"What a pleasure," Hanji's voice almost boomed into his ear. "You never call me...well unless I've done something to annoy you and...nope can't think of anything."

She cackled like the witch that she is, probably thinking of all the little 'pranks' that she pulled on him over the years, which he would like to completely forget about. Levi should know by now to wait to put the phone to his ear before she answered, especially when she sometimes answered in sometimes orthodox ways. Usually, it all involved with her screaming something into his ear and laughing hysterically for hours. He always avoided her like the plague no matter how much she begged him to answer her back or just talk to her. She fucking deserves it every time.

"I honestly don't know how long I can do this for," the confession fell faster from his lips than he thought it would, surprising himself and probably more than Hanji.

"Tell me how you really feel," she shot back at him. "Levi, you had Eren for what-...less than four days, what could have happened in that time?"

"It's the touching, the fucking touching. I'm not a touchy-feely person, never am and never will be, but this kid-..."

"What do you mean touching? Levi did you touch him in his no-no-"

"Hanji, I swear to God, if you don't stop-..."

"I thought you were atheist."

He had to physically put his phone down and put it on speaker after he made his way into the kitchen. If he didn't put it down, either he would have crushed it in his hands or thrown it across the apartment. Both of those scenarios he would have a mess to clean up and he didn't feel like doing anything like that today. At least he put her on speakerphone and didn't just leave her talking into the open air, thinking that he was listening.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop," she breathed, having laughed her ass off at her last comment.

"You ready to act like a fucking adult?" he growled, getting his morning tea prepared.

"Speaking of Eren, where is he?"

He subconsciously looked up toward his bedroom, wondering if Eren managed to fall completely to sleep and hadn't been woken up by her cackling. Knowing that his senses were extra sensitive compared to his own, he asked himself if he could actually hear everything they were saying.

"He's sleeping," he answered, lowering his voice. "I'd like to keep it that way so don't scream into the phone."

"Wait, he can hear our conversation? Am I on speakerphone or regular? Oh my god, this is so cool-" she began rambling

"Stop it," he snapped lightly. "I don't know if it's possible, but most likely he can. It wouldn't surprise me if he actually could. Besides, the more sleep he gets, the better."

"Has he been sleeping regularly? Eating well?"

He prepared his Keurig with Earl Grey, something that was a morning favorite and waited for the water to warm up enough so he can actually start his day. "It was fine in the beginning but yesterday he had one of the worst panic attacks I've ever seen."

"He was fine before right?"

"You mean before that or before we knew that he can turn into a fucking animal?"

"Animal, of course, dumbass."

Taking his first sip of the hot tea actually made his bones turn into liquid and immediately relaxed him. He hadn't been able to enjoy his tea since everything happened with...well everything. Before it was constantly worrying about Furlan and his next move and now it was Eren, worrying about what would set him off next. However, Hanji did have a point. When he was in his other form, he only seemed to have an episode maybe twice since he'd been here and now it was almost every day. Maybe it was easier to ignore reality when you literally can't do anything but meow and purr.

"He could be in shock still...the last time he was able to walk on two legs was when he was escaped and that now he can interact with more things," Levi confessed. "Before when I showed him something, I offered it like you would for any other animal...getting them slowly used to it and letting him sniff it."

"Maybe you need to do just that," she concluded.

"Like he's still an animal?"

"Not exactly like that, but the slowly part. You don't want to shock him further and make him keep reliving a panic attack every time you do something or anything...What caused his last attack?"

"...he almost burned the apartment building down."

He could hear her suppressing a laugh and he ignored it in favor of drinking the rest of his tea.

"Anyways," quickly ushering the conversation along. "He got burned from the oil or whatever he used and he shut down...or that's what I can gather from what happened. He hasn't really told me completely what happened."

"Levi...you have to understand that whatever Eren has gone through, you'll never be able to fully comprehend what they did to him. He may not be able to tell anyone what he went through...he may never be able to," she answered rather seriously, something that some part of him still didn't believe Hanji could fully be.

