The neighborhood kids were at it again. No matter how many times Levi saw them running away to their homes down the street, looking spooked but delighted, they always came back.
They would approach the high fence made of finely wrought yet rusty metal-work with caution. They would whisper between themselves, their chubby faces taking on a conspiratory look.
And nowadays, with Halloween just around the corner, older, braver teens would show up at night. They'd try to climb up the fence, hoping to have a closer look at the house, sometimes armed with toilet paper rolls.
They rarely made it to the other side and into the garden, though. It never did them any good. There'd been that one guy who'd broken his leg while trying to climb over Levi's fence. Entirely his fault. And another one, who'd once successfully entered the front yard. He'd claimed that he'd been assaulted by owls, or maybe bats. Levi called bullshit on that one.
Nevertheless, these few incidents hadn't helped Levi's reputation, which was already damaged, if only because he'd inherited the house from his uncle Kenny.
Levi sighed and let go of the old-fashioned lacy curtains adorning the windows in his large kitchen. Kids never learned, he'd come to know since he'd moved into his uncle's old house. But he didn't blame them. It was true that the house was, well, peculiar, for the lack of a better word. It was unusually large and old looking, though it was in a pretty good state. The architecture was unfamiliar to this neighborhood, where most of the buildings were modern, single story affairs that would barely house a family of three.
But not Levi's house.
It was a quaint Victorian thing with its fine gables, spindle work, a slate roof, and even a small round tower on one side. It wasn't a castle by any mean, but it had a second floor, an attic, and an underground cellar. The rooms were small but numerous and cozy. Levi liked it just the way it was.
But no matter how much he liked his house, he had to admit that it looked just like the average haunted house, especially to some impressionable bunch of kids.
To make things worse, the old geezer he'd inherited the house from had been a misanthropic, eccentric asshole. As far as Levi could remember, his uncle's had never had any friends, and he'd certainly never been popular in the neighborhood.
Even Levi's mother didn't exactly stay in touch with her older brother. Kenny would sometimes visit them, usually unannounced. His mother would let him stay with them but didn't seem all that happy about it, though she said she didn't mind.
Levi didn't like his uncle either, but like his mother, he didn't mind having him around every once in a while. They shared their peculiar sense of dry humor and a certain disdain for human company in general. If his memories of Kenny weren't all that fond, they weren't bad ones, in the end. Kenny had been the only one who could make Levi laugh when he'd been a kid. Even as a toddler, Levi had been an overly serious child.
Either way, Kenny must have liked Levi well enough, since he'd left him his old house. Levi sometimes wondered if Kenny had given it to him because his uncle was fond of him, or because there was no one else left to inherit the house. Levi's mother had passed away a few years before her brother.
Levi knew he'd never have an answer to his question, but he wouldn't lose any sleep because of that.
Nevertheless, people were wary of Levi once he'd moved in. His uncle had been too disagreeable, lonely, too eccentric. Kids liked to trash his mailbox and decorate his house with wet toilet paper around Halloween. It used to drive the old man crazy. People would whisper behind his back. He was a witch, they used to say.
Levi's temperament was too similar to his uncle's for people to forget that they were related.
People left Levi alone for the most part, and kids didn't bother him much, but he wasn't an idiot. If he couldn't hear the whispered words when he walked into the nearby grocery store, he could see the looks the adults would cast in his direction when they thought he wouldn't notice.
And Levi didn't care. Unlike his uncle, he was employed, shopped at the same places as his neighbors, and gave off a vibe of relative normalcy his uncle had never had. There were only three things that really pointed him as an outcast within the neighborhood: the house, being Kenny's nephew, and the fact that he was still a bachelor at his age.
The first two, he couldn't do anything about. As for the latter, he didn't care in the least. Living alone suited Levi and he didn't see the point in changing that. And for what, anyway? Gaining his neighbors' approval? He couldn't be bothered to give a single fuck.
And at least, he told himself, the kids didn't try to trash the mailbox anymore.
There was a sudden big noise coming from the nearby house. Levi drew the curtain aside again. The kids, probably spooked, had scattered like small birds, running away to the other side of the street where they disappeared into different houses.
Levi moved his curtain further aside to look at the cause of the unexpected cacophony. There was a dingy car parked in front if the neighboring house. It was more of a bungalow than a house, newer in style than Levi's but in quite a sorry state. A young man was standing there, next to the car, looking at the ground. He looked annoyed, though Levi couldn't really tell from that distance.
