Welp, I finally figured out the actual name for the description of what Erwin looked like in my head. So now I've got to go back and edit that chapter where I said he was a ginger. Because it was not what my brain image was actually called. And it was Armin that made that comment, and he works in a vet's office. He's supposed to know this kind of stuff!

ASIDE FROM THAT,

I hope you all enjoyed the fluff in the last chapter, because it's back to business. The fluff is really all about character development that gives a bit more depth to the actual story, which, when I explained it on its own, is really very plain. I guess I could call this sort of a journal of all the highlights of Eren's life with Levi. That sounds kind of like a sitcom title. Life with Levi. Someone should probably be writing this down.

TUMBLR TIME. asking-appelia is my author blog, where at this point I post more random crap than anything else, since that's all I really have time to do. I hate school sometimes. I'm also tracking the tag "fic: the october story" just in case anyone decides they want to do any fan things for it. I hope someone will at some point, since the story's gotten a pretty good reception. But, so far it's been sort of... eh.

I'm going to shut up now. Story time.


It was raining again on Thursday.

Eren looked outside at the sheets of rain splattering against the window as he leaned against the kitchen counter. The sky outside was gray and the world still dark, even though it was almost eight. He'd have to go out there in half an hour. His classes started at nine that day. A shudder ran down his spine at the thought. He was going to get soaked the second he stepped out the door.

"It's quite a downpour out there," he said. He turned to the little black cat sitting across from him on the counter. "Guess you're going to have to stay in today," he added with a smirk.

Levi stared deadenedly at Eren and turned his ears back. He didn't seem amused. Then again, he never did.

"Come on. You were out all day yesterday. Don't you get tired? Or cold, or lost, or... anything?"

The cat bent his head and raised a paw to lick it and rub it over his face.

"If you go outside, you're probably going to get really dirty."

Levi stopped mid-lick and looked up at Eren.

"There's gonna be a lot of mud out there," he said, clasping his hands around his tea mug. "And you know what the weather's been getting like lately. It's probably freezing." He took a leisurely sip. "Just saying."

The cat looked at him for a moment longer, then went back to cleaning himself as if he hadn't said anything in the first place. Once that was finished, he jumped down from the counter and dashed off to Mikasa's room. Eren stared after him and sighed. He'd stopped trying to keep Levi out of there. It didn't seem like he could make him stop going back. He quietly dropped his gaze back to the countertop, poked at the scrambled eggs on his plate and shoveled a forkful into his mouth. Levi had finished off his tea saucer of eggs and left the miniature plate for Eren to pick up. For a cat as clean as he was, he certainly expected Eren to do a lot of his dirty work.

"You can open doors, you can undo your collar, you can fucking read," Eren muttered to himself as he picked up the plate and stuck it into the dishwasher, "so why can't you do the dishes, if you're so goddamn intelligent?"

He finished his own breakfast and dropped the plate in after Levi's saucer. After draining the rest of his tea and setting the kettle up to make another dose of caffeine to take to class, he went back to his room. He still hadn't gotten dressed. Something in him was just feeling really behind schedule that morning. Levi walked in while he was digging through his drawers for something socially acceptable to wear. He watched while Eren changed, and sure, it still felt uncomfortable, but Eren didn't see any reason why it did. It was far from the first time it had happened. And at that point, Eren was pretty sure there wasn't anything he could do about it anymore.

Once he was dressed, he went about getting his school things together, fixing the rat's nest that was supposed to be his hair, and putting together the insulated travel cup of English breakfast that would help him stay awake through that day's lecture in literary analysis.

He almost tripped over Levi while he was running back and forth.

Eren let out a startled cry as his socks slipped on the floor and he went stumbling forward. His hands shot out in front of him. They caught the edge of the kitchen counter and brought his fall to a sudden stop. A second more and his head would have hit it instead.

"Jesus, Levi!" Eren scolded. "You trying to kill me or something?"

"Meow," Levi replied coolly.

