24: Enforcement To An Extent

At the hotel, Levi ends up following you to your room, shutting and locking the door behind him. 

"That's..." You're about to protest, to remind your mentor that private quarters like this aren't ideal for two professionals. You don't, though, reluctant to kick out Levi. 

"Take a seat." He gestures to the tiny table and chairs against the rear window before checking his phone, swiping away lengthy texts from concerned colleagues. "Sit," he urges once he notices you're not moving, and your feet are prompted into action. 

Slumping into the hard seat, you cross your ankles tightly under the chair and lift timid eyes to Levi, positioned like a pupil awaiting a reprimand. 

With an aggravated huff, Levi shoves his phone back into his pocket. "So." He pats his blazer, searching for something else on his person. "Are you holding up well?" 

"I guess so." 

When he withdraws your phone, he unabashedly checks your notifications. "I'm giving you back your phone," he says as he sets it on the table. "But don't respond to Erwin's bullshit. He doesn't get to interrupt us right now."

There're three missed calls from Dr. Smith and several texts asking for your whereabouts or requesting an explanation. Sighing, you flip it over to hide the screen.

"Why not? We really are causing trouble. Dr. Smith should know." 

"We're not doing shit. Kenny's the one fucking everything up." He runs fingertips under the edge of the table, the motion like an automatic response he has to conduct around new furniture. 

"Kenny wouldn't be here if we weren't here. It's our fault." You confess this grim truth, cementing you and Levi in the shackles of blame. 

"Maybe." He checks for dirt, rubbing his fingertips together. 

"I already told Dr. Smith that Kenny's here before I came to find you."

"Hm." A handkerchief is procured to clean the nonexistent filth on his hand. "Doesn't matter either way. I don't know where Kenny is, and there's nothing we can do to track him down. Even if we did, we can't turn him in to the authorities."

"Not unless you get incriminated too. Right." 

He sighs, his thoughts and actions decelerating as he slothfully folds up the cloth. "Yeah. That'll fuck up Paradis, and that'll fuck up you. Kenny's too fucking untouchable."

"He is." You slouch in your seat, lazily twiddling with your phone. "At least it goes both ways. He can't incriminate you or stand out too much."

"No, but he's still capable of more. He's still worse." Levi glances up at you, running out of distractions to soothe himself with. "I don't know what lengths he's willing to go to. My only goal is to keep you safe from him."

Your shoulders drop, weighed down by bitter despair. "I wish he would fuck off." 

"Oh, me too." He snatches the second chair and drags it around the perimeter of the table, setting it close to yours. "I'm sick of him ruining shit," he grumbles as he drops himself into the seat.  

His aura stings this close, flooding the air around you like deep, murky ocean waters. "Me too," you echo. 

He sits comfortably and rests an elbow on the table, then rolls his neck while his eyes wander the ceiling. "The presentation, too. That was meant to be something good for you."

"Hm." Your hands fidget with each other, small and despondent. "Yeah."

He ends his survey with you, sinking his eyes deep into your image. "I wish he wasn't there. You were doing really well." 

"Thank...thank you." You keep your eyes on your hands, letting him stay in the corner of your sight. 

Shifting forward, he drops his head low between shrugged shoulders as he mentally commands your eyes to quit hiding. "Did you finish strong?" 

You give a slow, small nod, but your gaze remains fixed. "I think so. Besides stammering a bit in the middle, I did okay. Dr. Finger, Zeke, and Dr. Smith said I did well. A lot of people wanted to talk to me." 

"Wonderful. That's exactly the exposure you deserve." He extends a hand and feathers fingertips along your jawbone, finding a comfortable position to hold your face with. "Except when it takes you away from me. I don't like that." 

Like a trained response you jerk your head up an inch, denying him such a luxury. 

"Wait," he orders in a strange, vexed plea, his empty hand hovering mid-air. "Come back. Hold still." 

"Why?" you shoot back with fearful doubt, keeping your head away from the man that wants it. 

