France, 1944. As the Allies land on the shores of Normandy, an unlikely friendship strikes up between Levi Ackerman, a widowed French Jew, and Eren Jäger, a deeply-in-the-closet lieutenant in the German Wehrmacht. The two deal with love, loss, digni...
Eren entered the brothel room, hesitant at first. What he saw was not at all what he had expected from an establishment like this; then again, Carly said that this was her personal room, and he had seen in the garage, her tastes were quite refined.
The room was lit by a golden chandelier fitted with electric lights. Scarlet wallpaper covered the four walls of the room, and heavy red drapes completely blocked the windows, giving privacy and dampening outside sounds. A massive mahogany wardrobe was up against one wall and looked like it came from the time of French kings. To the other side was a mahogany table and two carved chairs with plush red cushions on the seats. A bottle of wine and two crystal goblets were already set out, as well as a silver bowl of fruit and a smaller crystal bowl of walnuts.
The middle of the room was taken up by the largest bed Eren had ever seen in his life, surely wide enough to sleep three or four people. A sumptuous scarlet blanket shined on the top, embroidered with swirling gold leaves and delicate pink flowers. The carved bed frame had filigree designs, and the whole thing looked like it came out of the boudoir of an ancient king's favorite concubine.
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It was almost too beautiful to be real. Was this a trap? Maybe a Gestapo setup?
"So cautious," Carly said with a titter. She leaned up into Eren's ear, close enough so her painted lips danced against his skin. "I told you, he's under my protection. You have this room for the whole night. I'll keep it available, so you can come here anytime you want. There's a secret passage, so if there's trouble, he can escape. This is probably the safest room in all of Europe for you two."
Suddenly, her lips captured Eren's earlobe. He yanked away in annoyance, and Carly giggled quietly in excitement at the glare he gave her.
A deep voice came from inside the room. "Ne touche pas à mon copain, putain de salope!" Don't touch my boyfriend, you fucking whore!
Eren gasped and felt a leap of excitement at hearing that voice again.
Carly smirked as she backed away. "I'll leave you two. Have fun. Amusez-vous bien." She stepped back and closed the door.
As soon as Eren latched the door's lock, the massive wardrobe opened, and Levi stepped out. Eren felt his throat choke up at seeing him again. He ran to Levi and wrapped him up in his arms.
"You're safe!"
"And you smell like a brewery. God, how much did you drink tonight?" Smothered in Eren's embrace, Levi felt his body shaking. "Are you okay?"
"I'm sorry," Eren blurted out with tears pouring down his cheeks. "Please forgive me. I'm so sorry. Everything I said, I didn't mean it. I'm sorry." He suddenly dropped to his knees. "You can kick me across the head if you want. Whatever it takes, whatever makes it better. I'm so, so sorry!"
Levi stared at him, shocked at the outburst and sobbing emotions. Then his face softened, and he shook his head. Levi took hold of Eren's cheeks and turned his face up to him. Eren had tears streaming down his blotchy cheeks, and to Levi, this expression of deep remorse was more than enough. His thumb swiped away some of the tears.