He knew that. Levi was the last person that she should be telling this, especially when he still had his own demons that he carried over the years. Eren is the only other person alive that knows so much as his past, besides the two that lived through it with him. Though it struck him that it didn't really matter if he should care or not if he could never understand Eren. Once Hanji found his family then he would never see Eren again and wouldn't have to spare another thought on the matter. Speaking of finding his family…

"Anyways, did you make some progress on finding Eren's family?" Levi questioned, moving the conversation along.

"So...about that," she confessed, laughing lightly at the end.

Annoyance began to eat away at his already thin patience for her. "Have you even started?"

"Hey, don't get annoyed or angry with me."

"Erwin made this number one priority-"

"My number one priority is making sure that every recruit that comes in here gets back out alive. I'll do what I can but not when we keep getting hammered by the Military and now the Garrison."

"...How bad is it? Erwin won't tell me anything."

"It's worse than usual, but nothing we can't manage. The recruits are strong and eager, most the time they get injured because of that eagerness."

"Just...just do as much as you can when you get the time. I want to get Eren back as soon as possible."

"Is he that bad?"

"No...Just-..."

Why was it hard for him to say what he wanted to say? That he just wanted to get back to his normal life. The faster he got Eren out of his house and life then the better off they'd both be. He could get better and actually have a life with his family while Levi himself could have nothing distracting him as he finally focused on the Garrison, on Furlan. It would just better that way.

"I'll talk to you later," he finally answered, hanging up the phone before she could say anything else.

He placed the phone on the counter and let out a deep sigh that he didn't know he was holding inside of himself. Rubbing the bridge of his nose and disposing his mug into the sink, he decided that the only thing he could really do was make breakfast and hope that Eren managed to eat more than a few bites.

Eren slept through most of the morning and managed to wake up only when he smelt food, though he didn't crawl out of Levi's bed. Levi didn't want to set their plates on his clean bed, but he didn't think that he would be able to get the boy out of bed. It looked like he still needed a full days rest, the dark circles that developed under his eyes had lessened but not by much. So reluctantly, he placed the full plate in front of Eren and sat on the side of the bed, turning on the television so that they both had something to pay attention to instead of each other.

By the time Levi ate the rest of breakfast, he looked over to see that Eren barely picked up his fork. Grabbing only his plate, he headed into the kitchen to quickly wash it off and headed back into the room to find that nothing had changed. Eren continued to just stare at the screen, not completely actually looking at it but rather just staring off into space. He needed the kid to eat something. Either he was going to eat or they would have to stick an IV or feeding tube in him. Hanji would have his head if Eren managed to lose weight instead of gaining any.

"Come on, kid," he sighed as he sat in front of Eren.

He blinked like he had to pull himself out of a daze and refocused those eyes onto Levi.

"Huh?" Eren asked.

"I need you to eat. I don't care if it's only a couple of bites but you need to eat something. The whole point of me keeping you here is so you have somewhere to stay and get healthy. I can't very much do that if you faint from eating almost nothing."

He grabbed the abandoned plate and placed the fork in Eren's hand, holding the plate in front of him in a silent order to eat. His eyes took in the food for a moment like it was foreign before lifting up the fork, scooping up some of the eggs, and then finally eating it. Levi didn't care if he only had a few mouthfuls, just that he actually ate something but he wasn't going to go as far as force feeding him or feeding him himself. Eren made a move to stop twice but he pushed the plate toward him, silently telling him to eat more. He huffed a bit before consuming more and when at least half of the food was gone, Levi grabbed the fork and headed into the kitchen.

After putting the pans and utensils away, he wondered how long it would take before Eren managed to bounce back, or at least pull himself out of the hole that he's made for himself. It could take weeks or more but he didn't have the time or patience for that. He needed to bring him out soon, especially if they wanted to get him to a healthier weight and to find his family. Deciding that he could brainstorm that with Hanji later, he hadn't properly cleaned from all the smoke from the other day and the itch to sanitize everything was finally getting to him.

