Chapter Text
It was fall in Sina City, which for some blessed locales meant the trees lit with vibrant hues of red and yellow, but in Sina this meant one thing and one thing only: rain. Not a heavy rain like a downpour or even a drizzle that blew sideways in the wind, no, Sina rain was more like a steady mist of ever present wetness that Levi despised. He refused to wear a hat so his inky black hair always had this soft halo to it that gave him a little shiver as he walked to work.
New job, new commute. He never really saw the point in owning a car in the city. There was no place to park it and it seemed more trouble than it was worth. The terrible bus ride, during which his face had been pressed into a sweaty man’s armpit—it really sucked standing at armpit level—may have changed his mind.
His new job was in one of those new gentrified loft offices. Full of app and website start-ups and chock full of hipsters, everyone was looking to make it big and get their fair share while doing as little actual work as possible. Having an “it” app was the new lottery. Levi had disabused himself of that romantic inclination. If he was going to make money, he’d have to do it the old fashioned way. Well, sort of. If you called graphic design ‘old fashioned.’ It was still hard work, Levi reminded himself when his carpal tunnel started to flare up. Dot Pixis had broken away from the major firm where Levi had previously held position and when the old man heard Levi wanted to jump ship, he was only too happy to give him a lifeline.
He hung up his dove grey wool coat and scarf. Passing through the open office (a terrible attempt at fostering innovation and group input that hampered productivity) he inwardly groaned at his colleagues. Ratty jeans and hoodies. Really? Nothing created an air of professionalism more than your old college team on your chest. Levi had embraced the casual atmosphere, albeit with his own flair. Italian leather loafers (which he dutifully waterproofed the previous weekend), dark designer skinny jeans, a black and white checked shirt with a matching thin tie with a flat tip. It was an expensive outfit but Levi believed that if you bought quality expensive items and took care of them, they lasted much longer. Let some people buy cheap clothes and trashy video games. The clothes would grow holes and be tossed in a few months and the video games would lose their appeal after a few plays. Levi was surprisingly frugal and had never been in debt and he hated for people to think otherwise just because he dressed how he wanted. His body, his self, his image.
The trick, he thought with some smug amount of pride, to looking like wealth when you actually rake in a mediocre salary, was in the details. His tie clip was one. His expensive black glasses frames. The dress socks (also purchased on a trip to Italy) were another. Erwin had picked them out as they strolled through Florence and—
With a sharp pang he realized that there was no part of his dress that hadn’t been in some way influenced by Erwin. So much for his body, his self, his image.
Scowling slightly now, he went into the small kitchenette and prepared himself a cup of tea. The kitchenette was fully stocked with sparkling water and an electric kettle. He noticed with some amusement that there was not only a dishwasher but a clothes washer and a dryer currently running.
“Why,” he asked Petra, pausing to blow cool air on his tea. “Does the office have a washer and dryer and who is using it?”
“Me,” said Gunter, looking around his computer. “I put my pants in the dryer when I get to work and then I have toasty junk all day.”
“…What are you wearing as pants now then?” Levi asked, really not wanting to know the answer.
Gunter indicated a blanket wrapped around him like a toga.
“You know, if we could treat this more like an office and less like a dorm, I’d much appreciate that,” Levi sighed.
“I thought that’s why you wanted to leave the big boys and come work with us,” Petra asked, cocking her pastel pink hair to the side. When Levi had first met her it had been a very lovely shade of strawberry blonde and now it was all strawberry no blonde. She had done it up in old-fashioned pin curls on the side and was wearing a 50s style dress to compliment her rockabilly look. Cute, but again not truly professional attire.
Everybody wants to look like an individual and everybody looks all the same, Levi thought with a sigh, realizing he was no better. Just earlier he had been preening over his own aesthetic and now it felt like a hollow empty shell, a lie, a reminder of who he was or rather used to be.
