Sorry for the long wait orz... my life is kind of hectic and messy right now. I hope things will get back on track soon. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy.


Eren realized later that Levi falling asleep so easily that first evening was a fluke, and probably owed a lot to exhaustion and pain medication. But at the time he thought it was normal, and left it be.

As evening drew on and Levi showed no signs of waking up, Eren opened up the other bed for himself to sleep on. He tried to be as quiet as possible, but Levi didn't even twitch. Over dinner he waged a short, pitched battle with Petra over who would stay home with Levi. They wouldn't stay with him every day, but at least for the first one of them should be around to show him what was where and make sure he didn't spontaneously keel over. Petra argued that she should be the one to stay, to which Eren countered that he could more easily miss a day of school than she could of work. Petra only wavered for a few minutes before giving in.

"I don't want to leave you here alone with him," she said reluctantly. She sighed at the look Eren gave her at that, and added a bit plaintively, "it's my job to worry, okay?"

So Eren waved goodbye to her the next morning, and then spent half an hour frying up a stack of pancakes before he even considered that he didn't know whether Levi liked pancakes or not. But who didn't, he thought. Besides, if Levi didn't want them Eren could always eat them himself and make something else.

Periodically (read: every ten minutes) he checked to see if Levi was up yet, until he finally showed signs of stirring sometime after 9:00. In a flash, Eren was by his bedside with a cup of water and the handful of pills he was supposed to take every morning.

Levi opened bleary eyes, caught sight of Eren and jerked, breath choking to a stop and his entire body going rigid, then choked out a whimper and clenched his eyes shut. Eren nearly dropped the pills.

"Are you okay?"

"Don't do that," Levi wheezed as he tried to breathe his way through the pain.

"Do what?"

"Lurk around watching me sleep."

"I wasn't," said Eren. "I just checked on you and you looked like you were waking up, so I went to get your pills 'cause I thought you'd want them."

Levi rolled his head sideways on the pillow and shot Eren a very flat glower. "Do you have to be so damn wholesome? God, where did they even find you?"

As this statement didn't seem to warrant much of a reply, Eren set down the cup and pills on his nightstand and helped Levi sit up so he could take them. Levi didn't complain, though his breath hissed some more in what Eren figured was pain, though he tried to be as gentle as he could. Levi only hesitated a moment when he saw all the pills, but then shrugged fatalistically and took every single one, not even asking.

"They're painkillers," Eren blurted, because he remembered what it was like to be trapped in a lab, where his food was drugged with who-knew-what, where sometimes the muzziness of being doped up was better than being lucid and knowing what they were doing to you. "And that one's antibiotics, and-"

"It doesn't matter," Levi cut him off harshly. "You could be feeding me goddamn arsenic and I wouldn't know. You could give me crack and tell me it's antibiotics. For all I know, that's your plan, getting me addicted to something and then using it as leverage."

"It's not!" Eren said furiously, sick to his stomach. He wouldn't do that to somebody. He didn't mind fighting, could punch somebody in the face with no compunctions, hell, when the rest of the team let him he'd take out bad guys on his own – he'd killed before, no matter how much the Scouts might baby him now – but he wouldn't keep somebody a drugged captive. "I'd kill you before I let that happen to you."

Levi regarded Eren seriously with his own eyes for a few seconds, then looked away, his spine relaxing. "Okay," he said. Eren felt like he'd passed some sort of test.

"Breakfast?" he suggested hopefully. "You're not supposed to take the medicine on an empty stomach. I can bring it-"

"God, no," Levi said. "If I eat here we'll have to change the sheets." Eren didn't point out that he was sleeping in Eren's bed, he hadn't changed the sheets since last week, and he might have possibly eaten in bed at some point. "I'll get up. But first, I gotta piss."


The odd thing was that even though they were the exact same height, Levi somehow felt a bit shorter than him. Maybe because of the awkward way he slumped and shuffled, forcing Eren to bend over to keep a good grip around his waist. Still, he thought as they made it to the bathroom and Levi fumbled with his pants, with Eren it was probably the least awkward because they had the same body-

He stared.

"Your dick is different ," he blurted. "What's wrong with it? Is something wrong with mine?" He nearly reached for his own fly to check but aborted at the sigh Levi huffed.

"I assume you're circumcised. Nothing's wrong with you or me. Now, do you mind?"

"Sorry." Eren looked away, and valiantly tried to resist the temptation to glance out of the corner of his eye. It looked so weird with the foreskin. He knew what uncircumcised cock looked like, he really did, and now felt kind of like an idiot. Still, he found himself blurting, "Is yours?"

"When you spontaneously turn into me, I'll make sure you find out."

"I was just thinking that it's probably weird for you," Eren mumbled in explanation.

"Not being able to use the bathroom in peace and quiet is also weird for me."