The young man crouched down for a while, hidden from Levi's sight by bushes. It was when he rose back up, a big box in his arms, and headed for the decrepit house that Levi finally understood.
He was moving into the rickety shack next door. Levi snorted. Given the state of the property, he wasn't doing himself a favor.
Well, Levi didn't care either way. It was no business of his.
The following Sunday morning, Levi was sitting around in bed as usual. It was his only day off that week, and he'd planned on reading all day. Maybe later, he'd soak into a warm bath for a couple hours, and indulge in a glass of wine after that. He was certainly not expecting a visit, which was why the sound of his doorbell, resounding like a strident fire alarm throughout the whole house, made him startle.
Scowling, he got up and headed for the living room. He carefully parted the curtains of the window closest to the door.
His neighbor was waiting under Levi's porch. Levi had been careful to make as little noise as possible, but as soon as his eyes landed on him, his neighbor looked in his direction and met his gaze.
The young man waved at him, his face offering a worried smile.
Now, he couldn't pretend that he wasn't home, like he'd originally planned. It was annoying, but he made it a point to appear civil on most occasions, so he went to the foyer.
"What do you want?" he said before the door was even properly open.
So much for being civil, thought, meeting the neighbor's eyes again.
He was surprised to find that his new neighbor barely looked over eighteen. Levi blinked at him, gathering an impression of tan skin and thick brown hair. But everything paled in comparison of the kid's peculiar green eyes, which were framed by strong eyebrows.
Levi knew he was being rude, and that he was glaring. But he refused to feel guilty for snapping at a kid who'd done nothing wrong, no matter how fascinating they looked. The young man would live.
"I'm sorry for bothering you," the young man said, an apologetic look on his face. "I'm Eren Jaëger. I just moved into the house over there."
He gestured towards the bungalow. Neither Levi's apparent hostility nor his staring seemed to deter him.
Levi raised an exasperated eyebrow.
"And?" he said, none too gently.
"I think my cat went into your backyard," the neighbor said. "Would you mind letting me have a look?"
Levi refrained a groan. He wasn't exactly personable in the first place, but he tried not to be an asshole. He wasn't his uncle. Grudgingly, he moved aside and with a tilt of his head, gesturing for the young man to come in.
Levi led him through the house to the kitchen, and opened the back door.
"Help yourself," he said.
The young man stopped before going through the door and cast a shy glance at him.
"Thanks, er," he said. "I don't think I caught your name?"
Levi didn't answer right away, but the young man kept staring at him expectantly. Levi wondered how long they would remain here if neither of them relented.
"Levi," he said after a while.
Eren smiled like he'd won something.
"Thanks, Levi."
With that, he went into the backyard in search for his cat.
Levi watched him for a minute or ten from the kitchen window, his book in hand. He'd meant to keep reading while the other searched, making sure that he wouldn't mess with his vegetable garden or trample his pansies. But the young man's presence in Levi's normally private space was distracting.
"Fuck it," he said.
He opened the back door and joined the neighbor outside.
"No luck?" he asked.
The young man was crouched before one of Levi's shrubs. When he looked up at Levi, there was a frown on his face.
"None so far," he said. "She doesn't seem to be here after all."
He got up, brushing some dirt off his pants.
"I should be going," he said an apologetic look on his face. "I've bothered you enough as it is."
Levi couldn't argue with that. He led the young man back to the foyer and held the door open for him.
"What's it's name?" Levi suddenly asked.
The young man glanced at him, looking surprised.
"Mikasa," he said.
Levi made a noncommittal noise in answer.
The young man went down the stairs, but turned back when he reached the last step. When he looked up at Levi, a small smile was stretching his lips.
"I guess I'll see you around," he said. "Thanks for letting me in."
"Don't mention it," Levi said.
He watched as his new neighbor left.
"Mikasa, huh," he mumbled.
There was a gentle sound from Levi's side. A slender black cat jumped on the wall between both properties, from the neighbor's side. Its hair was short and shiny. It sat on his hind legs and stared at Levi with unwavering eyes.
Levi could only stare back.
"And there you were, all this time," he told the cat.
The cat only stared at him in answer.
"What?" Levi asked. "He was worried, you know."
