Link shouldn’t allow this. Shouldn’t indulge himself when he knows that Sidon is far, far from his reach. He shouldn’t allow this because the avatar might only be doing this because Link wants it to, and how will he ever explain something like that to Sidon? He shouldn’t be doing this because Sidon might find out somehow, because the king might already know, because this might taint their precious friendship.

He shouldn’t because a taste of intimacy like this is only going to make Link want the real thing even more.

Or

Link shouldn’t allow this. Shouldn’t indulge himself when he knows that Sidon is far, far from his reach. He shouldn’t allow this because the avatar might only be doing this because Link wants it to, and how will he ever explain something like that to Sidon? He shouldn’t be doing this because Sidon might find out somehow, because the king might already know, because this might taint their precious friendship.

He shouldn’t because a taste of intimacy like this is only going to make Link want the real thing even more.

Or

Link shouldn’t allow this. Shouldn’t indulge himself when he knows that Sidon is far, far from his reach. He shouldn’t allow this because the avatar might only be doing this because Link wants it to, and how will he ever explain something like that to Sidon? He shouldn’t be doing this because Sidon might find out somehow, because the king might already know, because this might taint their precious friendship.

He shouldn’t because a taste of intimacy like this is only going to make Link want the real thing even more.

Or

Link shouldn’t allow this. Shouldn’t indulge himself when he knows that Sidon is far, far from his reach. He shouldn’t allow this because the avatar might only be doing this because Link wants it to, and how will he ever explain something like that to Sidon? He shouldn’t be doing this because Sidon might find out somehow, because the king might already know, because this might taint their precious friendship.

He shouldn’t because a taste of intimacy like this is only going to make Link want the real thing even more.

Or

Link shouldn’t allow this. Shouldn’t indulge himself when he knows that Sidon is far, far from his reach. He shouldn’t allow this because the avatar might only be doing this because Link wants it to, and how will he ever explain something like that to Sidon? He shouldn’t be doing this because Sidon might find out somehow, because the king might already know, because this might taint their precious friendship.

He shouldn’t because a taste of intimacy like this is only going to make Link want the real thing even more.

Or

Link shouldn’t allow this. Shouldn’t indulge himself when he knows that Sidon is far, far from his reach. He shouldn’t allow this because the avatar might only be doing this because Link wants it to, and how will he ever explain something like that to Sidon? He shouldn’t be doing this because Sidon might find out somehow, because the king might already know, because this might taint their precious friendship.

He shouldn’t because a taste of intimacy like this is only going to make Link want the real thing even more.

Or

Link shouldn’t allow this. Shouldn’t indulge himself when he knows that Sidon is far, far from his reach. He shouldn’t allow this because the avatar might only be doing this because Link wants it to, and how will he ever explain something like that to Sidon? He shouldn’t be doing this because Sidon might find out somehow, because the king might already know, because this might taint their precious friendship.

He shouldn’t because a taste of intimacy like this is only going to make Link want the real thing even more.

Or

Link shouldn’t allow this. Shouldn’t indulge himself when he knows that Sidon is far, far from his reach. He shouldn’t allow this because the avatar might only be doing this because Link wants it to, and how will he ever explain something like that to Sidon? He shouldn’t be doing this because Sidon might find out somehow, because the king might already know, because this might taint their precious friendship.

He shouldn’t because a taste of intimacy like this is only going to make Link want the real thing even more.

Or

Link shouldn’t allow this. Shouldn’t indulge himself when he knows that Sidon is far, far from his reach. He shouldn’t allow this because the avatar might only be doing this because Link wants it to, and how will he ever explain something like that to Sidon? He shouldn’t be doing this because Sidon might find out somehow, because the king might already know, because this might taint their precious friendship.

He shouldn’t because a taste of intimacy like this is only going to make Link want the real thing even more.

Or

Link shouldn't allow this. Shouldn't indulge himself when he knows that Sidon is far, far from his reach. He shouldn't allow this because the avatar might only be doing this because Link wants it to, and how will he ever explain something like that to Sidon? He shouldn't be doing this because Sidon might find out somehow, because the king might already know, because this might taint their precious friendship.

He shouldn't because a taste of intimacy like this is only going to make Link want the real thing even more.

Or

Eren’s eyes lock on a hoodie in Levi’s closet a size larger than the others and yanks it out before sliding the door shut. He’s not going to bother checking for pants.

“Can we talk about this another time? We’ve got more important things to worry about.”

“More important than your first—?”

“Yes, Mikasa, so would you just fucking tell me if you can get here or not?”

Mikasa is silent, and Eren sighs, sagging into the closet door, his forehead pressed against the wood. She doesn’t know. It’s not her fault. He shouldn’t take it out on her. But it’s hard, it’s hard when Mikasa is trying to pry regular gossip out of Eren when Isabel is in danger right fucking now—

“What’s going on, Eren?” Mikasa asks, and all of her teasing amusement is gone, replaced by genuine concern. It suits Eren’s mood better, but it also makes his shoulders sag with guilt.

She wasn’t supposed to know about any of this. She wasn’t supposed to worry.  But if something were to happen to her or Armin without them even knowing why—

Eren’s stomach churns, and he squeezes his eyes shut. 

He doesn’t even want to think about it. 

“Can you just… Can you get here? I don’t… I don’t want to tell you over the phone.”

“Okay,” Mikasa says softly. “Do you want me to call Armin for you? So you don’t have to… Do this again?”

“Yeah,” Eren mumbles, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. “Please. I’ll text you the address.”

“Is Levi going to be there?”

“No… He’s—” Out trying to make sure the people he cares about are still safe and alive. “—Busy. He’s… busy.”

“...Okay,” Mikasa says, and the slow, cautious way she says that one word makes Eren press his hand harder against his eyes. “I’ll be there soon.”

They say their goodbyes before Eren hangs up, sagging to the floor and burying his face into Levi’s hoodie as Isabel’s face lingers in his mind. Where is she now? At Zeke’s club? How hurt is she? Eren knows Zeke drank her blood—Is he going to turn her? Is she even conscious right now? Why her?

And Eren hates himself for thinking it, for wondering why Isabel, why not someone else, because of course losing anyone from the restaurant like this would’ve crushed him, but Isabel—Isabel is the first person Eren met at the Kitchen, before even Levi. Isabel was the one who let him in, who took him to Levi when he was in agony and his fangs were desperately crying for blood. She was the one who helped him when he fucked things up with Levi’s confession, the one who told him that story about her childhood that loosened him up and allowed Eren to make things right with the man he loved again.

“It was ten years ago... Little Isabel sits in the corner of the room, her vampire captors still asleep in their beds. Then bang! It’s Furlan, throwing the door open. And Big Bro Levi with a crossbow!”

Now she’s captured again, but they can’t go to her. They can’t save her. Eren can’t do a fucking thing for her, can’t make up for all that she’s done for him because Zeke has her and Eren is fucking useless, useless—

Eren takes a deep breath, clenching his hands into fists again. He just has to wait until tonight. He just has to wait. Levi’s going to come back with a plan. They’re going to save her. They have to. And then they’ll have a new story for Isabel to tell with a smile on her face. 

Eren has to tell himself that, over and over again, so that he doesn’t drive himself insane.

~ ~ ~

Armin arrives first, blue eyes narrowed and a backpack slung over his shoulders. Eren expects to be bombarded with questions instantly, but Armin just stands in front of the closed door, scanning the vampire from top to bottom, silent. Eren frowns a little, taking a step back to let his friend in. Armin moves inside, his lips pressing into a thin frown, blond eyebrows furrowing, and Eren winces, expecting a scolding or something worse—

And then arms are around him, tight around him, a blond head against his chest. Eren’s eyes go wide, his own arms hanging helplessly at his sides, not caught up with the situation he’s in. 

“Armin…?”

“I don’t know what’s going on,” Armin says, and Eren hears a hint of bitterness, hears frustration in the way Armin seems to speak through clenched teeth. “But I’m always here for you, Eren. No matter what it is.”

Eren’s eyes water, guilt building like a layer of acid coating the inside of his ribcage. Painful. Spreading. 

“I’m—” Eren falters, throat tightening, wet eyes threatening to spill over. “I’m sorry for—for hiding things from you. I didn’t—I didn’t want you to worry.”

Armin laughs a little, lifting his head away from Eren’s chest to look up at his friend with a lopsided smile.

“Yeah, because going radio silent on us for a month wasn’t going to worry me at all.”

Eren grimaces. 

“Sorry,” he says again. “I’ve been… busy. Things have been—”

Eren’s throat clogs, breath hitching and he doesn’t know if it’s the stress of everything or if it’s the instinctual way having one his best friends around lowers his guard, but all his emotions are building up in his chest, in his throat, in his eyes, about to overflow. Armin’s lips curve down into a concerned frown as Eren presses a hand over his eyes, tears finally escaping, sliding down his cheeks. 

“Things have been—”

“Eren?” calls out a voice from outside. “You said to just open the door once I got here, but you’re not close to it are you? I’m not going to open this and accidentally turn you to dust?”

Eren and Armin turn towards the door before looking at each other again. Their gazes meet, briefly, before they both burst into startled laughter. Armin pulls himself away from his vampire friend, and Eren wipes his eyes as he continues to laugh, feeling a bit delirious. This day is fucking ridiculous. It feels as disjointed as a dream.

If only that were actually the case.

“Give me a second,” Eren calls out to Mikasa, teardrops still sliding down his jaw, his voice garbled, throat still tight. What a mess. What a fucking mess. 

Armin watches him with a smile as Eren crosses to the opposite side of the room, where any light from the doorway has no chance of reaching him.

“Alright, you’re good.”

Mikasa cracks open the door, poking her head inside and glancing back and forth before her dark eyes land on Eren and grow wide. She rushes into Levi’s living room, slamming the door shut behind her as she crosses to him. Mikasa’s hands land on Eren’s shoulders, dark eyes scanning the vampire from head to toe as he continues to wipe salty droplets off of his cheeks.

“What—What’s wrong? What’s going on? Did you already start explaining to Armin—Why didn’t you wait for me—?”

“Mikasa,” Eren says, prying her hands from his shoulders. “I haven’t told Armin anything yet.”

“But you’re—”

“I just got here,” Armin pipes up, walking closer to Mikasa and Eren. “This is just from…”

Armin glances at Eren, smile fading, and Eren sighs, rubbing his damp cheek with the back of his hand.

“...Just from seeing each other again,” Armin says.

“Oh,” says Mikasa, though Armin’s explanation only makes her frown deepen. “Whatever it is—it’s that bad?”

Eren nods and wipes his eyes again, though they’ve finally begun to dry. The energy he had briefly gained from Mikasa’s entrance is quickly fading, replaced by a heaviness in his limbs and a nauseating swirl of dread in his stomach.

This isn’t a fun little reunion. They’re here so that Eren can warn them. So that he can try to prevent them from getting hurt.

“Eren?”

His closest friends are looking at him with eyes full of concern, matching frowns on their lips. Eren takes a deep breath.

“Let’s… sit down for this.”

Mikasa and Armin exchange a somber glance before following Eren to Levi’s black couch. They crowd in on either side of him, Armin’s shoulder pressed against Eren's own, and Mikasa’s hand resting lightly on the center of his back. Ready to comfort him, to ease him, like always. Worrying about him, like always. Even though that’s what Eren wanted to prevent. 

Where is he even supposed to start? Levi would probably know how to broach the subject, how to fill them in on what’s necessary and nothing else. But Levi isn’t here. Levi is checking on his family, scouting out Kingdom, worrying about Isabel—Fuck, Isabel, please be okay—

Eren rubs his face with his hands. Isabel. It isn’t going to make any sense to his friends, but he has to start there. Start with the problem at hand. 

Armin reaches over and squeezes Eren’s arm. Eren takes another deep breath.

“Bear with me for a second,” Eren says. “Do either of you remember the waitress who took our orders the day we met Levi? You might have met her the last time you came to the restaurant too. Red hair, usually in pigtails.”

“Waitress…?” Mikasa echoes with a frown.

Armin gasps, snapping his fingers.

“The one Mikasa yelled at when you ate garlic?” Armin asks, and Mikasa winces, seemingly remembering her too.

“That’s the one,” Eren says, curling and uncurling his hands into fists in his lap. “Her name’s Isabel. I—we’ve gotten pretty close, and she’s like family to Levi, and—”

Eren falters. And now she’s gone. Taken by the Feral King. By Eren’s brother. And he can’t help her. He can’t do anything for her. Fuck. Fuck.

“And?” Armin urges, and Eren squeezes his eyes shut. There’s so much to explain, so much to say, and Eren doesn’t want to say any of it. He wishes more than anything that he could keep them out of the loop, keep them thinking there’s nothing more serious going on than his relationship with Levi, but—

“Tell your friends. Best case scenario, we’re overly cautious.”

“What do you think the worst case would be…?”

“The worst case scenario is that we’re already too late, and your friends are being held as hostages without knowing why. Or they’re already dead.”

They’re not dead. But Eren can’t guarantee that they’re safe yet, either.