"Sorry." Eren zipped it and resolutely shifted his glance to the flowered tiles.

Still, though, it made him think. It was kind of weird, somebody else having his body, and, well, using it. Eating was one thing, but this sort of thing felt a lot more… personal. What if Levi felt uncomfortable about it? Or thought Eren was uncomfortable about it?

"I don't mind if you want to use it," Eren reassured, as Levi stuffed himself awkwardly back into his pants. "Like, you know, jerk off or whatever-"

"Eren," Levi said tightly, "can we never discuss your painfully underage dick ever again?"

"Oh, right." Eren gulped. "I forgot you're like twenty six."

"Twenty four – how did you know that?" Levi shoved off with his shoulder, staggering away from Eren to lean against the opposite wall, eyes showing white all around.

"I," Eren began, mind racing.

"You found me," Levi said tightly, bright green eyes locked on Eren's. His hands were inching upward defensively, though Eren knew he wouldn't be able to fight, and Levi would know the same, if lucid.

"Yeah," Eren found himself saying. "I came to your house, remember? Your name's Levi Smith, isn't it?" Praying Levi would accept it.

"Levi… Smith," he repeated slowly, panic fading. "Yeah, that's right. That's… me."

Only Eren knew that Levi's real name was Curse and-

"I want to brush my teeth before breakfast," said Levi, trying to distract him. So Eren mutely got out a new toothbrush for him and thought, why had he lied? Wasn't the whole point of this that he wasn't going to lie to Levi? The apology stuck in his throat while he watched Levi brush, spit, and wash out his mouth. He should confess, but the memory of Levi's panicked eyes stopped him.

Who would want people they didn't trust knowing that sort of stuff about them? Levi probably wanted to forget it himself. It was better this way, he told himself. He helped Levi to the kitchen, and tried to settle his stomach.

The pancakes were an ample distraction, however, and Levi was gratifyingly surprised to realize that Eren had made them all for him. His appetite was down because of the medications, but he still managed to finish off five or so, and enjoyed them too, with the way he was eyeing what was left of the stack. Then he must've caught sight of the pleased grin on Eren's lips, because he wiped his face clean of expression and set down his fork and knife.

"Look, kid," he said. "I don't know what you're hoping for, but I'm not staying any longer than I have to. You don't want to kill me or hurt me or throw me in jail? Fine, though I don't think Captain Hamfist agrees with you on that. I'm your captive audience for three months, but the second my powers are back, I'm out of here. And this time I'll make sure you never find me – what are you smirking about?"

"Captain Hamfist", Eren choked. "Sorry, I was listening, just – Captain Hamfist."

"You've got a shitty sense of humor. It wasn't even that funny."

"That's what Armin always says," Eren said, "he's a friend from school. I mean, he probably wouldn't use the word 'shitty', but same idea."

"I have a staggering lack of interest in your friends from school. Help me back to bed."

To Eren's disappointment, Levi wasn't particularly friendly after that. He lay flat on his back, his skin paler than it should be, closed his eyes, and didn't move much. Eren hovered around in case he needed something or wanted to talk, until Levi irritably told him to fuck off. Hurt, Eren wandered into the living room and staunchly resisted the temptation to keep playing Gears of War. Instead, he made sure to catch up on the readings for literature class, which reminded him of Levi's house and its shelves and shelves of books. Levi might not want company, and he seemed too tired to be interested in Eren's PSP right now, but maybe he wanted to read something?

Eren tiptoed over to his room and inched the door open slowly, in case Levi was sleeping.

"Just open the damn thing," Levi growled from the bed, so Eren swung the door open regardless of squeaky hinges.

"I was trying to be quiet," he said.

"I've been living alone for the past five years. I can hear you breathing from the other side of the house. What do you want?"

Eren refused to be needled. He'd known Levi was a prickly sort; there was no surprise. "I thought maybe you wanted a book."

"Oh." Levi swallowed whatever it was he'd been going to say and thought a moment. "Do you have any encyclopedias?"

Eren shifted from foot to foot, not sure if he was supposed to laugh. "Um, really?"

It was difficult for Levi to meet his eyes for a proper glare at this angle, but he managed. "Yes, really. You think I want to read your teenage angst garbage?"

"If by 'teenage angst garbage' you mean that you're not interested in my gun manual compilations or anything then fine," Eren shot back in a rush of annoyance. Did Levi have to be an asshole every moment of the day?

Levi was quiet long enough that Eren thought he might apologize, but - "You can keep me captive here," he said tightly, staring at the ceiling. "You can do whatever you want to me. But if you think I'm going to fucking thank you for it-"

"I saved your life," Eren protested. Of course it made sense that Levi saw him as his jailor, but Eren wasn't. He just wanted Levi to understand that he was trying to help him.

"Nobody asked you to!"

"Was I supposed to just leave you to die?"

