Levi is diagnosed with paracosm - a disorder that paints a complex and deeply felt relationship with this subjective universe, which may incorporate real-world or imaginary characters and conventions, in someone's mind. How will he cope with that?
A...
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"Wait, Ackerman as in the bloodline of warriors to Eldia's king?"
"Yeah!" he grinned with his eyebrows raised, "Surprised you didn't recognise the face of this handsome-"
"And Levi, as in the 'Greatest Underground Thug' to ever exist?" I added, pushing my luck to the fullest now.
His cunning grin faltered and warped into an unamused face, grey eyes darting straight at mine. Looks like I might have ruined the few lavish seconds of fun.
"Let's look for your mom." he said after clearing his throat, and glancing away in shame as he held me up. To be honest, his actions were kind of cute. I never knew a thug could be capable of coming close to cuteness at all.
"Awesome way to switch up the topic Ackerman!" I attempted to brighten up the awkward mood, giving him an obvious fake smile with a thumbs up. What I did though probably made the mood even worse.
Out of nowhere, he fastened his arms around my waist. This time he gave me a warning, pointing to where he was aiming for - the chimney of the brothel - and I nodded to assure him that I caught onto what he suggested. Shutting my eyes, we took a step back, and the last thing I heard was the sharp mechanical shot of the grapple-hooks.
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"Rogue. Oi Rogue, stop playing with me. Rogue!"
My eyes shot open to the sound of my name. What the hell happened?
"You crashed headfirst to the chimney and passed out, weak fuck."
"Um, rude. Aren't even going to apologise that your mistake had me crashing in the first place?"
"Tch, alright sorry. I was careless." he tutted, rolling his eyes.
Jeez, this man. For one moment he was cute and now he's all self-absorbed. Reminding me of why I chose to be bisexual in the first place.
"Let's just go."
We enter the brothel through the chimney, him first. Meticulously crawling in, I secretly hoped that I wouldn't fall as it was my first time climbing, but luckily we were both small in size so that makes the job much easier. I buried my nose into my scarf in case it reacts to the pungent leftover charcoal odour. I had to take more precautions as I had a sensitive nose after all. At the corner of my eyes, I could see Levi complaining to himself about how dirty it was and how he regretted choosing the chimney.
"Hah, you deserve that for being so rude." I whispered
"Fuck off. I have compulsive disorders you know."
"Ok, clean freak." I bickered back, which he scoffs in response and continues to curse at the place.
I put a single finger to my mouth, implying the clicks and clacks of someone's spontaneous approach. Webbed across the brick walls, we listened intently to what the man had to say. From where I am, the most I can spot is his waistcoat. That was ample for me to conclude that he wasn't any ordinary man - he was part of the upper middle class.
"Oi you over there!"
There's two of them.
"The fire's out, place more charcoal. Why is it so cold up here? You're fired if the next guests complain to me about this."
"Yes master!"
No wonder, he's the master of the house! But never mind that for now, that's trivial. What's more important is that they're starting up the fire again.
"Well, we're doomed." I swallowed.
"No shit."
We were cornered in silence - or more like I was just waiting for that brain of his to crack up some plan. I came to a conclusion that it was the latter reason.
"Let's use this opportunity to get down now." he said forthrightly, almost as if he heard my thoughts.
"Huh? Are you insane? You heard that there's more than one down there. Your plan is gonna get us diving headfirst into a trap again!"
"And do you have a better plan, brat?'' Once again, I found nothing but silence waiting at the tip of my tongue, "No? I thought so. Now, have some faith in your Infamous Underground Thug."
Racing with possible outcomes to his last-minute plan, my mind was too tangled to form any objections. Quite frankly, I was left speechless, so I decided to trust this stranger for yet another moment.
Little by little, Levi and I scooched down the chimney, and I began to lose grip of the walls at the cautiously slow pace we were going. My hands, which were holding my body up with no effort previously, were now starting to sweat, a lot. The craggy surface was glazed with more and more coats of sweat as I fought myself to stay in position. It got more slippery the more I tensed up. I really don't think I can stay up any longer...
Thud!
"Damn you... brat." he choked out. From the sound of that thud, his back probably bruised from landing flat on the hard base of the fireplace.
"You jerk, did you drop the charcoal?" the familiar master's voice resounded from downstairs.
"I was going to face them with a surprise attack but you've left me with no choice."
Unexpectedly, he picked me up and laid me onto the nearby bed. His fingers were quick to rip off the clothing I had on, travelling from layers to layers. Shoes, belts, trousers, coats, were sent flying across the room in all sorts of directions. It wasn't long until the only thing I had on was my oversized button-up and undergarments. He popped off the first few buttons of my last precious layer, whipped off his cravat, and started undoing his own shirt too.
"Levi! What are you-" the rest of my sentence is muffled into his sudden kiss, which sent me to even more shock.
That was my first kiss.
"Play along." he demanded in a ghastly deep voice.
I tried to push him away but he pinned me down with further force. One hand crawled to the nape of my neck and snatched away the hat that still remained on my head, whilst the other was fiddling on the last attached buttons of my shirt. My hair roamed free in contrast to the rest of my body. I was practically punching and screaming at him to stop, even though I know that something else on his mind is louder. My words are left unheard, as I clutched onto the sheets, hopelessly, desperately.