The majority of the day passed with Eren laying down in his bedroom, sleeping on and off and only spending his waking hours watching whatever was on the television. Levi took that time to clean his kitchen and dining room from top to bottom, getting rid of the invisible dirt that's managed to build up over the smoke and the last time that he cleaned. The living room could be done another day and the same could be said for the rest of the apartment, he wouldn't touch his bedroom especially if this was the only time that Eren had been able to get some actual sleep.

He checked in on the kid periodically, most of the time he was greeted by those emerald eyes turning to him before they returned to the screen. However, when he took a break from scrubbing the light smoke residue from the ceiling cabinets, Levi saw that he had passed out once again. His hair fell in his face, ruffled beyond repair and a mess, and he had curled himself around on of Levi's pillows. The piece of paper that he had grasped for dear life before laid limply in his hand and he didn't come up with a good enough reason as to why he shouldn't look at it as Levi grabbed it from his hands. Eren didn't put up any fight, just let it slip through his fingers and then further wrapped himself around the pillow.

Unfolding the crumpled up paper, Levi found almost the last thing he expected on the white surface. He thought that it would be a letter that Eren made or maybe a thing that made him remember something about his family but he didn't expect to see himself or Petra. Quickly admitting to himself that the kid had some skill, he tucked into the back of his mind that this could be the way to bring Eren out of the episode that he was going through. Suddenly remembering the mess that currently littered the floor of his office, he tucked the paper back into Eren's hand before heading off to clean that up.

He wondered if the kid had a natural talent or somehow Eren was able to get a hold of supplies to draw and built up his skill. It wouldn't have surprised him if Petra managed to sneak in those supplies so he would have something to distract himself from whatever he endured. When he walked into his office, he was pleased to notice that most of the mess was centered in one area and easy to clean up. Grabbing the small trash can underneath the wooden desk, he started collecting the shreds of paper and throwing away the ones that were covered in scratches and x's. Levi quickly found the thick stack of drawings that almost hid behind the side of his desk and after seeing that everything else was placed in the trash can, he sat down next to the large windows with the papers in hand.

The drawings in his hands didn't feel like they belonged to the kid in his bedroom, Eren who barely knew anything about the world and that he could create such realistic work. The first couple of papers were filled to the brim of objects that he could find around the room and he could see the mistakes that Eren made, ones that were completely scratched out like he tried to make them never exist. The kid had been drawing with a pen and Levi himself could barely write more than a page without making a mistake with one.

After passing through those papers, he found that the rest of the pile were mixed drawings of himself and Petra, though the focus was mostly on him. He thought that he would feel creeped down out Eren had perfectly drawn him, found every wrinkle and imperfection on his body that he could see and placed it on paper. However, he still made him look more inhumanly perfect and those flaws work with his body. He wondered if this was how Eren saw him and if he'll see him the way that Petra saw him for the longest time, as his savior. Levi hadn't been able to get her to move from that mindset for the longest time after he 'saved' her and got her involved with the Recon. Even after a few years, she still worshiped the very ground that he walked in and he had snapped at her multiple times that it was beyond annoying. It had been cute at first, mostly being served at, at almost every second of the day when he was at Wings of Freedom but it quickly becoming infuriating. She backed off eventually and they managed to have a normal friendship, as normal as his friendships got, but Petra would once in a while slip back into those times, and with a quick light smack to the back of the head she would go back to normal. He just hoped that Eren wouldn't go through the same thing. Though first, he needed to bring him out of what he was going through now and get some meat on his bones.

After going through the rest of the drawings, he placed them in one of his desk drawers in case Eren wanted them back or just to show him later and remind him that he has an amazing talent that he could use. Having nothing else to do and not wanting to actually leave the apartment, he grabbed his laptop and made his way into his bedroom. Eren was still passed out, the drawing of himself and Petra clung to his chest now and it looked like he was trying to suffocate himself with the pillow.