“And she’s—” Eren starts, but he falters, even though he knows he should continue. There’s no other way to say it. “She’s been kidnapped.”

Mikasa and Armin are silent. Eerily silent. Eren reluctantly peels his eyes open, looking back and forth at his friends. Mikasa is wearing a frown, but she looks confused, not concerned. Armin’s expression is blank, blue eyes aimed at the ground.

“What… what are you talking about, Eren?” Mikasa asks. “Are you serious?”

Eren meets her dark-eyed gaze, eyelids heavy. He doesn’t answer her question out loud, but he doesn’t need to. Mikasa goes pale, mouth falling open. 

“So that’s why you’re—Oh my God. Is she oka—”

Mikasa snaps her mouth shut. Is she okay? Obviously not. Eren’s hands clench into fists again, his nails pressing hard into his palms until they begin to ache. 

“I know that it’s—it’s a heavy thing to drop on you guys all of a sudden, but…”

“No,” Mikasa says quickly. “Eren, don’t worry about that. I—I’m glad we can be here for you. Have you called the police already? Are they looking for her? How did you find out?”

Eren bites his lip with his flat front teeth. How much does he have to tell them? Maybe—maybe he can still limit their concern. All he really needs to do is make sure that they’re careful, make sure that they’re aware of possible danger. Maybe he doesn’t need to fill them in on everything. Yeah, he can just keep it to the bare minimum. They don’t need to know about the ferals, about Zeke, about what Eren’s going to do. He can be vague about it. It’s scary, and Levi and I don’t know if other people close to us are in danger too. So be careful, just in case. That’s enough right? They don’t need to know the rest. Then Eren doesn’t have to tell them about the plan. Then they won’t have to argue about Eren throwing himself headfirst into danger—

“Eren,” Armin says, voice low, his gaze still on the ground. “Where’s Levi?”

“What?” Eren blinks, still trying to find a way to phrase the warning without giving too much away. “He’s out checking on his other employees.”

“So it’s not a random kidnapping.” Armin finally raises his head. “Someone specifically went after her.”

Shit.

“What? How did you—”

“Someone important to him was kidnapped,” Armin says, “and Levi’s out checking on his other employees instead of looking for her. So they must be in danger too, right? She wasn’t randomly taken.”

The swirling mass of dread in Eren’s stomach grows bigger. Colder.

“That’s—”

“And you called me and Mikasa here, so you both must think that the kidnapper is targeting people close to Levi. Right? People who know him?”

Shit. Shit.

“Armin,” Mikasa starts, “what are you talking about?”

“You didn’t just bring us here to keep us in the loop, did you, Eren?” Armin asks, pushing himself off the couch and onto his feet. His blue eyes are dark, blond eyebrows furrowed into a scowl. “You brought us here because we’re in danger too.”

Eren hears Mikasa’s breath hitch behind him, her hand falling away from his back, and fuck, fuck this conversation is getting away from him, spiraling too quickly. He jumps to his feet too, reaching for Armin, but his friend steps away, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

“That’s not true, alright?” Eren says, turning his head back and forth to keep his eyes on both his friends. Mikasa begins to slowly curl into herself the couch, and Armin’s expression gets darker by the second. “Yeah, Levi’s worried about the people close to him, but he’s not really connected to either of you, right? So you two should be perfectly fine! He just—we just wanted to warn you to be as careful as we could, but I promise, you both don’t really need to worry about it!”

The words spill out of Eren’s lips frantically, trying to hurry to ease them and assuage their worries, but his friend’s expressions don’t get any lighter. What can he do? What can he say? He isn’t going to let anything happen to them. And—and if somehow he can’t protect them, he and Levi would go save them, just like they’ll save Isabel. Everyone is going to be alright. Everyone Eren cares about is going to be alright.

He has to believe that. He needs to. 

“Do you really think that’s my problem with this, Eren?” Armin asks softly.

“What?” 

“Did you really think we were going to hear about people close to Levi being targeted and be worried about ourselves?” Armin asks, louder now, blue eyes ablaze with frustration.

“I…” Eren blinks. “But… aren’t you?”

“Eren,” Armin says. “People close to Levi aren’t safe. And you’re the one that’s closest to him.”

Eren’s mouth drops open.

He’s so stupid. What was he thinking? Of course that’s what would really scare them. Of course that would be their biggest concern. How had he not seen this coming?

…Had Levi seen this coming?

“Oh my God,” Mikasa says, and when Eren looks at her, she’s hunched over, her arms wrapped around her abdomen like she’s about to throw up. “Is this why he was teaching you to fight? Did he know that being around him was going to put you in danger?”

“What? No, that’s not—”

“Did you know?” Mikasa snaps, and when she whips her head up to look at him, her face is warped by anger, dark eyes brimming with tears. “Did you know that your life was at stake all the way back then? And you’re just telling us now?”

“No, I—”

Eren stops himself, body sagging. He wants to say, No, it’s not like that. He wants to say, No, I haven’t been hiding anything from you. But he’s been keeping secrets from them from the very start and doesn’t want to start adding lies to the list of ways he’s wronged his best friends. 

So Eren falls silent. 

“Oh my God.” Mikasa buries her face into her hands. “Oh my God.”

“So he knew?” Armin asks. “Levi knew that being close to him meant trouble. That you might be kidnapped—”

“No!” Eren exclaims, stepping toward Armin again. “This—Isabel was a surprise. We never—Levi had no way of knowing things would end up like this.”

Levi had no way of knowing Zeke would go out of his way just to torment him. No way of knowing he would take hostages just to force Levi to fight him, once and for all. 

“He knew enough to feel like he had to teach you to defend yourself,” says Armin, and Eren’s chest aches like one of his ribs has pierced his dead heart.

“No, that’s not—”

“I knew it!” Mikasa snaps. “I knew he couldn’t be trusted—I knew something wasn’t right about him being a vampire hunter. I told you!”

“But that’s not why—”

It’s not Levi’s fault. None of this is Levi’s fault. Eren being in trouble, Eren learning to fight. None of that was started by Levi. Levi has done nothing but try to give Eren ways out, try to keep Eren safe. 

“Did he force you into it?” Mikasa asks. “Was it too late to back out by the time you found out? Oh my God, Eren, this asshole was your first—”

No, that’s not it at all—

“What?” Armin gasps, blue eyes growing wide before they narrow into an even harsher glare. “That piece of—”

“Stop!” Eren shouts over the voices of his friends, the swirling mess of stress and dread within him quickly being replaced by the familiar heat of anger. “It was me. I was the one that asked him.”

Finally, Mikasa and Armin are quiet. They exchange glances over Eren’s shoulders as he heaves a sigh, sinking down to sit on Levi’s carpeted floors. He buries his face into his hands so that he doesn’t have to see their accusatory gazes anymore. 

“You’re wrong,” Eren says, and his voice is weak, muffled behind his hands. “You’re wrong about all of it. Please don’t blame Levi. It’s my fault.”

“I doubt Isabel being kidnapped is your fault,” Mikasa says, and Eren exhales harshly, pressing his hands harder over his face.

“Not that—Fuck, will you just shut up and listen to me for a second?” 

Eren can hear the click of Mikasa’s teeth as she snaps her mouth shut. He sighs again. This is not how he wanted any of this to go. He hadn’t wanted any of this to happen in the first place.

But it’s too late to take it all back. 

“He didn’t know it was dangerous just for me to be close to him,” Eren says. “Shit, if he did, don’t you think he and all his friends would be way more cautious? Do you think they’d be casually running a restaurant where any idiot vampire could walk in and see them?”

He raises his head from his hands. Mikasa is still on the couch, her legs folded and pulled close to her chest as she stares at the wall. Armin is standing nearby, his hands in fists as he frowns at the floor. Eren rubs his chest with his palm, the burning inside him gradually cooling.

“...He only taught me how to fight because I asked him. I wanted to know how to kill vampires.”

Two pairs of eyes snap up to look at Eren. He hunches lower towards the ground and avoids their gazes. 

“I…I never told you guys about it because I was…”

I was scared of what you would think of me.

“I never told you guys,” Eren starts again, “but ever since I turned, I’ve been…”

It’s too late to hide it anymore. All this arguing isn’t worth it. Levi getting blamed isn’t worth it. If Mikasa and Armin think of less of him… then so be it.

“I’ve… been planning on killing the guys that killed my mom.”

Mikasa lets out a quiet gasp. Armin doesn’t make a sound.

“Everytime I thought about them, I—I would get so angry, like I was going to explode if I didn’t do something. So, Levi helped me, once he was sure that was what I wanted. That’s why we were training. At first.”

It’s quiet for a moment. Then Eren hears footsteps. Someone shuffling closer. Out of the corner of his eye, Eren sees Armin crouching down to sit beside him.

“At first?” Armin asks.

Eren nods. No more trying to hide things or make things vague. That was what caused this misunderstanding in the first place.

“I found out… That what happened to my mom—to me—it’s bigger than I ever thought. It’s complicated to explain, but there’s—there’s a cult of vampires out there doing what they did to me and my mom on a regular basis. Levi’s been getting ready to take them down for ages.”

Mikasa slides off the couch, shuffling on her knees until she’s sitting close to Eren and Armin. 

“The leader—he calls himself the King, and he hates Levi’s guts. We’ve all—Levi, me, and the others from the restaurant, I mean—we’ve been trying to get ready to get rid of the guy once and for all, but…”

“But Isabel’s been taken,” Armin finishes, and Eren nods.

“Why… Why did you hide all this from us?” Mikasa asks.

“Because I knew you guys wouldn’t want me to do it,” Eren says, and he frowns. “And apparently because you’d blame Levi for all of it, too.”

Mikasa and Armin wince in unison.

“We… were a bit too quick to do that,” Armin says. “Sorry. We can even apologize to Levi later, if you want.”

Eren scoffs, rubbing his face with his hands.

“Levi would probably agree with you on some of it,” Eren mumbles. “He’s been—we’ve gotten into a lot of arguments because he wants to keep me out of the worst of the danger.”

Though Levi has finally agreed to let Eren be in a more risky position. Probably best not to tell his friends that yet.

“So you’re…” Mikasa bites her lip, reaching out to grab hold of one of Eren’s pant legs. “You’re—you’re really going to do it? You’re going to fight this… this cult? Even though they’ve already kidnapped someone close to you?”

“Even more reason for me to go,” Eren says immediately.

He owes Isabel that much. He has to help her. 

“But isn’t it going to be really dangerous—”

“That’s what I’ve been training for all this time.”

“But—”

“Mikasa, this is exactly why I didn’t tell you.”

“I know,” she snaps, holding tighter to Eren’s clothes, lips trembling. “And maybe you were right to not want to tell me! Because I—I don’t want you to go. Losing Mrs. Jaeger was already so much, I can’t—”

Mikasa falters, and there’s a piercing ache in Eren’s chest again, prodding into an already open wound. 

“I… I know how you feel,” Eren says. “But I won’t change my mind.”

“It—It doesn’t even have anything to do with you,” Mikasa says, but her voice is a mumble. It doesn’t even sound like she’s trying to convince him anymore. She’s just feebly offering excuses, hoping he’ll take them.

“It does. Two of them killed my mom.”

“But doing what they did is…”

Eren shakes his head.

“I already decided it’s what I want.”

Mikasa squeezes her eyes shut.

“You could—you could just let Levi do it—”

“He offered already. I said I wanted to go.”

“But the leader’s problem is with him, not with you—”

“But the King’s connected to me too.”

Armin jumps in, his voice quiet.

“Connected how?”

Right. Somewhere in that messy explanation, Eren had missed one of the most important parts. 

“It’s Zeke.”

Armin frowns, and Mikasa’s eyebrows furrow.

“What about Zeke?” Mikasa asks. “Your asshole brother, Zeke?”

Eren nods.

“But didn’t he… years ago…” Armin gasps. “No. He’s—”

Eren nods again, and Mikasa’s eyes grow wide. 

“Oh my God,” she whispers.

Despite everything, Eren manages a half-hearted smile.

“Finally see why I have to go?”

Mikasa’s shoulders sag, and she doesn’t nod or agree, but she stops trying to ask him not to go. When he holds out his hand, she rests hers lightly over his own, letting out a small sigh. Eren looks at Armin next, waiting for his hand to join the pile, waiting to see if he will also give his acceptance. 

Armin is staring at their hands, but he doesn’t move.

“Levi’s going to be there?” Armin asks. “At the fight.”

“Yeah. Right beside me.”

Armin’s frown deepens.

“He’s going to protect you?”

“We’re going to protect each other,” Eren says firmly.

“You’re not going to do anything reckless?” Armin asks, lifting his head so that blue eyes meet green.

“I…” Eren averts his gaze, and Armin huffs, the corners of his lips twitching a little.

“At least lie to make me feel better, jerk,” he says, and Eren manages another smile, this one more genuine than the last.

“Well… I’ll try.”

“You’re the worst,” Mikasa mumbles, but Eren’s smile only grows wider. 

“Listen,” Armin says, finally laying his hand over Mikasa and Eren’s. “My brain can barely process what’s going on right now, but I… I won’t tell you not to go. But I—”

Armin stops, clearing his throat as his cheeks are slowly stained with red.

