I have no idea why I decided to write this, but I did it anyways. Just a heads up, there is some triggering content in this story, so please feel free to avoid it. It’s also long as fuck for no good reason. At any rate, this is a sort of eruri Soulmate!AU that I thought up at like 4 in the morning, so enjoy.
“It was you.”
Levi ignored the blond in front of him. There was no anger
or accusation in the other man’s tone, so there was no need for Levi to expend
any more energy getting rid of him. Levi hastily swiped his unoccupied hand
across his chin, muttering darkly about blood and uncleanliness. His other hand
was still pressed against his left side, trying to staunch the flow of blood
there.
The blond man, tired of being ignored, hastily dropped his
groceries and knelt down before Levi, wincing slightly. Levi would’ve reached
for his gun, but he’d carelessly chunked it after the fight had ended. The
blond man rolled up his sleeve, revealing a multitude of horizontal white
scars. Levi’s eyes widened.
They all were too perfectly even to be anyone else’s
handiwork. Levi always had had a streak for perfection…
It can’t be…
“See?” The blond pressed, a mixture of hope and desperation
in his deep voice.
“It’s too damn dark, I can’t see that.”
The sun might have been setting, but Levi could see that one
oddly shaped scar on the other’s arm. He had that exact same one, and he
remembered everything.
Erwin grinned and bore his way through dinner that night. His
father was prattling on and on about the probability of an individual having
more than one soul mate, but Erwin had long since tuned him out. He was aware
of the concept of soul mates—everyone
was—but he’d hardly given the idea any thought. His mind was much more occupied.
His arm was on fire.
And his legs were too. He must’ve been quite the spectacle walking back home
from school, just rubbing and scratching everywhere. Erwin was lucky he’d
maintained his lonely kid status throughout his childhood. Teachers and students
alike ogled from a distance as the gangly and awkward fifteen-year-old Erwin
Smith staggered home.
Now dinner was in front of him, and he’d barely made a dent
in it. His father’s educational tirade could only go on so long before he
noticed Erwin’s sudden lack of appetite.
“What’s wrong, son? I thought spaghetti and meatballs was
your favorite? And why are you wearing your coat? Are you cold?”
“I think I might’ve caught something.” Erwin held in another
cringe as pain raked across his arm again. God only knew what lay underneath
his coat, but if the pain he was in was indicative of anything, it probably
wasn’t pretty.
“Well, then, you need to go lay down for a while. I’ll come
in and check on you later.”
Erwin acquiesced with a nod and a low “Yes, sir.” His father
said he’d take care of clean up. Erwin migrated slowly to his room, a feeling
of dizziness swarming his body as he stood. He opened the door and slowly
approached his bed. Once seated on the edge of the bed, he slowly and delicately
removed his coat, wincing through the entire procedure.
Scars littered his
entire arm. There was no blood, thankfully, but each slash was equally
spaced from each other. Erwin rolled up his pants and saw even more angry, red scars
sporadically marring both of his legs.
Whoever my soul mate
is…they must be hurting a lot…
Erwin’s soul mate had clearly harmed themselves, and the
damage had subsequently affected Erwin. Logically speaking, if Erwin did the
same…
Erwin abruptly got off his bed and moved to his desk. He
flicked on his desk light and went to work searching for something. He rustled
pages of notes and drawings, pushed heavy textbooks to the ground, and
scattered pencils and pens until he found his desired object: a pair of
scissors.
Erwin sighed, resigning himself to his decision. He honestly
didn’t want to resort to this, but maybe this was the only way he could send a
message to his soul mate, wherever they were…
Erwin braced himself and made the first cut.
Levi checked his pistol for the fourth time. Still loaded.
Well, it’d need to be if he was to do what he needed to do. He continued to
stalk through the dark alleyways; he’d find them eventually…or they’d find him. At this point, it
was either him or them anyway, and he had nothing to lose. If Kenny could see
him now…
Would he be proud or
would he say I’m shit for doing this? Levi thought on this for another few
minutes—it was a much nicer thought to have on his mind—before deciding it ultimately
didn’t matter what the old fart thought. It appeared that he found them anyways, inadvertently stumbling
upon their nest while lost in thought.
All eyes peered at the lone stranger in their camp, and
within seconds, all guns were drawn.
Almost thirty years
old and I’m still eating mac n’ cheese from a box.
Erwin sighed and tossed the box into the cart. Damn it, if
he was old enough to live in a decently sized apartment, have a
well-paying job, and all the while go to college, then he could reward himself
with some mac n’ cheese every once in a while.
Dad would be proud…He
chuckled at the fond memory of his father. Bless the old man’s soul, he didn’t
live to see Erwin grow from awkward teenager to flourishing young man. He’d
died peacefully, though, claiming that his own soul mate was waiting on him.
Speaking of which…Erwin
slowly rolled up his sleeve, peering at the odd self-inflicted scar he made on
his arm. His soul mate’s scars—white and faded—lingered just inches above his
own. Erwin was almost happy to note that the message he sent all those years
ago seemed to have successfully reached its recipient. Years had past since anything too drastic
happened to his soul mate, and there were no new scars on his arms or legs as
of late.
But every once in a while he’d get phantom pangs of pain. Of
crippling loneliness. The pain racked his entire body, and the worst of it would
cause him to pass out or come very close to it. The loneliness was slightly
more bearable, but some days, Erwin could barely function with its presence
pressing on him.
