Within a Frozen Fortress
Winter was a wonderful time of year Levi thought as he trudged thought the snow. It was a time for the survey corps to heal and train. Everything was still and frosted over. No one would be moving in this shitty weather. But it meant that he didn't have to worry about his comrades, for now at least. Levi sighed as he pushed open the gate, his breath emerging as a steamy cloud. So cold. He hoped the titans could get frostbite too. Eren had told him that Armin said there were places so cold that the trees even froze and exploded. Upon hearing this Hanji had mused about if such things could happen to titans too. Levi rather doubted it, but he couldn't help but be amused of the idea of titans exploding.
He entered the nearly spotless mudroom. It wasn't to his standards, but the brat did try hard to impress him. He would never praise Eren's cleaning skill, ever, but the effort was adorable. Levi gently placed the parcel to the left on the bench then carefully hung up his cloak. Levi smirked as he wiped off his boots and picked up the parcel again and tried not to look to his right. But he couldn't resist, before he left Levi gently touched the hem of Eren's cloak and turned back, much more divided them than those four empty hooks. Today Levi's cloak was bare of the wings of freedom.
Levi felt his good mood slipping as he walked alone through the long empty hallways; his heals clicking against the stone. This winter was different. The two of them were alone together, with no one else in the fortress. And although Levi liked the privacy, he also enjoyed that the barracks tended to be too loud and chaotic at times to even think. Excessive thinking could be bad for people who had lived through too much.
"Heichou!" Eren greeted him, standing so quickly that he nearly knocked over the bench. Levi felt a twinge of guilt at Eren's eagerness. He had left that morning without more than a note that Eren shouldn't go outside and if Hanji or Erwin asked Levi was busy cleaning. Eren crossed the room quickly; standing in front of Levi Eren began brushing the snow out of Levi's wet black hair.
"You're completely frozen Levi-" Eren froze, just realizing what he was doing. Perhaps Eren had heard of the time that he'd drop kicked Hani for patting his head. Or maybe he'd just noticed that they were mere inches apart. Levi sighed. Well obviously Eren wasn't going to be making the first move.
"If you're looking for something useful to do you could fetch me some coffee." Levi remarked dryly as he passed under Eren's hand, which was still frozen in midair into the dining hall.
As Eren scampered off Levi sat heavily, scraping his chair forward. Sometimes Eren made Levi feel very old. Eren had more pain than most people, and had certainly lived through that which would have killed ordinary men. But he still put his full self into everything. He couldn't separate himself from it all, and that concerned Levi.
It was stupid really. In this world the more you cared the more you had to lose. But for Eren not caring didn't seem to be an option. Well, they had that in common, no matter how many times he watched his friends died a part of him always died as well. When he closed his eyes he could see their broken figures wrapped in that familiar green cloak. The wings of freedom that they wore with such pride stained red with their own blood. In the last five years after so many deaths Levi wasn't alive. No he simply survived. Eren had changed that; he was just so full of life.
Eren turned the corned to enter the room bringing Levi's coffee. His hand curled around the delicate china cup careful not to spill any of the steaming liquid. Levi was in the exact same position as when Eren had left. He was still as marble, leaning back in chair, staring across the empty room. He seemed leagues away from the world at that point. His mind lost in thought, consumed by the empty space in the all, but the empty room. Eren wished that he could reach out and pull Levi out of his melancholy trance.
The vast gap that seemed to stretch between them made Eren hesitate to enter the room. In the flickering light of the hallway Eren watched Levi. Heichou didn't intimidate him as he once had when Eren first joined the survey corps. On their expedition Eren had come to realize that Levi was human lie everyone else, no matter what pretenses he put on. Because everyone called him humanities strongest Levi had to act like it. Eren wished he would let his guard down just a little bit. He had had to be so strong for everyone both emotionally and physically. Levi had helped and protected Eren so much that Eren want to be able to somehow help Levi as well. Even if he was allowed to, Eren would never leave Levi's side. If only there was a way for Eren to get him to open up.
"Hey brat. Are you going to stand there forever? Or will you be content to enter before my coffee is completely frozen?" Levi spoke without so much as moving.
Eren jumped, spilling the burning liquid over his hand and onto the flagstones. Of course Levi had noticed the entire time. Cat-like Levi slunk out of his chair and over to Eren's side. Without a word Levi lifted the now half empty cup from Eren and place a handkerchief in the now empty hand. Then walked back and sat down again.