“But we love you, so you better come back, alright? Come back in one piece.”

Eren’s smile softens as he meets the gazes of both his friends, their hands still over his own. The weight is comforting. Familiar. It’s something he wants to—needs to return to.

“I will,” he says. “I promise.”

Everything’s going to be alright. They’re going to go stop the Feral King, get Isabel back, and everyone’s going to come home safe and sound.

Levi shakes his head and lets out a brief scoff. But his fingers find their way between the strands of Eren’s hair, as gentle as always. Eren smiles before reaching for his clothes, slowly getting dressed as Levi combs his fingers through Eren’s hair.

“How are you feeling?” Levi asks, pulling his hands away, briefly, so that Eren can tug on his shirt.

“Hmmm…” Eren stretches his arms up, yawning. Levi’s fingers land among his brown strands again. “Feeling like I could’ve handled it if you fucked me senseless.”

Levi’s soft touch on his head becomes rough, tugging hard enough at Eren’s hair for the vampire to wince, though it’s more out of surprise than pain. 

“Don’t quote that shit at me,” Levi grumbles. “I said it in the heat of the moment.”

“You have no right to say that to me!” Eren exclaims, pulling on his pants. “How much of my ‘heat of the moment’ shit gets quoted all the time? You’re lucky only I was around to hear it. Furlan still calls me ‘Levi’s good boy’ every time I see him.”

“You should hear those shitheads when you’re not around,” Levi says. “I swear you’ve become like a fucking slang dictionary for them. Isabel says ‘big chillin’’ enough to drive me insane.”

Eren groans, burying his face in his hands.

“First: I’m going to strangle Isabel. Second: Never say big chillin’ again. It sounds so wrong coming from you.”

Levi chuckles, nudging Eren’s cheek with his knuckles. 

“I’ll agree to that.”

Eren pulls his hands away from his eyes to curl his fingers around Levi’s. The man’s pale fingers are warm in his. 

“Both parts?” Eren asks. “Isabel strangling included?”

“As long as she lives after it.”

Eren lets out an exaggerated sigh.

“That ruins the whole thing!”

A ringing phone cuts through their conversation, and Levi sighs, leaning over to the bedside table to answer it.

“Speak of the devil,” Levi says, narrowing his eyes at the screen. “It’s Isabel.”

“Tell her I’m gonna strangle her if she keeps saying ‘big chillin.’”

Levi rolls his eyes and presses the phone to his ear.

“What is it?” Levi asks before Isabel can even speak. “I’m coming to the Kitchen soon.”

Eren’s sensitive ears catch the voice on the other line, even with Levi’s volume low. 

“You’re going to work this early? How diligent of you, Ackerman.”

It’s not Isabel.

Eren sits up. Levi’s face has gone hard, holding his phone with a white-knuckled grip. 

“Who is this?”

“You don’t recognize me? That’s a shame… I could never forget the sound of your voice.” A laugh comes from the phone. “It grates on me now as much as it did back then.”

Eren’s chest squeezes like there are walls pressing in on him from all sides. His mouth falls open. It’s been years since he’s heard it, but Eren knows the owner of that voice all too well. 

Zeke.

“What the hell did you do to Isabel?” Levi snaps, and his eyes are narrowed into slits, the gray of his eyes nearly black.

“I borrowed her,” says Zeke, voice as light as if he were talking about borrowing a book. Eren’s hands clench into fists, a burning, painful heat igniting his chest. “We aren’t supposed to feed for a week or two more, but… Mr. Ksaver is getting thirsty. You know better than anyone how he gets, Ackerman.”

Levi sucks in a breath, and Eren’s eyes snap towards him, unsure why Levi’s eyes have gone wide, why the man’s hands are clenching into even tighter fists.

Zeke laughs through the phone again, and the sound of it puts a bitter taste in Eren’s mouth. He feels his chest heaving, feels his body tensing as the burning continues to build, build, build in him because he doesn’t know what Zeke is talking about or who Ksaver is, but he knows that Isabel is in danger, and he can’t stand the thought of Zeke hurting someone he cares about again. 

Eren doesn’t want to lose his family again. 

“Hm? There’s another person with you?”

Levi and Eren make eye contact. Eren tries to hold his breath, to calm his unsteady lungs, but it’s hard when he’s burning up from the inside out, when his hands want to do something, hit something, hurt something—

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Levi says flatly, narrowing his eyes at Eren. 

Eren sinks his fangs into his bottom lip in an attempt to quiet himself, but the intensity of his breathing doesn’t calm. Eren’s nostrils flare as Zeke continues speaking, his fangs biting deeper into his lip until Eren can taste blood on his tongue.

“No need to lie. It’s not like it matters to me. Having one of your little dogs is enough for my purposes.” Eren can hear Zeke smacking his lips. “Though her blood was… low caliber.”

No. No. Eren can imagine it too easily. Isabel, neck bloodied, Zeke standing over her—just like those two ferals and Eren’s mom—

Levi slides off the bed and onto his feet. Eren watches him with wide eyes before quickly pounding his fist against his chest, breath stuttering. He can’t panic. Not now. Not when Isabel’s in danger.

But Eren can’t stop his hands from trembling.

He can’t even remember to wipe the blood from his lips as he hops off the bed and follows Levi out of the room. 

“Where are you?” Levi asks, marching down the hall. 

“I’ll be at Kingdom by the time you’re capable of doing anything.”

Levi hisses out a sigh, dragging his fingers through his hair as he rushes down the stairs. Eren keeps his hands in tight fists at his sides as he follows. The painful press of his fingernails into his own skin is the only thing keeping his mind clear, grounding him enough to really listen instead of having his mind filled with images of the night he lost his mother, the night he lost everything—

Eren presses his nails even harder into his palms, taking a deep breath. He has to listen. He doesn’t want to miss any information that could help them bring Isabel back safe. 

They have to bring her back safe. 

“What do you want?” Levi snaps, making a sharp turn towards his coat closet once they reach the bottom of the stairs. “I’m tired of you dragging this bullshit out. You want me at your fucking club; fine. What else? What do I need to do for you to give me Isabel?”

Eren bites his lip and paces back and forth across the room, unable to do anything, wishing he could do much more, do anything as his mind fills with a frantic swirl of questions. Zeke—how did he—why did he—

No. Wondering why is useless. Eren knows Zeke is a sick bastard, and he doesn’t need any more explanation than that. No reason would justify kidnapping Isabel in Eren’s mind, anyway. No reason would justify anything Zeke has done until now. 

Eren blinks and sees his mother’s smiling face behind his closed lids. He takes in a ragged breath as Zeke speaks again. 

“I want a trade.”

“Of what?” Levi shouts into the phone, dragging his fingers through his hair again as he throws open the door to the closet. “Tell me what you fucking want, or I’ll—”

“You’ll kill me?” Zeke laughs again. “That’s exactly what I want—for you to try. Come to Kingdom, Ackerman. Do your best. Bring whoever you’d like!”

Zeke’s voice rises in volume as he continues. Eren’s eyes narrow, his stomach swirling with disgust at the sound of his brother’s voice. Zeke sounds almost… joyful. Excited. 

“The more the merrier, Ackerman,” Zeke says. “Nothing would make me happier than your whole fake family being present to watch you die.”

A beep signals the end of the call. Levi’s hand drops from his ear, the phone held loosely in his grip. Zeke is gone.

For a moment, there is nothing but silence between them. Levi stands in front of his coat closet with his head lowered. Eren stares at the floor, mouth open, lips still bloody. Isabel—their plans—everything they’ve been getting ready for fell apart so quickly, so easily—

Eren presses his hands against the side of his head, the calm he forced upon himself during the call quickly evaporating. His fangs pierce his lips again, and his green eyes are wide as he stares at the carpet. Unsteady breaths leak out of him, chest trembling as his whole body begins to shake. How—how much time do they have? How hurt is Isabel? Is this a trap—No, fuck, obviously it’s a trap, but what else can they do? They can’t leave Isabel for dead, they can’t—

A loud thud drags Eren’s gaze from the floor to where Levi is standing. The man is hunched, his fist buried in a dent in the wall that wasn’t there before. He sees Levi’s chest heaving, sees the ragged rise and fall of his shoulders.

“Levi—”

“Give me a second.”

Eren falls silent at Levi’s harsh tone, fingernails pressing harder at his scalp, bloody lips trembling as he tries to breathe, to calm down, but he’s only spiraling further and further. He’s seeing red eyes whenever he blinks, seeing his mother’s bloodied form overlapping with Isabel’s behind his closed eyes, no, no, please, anything but that—not again, not again—

No. 

Eren pulls his hands away from his head and sinks his fangs into his fist, grounding himself with that burst of pain, or at least trying to, desperately trying to drag his mind out of that dark hellhole of thoughts because there’s no time, no time for panic, no time for reliving nightmares. 

Their current situation isn’t a nightmare yet. Isabel is alive. Zeke could be lying to them, could have already killed her, but Eren doesn’t want to think about that possibility. She is alive. They’re going to find her. Get her. Save her. Isabel is alive. She has to be. 

Eren pulls his fangs out of his shaking hand, wincing at the sensation and the taste of his own blood, his mouth coated in it. He can taste it now that his mind is back in the present. He looks at Levi across the room again, absentmindedly licking his wounds to get them to heal again. 

Levi is still hunched with his fist in the wall. Eren takes a few cautious steps closer to him, waiting after every movement to make sure Levi can ask for space if he needs it.

But Levi does not send Eren away even when the vampire moves close enough to bend down and rest his head against Levi’s shoulder, nuzzling his face into the man’s neck. 

Levi takes a deep breath, pulling his bruised fist away from the wall to cradle Eren’s head and pull him closer. 

“You okay?” Levi asks, and Eren nods into his shoulders.

“Okay enough.” 

He still tastes his own blood on his tongue.

“‘Okay enough,’” Levi echoes, leaning his head against Eren’s. “Me too.”

“What do we do?” Eren asks, and Levi sighs.

“I need to make sure the others are okay,” Levi says, and Eren nods again. “And scout out Kingdom as much as I can without getting caught.”

“I’m coming with you.”

“No, you’re not,” Levi says, and Eren scowls, pulling away to glare down at Levi.

“Levi—”

“You can’t,” Levi says with another sigh, placing his hand on the vampire’s cheek. “I know how you feel, but it’s daylight, Eren.”

Eren’s eyes widen before his whole body sags, disappointment weighing him down like sandbags piled on his shoulders.

“I… forgot about that.”

Eren can’t do anything. Isabel is in danger, Levi is about to put himself at risk, and Eren can’t do anything. He’s not going to be of use to anyone if he goes out just to burn to ash in the sunlight. Not that he’s any more useful just sitting around, waiting for things to get done. Fuck.

Levi sighs again, running his fingers through his hair.

“Listen, I won’t do anything risky without you. We probably need to wait until night before going to get Isabel anyway.”

Eren winces. Isabel stuck with Zeke and the ferals all day… Eren hates the thought of that. But Levi’s right. What else can they do? They can’t send Levi alone, and Erwin and Hanji can’t go with him for the same reason that Eren can’t. Even if all the people from the Kitchen went, that’s a lot of vampires against a group of humans… Plus, Zeke has a hostage…

Eren’s shoulders hunch.

“If… If Furlan’s okay, take him with you,” Eren says, though he hates that there has to be an ‘if’ in that request. Fuck, everyone else better be okay. If there’s someone else besides Isabel in danger—If anyone else is hurt or worse—

Eren bites his lip again, and Levi’s eyes narrow, reaching up to brush his thumb against the corner of Eren’s mouth. 

“I will,” Levi says. “Don’t worry so much. Isabel…”

Levi falters, lowering his gaze.

“...Isabel’s strong,” Levi says. Eren gets the feeling he’s saying so to comfort himself as much as it’s to comfort Eren. 

Eren lowers his head, Zeke’s insufferable voice echoing in his head. Borrowing Isabel because one of his fucking ferals is already thirsty… Yeah, right. This is to torture Levi; his comment about wanting to see Levi die in front of his “fake family” is proof of that. Fuck, Eren’s blood boils just thinking about it. As if he’ll ever let that happen. Eren will tear out Zeke’s fucking throat before he can even get close—

Eren takes a deep breath, trying to quell the burning, violent heat in his chest, at least temporarily. He can’t act on it right now. He needs to focus on what he can do. Or at least what he knows. Zeke has Isabel… One of the ferals wants to drink early…

Eren frowns, glancing at Levi, whose gray eyes are narrowed, the man’s gaze clouded as he stares at the ground. 

“Levi,” Eren says, “who’s Ksaver?”

Levi’s hands retreat from Eren’s face, his expression warped by a scowl. 

“Ksaver’s the bastard who killed my mother.”

Eren’s eyes grow wide, and he takes a step back. 

“What?” Eren asks. “Did—Did you know he and Zeke were working together?”

Levi presses a hand against his forehead, hissing out a sigh through clenched teeth. 