"That's what I would have done," Levi growled.

"No, you wouldn't," Eren said. "When I showed up at your house, you tried to help me, even though you were wounded."

"Come here where I can see you." Levi waited until Eren neared so he could meet his eyes, the expression on his face making him seem completely alien, even though the features were Eren's. "You've got some fantasy in your head that I'm a good person," he said quietly. "I'm not. I've done awful things. It's not that I want to die. But you're a hero, and you should want me to."

Eren kept up a stubborn frown, so Levi was the first one forced to avert his eyes. He closed them, making Eren's face appear old and tired.

"I'll hurt you," Levi said. "I'll ruin your life."

The words weren't a threat, nor even a promise, Eren thought, and all they evoked in him was a kind of pity. Of course, what else could somebody called Curse possibly believe?

"I don't think you will," Eren said, even though Levi was trying very hard not to listen.

He left, then, but returned quietly a few minutes later, with both a gun manual and a volume of the encyclopedia. Levi pretended he was asleep, and Eren let him.


That was why, when Mikasa and Armin showed up after school with his homework, Eren decided it wasn't the right time to introduce them to Levi. Not yet.

"Sorry we're late," Armin said. "Mikasa had kickboxing and wouldn't let me come without her."

Mikasa shrugged, as if to imply that she had no part in Armin's decision. Eren sighed as he ushered them into the living room.

"We're out here, today," he said. "My room's taken." Mikasa frowned at that, shooting the room a sharp look as if she could see through the door. She couldn't, actually. Mikasa didn't have any superpowers at all, even though most of the school was convinced she did. The guidance counselor had even called her in once for an extremely awkward conversation about being a teenage superhero without the counselor actually accusing her of being one. Mikasa had dutifully remembered all the points she brought up and repeated them to Eren later, and Eren mostly ignored every single one.

A few times, Eren had actually considered just asking Mikasa to join, because between her karate and kickboxing and the training sessions with Eren she could totally hold her own in a fight, she definitely had the dramatic aura down pat, and the tragic backstory to polish it off. Even though she didn't have much of a vendetta, because she and Eren had killed the robbers who murdered her parents back when they were both kids. Already proof she had her shit together better than a lot of heroes who were still mucking around with that stuff years later.

"What's going on?" Mikasa asked. "You've been running off after school, and now you skipped a day."

"I've been listening to the police scanner, but I haven't heard of anything major," Armin added. "I figure the world's not in danger."

Armin had actually figured out on his own that Eren was Titan, and now, along with Mikasa, helped cover for him when necessary. The fact that Armin came from a perfectly normal family and had excellent grades probably helped with his credibility.

Eren quickly gave them a run-down of the past few days, and for some reason, their expressions didn't reflect how great of a victory having Levi in his bedroom actually was.

"Levi?" Armin asked, exchanging a worried look with Mikasa. "The Levi? The one who stole two nuclear warheads six months ago and sold them on the black market?"

"Yeah," Eren said. "But he's not a bad guy!"

"Didn't he sell a whole shipment of automatic rifles to some country in Africa?" Mikasa added. "And he's a shapeshifter? And he's in your room?"

"He hasn't even done anything yet!"

"He's done a lot," Armin replied seriously. "He's not the worst guy around – I can't believe I'm saying this, but when we've got guys trying to destroy the world and stuff Levi's not much more than a small-time criminal, but him being a shifter puts another spin on things."

"Why are you being like this?" Eren complained. If Levi was that bad, Commander wouldn't have come up with this plan in the first place. Petra wouldn't let him into the house. "I thought you guys would help me show him that being good is worth it."

That had come out louder than he'd expected, and Eren glanced nervously towards his bedroom door. If Levi was awake he might have heard all that, but then, Eren didn't have anything to hide on that front. It was pretty clear that they were trying to reform him.

"He's been here one day and he's already turning you against us," Mikasa said darkly.

"He hasn't said a single thing about you! He hardly talks! He mostly just tells me to leave him alone!"

"Hey, hey," Armin said, grabbing Mikasa's arm to calm her and leaning towards Eren. "What Mikasa means is that you're already so protective of him and he's not even trying – what if he does try? Just remember who your friends are, okay Eren?"

"I would never turn on you," Eren snapped, hurt.

"Of course he wouldn't," Mikasa said, calmer now. Mikasa was crazy protective, and Eren sometimes found it difficult to follow her changes of mind. "But if that asshole tries anything, I'll tear him a new one. Shifter or not."

"You can't tell anybody he's a shifter, though," Eren cautioned, getting serious, if slightly reluctant nods from both of them in reply. He was weirdly relieved that the conversation was taking a calmer turn. All that talk about how awful a person Levi was made him uncomfortable, because if Levi was that bad, how could they fix him? But if he wasn't, why would he do those things?