Deciding that he could still breath properly, Levi opened up the computer and looked through the emails that managed to stockpile up since yesterday morning. He had been too busy keeping an eye on Eren to do anything but sit on the couch with him and mostly do nothing. Thankfully the Recon hadn't gone to shit in the last twenty-four hours and Erwin wasn't bothering him that much with work, he went through the emails faster than normal. After exiting out of the window, his finger hovered over the mouse deciding if what he was going to do was a good idea or not. He had hatched it while going through the drawings that Eren made and it continued to grow in volume as he went through the emails. Deciding just to go for it, he searched for art supplies and clicked on the first link that could hopefully help him.

Levi's never really used his own money to buy things for other people. Though it didn't really count when he gave his card to Moblit whenever Hanji did manage to lose a member, on that rare occasion. He wasn't the one that swiped the card at the register and pick out the items, he just offered up the money. For the holidays and birthdays were the same, though sometimes he forgot about the birthdays and didn't get Hanji or Erwin anything at all. Though they were lucky that he got them anything for the holidays, which just included Christmas and that was it. He never really touched his money, only using it for the bare necessities and the occasional splurge, which happened maybe once a year. Though as he searched through the pages of items online and continued to add more and more to his cart, he didn't feel the uneasiness that he got from spending too much money.

It wasn't that he was a Scrooge or loved the fact that his bank account rarely fell below a certain line and only continued to go up. He constantly gave back to his community, giving large tips to servers that he liked and didn't give him a fake sob sorry to get more out of him. He donated monthly to an organization that helped get kids off the street and into schooling, though he would gladly take that secret to his grave. The amount of shit that he would get from Erwin and Hanji would make him suffer for years to come.

As he added to the ever-growing cart, he wondered where exactly he would put all of the supplies at. He could convert part of the office into a temporary studio for Eren, but that run the risk of paint or whatever he would use to get all over his study. Levi couldn't even imagine the cost of replacing some of the books in there if paint managed to get on them. If he could get a large tarp and clean sheets to put over them then he wouldn't have to worry about that, he just needed to make sure that it was secure when he placed them. He would honestly prefer that Eren would do it outside, though it was becoming too cold to even enjoy the sun out on his patio.

When it gets warmer, we could move it out there and have the office as a back up if it's too windy-

He quickly banished those thoughts. He was acting like this wasn't also a temporary setup. Eren wouldn't be staying into the new year. He possibly wouldn't be staying for more than a few weeks and would be back with his family before Christmas. Levi wondered what he was doing then, about to check out with over seven hundred dollars of items for a kid that he barely knew. He was tempted to just exit all of it out right there, to just forgot about the idea but remembered that this could be what can get Eren out of whatever plagued his head and also give him an output. He rationalized that he wasn't doing this out of the kindness of his heart and he could easily recover financially from this with not even a third of his next paycheck.

Finally convincing himself to continue and completely checked out, pleased to see that they could deliver to his apartment the same day and decided that he could set that up for the rest of the day while Eren kept resting. Closing the laptop once he received the email that it was being processed, he looked over at the kid sleeping and let out a sigh before deciding that he should start making lunch.

Lunch was uneventful and later than he hoped, though he did convince Eren to eat more than what he had at breakfast. He made tomato soup and figured that it would be easier to consume, he even added a straw to the mug with the spoon in hopes that it would make him eat more. Levi was right about that, he ended up using the straw more than the spoon and almost drank all of it, though he barely touched the crackers that were brought in. While he waited for a confirmation email that everything that he ordered had been delivered, he sat in bed with Eren and flipped through the channels to fuel his boredom. Eren didn't seem to mind, not when he was passing in and out of sleep for most of the day and only managed to stay awake for half an episode of whatever he decided to watch for the half hour before falling asleep once again.