The cat contorted, and stretching a leg towards the sky, proceeded to lick itself clean right under Levi's nose.
"Wonderful," he said, when he was met with a full view of the cat's butthole.
The cat was female, there wasn't a doubt about it.
"Yet another thing I didn't need to know."
But the cat didn't seem to care. When she deemed her ass clean, she resumed her sitting position. She stared at him, then at the neighboring house. She let out a soft noise that was a strange mix of meowing and cooing.
"Really?" Levi answered. "Then you should go back instead of wandering off."
Mikasa looked back at Levi, blinking at him, and jumped off the wall.
The dreams started not long after Eren's first visit. Levi didn't remember his dreams often, but these were apparently an exception. They were different every time, but for one thing. At some point, he would find himself back on his porch. Mikasa would be brushing against his legs, a mischievous air in her eyes and whiskers, as if she knew that cat hair drove Levi up the wall. She would then jump on the porch's balustrade, and stare at the dingy bungalow she lived in with her master.
Levi would usually wake up at that point. Of his dreams, it was the only part that lingered in his mind. He could never remember anything else.
Maybe it had to do with the fact that Eren Jaëger, just like his cat, wouldn't leave Levi alone, in dreams as in daylight.
The first time, when Levi came home after a long day at work, Eren was waiting under the porch, a bottle of wine in his hand.
"I wanted to thank you properly," he said.
Levi was tired and wanted only two things, a quick meal and his bed, in that order. But Eren entered the house without even being invited. He went straight for the kitchen, rummaging Levi's cupboards for glasses.
He didn't seem to care that Levi was almost asleep on his feet, or that he only uttered two words that night – which were 'no' and 'goodbye'.
When Eren left after drinking the wine, and Levi was too tired to make dinner. He went to bed after eating a couple of toasts instead.
Eren came back a few days later with beer.
"I didn't want to be drinking by myself," he told Levi.
Levi wasn't as tired, and if he hadn't planned on entertaining a guest that night, he decided that he didn't really care, after all.
Eren never stopped coming back again and again, no matter how rude Levi was to him.
Eren could run entire conversations by himself. Most days, Levi was too tired to do more than hum in answer. The other days, he simply cared too little. But Eren didn't seem to mind.
Just like her master, Mikasa seemed to have taken a liking to Levi as well. She would show up at night, usually when it was time for Eren to leave. She would sit on the windowsill of one of the living room windows, and stare at them until Eren decided to go home. Eren would joke about it, saying his ride had arrived to pick him up.
Eren got along just fine with the neighborhood kids. They sometimes asked him to play soccer with them, or to help them make paper airplanes that could actually fly. Eren seemed to like the attention. Not that Levi was watching from afar.
Levi learned many things about Eren during his unannounced visits. He was a student, though Levi never saw him studying. He was an only child. His father had bailed when Eren was ten. His mother had died a few years ago, and he didn't have any family left.
"Same as me," Levi blurted out, surprising the both of them.
He'd never said anything about himself to Eren until now.
He hadn't meant to speak. He thought Eren would ask about his family. But Eren simply stared at him for a moment, then smiled and went off on yet another tangent, possibly feeling Levi's discomfort.
Eren, Levi found, could be surprisingly perceptive. On his fifth visit, after talking non-stop for a while, Eren suddenly went silent. When Levi glanced at him, Eren was looking at the floor, a frown on his face.
"I could make you dinner, sometimes," he said.
Levi only stared in silence, wondering where that was coming from. He didn't voice it, but Eren seemed to understand anyway.
"You look tired," he explained, tracing the skin under his own eyes.
"I don't sleep well," Levi replied, to his own surprise.
He'd never been self-conscious about his impressive dark circles. He'd certainly never felt the need to explain himself to anyone before. Not that anyone ever asked.
Eren, like the previous time Levi had blurted out something personal, didn't comment on it.
"Neither do I," he said instead. "I have nightmares. They keep me awake at night, sometimes."
Levi thought Eren would start talking about his dreams, but once again, Eren changed the subject.
On his next visit, Eren brought food.
"I told you I'd make you dinner," he told Levi.
Levi had hoped Eren would forget about that. But his lasagnas were surprisingly edible.
"My mom taught me to cook," Eren said, a sad smile on his face. "Her lasagnas were the best. Mine can't compare."