"Just, be careful," Armin said. "It's not that I don't think you should be a superhero, but don't let it take over your life. You're trying to rehabilitate a supervillain in your room, Eren, it doesn't get much more personal than that. There's a reason superheroes keep secret identities."

Eren's first impulse was to deny, and if it had been Commander or Petra or anybody he probably would have. But Armin was his friend, and he understood. "I won't let him take over my life," he said.

"Maybe that's his plan," Mikasa suggested. "He looks like you, he lives in your house. He can learn everything about you and then when the time is right he'll get rid of you and take your place."

Even Armin rolled his eyes at that one.

Later, when he went in to help change Levi's bandages, Levi looked like he wanted to say something, but sighed in defeat and closed his mouth. He wouldn't meet Eren's eyes, and when he lay back down he definitely wasn't feigning the pain or exhaustion.

"Mikasa and Armin say hi," Eren ventured.

"Your friends hate my guts and would like to see me dead," Levi said tiredly.

Eren left it at that, for now.


Petra came home around five and promptly began fussing at everybody. Had Eren done his homework? How was Levi feeling? Did he have any dinner preferences? Levi clammed up and just watched her, probably stunned into silence by how excited Petra could get. He didn't even voice a preference when Petra suggested cutting his hair to look like Eren's in case somebody saw him.

Post haircut, Levi would have looked almost like a carbon-copy of Eren if not for the flat expression on his face. Everything about Levi drooped – his shoulders, his eyes, and between that and the pale cast of his skin he just looked sad.

That night, Levi hardly slept. Eren lay in bed, dozing off, but could tell from the way Levi was breathing that he was still awake. He woke up once or twice during the night, and each time Levi's too-quick breathing was clearly audible. Only when he got up the next morning for school did he see that Levi had fallen asleep at some point, probably from sheer exhaustion. He didn't even move as Eren puttered around the room (quietly!) getting ready for school.

He left a note by Levi's bed, along with his pills and a cup of water.

"Still out?" Petra asked as she put together sandwiches.

"Yeah," Eren said around a mouthful of cereal. "He didn't sleep much, either."

"He's probably not used to the bed." She tossed the small plastic bag of his sandwiches at him. "I messaged Auruo today about coming over sometime this week. If Commander's serious about getting Levi to join, we should probably all try to get to know each other."


Levi perked up enough to leave his bed that evening. Eren wouldn't have taken much notice of it, but he heard soft voices coming from the kitchen. It wasn't that he didn't trust Levi around Petra, but he just… wanted to check. Tiptoeing carefully he sidled up to the door and peeked in.

Petra was making stir-fry with noodles and had Levi sitting at the kitchen table chopping vegetables. He was only half-focused on chopping but even so his slices were far more symmetrical than Eren ever could make them, and had a slightly bemused air about him, like he had no idea how he'd gotten into this situation.

From the snippets of conversation, he and Petra appeared to be discussing cooking.

"I feel like I never have enough time to cook," Petra said. "Though Eren probably wouldn't mind having pizza every day."

"I cook," Levi said. "Most days I don't have much to do, so I might as well."

"Makes sense, though isn't it lonely cooking for one?"

"No. And I like being alone."

"If you say so! Here, what do you think?" Petra speared a mushroom and held it to Levi's mouth whose eyes flickered in a panic between her and the mushroom. He opened his mouth, probably to object, and Petra popped the fork in. Levi made a noise of protest but didn't have much choice about chewing and swallowing.

"Good," he said, but he sounded completely distracted, and his wide eyes were fixed on Petra as if he'd never really seen her before.

Eren backed away. It was better not to get caught eavesdropping, and for some reason he didn't like the scene. Didn't like how easily Petra mothered Levi the same way she would Eren, and didn't like how Levi was looking at her. It left a slightly sour taste in the back of his throat, and he didn't know why.

This was what they wanted, wasn't it? Levi connecting to them? Eren was just being stupid.


Despite being completely sure that Levi was a good guy and wouldn't hurt him, Eren didn't actually sleep very well in the same room with him. He dreamed, sometimes, that Levi tried to kill him, that he opened his eyes and saw his own face smirking evilly back at him above a knife in his chest. He dreamed once that Levi turned into a giant and ate Petra, grinning with the deranged, mindless glee that Eren had seen on the faces of transformed people. His mother's broken body flashed before his eyes and he jerked awake in a cold sweat.

"You okay, kid?" a voice came in the darkness and Eren's heart practically jumped out through his mouth before he remembered that it was Levi, and this normal Levi was definitely an okay guy and wouldn't be attacking him any time soon.

"Don't you ever sleep?" Eren returned. Levi went quiet.

"Your breathing is loud," he said after a few seconds. "I told you, I'm not used to being around people, and it's worse in the dark. Imagine trying to sleep with Darth Vader breathing in your ear. It's like that."