"Let me." He reaches, but he's stopped by your fingers clamping onto his wrist. He could overpower your intervention yet he's choosing not to. "Come on. This isn't our first time doing this. Let me." 

"No." You're proud of yourself for establishing steadfast boundaries. "You threw me around just a few minutes ago. You have no right to think you can get...like that right now." 

He blinks once, deliberate and slow, then lets his posture relax. "Oh, dear," he hums, darkening his tone and inching a bit closer. "Am I being punished?"

"What? Don't phrase it—"

"I am." He keeps his hand trapped, relishing whatever contact he can get. "Fair enough, intern. Crimes shouldn't go undisciplined."

You burrow a thumb into the indigo veins in his wrist, winning physical control but losing mental ground. "It's not discipline, it's—"

"What do I need to do to atone? Apologize?" In the few short moments following his question, he takes your confused silence as an indication to continue. "Okay, I'll do that: I'm sorry, intern. I'm sorry I got aggressive again."

"You can't just—just say some words, Levi. Words won't fix your actions." You notice how his hand has yet to break free, and it makes your vicious ownership of it seem quite harsh. "You always apologize like that'll wipe everything away." 

"I was worried about you. Kenny's out there somewhere, Zeke's latching onto you, and Erwin's prowling around to keep us from fucking up. Nobody's on your side—on our side right now. I'm worrying about you because nobody else is. At least, not in the way they should be." 

"So what? That gives you a free pass to pin me and yell at me?" Your question is strong and angry, but your rage snags when you feel the thick pulse of his veins fighting to transport blood underneath your compression. 

"No," he responds, his composure a juxtaposition from his bodily functions. "I was just worried. That's all." 

The straightforwardness annoys you, yet reminds you of how simply—how primitively Levi acts. He takes you because he wants you, he lashes out because he's worried. Ferocious, yet easily explainable.

But not justifiable. 

Even with that fact in mind, you're not casting him aside. He wants you. He's worried. Those truths, for better or worse, are just barely stronger than the sins of he takes you and he lashes out. You're hesitantly letting those guide your actions. 

"Don't throw me around like that," you assert. If he's allowed to stay, then at the very least you need more guidelines for him. 

"Don't disappear on me." And if you have guidelines, then so will he.

"I never meant to." 

He doesn't say anything to that. You hear the click of his swallow, you notice him set his jaw, and you follow his eyes to your interlocked hands. 

The time for forbidding him is over. In surrender, you let your fingers fall from his wrist. 

Red imprints are burned into his pale skin, though he has nothing to say about them. As soon as he's freed, he brings his hand right back to where it wants to sit. You don't resist this time, but you don't gleefully accept either. 

"Thank you," he breathes, tracing your cheekbone with his thumb. "You're very gracious to allow this." 

"Too gracious." Your words are a whisper, hiding from reality. 

"Maybe." 

It's very quiet. You remain a statue for him to inspect, only idling fidgeting with your fingernails while he gladly holds your jaw. He lingers on your features, engrossing himself in the masterpiece he owns and basking in her undivided presence with him. 

With a nasally exhale, his expression relaxes to make way for glimmering admiration. 

"You really are precious, you know that?"

His murmured comment ignites sparks in your heart, and a bashful blush creeps onto your cheeks. You can't deny how powerfully touching those words are, and—as unexpected as they are—they're quite pleasant. 

"Why...?" You intend to ask more, but that lone word is all that departs your parted lips. 

He loses himself in your curious eyes, drinking them in as though they're eternally vast. "I'll never let Kenny get near you again. Not him, nor Zeke, nor Erwin." 

His promises are growing more intense, adding more locks onto the cage of his possession. You're aware of the iron bars around you, but you're not thrashing inside them. The cage itself isn't cold or uncomfortable. From the right angle, it looks like a sanctuary.

"Where's this coming from?" you ask, interested in the root of his attachment. 

Levi pulls himself out of his seat, escaping the question. "Well, I should head to my room. Erwin will kill me if I stay here any longer."

