Eren could smell the scent of onions and some kind of meat the moment the door opened. Whatever Levi and Mikasa were making for Eirian's birthday lunch smelled amazing. Even with the upgraded budget and meat prices dropping, it was rare to have anything in the Legion's kitchen smell so good. Taking a step inside, he felt the small dark-haired boy who had let him in tackle his legs.

"Uncle Eren! You came!"

"Hello Eirian! How are you doing?" Putting his bag down on the ground, Eren picked up the small dark-haired boy and swung him around for a big hug. The brunet was not weak by any stretch, but Eirian was surprisingly heavy. Then turning so he could face Eirian, he scolded the child. "And what did I say about calling me 'Uncle' Eren?"

"To not say it?" There was a toothy smile as Eirian beamed innocently at him. Sometimes Eren could easily see the resemblance between father and son. Like his father, the birthday boy was too much of a smartass for his own good.

"Then why are you still calling me that?" He used his fiercest glare on the child as he placed Eirian back on the ground. Although he was technically Eirian's uncle by way of his relation to Mikasa, Eren did not like it when the boy addressed him as such. . He felt too young to be someone's uncle, and the brunet didn't really think of Levi as Mikasa's cousin. It was difficult to put into words what the relationship between him and Levi was. They were friends, but at the same time not really friends. Family, but it did not feel like that either. And there had been the weird distance between them for a while too.

"I'unno." Eirian seemed unfazed from the scolding as he shrugged. Levi's reprimands were likely harsher than the brunet's, which was why the boy had ignored it. The dark-haired boy ran a few steps back inside the house and then cupped his hands to his mouth. "Papa! Eren's here!"

"What did I say about yelling, brat?" A scowling Levi came into view dressed in a white button-down shirt and dark well-fitting pants. Eren had to refrain from staring. There was something about Levi dressed semi-formally with the top few buttons of his shirt undone and sleeves rolled up his forearms that seemed to grab his attention. His style of dress seemed at odds with what Eren had seen of him before, yet it was oddly fitting. However, it was the dark-haired man's uncovered forearms, which grabbed most of his attention.

Eren was surprised to see a smattering of long-faded scars on that pale skin. A few crosswise lines seemed like they were from Levi using his forearm to block a knife and were barely visible. One particularly nasty jagged scar caught his attention though. Compared to the other scars, it was lighter and more distinctive. The scar seemed to start somewhere in the middle of Levi's forearm and continued under the clothing to god knows where. Eren wondered what had caused the scarring. It looked like someone or something had gouged right into the muscle. Given the jaggedness and its distinctiveness, Eren could only imagine how much a wound like that must have hurt. He was also surprised that the man had survived such an injury; losing that much muscle would have taken a long time to heal and might have caused irreparable damage.

"Oi, where are you staring at, brat?"

Eren jerked his head up, face flaming, at Levi's demanding tone. His eyes inadvertently caught onto serious grey eyes, which appeared more silvery in the lighting. Embarrassed at being caught staring, he turned away to stare at some insignificant pattern on the wall while keeping an eye on Levi and Eirian.

"I'm not staring at anything, papa!" Eirian puffed his cheeks and cried out.

"I'm not speaking to you, Eirian. I was talking about Eren."

"Oh." He could feel the pairs of bright green eyes and blasé grey eyes bore a curious hole into him. The brunet wished he could disappear into thin air. "Why were you staring at papa, Eren?"

"Um… I wasn't?" Eren scratched his head, feigning innocence as he turned back to the young boy. Eirian shot him a confused glance before shrugging and running to find his aunt. Levi simply clicked his tongue as though in disgust before following his son back inside, scolding the boy not to yell inside the house. Properly chastised on the perils of being caught staring, the brunet pulled off his boots, grabbing a pair of slippers before tailing the father-son pair inside.

Lunch turned out to taste as good as it had smelled. It was a thick beef stew with vegetables served with freshly baked bread rolls and some green stuff on the side. Eren felt slightly bad eating so much more than everyone else did at the table, but Levi had simply dismissed his concerns and waved him on. Mikasa had eaten as usual, but Eren was surprised to see that Levi did not eat that much. Eirian, on the other hand, tucked into the hearty meal easily, and was surprisingly well mannered when eating. The one or two times the boy had spoken up, Levi had scolded him and told his son to talk only after there was no food in his mouth.