Eren straightened himself back up and glared at the cat before glancing at the time again, running back to his room and grabbing his backpack and keys. Levi followed him as he dashed to the door, then weaved around his legs and scampered out into the foyer.

"Levi!" Eren shouted, running down the stairs after the restless cat and leaving the door to his apartment open behind him. Levi was standing by the outside door, holding his tail high and bumping his head against the varnished wood. Eren sighed and crouched down to his level. The cat looked expectantly up at him and nuzzled the door one more time for good measure.

"It's raining, Levi. You can't go outside today. I'm sorry," Eren said firmly.

"Meow," Levi shot back, his ears turned back in indignation.

"You wouldn't want to be out there anyway. It's all wet and gross."

"Meow!"

Eren pressed his lips into a tight, conflicted line and glanced back up at the still-open apartment door. He turned back to Levi. "Are you sure about this?" he asked.

Levi gave the door another affirmative rub as an answer.

Eren sighed and stood up. "Okay. But I'm not going to be home all day. If you want to come back, I'm not going to be here to let you in."

Levi looked up at him and blinked slowly. Eren felt like it meant that he understood. So he went back up the stairs and pulled the apartment door shut. He gave the knob a quick twist to make sure it was locked, then went back to the front door and knelt down in front of Levi.

"Don't get lost out there, okay?" he said, giving the cat a quick scratch behind the ears.

Levi chirped in agreement, and Eren smiled. He tapped on the tarnished metal clasp of his collar. "Be sure to keep this on. You don't want people to mistake you for a stray."

Levi cocked his head at him as if he were confused. And then, Eren was laughing. He couldn't help it. The words just didn't make sense anymore. He stroked his fingers over Levi's soft, glossy black fur and his supple, strong back. He barely even resembled the scrawny creature that Eren had dragged home that day that now seemed so long ago. No, Levi definitely wasn't a stray anymore.

"Like that would even happen," Eren said. With that, he stood up, pulled the door open and stepped out into the rain, Levi following close behind.


European lit was usually an uneventful class. Thursday was no exception.

Eren tapped his pen against his notebook, which was already halfway filled with notes after only two months of school. He would have to be getting a new one soon if he wanted to have enough space for the rest of the year. Almost all of the work was assigned as homework. Classtime usually consisted of discussions and not much else. Eren had finished Les Miserables just in time for the due date. It always took him too long to get through books. He liked reading. There was no question about that. He just didn't like having a deadline for it and then a million analytical questions to answer afterward. Sadly, that was all the professor seemed to be concerned about.

"So, in that sense, Fantine's sacrifice for Cosette sort of represents the futility of the whole revolution," Armin said definitively, finishing off his point in his usual I-think-this-is-right-but-not-if-the-professor-disagrees fashion.

"That's a good observation. I don't think anyone else has put things into that perspective before," the professor, a slightly scruffy-looking man in owl-eyed glasses, replied. "However, you shouldn't be so equivocal. If you have a point, you need to argue it."

Armin nodded, his face flushing a nervous shade of pink. "Okay."

Eren looked back down at his notes and quickly scribbled down a few words. Fantine's sacrifice = futile revolution.

"Eren," a soft voice whispered. "Hey, Eren."

Eren stopped scribbling in his notebook and glanced over at the seat next to him. Another student had started speaking, explaining some theory about the significance of Javert's quest for unjust justice, and he wasn't really listening. Armin was looking at him, his eyes looking a little bluer than usual.

"Yeah?" Eren replied quietly. The professor didn't seem to be paying much attention to them. He probably didn't care very much about what happened in his class, so long as the discussion kept going and everyone accomplished what they were supposed to.

"Earlier today, I was thinking..," he began. He glanced warily up at the professor before going on. "You know, Halloween is coming up soon."

Eren nodded. "And?"

"You want to go out after class and maybe, I don't know, get some decorations or something?"

Eren stared blankly at him. "Armin, you know I can't afford decorations." Not since I took Levi home, anyway, he thought bitterly.

