Chapter Text
Upon the dais of the royal chamber in the capital of Mitras, three men were huddled together in a circle, speaking in hushed tones.
“―I still don’t quite understand why you’re postponing the tribunal, Aurille. I thought you wanted him out of our hair as soon as possible,” said a bearded man in black robes. The brass ornamentation of the Wall Church clinked melodically around his collar as he gestured while he spoke.
“We mustn’t be hasty, Roderich, don’t you see what a perfect opportunity this is?” The portly man who answered asserted himself confidently, his hands folded behind his back. Everything―from his attire, to his posture, to his manner of speaking―suggested an aristocratic upbringing.
“Personally, I don’t see why we can’t just put them both on trial at the same time right now and get it over with,” said the third man, who was wearing a finely-tailored black suit jacket adorned with a dainty white silk cravat.
“Are you daft, Deltoff? They could be working together!” Aurille countered. “This all could be part of their plan and then we’d be walking directly into their trap!”
“May I add that we’re still not even sure that it’s him?” said Roderich. “The Survey Corps have a habit of planting decoys to throw us off the scent.”
Deltoff nodded. “Someone said that the man we captured is actually somebody called Ergelchen. So maybe Roderich is correct.”
“What business would the Survey Corps have being back in Stohess District, in any case?” Roderich crossed his arms by way of emphasizing his skepticism.
“Finishing the job they started, perhaps?” suggested Aurille in a cynical tone. “That district won’t forget so quickly the terror unleashed upon them…. And now the Survey Corps is provoking gunfights in the middle of those damaged streets in the same month? They’re a menace!”
“Yes, but Captain Levi still has a lot of popular support, doesn’t he?” replied Deltoff. “Such a reputation doesn’t evaporate overnight, especially outside of Stohess.”
Roderich looked solemn. “I agree, who’s to say that sympathies at the tribunal won’t sway in his favor, and too the Commander by association? And then where would we be?”
“Although…” Deltoff lowered his voice, his tone turning conspiratorial. “Some say the commander forces him to do his bidding…. Remember how Gerald told us that Levi was blackmailed into joining the Survey Corps? It might not take much to get him to turn on his master, as it were. What if he’s been biding his time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to turn the tables? A starving dog will eventually bite the hand that refuses to feed him.”
“That’s true, he was a notorious gang leader after all,” Roderich nodded. “And there’s no such thing as a reformed criminal, if you ask me.”
Aurille paused, taking the information into consideration. “Even if your suspicions are correct,” he replied slowly, “I still say it’s exactly why doing this first is a good idea. They’ll be easier to control at the tribunal if we wear down their morale and form a rift between them. We can accuse them of degeneracy, and that we were all witnesses. Make the captain choose between his boss or his reputation. If he’s betrayed, maybe then the commander will even finally tell us everything he knows―“
“Who’s a degenerate? What did they do?”
The conversation was interrupted suddenly by a curious-toned voice belonging to the elderly King Fritz, sitting on his throne nearby. The two other assemblymen paused, looking uneasily toward Aurille, who smiled calmly.
“Never mind, Your Majesty, just Royal Assembly business,” he replied pleasantly yet dismissively, as if to a child listening in on an adult conversation.
“Oh, well then that’s fine,” the king answered, satisfied. “I suppose Commander Erwin will be coming before long. I expect it’s alright to sit here and wait for him in the meantime. You may continue your meeting.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Aurille replied obligingly. The others relaxed.
“You know, I would be lying if I said I weren’t interested in seeing the look on Commander Erwin’s face,” Deltoff mused, picking up the conversation where it left off. “This would make a smug bastard like him squirm for sure.”
Roderich also seemed to have made up his mind. “It’s not like anything else has worked, I suppose,” he conceded.
“Precisely,” Aurille said. “A man with pride has to be swayed in other ways.”
Just then, there was a resounding boom of the chamber doors opening, and the three men turned to watch a fourth man in a military long-coat walk up to the dais to join them. He was tall, with a bowl-cut, and the shadows under his eyes gave him a rather haunted look.
“What did you find out, Gerald?” asked Aurille.
“It’s him,” Gerald replied.
Aurille was unable to suppress the smile that formed on his face. “Have you sent for Erwin, then?”
“Yes, they’re bringing both of them here right now.”
Splendid, Aurille thought. Perhaps they could get that dog of Erwin’s to perform a few tricks.
The late spring sun peeking through the enormous glass windows behind the dais made the chamber slightly too warm―the balmy air rendered the king to snoozing quietly upright on his throne, his fingers entwined upon his lap. Aurille supposed that, from a distance, he appeared to be silently, thoughtfully observing. Perhaps it was just as well, as he doubted today’s agenda would be of much interest to the king.
It wasn’t long before they could hear the sound of several footsteps, accompanied by the rhythmic clinking of metal chains growing louder and louder, until the chamber doors opened once more and there stood Commander Erwin Smith of the Survey Corps, flanked on both sides by Military Police soldiers.
He was fettered at the ankles, and his one remaining wrist was behind his back, bound tightly to his waist with ropes that pinned his whole arm to his side. Though the shackles rendered him physically powerless, it was undeniable that the atmosphere had changed the moment Erwin entered. His presence filled the room. Ugly purple and green bruises, punctuated by streaks of dried blood didn’t hide the fact that the face underneath was handsome. The white collared shirt and belted wool trousers he wore had become filthy with blood, sweat, and dirt stains―but it was his tall, athletic build, along with his normally perfectly coiffed golden hair rendered disheveled that gave an impression of ruggedness that did not suggest of a man who had spent two days in a dank jail cell receiving the sort of hospitality at which the First Interior Squad excelled. It made Aurille unexpectedly irritated. Erwin Smith had no right to be looking like that.