Yet Levi thought they were delicious.
Levi was standing under his porch. It was almost winter, but he couldn't feel the chill, despite wearing only a thin sweater. The treetops across the road were waving under a gentle breeze, but Levi couldn't feel it against his face either.
He was looking at the house next door.
"It looks even more run-down from here."
Levi glanced at Eren, who was standing next to him.
"It does," he said, turning back towards the ramshackle house.
Eren chuckled at his side.
"It doesn't matter," he said. "I never planned on staying long anyway."
Something rose from Levi's chest and lodged into his throat.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
Eren was turning towards Levi, angling his body so that he was facing him.
"Wherever the wind will take me," he said, putting a light hand on Levi's shoulder.
A strong gust of wind ran through the leaves, but of course, Levi couldn't feel it, couldn't hear it howling. All he could feel was Eren, surrounding him with the soft scent of clean laundry, with warmth. It made it hard to breathe. Levi felt like he was drowning.
He gasped awake.
Catching his breath and trying to placate the quick pacing of his heart, he looked around. He was in bed, and the air surrounding him was cold. The sky outside was still dark.
Levi didn't believe in fate or prophetic dreams. But this one had felt too real. It made him feel uneasy.
Knowing he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, Levi got up, and went downstairs to make himself a cup of tea.
Later than day, after coming home from work, he found himself waiting. Eren was bound to show up, like he always did whenever Levi had the next day off.
But time was passing, and Eren was nowhere to be seen.
The grandfather clock in Levi's living room rang. It was already past Levi's usual dinner time.
He opened his front door and stood under the porch. Everything was still. There was no wind, no sound. The windows of Eren's house were dark, and he could barely see the house now that the sun had set. He guessed that Eren wouldn't come tonight. He was probably out with friends from school, fellow students like Eren himself. Levi told the tiny voice from the back of his head, telling him that Eren had never told him about any friends, to shut up.
He was about to go back inside when he heard a loud yowl.
He looked down, and Mikasa was there, sitting by Levi's feet, watching him attentively. Her tail was waggling nervously.
"What do you want?" Levi muttered.
Mikasa, staring right through Levi, let out another freakish, loud yowl.
They stared at each other. After a while, she raised a gentle paw and brushed it against his pants, letting out a quieter noise.
Levi looked up at the house. In the dark, it looked empty, abandoned. Lonely, almost. The eerie dream from the previous night still fresh on his mind, he shivered.
"I don't have time for this shit," Levi said, getting back inside.
Instead of starting on dinner like he'd originally planned, he grabbed his jacket and went back outside. Mikasa made an encouraging noise, and followed him through his front yard, into the street.
Once there, she sped up and led him towards Eren's house. There was no fence to go through, and Levi was soon knocking at the front door.
Everything was quiet inside the house, but Levi couldn't be sure. He knocked on the door, louder this time.
"Eren?" he called.
No answer. He tried to open the door, but it was locked.
He looked down. Mikasa was next to him, staring up. Waiting.
Levi made an irritated noise, and looked back up to the lock. It was old and rusty, but it seemed sturdy enough that trying to force it open probably wouldn't work. He held the handle in one hand, and brushed his thumb up and down over the metal. It was cold to the touch, but Levi wasn't deterred. The motion of his thumb turned gentle, almost caressing.
When he tried the door again, it opened without resistance. Mikasa scampered into the house, and Levi followed.
The place was dark and silent. There was something about the air inside, some kind of smell maybe, that made Levi think of Eren. It made Levi feel like Eren was right next to him.
It wasn't unexpected, Levi told himself. This was Eren's house. That it would smell like him wasn't surprising.
He soon found the light switch and surveyed his surroundings.
Eren's living room wasn't large, nor was it messy, though it looked lived in. There was a sweater, haphazardly thrown over a chair. Boxes that hadn't yet been emptied since Eren had moved in were sitting in a corner. A few books of various sizes were piled on one side of the couch.
It was a perfectly normal scene, but there was something uncanny about the stillness in this place. Somehow, it was too still. It made Levi's back teeth ache, made some kind of dread crawl into his stomach.
Just as he was looking in the other direction, towards the small kitchen, he saw movement from the corner of his eye. He briskly turned back to glare at the books, who were slowly rising in the air. Caught red-handed, they returned to their original place in their corner of the couch.
