Eren Jeager was basically laid flat on the ice, his chest was moving at a concerning rate, and his breath was far too shallow for it to be healthy. He slowly came to stand at the balance bar in the ice palace of St. Petersburg, Russia. After he finally caught his trembling breath, he reassembled his boot on his heavily bruised foot; his whole body burned from the prior hours he had just spent on the ice.
He glanced to his left at Levi Ackerman who was doing the same thing he did day in and day out; just skating around the rink freely. He acted more like a visitor and less like a 5-time gold winning Olympian. With an annoyed puff from his freezing lips, Kia glided off the ice, assembling his guards on his skate before thumping back to the locker rooms.
The locker always smelt freshly clean with a hint of lemon hanging in the air; the walls were a clean white; as well as wooden benches and tall lockers. After about 15 minutes of peeling his clothes off, Eren was in his favorite black sweat pants and loose-fitting pike shirt. Prepared to jog to his modest apartment in South of he took off.
By the time Eren returned to his apartment, the sun was preparing its decent, as was he. But as the night dragged on, he could only stare blankly at his white ceiling.
He had tried everything from counting sheep, down to stretching, one thought kept plaguing his mind; he was jealous. He couldn't figure out why he could never make it to the Grand Prix, everyone on his team had gone except him, was he just untalented?
Eren found his pillow growing wet as he allowed his emotions to become physical; 'would he never be like his team?' he questioned miserably.
He laid on his right side gripping his furry gray blanket; the tear tracks had long since dried on his cheeks. Now his normally hard looking green eyes were a strained red, wide, and puffy he felt as if he was being pulled into a blackened abyss. That was until his eyes wandered over his clock, they had always been the string that held him to earth.
Back in Hawaii, his parents would come into his room at exactly 4 'o'clock in the morning accompanied with a mug of hot coconut milk and cheesy grins. It had been years since he had seen them, years since he had laid them to rest in the sea's loving arms.
Eren, with a huff of tired air and a small stretch, proceeded to toss his legs over the edge of his bed and come to his full height of 5'7.
He shuffles his feet around until he gets to the kitchen pulling the can of coconut milk from the fridge and pouring some into a pot; he measures ingredients out like his father once had shown him:
A ½ Tbsp Cinnamon sugar
1 Tbsp Cream Cheese
A dash of Nutmeg
Eren stood leaning back watching the pot for bubbles, one it did boil, he poured it into his new blue coffee mug; before snuggling in his couch with a furry white blanket. He took small sips savoring the taste of his childhood and allowed little tears to drip from his eyes.
After a while he decided to turn the TV on. He found he soon regret it as the silver haired man popped up on the screen, it was the interview from a few days ago with the Russian cosmopolitan. Eren zoned out with his thoughts, Levi was like a dangerous flower, so beautiful to watch his long hair sway around him; But damn did that insufferable 'I can win anything with no struggle' attitude make Eren want to grind his teeth in frustration.
Eren rolled his eyes at nobody in particular before he leaped up from his couch tired of sitting around.
He put his mug in the sink while he bumped some Britney Spears through his speaker and literally danced to his room. He looked around his simple room before pulling his skates, jacket, skate guards, and new skate suit in his gym bag. Quickly he showered and got ready to go to the Ice Palace hours before anyone else should be there.
It was obvious to even the most oblivious person that Eren was in distress. It was the way he strutted across the ice with a slight quiver, when he would run his fingers over his body, it wasn't quite as passionate as should be, and when he soared through the air; he failed to have that 'look' in his eyes. Nobody wanted to admit it, but the truth was he would never make it to the Grand Prix Final, unless he changed the way he skates.