Once Erwin had nearly reached the foot of the dais stairs, away by about two paces, he lowered himself respectfully into a kneeling position, waiting for a member of the Royal Assembly to speak first.
“Thank you for joining us, Erwin,” Aurille said, quickly masking his annoyed disdain with mild pleasantries.
Erwin’s face turned, his eyes scanning phlegmatically from one side of the room to the other―it was empty except for a smattering of Military Police guards along opposite ends of the chamber, Erwin’s escorts, the four royal assemblymen, the king, and Erwin himself. He spoke.
“This is not my tribunal.” It wasn’t a question.
“Ah, yes... nothing gets past you, does it, Commander?” Aurille quipped. “It’s been rescheduled. We wanted to inform you about some new developments. We have another guest coming, in fact.”
The question of who had barely formed in Erwin’s mind and he was only able to raise an eyebrow in curiosity before, in a fit of convenient timing, another group of footsteps could be heard approaching the chamber doors. Erwin’s head spun around just as Levi came into view in the doorway. Similar to Erwin himself, he was shackled at the wrists and ankles, and bound at the torso by rope that MP soldiers on either side of him held as leads.
“We picked up this stray of yours off the streets,” Aurille explained, a hint of mirth in his voice.
Erwin kept his face impassive at the new arrival. Levi, however, upon seeing Erwin’s battered appearance, was unable to stop his sour expression from transforming initially into one of shock, then into a darkness that belied incandescent seething within.
“Erwin, what the fuck did they do to you?” Levi growled. “What did these―“ he was suddenly vibrating, the anger and violence inside him bubbling up, only barely stymied by his bindings―“―FUCKING SHIT-EATING PISSWORMS DO??!!“
The sudden raising of Levi’s voice echoed through the chamber like a gunshot. Erwin didn’t flinch in the slightest―neither at the sound nor at the vulgarity.
“What are you doing here, Levi?” He replied calmly with a question of his own.
“Captain Levi and his soldiers were in Stohess District causing absolute mayhem and putting the public in danger once again,” Gerald answered for them. “It’s only fortunate that our Anti-Personnel Squad put a stop to the chaos before too much damage was done, but―”
“That’s not what happened!” Levi interrupted, shouting from the back of the room. “We got fucking ambushed! They had guns attached to their ODM gear! We were just trying to get out of there without having our heads fucking blown off…!”
“Resisting arrest, then? That’s even worse,” Gerald retorted accusingly.
“Erwin, when are you going to teach that dog of yours to heel?” Deltoff demanded to know. “I’m surprised he isn’t pissing on the carpet as we speak!”
“Do you want me to?” Levi asked bitterly. “It might be worth it to me, if it meant inconveniencing you.”
“Silence,” Aurille interjected. He called over to Levi’s MP escorts. “Bring him here.”
One of the MPs gave Levi a rude push that nearly tripped him over, but he managed to recover his balance in time to walk forward in step with the men around him. He growled in annoyance but otherwise kept silent.
Once Levi was parallel to Erwin, another MP kicked the back of his knees, which caused his legs to buckle reflexively, and he landed hard into a kneeling position. Erwin kept his head facing forward with his eyes on the assemblymen, even as Levi hissed and cursed in pain next to him.
“Levi and his squad killed and maimed several Military Police as well,” said Aurille. “Was this your authorization, Commander Erwin? Or are your soldiers going rogue? You have insisted that you aren’t responsible for the death of the merchant, Dimo Reeves…. That the Survey Corps is not the enemy of the crown, nor of humanity itself…. Yet the honest blades of your apparent right-hand man, Levi, are telling a different story.”
Erwin’s eyebrows raised, and a flash of surprise flooded his features briefly before becoming impassive again. Aurille felt the satisfaction blooming through him anyway. They had caught Erwin off-guard. So far, so good.
“Do you have anything to say to him, Erwin?”
Erwin turned at last to look at Levi, who seemed to be searching for a hint of what he was thinking, wondering how much Erwin might be swallowing these arguments. Erwin betrayed nothing with his eyes, but he mumbled a question out of the corner of his mouth, subtle enough that the assemblymen couldn’t see.
“Where are Ergelchen’s children?” he asked in a low voice, full of implied meaning.
“Up in the air,” Levi replied cryptically, which Erwin understood to mean that the rest of Levi's squad had managed to escape with Eren and Historia. Erwin tipped his head subtly in acknowledgement. There was still hope, then. The fates of himself and Levi, now both in custody, were still unclear, but the attempt at revolution had not failed just yet. They could afford to play along for now.
Aurille continued. “It is a most unfortunate time for him to be sabotaging your efforts to save yourself from accusations of treason when, quite frankly, your life is on the line, Erwin. This might be your last chance to finally teach him some manners.” There was a hint of a glimmer in his eye as he glanced toward the MPs hovering over Erwin and Levi.
Just then, without warning, the guard directly behind Levi grabbed a fistful of his hair, and for a moment it seemed as though he were about to shove Levi down to the floor, but instead his face came crashing into Erwin’s. Erwin felt a different hand latching onto his own hair in back, manipulating his head so that the two men’s lips met in a painful union of noses and mouths, tongues and teeth.
Amused giggles broke out among the assemblymen.
The shock of it knocking the wind out of their lungs, Erwin and Levi tried to adjust themselves, but before they could win the struggle to configure their faces into more comfortable positions, the hands yanked at their scalps, pulling them away from each other.
“Do it again!” Aurille barked, barely able to contain the amusement in his voice.