"I never said you had to buy any," Armin explained. "I just wanted to get into the spirit of things. I mean, it's going to be Halloween in less than two weeks. Normally I'd have everything up by now, but with classes and work at the vet and everything, I just haven't had the time."

"Couldn't you have just taken decorations from your grandpa's house or something?"

"You think I would steal holiday decorations from my own grandpa?"

Eren suppressed a laugh. "Why not?"

"Because I didn't, that's why," Armin tossed back with a smile. "I've got some leftover money from the vet job. I've already set aside the rent and food expenses and everything else. There's a pretty decent amount left. And since I don't have much to do today..." He left an expectant blank space at the end, waiting for Eren to fill it.

"I don't know," Eren said hesitantly, flipping his pencil around in his fingers. "I could take off of work for today if I make it up this weekend, I guess."

"So... is that a yes?" Armin ventured.

Eren looked over at him and then back at his notes. He still had a bit of work left to finish for that week, and knowing his professors, they would probably assign him something new before the weekend started. But he figured that it could wait a few hours. He could afford to push it off for just a little longer, if it meant he got to spend time with Armin.

"Sure," he conceded. "Fine. I guess we could go, if we don't stay out too long."

A smile broke out on Armin's face. "Awesome. See you after biochemistry, then?"

"So that's what you have then."

"Yeah," Armin said, cocking an eyebrow. "You didn't know that?"

"Did you memorize my schedule?"

"Nope." Armin dropped his expression and went back to his notes.

"So... around three, then?"

His friend glanced back over and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds about right."


Eren had almost completely forgotten about the Halloween season. He was glad that Armin had reminded him.

Time had been passing by him differently ever since he had started college. Back when he had free time and wasn't living on his own, Halloween had been one of his favorite times of the year. Key point in case, when he had free time. He didn't anymore. He barely had time to eat, shower and get an adequate amount of sleep anymore. He had stopped paying attention to which holidays were when after the halfway point of his first year. He couldn't worry about that sort of thing anymore, now that he had classes, a job and his own apartment to balance and maintain. But somehow Armin had managed to fit it in. It was nice of him to invite Eren along for the ride.

And then there was Armin.

Eren hadn't made many friends after starting college. Armin hadn't, either. Something about the combination of his volatile temper and his friend's social anxiety really hadn't done much for either of their social lives. That was probably the only reason they tried so hard to stick together over the past year. They didn't really have anyone else.

Life hadn't been putting this much strain on their friendship since junior year of high school. He thought that living in the same building would let them see each other more often, but apparently it didn't matter how close together they lived if they were always busy. It had been a while since he had been able to hang out with Armin for more than a few hours at a time. He took just about every chance he had to spend some time with him. One reason for that was simply because there was no one else to spend it with. But even more than that, he wanted to. It sucked that he hardly had time to be with his friend outside of class anymore.

The rain stopped just before two and dissipated into a fine mist. Eren met Armin outside of the Rose dorms, right between the building Armin's biochem lab and the lecture hall where Eren's US history class held presentations. From there, they left campus and set out into town to try and find something worthwhile to stick to the house and make it look festive. After almost an hour of wandering around town, stopping in the smaller stores and looking through an endless array of overpriced Halloween merchandise neither student had any intention of buying, they eventually found their way into a Walgreens and headed straight for the seasonal section. More time was spent trying on masks, looking at costumes they wouldn't be wearing, and a considerable amount went to messing around with a couple of life-sized plastic skeletons, propping them up and scaring people in other aisles. Eventually they decided to stop before they were caught and kicked out of the store. Armin settled on buying a few packages of wall clings, one of the skeletons he'd abused and a bag of cobwebs that he insisted on sharing with Eren. He also picked up a little plastic Trick or Treat sign and a string of orange fairy lights for the front of the house. The entire haul made Eren wonder exactly how much Armin had left over from his paycheck. Then again, his best friend had always been smarter with money than he was. If he wanted to keep his bank account in order, Eren had to avoid shopping at all costs (literally).