"Levi," you call, glued to your seat. "You're just going to leave?"

"Don't leave your room at all tonight. I'll be here first thing tomorrow morning to retrieve you." He strides to the door and rests a hand on its knob. "You will not leave until I'm with you. Got it?"

You're not ready for him to go, not during this tumultuous storm. "Hold on," you protest, tempted to chase him down. 

"Promise me that you won't leave this room until I'm here." 

There's an ache in your heart, a gripping feeling of anguish. 

"I...um, I promise." 

"Good. Remember, Kenny could be anywhere. Assume he knows where you are at all times."

"...You're scaring me."

"That's the point. Keep your guard up." He steps outside, vigilant in the hallway. "Stay here. Get some sleep." 

"Levi—"

The door shuts, cutting you off from him. The silence in your hotel room is suffocating, eerie given the circumstances. Unnerved, you wish another voice was still with you to fill the void. 

Suffering from an excruciating night of next to no sleep, you pull yourself out of the stuffy hotel bed with a fatigued beating heart and knots in your stomach. Sitting up sends your head reeling, throbbing snakes slithering through your brain. It's still ghastly early in the morning, your rise beating the sun's, but you've given up on trying to gain more sleep. 

You zone out in the shower, standing in the downpour and staring at the off-white tiles on the wall. Minutes pass, more than you bother to keep track of. You're exhausted, pressured by the prospect of facing the world again, Kenny somewhere out there. 

It's not going to be as bad as it seems. Kenny can't expose himself too much, and Levi will be with you the entire time. You will be safe, you tell yourself. 

This confidence needs to be fueled. You shut off the water flow and step out, bringing yourself back to reality. Cleaning up in the bathroom, you search for reassurance under anxiety, scrapping together the strength to face another vicious day. 

You're dressed and ready just as the sun peeks out from beyond the horizon, muted light behind your opaque window curtains. Collapsing in the chair again, you gaze at the vacant seat across from you and imagine its previous occupant. He seemed extraordinarily desperate to hold you, and his eyes had fixed themselves on you like they needed your image to survive.

Nobody else looks at you like that. Erwin watches over you with caution, and Kenny examines you with wicked delight. Levi's eyes are filled with devotion, albeit greedy devotion. He wants you, yes, but he wants you so fervently it resembles an obsession. Never has somebody followed you so devoutly. 

There's a knock at the door, drawing you out of your thoughts. Levi's here early—he must've been unable to sleep too. 

Grateful for respite from the silence, you swiftly hurry to the door and peel it open, desperate to reunite. "Levi, I—"

"Good morning." It's Erwin, massive and prominent in your doorway. He gestures to the hallway, clearing a walkway for you. "Step out. I won't speak with you in your hotel room." 

"Good...morning." Your hand drops to your pocket, feeling your phone inside. "Um, I need to talk to Levi—"

"We're not going anywhere yet. Just right in the hallway." He glances at Levi's door a few feet away from yours. "Levi hasn't left his room yet, it seems." 

Hesitant to rebel, you take timorous steps out of your room and allow the door to close behind you, small underneath Erwin's shadow. You don't know Erwin's intentions or his reaction to your behavior yesterday. A reprimand and consequences could be on the horizon, and you would rather have the protection of your mentor before that arrives. 

"You know you've raised a lot of concern," he begins. "Leaving the scene and keeping others in the dark isn't ideal. If there's an issue, I need to know what's going on."

"I know, Dr. Smith. I'm sorry." Erwin's not like Levi: he is still a figure of professional authority, deserving respect due to the Paradis hierarchy. You and Levi may be free to snap at each other, but Erwin's protected by decorum and policies. He is a professor above your rank as an intern, and you can't defy that. "I told you, Kenny's here. I saw him during my presentation." 

"In the audience?" he clarifies, and you nod. "Are you certain it was him?" 

You blink, your brow knotting. "Do you not believe me?" 