Erwin and Levi’s faces were separated for only a few moments, but within that time they had managed to make eye-contact, and this time they were ready: lips parted and tongues caught each other as their faces collided once more, and they sighed as they melted together. Their nostrils flared with harsh breaths as the kiss deepened. Drool began to dribble down their chins and mingle as both Erwin and Levi tried to gasp for air, and they broke away as much as the fists digging into their scalps would allow, their heavy panting into each other’s mouths ratcheting up the intensity of the moment before their tongues voluntarily joined once more. Muffled moans volleyed between them as they hungrily devoured one another.
The scene that was unfolding before the assemblymen was rather unexpected, though not uninteresting. Aurille had anticipated reactions of revulsion and shame when their lips were put together. Had this been some latent mutual lust between the two that had been brewing for some time, waiting for the right conditions? Was it a whim―or perhaps momentary madness―of two men caught in a corner, whose desperate situation manifested into this enthusiastic display? He didn’t bother to think about it any more deeply than that.
The guards holding Erwin and Levi’s heads together forced them apart once more, though this time the two seemed rather displeased at their separation. They eyed each other’s mouths, which were hovering near one another like magnets compelled to rejoin if not for the forces keeping them apart.
“You seemed to enjoy that, Commander,” Aurille said, raising an eyebrow. “I didn’t realize you were the sort of man whose proclivities involved snogging his own soldiers.”
Erwin remained silent, his expression dispassionate. It was in stark contrast to the tight, bulging erection that had erupted at the center of his trousers.
How embarrassing for his body to betray him at a time like this, Aurille thought. It seemed as though a slight flush was appearing on Erwin’s cheeks as the assemblymen ogled at him. It was starting to give Aurille more ideas of how to make him break.
“Release the captain,” he commanded.
Everyone else in the room appeared to be taken aback by the order, including Levi himself. Even Aurille was unsure whether or not the captain’s fists would start flying as soon as he was freed, but he was willing to gamble a bit.
“Captain Levi, your commander seems to be struggling with the discomfort of his urges…. Would you be so kind as to relieve him of his trousers?”
Levi raised his eyebrows incredulously as he and Erwin were made to stand. An MP worked apprehensively to loosen Levi’s bonds, as though he were expecting a set of knuckles in his face at any moment.
“Aurille, are you sure this is wise?” Roderich mumbled in concern.
Aurille ignored his colleague, but by way of answering, warned: “Make no mistake, Captain…. I won’t hesitate to order bullets through both of your heads if you try anything even close to resembling violence.”
The MP guard seemed unsure how much Levi was meant to be unrestrained, but after unraveling the rope, and in absence of further explicit instructions, he ended up unlocking both Levi’s wrist and ankle fetters as well.
Finally freed, Levi glanced at Erwin by way of asking permission, electing to follow his cues. Erwin’s mouth simply quirked, as if to say they would probably be immediately sent to the gallows if they dared disobey. He watched quietly as Levi reached over to unbuckle his belt, inserting spread out fingers into the cloth at his sides before pushing down both trousers and undergarments in one fluid motion, managing to do so without turning them inside out. Even in circumstances like these, Levi’s fastidious nature came through as the trousers pooled neatly around Erwin’s ankle fetters, where they had to remain.
“The shirt, too,” came another command, and Levi immediately began unbuttoning Erwin’s collared shirt. Erwin lifted up his chin cooperatively, unable to do much else with one arm gone and the other still tied to his waist.
When Levi reached the bottom, he pushed the shirt off Erwin’s shoulders, though he was unable to remove it completely either, as the left sleeve was tangled in the rope around Erwin’s wrist. Instead, Levi tugged the shirt tails out from underneath the ropes at his torso, which properly exposed Erwin’s erect cock to the open air. Most men would probably be horrified by the mere thought of it: the humiliation of being stripped down in public―their deepest, most uncontrollable desires exposed for all to see. Though he doubted it could be seen from the dais either way, Levi held in a smile. He knew that Erwin wasn’t like most men.
While Levi was working to undress Erwin, the assemblymen had become huddled together again, speaking over each other in loud, fervent whispers, planning the next move. When they broke apart, they leered at Erwin, apparently opting to keep the focus of their sport on him.
“We wondered if maybe you had been saving your words down in the dungeons because you were expecting to talk your way out of your predicament with a sympathetic audience,” said Aurille. “But we thought your silver tongue could be put to better use. Perhaps the reason your captain has been acting so disobedient is because he’s too pent up. That mouth of yours can make him see sense.”
Catching on to the double entendre of Aurille’s words, Erwin eyed Levi, who, judging from his body language, wasn't particularly in the mood for any such thing. However, the look behind his eyes suggested he was willing to cooperate: Levi pursed his lips together, appearing to want it more than he was probably keen to admit. Erwin felt his cock twitch in response.
Erwin looked around again, gauging the atmosphere. The guards flanking the sides of the chamber kept their faces impassive―however, they all seemed to be avoiding his gaze directly; some kept their eyes downcast, others stared off into space. Several of the faces were tinged with pink―clearly ashamed of being witnesses to Erwin’s public debasing. He wasn’t sure if the Royal Assembly making a bawdy spectacle of their political enemies was a regular habit of theirs or not, but over two decades on the battlefield had made his instincts sensitive enough to know when a situation was on the verge of tipping into chaos―something to which the four assemblymen seemed utterly oblivious that this was the case. His eyes made their way back to Levi, who held his gaze, waiting. Erwin felt himself shiver. He was born for this sort of thing. He felt his cock twitch again.
Erwin sank back to his knees and leaned downwards, pressing his face into Levi’s groin. He smelled like hot, musky exertion―the scent evoked images of seeing Levi flying gracefully through the air beyond the walls, in an environment of danger but also of exhilaration. It was the sort of thrill that still gave Erwin small ecstasies even after all these years. He resisted the urge to moan openly, unwilling to reveal to the whole room just how much this simple act had him spiralling, though it only managed to make it even more exciting to him. He nuzzled his cheek against Levi’s bulge―his cock was still soft but beginning to react to Erwin’s hot breath against the cloth separating them. With his hand still tied behind his back, preventing him from being able to take it out himself, Erwin resorted to making long drags of his tongue over Levi’s clothes, while Levi began to undo his belt and fly, enough so that he would be exposed.
