Chapter Text
Levi was coming home, nursing a headache, thoroughly beaten down by a long day of bullshit, bullshit, and more bullshit, with a fun addition of absolute batshittery in the form of his fucking boss deciding Levi had to stay behind for a three-hour meeting with a bunch of morons who couldn’t tell a conditional discharge from their spleen, even though Levi was not a moron and was perfectly on track with all of his cases.
Fucking Nile Dok. Levi thought he might piss in his coffee tomorrow.
Levi trekked up the winding stairs to apartment five twenty-two, rounded a corner, only to find a body lying in the hallway, long, chocolate-brown hair spread out in a halo around their head, with legs pressed up flat against a closed door.
Levi’s exhaustion suddenly twisted into bemusement.
“Hello,” Levi looked down at the body - the boy - who, Levi now noticed, was watching videos on his phone. He was pretty sure those were old spongebob episodes.
Then, the boy looked up at him.
Mother of God, Levi thought, is he wearing shitting contacts?
“Hey,” said the incarnation of one of God’s angels, casual as anything. Even upside down, he was a fucking sight. Levi had to remind himself how to breathe.
“How’re you feeling down there?”
“It’s fine,” the boy shrugged. “Comfortable.”
“Mm-hmm, I bet,” Levi said, wondering at his life. Just twenty minutes ago he had been stuck in traffic cursing his existence and praying for death, and now the world had never been so wonderful.
Though in the midst of all of this wonderment, Levi was intrigued. And perhaps a little suspicious. He felt a tug in his gut, some instinctual draw. He could hardly explain it. It wasn’t every day one found a pretty boy lying sprawled in the middle of a hallway, after all.
Some of that must’ve shown on his face, because the boy glared back at the door with the most petulant sigh, as if that door was the source of all the world’s sorrows and woes.
“My roommate kicked me out,” the boy said, the cutest little furrow in his brow. “He has a girl over and didn’t want the music I was playing to ‘ruin the vibe.’”
“What kind of music were you listening to?”
“Russian metal.”
“I don’t see how that could ruin any ‘vibe.’” Levi had to tack on the exaggerated air quote so that he wouldn’t lose all dignity after actually uttering the word vibe. Apparently, this was his ticket into the boy’s good graces, though, as Levi was immediately rewarded with a smile that could have rivaled the sun.
“Thank you!” he exclaimed, vindicated, before he seemed to take pause, finding a certain kind of interest in Levi that normally wouldn’t be found in any random stranger. “Hey, I haven’t seen you before. Do you live here?”
Levi resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Pretty or not, Levi did not tolerate stupid questions. “No, there’s a person who lives down the hall who I stalk on weekdays.”
“I can’t tell if you’re serious.” Long-lashed, viridian eyes blinked, slow and cat-like. “That’s a problem.”
Levi said, deadpan. “I’m always serious.”
The boy cocked his head, just like a damn puppy.
“You shouldn’t have told me that. I watch too many true crime documentaries. I totally believe you now. You look, like, a serial killer archetype.” Levi felt his brow steadily raising.
“I don’t know if I should be offended,” Levi said, and he really didn’t. He thought he probably would have been offended if that sentiment hadn’t come from that particular pair of pretty pink lips.
“No, I meant it as a compliment,” the boy assured, seeming genuine enough. Apparently, he had quite a skewed perception of what constituted ‘complementary.’ He raised himself off the floor, all long, long legs that made Levi internally curse, and none-too-gently kicked at the door. “Alright, it’s been an hour. That’s long enough for two rounds. I’m gonna break in now. Any advice?”
“You’re going to break in,” Levi said slowly. “To your own apartment?”
“He kicked me out without the key!”
“Do you have your credit card?”
“I don’t have a credit card!”
“How old are you, brat?”
“Twenty-two.”
Levi couldn’t help but smirk. “Hopefully mommy and daddy’s house isn’t too far away.”
“Fuck off,” the boy huffed, pulling a bobby pin(?) out of his hair which was pin straight and glossy, swaying with every movement like a silken waterfall. So where it could have come from, Levi hadn’t the faintest clue.
Since Levi wasn’t actually a stalker and didn’t need this pretty little thing calling the cops on him, he regretfully tore his eyes away and carried on toward his own apartment.
“That really how you want to talk to a serial killer?” Levi asked, already rummaging through his pocket for his keys.
“You’re not really a serial killer,” the boy called with laughter in his voice, which swiftly dissipated in the face of Levi’s silence. “Right?”
Levi couldn’t help but laugh, just a little bit, when he shut the door in lieu of a reply. What a strange kid. What an alluring boy. Young - too young for Levi - and probably the sort that never stayed in one place for very long, but at least he was nice to look at. Next time, Levi would have to get his name.