It had been twenty minutes since breakfast had ended.

It had been twenty minutes since everyone but three people had left the mess hall.

It had been twenty minutes since Mikasa had sat down opposite of Levi.

It had been twenty minutes since an intense silence had descended on the table they were sitting at.

It had been twenty minutes and Eren couldn't take it.

"Are you two just going to glare at each other forever? Can't you just, I don't know, forget it? Or at least let me not be a part of this?" he whined, not bothering to raise his head from where it was resting on top of the table. He was still feeling incredibly sick and these two weren't helping.

Both Levi and Mikasa looked down at the brown halo his hair was creating on the table around his head, Mikasa's face instantly scrunching up into a worried expression at the sight. She wanted to help her brother from his obvious suffering but she didn't have the means to do so. He was hungover and there was nothing much she could do about it. Levi on the other hand looked at him impassively for a few seconds before he stood up, handing Eren's leash to Mikasa before walking off in the direction of the kitchen.

Mikasa stared after him in confusion, holding the piece of leather attached to her brother's neck awkwardly while Eren didn't even notice his lover had left. He just winced at the high-pitched shriek that was immediately followed by Sasha running out of the kitchen and through the dining room at full speed.

The suffering boy only moved when a few minutes later something gently hit the table right next to his head. He carefully cracked open one eye to look at what it was only to be faced with a mug filled with something hot enough to form a steam. "What?" he questioned, sounding disoriented.

"Coffee," Levi explained simply as he sat back down next to Eren. "It should help you a little. If nothing else, it will at least wake you up."

With inhuman effort, Eren lifted his head and was immediately hit with the unmistakable aroma. Coffee indeed. For a second he couldn't decide if the strong scent made him feel nauseous or like he could see the light at the end of the Hangover Tunnel again.

A second later, he opted for the latter and grabbed the mug by it's body instead of the handle letting go a split second later, the cup burning hot and promising to scald his tongue if he dared to try drink from it. So he groaned as he dropped back on the table.

"Thanks..." he mumbled and hoped Levi heard him because he sure as hell wasn't repeating it. Not now when they were irritating him to no end anyway.

Levi just hummed in acknowledgment and buried his hand in the fluffy mess of brown hair. (He'd never admit to it but Levi loved petting Eren's hair.) (He'd never admit to it but Eren loved Levi petting his hair.) (Everyone was happy.)

"So..." began the half-dead, hungover young man after another good portion of silence. "Is anyone going to answer my question?"

"Just drink your coffee, brat. We'll sort this out before you finish," Levi mumbled in response softly, trying to be considerate of Eren's headache.

"Can't I just take my coffee and go to my room to die?" Eren drawled out with misery in his voice, already knowing the answer.

And Levi delivered. "No," was his definite judgement.

"Why not?" Eren's tone was bordering between exasperation and defeat. He really didn't understand why he had to be there. He just knew he'd eventually end up embarrassed beyond reason to add to the pain he was already subjected to.

"Because the leash would be pointless if we just let you wander off anywhere you wanted to by yourself," the other stated matter-of-factly.

Eren let out a long groan. In his physical misery he actually forgot about that particular problem. "Can you please stop treating me like I'm some kind of mentally underdeveloped toddler that gets lost every chance he gets? I'm a big boy; I can take care of myself." He wanted to be angry. He wanted to shout. But he severely lacked the energy he needed to get angry and shouting was completely out of question.

"If we actually believed that, I wouldn't have suggested it and he wouldn't buy it for you," Mikasa supplied not-so-helpfully and Eren suddenly felt the desire to throw something at her.

Instead, he moaned pitifully, "Go to hell, both of you."

"Sorry, brat, but she's right. For the past few weeks I feel like the Corps have been doing nothing but looking for you."