"I don't think you're lying," he assures. "But your vision can betray you. I couldn't make out individual faces when I was on stage, not behind the glare of the lights." 

"I saw him," you insist. "Up in the mezzanine. He had lit a cigarette." 

"Were you able to spot him afterward?" 

You try to hide a scoff. "No."

"Did Levi find him?"

"...No." 

"Hm." He doesn't express his thoughts, but you can already interpret them. You hate this biased interrogation, this misdirection to make you doubt your account. 

"I know what I saw. Even if I didn't, I'm not going to act like he wasn't there. Kenny's not somebody I should brush off in case I just saw wrong." 

"I understand that," he soothes, wavering between sympathy and caution. "Are we expected to spread paranoia through Marley and the other universities, then?"

"What? I—no, they don't need to panic. I mean, Kenny probably won't make himself too obvious. He's only after me and Levi."

"So we leave the universities in the dark?"

You cringe at the forked path he's presenting to you. Paranoia or secrecy—neither sounds right. 

"No. We...I don't know. What're we supposed to do?" 

"I'll tell you what I think is best: you report to Zeke, warning him of Kenny, then attend the convention. We'll be transparent with Zeke and let him decide what to do with the information."

"Fine. That's fine." You don't know what other route to take. 

"Very well. Let's get going—it's best if we speak with him early, before today's events start."

Reluctance halts you, someone more pressing occupying your mind. "Levi. I can't leave without Levi." 

"You can." Erwin's stern, shedding his charismatic mask. "He may be your contractual mentor, but he's also a man that doesn't know his own boundaries."

"I know—I really do. But with what's going on, I have to stay safe."

"You will be safe if you let me escort you to the Marleyan campus, where there are security personnel everywhere. What will Levi protect you from that I and Marleyan security can't?" 

You're eyeing Levi's door, itching to summon him. "Dr. Smith, I just want to get Levi. That's all I can say."

Erwin surrenders, realizing there are greater matters at hand than your unshakable devotion. "Retrieve him, them. I'll fetch an elevator."

"Thankyou," you fire out as you dart to and knock on Levi's door. 

You wait, stationed politely outside his room, but after a few moments you're not answered, and panic sets in. Knocking again, you make sure you're in view of the peephole and even offer a, "Levi? It's me." 

"Is he absent?" Erwin, halted in the hallway, glances over his shoulder. "He must've stepped out to get breakfast." 

"Yeah, but he wouldn't leave without me." You say this as though it's common knowledge while knocking a third time. 

"Is he that dependent on you?" 

You pause, resting a hand on the unopened door. "No. It's just because of—"

"Kenny, I know." Erwin nods ahead. "Come on, I'm sure he'll catch up with us later."

"But—" Realizing there's no more benefit in waiting outside a silent room, you detach from his door and drift closer to Erwin. "Kenny might've done something to him. He could be missing."

"He's not," Erwin asserts, guiding you to the elevator. "Kenny wouldn't draw attention by kidnapping a Paradis professor, if what you said about him is true. And Levi isn't incompetent enough to let that happen to him." 

"Then where is he?" You glance back at the hallway from within the elevator cab. "You have to admit this is strange, Dr. Smith." 

"I don't find it strange for an insomniac to have already started his day early in the morning."

"He's an insomniac?" 

Erwin selects the button for the ground floor. "And I differ from you. I don't base my actions on loyalty to one man or fear of another. I keep operating on my own inclinations, and I strongly suggest you do, too." 

You roll your eyes out of his sight. "To each their own," is the closest you can get to agreement. 

In the taxi cab, you try to call Levi twice only to be answered with an automated voicemail. With a festering pit in your stomach, you send him a text.

Where are you? I'm with Dr. Smith, we're headed to tell Zeke that Kenny might be on campus.

I'm really worried. Please call me when you can.

After a mental debate, you decide to send one more message.

Don't get into trouble. I'm already panicking about you enough as it is. 