Levi’s cock was only half erect at this point, responding to Erwin’s own arousal more than anything. It hovered sleepily among tufts of dark pubic hair, which trailed up his abdomen until they disappeared under the hem of the thin grey shirt hugging at his figure. Erwin became distracted for a moment as he admired him with a concupiscent gaze.
“Well? What are you waiting for?” A voice came from the dais. Erwin didn’t bother to turn to see whose, but it was tinged with a levity that conveyed a misreading of the situation. Erwin didn’t mind, however, if his reverence was being mistaken for reluctance.
His lips parted, allowing his tongue to emerge and make contact at the base first. He lapped upwards, warm and wet against Levi’s shaft, swirling around the tip to coax the foreskin down, rubbing his soft, moist, and swollen lips against the velvety skin, repeating the pattern at every angle to bring him to full erection―slick, shining, and hard―before he swallowed the whole thing in his mouth, enjoying how it felt when the head bumped against the back of his throat.
As for Levi, he wasn’t accustomed to putting this side of himself on display for public consumption. He sometimes wondered if his reticent attitude toward the idea of intimate relationships combined with his churlish personality during his rare endeavors into public relations for the Survey Corps made it hard for most people to imagine him having any sort of base appetites to begin with. Of course, his celebrity within the walls made him certain that there were those who had their own fantasies, whether they actually knew anything about him or not.
Moreover though were the ways people who paid enough attention speculated over the nature of the relationship between himself and his Commander. Levi always ignored it, and he never bothered to confirm or deny anything one way or the other because he didn’t think it was anyone’s business, nor was it within his capacity to even explain exactly what it was between them anyhow. In any case, he wasn’t sure if the members of the Royal Assembly were testing the veracity of such rumors or if they were diving headfirst into some attempt at psychological manipulation and blackmail in complete ignorance―because if they had been in Levi’s place, with Erwin on his knees in front of them at that moment, they would understand just how skillfully and eagerly he sucked cock.
Erwin kept his eyes closed, allowing his eyelashes to rest sweetly upon his cheeks, contrasting with the obscene noises coming from his mouth. It was wet, and hot, and tight, and the tip of Erwin’s taut tongue tickled Levi’s underside as he moved back and forth. The end of his long nose buried itself over and over in the nest of Levi’s hair, smelling him indulgently as he breathed. At one point, when Erwin took him all the way in, Levi could feel the tightness of his throat muscles contracting around the head, massaging with precise pressure as he throat-fucked himself with it in shallow thrusts.
Even despite being crouched down low, Erwin had to hold his upper body stiffly as he bobbed his head, unsupported due to his arm behind his back. With nothing else for either of them to lean on, Levi lifted up his heels to get the angle just right, but did so without bearing any of his weight back onto Erwin, so as not to saddle him with undue burden or cause him to lose his balance. He instead clung at the back of Erwin’s head with a feather-light grip―stroking and kneading his fingers encouragingly into Erwin’s hair to release the fidgety tension in his body, resisting the urge to suddenly spasm and propel his hips forward with a destabilizing reflex. Their bodies were a block tower―delicate, yet in perfect equilibrium. It was the sort of teamwork that he might have thought held a certain degree of significance, if Levi were in the right mind to think about it. In the moment however, it just made his thigh muscles tremble, which only intensified the sensations distracting him.
Amazingly, at an outward glance from afar, Erwin somehow managed to provide a subdued performance, giving the assemblymen what they wanted as much as he gave it to Levi. Erwin seemed to be purposely making an impression that he was begrudgingly submitting to his humiliation. Even Erwin’s duality―his ability to please varying appetites while still in control―was arousing. Levi’s head tilted up as the pleasure built and his mouth hung open just as a choked moan gurgled in his throat and escaped involuntarily.
Nearly as soon as it started however, he felt his cock being unsheathed from Erwin’s mouth as a guard curled a fist into Erwin’s scalp once more and pulled him off.
“Now, now, don’t get too ahead of yourselves,” Aurille scolded them. He looked at Erwin, who stared back intensely even as he tried to swallow back a line of saliva that had dribbled out after he was abruptly yanked away.
“Is this how you like to keep all your soldiers in line? A suck and a fuck in exchange for dedicating their lives? I often wondered why you lacked a lovely wife and children with reasonable heads on their shoulders who might have helped convince you see things our way,” Aurille’s colleagues began to laugh, and he paused for a moment to join them as they all nodded to each other knowingly. “But I believe we all understand now that no reasonable woman would want to sully her reputation with a slutty, duplicitous snake such as yourself. You try to act noble in the service of lofty ideals…but I know the truth! That you’re really just a fraud who only cares about his own selfish desires!”
At that, the smallest hint of a smile appeared at Erwin’s lips and he exhaled through his nose a soft, enigmatic laugh, but was otherwise silent. Encouraged nonetheless, Aurille continued.
“Getting your jollies doesn’t actually seem to help though, does it? Considering such insubordinate behavior from Captain Levi, over here.” Aurille nodded in Levi’s direction. “He can’t even withstand a few slurps from that cunt on your face before he starts keening like a whore.”
Levi stifled his desire to roll his eyes at Aurille’s attempts to constantly shift his expectations for them, seemingly pivoting back and forth to whatever best suited his vulgar, condescending insults. Was this the Royal Assembly’s idea of playing mind games? As usual, Erwin was inscrutable, ostensibly waiting for Aurille to get to the point.