"Oh, really?" Eren replied, voice dripping in sarcasm. "As far as I remember, at least half of those times had something to do with either of you, if not both." He couldn't help but bare his teeth viciously at no one in particular as he grabbed his coffee to finally take his very much needed first sip. (Forcing Levi to relocate his hand from Eren's hair down to his waist in the process.)

Levi and Mikasa eyed each other for a second with identical impassive expressions on their faces, before replying in unison. "Your point?"

Eren stared at them blankly for a second, before he made a face, looking at Mikasa. "Are you sure you're my sister instead of his?"

Mikasa and Levi exchanged another look, this one full of disgust on both sides, as Mikasa responded levelly, "Technically, I'm not your sister either but I'm definitely not related to this midget."

"What she said," Levi nodded and then noted in a seemingly indifferent tone. "By the way, you've just lost any right you might have had to complain about whatever shit the brat told you yesterday."

Mikasa stared right back at him, mirroring the challenging expression in a way that made Eren voice his doubts about their claims. "Are you absolutely sure? Because it really looks like you are. And it's not like either of you knows much about your families, I'd say it's possible."

The both of them ignored his remark. Not that he expected otherwise. He was mostly used to them ignoring him when they were indulging themselves in their silent glare wars. And either way, his coffee was more important right now.

A moment later Mikasa spoke up again, finally getting closer to the point of the exchange, "Don't tell me what I do and what I don't have right for, shorty. It's not like I'm going to listen to you when it comes to Eren's safety."

Levi raised his eyebrows while Eren looked at her, confused. "I don't remember ever threatening Eren's safety. I even bought him this," he gestured to the leash still resting idly in her hand, mostly forgotten, "to ensure it. What the hell did he tell you?"

Mikasa huffed, speaking through gritted teeth, "Beside other things I'd rather not think about, much less talk about, he said he once had bruises for two weeks after one night with you."

There was a moment of silence when the lovers looked at each other, both trying to figure out what this was about. Levi frowned as he looked back at Mikasa.

"What..." As soon as the word left his mouth, he trailed of, realization hitting him. Then his lips stretched in a wide smirk that had Eren convinced he wanted to laugh but couldn't – as Levi categorically refused to let out such sounds in the presence of anyone who wasn't Eren, and Eren only.

At Mikasa's impatient glare, he commented, "He was exaggerating. It couldn't have been longer than a day."

Eren looked even more confused now while Mikasa looked enraged. "So you did hurt him," she hissed, looking one second away from stabbing Levi.

"Actually, he did it by himself," Levi said, still sounding on the verge of laughter. "I just mentioned I'd like to see him like that one day and then he did it for me. I didn't make him do anything."

"That doesn't excuse it! You let him hurt himself and that's more than enough! What did you tell him to do that he needed to hurt himself, for you, no less?!" Mikasa was so furious she almost didn't hear the whisper that left Eren's mouth right then.

"Oh, god no..." Eren's eyes were impossibly wide, his face slowly losing colour, as he stared at his lover but Levi only gave him a highly amused look. "No, Levi, wait, don't-"

"Sorry, Eren, but I have to or she won't drop this, you know that," Levi interrupted his pleading, before he looked back at Mikasa. "Tell me; have you ever tried to wear the gear straps without clothing underneath?"

Mikasa stared at him, completely speechless for a moment. When she turned sharply to give Eren a scandalized look, hoping for him to deny it, she was met with the sight of her precious little brother hiding his bright red face in his hands. You could almost see the steam raising from his head.

The girl stared at him for a minute with wide, accusing eyes, while dead silence fell over the mess hall. Then, in jerky movements, she abruptly dropped the leash and stood up, moved from behind the table before looking away and covering her eyes, muttering lowly to herself, "I didn't need that image. I really, really didn't need that image." After another few seconds of silence, she started leaving, announcing over her shoulder in a strained voice that she needed to go clear her head.

Levi was pretty sure she meant purify her mind but he didn't bother correcting her.

A/N: The uniform is asking for it, don't try to deny it.