[video]

[abweichend]

[After some time has passed Levi's voice filters across the network, accompanied by the only visual he can provide at this point: a top-down view of his now only partially tattooed hand.

He'll keep this brief:]

Looks like my little stowaway from the Grid can clean this shit up too. It takes a minute, but it's painless-- [a pause as the aforementioned stowaway floats toward Levi's face for its close-up, glowing a faint white and puffed proudly in all its pokey glory until he shoos it off to the side with a huff] Knock it off-- ...The Bit doesn't care what they say, and neither do I.

I'm not hard to find-- [Here he gives the general location of the building he's created, which by now is a bit better suited for company- there will be a pot of non-nourishing tea waiting on an end table for anyone stopping by for Bit-laser tattoo removal.

And the public portion almost ends there, but before Levi changes his psychic filter:]

...Tell me where you are if you can't make it out here. I'll find you, I guess.

[The rest is private, directed to Erwin in particular and as neutral as Levi can manage given the circumstances:]

You too.


[[ooc: Handwave, chat, go to him, have him come to you... Anything is good by me, including newbies asking for info if they haven't gotten the welcome speech yet. Dat vet thing. He can probably do that now.]]

Comments

[menschlich]

[ he can see it. he can. and that's the problem he's having the most of all. he blinks and gets glimpses of skin, of dark eyes, of hands, and sometimes it is in the context of devils and angels and heavy curtains and firelight, and other times? other times it is simply levi, stretched out across his bed, and erwin feels that same urge to run his fingers along his spine.

sure, he doesn't quite understand the emotional intimacy that levi has from before. maybe, given that level of intimacy, erwin would have been a bit more forthcoming with his own - until previously, hidden - emotions. but as it stands, he sees it as only physical, entirely physical, and that is the side of himself he's not sure he wants to know.

erwin resettles in his small space - an apartment, or a home, or maybe an empty office. he's not quite sure where it is he is, but he's here, off the streets, trying to find his footing amongst the memories. the emotions. he gets lost in his head for however long it takes before the knocking begins, and as soon as it does, erwin can't even bring himself to be surprised.

which is why he doesn't exactly answer, at first, expecting it the moment levi throws open the doors and walks in, turning from where he'd been originally sitting to face the door. the poop joke doesn't phase him either - it is so painstaking levi that it almost hurts - and erwin sighs. ]

Armin, I'm assuming. [ as far as how levi got here at all. his eyes fall to his forearms, the stretches of ink along the veins. ] I'm really quite alright.

[abweichend]

I didn't give him much other choice, [Levi confirms, doing his best to keep Armin from being any more involved in this than he already is. However Erwin's feeling about him right now, Levi at least trusts him to be professional about this much.

Then again, he psychically hung up on him, so... Maybe that faith is misplaced. Says the guy who just dragged a kid into a distinctly unprofessional situation between his superior officers. Tiny scowling teapot meet very large eyebrow'd kettle...

There's a pause during which time Levi takes a good long look at the words he can make out scrawled across Erwin's skin, the faces, the accusations... And at which point U takes Levi's blatant staring as his cue to float over with a robotic chirp to nudge at Erwin's arm for permission. Clearly, this little thing has precisely zero fucks to give about the rather obvious tension in the air right now. Let him help you, Levi's Friend! Yes! Yes!]

Just let it do what it wants. It won't take long... And neither will what I have to report.

[Where he normally would have made himself right at home and settled down closer to where Erwin's sitting, at the moment Levi only hovers rigidly by the door, crossing his arms against the urge. He doesn't know what he'd do if he got too close, or what he'd want to do. Even from here it isn't hard to imagine the warm press of Erwin's thigh against his, and it's even easier to recall the weight of it between his knees...

Maybe... This was a bad idea.

But Levi's just stubborn enough- and pissed off enough- that he isn't going anywhere. He holds his position.]

[menschlich]

[ erwin actually feels himself smiling a bit at that. he can't imagine armin would have put up too much of a fight as far as levi's determination was concerned. erwin doesn't blame armin at all, more amused that levi would go that far to find him. professionalism wasn't so much the issue here as erwin didn't want to make it easy for levi.

he didn't want to be found.

when he sees the bit, though, erwin can't stop himself from smiling fondly - he remembers it, and the familiarity (as small and misplaced as it may be) puts him in a marginally better mood. he sits back, then, a kind of silent permission, as he rolls up the sleeves of his arm.

levi's comment draws his attention back up, though, and erwin nods once - the smile falling - as his eyes turn towards the bit. he has to keep them away from levi, he realizes, the sound of his voice and his presence in the room enough to heighten erwin's memories. ]

Go ahead. [ whether or not he's talking to the bit or levi, we may never know. ]

[abweichend]

[Professionalism clearly was not in the cards for this situation... It rarely is where Levi's concerned anyway, even if he does usually extend Erwin more courtesy in that department than he does most others.

This isn't one of those times, though. At least the brats aren't involved enough to bear witness to the extreme insubordination going on here. It's a blessing, truly.

At least U's making progress in thawing out the iceberg that is Erwin Smith, since Levi seems to be having so trouble. The fondness doesn't go unnoticed...

But neither is the way the slight smile fades too quickly, or the fact that neither of them seem able to meet each other's eyes. This is hard. Best to get out with it, then:]

Mikasa's here, [he says as U folds itself over Erwin's remaining arm, bleep-blooping away as it chomps the ink off one 'pixel' at a time.] And she's experienced more than the both of us, back home.

[SEE?? LOOK HOW IMPORTANT THAT WAS, ERWIN. He certainly didn't come to, you know... Talk about the Jaunt.

Really.

...]