erwin grins widely before nodding over to where Levi is sitting at the bar.

Levi isn't currently paying attention to either of them, or at least he's pretending not to. Instead, he's watching as a boy is being led around on all fours by a leash that is clutched firmly in the hand of the boy's Dom. Despite the bored expression on Levi's face, Erwin knows better. He turns his attention to Eren who's staring intently at the thin collar around Levi's neck and the purple band on his wrist that indicates he is "collared, and not free to play." Erwin knows exactly what Eren sees when he looks at Levi. He sees a man who wears the universal indicator for a submissive, and Eren is trying to reconcile that with the haughty manner with which Levi holds himself, as if everyone in this club is inferior to him. Not to mention the fact that Levi also has a riding crop tied to his belt. Erwin decides to answer the question he knows is probably running through Eren's head: How is he a submissive?

"He's a switch," Erwin states plainly. "But I don't allow him to dominate me. We've been looking for a potential submissive for the both of us to play with for some time now."

"So you want to have a three-way?" Eren asks. He's still staring at Levi with wide eyes, and Erwin can definitely see some interest there. He can relate. Levi is quite the magnetic force.

"Sometimes. Other times it would be just Levi and the other sub, or me and the other sub. But yes, we are looking to add another person to our relationship." Erwin knows that polyamory isn't for everyone. Often times people get too jealous to share or too insecure to feel comfortable having a third person in the mix. But Erwin and Levi have been together for almost ten years now. They had started looking for another sub about three years ago when Levi mentioned wanting to explore more pain play, but from the other end of the whip. Erwin had watched and instructed as Levi dominated various subs at Ludus, but none of them felt like the right fit. The search has resulted in pessimistic discouragement on Levi's part and fixated obsession on Erwin's. He wants Levi to find the outlet he needs for his more dominant side, as Erwin is just a few failed attempts away from gritting his teeth and making the move to regularly start switching with Levi himself.

"Adding another person to your relationship, like permanently?" Eren asks, though there is definitely more curiosity than doubt in his tone.

"Yes. We're not just looking for someone to play with on a regular basis. We want to find our third part. Someone to date and pamper and fight with and live life with." Erwin hadn't intended to share this much with Eren but the fact that the boy hadn't seemed to recoil from the prospect of a relationship with two other people gives Erwin hope. He stays quiet while he lets Eren process his words. He watches as the boy looks from Levi to Erwin, to Levi and back again. Erwin's stomach swoops at the intensity shining in those green eyes. He feels pinned under Eren's stare.

"Alright," Eren finally says with a casual shrug of his shoulder. Erwin's eyes widen, but he quickly tries to hide his surprise with a wide smile.

"Excellent. I'll go reserve a private room and—"

"No."

Erwin quirks an eyebrow at Eren. "No?"

Eren shakes his head. "No. I don't want to play with you two. Yet. If you really are serious about looking for someone to date and be with on more than a sexual level, then you should start with the date part."

"A date?" Erwin is, to put it lightly, fucking befuddled. But as he considers Eren's words, he feels something click in his brain. Ah-ha! Of course! Maybe that's where he and Levi have been going wrong for the past three years. Erwin grins at Eren, wanting to kiss the boy for his genius.

"Yes, a date," Eren continues, unaware of Erwin's epiphany. Erwin watches as Eren reaches into his pocket and pulls out a business card. "If, after you talk to—Levi, you said?" Erwin nods. "Right. If, after you talk to Levi, you both feel agreeable to a date, call me."

With that, Eren stands and walks over to where Levi is sitting at the bar. Erwin watches in fascination as Eren shakes Levi's hand, presumably introducing himself, and hands Levi another one of the business cards he had given Erwin. Levi says something in return, looking gob smacked. Eren smiles and nods his head, before giving a small wave and walking out the front door. Erwin waits a beat before rushing over to where Levi is sitting.

"A date?" Levi asks, tone incredulous. Erwin smiles widely.

"I know. Isn't it brilliant?"

Erwin can see the doubt in Levi's eyes.

"Erwin, this is kinda odd." Levi looks down at the card in his hand; as if it will provide the answers he is looking for.

"Is it though? Think about it. All this time we've been looking for sex first and connection second when it should have been the other way around." Erwin loops an arm around Levi's shoulders and plants a kiss on his cheek. "It'll be great. Trust me."

Levi rolls his eyes, but there is a small smile on his face.

"When have I ever gone wrong heeding those words?"