#I wouldn’t wash it at all but it’s high collared and the cravat gives me neck sweats. so it’s yellow. GFHHSHFF FE S

[jolys-cane]

both my new cravats came in so Expect some outfits in the next few days …………………………………………………….

[ackbang]

1000

thank you to everybody for all your support. i ran a poll for this milestone gift, and was overwhelmed with the support for final tour there. you have no idea... you have no idea how much that means to me.

so please enjoy this art and fic combo using the following prompts: final tour outtake + pining kid!levi, sweater weather, supernatural. (special note to the other final tour request: that is happening in the main story soon. ;) )

i love the shit out of you guys.

Levi’s too old to Trick or Treat. And he told Erwin that at least five hundred and eleven times, but he still has spent the past half hour at the dinner table cutting out triangles from paper plates to make cat ears. It takes him three tries until he gets it right, steals a Sharpie from Erwin’s desk and hastily colors them in, to then steal some tape from Erwin’s desk and attaches them to a handkerchief he found in the linen closet. He wraps the cloth around his head and ties it behind the base of his skull, adjusting it slightly by poking the tips of the ears with the centers of his palms.

“Ish cwoooked.” Erwin says, lips puffed out around big white plastic vampire dentures. He comes up to Levi and adjusted the cloth. He smiles big, the dried fake blood at the corner of his lip cracking across his skin. “Cooote.”

Levi sneers up at Erwin. “I’m a panther. Panthers aren’t cute.”

“Youuu lookth like a houssshh cath.”

“Take those fu--stupid teeth out.” Levi gathers up his mess and walks into the kitchen and throws it into the trash. He turns to face Erwin again and nearly shouts, “Gross!”

A string of drool connects from Erwin’s hand to his mouth, the fangs open and splayed on his palm. Erwin runs the sleeve of his dress shirt across his mouth, smearing red on the cuffs as he does. “Panthers have rounded ears.”

Levi walks up to him and takes a tissue out of his pocket. Ever since his sinus infection a year ago,he never left the house without at least four neatly folded into his jeans. He shakes the tissue out and dabs at Erwin’s lips before dropping it into his palm. “Shut up.”

“I can cut them for you.” Erwin’s grin remains intact, capped with silver bricks of braces across each tooth. “For accuracy.” He squeaks a laugh as he narrowly misses a fist into his stomach, and he follows Levi back out into the living room.

“I don’t even want to do this.” Levi huffs for the five hundred and twelfth time, gathering their canvas bags for candy toting. “Jeremy will...”

“I’ll take all of Jeremy’s candy before he even thinks of messing with us.”

Levi pauses, both totes slung over his shoulder. He quirks a smile and nods. “You should have gone as Robin Hood.”

Erwin crosses into the entryway, sits at the bench in front of the door, and pulls on his fancy loafers he wears at church. Levi follows and slips on his ragged and torn black sneakers. “Dad wouldn’t buy me a new costume this year.”

“You just turned fifteen...”

“That’s what he said.” Erwin looks up at him, lips thin, and his blue eyes popping vibrantly against the black collar of his vampire cape. “I don’t see what age has to do with it.”

Levi slips on his second shoe and pulls the door open. He looks behind him, at his best friend who has an imagination too big for his own good, doomed to be caged forever inside a life of discipline and education... And there’s a sadness in his eagerness that begs Levi for compassion that he can never quite escape from giving him. “I bet I get more candy tonight.”

“In that costume?” Erwin stands up and follows Levi out the door. He snaps on the button to his flashlight, and illuminates the dark porch down to the sidewalk as they begin their annual pilgrimage around the neighborhood. “That’s not even fair. You’ll only have more because they feel bad for you.”

“Asshole.” Levi quips, smacks Erwin’s arm, only to receive a rolling giggle from high in Erwin’s chest.

“Ok, ok. If you win, what do you get?”

“All your Twizzlers.”

“All right. And if I win.... Hmmm... I get all your Necco wafers.”

“Deal.”

They make it back home an hour later with their bags full of candy. They didn’t run into Jeremy even once, and Levi even received a compliment for being a very scary looking jaguar. They greet Erwin’s father in the living room before they make their way into Erwin’s room to dump their bags of candy out onto the floor to count their tallies. Levi wins, because he always does. Erwin calls for a recount, plays it like a political matter, and demands a second recount. He goes for a third, but, annoyed, Levi just starts outright stealing from Erwin’s pile, opening the wrappers, and shoving candy into his mouth.

“I forgot to wear my teeth!” Erwin says, throwing his head back against his mattress. He’s still wearing his cape and vest, but he’s removed the cravat from around his neck and it has somehow ended up around Levi’s instead.