They propped the skeleton up between them like it was their drunk friend on the walk back. It earned them a few stares from people passing by in the street, but that was the all the fun of it. When they reached the porch of the split-level, Armin took the skeleton from Eren's shoulder and let his friend take the single bag of decorations so he could have a free hand to unlock the door.

"What the hell are you going to do with that thing?" Eren asked, looking back at the big plastic corpse prop that was almost the size of his friend's whole body.

"Not sure," Armin replied, shifting the thing up on his shoulder. "Probably just stick it somewhere and pose it or something."

The lock clicked, and Eren pushed the door open. "I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to have that thing hanging around in my apartment at night."

"Yeah. That might be a bad surprise. Maybe in the foyer, then?"

"That's kind of small. Besides, who's gonna see it there?"

"Hm. Good point." Armin stepped inside and nudged the door closed with his foot. "Maybe we could put a chair out on the porch and prop it up there." His eyes lit up with festive spirit. "And it can hold a bowl of candy when trick or treaters come by! What do you think about that?"

"But we didn't get any trick or treaters last year," Eren pointed out.

"That's because we didn't leave anything out. Besides, we weren't even here. We were at that party Jean was hosting at his place off campus, remember?"

"You mean the one where he got drunk and wouldn't stop grinding on Mikasa and I woke up locked in a closet the next morning?" Eren cringed. " I'd really rather not."

Armin laughed as he dug through his pocket for his keys. "Come on. It couldn't have been that bad."

"I couldn't get my spine back to normal for a week!"

"Okay, maybe the closet thing was a little unpleasant. But the Sharpie messages everyone wrote on your face were pretty hilarious."

Eren sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. "Can we not talk about this?"

"Fine, fine, whatever," Armin said, though he made no effort to conceal the mischievous smile on his face. "Hey, do you want to take the cobwebs up to your apartment first?"

Eren glanced at the bag looped over his wrist. "I thought you wanted to use them."

"I do. But I think I've got enough decorations to go around." He made a point of readjusting the skeleton on his shoulder. "You take however much you want, and then I'll use whatever's left. The bags can always cover a lot more than they seem like they will."

Eren thought about his proposition for a second while Armin unlocked his door. The hinges squeaked as it swung open, and he peered past his friend through the doorway to see Erwin sitting leisurely on the back of the couch. The huge cat jumped down from his perch and scampered to the door to say hello. Armin smiled at him and leaned the skeleton against the wall to crouch down and scratch his ears..

"Okay," Eren finally agreed. "Just let me drop it off upstairs. I'll be right back."

He turned away and dashed up the stairs to his door, the Walgreens bag bouncing on his wrist. He dug his keys out of his pocket again and walked into his apartment. He dropped them on the counter alongside the bag. He was back in the building now. He'd be just downstairs. He could probably leave the apartment unlocked. With that thought in mind, he pushed aside the other decorations in the bag to dig up the cobwebs. He had to think of somewhere to put them. He couldn't right then. He would cross that bridge when he got to it, in other words once he decided that he had the time to put them up.

Eren never noticed the tiny black shadow that crept out of his room and out into the apartment. Not until it issued a low growl and broke into a dead sprint for the open door.

Eren spun around, his eyes wide, just in time to see Levi speeding past him.

How the hell did he get in here?

"Levi!" he heard himself scream. He abandoned the Walgreens bag on the kitchen counter and took off after the cat. By then, the creature was already out the door and barreling down the stairs, headed straight for...

Eren's nerves froze. Armin's apartment. Had he left the door open, or...

A sudden cry from downstairs answered his question quickly enough.

Eren raced out of his apartment and back down the stairs, kicking his door shut on the way. He burst into Armin's apartment. The door was still standing open, just as he'd suspected. His friend was standing in the living room with his back against the wall, staring down at the floor in the middle of the apartment. Eren followed his wide, bewildered gaze and found two cats, one huge and pale, the other tiny and dark, standing mere feet apart on the area rug.