After lunch, Eren asked for Eirian's help in assembling the cake. Levi would have been appalled if he had seen the number of grubby fingers which had touched and tasted the frosting during the process, but the man had been busy doing the dishes. Eirian had insisted on getting his hands and face sticky with the white frosting and Eren did not have the heart to stop him. He had done the same thing as a child with his mother, and although he was not Eirian's parent, Eren was glad to share some things of his childhood with the boy. There was no telling whether it would happen, but he wondered if this was what it would be like to have his own child one day. There were plenty of shushed whispers and secretive giggles as they played together at decorating Eirian's cake.

It was nothing spectacular, but Eren had been truly surprised when Levi had mentioned never holding a birthday party or having cake before. The brunet had baked it the previous day back at headquarters and had brought it over. When complete, the small confection was only as wide as a dessert plate and more than enough for four people. The supplies set Eren back a pretty penny, but seeing the joy on the little boy's face was completely worth it.

"Happy birthday Eirian!"

There was a wide smile on the birthday boy's face as he inhaled a large breath of air and blew out the candles. Eren clapped along with Levi and Mikasa as the now six-year-old boy managed to blow out each and every of those flames in one go.

"Presents or cake?" Eren watched Mikasa ask her nephew. The boy pursed his lips in deep contemplation before beaming back at them.

"Presents!"

"Okay, just wait here." After a minute, Mikasa walked back with a medium sized, messily wrapped package in her arms. "Here you go, Eirian."

Eager hands ripped open the packaging to pull out a soft cloak the color of forest leaves. The boy immediately tried put on the present upon seeing the cloak. He had a bit of difficulty and Mikasa had to help tie the clasp, but when it was eventually on, Eirian ran upstairs to grab the toy sword Eren had bought for him earlier, jumping up and down eagerly and pretending to be a member of the Scouting Legion.

"Thank you, Auntie!" Eirian whirled around in the cape, brandishing his sword in excitement.

"You're welcome, Eirian."

Eren was next, and there was an equally excited burst of glee when the boy saw the stuffed bear with a cloak embroidered with the Scouting Legion's wings of freedom on the back. It had taken Eren a long time to figure out what to get the boy, but he had eventually decided on something. He had known that Eirian only had one stuffed animal, which was already heavily worn down, and had added the cloak and the Scouting Legion patch on the back himself.

Levi's gift to his son, which was the most impeccably packaged one of them all, turned out to be a sketchpad and some colored pencils for the boy. After giving his father a big hug, Eirian immediately asked whether he could play with his new birthday gifts. Eren was surprised when Levi had refused, but it turned out his reason for doing so was rather practical.

"What about the cake, brat?"

"Cake! Cake!" Presents utterly forgotten, the dark-haired boy immediately jumped up and began haranguing his father. "Can we have cake now, papa?"

"Impatient brat." Eren watched as Levi lightly smacked his son on the head before standing up himself and walking over to the kitchen. The excitement was tangible on Eirian's face as the cake was brought out. Rolling his sleeves up a little more, the dark-haired man grabbed the knife and cut into the birthday cake. While Levi cut the cake, Mikasa undid Eirian's cloak and moved the toys onto a spare chair so they wouldn't get dirty. Gifts forgotten, there was a large grin as Eirian grabbed his fork and dug into the giant slice of cake. A pale ring of frosting of was stuck around the boy's mouth as he looked back up.

"Yummy!"

"Tch, mind your manners, brat." Levi pulled out his napkin and nudged it towards his son's face. "Wipe off your face, Eirian. And don't chew with your mouth open."

Even when grousing about his son's mannerisms or messiness, there was tender affection in the dark-haired man's actions as he split the remaining cake into four pieces. Mikasa passed Eren a piece and took one herself, with Levi taking the smallest of the four pieces. Taking a forkful, Eren savored the soft cloud-like texture as it melted in his mouth. The vanilla buttercream turned out even better than he had expected.

"Papa, what's that piece for?" Eirian pointed his fork at the remaining slice of cake. Judging from the amount on the plate the boy had only finished half of it. The last piece could be divided amongst themselves easily, but if Levi had left a piece uncut, it was likely for later.

"It's for dessert after your supper."

"Can I eat it now?"

"No. You won't be able to eat supper if you do."