Eren snorted. "I do not breathe that loudly."

"I was giving an example for demonstration purposes," Levi growled. "Don't be an idiot."

The darkness felt warmer somehow, as the dreams faded back into his subconscious. "You know what they did to my mom?"

"I bet I'm about to find out."

"You're not," Eren said sulkily. "Forget it." He glowered up into the darkness.

"Hey," Levi said quietly after an eternity of silence. "It's not… you shouldn't give people ammunition to use against you. Being in a lab is something most people can't understand. You can try to explain a thousand times but they'll never know what it's like to be a helpless lab rat."

"The Scouts understand me," Eren said staunchly.

"No." Levi's tone brooked no argument. "They try. Nobody can understand. One day they'll see that inside you're not who they think you are and they'll turn away. They'll get scared when they realize you're really the monster the lab wanted you to be all along."

Eren opened his mouth ready to retort with a thousand arguments, furious that Levi dared say that about Petra, about the rest of the Scouts – when he wondered if Levi was talking about him at all.

"If you believe that, you're letting them win," Eren replied fiercely. "You can be whoever you want to be!"

"God, you watch too much TV," Levi groaned. Eren was thankful the darkness hid his sheepish smile.

"So do you," he said, remembering the empty house with its miles of books and entertainment that didn't depend on meeting other people.

"Not TV so much," Levi admitted grudgingly, "but touché."

"What do you do with all the money?" Eren asked before he could stop himself. "I thought you'd be living in a castle or something."

Levi swallowed thickly in the darkness. "I do what I can."

"That's not an answer."

"It's all you're getting," Levi said. His tone had gone flat and cold. Obviously the money issue was something delicate. "You should sleep, you've got school tomorrow."

"Don't you mother me too ," Eren groaned. "You're supposed to be a copy of me, not Petra!"

And there, he wasn't imagining it – a snort of what might have been laughter from Levi's side of the room. Eren grinned up at the ceiling, a small flush of success warming his chest. Levi wasn't nearly so cold as he tried to seem. Maybe Commander's crazy plan had some chance of actual success.


Auruo did come that week, and he brought with him a huge bag of groceries.

"Auruo!" Petra scolded. "We aren't destitute!"

"You're feeding three people in this house, and I only have to feed one. And Levi's not your responsibility anyway, you shouldn't have to shoulder the cost."

With only slight reluctance she accepted the bag, already eyeing its contents. "Commander's entire house got trashed, according to Bloodhound, and I don't see you giving him handouts."

"Commander has Bloodhound to nag him, I don't see why I have to."

"You don't know where his house is, anyway." Petra retorted. "Oooh, you got some pumpkin! I love pumpkin."

From Auruo's slight smile, he'd remembered very well how much Petra liked it.

"How's the invalid?"

"Ask Eren, he's the one who sees him all the time. Baked pumpkin for dinner it is!"

Auruo sighed and turned his attention to Eren, as Petra was more concerned with food at the moment.

"He's in my room, you can go talk to him," Eren said, looking up from where he was doing homework on the kitchen table. Levi seemed so uncomfortable when other people were around that he didn't want to bother him more than necessary.

Maybe springing Auruo on Levi like that wasn't a good idea… Eren quickly dropped his pencil and followed, in time to hear their exchange.

"Hey!" Levi said, uncharacteristically animated. "You could knock, you know! I was trying to sleep."

"Don't be so prickly, geez, I was just checking up on you."

"I'm fine," he sounded baffled, now. "Did something happen?"

"You faking it or what?" Auruo retorted.

"I dunno what –"

Eren rounded the corner then, to see Levi sitting up in bed, looking much more alive than usual. The characteristic sourness was gone from his face, his expression open and confused, looking – kind of like Eren, actually. Then Levi caught sight of Eren and he scowled and dropped the act, his features almost rearranging themselves and shoulders slumping, and the startling similarity to Eren vanished.

Taking your place , Eren thought with a sudden chill.

"The fuck is this clown?" Levi groused. "Why are you dumping surprises on me? I thought he was the fucking social worker or something."

"You met me at the hospital," Auruo said.

"I remember a bunch of loons in spandex, was I supposed to recognize you?"

Eren listened to them sniping at each other, though with each round Levi reacted slower. His mind was humming around the fact that Levi had apparently been trying to protect him, again, no matter what he said to the contrary.

The form this protection had taken, though… Of course it made sense that Levi would pretend to be Eren. He'd kind of assumed that might have to happen at some point, but he hadn't taken into account just how creepy it was.

Levi had only been here a few days, and he'd already observed Eren enough to mimic him this much. What could he do given more time? Would he ever be able to fool the other Scouts, if he wanted to? Could he fool Mikasa and Armin?