You know what? Fuck it. So what if Erwin picked out those socks? Just because they had broken up didn’t mean he had to cast aside every reminder of their time together. And if he changed everything about himself just so it was different from who he used to be then wasn’t he really just letting Erwin have all the power? Damnit! He was keeping the tie clip too!
Feeling like he’d done quite a bit of emotional growth in the past twenty minutes, Levi opened the door to his office and gave a happy sigh. His one stipulation when he joined Pixis’ firm was that he have his own office. None of this sharing open space and open minds bullshit. An office with a window. And boy what a window. It wasn’t as though the view were spectacular, just overlooking the courtyard and the office building across to the next building, but it was his window. His own personal retreat.
He took a sip of tea and felt the warmth fill him up and he sighed again. New beginnings were tough, but he could get used to this. He could do this every day. Fuck Erwin for saying he was too stuck in his routines. A little routine is good.
Except, he thought some days later, for the bus. The bus was a terrible, terrible routine.
“You know anybody who is selling a motorcycle?” he asked Petra, stomping in angrily.
“Bus blues?” she asked sympathetically.
“I was screamed at by a woman for daring to take a seat because her cat needed to sit there.”
“Aw kitty!”
“No, there was no cat, she was just crazy.”
“Aw, well, I like the bus. I like meeting new people. I met this woman one day who told me exactly when and how I was going to die. Isn’t that great? Now I don’t have to worry unless I go to SeaWorld!”
The dryer buzzed and Gunter stood up.
“Pants time!” he said, accidentally dropping his toga blanket and giving them all a good view of his cartoon character boxes.
“Yo Erd!” Levi called and the man took the headphones out of his ears. “You know anybody selling a motorcycle?”
Erd shook his head.
“Why do you want a motorcycle?” asked Gunter, stepping into his pants one leg at a time like the office was his own personal changing room. “I mean isn’t that a little cliché?”
Petra shot him a look.
“What does that mean?”
“You know, mid-life crisis stuff.”
“What makes you think I’m middle aged? Do I look middle aged?” Levi asked. He had yet to find a single grey hair (upstairs or downstairs) and he’d always been told he looked young for his age.
Erd offered, “You know how when chicks get dumped they chop off all their hair? Well guys buy motorcycles.”
Levi regarded them all coolly before taking his tea to his office.
“Maybe you could walk,” Petra said, following him. “It’s supposed to be nice the next few days. Indian summer they call it. I think the name is super racist but I don’t really know what else to call it?”
“I live too far away to walk,” Levi sighed.
“Okay well…then…you know my boyfriend?” she asked, swaying a little on the spot.
Yes, they all knew ‘the boyfriend.’ Petra talked about him constantly. Levi had no idea what the guy actually did, but they’d all been out for drinks a few times and accepted him at face value. A gargoyle face. But a gargoyle face that Petra loved so Levi kept that opinion to himeslf.
“Well he bought me a scooter a few years ago as a birthday gift but I fell off once and smacked my coochie on the handles and ever since then I’ve been a little afraid to get back on the horse.”
This particular brand of TMI was delivered in Petra’s girlish whisper voice and Levi found it less annoying only because his friend Hanji was far worse and would have told him with diagrams exactly where on her lower lady-person bits she had injured.
“Uh huh.”
“So I’m selling it! It’s in really good condition.”
A scooter? Really?
“I mean, try it out for a month or so and after a month you can decide.”
Levi figured it was worth a shot.
The next day was glorious. A balmy mid-70s to lift the gloom of fall. He hung up his coat and scarf which he hadn’t worn instead choosing to sling over his arms. Gunter’s pants were in the dryer again and Erd was listening to his death metal as Levi busied about with his tea, nearly humming. Petra was bringing the scooter in today and that only served to improve his mood. The bright sun was pouring through the window and Levi opened it just enough to let in the sweet smelling air. Taking a sip of his tea he reflected how much things had changed in the past few months and how good it felt to find his footing. He sighed happily.
All of his good mood went out the window as the busker below it started in on his bucket drum set.
“What?” Levi blinked.