But if these bursts of pain and isolation were this painful
for him, Erwin loathed imagining how painful they were for his soul mate. He’d
never wanted to meet someone so badly.
Erwin turned down another aisle, searching for laundry
detergent, when he felt…tension. The
feeling was nothing short of electrifying, as if millions of gallons of
adrenaline were flooding his veins all at once. His heart thudded soundly in
his ears, his stomach plummeted, and he had half a mind to go sprinting through
the store. Erwin was on high alert now.
What’s going on…?
Erwin clutched at his chest, hoping the heart racing inside would calm down
soon. Here he was making a spectacle of himself again in public; maybe not so
much had changed since adolescence.
Then an agonizing wave of pain tore through Erwin’s left
side, just below his ribcage. Erwin instantly crumbled over his cart. The pain
was unbelievably unbearable, as if someone had caught him in the side with a
searing brand. Tears sprung to his eyes, and he stifled the scream climbing up
his throat. Even doubled over, the pain didn’t subside.
Please, help…But
who could he call out to? No one was around to help him, and he was doubtful
anyone would try. He desperately clutched the sides of his cart—if only to
minimize the pain—and his entire body trembled with effort. His body and mind
shrieked at him, but somehow, Erwin managed to right himself. The endeavor took
patience, and a lot of heavy breathing, but luckily no one ventured down the
aisle.
He had to leave. Now.
He’d paid for his scant amount of groceries at the front,
all the while desperately hoping the lady bagging them all wouldn’t notice how
horribly he was hiding his pain. Luckily, she was content to ignore Erwin’s
pain, and Erwin left the store, a paper sack in his right hand and blinding
pain biting into his left side.
Levi groaned in pain, a stream of swears fell from his lips
as he slid down the wall. All odds had been incredibly stacked against him, but
he was still alive. Levi cast a disparaging glance back at their bodies. All
eight. All bloody. All dead. All gone.
“Serves you right, fuckfaces,” he spit. Blood and spittle
dribbled past bruised lips. His ass finally met the cold concrete below, and
Levi grunted as the sudden impact jostled his new injuries.
Fuck…Levi might’ve
soundly kicked their asses, but they did no go quietly into the night. He’d
dodged and danced his way around every bullet, and then the one asshole with
mediocre aim caught him in his left side with two bullets. Levi saved that one
for last, putting a bullet directly between his eyes as he begged and cried and
squealed for mercy. But mercy was a thing of the past…
Eight of them…for two
of mine…
A drive-by. The ultimate case of wrong place, wrong time. It
was just random misfortune that the two of them were walking the streets that
night, and neither of them had heard the car approaching. From what Levi had
heard on the streets, Farlan had tried to jump in front of Isabel and draw his weapon
first, but in the end, his heroics did nothing to save either of their lives.
Levi would’ve been perfectly content to bleed out in that
alleyway, but then this big, blond fool came up to him talking utter nonsense
out of his ass.
Well, it wasn’t
exactly nonsense, was it?
Levi peered down at his own arm. There it was: that
mysterious heart-shaped scar was on his forearm too, mere inches below his own
self-inflicted scars. Carved there by someone who’d had no experience with a
knife, let alone anything sharp. He’d wondered what kind of bullshit was going
on when each jagged cut randomly appeared on his arm. Kenny had told him that the
idea of soul mates was nothing more than a crock of steaming horseshit, and
Levi was more than willing to accept his deadbeat uncle’s views on that matter.
And yet…
“It was you…” the man repeated, awestruck. He then seemed to
take notice of Levi’s injuries; concerned blue eyes flickered to Levi’s
bleeding left side. “Please…”
“Levi.” He supplied shortly.
“Levi, come back to my apartment. I’ve got plenty of food
and aid there. I can help you if you let me.” The blond extended his hand for
Levi to take, but Levi remained unconvinced.
He let his head loll to the side as he thought about this
whole bizarre situation.
There’s no way…Soul
mates are just bullshit. Made up by lonely pieces of shit with no hope and too
much time on their damn hands. But, why?
Levi remembered then. He remembered when Kenny would waste
his money on cheap booze, women, and cigarettes instead of food, and yet Levi
would never feel hungry. He remembered when winter would wrap its icy grip
around their sad excuse of a house, and yet Levi would never feel cold. He
remembered when Kenny would beat and harass and demean him in a drunken rage,
and yet Levi could still feel love.
Warmth, fullness, love: no one in Levi’s life had ever
supplied such luxuries…
Maybe Kenny was wrong…The promise of possible food, shelter,
and help was something a lowlife like him was willing to entertain. Levi considered his options, considered his
chances, and he chose.
It’s not like I have
anything to lose…“Okay…”
“Smith. Erwin Smith.”
“Okay, Erwin Smith.
I’ve made my choice…I’ll trust you. For now at least. Fuckin’ help get me up.”
Erwin helped Levi to his two feet, letting Levi put as much
weight on him as he needed. Erwin made sure to avoid Levi’s wounds. He’d have
to clean and patch them up when they got back. Erwin scooped up his dropped bag
of groceries with his unoccupied hand.
“Don’t make me regret this, Smith,” Levi warned.
Erwin chuckled, “I wouldn’t dream of it, Levi.
synnatra 