“If you can’t teach your dog to heel, maybe you need to accept the consequences of always allowing him to have the upper hand…” Aurille gave a theatrical pause, drawing out his next words for maximum impact.
“…Erwin, get down on your hands and knees,” came his blunt command. “Captain Levi, you will fuck the commander.”
The room was quiet for a moment as both Erwin and Levi stayed silent for several beats. Aurille wasn’t sure exactly how he expected them to react, even after offering a performative flourish―however, he didn’t think it would be like this: quiet stoicism. Save for the few tempting glimpses he allowed through, Erwin’s ability to keep his inner emotions from appearing on his face was beginning to become frustrating.
Instead, Erwin seemed to be considering logistics.
“With all due respect, Sirs,” he said finally, “I imagine it may be a bit difficult to keep my balance on ‘all fours’ as it were with my only arm tied behind my back.” Erwin spoke mildly―as casually as if he were pointing out a flaw while discussing plans for an expedition, addressing the assemblymen as if he weren’t on his knees, naked and aroused.
“V-very well. Free him,” Aurille ordered, slightly unnerved by the dissonance. He found himself unable to react beyond honoring the request―again neglecting to be specific in the process. He nodded toward an MP near Erwin, figuring that his earlier threats as well as Erwin’s nakedness would prevent him from making any sudden moves.
The MP came forth, and perhaps a bit flustered at being ordered to maneuver around a nude military superior, made a few half-hearted attempts at picking apart the rope knots with his fingers before he quickly gave up and brandished a folding knife from his jacket pocket. He first cut loose the shirt still tangled in the ropes, then cut the ropes themselves, coming dangerously close to nicking flesh several times in his haste.
Erwin sighed in relief as he felt the rope’s constricting grip slacken around his body. He stretched and flexed a few times, soothing the aching cramps in his arm after it had been pinned to his side for what felt like hours.
As he did so, the MP bent down to unlock and take away his fetters. Unobstructed, Erwin was at last able to step out from the trousers around his ankles, as well as his shoes. He was now truly naked, completely exposed―and glorious. Aurille was overwhelmed with an impotent desire to lift him up, only to drop him onto the floor so that he would smash into a thousand pieces, like he were a priceless marble statue. Though they were about to witness the thing he had been anticipating all along, apprehension and doubt were beginning to creep in. He struggled to think of a way to keep the reins of control in his own hands, wanting to give out orders simply because he saw himself―on behalf of the Royal Government, of course―as the only one entitled to them.
“Erwin, don’t you see your captain needs some help disrobing?” Aurille said, summoning up as much condescension he could.
Apparently it was unacceptable for Levi to perform with his trousers on, though Erwin was sure this was just another attempt at power play. With Levi standing in front of him, Erwin got back on his knees and reached out while Levi motioned to assist him, but just then an MP grabbed Levi at the wrists and twisted both of his arms behind himself, pinning them to his back. They could hear Aurille tutting from the dais.
“Now, now, Levi. Won’t you let your commander have his pride?”
Power play indeed, Erwin thought, performing the chore on his own, with Levi and everyone else watching. His left hand was clumsy and still sore; though Levi was stripped of his harnesses when he was taken into custody, making the task somewhat less challenging, he struggled to pull down Levi’s clothes with one hand.
The men at the dais started snickering again. How long had Erwin been out of the hospital? A little over a week? Aurille might have felt more sorry for him if he hadn’t been showing up at the Royal Assembly’s doorstep literally the day after being discharged, poking his nose around and asking them odd questions as if he were testing them. Clearly they had failed his tests, if the Survey Corps was up to this many shenanigans now.
After some persistence, Erwin finally managed to bring Levi’s trousers down to his knees through alternate yanks of it side to side. It would’ve been difficult to pull them all the way off without getting rid of Levi’s boots as well, but that was beyond the limits of his dexterity, so it would have to do.
Then, obediently, he bent over onto his hand and knees, exposing his backside to the whole chamber.
Erwin felt his cheeks burning and his heart racing from making himself this vulnerable; the taunting laughter of the assemblymen was also still fresh in his ears. As the commander of the Survey Corps―the pariah of the military―who moreover had a boyishly idealistic dream, these were the sort of experiences and feelings he was familiar with. However, he had always able to harness them so that they only ignited the fire of his inexorable will. Could he be blamed if he had begun to associate failure and humiliation with excitement? He kept his nerve. And his cock twitched yet again.
Levi shook off the guard pinning down his wrists, who easily backed off when it was clear Levi was cooperating. Following Erwin’s lead as usual, he stepped into position behind him and grimaced.
“I’m not wild about the idea of spitting into my hands to try to make this easier for you…disgusting,” Levi lamented candidly with a shudder. “Even still, it’s not going to be pretty.”
“There might be another option,” Erwin replied. “Check my trousers.”
Raising an eyebrow, Levi reached aside to pick up Erwin’s discarded trousers, feeling around for something solid, and sure enough, inside the watch pocket was a small, round tin of salve. Levi had to laugh.
“Are these MPs so incompetent that they can’t even confiscate personal effects properly?” He scoffed as he unscrewed the lid.
“In their defense,” he could hear Erwin say from his bent over position, “they were dealing with a man who has a disadvantage. I can’t imagine someone with only one arm such as myself would be able to escape so easily, even when in possession of contraband.”
Levi pumped himself as he spread the lubricant around thoroughly, reserving a dollop on his index finger for Erwin and wiping it over his exposed opening with business-like efficiency. “Oh yeah? Well, if I were them I wouldn’t trust you as far as I could throw you.”
Levi’s height wouldn’t allow him to penetrate Erwin from a kneeling position, but they were also mismatched when he stood, so he split the difference by lowering himself into a squat.