“I’ve known for a while. I think the little shit’s been protecting Ksaver to fuck with me,” Levi says, massaging his temples with his fingers. “I don’t know how the hell they even met each other. Kenny and I searched for him for years with no luck, and one day I heard from Hanji and Erwin that he’d been spotted at the King’s fucking club—”

Levi sighs again, shaking his head. 

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Doesn’t matter?” Eren asks with a frown. “If that guy was able to kill your mom—”

“He’s just an old man,” Levi snaps, shaking his head again. “My mother only died because I was too weak to fight for myself.”

Eren’s frown softens, eyebrows curving in concern as Levi stares down at his fists. He can’t imagine the stress Levi is feeling right now—the stress he’s trying so hard to hold back. Isabel being taken—being used as a potential bloodbag for the same person who killed Levi’s mom—

“That old fuck isn’t going to do anything to Isabel,” Levi says, his gaze still lowered. “I won’t let him.”

Eren reaches out, placing his hand over one of Levi’s fists.

“We won’t.”

Levi takes a deep breath, his gray-eyed gaze slowly rising to meet Eren’s before nodding. 

“We won’t.”

Eren manages an unsteady smile.

“So… You’re going to check on everyone,” Eren says slowly. “What should I—what can I do?”

Eren can’t—he can’t just sit here doing nothing. He might not be able to leave Levi’s house until the sun sets but… But there has to be something he can do, right? Some way he can help? Something he can do for Isabel or to help Levi get revenge on this Ksaver guy, or to stop Zeke, or—or something. There has to be something. 

Levi frowns.

“...Tell your friends about what’s going on.”

Eren blinks, brown eyebrows rising.

“Wha—You mean Mikasa and Armin? Why? They don’t even know… Well, anything, really.”

He never told them about Zeke, about all the training, about the plan… He wanted to prevent them from worrying.

…And he wanted to prevent them from trying to stop him. He’s done everything he can to keep them completely in the dark. Telling them now would be… messy. And that’s putting it lightly.

“I know,” Levi says, stepping away from Eren and turning back to the coat closet. “But if Zeke is kidnapping people, we can’t be too careful. We don’t know how much he knows.”

Levi glances over his shoulder at Eren.

“Or if he knows about you at all.”

Levi turns back to the closet and pulls out a black leather trench coat, and the smell of garlic makes Eren take a few steps back, sensitive nose twitching.

“You’re saying…”

“I’m saying why the fuck should we think he’s going to stop at just Isabel?” Levi asks, tugging on the coat and tucking stakes of different sizes into pockets sewn into its lining. “We’re lucky you were with me. If he had tried to get you instead, I—”

Levi stops, and Eren hears a wooden stake begin to crack in the man’s hand. 

“...I wouldn’t be here right now,” Levi says, voice low, and Eren swallows, easily able to imagine Levi rushing straight to Zeke’s club alone, despite how stupid and reckless that would be. Despite the fact that that would definitely get him killed.

Eren knows he’d probably do the exact same thing. 

“Tell your friends,” Levi says, kneeling down and pulling some small vials of clear liquid out from the bottom of the closet. “Best case scenario, we’re overly cautious.”

“What do you think the worst case would be…?”

Levi looks back at Eren with a dark gaze, his lips in a tight frown. 

“The worst case scenario is that we’re already too late, and your friends are being held as hostages without knowing why. Or they’re already dead.”

Eren clasps a hand around his neck, pressing his fingers against his Mark as he tries to take in a steadying breath.

He shouldn’t have asked.

“But Zeke would’ve told us that,” Levi says, grabbing a crossbow before getting to his feet and kicking the closet door shut. “This is just a precaution.”

Eren stares at the floor, his hand still around his neck as he tries not to imagine his best friends tied up somewhere, necks torn open, dark figures with red eyes standing over them, waiting—

Eren bites into his lip again, forcing himself to suck in a deep breath. 

“I’ll call them,” Eren says.

“You can let them come here, if you want,” Levi says.

He steps closer, but Eren’s sensitive nose scrunches in reaction to the overwhelming garlic smell emanating from the hunter’s clothes. Levi notices the reaction and stops, letting out a weary sigh. Guilt and longing swirl in Eren’s chest, but he doesn’t speak, doesn’t move, and Levi doesn’t attempt to get any closer either. 

For a moment, they stand in silence on opposite sides of the room. Eren, still in yesterday’s clothes, a hand clasped around his neck, shoulders hunched. Levi, in his heavy coat laden with weapons, his expression dark, and a crossbow held tight in his grip. 

“...I’ll be back soon. As soon as I’m done checking on everyone, I’ll come straight back to you.”

Eren nods, forcing his lips into what he hopes is an encouraging smile. 

“Don’t go dying on me, asshole.”

Levi scoffs.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, brat.”

They lock eyes, gray meeting green, hanging on for a moment longer, just a moment longer. 

But then Levi turns away, heading out of the room, out of the house, out to make sure the rest of his family is still intact.

When Eren is left alone, he can’t help but think of the last promise he made Levi. Hoping that he can keep it. 

Eren’s fingers press into Levi’s shoulders as he tries to pull his thoughts together enough to process the question, but it’s hard when he can still feel Levi’s breath against his neck, can feel the press of the man’s flat teeth as they nip and pinch his skin. It’s hard when his Mark begins to burn, heating, hurting as Levi makes his way lower, closer to that spot.

“Eren,” Levi whispers. Eren shivers. “Tell me.”

“I… want…”

Without warning, Levi shifts, biting down on Eren’s shoulder hard. Eren’s body jumps, head pressing back into the bed, but at the same time, he clenches his teeth, frustration bursting to life in his chest because this bastard knows what Eren wants, otherwise he wouldn’t bite so fucking close to the damn Mark, wouldn’t be such an insufferable fucking tease. 

“Levi,” Eren says, and he’s trying to make the words a snap, but there’s not enough breath in his lungs. “Stop being a dick and fucking bite my Mark already—”

A pair of canines pierce that aching, burning spot on Eren’s neck before he can even finish his sentence, and Eren’s fingers dig into Levi’s shoulders, his mouth falling open, eyes squeezing shut. Tingling, electric heat spills out from his Mark, spreading all across his body until he’s not even fully conscious of all the ways he’s trembling, writhing. All he knows is that it’s hot and Levi is close and fuck everything feels so, so good. 

When Levi pulls away, Eren sags onto the sheets, breath escaping him in short pants. His green eyes are half-lidded as Levi moves up to be face to face with him again, leaning down for an open-mouthed kiss.

“Eren,” he mumbles against Eren’s lips, “I don’t know what you’re always going on about.”

“Huh…?”

Levi kisses him again, deeper this time, tongues intermingling. Eren tastes something… familiar. Metallic. 

Levi pulls back again, moving down towards Eren’s Mark to lick across it, and Eren shudders again, fangs throbbing as he looks at Levi’s neck, pale, smooth, exposed, right there just for him—

“When you talk about blood,” Levi continues, coming back to kiss Eren once more. “You always talk about how it’s delicious.”

“And?” Eren asks, a bit impatient because he’s still hot, blood buzzing through his veins in anticipation, still wanting more, more.

“And,” Levi says, pressing a kiss against Eren’s jaw, “your blood tastes like shit.”

Eren laughs, in spite of the situation, in spite of the way his body is still trembling and tingling every time they make contact, in spite of everything. 

“Levi, what the fuck?” Eren asks, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. “Why are you making jokes right now?”

Levi is quiet, and Eren pulls his hand away from his eyes to look up at the man with his eyebrows raised. But as soon as they make eye contact, Eren’s breath stutters, something soft fluttering in his chest. 

Levi’s expression is gentle, gray eyes narrowed, the smallest of smiles on his lips, black eyebrows raised slightly, relaxed. It’s so openly fond that Eren feels almost… shy about it. Even though they really should be past the point of being shy by now.

“Eren.”

“Y-yeah?”

“I love you.”

Eren’s breath stalls, and he turns his head away, lifting his arm so that he can hide his face in the crook of his elbow. When he responds, it’s a strained whisper. He hopes Levi can hear it. 

“I-I love you too.”

Levi laughs, pressing a kiss on the arm hiding Eren’s face from sight.

“That’s what gets you? We say it all the time.”

“Shut up! Dumbass!”

Levi laughs again, and Eren pouts, slowly letting his arm fall back down to the sheets. Levi is still staring fondly down at him, one of the man’s pale hands sliding idly up and down his side, lifting up Eren’s shirt slightly in the process. 

“Levi?”

“Hm?”

“What do you want?”

Levi’s eyes widen for a moment, but his lids slowly lower, black eyebrows dipping down. 

“What do I want…?”

Levi shifts over him, moving back slightly on the bed. His hand lingers by Eren’s hips, pale fingers grabbing hold of his now exposed waist. Eren looks up at him with a confused smile, eyebrows raised. Why is he drawing this out so much?

“You sure you want to know?” Levi asks, his thumb rubbing slow circles into Eren’s hip. Eren’s eyes narrow. 

“I do,” he says. “Tell me.”

“Eren…” Levi leans down, voice low. “I want to fuck you senseless.”

Eren’s thoughts slam to a halt. He doesn’t remember how to breathe. 

His lungs are forced to remember when Levi’s hips grind down against his, pulling a gasp from Eren’s lips, green eyes wide from the sudden onslaught of sensations especially because fuck, fuck, it’s not just one burst of friction, Levi’s still moving—

“L-Levi…”

Eren’s eyes squeeze shut, fingers curling into the sheets, mouth opening and closing soundlessly as he struggles not to cry out. So much—all of sudden—so much—

“God fucking dammit,” Levi says, taking in a sharp breath, and he leans lower, pressing harder, fuck, fuck, fuck. “Tried so fucking hard to be patient about it… Take it slow…”

Eren sinks his fangs into his bottom lip, hips jerking, arms trembling as Levi practically pins him to the bed, pressing against him, trapping Eren against him. Eren can’t—he can’t—fuck, he can’t think—he can’t even control how his body moves—

“Wanted to make things easy on you,” Levi continues, “even though you were always fucking testing me.”

Eren’s fingers claw at the mattress, eyes wide as Levi continues to move against him, slow, almost rhythmic, fuck. 

“I—” Eren sucks in a breath, swiping his tongue across his bitten bottom lip to stop the bleeding. “I wasn’t—”

“You weren’t?” Levi asks, and his hips grind down with more force than before. 

This time Eren can’t hold back his voice, back arching, head pressing back against the pillow, his body writhing in tandem with Levi’s nearly without his own permission. It’s instinct, it’s heat burning throughout him uncontrolled, it’s so much all at once. So good, too good. 

“I—Levi—” 

“What do you call sitting in my lap, telling me you want me?” Levi asks, and Eren lifts his shaky arms from the sheets to curl into Levi’s shirt. “Calling yourself my good boy?”

Eren trembles, a whimper escaping him, and Levi’s face dips into the crook of his neck, teeth nipping at his collarbones, skirting around the Mark, close but never on that sensitive spot directly. 

“I…” Eren grits his teeth, writhing on the sheets, trying feebly to keep enough focus to form a full sentence, but fuck, it’s so damn hard when he can feel Levi against him, when the man relentlessly reminds him of their positions with every thrust of his hips. “I was… drunk… And you were the one who… put me on your lap.”

“You tried to strip me that night.”

“Just…” Eren gasps, fingers scratching Levi’s shoulders, barely holding back. “Just your shirt…”

“You’re arguing with me over nothing,” Levi says, lips sliding across Eren’s neck to hover over the Mark, and Eren’s entire body tenses in anticipation of that burst of tingling heat, waiting for the familiar press of Levi’s teeth against his skin. “You were testing my patience, Eren. I know you were.”

Eren feels a puff of breath against his shoulder. He knows, he knows Levi is lingering over the Mark, lips parted, and Eren’s own fangs are throbbing, waiting for it, wanting to bite and be bitten. Fuck, fuck, fuck, please—

“My patience is gone now,” Levi says, “and I told you what I want.”

Without warning, Levi stops, his body stilling over Eren’s, lips still hovering tauntingly over Eren’s neck. A small, frustrated sound escapes Eren’s throat, still trembling all over, still burning, tingling, wanting more, because it’s not enough, not yet.

Though some of Eren’s impatience subsides when Levi speaks up again, quieter than before, the rough edge to his voice temporarily absent. 

“Are you okay with that, Eren?”

Eren’s hands on Levi’s shoulders shift to curl around the man’s neck, a small smile on his lips. Levi raises his face away from Eren’s Mark, gray eyes meeting green. 

“You’re going to tell me you’re out of patience then give me a way to back out?” Eren asks, raising his eyebrows.

“I’m not going to be fucking happy about it if you run out on me,” Levi grumbles, “but I’m not going to force you, Eren.”

Eren laughs a little, leaning up to press his lips against Levi’s briefly, sweetly. Then, he leans up, until his lips are close to Levi’s ear. 

“Levi,” he whispers, grinning when he hears the man’s breath hitch. “...Fuck me senseless.”

“Eren.”