Levi had dropped into a fighting stance, his back threateningly arched and his legs crouched underneath him, ready to spring him forward at a moment's notice. His ears were flattened over the top of his head, his pupils blown up into menacing black pools and his normally sleek fur standing on end. He dug his unsheathed claws into the carpet and let out a livid growl. It was meant to intimidate the large, cream-colored cat standing across from him. But Erwin didn't seem fazed. His stance seemed tense, a little defensive, but otherwise he was relatively calm. His fur was still smooth while Levi's was fluffed up in agitation, his pupils small and his ears and whiskers standing straight. Erwin's clear blue eyes stared ahead into the stormy silver venom in Levi's. They were still for now, but it wouldn't last. Eren knew that much. He looked over at Armin, who took his gaze away from the standoffish cats just long enough to stare despondently back.

"Do something!" Eren murmured harshly.

"I-I can't," Armin stuttered in reply. His eyes bounced back and forth between his friend and his cat.

"Why not?"

"It- It all happened too fast! I left my door open for literally twenty seconds, and when I turned around, he had just appeared out of nowhere and they were standing like that-"

"And you can't step in or anything?"

Armin shook his head feverishly. "I don't know. I could try but... I-I don't want to risk it."

Eren turned to his friend, the tension suddenly morphing into confusion. "Risk it?" he murmured. "Risk what?"

Armin opened his mouth to answer, and Levi struck before he could say anything.

A rage-filled screech rang out in the room as one cat hurled himself at the other like a small, furry projectile. Erwin's stance faltered for a second, his eyes widening, before he skittered out of the way. Levi landed inches away from him on the rug, dug his claws in and launched himself forward again. The larger cat tried to dodge him again, but his efforts failed as Levi's extended claws caught his side and dug into his skin. Eren saw Armin's cat visibly wince in pain before shaking himself loose.

"Erwin!" Armin cried out, his voice a panicked squeak. He dove into the fray on the area rug, his arms outstretched to push the two militant cats apart. Immediately Levi spun around and spat furiously at the intervening human. His claws lashed out, Armin didn't move fast enough, and a split second later his hand had been slashed open. The blonde let out a short, sudden cry and reeled back, clutching his hand.

"Oh my god!" Eren shouted, dashing to Armin's side. "Oh my god. Armin. Armin, are you okay?" He grabbed his friend's wrist and pulled his one hand away from the other. Armin winced and inhaled sharply through his teeth. Blood was welling up from three clean scratches carved into his skin.

Eren glanced over at the cats, still fighting on the rug. Armin let out another small, muted noise of pain, and Eren noticed Erwin's ear twitch towards the sound. The cat broke his focus from the fight just long enough to see his human companion kneeling a few feet away on the rug. He noticed the blood as well, oozing from his hand where his adversary had scratched it. As soon as the image registered, things changed. Erwin's ears turned out sideways. He turned his head back and growled at Levi, his expression turned to one of pure anger. The fighting started again, the two cats hissing and swiping wildly at each other. They rolled across the floor, and Levi somehow managed to push Erwin around the corner of the couch. The smaller cat hissed, dug his claws into the rug and readied himself to pounce again.

He didn't even make it an inch off the ground before Erwin's huge paw came down on the back of his neck. Levi let out a startled shriek and was dragged behind the couch.

Everything turned ominously quiet after that.

For a second, the world around Eren froze. His eyes went wide, his mouth dropped open or its own accord. His fingers unintentionally tightened on Armin's wrist. His friend murmured something, but he couldn't hear it. He was fixated on the rug, and that corner of the couch. On the space where his cat had been standing. On whatever the hell had just happened between him and Erwin.

Levi...

Eren's heart was in his throat for an agonizing second. Then an irate growl drifted up from the other side of the couch. He could barely contain the sigh of relief that slipped from his lungs.

