I changed the chapters up a bit, but fear not! Just a little re-wording and some chapter combinations. Enjoy and tell me what you think! :-D

Eren glanced out the polished window and ran fingers through his hair. His green eyes flickered between the dull sky and Levi's back as he cleaned the hallway floor in his civilian clothes, as though waiting for the shorter man to say something to him. Clicking his tongue in boredom, his stare lingered on the familiar head beneath a white cleaning bandanna.

This place was, in fact, the very same stone-walled hallway in which Eren had confessed to Levi; the memory of flustered desperation, the heat of embarrassment, and the dryness of the words sticking in his throat made the idea of curling up into a ball very appealing.

To be fair on his own behalf, he was the kind of person to show how he felt through actions rather than vocally. It was more meaningful that way, and less uncomfortable, depending on what he had to do. Levi seemed to be much the same: like now. As Eren got closer he watched Levi's plain expression. Dark eyebrows tensionless, mouth a straight line and the calm look in hooded grey eyes meant that this was probably the happiest Levi would ever appear.

However, when it came to showing Eren how he felt, it was more like he was doing things when the shifter wouldn't be aware of it. If he did show Eren how he felt by doing little things, then they were probably too little for him to notice... Except for that time a few days ago when Levi kissed him on the cheek, under the assumption Eren was sleeping. Did he not want Eren to know that he was doing sweet things? Or maybe he was suppressing the desire to do so?

After the potion had worn off, they went back to their regular lives. They still saw each other in the mornings when they spoke about the plans for the day, and Eren would pester Levi with questions completely unrelated to the topic, but since they were so busy and in public more often than not, it was kind of impossible to do anything couple-y. Especially since Eren couldn't help but get flustered around Levi, but at times like this he could at least try... Biting his lip, he wandered over to Levi, placing a palm onto the older man's back and relishing the moment of warmth. Levi paused in his scrubbing.

"D-do you need help with that, sir?" As he lifted his hand away, the tips of his fingers trailed down taut, clothed muscle. He continued quietly."Normally I'd jump at the chance of some free time, but with you working away like that... It just makes me want to join you."

Glimpsing at Eren, Levi shook his head. "I'm fine here. Do what you want, kid, but don't get reckless. If you want to help out I'm not stopping you. Just make sure you actually clean it properly." He returned to scrubbing circles onto the stone floor, carefully cleaning the area so as not to miss a spot.

Eren raised his fist in front of his chest in victory, clenching it loosely with a grin. "I better go find some cleaning equipment then."

Sometime later, the green eyed boy found himself knee deep in elbow grease as he cleaned according to Levi's instructions. If there was one thing he could change about him... well. When sweat dripped down his brow, he sat up from his crouched position, noting with an envious frown that Levi didn't seem out of breath in the least.

"How aren't you tired?" Levi met his unwavering stare. Despite the heat in his cheeks; the overwhelming urge to look away, to hide his grin behind hands, wasn't given into. "You never seem to go to bed and yet you're so... active, all the time." Maybe his tea had super-energy fuel... That could possibly explain Hanji.

"I don't really get tired. And there's not really much point in going to bed if I don't sleep."

"What, ever? You never sleep?" Levi's eyes fell to the floor, his free hand curling and uncurling as he tightened his lips.

Eren's eyes dropped to his mouth before the black haired man spoke again. "I do sleep sometimes, it's just... No matter how drowsy I get, it takes ages for me to fall asleep, if I do at all."

"Maybe it's stress?" Eren offered. "I wouldn't be surprised, what with all the work you have to do and the pressure of being in a position of power. Or maybe it's your diet? Sometimes even just have a regular sleeping pattern can help people go to sleep."

Levi's pale hand reached for his neck, his cravat absent. "Aren't you quite the doctor, huh?" he raised an eyebrow and slowly blinked at Eren almost curiously. "It seems you've gone into the wrong profession."

He'd gone into the wrong profession? Eren's light smile dropped. Being a titan shifter hadn't exactly been his childhood dream, though he had decided to go into the survey corps only three years ago... Ah yes, because he'd had so much choice in the matter, what with the attack and his parents-

"My mom would've said something like that. She did tell me something similar, actually."

"Sounds like a sensible woman. Shame her son never picked up on that trait." He dipped the cloth into the bucket, rinsing it with a tender squeeze as he looked at Eren out the corner of his eye. "Then again, that's what makes you interesting, different from all those idiots that want to go into the military police for the sake of safety. After all, no-one rational would have as much determination as you."

"Are you implying I'm crazy?" But more importantly, interesting?

"You're not quite at Hanji's level of crazy, but you will be. Give it time."