"What the fuck," Levi said, disturbed, before entering the kitchen area.
He opened a few cupboards, though he knew it was useless. As if Eren could be hiding there.
He found that Eren didn't own much. Most cupboards were empty. There wasn't much food either in this place, only tea, crackers, and a couple of cans. The fridge only held a piece of cheese and some expired eggs. The kid didn't seem rich, but Levi had thought he could afford enough food for himself, since he'd been feeding Levi for weeks now.
It only made the unease in his gut grow.
As he opened another cupboard, Levi was met with an upturned baseball cap. Or was it a large kitchen bowl? The thing was shifting between the two, as if unsure of its own nature.
"That's enough," Levi said, irritated and worried.
The baseball cap went back to being a chipped, plain white bowl, and Levi closed the cupboard.
On the table that separated the living room from the kitchen, Levi found an empty mug. A closer inspection revealed that it had held tea at one point, but the few drops at the bottom were dry. It hadn't been used recently.
Crossing the living room, Levi opened the only other door, which led to the house's sole bedroom. After turning the lights on, he could see that, again, the place was mostly clean. There were some clothes thrown on the bed, but that was the only mess he could see.
Eren wasn't in there either.
He ignored the shirt that tried waving at him from the open closet and went back into the living room. His eyes fell on the wall by the door. Eren's winter jacket was still there, hung on a hook, as well as his usual sneakers. Levi had never seen him wearing anything else, so he assumed he only owned these. Which meant that Eren was still inside the house. But where was he?
Levi tensed when he heard a noise. It felt like someone was whispering into his ear, thought he couldn't make out the words.
"Eren?" he called again.
He turned around, but there was nobody there. Nobody, aside from the small mouse who was reading one of the books on the couch. It even had tiny glasses.
Ignoring the mouse as well, Levi turned towards Mikasa, who was waiting near the entrance.
"What the hell is he doing?" Levi asked her. "Where has he gone?"
Mikasa simply blinked at him.
"Let's go", Levi told her.
He went back outside, locked Eren's door. He ran all the way back to his house, urgency twisting his gut.
"Eren!" he was calling already, as he opened the door to his own house.
But once he stepped inside the foyer, he stopped dead in his tracks.
Levi only owned three pairs of shoes, and the ones he wasn't wearing were currently twirling in the air in a curious waltz. His old chest of drawers was open, and the papers he kept well ordered inside were perched on the chandelier. His umbrella was hanging there as well, apparently having the time of its life.
"Oh, come on," Levi said, annoyed.
He went into the kitchen, where his tea set was splashing around in the sink, which was filled with soapy water. His teapot was blowing bubbles, and the air was filled with them. The old china plates he'd inherited from Kenny were rolling around the floor, frolicking with potatoes and apples that had escaped from the refrigerator.
"What the fuck is happening here?" Levi growled, and everything froze.
Things started moving again, slow and careful. The apples and potatoes went back to their compartments in the fridge. The plates were stacking themselves back in their rightful place, in the cupboard, but with a glare from Levi, then joined the tea set in the sink where they all stood still. There was no way he would eat from plates that had rolled on the floor. The tea set remained in the sink, still at last, though the teapot only stopped blowing bubbles after another glare.
He could hear the sound of flapping paper in the foyer. When he went there, the drawers were already closing, and his shoes were sitting where he'd left them before leaving the house. Only the umbrella remained hanging from the chandelier, looking conspicuously apologetic.
"We don't look so clever, now, do we?" Levi said, before putting it against the wall next to the shoes.
"It's not helping", a new voice said.
Levi glared at the umbrella, but it was obvious that it couldn't talk. He turned around, and Mikasa was staring at him.
"All this dilly-dallying isn't helping Eren," she said, her voice quiet.
Levi paused, staring back at her.
"How can I help, then?" he said.
Mikasa blinked at him, before licking one of her paws nervously.
"I don't know," she said, "but you have to do something. Do something before it's too late."
Levi looked around. He could feel it again. Eren's presence was even stronger here. The air around them felt heavy with it, to thick he could almost touch it.
"How long has he been like this?" he asked Mikasa.
She stopped licking her paw.
"Too long," she said, looking utterly unaffected, but it was hard to tell with cats.
"God fucking dammit," Levi muttered, panic rising in his throat. "Eren!"
