#tinypredator

"Crap," Erwin muttered under his breath, and Levi looked up from where he was carefully removing his shoes in the doorway.

"What’s wrong?" he asked, following Erwin’s line of sight to see the satchel on the table in the hall, precariously propped up against a vase full of lilies that threatened to slide off under the weight of it.

"My parents are home," Erwin explained soberly, sounding more than a little mournful.

"Is that bad?" Levi asked, trepidation seeping in as he noted Erwin’s discomfort.

Before he could reply, a peal of laughter like a graceful arpeggio sounded just beyond the threshold, and two people who could be no one but Erwin’s parents appeared with surprised expressions at the appearance of the boys.

Severine Smith was an unfairly beautiful woman, lithe and cygneous, with delicate hands like doves that alit on Erwin’s shoulder and brushed fondly against his pale blond hair. “Darling, where have you been?” she asked, her voice as sweet as a larks, large blue eyes framed by long, mascaraed lashes, looking over her son as though she were examining him.

"I went to get some food," he mumbled, the tips of his ears turning red at her affections. “I went with my friend, Levi.” He turned to look at him with a mordant expression on his face that Levi had never seen before, and he gestured to him with an open hand. “This is Levi. Levi, these are my parents.”

Erwin’s mother smiled warmly and extended her hand, which Levi took tentatively. “I’m Dr Smith,” she introduced herself, grasping with both hands delicately. “So lovely to meet you. Levi, is it? Am I saying that right?”

Levi nodded silently, smiling as best he could, though he was awkward in spite of her congenial welcome. But if Levi was intimidated by Erwin’s mother, he was terrified of his father.

As the face of The Aletheia News Hour, Corvus Smith was a well-known journalist, recently granted a Peabody Award for his coverage of the Gulf War.  He’d braved war zones and enemy territories, uncovered the scathing truth about truly dastardly military tactics on both sides of the conflict, and all sorts of sundry, foolhardy gambles which Levi, along with the rest of America, had followed with baited breath over the years. The legend was enough to deal with separate from the man, and Levi found he was moments away from having to negotiate both.

He was unexpectedly tall, stately in his posture which was augmented by the well-tailored navy suit he wore. Broad shoulders pulled back into a stance like a dare, ice blue eyes unabashedly scrutinizing him as he prudently held his hand out in greeting. “Nice to meet you, Levi,” he said evenly, and it was impossible to discern whether this was his strange brand of serious welcome or whether he was wary of Levi. Either way, Levi regretted his disheveled appearance and avoided Corvus’ eyes as much as he was able.

"Nice to meet you," Levi repeated, doing his best to smile and instead producing a fantastically awkward grimace.

"You must be the new boy," Corvus said, his tone not unkind, relaxing himself a bit as he noted the kid’s unease. “Ackerman, right? I recognize your name from the class list this year. If I’m not mistaken, you’re the scholarship student?”

Levi colored, his cheeks and ears turning crimson, as though the question were an accusation. “Um. Yeah. That’s … that’s me.”

"Well, good for you," Corvus said, raising a thick brow in amusement. “It’s nearly impossible to get into Rose Lyceum without money or a name.” Corvus noted a twitch in Levi’s brow that indicated it might have been a sensitive subject and reached out to clap him reassuringly on the shoulder. “Nothing to be ashamed of. Embrace it. I matriculated from that school. So did my wife. In fact, she was a scholarship student, as well. The kids there may not take kindly to you only because you’re an outsider. I’d like to be kind say it’s because they’re protective of their own kind and their way of life, but really, they don’t know how to handle people who are unlike them. But we live in a meritocracy, and I still fully believe in the virtues of a self-made man. You’ve already made it into their world, now take them for all they’ve got, and show them the success of hard work. My wife did it, and I know you’ll do the same.”

Levi was bright crimson, but now the smile on his face was genuine. He nodded and whispered a shy, “Okay,” to which Corvus drew back with a satisfied grin.

"Good man," he said approvingly, and Levi blushed anew. "Do you two want anything for dinner or should we leave you alone?”

Erwin held up the bag of pork buns in his hand, and his parents made understanding sounds and wandered on back towards the living room. “Let us know if you need anything at all,” Severine called, voice echoing shallowly from down the hall.

"They’re nice," Levi said, once they were comfortably alone in Erwin’s bedroom.

The blond shrugged, focusing a little too intently on the task of extracting his science textbook from his satchel. “They’re fine,” Erwin agreed tersely, tossing his book onto his desk with a dull but accosting thud. “They’re never around. My mom’s always following him on location, or they’re taking extended vacations together. One time, my mom took a 4 month sabbatical and they left me here with the butler. So, I don’t know, I’m used to them being gone. Whenever they’re around it just sort of cramps my style, you know?”

"At least they like spending time together," Levi said quietly. "They look like they’re really in love.” Erwin said nothing. “Your mom’s really pretty. And your dad seems really cool.”

"Yeah, you were practically drooling over my dad," Erwin said, a bitterness in his tone that shocked and unnerved Levi. “Join the club. Everyone does.”

Levi stared a moment at Erwin as the blond scribbled furiously in his notebook , purposefully avoiding looking at Levi. The hard knit of his brows was intimidating, but there was a sadness to the paleness of his eyes that broke his heart. Of course Erwin would feel lost in the shadows of his family’s accomplishments, especially of his father, who was so present in the public eye, whose renown must have made it nearly impossible to escape the mention of.

It was true Corvus was charming, handsome, a bit dashing, even. But how was Levi supposed to tell Erwin that there was nothing more evocative to him than the hue of Erwin’s eyes, that nothing in this world allayed the pervasive devastating loneliness Levi felt every second of every day like the scintillating brilliance of Erwin’s easy smile, that everything wrong with the world disappeared and faded into the periphery when Erwin was around, that contentment was something he’d never known until him. He wanted to reach out and tuck away the lock of soft blond hair that fell over his eyes, to stroke his cheek and tell him every fond, clandestine stirring of his heart. Instead, he opened his textbook and plopped down into the chair next to him, spreading his knees a little wide just to brush against Erwin’s own, his silent way of saying “I choose you, you idiot.”