Eren backed away, leaving an increasingly tired Levi to his sniping with Auruo, though he knew he should probably break them up. He just needed to back away for a few minutes and be somewhere he didn't have to look at Levi.

He knew Levi wasn't a bad guy, was totally sure of it, but… Annie had been good once, too. So had Bertholdt and Reiner. Scared people made bad decisions, Eren knew, and what if for Levi this was enough to push him over the edge? Three months was a long time. It was one thing now when he was bedridden, but what would they do later? Would Levi go back to his own home? Would he do what he said, and just vanish?

Would he try to kill the witnesses, thinking there was no way out? Once he could shift again, it wasn't just Eren that he'd know how to mimic – it was all of them. And while he couldn't duplicate their abilities, none of them would be expecting a sneak attack from each other-

Eren shook his head furiously to get rid of those thoughts. He believed in Levi, who had twice now tried to protect him. He had to.

Still… he found it hard to fall asleep that night, and when he finally did, he dreamed he was chasing after Petra, who was walking beside Levi and laughing. When they entered the house she locked the door in Eren's face, and wouldn't open it no matter how hard he banged. Rage flooding him, Eren bit his hand and jerked awake in bed, panting.

From the other side of the room he could hear breathing, too rapid to be asleep.

"Levi?" he whispered. "Are you awake?"

There was a long silence, though to be fair Eren hadn't really expected Levi not to ignore him.

"No," Levi whispered back. "Shut the fuck up."


In the light of day, between arguing with Jean at school and dragging Mikasa to the soccer field at recess to trounce one of the other classes, the fears seemed rather silly. Levi would never be able to fool Mikasa, he thought, and Armin was sharp. They'd definitely know if something happened to Eren. And why would Levi want to replace him? It was stupid, that's what. He didn't have anything Levi would want-

-except friends, and a family, and a team he could trust, assuming Levi wanted those things.

But in that case, the solution was showing Levi that if he wanted friends he could have them as himself. He didn't need to be Eren for that to happen.

With that thought firmly in mind Eren decided to chivvy Levi into the living room and a friendly game of something when he got home from school. Levi was surprisingly compliant, apparently bored out of his mind even though he had a small stack of books by his bed.

So Eren helped him over to the sofas across from the large television and then made several trips back and forth bringing blankets and pillows until Levi was satisfied. The next problem: what to play.

Eren immediately pulled out the latest Mortal Kombat.

"Not that."

"Huh?" Eren looked up to see Levi frowning at him. "Why not? It's great for two. It'll be fun."

"I don't want to play it, okay?"

"Fine, fine…" He set Mortal Kombat down and reached for something else. "How about Guilty Gear?"

"No. I don't like fighting games, don't you have anything else?"

"Huh? Why?" slipped out before Eren could consider why this wasn't the best question to ask.

"Stupid bloody minded kid," Levi snapped. "Isn't fighting in real life enough for you?"

Eren cocked his head. "No?" he ventured. "It's not the same. This is fun, and nobody dies. It's not realistic, either, I mean half the stuff they do is impossible without superpowers, and not in the fireball-throwing sense, more like bodies don't work that way." He knew he was rambling, but at least Levi looked less… dark, now, and was going back to his default of looking as if the world was too stupid for words. "And the costumes and weapons are funny, too, even superheroes don't dress like that."

"You wear spandex."

"That's only us cheap ones," Eren said. "Most everybody has reinforced fibers. I'm saving up for my own suit."

"Huh, that explains it," Levi said cryptically, but didn't expand. Eren went back to scanning his collection.

"Mario Kart!" he crowed. "Wanna play that?" At Levi's nod he tossed him a controller and loaded the game.

"Ready to lose?" Eren needled.

"Bring it, kid," Levi replied, eyes glued to the screen and the controller easy in his hands.

Levi won.

"Were you even trying?" Levi asked archly as they headed for the next level.

"I'm getting warmed up," Eren grumbled, and then proceeded to lose steadily for the next hour and a half. Levi threw one game just to mock him, which led to Eren throwing a pillow at him and getting one of Levi's in his face.

"Not all of us can spend all day playing video games," Eren complained at him.

"Jealous?" Levi replied, leaning back on the couch and looking far more relaxed than he had earlier. "Though, really. I tried to go easy on you-"

"You totally didn't. I saw your face, you liar."

"I'm sorry you feel that way."

"You're a terrible winner."

"You'd be no better."

Maybe Eren wouldn't, but– He opened his mouth to protest and got a look at Levi's face, oddly open and cheerful, looking more like a mirror than he should. "Quit making that face, it's not funny," he said, managing to keep himself from snapping.

The expression dropped off Levi's face in a flash. "What face?"

Eren rolled his eyes in annoyance. Like he was going to fall for the innocent act, and he wouldn't have answered but Levi grabbed his sleeve and practically shook his arm. Eren noticed absently how weak his grip was and reminded himself that Levi wasn't a threat right now.