The house was silent, barring Levi's anxious heartbeat.
"Eren! Show yourself, goddamn brat!"
No answer still. Instead, there were chuckles beneath the strands of hair at the back of Levi's head. He batted them away. He could feel him, could almost touch Eren. There was a faint, warm breeze in the foyer, almost too weak to be felt, but undeniable. It seeped through his fingers like sand.
"Eren," Levi said, softer, and he hated how his voice sounded like it was pleading to his own ears. "Come back."
It started slow. They looked like tiny specks of light, coalescing in the foyer in glistening swirls of fireflies. Soon, they were surrounding Levi. They ran along his clothes, through his hair, over his shirt where it covered his chest, near his heart. He could feel their faint warmth were they brushed the skin on the back of his hands, on his face. More and more were coming from every corner of the house.
After only a moment, the small glimmers congregated in the center of the room, right before Levi. He only had time to blink, and Eren was standing in front of him, looking a little translucent, but slowly becoming more solid as time passed.
When he fell forwards, moments later, Levi caught him. Eren looked deadly pale yet, but Levi was relieved to feel solid warmth under his hands, against his chest.
"I've got you," he said, gently lowering Eren down to the ground.
He meant to check Eren for any injuries, any missing bits that might still be tiny wandering stars, somewhere in the confines of the house. But Eren's arms went around Levi before he could lay him down, and wouldn't let go.
"I'm so tired," Eren said.
He was so warm. Probably feverish, Levi thought.
"I bet you are," Levi said.
But Eren was already asleep.
Levi put Eren into bed in one of the spare rooms upstairs. He couldn't bear the thought of leaving Eren on his own, in his dingy little house. Besides, the kid was too exhausted to stay on his feet. Levi thought it would be best if he kept an eye on him.
What had just happened was concerning, to put it mildly. The truth was that Levi was scared. He was scared of what could've happened, scared of what would if it occurred again. But no matter how many times he asked Mikasa for an explanation, the cat stubbornly refused to talk again.
Levi spent the night on an armchair in Eren's room, watching him breathe.
He must have fallen asleep at some point. When he woke up the next morning, Eren's bed was empty, and there were noises and smells coming from the kitchen. When he went downstairs, Eren was already there, making breakfast.
His pancakes were good, just like everything he'd brought Levi so far.
"I could get used to this," he said as they were finishing their meal.
"Used to what?" Eren asked.
"Having you cook for me every day," Levi said.
His eyes darting to look at Eren when the latter remained silent.
His eyes were unseeing. He seemed lost in though, a sad smile on his lips.
"It's been a while since I've cooked for someone like this," Eren said after a while, something like longing in his voice.
Eren was all alone in the world, Levi thought, throat tight. He had nobody to take care of, nobody to take care of him. Alone, just like Levi himself.
Levi finished his last piece of pancake, and wiped his mouth with a paper napkin.
"You could," he said. "You're always welcome here."
Eren grinned at Levi. His smile, untarnished by sadness this time, was a sight to behold.
Eren had already gone back home when Levi realized that he'd forgotten to ask him about the previous night.
"Come one, let's go!" Eren said.
Levi made an irritated noise. If he'd known he'd be dragged outside on a cold December night, he'd never have told Eren that today was his birthday.
Eren had been visiting everyday since the incident, cooking dinner for Levi and eating together with him. It was the least Levi could do. He was well off, and he could afford to feed the poor kid and his cat. He'd started giving food to Mikasa as well, and she didn't seem displeased with the new arrangement. He'd even started letting her in whenever Eren was there. Cat hair was a small price to pay, if it meant avoiding a new situation that might turn disastrous. She never tried to go upstairs, anyway, so it wasn't too bad.
They'd had dinner together that night. Neither of them had any family left to spend Christmas with. Theirs had been a simple affair, nothing fancy. Just Eren's home-cooked meal, a lit fireplace, and good company. Levi would never even think of wanting more.
He finished fastening his shoelaces, and got his jacket on. As soon as he was done, Eren dragged him outside.
He took Levi to the end of the street. There, it turned into a dirt path, and lead to a grassy hill. The view from up there wasn't bad at all, Levi knew. He sometimes went to sit on the grass, during summer nights, to watch the stars when the weather was nice.
They reached the top of the hill, and Eren stopped walking.
