A/N: This is just one of the things I have been DYING to write lately. I did, at first, give myself a time limit, but, heh...it ran a little longer than I thought it could because once I started writing, I couldn't stop. I figured I had a good story start, though. I know this chapter runs a little short, but I'll put up a longer one next time. I just wanted to get a gist going first.

Disclaimer: I do not own AoT OR any of the characters; they belong to Hajime Isayama.

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13, Fri. 5:11am-Köln, Germany

Rain poured outside, hitting against the delicate rooftops of eloquent tile and brick housing. Thunder rolled, and another bright flash of light painted the sky before dimming back to its melancholy grey. The whole town was unusually quiet, and unusually empty, with not a soul stirring the town in sight. Safe inside the Scout Regiment headquarters, all the survey and recon corps were happily asleep in their partnered rooms, all but one sneaking around the large kitchen pantry.

Sasha raided the pantry, searching for anything good she could get her hands on-potatoes, yams, sausage, breads, cheese, crackers, and rice cakes-anything she could reach. She didn't notice when a dark, fully awake figure loomed over her back. "Looking for something specific?" Levi asked, and Sasha flinched inwardly, freezing as she was. She had been caught red handed.

"Well, I-" Sasha was quickly interrupted by a chirpy voice behind the both of them. "I sent her down here to bring back some things for me, don't worry, Ravioli. Geez," Hanji said as she took Sasha's wrist and stalked off with the wide eyed girl. Levi narrowed his gaze a bit at the pair as they left, but didn't say anything more. He quietly cleaned up the mess left behind and reorganized the pantry as it was, muttering to himself. He kicked the door shut with his foot when he finished, and whirled around to face a yawning Eren, who was sleepily rubbing his eye. "Heichou? Everything okay..?" Eren asked, and Levi huffed softly to himself.

Damn inconvenient brat.

"Fine, Eren. Just fine. Go back to sleep and I will meet you at the room later," he responded, and Eren gave a lazy nod before heading back into their room. Levi sighed softly to himself.

They'd all been partnered up and gotten assigned rooms, and since the only other option was to let Hanji and Eren share a room (over ALL their dead bodies, and quite literally), Levi decided he'd rather trade roommates; Sasha was a girl, anyway, so she'd want to share a room with someone she'd be comfortable undressing around within the bedroom and not the closet.

So Levi had gotten stuck with Eren. Which wasn't really all that bad, and at least he knew how to keep his side of the room orderly, which was less stress for the both of them. They also had respective bedroom schedules, so neither would bother the other too much, unless necessary for working purposes.

Levi looked out the nearby set of windows that dawned a gloomy light over the dining hall, and decided since it was still dark outside; he'd best to be going back to bed as well. He headed up the ebony spiraling stairs, and down the hall of seemingly never-ending doors. He stopped in front of the one that was his and Eren's, and paused-Eren was still awake, and…shuffling?

Levi entered the room quietly, looking towards the beds to see if Eren had truly gone back to sleep. But the teen wasn't there. Eren instead, had been sitting up on the perch outside, shielded from the rain by the overhead sheath, but not from the cold. He had indeed gone back to sleep-probably instantly, and unintentionally-and was shivering violently in his sleep against the soft, white leather couch he had been half sitting, half propped up against.

Levi walked up to the teen boy and gently shifted him to lay down across the couch; Eren's head fell to the side limply as if to hide his subconscious shivering from Levi, and the elder raised an eyebrow momentarily before pulling up several blankets over the boy's thin form.

After watching him for what seemed like hours but was only a few minutes, Levi finally gave in and lay down next to the teen boy, pulling the blankets more securely around Eren to keep him safe from the cold.

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13, Fri. time: unknown-Köln, Germany

Levi woke up in a cold sweat, panting softly. He'd had the nightmare again.

He ran a hand through his hair, trying to regain himself. He hadn't remembered falling asleep-he'd only lain down with the stupid brat for a minute to keep the idiot from freez-Eren.

Levi sat up and looked around. He was still outside, as he had been, and light was now peeking from the clouds over the horizon, but the space beside him where Eren had been was empty. The blankets were now over his waist, and a small but soft pillow had been underneath where he'd been curled up asleep. But something was out of place. There was an odd, faint tingling on his cheek…as if…that part of the dream had been real…