"That one you make when you're trying to look like me, don't do it. It was one thing with Auruo, but it gives me the creeps."

"Oh." The word fell flat between them, and Eren suddenly thought that it probably sounded ungrateful, since Levi'd tried to protect him then.

"I mean," Eren hurried to add, but Levi overrode him. The quality of his voice was different now from how it'd been during the game, too.

"Sorry." Levi wouldn't meet his eyes, staring off stonily into the distance. "Excuse me for having your face. I'll go back to the room so you don't have to look at me anymore."

This was all wrong. "That's not what I meant," Eren said and watched helplessly as Levi picked himself up and began trying to untangle from the blankets. "Let me help you-"

"No!" Levi shoved at his reaching hands with what strength as he could muster, which wasn't much, but Eren let him. "Just stay away from me, how many times to I have to tell you? Are you stupid? How difficult is it to just live your fucking life and leave me to mine?"

"Fine!" Eren snapped. "Do whatever you want!" Deliberately he turned back to the television, picked up his controller, and started a game against the computer. He refused to look, even when Levi stumbled and struggled to drag his blanket back to bed, clearly in pain. He didn't look when Levi came back a second time to take the pillows.

Finally, Levi vanished into the room and didn't come out again. Eren did his homework in the living room, though he couldn't help shooting glances towards the hallway, wondering if he should go and talk to him.

But he didn't go, and Levi didn't come out until dinner.


Petra immediately noticed that something was wrong. Probably because, as she said at dinner, "So Eren's sulking and Levi looks like a little stormcloud. What happened today?"

"I'm not sulking," Eren said, and chased peas diligently around his plate. From the corner of his eye he saw that Levi had separated the peas, carrots, and mashed potatoes into separate piles, none touching the other, before proceeding to carefully spear a piece of cooked carrot on his fork. He didn't answer Petra at all.

Petra sighed. "I'm sure whatever it was was just a misunderstanding," she said with forced cheer. "Levi, how do you feel?"

Levi set down his fork and looked at her, pointedly avoiding Eren's eyes. "I should leave."

Eren's stomach plummeted to somewhere around his feet. He knew Levi had gotten angry at him, but he had no idea why. He found himself on his feet. "It was just a stupid game!" he burst out. "And you won!"

For the first time in what felt like hours Levi looked directly at Eren, and though he'd kind of gotten used to Levi looking like him-but-not, he was struck again with the weird feeling of seeing something that wasn't him behind his own eyes.

"I'm sure Eren didn't mean whatever he said," Petra said anxiously. "He's a teenager, he mostly doesn't think before he talks – though part of that is just him, you know-"

"It's not that," Levi said. He looked conflicted for a moment, played with his fork and pushed his food into even neater piles. Then he set the fork down again and straightened his back, set his jaw. "Eren said I was acting like him. See, usually when I transform into something organic my brain mostly stays the same. It's why rocks and stuff are hard to maintain for too long – my thinking slows down. Thinking as a rock or as a piece of metal is… weird. Since I got Eren's blood, I transformed into a complete duplicate of his. That means I'm using Eren's brain, too, instead of my own. I don't know what that's going to do to me." He delivered the entire speech coolly, but his eyes were just a bit wild. "Like Eren said, it's only been a few days, and I'm already influenced by him. If I stay here longer, if I forget who I am," he paused, swallowed thickly, "how will I ever turn back?"

Eren flopped back into his chair with a thump, heart thudding in his chest. Levi hadn't been doing it on purpose? "But with Auruo-"

"I was trying then, but dammit kid, I'm not that good of an actor. You should have seen his face – he nearly bought it, for a second. That's not normal. I've barely known you for a fucking week." Levi took a deep breath and looked back at Petra. "So you see, I gotta- Fuck. I have to get out of here."

"Levi. Calm down." Petra set down her silverware and fixed him with a stern glance. "So you're a teenager now, you've got teenage hormones and Eren's brain. Stop panicking and give me the worst case scenario. Obviously you can't materialize Eren's memories, so you can't totally become him."

Somehow, it worked. Levi took a breath and got control of himself. "Worst case is I stop being me, and you get to find out what Eren would be like if he grew up like me. Or something like that."

Eren shuddered. Watching Levi mimic him was bad enough, but imagining Levi forced to become him… and all because Eren gave his blood… Eren might have killed before, but he'd never done something like this. He'd never forced somebody to wait and watch as their personality was slowly erased. "I'm sorry," he managed. "I didn't know – if I'd known –"

"Would you have let me die?" Levi sounded genuinely curious, voice odd and slightly flat, and he fixed Eren with his own intense green eyes.

