The underground was a horrible place. Everybody knows this. From thieving to gangs to murder, nobody was safe there because it was missing something important. The lack of order in the underground city is why Levi didn't like living there. Order and cleanliness worked together hand in hand. But, even though the place was terrifying, there was also a couple of things he missed. One of which being the lack of weather.
Don't get him wrong, he didn't hate all weather. Just some. For example, he loved the sun. He would sit in the sun for hours on end and just let himself radiate from its warmth if he didn't burn so easy. He loved the feel of the sun on his body. Especially on a sunny, spring day when it wasn't too hot or too cold, just nice. It made him feel safe.
What he didn't like was rain. It was annoying. It made mud, got everyone wet, and could mess him up do to lack of sight. He loved to be clean, but he hated the feeling of wet clothes against his skin. It was icky and when he tried to take them off, they'd literally peel off and slosh to the ground. It felt, sounded, and looked disgusting.
And with rain, came a whole new threat entirely.
And as stupid as he felt every time there was some of it, he couldn't help but hold a fear of something he never had to deal with in his hometown.
This, of course, was thunder.
During the first storm he had to deal with above ground, he almost found himself crying in utter flashes, loud booms. He couldn't tell what the hell was truly happening, but he got the gist that it wasn't something adults were normally scared of and tried to shake it off. He never could, though.
From then on, when he felt storms coming, he would try to find himself alone, whether it be in his room, hiding under trees(which was a terrible idea, to be honest), or staying in the stables in the stall of his favorite horse. He just had to be alone in case he jumped or squeaked or something else stupid that would ruin his cool demeanor forever.
But sometimes he wasn't alone.
There were times he didn't realize the rain would bring thunder that day or that he didn't know there would be rain and he'd be stuck in a group of people. The entire time he'd make sure to drink the blackest of black coffee, which somehow would calm his jittering nerves, and try to ignore the loud booming sounds that came from the outside world.
Today's storm, was just another regular spring shower, but mixed with the sour taste of extra lightning, which meant lots of thunder. He excused himself from everyone else long before the storm and told them all that he'd be sleeping, so don't disturb him. He actually tried to sleep. He definitely tried, but, sadly, he could barely keep his eyes closed.
At first, all he heard was the rain. It started as light pitter pattering on the roof above his room then turned to loud, heavy pounding that kept him awake until the true storm came.
The flash of lightning was his first warning.
When there was quick burst of white light from outside, Levi was curling into himself on his bed. He was sitting up against the wall with his arms wrapped around his knees and his head burrowed. The roll of thunder came almost ten seconds later. It wasn't the worse the storm had to offer, he knew this, but he was shivering by the time it was done with it's roaring.
During the time he had before the next flash, he somehow ended up under his blanket, curled into a shivering ball. He felt pitifully stupid and hated himself for this weakness, but that didn't stop him from jumping when the next set of growling booms came for a visit.
This went on for what felt like forever, but was actually just twenty minutes. The intervals between the lightning and the thunder getting smaller and smaller as the eye of the storm came closer. The latest set of thunder blocked out the sound of his door opening.
Eren wasn't really one for storms anymore. After his mother passed, they weren't things that consisted of hot tea and warm cuddling(he wasn't about to cuddle with Armin). They didn't really bother him, there was just nothing for him to do during because he'd usually go outside for fresh air when he was bored.
He was a little concerned right now, though, since he had heard that the captain actually went to bed this early. Somewhere deep in his gut, he felt that Captain Levi wasn't actually sleeping.
He'd originally was going to ask him if he'd like to come downstairs and have some coffee or something(since Eren now knew the exact brew Levi drank), but now that he was standing at the door to the room of the terrifying, little man, he was starting to have second thoughts.
If I knock and he's asleep, he might kill me for waking him up, was one thought that was running through his head. The other completely didn't help his first problem. But if I just walk in and he's awake he might kill me for not knocking.
Both of these thoughts were very concerning. Though he guessed that there was no one awake, due to lack of candlelight coming from under the door. Levi wasn't one to sit in the dark. The thought that his captain might actually be sleeping made him want to turn on his heel and leave.
He absently noticed a flash of lightning during his troubles.
His decision was the dangerous route. He was going in to see if he was truly sleeping. This trek may cost him his life, but it had to be worth it somehow. There was a sound of thunder from above as he opened the door. When he walked in, he found that the room looked empty.
Nobody was sitting at the desk, there was no one off to the windowed side of the room, and there was only a ball of blankets on the bed. All of the signs pointed to Levi not being there. He was about to turn and leave when he paused.
Since when did Levi not make his bed?
His eyes slid back over to the pile of blankets and with a closer look he saw that they were moving. Shaking actually. This made him get an idea of what was happening. He softly pushed the door closed and it made a click to inform him it was shut. He silently noticed that the ball's movement stopped at the sound, but there was no shuffling of someone trying to get up.