Eren moved so he was sitting cross legged, uncaring about the fact his ass was getting soaked and propped an elbow onto his leg, resting his chin upon his warm palm. "I'd rather not give that possibility anything, especially not time."

He sighed, hugging his legs to his chest as though to make up for another body. "I'd prefer to-" Give my time to you, he wanted to say. The words rested on the tip of his tongue and festered within the realms of his inner monologue. "Train. I'd prefer to train." He finished lamely.

"That's not what you were going to say." Eren's captain glared at him. "Lying by omission won't get you anywhere in this place. Leave the politics to Erwin. Tell me."

"I-it's stupid." The truth was a childish thought, a dependent one, which Levi would think less of him for. A thought like that would never cross the mind of someone like Levi.

A few hours later saw them sitting in the dining room, sipping tea after a vigorous workout in the backyard. At Levi's insistence, all of them had showered, clean in preparation of the experiment planned later on. Petra and Gunther sat to Eren's left and right-but not directly beside him, as he was in his usual space that didn't have room for another chair. The others chattered, leaving Eren to his own thoughts until Petra addressed him in a whisper.

"Hey Eren, you know something? Levi never used to have tea breaks when he was put in charge of training us." She told him, a dimple in cheek as she smiled at him.

"Really?"

She nodded and strawberry blonde hair rustled at her shoulders. "Maybe the newest addition to our squad made him have a change of heart."

A heat sprouted from the pit of his stomach. "Really...?" his eyes lit up as he searched for Levi, finding him slouched between Gunther and Eld. Grey orbs met his in a deadpan stare, yet he couldn't fight the small smile growing on his blushing face even as he turned away. Urgh, why did he have to blush? Petra was just teasing him... "That's good to know."

A slap on his shoulder from behind startled him out of his daydreams. "Woah!"

"Experiment!" Hanji cried. "Let's waste no time, off we go!" he took one last sipof his tea, savouring the taste he once explored on Levi's lips, rolling his eyes at hanji's chants of 'come on come on come on'. As soon as he made a move to stand up, Hanji clamped a hand over his shirt sleeve and dragged him outside while the others followed.

"I don't feel safe doing this."

"But life is full of risks, Eren. Stepping out the comfort zone and challenging death is the only-" Levi brought Hanji down from her enthusiastic preaching as he glowered at her.

Eren shivered, partly from the cold rain, mostly from the intensity of Levi's stare fortunately not aimed at him. "Don't mention death. Do you really think saying shit like that will calm him down?"

Hanji frowned sadly, raindrops coating her glasses. "But-"

"I'll take it from here. Go make sure your notes don't get wet or round up your subordinates if you want to be useful." He turned to Eren who nodded at him gratefully, his eyes a mix between fondness and appreciation.

"I didn't mean to scare you Eren, sorry." Hanji left them and they began walking to the well, reminding Eren so much of their early morning walks that he couldn't help but smile. Even the sharp smell of cold was the same, though the wind was new.

"Let me guess, you're scared of the dark."

Eren eyed him warily. "Why do you think that?"

"You didn't deny it. Taht, and the fact you always lose bodily tension when I bring the candle to your cell. I'm used to being in the dark so it's easy to tell when someone's uncomfortable in it. All you have to go on are your thoughts, and sometimes that can be the scariest thing there is."

"That's deep." Levi's words tore into Eren's insides. He realized how close to home they hit.

Levi looked down into the well. "Yeah. Literally." Eren lifted a hand to his mouth to disguise his snort of laughter. Meeting Levi's line of vision he grimaced. "So I guess I really have to do this-"

"Yes, now hurry up. I'm getting wet, brat." That prompted a dirty joke to conjure in Eren's mind, but he begrudgingly toed at the muddy grass instead. Levi's guard rose when he saw Eren gazing at him, at his mouth when droplets of water landed onto his lips as they fell from the hood, drenching his green cape so that it clung to him closely.

"... What is it?" Levi asked.

It wasn't like he needed it... He'd gone down the well before. And boy didn't that just go so swell. Levi was at the ready to protect everyone, and other than that it was every man for himself; all of the soldiers obviously prepared for that scenario. But a kiss... A kiss would give him some courage, sending it rushing through his veins in a surge of adrenaline, giving him the sweet taste of reassurance and keep him grounded in reality while giving him a little bit of optimism.

He hurriedly left a cheap kiss on Levi's cheek, his own burning as he stumbled down rocks to the pit of the well. Wasn't long enough, he knew. Maybe if it had been drawn out and anticipated by both of them, it would've been a more tender exchange. Levi had disappeared by the time he looked up. Focus. He had to be ready, so he stood upright as he awaited instructions with the obliviousness of a true soldier.