“They looked dumb anyway.” Levi says, popping a peanut butter cup and an Almond Joy in his mouth at the same time. Chocolate pits at the corners of his mouth as he chews.

“I looked scary.” Erwin looks down his nose at Levi and smiles crookedly when he sees Levi rolling his eyes. Lulling his head forward, he raises his eyebrow. “How else will I suck people’s blood now?”

“Gnaw gently?” Levi imagines it for a moment... Erwin’s lips and teeth on his neck, and his eyes snap wide and feels the heat rising along his collar. He tries to think of Stacy at school--she’s kind of cute. Blonde hair, blue eyes... But her lips are shiny with lip gloss all the time, and they just wouldn’t... “Like an old man vampire. Gum them to death.” There. Old men are gross.

Erwin laughs. He helps Levi sort their candy out, giving all his Twizzlers over and taking all the Necco wafers in return. He chews on a caramel with his mouth open as he talks. Levi has given up on telling him and shouldn’t be eating sticky things with braces. “Imagine being turned into a vampire when you’re that old? After you lost all your teeth? Doesn’t seem fair.” He swallows loudly, and his forming Adam’s apple bobs as he does.

“Yeah, well, life ain’t fair.”

“Big words from such a small kid.”

“I’m not a kid.” Levi shoots. He throws a bag of fruit snacks at Erwin’s face.

“Ah, right, right. You’re in middle school.” Erwin laughs again and is tackled down onto the floor by his small panther counterpart. “Ah! My house cat has gone rabid!” His laughter turns to giggling as Levi presses his forehead roughly into his chest as he lets out a throaty growl. “I’m scared!”

Levi turns his head up and snaps his teeth at him. “Grr!”

Erwin pushes his face away and shoves him lightly to the side. He tries to escape, but Levi’s body has Erwin’s cape pinned to the floor and Levi pounces on him again, growling more like a dog than a cat. He keeps pinning Erwin as he tries to get away, the growling turning into mutual giggling, until the giggling ends and Erwin is pushing back.

“Hey, hey!” Erwin says, swatting Levi’s hand away. He unties his cape and tries to wriggle away. “Knock it off, Levi.”

“W-what?”

“That’s enough. Knock it off.”

Levi sits up and scrambles away. He’s breathing heavy and Erwin’s change in tone chills him straight through--like that time he was caught in the bathroom smoking a cigarette. “S-sorry.”

Erwin sits up and adjusts his vest. He shakes his head. “It’s ok.” He doesn’t look up at Levi as he swallows a few times and shakes his head again. “You just got me in the rib a little too hard.”

They rough housed a lot, had since their friendship first started. The surrenders never happened like this. “I didn’t mean to.”

“I know you didn’t. I’m just...” Erwin says. He stands up and runs his hands through his hair and sighs. “I’m going to go get ready for bed. Are you staying over tonight?”

“Can I?”

“We got you a new sleeping bag. It’s in the closet.”

Levi nods, still feeling a bit dazed by the change of mood. Erwin goes to his dresser and pulls out a fresh t-shirt, underwear, and sleeping pants and leaves the room without another word. He returns almost an hour later, hair damp, and a smile plastered on his lips. Levi had cleaned up the floor and put out his sleeping things, dressed out of his pants and cat ears, but still wore the oversized black sweater and his white crew cut socks. The uncertain guilt still roils around in his head and makes him feel sick. But maybe it was the candy. “I’m sorry.” Levi says again.

Erwin walks over and falls loftily onto his bed, arms out and legs hanging over the edge. Levi looks up at him with quiet curiosity. “It’s no big deal! I’m fine now.” Erwin gets up on his elbows and looks down at Levi, smiling still. “Thank you.”

“Ok...” Levi gets up to move toward the door to do his before bed routine, and to maybe throw up a little bit.

Erwin sits up properly and pots his hand on Levi’s shoulder. “I know you didn’t want to do this tonight. But I had a lot of fun. So, thank you.”

Levi studies him and nods, returning a soft smile. “I couldn’t have you go out there alone with Jeremy roaming the streets.”

Erwin laughs and lets his hand fall to the side of him in bed. He kicks his feet up and lays down properly, kicking the sheets down to the foot of the bed. Even in winter he rarely slept under the covers. “He’s such an asshole.”

Levi smiles wider until the grip on his heart strangles it away. He likes Erwin... Too much. “A dirty, smelly, shitty asshole.”

Erwin’s smile fades too as he closes his eyes. He’s asleep by the time Levi comes back from washing up, and he feels weird and sick and wrong that he can’t stop staring at him while he sleeps.