“You only say that because you know me better than they do,” Erwin answered with a smile, craning his neck around to look at him.
Levi stared back, a glimmer appearing in his eyes even as the rest of his features remained deadpan. “Yeah…and that’s exactly what’ll be their downfall.”
Levi used the head of his cock to rub against Erwin’s entrance, smearing the salve, making it warm and slick before sheathing himself inside with a few skilled rocks of his hips back and forth. They didn’t have the privilege of being in a position to practice slow, tender foreplay with massages and incremental stretches. Erwin took it admirably however, especially when spit and grit would’ve been their only other alternative. Levi thought maybe Erwin preferred it this way anyhow. Even while he cried out in pain as Levi filled him up, he sounded like he was in ecstasy.
When Levi was to begin fucking Erwin, the assemblymen wanted Erwin to experience shame, to make him feel debased by his subordinate rutting him like a dog. However, in reality, everything about their body language suggested Erwin and Levi were practiced and intimate. Though they couldn’t see it for themselves, their faces mirrored each other: flushed cheeks, knotted eyebrows, and mouths hanging open to allow passage for a steady stream of low, soft moans―their mutual pleasure undeniable.
It was something the royal assemblymen couldn’t possibly have known, and they probably didn’t have it in their imaginations to consider it anyway just by looking at the two of them, but it was this configuration that Erwin and Levi had always most preferred―a dynamic which mirrored their professional relationship. Levi had the sort of unlimited, restless energy which made him want to move almost mindlessly, guided by Erwin’s instructions and cues. His heart soared every time he followed Erwin in a language spoken with moans, whimpers, and growls so that it brought them both to pleasurable heights. To know that his body and physical talents were useful to Erwin―both on the battlefield as well as behind closed doors―had always felt like the highest sort of praise.
By then, Erwin’s body had adjusted itself to Levi’s presence and the peculiar sort of discomfort that was always his least favorite part of the act gave way to warm, glowing pleasure. Levi had a slight curve to him which allowed him to rub against all the right spots naturally. He listened to Erwin carefully for changes in the pitch and intensity of his voice―he also seemed to be in the spirit of giving the assemblymen the show they wanted by coaxing out of Erwin a performance as loud and intense as they both could manage. Erwin took delight in it, allowing the deep timbre of his voice to utter long, sensual moans as Levi’s hips battered against him again and again, the lewd-sounding slaps of skin-on-skin creating magnifying echoes in the cavernous chamber. Levi squeezed the flesh on Erwin’s hips tightly, using his thumbs to tug at his cheeks and give the sensation of his hole being stretched open even further; the slick, tight muscle swallowed Levi deeper, hungry and greedy for him.
Though Levi’s breaths became harsh as he snapped his hips vigorously, the exertion of energy was most apparent in Erwin, whose eyes were squeezed shut while he concentrated intensely on using one arm to hold his upper body weight, in addition to absorbing the force of Levi’s thrusts. Sweat trickled down to his jaw from the perspiration beading at his temples, his muscles taut and quaking.
As much as his left arm strained and his body tried to remind him that he had lost something, it was Levi who was making him feel whole. When Aurille called Levi his “right-hand man”, Erwin’s dispassionate expression had faltered with astonishment for a moment, because it occurred to him only then how apt and literal of a metaphor it had become. Levi getting taken into custody was something Erwin hadn’t anticipated, but it was also unexpected that the Royal Assembly thought they were being clever by trying to weaponize him against Erwin in such a counter-intuitive way. Levi had always excelled at using his instincts for the sake of their goals, and even in their current situation, Levi followed along admirably, as if he were an extension of Erwin’s own body. The pressures and challenges of his duties as commander always felt slightly less heavy when Levi was at his side, sharing the burden with him. Levi held Erwin up; he gave him power. When Levi moved around inside of Erwin, he healed him. Levi would always be his salvation. It was clear since the day they met. In the moment, and always; their shared pleasure, their trust, their bond―they were a key to freedom.
At a certain point, Erwin felt Levi’s pace momentarily slow down, as if distracted. Just then, suddenly, Levi yanked Erwin’s head backwards by his hair―eliciting a sharp, breathy gasp from Erwin―and he leaned in as far he could without making Erwin lose his balance, mumbling into his ear: “Look at this.”
Erwin opened his eyes, blinking them into focus, and observed how the environment around them was devolving into a state of debauchery: the MPs were all keeping a wide berth between themselves and Erwin and Levi’s coupling, but several of them were clearly physically uncomfortable, trying not to give in to their lust. Some, however, had already broken ranks and were pawing at themselves over their clothes. Their muffled grunts and soft moans floated hazily through the airless chamber, whose hothouse quality was beginning to feel oppressive.
Though the assemblymen at the dais merely stood there like four looming obelisks, their faculties were ensnared by what they were witnessing; their faces red, greasy foreheads dewy, and bodies trembling.
Levi’s heaving breaths panted into Erwin’s ear as they paused, and it compounded with the rhythmic pumps of blood rushing around inside Erwin’s own head, making the noises loud and overwhelming. For a moment, Erwin felt as if he were back on the battlefield the day he lost his arm; kneeling among carnage and chaos, high on adrenaline and waiting for fate to catch up to him. He managed to say the words out loud that he merely thought back then:
“What a mess,” he murmured.
It was exactly the type of environment in which he and Levi thrived.
Erwin bent his arm for momentum and then pushed himself into an upright kneel, completely exposing his aroused body, flushed and glistening, as he leaned backwards to bring his face to Levi’s. He began to pant in hot staccatos as Levi resumed his movements inside of him, and he reached back―exposing himself even further―to stroke the short hairs at Levi’s nape.