Everytime that he opened his eyes, the bags under his eyes diminished slowly and his face began to gain some color. Before it was almost hard to distinguish the difference between the coloring of his scars and the paleness of his face, but now the warmth slowly surfaced back. Though he never really got the grogginess out of his eyes and sometimes only looked around the room briefly like he was reminding himself of where he was before going back to sleep.

When his phone rang, he cursed to himself that he didn't put it on silent because Eren shot straight up and clung the pillow to his chest. He looked around the room and it took a few seconds for him to recognize the sound of his phone before calming down enough to plant his head into the pillow.

"Hey, it's okay. Sorry, I woke you up," Levi consulted him, reaching across the bed to place on hand on his knee and squeeze it slightly before grabbing his phone.

He didn't miss the way that Eren's eyes focused on the knee that he touched and didn't look away until he muttered that he's going back to bed. Levi recognized the number as the front desk and only answered long enough for the receptionist to tell him that he had a few packages downstairs. Wanting to recruit Eren to help him bring everything upstairs but deciding against it since he didn't need the employees gossiping behind his back about his new temporary tenant and asking unnecessary questions. The fewer people knew about Eren living here, the better.

"Eren, I'll be right back," Levi explained as he got out of bed and grabbed the closest shoes to him before starting to head back.

"Where are you going?" Eren questioned, sleep plaguing his voice and showing just how much sleep he still needed.

"I'm just going downstairs. I wouldn't be gone for long, less than five minutes."

As he passed Eren, he ruffled the mess that he called hair and continued on his way out the door, though he didn't miss the way that Eren's face turned a light shade of red when he messed with his hair.

Levi didn't speak to anyone when he finally arrived in the front lobby. It had been ages since he's actually been down there, always using the underground garage to come in and out. He only came down to get his mail and renew his lease every couple of months. The lobby was the same ugly cream color with accents of black coloring the walls. He didn't take too much time taking it in and headed straight down the long hallway to the front desk, immediately seeing the multiple boxes behind the desk and guessing that all of those were for him.

The receptionist had worked here for years, long before he signed his first lease and officially moved in after everything happened with Furlan and Isabel. She at first gave him the whole warm welcome every time he walked through the door but when he continued to ignore her and then started using the garage as an entry, she stopped altogether. He never learned her name but she confessed to him one day that she appreciated his no-care attitude and was the only tenant that she actually enjoyed seeing. Levi still didn't completely understand whatever the hell she meant but it didn't matter, especially when he rarely saw her for more than a second a few times a week.

Not even giving her a nod in acknowledgment, Levi grabbed one of the spare luggage carts next to the desk and began piling up the boxes. He did appreciate that she wasn't coming over and helping him, wasn't asking questions of why there were so many boxes. Of why there were suddenly so many boxes arriving at his house when he mostly only received ads for nearby restaurants and electronics. Though most of the boxes were heavy, he managed to stack everything without too much trouble and nothing seemed ready to fall over. Barely giving her a brief hand wave over the shoulder, he headed back into the elevator and rode it to his floor.

After pulling the heavy load off the elevator and through his front door, he turned around to see that Eren had moved to the couch, his pillow still encased in his arms. He had the blanket that served as his sitting place since he first arrived wrapped around his shoulders and leaning against the arm of the couch, his head against the pillow. Levi wondered how long he waited until he decided to move and wait for him in the living room. He told him five minutes though he remembered the last time that he told him a specific time he would be home and he arrived with a knife stab in his side.

"You came back," he heard Eren whispered from across the room.

Sleep still heavy plagued his voice and eyes, very much telling Levi that he needed to go back to bed. The last properly sleep the kid had must have been the night before he shifted and that was days ago.

"Of course, I came back. Now go back to bed and sleep," Levi commanded, grabbing the handles of the cart and pulling it toward the hallway to his office.

"I've slept long enough," Eren yawned, getting up to follow behind him.