"But papa… it's my birthday…"

"Here." Not wanting to see the boy so disappointed on his birthday, Eren slid the rest of his plate towards the small dark-haired boy. Even if he was the one who made it, after Eirian's slice, his had been the largest. "If you want, you can have the rest of my piece, Eirian."

"Really?"

"No. You haven't finished eating your piece and you haven't even thanked Eren for making it for your birthday, brat." Levi interreupted. Stubborn green eyes clashed against hard grey ones, before Eirian eventually exhaled.

"Fine. If papa says so…"

The mood around the table had turned glum as they finished off their respective pieces of cake. After they were done, the room was oddly silent. Levi stood up and began clearing away the dishes without a word, and Eren caught his sister shooting a dark look at her cousin, who was unfazed by the glare and continued his cleanup of the table.

"Hey Eirian," Eren nudged the birthday boy. "Why don't we draw some things with the new colored pencils, your papa gave you?"

"Pictures!" Eirian jumped off his chair, and grabbed his birthday presents, running off with them into the living room with Mikasa close behind. Eren was torn between joining them and helping Levi clean up, but the manners his mom had drilled into him compelled him to help the dark haired man.

For a birthday celebration, things had been rather tame, given the lack of other children around. Levi and Mikasa might have planned something later in the day when he would not be around, but neither of them seemed like the type. After all, the birthday party had been Eren's idea. There were no games or other children present, only three adults, one of whom was Eirian's father, but the little boy seemed to be having fun, which was the only thing that mattered.

Returning from the kitchen after assisting with drying the dishes, Eren watched from the sidelines as the boy drew pictures of titans with Mikasa. Eirian's artistic ability would not be enough to earn him a living, and the only reason the brunet had been able to tell it was a titan was because it dwarfed the house next to it. Eren needed to leave soon, but spending a few more minutes would not do any harm. Padding over softly, he crouched down to listen to what the boy was telling his aunt. After a few minutes of listening to stories about titans and Eirian's retelling of history, he interrupted before he got too late.

"Hey Eirian," the bright-eyed birthday boy turned to him expectantly, "this was fun, but I need to head back home, so I won't be able to stay for dinner."

It took a few hours of riding to get back to headquarters and that was already slightly pushing it given all the gate checks prohibiting free traffic in and out of Wall Rose. The streets were also much more crowded on Sundays. Eren needed to go back and review some new training plans for his team before they met tomorrow morning, meaning that there was no possibility of staying for dinner or much longer. The alternatives were to either go without sleep – and although he didn't get much, he still needed a couple of hours to function properly, or cancel the early morning training he had scheduled with his squad the next day, which was plain irresponsible. Eren knew Eirian would be disappointed, but it was the best he could do. His responsibilities to the Scouting Legion came first after all.

Mikasa was better than he was at keeping up to speed with training and her squad had just come back from a week-long mission a few days ago, so she was on vacation and could afford to stay much later. Besides, she was family and he was not. At least he didn't feel as though they were his family, not in the same way that Mikasa or his parents had been.

Since the last visit, it seemed like things were gradually going back to how they had been between him and Levi, but it was too soon to tell. They were more than acquaintances, but Eren was not sure if he would classify Levi as a friend either. They weren't work colleagues or client and salesman, and it was difficult to define the exact nature of their relationship. Eren knew that the dark-haired man was still highly reluctant to spend time with him; however, inroads were gradually being built and some progress was made over the last couple of visits. Most of it was due to Eirian's insistence, and it seemed like the older man could never deny his son.

"Aww…" The young boy seemed to recover from his disappointment rather quickly as he spun around to face his father who was just walking towards them. "Papa, papa, can Eren stay with us? Auntie Mikasa's slept with me before…"

Eren might not have noticed the strange glance exchanged between the two dark-haired cousins if he was not so attuned to Mikasa's expressions. It was somewhat freaky that they would communicate without words, but maybe it was a silent people thing. There was a brief pause before the dark-haired man answered the question.

"No. If Eren wants to leave, you have to let him. He probably has some important things to do with the Scouting Legion tomorrow."

"But…"

"Where would he sleep, Eirian? On the ground? We don't have a spare bedroom, brat."

The young boy seemed to consider his father's point, furrowing his brow deep in thought, before abruptly beaming back at his father. "He can sleep with you, papa!"