Eren took very cautious steps over to the bed because he was playing with fire here. Of course the fire was scared to death of rain, but that might just make him more likely to bite in this situation. When he got to the blanket, he grabbed it's top and gently pulled it back. It revealed the curled up Levi.
A flash of lightning lit the room for a split second.
His head moved, his body uncurled, and he looked up at Eren with eyes that were probably supposed to be glaring like usual but they had been softened by the fear that shone everywhere else. Eren just wanted to hug him and tell him its okay. So that's what he was going to do.
When he first started to climb onto the bed, his captain looked confused, but when he seemed to get what Eren was doing, his glare hardened. The teen laid down in front of him, not even under the blankets, and his arms moved to wrap themselves around Levi, who wasn't having any of that.
His hands flew up to Eren's chest in an attempt to push the brat away. Just then a loud, thundering boom came from above. It was so powerful that the room vibrated in its wake. His hands, instead of pushing, curled into the fabric of the boy's shirt and pulled him closer.
Eren happily let him do so and held the shaking man until the roll of thunder faded into the night. He thought that Levi would again try to push him away while the loud noise was dormant, but instead, the man kept his fingers tangled in the shirt and kept his body close to Eren's.
The blanket was barely over Levi now, since he was originally cuddling it while he was in a ball, so Eren moved to pull it over the both of them, to muffle the booms. He could feel Levi resisting the idea before he had even grabbed the blanket, but after he pulled it over them, he returned his arms to their original places and one of his hands began to run through Levi's raven hair.
When the next set of thunder came, Eren tightened his hold around his captain and mumbled, "It's okay, you're okay," into his hair just like his mom did to him when he was just a kid. The man in his arms was tense, but had stopped shaking like a chihuahua.
Eren's other hand, while his arm was, almost uncomfortably, trapped under the tiny mass that was Levi, was tracing circles into the back of Levi's sleep shirt. The repetitive motion calmed them both and the slowly lengthening down time between the thunder crashes began to consist of relaxed muscles and soft breathing. There was no way to soften the fear any further than that, so Eren just held his captain through everything.
By the time the storm began to clear out and the thunder started to become low rumbles, Eren's arm was utterly asleep and tingling in the most annoying way. He ignored it for the reason that Levi was practically asleep now and he felt disturbing him would be rude.
Soon, the only noise in the room was the drumming of rain on the roof. By then, Eren was convinced that Levi was sleeping now. He thought about how this would be the best chance to leave if he didn't want his ass kicked in the morning. The thought only lasted a second though, because he immediately decided he didn't want to leave. For more than one reason.
Levi, on the other hand, was definitely not sleeping and was, instead, contemplating kicking Eren out after kicking his ass for not asking permission to do what he did(touching Levi was a huge no no so why did the brat think it was okay to just cuddle?), but also considered that the storm was not as bad as he thought it was going to be because of the kid. If anything, Eren deserved his appreciation.
He laid still, silent, for a few minutes. He kept his eyes closed to keep the illusion that he was sleeping. He wasn't exactly sure why he was doing this. Maybe it was so he wouldn't have to say thanks or maybe it was because he didn't want to deal with the fact that he did like being held like he was.
It took him a minute, but he did find his voice. "You're such a brat," were the first words he said. Eren tensed. He paused a moment before continuing in a soft voice, "Thanks."
Eren expected his superior to pull away, but instead the older man kept his body as close as possible. It made Eren both confused and happy all at once. He could suddenly hear his heart thudding in his chest(had it always been beating this hard?) and he silently hoped Levi couldn't hear it, too. "Sorry for not asking," he said after a moments thought.
Levi didn't respond. He stayed quiet and thought about how close Eren was. He found he didn't mind the kid as much as he previously thought. Anyone else would've teased him for his fear of thunder, but Eren was being... well nice about it.
"Breathe a word of this to anyone and I'll kill you," Levi threatened. The words weren't too venomous, though. It was like he was asking instead of threatening.
"Yes, sir," was Eren's promising reply. It was quick, quiet, but sounded honest, so Levi let him be. He didn't question why there was still fingers running through his hair or why they were still pressed up together even though the heaviest of the storm had long since passed.
It went quiet again. This time the both of them were thinking about how much they didn't want to leave. Neither spoke this thought, but they both could feel it radiating from each other. So they didn't move, and soon enough, each party began to fade into sleep. Eren was the first to go out. Levi could tell because the hand in hair went slack. He was almost surprised when he realized he was smiling because of it.
Levi then shifted to somehow get closer to the boy and let himself fall asleep, too.
A/N: This was supposed to be a oneshot, but the Ao3 fellows said more. By now I have like one and half pages of chapter two? I may finish it... but no promises. I'm sooo lazy.