Day 4: Little Things/Eruri Insiders (Erwin)

Every day, Levi disappears into his room for a while. Sometimes one hour, sometimes two, and, on a very rare occasion, longer than that. Erwin never questions him about it. He simply sits and reads, using that as an opportunity to be alone, something he rarely experiences with Levi living at his house.

Even though he didn't approach Levi about it didn't mean Erwin wasn't curious about what he did with himself while he was holed up. He liked to take guesses about what exactly his friend was up to. At first, he wondered if Levi was simply one of those people who needed some time to himself each day. That changed when Erwin spotted Levi leaving his room one day, his hands coated in black charcoal.

He began to consider other possibilities. Maybe Levi was a pyromaniac and liked burning things when he was alone? Erwin didn't mind, as long as his house didn't get burned down. Or perhaps Levi secretly enjoyed being messy, and just didn't want anyone to know. Erwin chuckled at the thought, knowing full well that it was absurd. Ideas continued to pile up in his mind, each one stranger than the last. Erwin knew that he was very likely wrong on all accounts; guessing had become more of a pastime than an actual attempt to find out what Levi was doing.

A few weeks later, he noticed a smudge of something green on Levi's cheek. The man was usually so meticulous about keeping himself clean that Erwin found himself staring at the mark.

"What?" Levi always knew how to sound accusatory. Erwin found it endearing.

"There's something on your face." Erwin gestured to the mirrored spot on his own cheek.

Levi blinked twice, stood up, and went to the bathroom. When he returned, the mark was gone. Erwin thought that would be the end of it (after all, Levi wasn't the type to want to draw attention to the fact that he'd had a mess on his face). He was caught off guard not five minutes later when Levi spoke.

"It was paint."

"I see." And that was the end of the conversation. Erwin knew better than to prod for information; if Levi wanted to share any, he would do so of his own accord.

Several weeks later (Erwin lost count), he found a small notebook abandoned on the table after he finished his shower. Levi had already disappeared off to his room, and Erwin had a feeling the notebook was his. He questioned whether or not he should actually look at it. After all, Levi was a very private person and to do something which might violate that would be to destroy the trust they had built up between them.

At the same time, Levi wasn't the type to overlook things. He never left anything out by accident, and Erwin doubted he had started now. If the book was out, it most likely meant that Erwin was supposed to see it.

He picked it up and went to sit on the couch, propping the notebook against one of his legs. He opened it slowly, reverently, as though he were peering into Levi's very soul.

The book was completely full, each page covered in pencil and charcoal sketches of varying degrees of detail. As Erwin flipped through the pages, he realized that he was the subject of several images.

He himself looked familiar. It was easy to pick out his own light hair, his jaw line, his build, especially on the pages where he was drawn standing next to a shorter man with a pointy face who was obviously Levi. The surroundings, however, were foreign to him. Massive walls, huge trees, himself on horseback (Erwin couldn't remember ever riding a horse, although the idea had always appealed to him), and both men hanging from buildings and trees, as though they were flying.

The clothes were unusual too. They were the same on every page, with him and Levi wearing similar outfits distinguished only by their size.

Uniforms, Erwin thought. They have to be uniforms.

Each uniform had insignia on the front pocket and the sleeves, but it was difficult to make out. Thankfully, Levi had sketched out the symbol on a separate page.

Wings. Intricate wings overlapping, each feather separately drawn. It looked reminiscent of a crest, like those that Erwin had seen in his history books. Erwin found himself staring at that page the longest, memorizing the symbol as though he were afraid he might forget it otherwise.

It was familiar. So many things were familiars, from the insignia, to the locations, to the way he and Levi seemed to fly.

Wings. How appropriate, Erwin thought with a smile, allowing his finger to trace around one particular image of Levi in the air, blades in his hands.

As Erwin arrived at the last of the pages, he found a final series of sketches, all of himself. Levi had taken care to draw Erwin in detail, clothed and unclothed, with and without his right arm. The images looked as though Levi had been drawing Erwin for years, as though he had ever line, every curve of his body embedded in his memory.

Had they been drawn by anyone else, Erwin would have been concerned that he had a stalker, or that someone had some otherwise unhealthy obsession with him. This was Levi though. His closest friend. A man with whom he shared an odd connection, as though he'd known Levi for decades. He found it difficult to take any issue with the drawings.

Erwin arrived at the last page to find a picture of himself and Levi, their backs facing him, the wings displayed on their backs. They stood somewhere high up (perhaps on top of the strange walls?), looking out at a sunset (or maybe a sunrise? Erwin couldn't tell). Underneath their cloaks, Erwin could just make out their hands clasped around each other's.

Without a second though, Erwin tore out the page, folded it up, and carefully tucked it away in his shirt pocket. He closed the sketchbook and replaced it on the table where it would wait for Levi.

Levi would later finish in his room and by that evening, the book would be gone again. Erwin would keep the pilfered sketch in his bedside drawer. Reflecting over that image for a few minutes would become a part of his morning routine, the winged insignia burned into his memory.