"There we are," he said. "Look at the sky!"
Levi looked up. There were so many stars out there. It was beautiful, but also a lot colder than he would have liked.
"So?" he said, glancing at Eren.
"Wait," Eren simply said, grinning like an idiot. "Keep looking!"
He looked so happy that Levi could only do as he was told.
It started as a whisper. A whisper, so soft it made something tingle in the back of Levi's head, like gentle fingers brushing through his hair. If he closed his eyes, he could almost feel the shape of the words.
A cold, wet sensation on the tip of his nose had him open his eyes again.
It was snowing. Small, downy snowflakes were lazily falling from the clear night sky like soft feathers.
Levi blinked at the snow. When he looked at Eren, the kid was grinning like a doofus at his side, obviously proud of himself.
"Happy birthday!" he simply said.
Levi couldn't help but snort, which made Eren chuckle in answer.
"What?" Eren said.
Levi shook his head.
"Nothing," he said. "Look."
He took off one of his gloves, and cupped his hand to catch a snowflake. His hands were cold, but still warm enough that he had to be quick, or the snowflake would melt. Gently, so soft he couldn't hear his own voice, he started talking to the tiny piece of ice. Telling a story of light and water. Of air and freedom, as old as the world. And the snowflake listened.
Levi blew on his hand, making the tiny snowflake raise in the air. It rose and rose and disappeared, rising long after they couldn't see it anymore.
It was hard to tell at first, too subtle. But after a few minutes, shifting colors were painting strange shapes in the sky.
Levi looked at Eren. An air of wonder had replaced the smile on his youthful features.
"So," Eren said suddenly, "the kids were right."
He turned towards Levi and frowned at him.
"You're a witch," he said, "aren't you?"
Levi almost laughed. Sometimes, he couldn't believe the bullshit Eren was spewing.
"Yeah?" he said. "So are you."
Eren had the courtesy of looking apologetic.
"Yeah, about that," he said. "I'm sorry. I never meant to hide it from you, but you never mentioned it, so I didn't either. I thought –"
He stopped, frowning.
"What did you think?" Levi asked, his voice soft.
Eren sighed.
"I don't know," he said. "I wondered if there was some sort of witch protocol. I'd never met another witch before. It was always just mom and me." He looked at Levi right in the eyes. "I'd never met someone like you."
There was nothing Levi could answer to that.
They stood there for a while, side by side. When Levi shuddered, Eren's hand intertwined with his own, bringing warmth to his freezing fingers. He'd forgotten to put his glove back on.
"You're cold," Eren said. "Let's go back."
"Okay," Levi said.
They walked back in silence, holding hands like it was the most natural thing in the world. Maybe it was, Levi thought.
"How old are you?" Eren asked without warning.
Levi glanced at him, an eyebrow raised.
"What is it to you?" he said, probably more snappish than he really felt.
But Eren only chuckled.
"Well, it's just that, you know. Magic makes you age slower," he said. "You don't look all that old, but for all I know, you could be an old fart."
He was smiling, but the glance he threw Levi was almost coy.
"Like you can talk," Levi blurted out. "You barely look legal, you know."
Eren looked mildly offended.
"For the reference," Eren said, "I'm closer to my thirties than my twenties."
Levi clearly wasn't clever enough to know when to shut his mouth, so he might as well tell Eren the truth.
"I'm older than I look," he admitted.
After all, he didn't have to go into details, and Eren didn't ask for more.
They were already reaching Levi's house. Eren walked with him until they were standing under the porch. They remained there, standing side by side, glancing at each other as if unsure how to proceed.
Eren's hand was warm against Levi's skin.
He gripped it tight in his own. There was no point in lingering out there, in the cold.
"There's some mulled wine left," Levi said, heart in his throat. "Come in?"
Eren wasn't smiling anymore, but his face was relaxed. He nodded, and followed.
They went inside and took off their coats. From the foyer, Levi could see Mikasa, napping on the couch in front of the living room's fireplace. Her eyes were closed, and she looked content as only cats could.
"So, mulled wine?" he asked Eren, turning around to look at him.
But there were arms sliding around him, a warm, solid body against his, and soft lips brushing against his own. There was nothing Levi could do, but close his eyes and enjoy the warmth, heartbeat pacing up.
When they parted, Eren planted small kisses over Levi's mouth, over his face.