Eren let go of Armin's wrist and the two students got up from the floor and raced each other to the couch. Eren knelt back down on the rug and peered around the corner while Armin perched himself on the cushions and cautiously leaned over the side, keeping his hands at a safe distance from both of the cats. Not that he needed to anymore. It seemed that things had finally sorted themselves out.

Levi was on the floor, his front legs sprawled uselessly in front of him. His hind legs were bunched up under his body, stuck in a pounce-ready position but unable to move. His head was being pressed into the floor, and a pair large, cream-colored paws was resting between his shoulders, keeping him securely pinned to the rug. Erwin stood over him, watching as his small opponent struggled and lashed his tail in irritation. The larger cat didn't look very triumphant, despite his hard-won victory. If Eren had to name the look on his face, he probably would have called it concern. He was looking down at Levi, his eyes looking as clouded with worry as a cat's could. Eren could almost see the stripes on his face drawing together into a frown. He'd gotten quite good at reading cats' expressions since meeting Levi.

"What the..." Armin murmured. Levi thrashed a little under Erwin's paws and let out another irritated growl, cutting the human short.

Eren glanced up at his friend and shrugged before turning his attention to his cat. He leaned in towards the two of them and sighed. Erwin looked up at him with his watchful blue eyes. Levi did the same, his dark, livid face conveying an unmistakable message.

Make him stop.

"Armin, do you think you could, um... maybe move your cat off of my cat?"

The blonde looked warily down at Erwin and at the seething black sprawl of fur pinned under his paws. "I really don't want to stick my hands near them again."

"Fine," Eren grumbled with a heavy sigh. He leaned carefully in towards Erwin and extended a cautious hand towards him. "Can you move your feet, Erwin? I need to have Levi back now." The large cat made no protests as Eren carefully edged his hands in between him and Levi. As soon as the pressure from Erwin's paws began to lighten, he felt Levi start to squirm. Eren quickly secured his hands around Levi's slender body, yanked him off of his feet and pressed him securely against his chest. The feline struggled and twisted around to snarl at Erwin one last time, but that was it. Levi dug his claws into the fabric of Eren's shirt, and the fight was over once and for all.

With Levi's fury safely out of the way, Armin climbed over the side of the couch and settled on the rug next to Erwin. He gingerly ushered the cat closer to himself and looked him over, running his skillful fingertips over his fur as he searched for injuries. There wasn't too much damage, only a few scratches here and there. Still, Armin sighed quietly and looked at the cat with his eyebrows drawn and concern in his eyes. "Erwin..." he said quietly.

"Is it just me, or do you think there's something to all this fighting?" Eren asked.

"Hm?" Armin looked up from fawning over Erwin, surprised. "What do you mean?"

Eren stared at him for a second, his mind drawing a sudden blank. Wait a second. Did I seriously just say that out loud?

"Nothing," Eren said dejectedly. "N-never mind. Just talking to myself."

"Oh," Armin said. "I just thought it sounded interesting. I guess not, though."

The apartment was quiet for a moment, Eren struggling to hold Levi still, Armin looking Erwin over again and again to make sure that there weren't any serious injuries that he had missed.

"Maybe you should try letting Levi go," Armin said all of a sudden.

Eren started, almost losing focus and dropping Levi on the floor. "What?"

"Try putting Levi down on the floor," Armin said, rephrasing his words. "It's possible that he just had a bad reaction or something. He might be over it now. Maybe he'll be a little more agreeable, now that the aggression is out of his system."

"But if we do that, won't they just start fighting again?"

"I don't know. Maybe. We'll never know unless we try."

Levi squirmed and his claws poked at Eren's skin as he tightened his arms. "This is probably a bad idea, Armin."

"I know, just..." Armin started, then he trailed off as if he'd lost his place in a book. "Just... just try it, okay? If things start going wrong again, we'll break them up. I won't chicken out again. I promise."