He could easily pick him up, throwing him over his shoulder and carrying him back to his bedroom, but it would be troublesome if he somehow managed to trigger Eren. So Levi let him follow him into the office and pointed at the cushions on his window, silently telling him to sit there. He didn't put up a fight and obediently sat down, folding up the pillow and using it to prop up his head.

"What is all that?" Eren questioned him.

He ignored him for a second, trying to come up with something that sounded believable and not wanting Eren's complex for him further develop. It didn't take a rocket science to figure out that he was becoming too dependent on Levi and he understood that he needed to be that rock for Eren until his family was found. He could be that rock but he didn't need to give more reasons for Eren to become attached to him.

"I found some of your drawings," Levi explained, he turned to Eren in time to see his face quickly turning pink and pressing it into the pillow to hide. "I talked to Hanji after you first fell asleep and briefly mentioned your skills. She may have gone overboard."

"Is all this from her?" he asked, his head still buried.

"Yeah, just don't mention it to her. She gets flustered about that kind of stuff."

The lies easily slipped through his lips, lying being the main component of his job and he just hoped that Eren didn't poke his nose where it doesn't belong and ask Hanji. She would lie for him...hopefully...actually most likely not. Especially if it was a chance to make fun of him and ruin his plans.

Why am I friends with her again?

"Do you need help?" Eren quickly asked, a yawn hanging at the end of his question.

"No," he answered simply, walking over to his desk and opening one of the drawers to grab a box opener. "If you get bored, you can go back to my bedroom."

The only response that he received with a short nod and he didn't wait too long after to start opening the boxes and unpacking everything inside.

It didn't take too long to take everything out of the boxes and organizing them into a semi-neat pile in the corner of the room. Eren tried to be engaging, trying to pull conversations out of him and asking what everything was when he pulled items out of the cardboard boxes. Like all of the other questions he asked previously, he wasn't annoyed by the constant chatter and curiosity, though he had to be truthful and explain that he didn't completely know what certain items were. He honestly bought almost one of everything on the website, not completely knowing what he was getting into. Levi admitted to himself that he probably should have waited on buying everything the moment he had this idea. Needed to do some more research before blindly buying hundreds of dollars of supplies and other materials that he didn't know if Eren would need.

He looked over at said kid once, seeing that he was fighting sleep, his head nodding and blinking his eyes rapidly to get the sleep out of them. Levi suggested going back into his room again but the idea was quickly shot down by his stubbornness. He said that he didn't want to leave Levi alone but thought that instead, Eren didn't want to be left alone. He did drop it and returned to organizing and breaking down the boxes to make room for the others. When he did manage to see everything he bought and deciding that just looking at the items spread across the room, that it didn't feel everything he bought was there. Though after checking his cart list and marking off everything at his feet and on the list, everything was there. It just didn't feel like he got the bang for his buck but art supplies were expensive and wondered if Eren's parents would be able to fuel them.

After he completed the list and made a pile to take out to the garbage, he turned toward Eren to see him passed out. His chocolate hair had flecks of gold woven in as the little sunlight that managed to come from the window shrouded him in light. He turned his body so that it pressed against the warm glass and curled against the pillow in his lap. He realized suddenly that Eren was very much like his other form, sleeping and finding places comfortable where a normal person wouldn't think of falling asleep. At least he managed to fall asleep pretty fast and unlike Levi who took hours of staring at the ceiling until he felt even remotely tired.

He wondered how much sleep the kid managed to get over the past couple of nights. Levi knew for a fact that he barely got any from the first night. The nightmare he had made sure of it. Even though Eren never told him, he could tell that nightmares continued to plague him after that night and either kept him awake before or after they happened, maybe even both. He didn't need to check in on him to know that because he went through the same thing after he got out of the streets.

Levi thought about what made the difference between when Eren had nightmares and not. Obviously, he didn't seem to have those dreams when they slept in the same bed together, though he didn't want to start that up again. Sleeping in the same bed with an animal was completely different when instead it is another person. Suddenly it hit him that even though Eren was restless, he hadn't once woken up from a nightmare and had been clinching to the pillow for dear life. It was the pillow that he used the most while he slept so his scent was all over it. If he couldn't sleep next to the kid, then the next best solution would be giving him something to sleep with. He decided that he would give it a try tonight and let Eren curl up with his pillow to see if it helped in any way.