"Wine?" Levi asked, annoyed to find that he was breathless.
Eren rested his forehead on Levi's shoulder, and sighed contentedly.
"I don't know," Eren said, playing with the hem of Levi's sweater.
No point in lingering, Levi reminded himself.
"Bed?" he offered.
He could feel Eren smile against the fabric of his sweater.
"I hoped you'd ask."
They separated, their hands finding one another.
"You go," Levi said, nodding towards the second floor. "I'll join you in a bit."
While Eren disappeared upstairs, Levi entered the living room. Tongs in hand, he made sure the fire would gradually dwindle down throughout the night. He added a log over the already dying embers. It would be enough, he thought.
When he was done, he found Mikasa, awake and staring at him with a vaguely annoyed look on her face.
"I know what you're thinking," he told her.
She made a tiny noise that sounded like a disdainful snort, and started to groom herself.
Since he was being ignored, there was no point in staying there any longer.
Eren was already lying down when Levi entered his bedroom, but he wasn't asleep. A cursory glance around the room revealed Eren's sweater and jeans, carefully folded on the armchair that stood in a corner. Eren's gleaming eyes following his every movement, Levi stripped down to his underpants. He refused to feel self-conscious, not now. After putting a clean t-shirt on, slid under the blanket.
They stared at each other in the darkness. Eren's eyes shined like echos of the lights, still visible in the sky and coming through the window into the dark room.
It was hard for Levi not to feel nervous about this new development, though he'd been the one who'd invited Eren in his bed. He almost jumped when Eren's hand bumped into his arm, seeking his hand.
"Nothing has to happen tonight, you know," Eren whispered.
His fingers intertwined with Levi's, and he held them in a comforting grip.
"Nothing has to," Levi agreed, trying not to feel disappointed. "I wouldn't mind, though. If that's what you want."
Eren didn't answer with words, his arms coming around Levi instead, bringing him closer, eyes burning with a new kind of warmth. Levi let himself be moved until they were flush against each other. The air felt charged with electricity, as if a long-overdue thunderstorm was about to burst. Eren slid a thigh between his legs, his mouth brushing against Levi's temple. In a maddening moment, Levi realized that Eren wasn't wearing anything, and that he was already getting hard.
Heat lanced through Levi. This was what he wanted, what he'd chosen. He held Eren's nape and brought his head closer, so that he could reach his mouth and kiss him properly.
While Levi was sucking on his tongue, Eren's hand was in his back, sliding under his shirt. Eren's other hand was sneaking into Levi's boxers, pushing them down and brushing against the curve of his ass. Levi kicked them off as soon as he could. His shirt followed soon after.
Eren's hands against his skin made sparks of warmth burst in places Levi had never imagined could even feel like this.
Eren's thigh pressed against Levi's growing erection in slow circles. He moaned against Levi's lips when the latter thrust forwards in answer.
Levi wanted to hear more, so he did it again, and again, every time rewarded with soft sighs and kisses against his lips, his neck.
They'd built a dizzying rhythm already, when Eren pushed Levi into the mattress to straddle him. He ground down, a dazed but determined look on his face.
Levi surged upwards to lick and nip at Eren's chest. His hands went to hold Eren's ass, bringing him closer and increasing the power behind his thrusts.
Eren's hands were suddenly brushing against his neck and jaw, tilting his head so that he could meet his lips. Eren was breathing against him, liking haphazardly into his mouth. It wasn't much of a kiss, but it was everything Levi wanted.
After a powerful thrust which had their cocks trapped between their stomachs, Eren let out a soft whimper. Hips twitching already, all Levi could feel was the wet warmth between them. Levi's mind was blank, wiped of everything that wasn't Eren, Eren, Eren's skin and mouth, Eren's scent, his warmth.
Release hit him, intense at first but slowly fading into a softer kind. He rode the dwindling tail of his orgasm, surrounded by Eren and feeling safe, feeling like it was where he'd always meant to be.
They fell back to the bed, breathless. Eren raised a hand to brush Levi's sweaty bang aside. There was something reminiscing of wonder in his pretty eyes. And Levi loved it, loved that he could put a look like that in Eren's eyes.
He felt sticky and a little gross, yes, but Levi found that he was oddly content.
Outside, the Northern lights flickered, tinted with hues of red.