Would he have let Levi die if he'd known this would happen? But, did they know for sure that it was going to? Eren considered his answer carefully, as if it were a test. Maybe it was. He thought about being himself but not, and wondered who that would make him. People changed naturally over time, of course, and he wasn't the same as he was ten years ago, but still… if somebody else's personality got transplanted into his brain, Eren Yeager wouldn't exist anymore. "Isn't it kind of like dying anyway?"

"Oh for goodness' sake!" Petra burst in, making everybody flinch. "Die this, die that, get a grip, boys! Levi, act your age! Eren, stop being a drama queen! Levi's solution is a good one. Let's get him out of the house a bit and not spending so much time with Eren and see what happens. Obviously you're enjoying planning a grand funeral for Levi's charming personality, but you guys are seriously jumping the shark here. You're pole-vaulting the damn shark! Now eat your dinner before it gets any colder!"

A bit sheepish, Eren moved to do as he was told, but Levi frowned at her, not yet mollified, reminding Eren that Levi wasn't a kid, no matter what he might look like.

"What's your solution, then? Will you let me go home, finally?"

"Stop acting like a misunderstood innocent," Petra said in a sudden shift of mood, gesturing dangerously with her fork. "When you attacked Commander you lost the right to freedom. We're vigilantes. We don't do law, here – we do justice, and that means people like you don't get to be out on the streets. But I can tell you that this is way cushier than a jail cell. So stop whining!" A curl of fire licked from her outflung fingertips in emphasis. Levi stared at her, pale and thin-lipped.

"Understood," he said. It was evidently meant to come out crisp, but it sounded hollow to Eren's ears. Petra's anger softened immediately and she bit her lip, but Levi didn't see, because he wouldn't look up.

When told he would be going to stay with Commander, Levi just nodded.


It was funny how they kept having conversations at night in the dark, Eren thought, but maybe it made sense. In the dark, he didn't have to look at Levi's face and think about how much like himself he looked. His voice didn't sound much like Eren's to his ears, so he could imagine that Levi looked like himself and not like Eren, recall the short, pale man he'd met in that sterile house.

With the room lit only by streetlights from the windows everything felt a bit surreal, as if nothing they said was as real as words spoken in the light of day. As if things they said might remain hidden in the dark, with no consequences to hound them later. So it didn't surprise Eren when Levi's quiet voice spoke out of the blackness, and he might have been waiting for it.

"Don't fret," Levi said. "I don't even know what it means, having my personality changed. It's not like I can feel it happening. I guess it doesn't really matter, if you think about it like that."

Eren waited to answer, took a deep breath to make sure his voice would hold steady when he replied. "Why are you lying to make me feel better?"

"Not everything is fucking about you," Levi said tightly. "Thanks for helping me work up some denial here."

"Sorry," Eren gulped. "I just… I can't okay? I can't say it doesn't matter." It made him sick to his stomach, just thinking about it. Because… if Levi turning into somebody else didn't matter, it meant that Levi as a unique human being didn't matter. And if Levi's existence was worthless, wasn't all of theirs? Weren't they all just as easily replaceable?

"Nobody's even going to miss me," Levi said.

"I will," Eren said.

A soft groan reached Eren's ears in the darkness. " Seriously ?"

Eren glared at the dark ceiling. "It was a stupid thing to say. What else did you expect me to reply?"

"It's true, though," Levi insisted. "I don't have any friends. I don't have – family."

Eren didn't miss the slight hesitation before the last word, but he didn't comment on it.

"It doesn't matter," Eren said hotly. "You don't exist so that people will miss you when you're gone. You exist in order to do something in the world. If you stop being you, then no matter what something's going to be missing."

"I don't think it'll be a great loss," Levi replied. "Remember the part where I'm a supervillain?"

"It's hard to forget. You mention it like every five minutes."

Levi fell silent again, and Eren searched desperately for something to say. Levi was leaving tomorrow and Eren had so many issues he didn't know how to solve. He was no longer afraid of Levi taking his place because he felt too sorry for Levi to be angry about it, but there were so many other things. Levi had been here a week and while Eren was fond of Levi and wanted to play more games with him, maybe train with him, maybe go on missions with him – he couldn't evade the spectre of Levi's past and the awful things he kept talking about having done. So who was Levi? Was he the dry, sarcastic, miserable guy sharing a room with Eren? Or was he the supervillain who sold guns to African countries?

Eren wanted to believe it was the former, wanted desperately for Levi to understand that he was good and good people didn't do stuff like that, to make him turn away from his past and never look back, and he'd only had a week to try and make it happen. A week was nothing. Commander was right; Levi had a soft spot for Eren, but now Eren wouldn't be able to see him anymore.

There had to be something else he could say, something…

"Look at the bright side," he told the darkness, and wished he could see Levi's face. "When you were out, at first they were going to have Auruo match his blood to yours."

Levi let out an odd strangled sound, and a grin split Eren's face from ear to ear. He'd made Levi laugh.