Pain and pleasure bloom on Eren’s neck in tandem, and the suddenness of Levi’s teeth on his Mark makes Eren arch upwards, his back off the bed. The second their bodies make contact again, Levi’s hips press down, and Eren gasps, eyes wide, clinging to Levi’s shoulders with shaking arms as a tightness forms in the pit of Eren’s stomach, his body pulsing in two places at once.

“W-wait—”

“Wait?”

Eren’s mouth falls open, feeling lighter bites against his Mark, his neck, his collarbone, everywhere, while Levi’s hand slides along his chest, pushing his shirt up towards Eren’s shoulders. 

“A little late for that, Eren.”

Levi reaches up to remove Eren’s arms from around him, tugging the vampire’s shirt up and off. Eren trembles beneath Levi’s fingers as a pale hand slides across his chest, down his abs, fingers hooking into Eren’s waistband. But his hips pause their movements, and Eren does his best to take a deep breath.

“You want me to stop?” Levi asks, shifting back on the bed a bit, his other hand dropping onto Eren’s knee. 

“N-no,” Eren says weakly, green eyes half open. “It’s just… a lot..”

“Hmm…”

The pale hand on Eren’s waistband moves to grip his other knee. Eren’s hips twitch as Levi slowly, slowly begins to push his legs apart, gray eyes never leaving Eren’s gaze. Slowly, slowly, Levi’s hands slide downward, until he’s gripping the inside of Eren’s thighs. 

“Good.”

Eren squirms on the bed as Levi strips off the rest of his clothes one by one, torn between wanting to hide himself and wanting to pull Levi's clothes off too. Wanting to see more of Levi, more of his pale skin… Eren reaches up, his hands curling into Levi's shirt as the man stares down at him, hands roaming along his hips and thighs.

Levi's eyes narrow and Eren stiffens, suddenly realizing that this is the first time Levi has seen him like this—the first time anyone has seen him like this, touched him like this, been with him like this. 

And Levi's hovering over him with an unreadable expression, still holding Eren's legs apart. 

"Eren…"

Eren pulls hard on Levi's shirt, yanking the man down until Levi's chin is nearly touching his chest, cheeks warming.

"Don't," he says, and Levi frowns.

"Don't what?"

"Don't… stare so much."

Levi's eyebrows raise a little, one of his hands moving to cover Eren’s, which are still gripping tightly to Levi’s shirt. 

“Hearing that makes me want to stare more,” Levi says, guiding Eren’s hands upwards, pulling his shirt up with it.

Eren’s breath hitches as Levi lets him pull the shirt all the way off, eyes filling with pale, pale skin. Muscular, scarred. Eren’s fingers drift to a small scar on Levi’s chest, a dark indent on his skin, right over his heart. Eren can feel it pounding beneath his fingertips. 

“That night, Levi had one of Kenny’s crossbow bolts stuck between one of his ribs.”

Petra’s words echo in Eren’s mind, briefly, as his fingers trace every scar he can find. Faded scratches just below Levi’s ribs. Healed gashes along the sides of Levi’s abdomen. A long, raised scar cutting across the bottom of Levi’s stomach. 

“Now you’re the one staring, brat.”

“Mmmhmm…”

Eren’s hands push Levi’s waistband down almost without thinking, leaving it low on Levi’s hips so that he can finish tracing that big scar on his stomach to where it ends a few inches below his navel. Eren only realizes how low his hands have gotten when Levi’s stomach twitches in reaction to his touch.

Eren looks up at Levi, a teasing smile on his lips. 

“Ticklish?”

Levi huffs. 

“Something like that.”

Levi leans down. Eren closes his eyes as their lips meet. 

“Levi.”

“Hm?”

“You’re being pretty slow about all this… considering what you said earlier.”

“You fucking brat,” Levi grumbles. “‘Bite me already.’ ‘Wait.’ ‘Don’t stare.’ Now I’m too slow. You don’t even know what you want.”

Eren’s face grows hot again, and he scowls up at Levi.

“I—I’m new to this, okay? I don’t—I don’t really know what I’m doing.”

“I know.” Levi leans down to kiss him again. “That’s why you should just shut up and leave it to me.”

“Don’t be a dick,” Eren mumbles, but his voice lacks animosity, too busy trying to chase Levi’s kiss as the man pulls away again. Levi’s hands are back on Eren’s hips, pale lips traveling to Eren’s ear.

“I don’t mind being one,” Levi whispers, “since either way, I’ll be buried in your—”

“Levi!”

Levi laughs, loud and boisterous, and it’s so strange to hear it from him, so different from his usual restrained chuckles. Levi’s head drops onto Eren’s chest, the laughter fading quickly, though the man’s shoulders are still bouncing with the remnants of it. 

“Too much?”

“Way too fucking much.”

“You’ll get used to it.”

“Levi.”

Levi moves up to press a kiss against the underside of Eren’s jaw, and Eren can feel the smile on the man’s lips. Asshole. 

“You’re supposed to be the one who has a hard time saying shit,” Eren grumbles.

“I have exceptions.”

“Clearly.”

Levi smiles at him, and Eren glares back, though it’s hard to keep the angry expression when Levi’s gaze is so soft, when his touch is so gentle, when they’re so close like this. Exposed like this. 

“More comfortable now?” Levi asks.

“Huh?”

Levi pulls one of his hands away from its resting place on Eren’s waist to brush the back of his hand across Eren’s cheek. 

“You seemed like you were getting stressed.”

Eren’s shoulders hunch, and he averts his gaze, catching his bottom lip between his flat front teeth. 

“...I’m sorry. Even in a moment like this, you’re having to accommodate me…”

Even though Levi said earlier that his patience was gone, that he was tired of waiting, he’s still…

“I don’t mind,” Levi says. “I can wait for you.”

“I just—I hate that you have to wait for me. I even asked what you wanted, and we’re still—”

“Eren.”

Levi’s hand on his cheek grabs hold of Eren’s chin, turning his head and forcing the vampire to look up at him. 

“I want you,” he says. “That’s it.”

“But you said—”

Levi leans down, pressing their lips together, hard, almost forceful. Eren’s mouth parts beneath the pressure, but Levi pulls back. Eren can feel the man’s breath on his lips, gray eyes staring right into his own, impossible to look away from.

“Tell you what,” Levi whispers, both his hands back on Eren’s hips, sliding lower. Inward. “Let’s make a deal.”

“A deal…?”

“This time…” Levi says, hands inching to a place that makes Eren’s breath stutter, even though Levi hasn’t touched it yet, even though he’s just getting closer, closer. “...Is for you. As slow as you need.”

“Okay…”

One of Levi’s hands retreats, and he can hear clothes rustling, something sliding off, but Eren can’t focus on it when Levi’s eyes are still holding his gaze hostage, when Levi’s other hand is rubbing circles into the inside of Eren’s thigh, so close, so close—

“Next time,” Levi continues, eyes narrowing, voice husky. “I get to fuck you as rough as I want.”

Eren’s breath hitches, eyes widening. 

“Deal?” Levi asks, moving closer, slightly closer, close enough that their lips nearly touch as he speaks. 

“D-deal.”

Levi smiles. 

“Good boy.”

It's like something snaps. The thin thread containing all their hesitation breaks and suddenly Eren's fingers are digging into Levi's shoulders because Levi is hot and hard against him, two pale hands wrapped around them, pressing them together and fuck, fuck, Eren can't breathe, can't think—

"Sounds like you like that," Levi mumbles, his lips near Eren's cheek, panting above his ear, and Eren's hips are jerking hastily, messily. 

Eren doesn't have a fucking clue what Levi is talking about until he realizes his mouth is open, moans spilling out from the vampire’s lips.

"Shit," Levi mumbles, and Eren can hear the man's heavy breathing so well, can feel it against the shell of his ear, and fuck, Levi is biting again, nipping at Eren's neck—fuck, Levi’s grip just got tighter—

"L-Levi…"

"Feels good?" Levi asks, and Eren sucks in a shaky breath, trying not to claw his fingers against Levi's back too hard, not wanting to hurt Levi, but it's so much. Almost too much to handle.

"Good, but I—I can't—"

"Shit, just—" Even Levi is stuttering, his words interrupted by sharp gasps and grunts. "Just a little more."

"Levi—"

Eren gasps, legs trembling, feet sliding back and forth across the bed sheets as one of Levi's hands pulls away and moves lower, pressing but not entering.

"A little more," Levi says again. "You okay with that?"

“Yes, fuck—” Eren’s mouth opens, fangs throbbing and he wants to bite Levi so bad, but he shouldn’t. He can’t. “Please.”

Pale fingers plunge inward without further hesitation, and Eren gasps, squeezing his eyes shut. His fingers flex against Levi’s shoulders, but he can’t even focus fully on the new sensation because Levi is still pressed against him, hot against him. Levi’s lips are still pressing distracting kisses and bites along his skin, Levi’s pale shoulders are still close enough to bite. Levi’s warm skin beneath his fingertips, covered in a sheen of sweat. Levi’s unsteady breaths, Levi’s pounding heart, Levi’s blood rushing through his veins—Eren can’t think of anything else. His senses are full of the man he loves, completely absorbed by him, overwhelmed by him. 

Eren loves that. Him and Levi intertwined. Like it’s just the two of them in their own world, like all their worries are nonexistent. He doesn’t want anything more than that.

Well… No. That’s not true. Right now, there is something else. Something else he wants. Something to connect them completely.

“A little more,” Levi whispers in his ear, and another of Levi’s fingers joins the first. “You okay?”

“Y-yeah, but—”

Levi strikes a spot that sends a surge of heat through Eren, stopping his train of thought as his back arches, eyes wide. Levi chuckles against Eren’s ear.

“You like that?”

“Ye—” Eren takes in a deep breath, or at least the best one he can manage in this state. “Y-yeah, but…”

“But?” Levi asks, even as his fingers and hips pick up speed, even as his hand around them both starts squeezing tighter, tighter, fuck.

“Levi,” Eren says, his own hands sliding helplessly along the man’s back, “you need to slow down, or I’m—”

Levi stops immediately, obediently. Eren sags against the bed as Levi rearranges himself above him, green eyes slipping shut. 

“You want to stop here?” Levi asks, and Eren scowls, though he doesn’t open his eyes. 

“Fuck no. Don’t be stupid.”

Levi scoffs, and Eren feels a kiss land on the top of his head.

“But you don’t want to finish like this.”

Eren shakes his head, breath still stuttering, body still sensitive, still impatiently desiring more. 

“What do you want then, Eren?”

Eren sighs.

“I feel like…” Eren grumbles, finally opening his eyes again, “part of your reason for asking me every step is just so you can fuck with me.”

The corners of Levi’s lips twitch.

“Maybe it is.”

“Don’t make me say it every time,” Eren says, placing his hands on Levi’s chest, his thumb brushing across the scar over the man’s heart. “You know what I want, Levi.”

“Do I?”

Levi leans down, and Eren holds his breath as Levi’s face comes close, their lips meeting once before Levi pulls away.

“I…” Eren shakes his head, trying to keep his focus on the conversation, even as Levi continues to move closer to him. Eren can feel the heat of Levi’s body, even without their skin touching. “I know you do… Don’t be an asshole, Levi.”

“I’ll be an asshole if I want,” Levi says. “I want you to say it.”

“Levi—”

“I want you to say it,” Levi says again, firmer now. “I want to know you want it.”

“Seriously, Levi—”

“I need—” Levi pauses, and a frown forms on his lips, gray-eyed gaze wavering. Eren’s stomach twists for a different reason than it has been all night. 

Levi averts his gaze, leaning away.

“I…” Levi’s voice is quiet. It feels heavy in the quiet room, hanging between them. “I need to know you won’t regret it, Eren.”

Seeing Levi like this, Eren remembers the first time he drank from Levi’s neck. The night of their promises to each other. 

“Eren. This… If you were sober, this would scare you.”

“Not with you. Not if it’s you.”

“Eren… Just… Pretend you’re me for a second. Think about what it would do to me if I believed you now, just for you to regret it tomorrow.”

Maybe Eren’s not the only one who needed this to go slow. Who needed to make sure that it was okay at every step. 

“Levi…”

Eren reaches up, placing his hand on Levi’s cheek. Levi sighs, covering Eren’s hand with his own. 

“Sorry,” Levi says, but Eren shakes his head.

“I get it.” Eren smiles. “Probably better than anyone else.”

Levi sighs, closing his eyes. 

“Levi.”

“Hm?”

“I love you.”

The corners of Levi’s lips twitch up.

“I love you too.”

Eren places another hand on Levi’s cheek, pulling him down until their foreheads press together.

“I’m not going to regret it,” he says quietly. “Because it’s you, Levi.”

Levi takes a deep breath.

“You’re sure?”

“Mmhmm.”

Levi snorts.

“Real reassuring.”

“Yes,” Eren says quickly. “Sorry. Yes, I’m sure, I just—”

Eren takes in a shaky breath, cheeks warming.

“Just feeling…” Eren averts his gaze, shifting a bit on the sheets. “...A little impatient.”

Levi laughs, and it’s more breathy than boisterous, like it’s half a sigh of relief. 

“You really are a brat.”

Eren’s cheeks burns, and he squeezes Levi’s face between his hands, glaring up at him.

