Sudden inspiration. I own nothing but the plot. I've got this awesome and big surprise for the recent Kuroshitsuji fic that I have. I hope you will all enjoy it and I'm sorry for the sudden long wait for the next chapter.

Levi didn't know why it bothered him so much; why a brat of a young man had seemed to get under his skin, worm his way through his blood stream and ghost through his veins to inevitably settle himself within the cold confines of his heart. The blood didn't bother him, why would it? He had seen enough bloodshed to last him a lifetime. He wasn't proud of his past but it wouldn't regret the choices he made when he was little, wouldn't blame his parents for dumping him on the street to fend for himself. He never blamed Erwin for taking him in and getting him back on his feet. He would -never- blame Erwin for introducing him to Eren. That was the part he loved the most, though he honestly would never show it and he knew the other male would understand, could see past the cold mask that had slowly cracked at the edges and became worn and desolate.

So why were tears falling down his cheeks at the sight before him? Blood covered the hand of its owner, the fingers trembling and the almost healed scabs bleeding and open once again. Warm blood trickled down Eren's arm and dripped off his elbow, creating an ever growing puddle on the already grimy ground. Those once vibrant orbs had lost the light it held, if only for the moment until this episode would pass. Levi's heart clenched painfully at his lover, at the pain that enveloped the other and how helpless he felt to stop it.

"I'm sorry."

Those two words were enough to cause him to break his normal stoic facade. In an instant, Levi was down on his knees, Eren's blood covering his white slacks and his wrist in a firm grip, keeping the hand away from his mouth whilst Levi's free arm wound around the others waist to pull him close against the muscled chest. For a while Levi had said nothing, merely let Eren sob into his shoulder and whisper his apologies, shoulders trembling as he believed that he had ruined everything the two worked so hard to fix.

These occurrences had started three years ago when Eren's mother, Carla Jaeger, had died of Alzheimer's. Eren was enraged when his father Grisha Jaeger had told him that his own mother was insane, spouting out stuff and calling to take her away to a mental institution. The truth? He had Carla carted away to a nursing home where no one ever visited her save Petra, the friendly nurse that stayed by her bedside as best as she could. While Carla spent her days wasting away with strangers, Grisha spent every moment he had with Eren berating him and punishing him for misbehaving. He'd raise his hand to his son, leave horrible bruises on the lovely skin of the young male until he finally realized that his treatments weren't working. One day, when Eren refused to sate him in one of his experiments that consisted of being prodded and drugged up, Grisha had demanded that Eren bite the meat of his thumb, not too far from the appendage yet not close enough to where the wrist connected to the arm. At first Eren declined saying that it was preposterous and Grisha couldn't force him. The tables turned when the monster of a man threatened to bring Armin, Mikasa and Levi into the mess. At the time, Levi and Eren's love was just blooming and Levi knew that his five year younger love was hiding something from him. When he found out it was unfortunately too late for Grisha had tried to poison his own flesh and blood before disappearing off the face of the earth. Levi thought he almost lost Eren that day. Levi never blamed Eren for not telling him, for believing in his fathers lies and threats. True, they fought more than a normal couple but the love they had for the other just didn't compare to anything else. It had only been a year ago that Eren met Petra, the woman who kept his mother company. They had became great friends until one day he got news that she had passed from blood loss. Later, both Eren and Levi would come to learn that someone had tried to mug her and she put up a fight when the perpetrator had plunged a knife through her. It was a heavy loss indeed, one that left emotional scarring. That was when he started the biting again but Levi made him promise that he wouldn't do it again. Eren agreed.

"Tch, Eren, you're insufferable you know that?"

It was said without bite or anger and Eren knew that Levi cared deeply for him in his own way. Taking shallow breaths, Eren pulled away from the now soaked shoulder to gaze into his lovers eyes, noting how they shone with pain and it merely broke Eren's heart. He didn't try and get his wrist free and he put up no resistance until Levi let go of his waist and brought his hand up to Eren's mouth.

"If you're going to bite something, bite me instead."

Horrified heterochromian orbs stared at determined steel ones, his head whipping back and forth so fast that Levi thought Eren would get whiplash.

"I refuse!"

"I don't blame you, brat, you know that I love you so please let me help you."

No words were said for a few minutes.

"Let me carry some of your pain. Please, Eren."

A defeated sigh escaped his lips, his eyes flashing deep with worry before he hesitantly opened his mouth and bit down on Levi's hand, exactly where his own marks were. At first, Levi felt a sting which was nothing he couldn't handle. Until Eren bit down harder until his bite mark was throbbing, blood had welled into Eren's mouth and it was now dripping down Levi's arm the same way it had done to Eren. After another couple of minutes, Eren pulled away, his lips blood stained and sobs wracking his body once more.

"You know that," A pause. "That I'll always be here for you," Another pause. "That I'll always love you."

Eren nodded.

The two stayed in a puddle of their mixed blood until Levi deemed it necessary to clean up and head to bed for the night.

That morning when Levi went into work Erwin noticed that he had a scab that perfectly matched the ones that Eren sported.

Somehow he understood.