Deciding that they could have an early lunch, Levi decided to make something light again and went with more soup and crackers. It was the only thing that he managed to eat almost all of it and Eren actually needed something inside of his stomach so it didn't digest itself. It didn't take too long to heat up though by the time he got the soup into two mugs, Eren slowly made his way out of the office and sat down on the couch.

"Hanji didn't have to get all that stuff for me," he sheepishly said as he adjusted the blanket on his shoulders. "I don't even know how to use half the stuff in there."

"Like I said, she can get carried away sometimes and I'll show you how to use some of it," Levi replied as he handed the warm mug over to Eren with a straw and put a plate of crackers in between them as he took his seat.

"You know how to draw?"

He turned on the television to drown out some of the silence between them. Levi had only picked up a pen for one thing and that was to sign and seal documents. He tried his hand at drawing at a younger age but quickly realized that he had no talent and didn't have the patience for the craft. His hands weren't meant to create.

"No, but it doesn't mean that I can't appreciate it," he concluded.

They continued to eat their soup silently and Levi couldn't help but let a small smile encase his lips when he saw that Eren almost eat everything in his mug and even had some crackers. He quickly wiped it away before the kid could see it, not completely knowing why he had let it escaped or why it existed in the first place. Eren munched on crackers, nibbling on them as he waited for his mug to be taken away and Levi reminded himself that when he was better, he would teach him how to clean properly and where everything went. If he continued to live here for awhile then he would pull some of his weight, even if he would be leaving soon, at least he would have some household skills.

"When would I be able to use that stuff?" Eren nervously asked, looking away from him when he popped this question.

Looking at him now, the kid still looked tired from the constant on and off sleeping and still needed at least an actual full night rest before. Though the dark circles that sickened his face had already lessened and almost disappeared. Sleep still consumed his body and Levi could still tell that he was fighting it off to some degree. The only difference was the glimpse of excitement and curiosity glimmered in Eren's eyes, most likely at the prospect of playing with all the new toys that he just bought him. He now was pleased that all of his money didn't go to waste and he was actually interested in creating something with everything in the office. Levi looked at the window and saw that it was getting dark.

"Tomorrow, it would take too long to set everything up and it looks like you're about to pass out...again," he answered.

"I'm not tired," Eren countered but then two seconds later and his body betrayed him by yawning.

A chuckle bubbled it's way up his throat, thankfully one that was small and hopefully barely noticeable. He quickly banished the thought that the kid looked cute at that moment and turned his attention to the screen.

It didn't take very long for Eren to pass out once again, though this time that he most likely was out for good. Levi waited until the end of the current episode of whatever played on the screen. He hadn't paid any attention to the television, looking over at Eren and making sure that his theory about the pillow was still holding up. He didn't stir that much, only to slightly adjust himself in his sleep. Levi decided that he should get him in his bed and then start to head to bed himself, well more like staring at the ceiling until he passed out for a few hours.

Picking Eren up, he carried him into his own room and found himself surprised when he didn't wake up in his arms. He tucked a blanket around him and turned the television on in case he did wake up but turned down the volume to almost where he couldn't hear the voices coming from the screen. He ruffled the kid's hair before leaving and decided that tomorrow he would get Eren to take another shower, already feeling that his hair was becoming greasy.

When Levi began to clean up the living room, folding up the blanket that Eren used all day and organizing the remotes on the glass table, he could hear buzzing emerging from his bedroom. By the time that he realized his phone was going off and he made his way to his side table on the opposite side of the bed, the call ended. Turning over his phone, he let out a groan when he read that Erwin was the one that called him. He knew that he wasn't going to call again and if Levi didn't call him back than Erwin would make his life a living hell with paperwork.