“Well, you’re making me wait again, so of course I’m gonna—”

The press of something hot against him from below makes Eren’s mouth snap shut, breath stalling. Levi pulls Eren’s hands away from his face, one of his hands moving to prop himself up. The other pale hand lands on Eren’s thigh, lifting his leg up, Eren’s hips raising with it.. 

“What?” Levi asks. “Nothing else to say?”

Eren shakes his head, lips pressed tightly together, green eyes locked onto Levi. Levi shakes his head, a small smile on his lips. 

“Well,” Levi says, and his low voice is soft, like a caress. “Thank you for waiting, Eren.”

Eren opens his mouth to speak, though his attention is split, his eyes on Levi, every other cell in his body focused somewhere much lower. 

“I… should be saying that to you.”

“I’ve got a brilliant idea,” Levi says, his grip tightening on Eren’s thigh. “Let’s just not say a fucking thing anymore.”

Levi presses into him slowly, infuriatingly slowly, but even that is overwhelming, even as part of Eren’s brain cries out for more, even as his fangs throb and long to connect in more ways than  this. And it’s good, so good, especially when Levi slowly, carefully begins to move. But Eren knew it would because of course it is. Because he didn’t expect anything else from Levi, because they were already intertwined before they made their bodies slot together. Because with Levi, everything feels good, feels right. Even before Love Bites and love confessions—even before they came to rely on each other so deeply, everything about being with Levi felt right. His touch. His voice. His presence. Everything. 

“Levi…” His name falls out unsteadily from Eren’s lips. Eren’s hands wind around Levi’s shoulders to keep steady, to keep the man closer, closer, even though he’s already closer than he could ever possibly be. 

Levi doesn’t answer out loud, but he feels the man nodding against his shoulder, and Eren’s mind is struggling to string together the words as his body burns and throbs, as Levi moves harder, faster, fuck—

“Levi…” Eren mumbles between heavy breaths. “Love you… Love you so fucking much… Levi…”

More than anything. More than everything. 

But it’s futile continue trying to form the words on his tongue when the sentences are punctuated by moans Eren can’t hold back, so he presses his lips to every inch of Levi’s skin within reach and hopes he understands. 

When they finish, it’s in sync, Levi biting down on Eren’s Mark at the last second, and everything spills out at once. Levi’s name tumbles out of Eren’s lips over and over, and the build up of emotions, of heat, of everything, erupts out at once. 

Levi lingers above him for a moment, chest heaving, sweat dripping off of pale skin. Gray eyes hazy, narrowed to slits as they look down at Eren from above. Eren’s limbs feel weak, his whole fucking body does, still trembling, still twitchy and sensitive in the aftermath. 

But he pushes his heavy body up one more time, just far enough that he can kiss Levi again. 

As soon as Levi’s mouth parts from his, Eren collapses back onto the bed, shaky and exhausted. He can barely keep his eyes open. He hears Levi rolling off of him instead of seeing it, feels the warmth of Levi’s body retreat. The bed bounces when Levi drops down beside Eren, and when Eren works up enough motivation to crack his eyes open, he sees Levi face down, his head buried in the pillows.

“I need…” Levi says slowly, voice muffled. “...To wash my sheets…”

Eren barks out a laugh immediately, pressing his hands over his eyes, unable to stop the way the laughter shakes his shoulders, even as his tired body protests the movement. 

“That’s—” Eren sucks in a deep breath. “That’s the first thing you say?”

“Hmm…” Levi mumbles. “You’re right… I need a shower first.”

Eren laughs again, pulling one of his hands away from his eyes to smack it against the mattress, even though he’s distantly aware of the fact that it’s really not that funny. Maybe he’s just fucking delirious at this point. Maybe they both are. 

“Oh, shit…” 

Levi rolls onto his side, and Eren forces himself to take a few more steady breaths before turning to face him.

“What is it?” Eren asks, and Levi’s hand drifts over to Eren’s neck, fingertips brushing lightly across his Mark. 

“I love you too,” Levi says. “I… forgot to say it earlier.”

Eren laughs a little.

“It’s okay.”

Levi shakes his head. 

“I told you I would say it back every time.”

Eren rubs his eyes. Right… Another thing he brought up to Levi while drunk. But things were… different back then. Even though it wasn’t that long ago. 

“It’s okay,” Eren says again, letting out a yawn. “You… don’t have to. I know.”

“I don’t mind saying it,” Levi says, and Eren yawns again, green eyes falling shut.

“Okay… but you don’t have to… It’s not like… with other people.”

“Other people?”

Eren shifts closer to Levi on the bed, letting out a small sigh when he finds himself close enough for Levi to press his head against Eren’s chest.

“I feel better… when people say it,” Eren continues. “‘Cause it’s… hard for me to believe they really do. But when it’s you… I know. ‘Cause you…”

Eren yawns again. 

“You always show it too…So I… can trust that you love me.”

Eren feels a hand curling around his, fingers intertwining with his own. Lips touching down on top of his knuckles. 

“I’m glad to hear that, Eren.”

Eren can feel it, can feel his whole body slowing. His mind descending into fog. When did he get so tired? Maybe the side-effects from drinking Levi’s blood earlier in the day haven’t completely worn off yet…

“Mm… you too…” Eren mumbles. “You can trust me… Love you so much…”

Levi chuckles.

“I know.”

Eren smiles, yawning again. Levi’s lips press against his knuckles once more.

“Levi.”

“What?”

“I really love you.”

Levi huffs, pressing another kiss on the back of Eren’s hand.

“I love you too, goofy brat.”

“Your…” Eren yawns. “...goofy brat.”

The last thing Eren hears before falling asleep is Levi’s laugh.

Eren places his hand on his forehead, trying to remember what happened as his fangs throb, reminding him that he still needs blood. They finished sparring… Levi fell asleep while Erwin and Hanji were leaving, and then… and then…

It’s no use. Eren can’t remember a thing. He must’ve fallen asleep not long after Levi. 

His fangs throb again. Eren sighs, massaging his jaw with his hand. 

“Thirsty?” Levi asks, moving to drape his towel over the edge of his desk.

“Mmhmm…”

Levi chuckles, walking back to the side of the bed. When he’s close enough, pale fingers grab hold of Eren’s chin, tilting his head up. 

“Come here then.”

Eren swallows, green eyes immediately drawn to Levi’s neck, where the collar of his shirt is low enough for Eren to plainly see the Mark on his throat. The two small scars made by Eren. The physical imprint of their promises to each other on Levi’s skin. 

Eren’s fangs throb. Again. He reaches out, hesitant fingers ghosting over the Mark. 

“Here is okay?” Eren whispers. 

“You’re going to ask that every time?” 

Levi tilts his head, making room. Eren sits up a little taller, and Levi steps closer. 

“Go for it, Eren,” Levi says, and Eren takes a deep breath, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed so that he can face Levi properly. 

Eren places his hands on Levi’s shoulders, green eyes locked on the Mark, fangs aching, mouth watering. He swallows, scooting closer to the edge of the bed. 

“You’re going to stop me?” Eren asks. “So I don’t drink too much?”

“I will.”

Eren takes another deep breath, his grip tightening on Levi’s shoulders. When he leans forward, one of Levi’s hands moves to the back of his head, pale fingers curling into long brown hair, ready to pull him back. Eren closes his eyes, and his lips find their way to where blood thrums strongly beneath Levi’s skin. Levi’s skin is still damp from his shower.

Eren tries to take a deep breath again, but the inhale is shaky, mouth watering, fangs aching, throbbing, and his brain full of thoughts of blood and Levi—fuck, he’s thirsty.

“I’m gonna start.”

“You’re drawing this out too much, brat.”

Levi’s right. Eren doesn’t waste any more time, mouth parting and biting down hard. His fangs pierce the pale skin, and he sighs in satisfaction as the warm liquid hits his tongue, sweet as always. Eren’s hands slide down Levi’s shoulders, clutching the man’s biceps instead. Levi’s fingers massage Eren’s head as the ache in his mouth subsides, and Eren sags, focused completely on drinking his fill, on Levi, on the heavenly taste on his tongue. 

“Happy now?” Levi asks, and Eren hums slightly in response. So good. It’s so good, like always. Warming him from the inside out, filling his mind with a pleasant fog. God, it tastes so good. He wants more, wants to just keep drinking forever—

But a firm tug on the back of Eren’s head reminds him that he can’t. 

Pouting, Eren pulls his mouth away from Levi’s neck with a gasp, though he remembers last second to dive down and sweep his tongue along the scar. 

“Too much… Too fast,” he grumbles, squeezing Levi’s biceps with a frown. 

“What is?” Levi asks, running his fingers through Eren’s hair. 

The movement is distracting… And relaxing. Eren’s going to get sleepy again. Even though he just woke up. It’d be nice to sleep again, actually. He and Levi have been training so hard… So much sparring. Eren’s so glad he doesn’t feel sore anymore. Thanks to Levi’s blood. Nice, warm, sweet blood…

“Eren.”

“Huh?”

Levi nudges Eren’s chin with his knuckles, a tiny, half-hearted punch.

“What’s too fast, Eren?”

“Oh.” Eren scowls, squeezing Levi’s arms again, as if the man is a stress ball. “The blood… from your neck. Comes out too fast. Wanna drink for longer… since you taste so good…”

Levi scoffs. 

“Really.”

“Yeah!” Eren exclaims, leaning back. Immediately, Levi’s hands on his head move to circle around his waist, holding Eren upright. “When I drank from your wrist, I got to drink for a long time… Taste for a long time…”

“Hm.” Levi’s arms around Eren’s waist curl in a little more, holding him tighter, closer. “We can switch back if you want.”

“Switch back…?” God, Eren feels so warm. Drinking blood is like drinking a super hot coffee… Heats him right up. “But, uh…”

Eren scowls again, nose scrunching. 

“What are we talking about?”

Levi rolls his eyes, dropping his forehead against Eren’s. 

“It feels like you get more drunk the more we do this.”

Eren frowns, lightly punching Levi’s arms instead of holding them.

“‘S not my fault I get all drunk…”

“I know, big guy,” Levi says, leaning close until their lips meet, briefly. That tiny bit of contact immediately puts a smile on Eren’s face, a different kind of warmth flickering to life in his chest. “We were talking about if you wanted to go back to drinking from my wrist.”

“Right,” Eren says, nodding, though his range of motion is a bit limited by Levi’s forehead pressed against his. “No, I don’t want to.”

“Why not, if you want to drink for longer?”

“Mm… Cause…”

Eren’s cheeks burn, and he pulls away from Levi a bit, a frown on his lips. 

“Eren?”

“It’s…” 

Eren tilts his head from side to side, debating on whether or not to say it. 

…Fuck it.

“It’s more… exciting to drink from your neck,” Eren says. “Don’t wanna switch back.”

Levi is quiet, and Eren frowns, leaning close to get a good look at Levi’s face. The man’s expression is relatively flat, though his eyes are narrowed slightly, darker than usual as he meets Eren’s gaze. 

“Levi? What’s wrong?”

Levi’s mouth opens and closes for a moment before his head suddenly lowers, and the man heaves a sigh. Eren’s eyes grow wide, clasping his hands on Levi’s arms again. 

“Levi?!”

“I’m fine,” Levi says, his voice low. “Just… debating whether I should ask you what you mean by that shit.”

“Oh.” Eren’s entire face scrunches as a confused frown forms on his lips. That’s it? “I could tell you—”

“No,” Levi says quickly. “No. I’m just not going to think about it.”

“Ohhh…” A grin forms on Eren’s lips, and he slides his hands back up to Levi’s shoulders, then down the man’s chest. “I get it.”

Levi sucks in a breath, removing one of his arms from around Eren’s waist to hold Eren’s wandering hands in place. Levi lifts his head again, and green eyes lock onto gray. 

“Do you?” Levi asks.

“Hmmm…” Eren leans closer, glancing at Levi’s lips but stopping just before they can kiss. “Maybe?”

“Maybe,” Levi repeats, and Eren can feel the press of Levi’s fingers on his hips, the man’s grip getting tighter, firmer. 

“Mmhmm… I wonder if I do…”

Eren leans up a little, lips landing clumsily on the shell of Levi’s ear as he fails to hold back a smile. 

“Want to tell me what you’re thinking?”  Eren whispers, and Levi inhales sharply, fingers pressing harder into Eren’s waist. Pale fingers. Strong fingers. 

“I’m thinking…” Levi says slowly, “you really like to fuck with me when you’re drunk. Little shit.” 

Eren’s not sure what about Levi’s words causes a giddy bubble in his chest, but that bubble rises up his throat and bursts out of him in a loud laugh. Eren throws his head back far enough that his upper body swings back with it, and he grabs the front of Levi’s shirt and drags the man down with him. Levi barely catches himself in time to stop himself from falling on top of Eren, two hands braced on either side of Eren’s head to keep them separated. 

A deep scowl is etched onto Levi’s face, and the sight of it makes Eren laugh again, his shoulders shaking. God, Levi’s face. Eren’s laughter continues, flooding continuously out of his chest until he can barely breathe. God, and he’s still so warm, warm all over. His face is warm, his stomach is warm, his struggling lungs are warm, and—how do people stop laughing again? God, it was so fucking funny.