Eren took a deep breath and held onto Levi as he ran the idea through his head. "Okay. But if anyone so much as growls, we are never letting these two in the same room again for as long as they live."

Armin nodded vehemently, and Eren loosened his hold on Levi. In a second, the lithe black cat had wriggled out of his grasp and landed gracefully on all four paws. He turned towards Erwin and took up his fighting stance again. Erwin didn't move in the slightest, despite Armin hovering behind him and watching the whole scene with apprehension. Eren was sure that Levi would start menacing the other cat again and he would be forced to make good on his promise. But for some reason, he never did.

For what felt like an hour, neither of the cats did a thing. Levi stood ready to spring, but remained motionless. Erwin didn't seem in the mood to fight. He simply looked at Levi with eyes that were strangely wise for a cat, his ears pricked and his whiskers forward. He looked almost as if he were waiting for the other cat to say something, and whatever it happened to be, he was willing to listen.

Levi crept closer to the larger cat, his feet moving slowly as if he were stalking prey. Erwin didn't move in the slightest. As soon as Levi noticed, he snatched the opportunity and launched forward. Eren jumped, ready to dive in between them as soon as it was necessary, Armin copying his movements in almost perfect synchronization. Levi raised a paw, claws out and ready to take another swipe at Erwin.

Erwin, on the other hand, wasn't having it. He intercepted Levi's paw with his own and swatted it aside. Eren caught a flash of anger appear in Levi's eyes, and Erwin's face seemed to harden. Then, in the same way that he had with Levi for almost the entire past month, he knew exactly what it meant.

I'm tired of doing this. Let's not fight anymore.

Levi issued a low growl as his reply. Contrary to his earlier promise, Eren didn't move to get between the two of them. He wasn't sure how, but he knew that this had to happen.

How can you even ask me to do that, after what you've done?

Erwin ventured a small step forward, and Levi dropped out of his attack position.

Can you forgive me?

The smaller cat briskly turned his head away, his eyes narrow and sharp.

Why should I?

Erwin blinked and let out a soft, sincere meow in Levi's direction.

You know why.

Levi hunched his narrow shoulders and slumped forward, staring at the floor. Erwin meowed at him again, as if he were trying to elicit some kind of response. Levi still refused to give him one. He wouldn't even look at the other cat, his livid eyes focused intently on the floor. The larger cat bent his head to the other's level and nudged his ear with the end of his nose. Levi's head twitched upright and he dug his claws into the carpet. He spat out a short, icy hiss in Erwin's face. The cream-colored cat didn't seem to care. He nudged him again, bumping his nose apologetically against his forehead. Levi turned his ears back and dropped his head to stare at the floor again. Eren guessed that it must have been some kind of surrender, since Erwin took the action as an invitation to give Levi a short lick on the forehead. The raven cat sat bolt upright at the feeling, his sharp blue eyes flashing in indignance before he turned away and retreated back to Eren's side.

"What just happened?" Eren murmured to no one in particular as Levi settled down on the rug next to his legs.

"I don't know," Armin replied slowly. "One second they're after each others' lives, and then..." He reached out and wrapped his arms around Erwin, lifting him up from the floor and relocating the both of them to the couch. The cat seemed to have no objections about sitting cordially next to the student.

"Is this something that usually happens with cats?" Eren asked absently.

"No," Armin affirmed. "Definitely not."


Eren had to go back upstairs after a few hours at Armin's. For the rest of the time he was there, Levi and Erwin were oddly tolerant of each other. At one point, all four of them had gathered on the couch at once and there wasn't even a suggestion of a conflict. The violent rivalry between the cats that had existed such a short time ago had all but disappeared.

When Eren finally gathered Levi again and headed back upstairs, his first order of business was to search the whole apartment and find out how the hell Levi had gotten back into the house in the first place, since he distinctly remembered letting him outside that morning. One of the windows in his room, the one that was missing its screen, was pushed open a few inches, there was a thin sheen of condensation on the sill. Eren wiped it away and evaluated the size of the gap. It was undoubtedly large enough for something as small and flexible as Levi to squeeze through. He wondered how long the cat had that particular trick hidden up his sleeve. If he was able to do this much, Eren was honestly confused as to why the cat even bothered asking for permission to go out anymore.