You can't look at Erwin beside you, but you feel his slight glances and you can almost hear the whirlwind in his mind. It used to be calming to be in his presence, but now he seems to have adopted the tension that Levi evoked earlier in your relationship. They're swapping roles, surprisingly. 

The convention center is enormous compared to the auditorium, chock-full of lecture halls and conference rooms waiting for occupants. Custodial staff members dot the floor like stragglers in an apocalypse, and a few scuttling professors act as the landscape's fervent scavengers. Your brain barely registers them as they pass you, your eyes stuck on the blond head you're following. 

Erwin knows this building well—he's able to lead you as though he's been here numerous times before. You're taken to a lecture classroom suited for around 100 occupants, Erwin somehow knowing Zeke would be inside. 

"Zeke!" 

Zeke's dismissing a group of faculty when Erwin approaches him, appearing like a general addressing his army. He waves the group away and turns to his colleague, polite and pleased to see his equal. "Erwin, good to see you. Early riser, are you?" 

"For an event like this, I need to be." Erwin puts a hand on Zeke's arm, the two like childhood best friends. "Listen, I need—"

"Ah, and the intern!" Zeke is sickeningly gleeful to see you, pleased to see his new trophy. "Are you trying to get a head start on the convention before your mentor?"

"Zeke." You walk on thin ice as you step closer, wary of the serpent. "No. I need—well, I'm supposed to talk to you right now." 

"That so?" Zeke chuckles dryly, adjusting his glasses. "Should I be expecting an apology?" 

"An apology...?" For leaving yesterday? That's far-fetched. "No—I mean, I know leaving suddenly like that wasn't ideal, but I'm not obligated to stay if I don't want to. There were more pressing things going on." 

Zeke casts a look toward Erwin, his glasses shimmering. "She's a little too similar to her mentor." 

"Hear her out," is all Erwin can say, careful to take neither side. 

When you have Zeke's attention, you explain the situation to him—or at least what you want to share of it. You explain what you think you saw in the mezzanine yesterday, and you very carefully detail the threat Kenny may pose. There might be a criminal on campus, or there might not. He could be dangerous, or his maliciousness could just be localized to you and Levi. There are too many unknowns, and you convey this as best you can to him. Don't panic, but be aware. 

"Look, I'm just telling you because I have to." You've become a stiff lecturer over the past few minutes, donning a powerful mask in front of Levi's rival. "I don't think Kenny will pose a risk to Marley. Still, he is really dangerous. I've encountered him enough times to know."

"That so?" Zeke interjects. "Does Levi keep getting you into trouble?"

"What? What do you mean?"

"Nothing in particular." He checks his watch, quite unfazed by your sermon. "Your mentor just seems to be quite detrimental for someone that's supposed to be enriching you."

"He's not," you grumble out. "You don't know what our relationship is like."

"Nobody does," Erwin adds halfheartedly.

"Well, who am I to comment?" Zeke looks you over as if checking a victim for signs of trauma. "You sang his praises yesterday with quite some gusto. Only a pure fanatic could give that kind of performance. I just wonder what he's done for you to earn that sort of respect." 

For a brief moment, you step back and realize just how awful the morning has started. Between Erwin and Zeke, there's no break from scrutiny of your relationship. It's not their business, you want to scream. Perhaps they're observing out of concern, but there's nothing for them to fret about. If anyone's worth worrying about, it's Kenny, not your dedicated mentor. 

"What do you have against him?" you risk asking. 

"Oh, nothing much. I'd just hate to see good talent tainted because of a poor teacher."

You actually scoff, and you're not even remotely apologetic when you know they both heard it. "That's not going to happen. Levi's a good mentor, and I happen to like learning under him."

You turn to Erwin, even though your eyes are focused on the exit door. "I'm going back to the hotel—I need to find Levi. I'll come back to the convention once I do."

"Come now," he starts, astonished by your persistence. "I'm sure he can go an hour or two without you."

"Yeah, maybe." You sidestep him and leave, deciding against adding on the fact that you probably can't.