“Ha ha,” Levi says, still frowning, and Eren covers his mouth to stifle the sounds escaping him, still not quite remembering how to make the laughing stop.

“‘M sorry,” he says before the sound forces its way out again, and Eren’s eyes are watering at this point. Fuck, he can’t breathe.

“No, you’re not,” Levi says, and Eren squeezes his eyes shut, trying hard to get himself to stop now. Fuck, he can’t breathe. How is he supposed to stop?

Eren moves his hands away from his mouth to slam his fists against his chest, and finally, the laughing stops slipping past his lips, stops shaking his shoulders. Eren gasps, trying to get as much air into his lungs as possible, eyes still watering. Fuck, his throat even hurts. 

What was he laughing at, again?

“Levi?” 

Levi sighs and shifts over to lie beside Eren instead of hovering over him. The bed wobbles a bit as Levi plops down beside him. 

“What, brat?”

“Blood really messes with my head.”

Levi snorts. 

“No shit.”

Eren frowns, still warm, but now his throat is sore, and his eyes feel heavy. He rolls over onto his side, grabbing hold of Levi’s arm and squeezing. 

“‘M sorry…”

Levi sighs again, turning to face him. 

“It’s alright.”

Eren blinks slowly. Fuck, he’s so tired all of a sudden. Didn’t he just wake up? His throat hurts. Why did he laugh so fucking hard? It wasn’t even that funny.

Levi’s expression softens, and he reaches out, brushing a strand of Eren’s brown hair behind his ear.

“What’s wrong, Eren?”

“Mmm…” Eren rubs his eyes. “...Don’t know… Don’t feel good all of a sudden.”

Levi frowns. 

“Are you going to throw up?”

Eren quickly shakes his head. 

“No… I just… I don’t feel good.”

His eyes are watering again, even though he’s not laughing anymore. And now they’re filling up, spilling over—fuck, fuck—

“Sorry,” he says, trying to wipe his eyes but his hands feel heavy, clumsy, and suddenly there are so many tears, even though there shouldn’t be any, even though he was fine, and even in his clouded headspace, Eren knows this is more than just being blood drunk. This is Eren being fucked up as always—

“Hey.”

Levi’s fingers are on his cheeks, wiping away the tears as they come. Eren sniffles, turning his head away, pressing it into the sheets. 

“Sorry.”

“It’s alright, Eren.”

“It’s not.”

One of Levi’s hands lands on the back of Eren’s head, pulling it closer to Levi’s chest, and the other moves to the center of Eren’s back, moving in slow, soothing circles that make Eren’s body feel heavier, that make it harder for Eren to open his eyes, even as the tears continue to slip through his closed lids. 

“Go ahead,” Levi says, and Eren can feel kisses against his shoulders, his arms, everywhere. Little reassuring presses of Levi’s lips all over him. “It’s alright.”

Eren shifts a little, turns just enough so that his face is pressed against Levi’s chest instead of the sheets. His fingers curl into Levi’s shirt. Eren’s so warm. So heavy. So tired. 

“Thank you,” he mumbles, and another kiss lands on top of his shoulder. 

Fuck. Fuck, Eren’s so lucky. So, so damn lucky. He puts Levi through so much and yet somehow they’re still here. Together. 

Happy together. 

“I love you, Levi.”

For some reason, Levi chuckles. 

“I love you too, dumb brat.”

~ ~ ~

Eren wakes up in Levi’s bed with strong arms wrapped around his waist. This time he can’t mistake where he is. Who he’s with. His eyes still feel puffy from earlier. How long has he been asleep?

When he looks down, Levi’s head lifts away from his chest, as if sensing that Eren woke up. Levi’s eyes narrow, blinking slowly. 

“...Morning,” says Levi, and Eren smiles. 

“Is it morning?”

Levi scoffs, curling his arms tighter around Eren’s waist.

“Fuck if I know.”

Eren laughs, and the corners of Levi’s lips twitch. 

“Feeling better?”  Levi asks. Eren’s cheeks warm, and he averts his gaze. 

“Yeah… I don’t know why I was… like that.”

Levi shrugs.

“You were drunk. And I’ve been putting you through stressful shit for the past month.”

Eren rubs his eyes, smiling a little. 

“Yeah, I guess planning to go kill my own brother and end his weird death cult is kind of stressful, huh? Who would’ve guessed?”

Levi rolls his eyes.

“You think you’re funny, don’t you?”

“I am funny,” Eren says. “You laugh at me all the time.”

“Yeah. At you, not with you, dumb brat.”

“Shut up.”

Levi chuckles, shifting upwards to press his lips against Eren’s. Eren’s eyes slip shut, leaning into the kiss as Levi’s lips slide against his own, gentle but firm. 

As usual, Levi is the one who pulls away first, but his thumb finds its way to Eren’s bottom lip, brushing across it slowly, teasingly. Eren’s breath stutters, green eyes narrowing. 

“I could get used to this,” Levi mumbles, leaning in to kiss Eren again, a brief touch that Eren wants more of. His fingers curl into Levi’s shirt, by his waist. Levi’s eyebrows dip down slightly.

“Get used to what?” Eren asks. 

“Hm.” Levi shifts beneath the blanket, moving up and forward until he and Eren are chest to chest. Eren tenses, able to feel Levi’s heartbeat through his own ribcage, that strong, steady thumping. A sensation Eren can’t mimic. “Waking up like this. Next to you.”

Eren’s cheeks burn instantly, and he slides back on the bed so that he can cover his face with his hands. 

“Levi.”

“What?” Levi asks, and there’s a teasing lightness to his voice, an air of playfulness. “That was too much for you?”

“You can’t—can’t surprise attack me like that right when I wake up! I’m the one that’s supposed to say that kind of shit! You’re not allowed.”

There’s a moment of silence, and although Eren’s hands stay stubbornly pressed over his face, he can imagine Levi rolling his eyes. 

“You’re banning me from the sappy shit?”

“Yeah,” Eren says, as seriously as he can manage. “You’re forbidden.”

“I can never win with you, brat. You used to get mad at because I couldn’t say shit like that.”

“Well, I changed my mind.”

Levi scoffs. 

“You’ve got to be able to handle more than that, Eren,” Levi says.

Eren can hear the rustling of the sheets and the blanket, can feel the bed dipping slightly as Levi moves, can feel the heat of Levi’s body as he gets closer, as his lips get close to Eren’s ear, fuck—

“This isn’t even me at my worst.”

Eren shivers, breath catching in his throat, cheeks burning with an even more violent blush, and he’s so, so thankful that his heart can’t beat because he’s certain it would give away how much Levi has wound him up with just a sentence—

Levi sighs a little, moving away again, and Eren frowns, lowering his hands away from his face just enough to look at Levi over his fingertips. 

“Alright,” Levi says, flipping to the other side, “I’m done fucking with you. I’d better find out what time of day it is before I miss my shift—”

Eren only realizes that he’s grabbed the back of Levi’s shirt when the man looks back at him, thin black eyebrows raised in question. But Eren’s tongue is clumsy, uncooperative, and the blush painted on his cheeks feels nearly permanent. He can’t even bring himself to look at Levi’s face. 

“Eren?”

Eren jolts, biting his lip, fingers gathering more of Levi’s shirt in his fist. He opens his mouth. Snaps it shut. Opens it again but falters, and his mouth falls closed once more. Levi turns to face him in the bed again, the corners of his lips pulled downwards. 

“What?”

“N-nothing,” Eren says quickly, pulling his hand back. “I… I just…”

This is stupid. Maybe… Maybe now isn’t the time.

Even though he really wants to kiss Levi again. And again. Over and over again. Fuck. 

“What is it, Eren?”

Fuck it.

Without warning, Eren reaches up, grabbing fistfuls of Levi’s shirt and dragging the man down on top of him. Levi barely has the time to fling out his arms and prop himself up, and Eren keeps hold of him, not wanting the man to pull away. 

Levi’s eyes narrow, and he raises an eyebrow at Eren.

“This feels familiar,” Levi says. 

“I know. But I’m not laughing this time,” Eren says, tugging on Levi’s shirt, and the man leans down, closer to Eren, without resistance. “I’m not drunk. I’m not fucking with you.” 

Levi’s gray eyes darken, like a storm cloud in the nighttime. 

“What are you saying, Eren?” Levi asks, but his voice is flat, and it doesn’t feel quite like a question. It’s demanding, almost like an order. 

“I—” Eren’s face is burning again, and he shifts a bit beneath Levi, trying to get the words to form on his tongue. “I, uh—Isn’t it obvious?”

“I don’t want ‘obvious,’” Levi says, voice low, eyes narrowing even more, and now he’s leaning down, leaning closer without Eren having to pull him down. “I want you to say it.”

Eren’s breaths are shallow, heat pooling in his stomach along with his cheeks. 

“L-Levi—”

“I need to know you’re sure, Eren,” Levi says firmly, and he’s close enough that Eren can feel Levi’s breath on his lips. “Tell me what you want. Say it.”

Eren’s chest jumps with the small inhale he manages to take in. That… That was an order. 

“I didn’t call you over here so that you could experiment on him, Geezer Glasses,” Levi says, kicking them in the back. 

Hanji stumbles forward, a gasp leaving their lips as they turn a wide-eyed stare on Levi.

“Geezer—I’m only thirty-three, thank you very much! And it wouldn’t be just Eren; you have to be part of the experiments too, of course.”

Levi narrows his eyes and pulls a stake out of the pocket of his sweatpants. Immediately, Hanji sprints away and dives to the ground behind Eren, their hands on his shoulders as they lift him into somewhat of a sitting position. Eren groans as Hanji pushes him up, holding him directly in front of them like a shield. 

“Okay, okay! No experiments! Just sparring! See? I know why I came!” 

“Levi’s not going to kill you, Hanji,” Eren says with a yawn.

“He might,” says Hanji.

“I might,” Levi says, flipping the stake in his hand. 

“Well, aren’t we all just rays of sunshine today,” Erwin says, getting to his feet. “Why don’t we let Hanji say their hypotheses so that we can move on and get to work?”

“Oh, I like this plan!”

“Can’t we skip the science bullshit?” Levi grumbles, tucking the stake back into his pocket. “We’ve only got a week left; I don’t want to waste any more time.”

“It’ll be extremely quick, I promise,” says Hanji, sliding away from Eren to stand beside Erwin. 

Without Hanji to hold him up, Eren falls flat on his back again, letting out a groan. Hanji blinks, looking down at him with a small frown.

“Is… Is he okay?”

“Everything hurts and I want to die,” Eren says, dropping the back of his hand over his eyes. 

“The brat’s sore,” Levi explains. “Today’s the day he normally drinks, so his healing’s not working as well as usual.”

“And I’m…” Erwin tilts his head. “Not the gentlest sparring partner, let’s say.”

Eren groans at just the thought of getting brutally slammed to the ground by the blond vampire again. 

“Why don’t you let him drink, then?” Hanji asks.

“If I do, any more sparring is out of the question. He’ll barely be sober enough to stand up on his own.”

“Sounds great,” Eren mumbles. “Sounds so good right now.”

“Eren.”

“Why don’t I say my hypotheses while you help him get up, Levi?”

Levi sighs. 

“So we are doing the science bullshit…”

Eren feels fingers curling around his hand, and with a gentle tug, the barrier between Eren’s eyes and the outside world is removed. Eren frowns, weakly trying to cover his eyes again, but Levi’s grip is firm, his other arm moving to slip beneath Eren’s back, curling around him.

“Alright!” Hanji says. “A few weeks ago, Eren reported to Erwin that his Mark felt like it was burning because he used his vampire abilities against Levi. This is an unusual phenomenon I’ve never heard of before. Typically, being Marked is symbolic and doesn’t cause extra abilities or symptoms.”

As Levi starts tugging Eren up, Eren wraps his arms around Levi’s neck, slumping onto the man and letting his head rest on Levi’s shoulder. Levi lets out a brief chuckle, releasing Eren’s hand to wrap another arm around the vampire’s waist. 

“Come on, brat,” he whispers. “You’re twice my size; cut me some slack.”

Eren just nuzzles his face into the crook of Levi’s neck and tries to hide his smile. 

“Mm… You’re strong. You’ve got this. I’m not that big.”

Levi scoffs. 

“So, I have three hypotheses,” Hanji continues. “Hypothesis 1: This is related to your soulmate connection—”

Levi stumbles, nearly dropping Eren, but Eren clings tighter to his neck and barely stifles a laugh. 

“—And it’s simply that soulmate connections are so ingrained that they attempt to punish you or warn you against doing harm to your partner,” Hanji explains. “Hypothesis 2: It’s related to Levi’s Ackerman blood in some capacity. Perhaps the old rumor about their blood being poisonous stemmed from vampires who drank from them being unable to fight the Ackermans without some sort of physical consequence—like having their scars burn when they used their abilities.”