"What do you want? I was just getting ready for bed," Levi greeted as he fixed the bed.

"It's only eight. What have you done with the real Levi?" Erwin questioned, a small laugh coming out of the speaker.

"Dealing with the brat wears me out. Now, what do you want?"

"Always so quick to the point."

"Well, I learn from the best so spit it out."

Levi could feel the tone of the conversation shift suddenly, from joking as friends to the authority of a commander and his underling. "There's been hostile movement around your side of town. Fairly close to your apartment building to put it bluntly."

"What does that have to do with me? I've been perfectly fine living here for the past couple of years and they haven't been able to find where I live."

"I know that you can take care of yourself but it's not only you now. With another person added to the mix, it's easier to make mistakes."

"I don't make mistakes."

"Anyways, I think that in the best of interest of you and Eren, that you should both move to a safe house and wait there until his family is found."

The offer was ridiculous and Levi wondered if Erwin had a fever dream to come up with this solution. Eren was still adjusting to living in his apartment with limbs and was always on the verge of an attack. Moving him or putting him an unfamiliar environment would backtrack everything that Levi has done and worked toward over the past couple of days. No amount of art supplies would bring him out of wherever his mind would take him.

"There's no chance of that happening. Doing that to Eren would shock him and hurt his psyche. Hanji will agree with me that it would be the worst thing for him at this point."

And he knew how much he and Hanji disagreed on everything. She wasn't stupid enough to think that this would benefit Eren in any way. "You think that you can protect the both of you?"

"Nothing is going to happen. I have a fake name under the lease and barely show my face. If someone finds out about me, they would be leaving with that information. I've been taking care of myself for years, the addition of the brat won't break me."

"If anything were to happen to the boy-"

"I didn't realize that you cared so much for the kid. Don't worry, nothing is going to happen to him."

"I made a promise to Petra that he would be safe, even if the Recon doesn't benefit from taking him under our wing, it doesn't mean that we go back on our word."

He sat on top of his comforter, realizing that he was in desperate need of a shower and needed this conversation to end soon. "Is this all you wanted to talk about? If so, then I would rather be taking a shower than having this talk."

"Hanji hasn't been able to make any progress with finding anything related to Eren. She explained to me that she needs blood samples and other procedures so she can actually find something."

"Why didn't she say anything to me about it this morning?"

Levi could feel irritation and anger beginning to build up in his chest and throat. He had to start moving around, pacing in front of his bed to get some of the energy out so he didn't snap at Erwin. The images of Eren's scarred flesh flashed before his eyes. The red dots that looked like they would never properly heal, even with his superb healing abilities, on the inside of his elbow that were only visible to him when he stretched. He knew needle marks when he saw them and how whoever that punctured him with the needles did not care how they harshly they administered whatever they injected him with. After all the progress that he's made with Eren so far, all the panic attacks that he's helped him through and just simply seeing a needle could completely destroy him.

"Is there any other way?" He said through gritted teeth.

Why did Eren have to go through that again? Hasn't he suffered enough? "What's the problem, Levi?" Erwin questioned him.

"He's been through a lot already and I'm not just talking about whatever happened before he came to us. We need to wait a bit longer before-"

"Eren needs to go back to his family as soon as possible, before the Military catch wind that he's still in Maria. The sooner we get everything sorted out, the better it is for everyone involved."

Letting out a sigh of annoyance, he rubbed the bridge of his nose and tried to think of how he approach this with Eren to convince him to go. If he just took him there without saying what Hanji would be doing to him then it'd take some time before the kid fully trusted him again.

"Fine," he agreed regretfully.

"Now who seems to care so much about the kid?" Erwin teased him.

"Shut up."

He hung up the phone and then tossed it on the bed, probably with too much force since it bounced on the bed and then landed on the floor. Deciding that a shower would hopefully clear his head, he headed into the bathroom and began to think of a plan for getting Eren to agree to be punctured by needles once again.