Chapter Text
The sun was just beginning to slink behind Wall Sina as Levi made his way home from the university. His classes had finished much earlier in the day, but he stayed late one day of the week to supervise AGE, a student organization officially known as the Association for Gender Equality.
He knew that many of the students only came to meetings to get extra credit for his Gender Relations class, but he hoped by the end of the year that at least a few of the brats would feel some passion. They exasperated him; most were alphas and betas that had never even considered that many of the assumptions they had about society could be fucked up. Not many omegas in Sina ever made it to university.
His feet worked on automatic even as his mind wandered to the club’s plans for a rally two weeks from today. They would be protesting outside of the capital building on the same day that the Hope Act had been signed into law 15 years ago. Levi barely restrained a disgusted noise as he thought of how ironic that name was. Titans had decimated the human population when they were at large, and as a solution the Hope Act allowed the government to pair together any two unmated alpha and omega over the age of 22. This was justified by the claim that it would help “rebuild the dwindling population of humanity.”
Levi fully supported humanity, he just didn’t believe in being an asshole about it.
He stopped at the mailbox outside of his house and pulled out a couple of envelopes before unlocking the door to his home and stepping inside. He threw the envelopes onto the table and went to the sink, pumping soap into his hands to cleanse the gunk of the day off his hands.
After thoroughly rinsing his hands he got the fire going, placing the tea kettle over the flames to start the water boiling. His boots were placed in his closet carefully and the jacket he had been wearing was hung up neatly.
He poured himself a cup of tea, placing it next to him at the table to cool. Finally, he returned to the innocuous mail he had received this afternoon. His brow furrowed as he looked at the sender. In fine black ink the corner of the envelopes both read Sina Hope Association.
One envelope was thick and heavy, obviously containing a lot more paperwork than the other. He opened the thin one first, sliding his finger beneath the wax seal and pulling out the letter within.
Mr. Levi Ackerman,
We regret to inform you that your application for exemption from the Hope Act has been denied. Despite your position as an educator it has come to our attention that you have recently had your 27th birthday. The window of male omega fertility is limited and granting another five-year exemption would likely result in no future offspring. We appreciate your efforts as a teacher but we hope you will agree that the future of humanity is just as, if not more, important.
Upon the denial of your exemption form your name has been submitted to the Hope Association for pairing prospects. You should receive notice of your upcoming mating details within a month of receiving this letter.
Highest Regards,
Hope Association Exemption Office
Levi could feel his heart rate start to pick up as he read through the letter, anger starting to push through his veins. This was fucking insane. He pushed the piece of paper away from him and violently ripped open the other envelope.
Mr. Levi Ackerman,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been paired with an Alpha…
He jerked back, his chair clattering to the floor. He threw the contents of the envelope across the room, unable to read the rest. The feeling of paper leaving his hands wasn’t satisfying enough and before he quite realized what was happening, the cup of tea was flying across the room as well. The crash of porcelain against the wall was a little better, but it was still doing nothing to keep the fury rising in him contained.
His breathing came in short gasps, his knuckles turning white where they were tightly gripping the table.
“Shit.” he muttered to himself as he looked over at the mess he’d made. Tea was all over the floor, surrounded by the broken remains of his teacup. He forced himself to slow his breathing, shutting his eyes tight as he pried his fingers off the edge of the table.
He made quick work of the teacup, picking up the shards carefully with a towel to protect his fingers. The tea was harder; it seemed that no matter how aggressively he scrubbed at it the darkness wouldn’t come off the floor. He could feel that it was still there.
In the back of his mind he was aware of the front door opening, but he would deal with that once this damn mess was cleaned up.
“Levi?” he heard Farlan call his name.
“Just a moment, I’m just getting this cleaned up.” he snapped back, pushing the abrasive sponge harder into the floor.
There was a rustling as Farlan took off his coat, probably leaving it on a chair somewhere, the bastard. He would put that away as soon as he was done.
“Levi.” Farlan said, stilling Levi’s hands with his own.
“You need to stop.”
It wasn’t until Farlan pulled the dripping sponge away from him that Levi realized his hands were rubbed raw. The sun that had still been peeking over the wall when he opened the letters had now completely disappeared.
Farlan dropped the sponge into his cleaning bucket and put them both outside the door. In his other hand was the damn envelope.
“They denied your request?” he asked.
“Obviously.” Levi snarled, irritated and embarrassed.
“We could get you out of here.”
“And then what Farlan?” Levi replied, his voice breaking just a little, “Do you know what happens to omegas on the run? I would have to leave the interior, go to one of those ass-backwards hick towns where people are even more idiotic than they are here. At least in Sina I can teach; between Rose and Maria the only occupations for an omega are mother and whore.”
“Nobody has to know.” Farlan insisted, “If we can find a strong enough suppressant you’d smell just like a beta.”
“And how in the fuck do you suggest that we get our hands on enough high-grade suppressants to keep my stink under control until I’m too old to produce slick?”
Farlan dropped his gaze and sighed, “Listen, I don’t know how yet but we’re going to get out of this, okay? Now let’s fix up your hands and then we’ll both sleep on it. There’s nothing we can do tonight.”
Levi was tempted to argue, he could hardly just slip into bed when his entire future had just been thrown down the shitter. But once Farlan had mentioned going to sleep he had suddenly realized that he was very tired. His shoulders drooped and he sunk down to sit against the wall.
Farlan left to go get the little jar of cream that he claimed was for his own cracked hands, but both of them knew that it was actually for situations like this one. Levi scooped a little onto his fingers, wincing as he rubbed it into his burning hands.
“I’ll leave this next to your bed. Call me if you need me during the night.”
Levi nodded, thankful that Farlan was no longer pushing the issue. He watched his friend retreat behind the door to his bedroom, letting his head fall back once he was sure Farlan was no longer watching.
His hands pulsed dully and he could tell that his knees would ache tomorrow. But both of those feelings were eclipsed by a gnawing anxiety that was starting to crawl into his gut, slowly replacing the anger with nearly overwhelming fear.
Levi roughly pushed himself off the floor, stubbornly ignoring the feeling as he got ready for bed. He and Farlan would figure something out, he told himself; they would fix this.