In response, Levi took his right hand off of Erwin’s hip to wrap it around his chest possessively, balling his fist for reinforcement. The resulting effect, though unintentional, was striking: in absence of Erwin having a right arm of his own, Levi appeared to be saluting for him, dedicating his heart for Erwin on his behalf.
Erwin made eye contact with the assemblymen just then. Without shying away, he held the stare, full of intensity. The four men couldn’t look away. It was as if Erwin was communicating to them with words unspoken who really held the power in the room, that their attempts to humiliate him were something he relished, that they in fact turned him on―his proclivities unexpectedly aligning with their plans precisely, unbeknownst to them. They had never seen a gaze so intimidating in their lives.
Levi’s rutting became more swift and erratic as his climax became imminent, his previously reserved vocalizations increasing in volume before they became locked in his throat, suffocating him until all the tension in his body released at once and he spilled himself inside Erwin, the force of it making him wonder if it shot through Erwin hard enough to make him taste it on his tongue. Levi sighed raggedly, catching his breath as if he had just landed from an intense battle. For a moment, it felt like no one else was in the room―Erwin held their heads close as the two of them bumped their noses and foreheads together affectionately, breathing in tandem in the afterglow.
Come continued to dribble out of Levi’s prick even as he pulled out, bringing with it the load he had filled Erwin with. The mess dripped onto the carpet, creating sticky, wet stains.
“Serves them right,” Levi muttered, uncharacteristically apathetic toward the soiled spot on the opulent red velvet.
As much as Levi had Erwin keening and quivering underneath him, he was fairly certain Erwin still needed direct stimulation to achieve orgasm. Sure enough, though Erwin exemplified inexhaustible patience and self control as always, his cock on the other hand looked ready to blow: pink, stiff, and leaking between his thick, muscular thighs, which were made even more prominent by his kneeled position. Without waiting for permission from Erwin, let alone the assemblymen or anyone else, Levi dived down to swallow Erwin up, overwhelmed by his desire to serve his commander and finally give him the release he deserved.
Erwin’s untouched cock already felt swollen and heavy the moment Levi put his lips around him, and the moan Erwin made when Levi’s warm, wet mouth consumed him sounded like a sigh of relief somewhere between both a curse and a prayer.
Levi eschewed any sort of teasing or slow build, bobbing his head fiercely with a strong suction that had Erwin twitching and bucking his hips with energy and enthusiasm to match, his eyes beginning to leak from the intensity of it―still keenly aware of their captivated audience watching him finally fall apart under his captain’s attentive, talented mouth; their own mouths agape as the inescapable gravity of Erwin’s presence controlled them all from start to finish, like helpless planets orbiting a vast, shining sun.
Erwin’s breathing hitched as his climax built, but it quickly caught up with him when he came, and he uttered a string of low, warbling moans as he shuddered with each sighing exhale, splattering the back of Levi’s throat with hot, milky spurts.
Levi pulled away carefully, still holding Erwin’s come in his mouth, pooling it together and then spitting it unceremoniously on top of the same stain he made on the carpet earlier. Erwin and Levi had now both made their mark upon the space below the feet of the false king and his wretched coterie of oligarchs. They were mingled, indistinguishable.
For a while the entire chamber was silent. The tension became cut when Erwin decided to stand up and then calmly, silently began to put his clothes back on.
Aurille found his voice first.
“What is the meaning of this, Erwin?!”
Erwin, whose shirt was in tangled tatters on the floor, focused on his trousers instead, getting them around his legs and pulling them up to his hips before he spoke.
“It is what you wanted, isn’t it?” He answered mildly.
Aurille scoffed indignantly, his widened eyes bulging. “You think we wanted a degenerate like you getting your kicks in front of His Majesty? Outrageous! Mark my words, Erwin, we’ll ruin you with this! At your tribunal we’ll tell everyone about the sort of depravity you committed in this very spot!”
“You mean the kind that you fucking perverts forced on us in the first place?” Levi retorted in annoyance, standing with a hand on his hip after replacing his own trousers, staring down the assemblymen. “Seems to me the ones trying to get themselves off were all of you…“
Levi trailed off and glanced around the chamber by way of emphasizing his point: surrounding them were ruddy-cheeked MPs surreptitiously focused on a diversity of tasks: catching breaths after coming down from fresh orgasms; wiping white, sticky messes from calloused hands; tucking themselves back into unbuttoned trousers; or acting in denial altogether, staring ahead steely-eyed while ignoring the half-hard bulges and wet patches between their legs.
Aurille’s face was twisted into an unpleasant grimace―it was unclear though if it was in response to Levi’s indignation, the debauched condition of the MPs, or both. He looked nauseous.
“All I see here is proof that the members of the Survey Corps do nothing but incite chaos and disorderly conduct!” he spat back. “All four of us can claim to be witnesses to what just happened here! And then we’ll just see how that goes over with the other military leaders! I’m sure Commander-In-Chief Zackly would be very alarmed to hear about how his military budget allotted to the Survey Corps is being used to fund such depraved indecency!”
“Oh, I’m sure he won’t care,” Erwin said.
“Why not?”
“Do you really think Commander-In-Chief Zackly or any other high-ranking military officer isn’t aware of rumors between Levi and myself? I’m quite sure the nature of our relationship has been a tolerated open secret for years. Didn’t he ever tell you?”
The other three assemblymen turned to Gerald, whose face was draining of color, clearly completely unaware of this information. “I-I had heard differently…” he stammered. “About Levi’s recruitment…t-that you blackmailed him…”
Erwin looked thoughtful for a moment. “Oh yes, I suppose I did do that…. But Levi had a little scheme of his own going on, if I recall correctly?”