Levi finally manages to lift Eren off of the ground and onto his feet, but Eren stays with his arms wrapped around Levi a bit longer, letting out a small sigh. Levi huffs, though he accepts the lingering hug without any complaints. 

“Hypothesis 3: Eren is the perfect outlier I’ve been searching for, completely unique from other vampires, in which case, I would need to conduct many experiments—”

“Not going to fucking happen, Geezer Glasses,” Levi says, stepping out of Eren’s arms. 

“I told you, I’m thirty-three!”

“You can tell me that as much as you want, but it doesn’t change the fact that I know your real age.”

“Levi, you never let me have any fun—”

“Alright,” Erwin says, stepping forward and clapping his hands together, “now that we’ve appeased Hanji—”

“Hey!”

“—We can get back to work,” Erwin finishes as if Hanji hadn’t interrupted at all. “Hanji, you’re here so that we know that Eren is comfortable fighting any vampire, not just me. Levi, shall we spar in the other room?”

“No,” Levi says, heading over to his coat closet. “Change of plans. You and Hanji are going to attack me and Eren. We won’t spar separately.”

Eren blinks, a frown on his lips.

“But don’t we need to make sure I can fight without you?”

“Not anymore,” Levi says, pulling two small wooden poles out of the closet. They’re the size of stakes, but they don’t have any sharp ends. “Because you’re going to be with me the whole time.”

“I…” Eren tilts his head. “Huh?”

“When we go to the King,” Levi says, “you’re going to be with me.”

Eren’s eyes grow wide, a smile curving his lips as Levi’s words settle in his mind. Levi… He must have really taken their argument the other day to heart.

“He’ll be entering with you from the front, you mean?” Erwin asks.

“Unless you have a problem with that change,” Levi says, tossing one of the blunt poles at Eren, who catches it with a wide grin.

Erwin’s blue eyes dart between Levi and Eren for a moment, a frown on his lips. Eren bounces on the balls of his feet, unable to hide his smile even in the face of Erwin’s hesitation.

“...I suppose it doesn’t affect things that much,” Erwin says. “As long as you both remain level-headed with each other in potential danger.”

“We will,” Levi says, and Eren nods several times in agreement. 

Erwin sighs.

“Alright. I’ll inform the others when I get the chance.”

Eren turns his giddy smile towards Levi, who rolls his eyes as he comes closer. 

“What are you all excited for?” Levi asks. 

“You’re taking me with you,” Eren says, leaning down. “Changing your whole plan. For me.”

Changing the plan so that Levi won’t be alone. So that Levi will be a bit safer, thanks to Eren being by his side. 

…Hopefully safer, anyway. Safer as long as Eren’s actually able to put all this training to use. 

“Yeah, well,” Levi says, “I thought about it, and you might be even better bait than me. The King’s shitty kid brother? That’s a fucking distraction.”

“Hey!”

“And…” Levi sighs. “I’d probably feel better with you with me there anyway.”

Eren’s smile returns, this time with a teasing edge. 

“Can’t stand to be without me, Levi?”

“Shut the fuck up, Eren.”

“Gentlemen,” Erwin says sharply. “Sparring. One week left until a gruesome battle with a murderous cult. Running out of time.” 

“We get it,” Levi says flatly.

“Sorry,” Eren adds with a small smile.

Erwin sighs, massaging the center of his forehead with his fingers.

“Jeez,” Hanji says, “you were not kidding when you said this wasn’t all that fun.”

Eren and Levi move into the center of the room, much to Erwin’s relief, and Eren looks to Levi for further instruction, unsure of how this is going to go.

“Okay,” Levi says, spinning the blunt weapon in his hand. “Eren, stand with your back to me. Hanji, Erwin, attack from wherever, whenever. But Hanji, go after Eren more than you go for me. Erwin, the opposite.”

“Understood,” Erwin replies. 

“No actual fangs, right?”

“I explained this to you before you got here, Hanji,” Erwin says with yet another sigh. “No fangs. We can’t injure our fighters just before the battle.”

Hanji grins, flexing their hands.

“Just checking.” 

Come to think of it, Hanji is the only person Eren hasn’t seen fight, except for Petra. When Eren took part in that big group sparring match with everyone from the restaurant, Hanji wasn’t even on the lineup. 

Eren frowns, moving to stand behind Levi, the wooden pole gripped tight in his hands. 

He’s going to have to be careful.

“Whenever you’re ready,” Levi says, and Erwin and Hanji exchange glances, beginning to walk a slow circle around the two men.

Eren takes a deep breath, crouching slightly as his eyes dart between Hanji and Erwin. Which one of them is going to go for him first? Erwin is still standing up relatively straight, not leaning forward like he usually is when he’s about to attack… In that case, the first will probably be—

Hanji drops to all fours out of the corner of Eren’s eye, throwing their body forward like a wild animal pouncing on its prey. Eren stiffens, eyes trying to track their movement before their speed activates—

“Down!” Levi snaps, and Eren ducks immediately, Hanji soaring over their heads like a plane cutting through the sky. 

His gaze darts to where Erwin was just standing as Levi darts forward to attack Hanji. The blond vampire is gone. That means…

Eren spins to the left, holding up the wooden pole Levi gave him, just in time for Erwin to appear beside him, moving too fast to stop his momentum. The man’s head collides with the blunt weapon in Eren’s hand with enough force to make Eren slide backward on the carpet, though he manages to stay on his feet. Eren’s eyes grow wide when he realizes that he not only stopped Erwin’s assault, but that the blond vampire’s fangs are lodged into the wood. 

“I su’ofe I ouf of co’ifion,” Erwin says, but the wooden pole prevents him from pronouncing anything properly. Eren’s eyebrows furrow.

“What?”

Erwin places his hands over Eren’s and pushes down on the blunt weapon to extract his fangs. 

“I suppose I’m out of commission,” Erwin says, massaging his upper lip with his fingers.

“I thought you said no fangs,” Eren says with a frown. 

“I want to be realistic about how you’re going to be attacked,” Erwin says after snapping his jaws together a few times, probably feeling discomfort from biting so hard into a piece of wood. “Though I would’ve switched to my hands once I got close enough.”

Behind him, Eren hears an exaggerated cry of pain, and he looks over his shoulder to see Levi with Hanji pinned to the ground, a foot on their shoulder, and the blunt weapon pressed against their chest.

“Oh, the agony! The pain! I’m—”

“Dead,” Levi snaps, “so shut the fuck up already.”

“Alright, alright,” Hanji says with a laugh.

Levi sighs and moves off of them, flipping the pole in his hand. Hanji gets to their feet, though they wince, rubbing their chest where Levi struck them with the blunt weapon. 

“Actually, that did hurt,” Hanji says with a frown. “Did you use your full strength?”

“Why do you think I’m not using real stakes, dipshit?” 

“Wait—you’re using enough force to kill me? If that had been a real stake, I would be dead right now?”

Levi rolls his eyes.

“Calm down. If I was using that much strength, you’d be dead even with this blunt piece of shit.”

Hanji’s mouth drops open so wide that Eren can’t help but laugh, walking over to drop his arm on Levi’s shoulder. Adrenaline is surging within him now, his soreness temporarily forgotten. 

“Come on, Hanji, this is the fun you’ve been missing out on. Let’s hurry up and go again.”

Hanji adjusts their glasses, their mouth still open as their wide eyes dart between Levi and Eren. After a moment, they snap their mouth shut, still rubbing their chest where Levi hit them with the little pole. 

“You people are freaks,” Hanji says, and Levi scoffs.

“You’re the last person who has any right to say that, Geezer Glasses.”

~ ~ ~

Eren wipes the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand, breathing heavily as he adjusts his grip on the two wooden poles in his hands (He and Levi both grabbed second weapons as things got more serious). Eren feels Levi’s back against his as he watches Hanji and Erwin through narrowed eyes. They’ve been practicing for over an hour now, match after match of sparring sessions, and Eren’s struggling to maintain his energy. His mouth is dry, calling for blood as his body strains to heal the bruises caused by every hit the other vampires manage to land on him. 

He and Levi have yet to collectively lose any of these miniature battles, although Eren has “died” several times along the way. The skill of a hunter is not to be underestimated, Eren supposes, even against vampires that are supposed to have leagues better strength and stamina than him. 

Though Eren can tell that the man is exhausted. Levi’s sweat-drenched t-shirt is evidence of that. It’s alright; this is the last one. Just one more battle. One more and then they’re done. 

“Anytime you’re ready,” Levi says. 

Eren’s eyes dart between the two vampires as they exchange a glance, trying to scan for them for any hint of when they’re going to attack, of when they’re going to activate their powers. 

Hanji and Erwin move to opposite sides of Levi and Eren, one on the left and one on the right. Eren takes a deep breath. Alright. He just needs to figure out which one of them is going to go for him. Left or right? Are either of their feet angled towards Levi instead of Eren? Left or right? Are either of them glancing more at Eren than at Levi? What’s their plan? Left or—

The two vampires take off just as a chill runs down Eren’s spine. Neither of them were paying any attention to Levi. Not even a single glance. It’s left and right. Fuck, fuck, who does he go for? What side does he protect—

A hand slams into Eren’s back from behind and shoves him forward. Eren’s eyes go wide as he falls forward, but he catches himself and rolls across the ground instead of dropping flat onto his face. Eren pops back onto his feet as quickly as possible, spinning around to join the battle, eyes wide and frantic, adrenaline making him nearly shaky, breaths escaping him in harsh pants. 

“Dead!” Someone exclaims—no, two people, Eren thinks as he lunges towards Erwin, who’s still standing. 

Eren doesn’t have time to think about what’s going on with the other two, not while the battle’s not over. Erwin is still standing; a vampire’s not down. Erwin’s head snaps to look at Eren, starting to turn towards him, and Eren immediately moves into that opening, crouching down to build momentum and then surging up, slamming one of the blunt poles against Erwin’s chest just as the vampire fully turns to face him.

Eren heaves a sigh of relief, lowering his head and letting his tired arms fall limply to his sides.

“You’re dead, Erwin.”

“Indeed,” Erwin says, letting out his own small sigh. “And what a way to end—knowing even the mighty can fall.”

What?

Eren raises his eyes again, really taking in the scene in front of him now that he has the time to. Eren took out Erwin, but Erwin is half-hunched over someone—half-hunched over Levi, the man’s hand around the back of Levi’s neck, mimicking fangs against the hunter’s throat. Below Levi, Hanji squirms on the ground, pinned down by Levi’s two poles pressed to either side of Hanji’s chest. 

So the people who called out “Dead!” earlier were Levi and Erwin… Eren didn’t even realize. Eren was so used to Levi skating through all of these sparring matches unscathed that he didn’t even think about it.

“Fuck off, Shitty Brows,” Levi grumbles, stepping away from Hanji as he tries to wipe away the sweat on his forehead. “I’m tired. And human.”

“And still too strong!” Hanji whines, rubbing the upper part of their chest with a scowl. “Seriously, Levi, you didn’t need to hit me on both sides.”

Levi just sighs and sits on the ground, still trying to wipe away his sweat, though more comes to replace it. Eren moves to sit beside him, and Levi drops his head onto Eren’s shoulder. 

“I’m not trying to ridicule you, my friend,” says Erwin. “I think it was a noble sacrifice, risking yourself to save your lover.”

Levi waves his hand dismissively and doesn’t give much of a response other than that. Erwin sighs.

“Well,” Erwin says, “I think we can head out, Hanji. Gentlemen, get some rest before the fight, hm?”

“We definitely will,” Eren says, resting his hand on top of Levi’s head, an ache beginning to settle in his limbs now that he’s not moving. Fuck, and he’s so thirsty too.

Erwin beckons Hanji over with a wave of his hand, and they obediently follow him to the door, mumbling something under their breath about wanting to do experiments on Levi’s superhuman strength. They exit before Erwin does, and the blond man pauses just before closing the door, looking over his shoulder one last time. 

“Eren.”

“Yeah?”

“You’ve greatly improved since we began. It’s incredible how much you’ve progressed.”

Eren’s cheeks warm a little, and he looks down at Levi, whose eyes are now closed. 

“I had a lot of help.”

“Indeed,” Erwin says. “But… This is still not the same as facing the source of what made it hard for you in the first place.”

Eren frowns, shoulders sagging. 

“...I know.”

“I tell you this not to discourage you; I only want you to remember that there is no shame in retreating. The most important thing is that you make it out alive.”

Eren stares at Levi, still resting on Eren’s shoulder with his eyes closed. He might even be sleeping. 

Eren runs his fingers through the man’s black hair and takes a deep breath.

“Thanks, Erwin. I’ll remember that.”

Erwin smiles.

“Good.”

And with that last word, Erwin slips out the door, leaving Eren and Levi alone. 

Eren continues to comb his fingers through Levi’s short hair, listening to the sound of his soft, steady breathing, and the consistent drumming of Levi’s heart beneath that. The strong, reliable thumping shows that Levi’s human, that he’s alive. 

Eren leans down, resting his cheek against the top of Levi’s head. Levi shifts a little, letting out a small sigh, but he doesn’t wake. 

Erwin was almost right. It’s important that Eren makes it out alive, but there’s more to it than that.