Something which resembled a choked cough of disbelief came from Levi's direction, but the brunet was unable to see whether it was the case.

Ducking his head, Eren was slightly embarrassed at the prospect of being asked to sleep in another man's bed. He didn't typically have a problem with it – on missions they sometimes had to share a bedroll and he had seen other men naked during training and in the showers – but Eirian's wording made it seem like something more than just spending a night innocently. It might also have been because the overall atmosphere would be that much more intimate in Levi's bed in the dark-haired man's home than when Eren was out in the field. That spot was meant for Levi's late (or future) wife.

"Eirian," the brunet began. The dark-haired boy turned towards him, rapt with attention. "Only your mama or someone close to your papa should be sleeping with him."

Inexplicably, the moment he uttered that sentence, Eren felt a pang of something akin to hurt or confusion. Over the course of the last few weeks, he had only ever seen Levi interact with Mikasa, Eirian, or himself in anything more than a friendly manner, so the prospect of the older man taking on a wife made Eren feel like the faceless, unknown woman would be taking Levi from him in some sense. He tried to dismiss that notion as silly; Eren certainly had no claims to the man or his time, beyond that of friendly acquaintances or in-laws.

"But you and papa are close!" Raising an eyebrow at the statement, he wondered if that were true. Eirian's statement of him and Levi being close warmed his heart. It might be a child's passing fancy, but the boy's observation made the fog in his heart lift a little.

"I know." Patting the boy softly on the head, Eren smiled affectionately. He wondered whether this was what Armin or his mother had found him to be like. Sometimes it seemed like the young Ackerman had a stubborn streak that almost rivaled his. However, as much as Eren did not want to disappoint his nephew on such an important day, there was no way he would have been able to get away with attending the whole day unless it meant shirking his squad leader responsibilities. "As much as I want to, I can't stay, Eirian. I need to get home. As your father already said, I do need to train my squad tomorrow. If I don't, who will protect you from the bad titans?"

"Okay…" Eirian turned his head down, finally accepting the inevitable. Seeing how disheartened the little boy was, Eren figured a demo would maybe make up for it. The dark-haired boy had expressed interest in seeing him whizz around the trees many times, but he had always been reluctant to bring his gear with him, since it ruined the purpose of travelling incognito.

Eren would never quite forget what it was like feeling the wind rush through his hair the first time he had flown through the air on maneuver gear. Granted, it was during the time that Hannes had rescued him and Mikasa and he was undoubtedly on an adrenaline rush, but that feeling of freedom was something that words could not describe. Eirian looked to be the type who would also love to experience it.

The other reason for not bringing his gear was a practical one. Maneuver gear was military equipment, which meant that there were limitations on usage. Using it for personal reasons was highly frowned upon. Hange was a little lax with those restrictions, however, and others had used it for personal purposes before as well.

"How about this, Eirian? I'll bring my Scouting Legion gear next time and show you how to fly in the air?"

"Really?" Eirian's eyes were as wide as saucers as he stared at Eren. "That sounds so cool! Auntie Mikasa never shows me what it's like…"

"Yes really." Raising his head, he looked towards the taciturn man, seeking permission. Even used correctly maneuver gear was not the safest pursuit. New recruits often had trouble balancing and sometimes veterans also had difficulty when the hooks weren't attached right. It made sense if Mikasa was worried for Eirian's safety. "Is that okay with you, Levi? I know some parents might not want their kids exposed to things like 3DMG just yet."

"Gear is fine as long if all you're doing is showing him. No swords though."

"I promise." Bending back down, he hugged the dark-haired boy. "Now, I need to go, Eirian. I had a bunch of fun with you today, and the next time I see you, I'll bring my 3DMG and we can go fly in the woods, okay?"

"Okay. Bye-bye, Eren! And thank you for the cake!"

"Bye Eirian! Be a good boy for your papa and for your aunt, okay?" There was a small nod as they exchanged hugs. Eren sincerely wished he could stay longer and spend more time at Levi's house, but work was work. Standing back up, Eren faced his sister and Levi. "I'll see you back at base, Mikasa. And Levi… thanks for having me over. I had a lot of fun."

There was a grunt of agreement as the man nodded. Glancing back at the dark-haired man who had not spoken, there was a strange light in Levi's eyes as he left the house. Eren had a distinct sensation of having stared into those eyes once before as he rode away.