Eren decided that he could use the few remaining hours of the day to try and make a dent in his homework. Mikasa had come home while he was still downstairs, and she had been keeping herself busy with studying, so he figured that he may as well. He actually managed to get a satisfactory amount done. Thirty calc problems and half an essay later, he felt like his brain was starting to drift and figured it was time he took a shower and got some sleep. Levi wanted in on the shower as well, and Eren didn't see any reason to say no. He was pretty sure at that point that it would become a routine thing sooner or later.

Eren was lying in bed, one arm leaning on the pillow and propping his head up while the other held his new copy of Memoirs of a Madman open. It was just like his professor to start assigning new reading material before the class was even finished analyzing the last book. But it wasn't anything Eren couldn't handle. He wasn't a fast reader, but he could force himself to play the part if that was what the situation called for. Levi perched at his shoulder and peered around the side of his head. The pillow had become his usual spot when he and Eren were lying there, not asleep but not really doing much else.

Things had changed so much since he had first come home with Eren as a skittish, emaciated stray. Eren could hardly believe how far they had come.

He craned his neck to look over his shoulder, and his eyes met with the observant drops of silver-blue that he had come to know so well. Levi blinked slowly at him. "You liking this one so far?" Eren asked.

Levi didn't reply, but he did stretch a paw out and start tugging at Eren's shirt. Eren let slip a soft, airy laugh and rolled over onto his back. He stared up at the ceiling and the cat leaned over him.

"Meow?" he said inquisitively.

A small smile tugged at Eren's lips. He left the book pages-down on the pillow beside him and rubbed his fingertips over the top of Levi's head. The cat's eyes drifted shut in contentment.

"I have to say today was pretty interesting," Eren said to him and feeling like a crazy cat person while he did. "I had no idea you knew how to open windows too. You must have been really desperate to get out of that rain. I told you that you wouldn't like it. Remember?"

Levi's eyes opened into slits for a moment, just long enough to shoot Eren a sarcastic look before falling closed again.

"I know, I know. I did warn you, though," Eren continued.

A few minutes passed and the room stayed quiet. Eren pulled Levi closer and started petting him with his other hand, since the first had gotten tired after a while. The cat sat next to him in his meatloaf pose. His soft, steady purr was wavering in his chest, as if it were trying to rise to the surface and he were pushing it back down again. It was like he was playing a game with Eren, trying as hard as he could not to let on that he liked his attention as much as he did.

"I've been wondering about you and Erwin," Eren said quietly.

Levi's eyes opened, and he turned towards the human, a strange look on his face that Eren couldn't quite place.

"Did something happen between you and him?" he went on. "A long time ago?"

Just as he'd expected, Levi didn't respond. Instead he unfolded his legs, stood up, stretched his back and made his way down to the end of the bed.

"Okay, fine. Don't answer me," Eren grumbled. He stuck a piece of notepaper between the pages of Memoirs and dropped it on the nearest flat surface that wasn't the floor, then flicked the switch off on his bedside lamp. The room went dark for a second, then his eyes began adjusting to the faint, silvery tint of the moonlight seeping in from behind his blinds. A warm, soft weight settling down at the end of the bed and pressing up against his foot let him know that Levi had decided to turn in along with him, at least for however long he and Eren would be asleep at the same time.

"But really, Levi," Eren said into the darkness. "What is going on between you and Erwin?"

There wasn't any answer. Not one he could find, not one anyone could give him. All he could do was guess, wonder about it until it stopped mattering. He wasn't sure when that would happen, but it certainly wasn't now. The question stayed floating around in his head until he drifted off to sleep.

What is going on between you and Erwin?

Levi, where did you even come from?