“Yeah, a political enemy of yours hired me to assassinate you…. But you already knew that and you were playing us both. He’s good at doing shit like that,” Levi’s eyes flicked toward the assemblymen with a sly, knowing look.
“Perhaps their unawareness is not such a surprise after all, thinking about it,” said Erwin. “I’m sure the less that the military brass has to discuss or think about the Survey Corps, the better―as they prefer it,” he nodded to Gerald then continued.
“What’s a sexually intimate relationship between the two of us to them, after all? We had already eschewed the proper protocols for Levi’s recruitment as well as his rank promotion. And the Survey Corps is already considered to be a bunch of deviants by the other branches. I think everyone would just prefer to look the other way as long as they have the Survey Corps around as a means to gain public favor through our successes, or make us a political scapegoat whenever we fail, as they see fit. Curious that the upper echelons of the Royal Government seem extremely interested in what we’re up to only now that we have Eren in our ranks. I wonder what they’re so concerned about?” Erwin asked rhetorically, to himself more than anything.
“Y-you disobeyed a direct order from His Majesty the King to surrender Eren Yeager to the Military Police! You brought your battleground into our own backyards, making you responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocents! That alone should be enough to have you hanged for treason against the monarchy!”
“Ah. Then I suppose a sex scandal ought to be the least of our worries, wouldn’t you say, Levi?”
“Oh I don’t know,” Levi replied dryly. “I’m sure a lot of men would be willing to die for good head.”
“SILENCE, the both of you!” Aurille spat. “I’ve heard enough! We WILL bring up this indiscretion at your rescheduled tribunal tomorrow, Erwin, and we’ll just see for ourselves what people think of it when weighed along with all of the other evidence against you! Take them away, NOW!”
Aurille turned to the MP escorts who were still standing awkwardly nearby, unsure of how to behave after they had all broken their ranks so utterly. The group of men scrambled with keys and cuffs as they arrested Levi. However, with Erwin’s missing arm, as well as all the ropes they restrained him with having been cut, they resorted to simply pinning his left hand behind his back as they led them both out of the royal chamber.
“And what are you good-for-nothing blockheads still doing here?!” Aurille roared, turning his ire to the remaining MP guards. “None of you are worth even the rifle bullets that belong in your heads after the way you behaved while on duty in the presence of His Majesty the King! All of you, GET OUT OF MY SIGHT THIS INSTANT!!”
The flustered MPs quickly scurried from the chamber, the last one slamming the heavy double doors behind him, leaving behind an echoing boom that rang in the ears of the four assemblymen and predicated the awkward silence that followed.
None of them willing to be the one to speak up first, all four men avoided one another’s eyes. As a final indignity and betrayal, the lascivious behavior they witnessed had caused their bodies to respond in predictable ways physically, and each of them struggled to ward off their unwanted arousal. Aurille wasn’t ashamed to be the sort of man to get off on power play, and though he wouldn’t have admitted it out loud, he had even anticipated that to be part of the fun―but only if he had been the one with the power.
They thought they could bring Erwin to heel, that they could get inside his head, humiliate him to give themselves the advantage for the tribunal, and perhaps break him so that he would tell them whatever they wanted to know―about Eren and Historia’s whereabouts, about anything. Somehow though, Erwin had turned the tables on them, bringing them under his spell.
Most frightening of all was how beautiful and dignified he looked as he was being fucked―as if not even truly vulnerable displays of base desire caused him to lose control, neither of himself nor of his environment.
How could they have miscalculated so completely? That Erwin’s shrewdness had gone unnoticed and unchecked by them for so long? That a man who slayed Titans for a living could embrace fear and uncertainty in such a way that it only excited him? That the intimate bond with his right-hand man, Levi―compounded by them being kept out of the loop of even simple military gossip―proved to be their weakness, while it was, for Erwin, in fact one of his greatest strengths? It was clear that if Captain Levi were given the choice between his reputation or Commander Erwin, he would always choose his commander without any hesitation at all. His reputation mattered as little to him as the stains he left on their red velvet carpet.
The four men dreaded what was to come at the tribunal. What sort of mental tricks would blindside them next time? They would just have to make their case matter-of-factly that the Survey Corps was an enemy to the Royal Government, a threat to humanity and peace inside the walls―and it would all be over.
A loud, startling noise cut through the uncomfortable silence quite suddenly, causing them to whip their heads around toward the source: King Fritz had woken up at last from his daytime snooze. The assemblymen stared. The king softly cursed in pain, rolling his head around to work out the kinks in his unsupported neck muscles. Then he opened his eyes, squinting up at the four men.
“My, it’s a bit warm in here―oh!” he exclaimed in alarm, his eyes widening. “Your faces are all red, and you’re sweating! Are you all right?”
The men merely continued to gape at King Fritz making his innocent observations. Unbothered and none the wiser, the king began to slowly, stiffly rise from his throne, and while doing so, said: “I suppose it’s time for tea. Let us move out of this stuffy sweatbox and into the lounge.”
The suggestion was perfectly convenient, and the assemblymen deflated in unison, murmuring their agreement. One by one, the men walked down the steps of the dais, in a procession headed a little too quickly toward the exit―any excuse for them to get out of that room, away from their humiliation.
Continuing to fail to sense anything was amiss, the king followed them from behind at a casual pace. The four assemblymen reached the doors first, opening them to leave, and then remembering themselves in that instant, stood aside to allow His Majesty through first.
The king, who was still a few paces away, had his eyes on his pocket watch as he piped up once more: “Once we’re finished, I should like to hurry back in time for our visit from Erwin Smith!”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than he felt his nose bump painfully against the gilded doors as the assemblymen quickly scurried out and slammed them shut in front of him.
The sound reverberated throughout the chamber while the king simply stood there alone, stunned.