For a moment, Levi remained frozen, his shock preventing any thoughts from entering his mind, and he could swear he heard a ringing in his ears. And then, with a slight shake of his head, when he finally processed that the boy in front of him was Eren, his boy, here to see him at long last and not a desperate figment of his imagination, everything seemed to be going way too fast and yet not fast enough. Suddenly, he didn't understand why Eren wasn't in here with him right now, why was he still standing there? It was only when he began to run towards where Levi knew the ladder was did the mermaid follow him.
Adrenaline was powering Levi's every muscle and nerve, and he made it to the surface much faster than Eren made it up the ladder. He craned his neck, head bobbing every which way as he searched for that tuft of dark hair. He could hear the footsteps on the ladder, and never had the journey seemed so long. He began pawing at the rocks anxiously, a high pitched, soft noise rising up around him, and it took Levi a minute to realize that the noise was coming from him. Worse still, he didn't have the strength to stop it.
It only became worse when he saw Eren appear, his face still lit up by a dazzling smile and his cheeks still flushed with euphoria over seeing his mermaid again. When their eyes met, Levi's soft, anxious whines turned into wretched, desperate shrieks. He began making sounds foreign to his own ears, braying and baying similar to the sounds dogs made. Sounds that conveyed a want too big for his entire body, too deep and frantic for him to articulate with words. So these animalistic cries forced their way out of him while he pulled himself out of the water and reached his arms up, a silent plea to be embraced. Eren answered his call, setting down his bouquet and pulling the mermaid into his arms. He sat down in front of him, pulling Levi into his lap and squeezing him so tightly that his muscles burned with the strain.
"Hey Levi," he said, so overcome with emotion that he couldn't think of anything more profound to say, "Hey. Hi. Oh my God, I know, I missed you so much too. It's okay, I'm here now. Oh, sweetheart, I'm here. I'm here."
Eren's throat tightened and his voice became wet with tears as he spoke, his arms falling from Levi's shoulders to his middle as the mermaid raised himself up and began nuzzling Eren all his face and neck. The nuzzling was hard, desperate and deliriously happy, one hand holding his boy's head in place as he covered him in his scent, giving little whimpers and whines that sounded more like he was in pain that more than excited beyond comprehension. Sometimes he would throw in an extra loud whine that when he opened his mouth became a long cry, and it just sounded so overly dramatic that Eren couldn't help but laugh wetly.
"Oh the drama," they heard a voice joke beside them.
Eren managed to peek from underneath Levi's arm, though the mermaid didn't stop nuzzling him, so caught up in their reunion that he just didn't care about the outside world anymore. He noticed that it was Hanji, and the smile on her face was as joking as it was sympathetic.
"Hey Hanji," Eren tried to greet her, though Levi did try to get him to ignore her by giving the boy's temple a couple of quick licks before bunting his forehead against it. His claws were hooked into Eren's jacket, almost hard enough to leave holes. He wasn't letting him go anytime soon.
"Thank God you're here," she said with relief, "To say he missed you would be a gross understatement. I don't know how much more pining I was going to be able to stand. Your little fish here is a gross romantic."
"He's my gross romantic," Eren corrected, and then said to Levi, "aren't you?"
Levi replied by hugging him tighter and pressing light little kisses all over his face. He began purring, but purring so hard that his body shook with the force of it. And some of his whines kept leaking through as he purred, so what came out of him was an odd, vibrating warble that sounded so ridiculous Hanji and Eren couldn't help but laugh.
"I know," Eren told him as his laughter trailed away, "it's okay now. It's okay."
Levi kept up his affectionate nuzzles and cries for a good long while, long enough that Hanji left them alone for a while to keep locking up, feeling like she was intruding on something private. Truthfully, she had only come to check on Levi because the shrieks he had been making had made it sound like he was in dreadful pain, or was being attacked. But in the end, it had just been Eren, the boy somehow managing to sneak past her. But she had truly meant it when she said she was thankful for his return. With no visitors to distract him, Levi had been swimming around his tank aimlessly for hours, and she had begun to worry about him. After all, when dolphins and orcas did that in their tanks, it usually indicated they were bored or worse, depressed. It wasn't a long shot to say Levi had started to feel something similar.
After almost forty five minutes that involved finishing locking up, helping the keepers with last minute chores and chatting with a couple of her coworkers, she finally went back to check on Levi and Eren, wondering if Eren was still there or if he had gone home already.
She supposed she really shouldn't have been surprised at all by what she found in Levi's tank. They were both laying there on the rocks, Levi snuggled against Eren so tightly that there were no gaps between their bodies. His head was resting against Eren's shoulder and his fingers were curled loosely in his thick winter jacket, his eyes closed. By how softly and evenly he was breathing, Hanji guessed that he was asleep. Though Eren's eyes were still open, they were growing heavier by the moment, and his head was nodding slightly, indicating he wasn't far behind.
She was shocked at first that were like this at first. They had been so excited a moment ago, and she would have thought that the exhilaration of seeing the other again would have made sleep a dim, distant idea. But no, it appeared that they had become a little over excited by their reunion, to the point that as soon as they were reunited, all of the pent up stress over being apart from the other was expelled violently, like venom being flushed from a wound. All that was left was exhaustion, exhaustion built up from sleepless nights of being away from each other that all crashed down upon their heads in one final, breathless moment.
Hanji was just surprised it had happened so fast. But she supposed it just spoke to how tired they both really were, and how badly they had missed each other, if the relief from seeing each other was so strong that it could knock them both smooth out like this.
However, she couldn't let them stay like this, unfortunately. She was the last one at the center now, and they had to close for the night. As much as she was loathe to separate them, Eren really should be spending his first night home in his own bed. So, she approached him from behind and carefully shook his shoulder, saying his name quietly.
At hearing his name, Eren reluctantly peeled his eyes open, having only just closed them a few short moments ago, and rolled over to face her, being careful not to jostle Levi. Hanji told him, "I'm just about to lock up."
Eren took a deep breath through his nose, trying to force oxygen into his system to rouse himself, and he said when he exhaled, "Alright. I'll get up and get going then."
"Well yes, but I figured I could drive you home," she offered.
Eren regarded her for a moment, confused, and then said, "No, it's okay, I drove myself here, just give me a minute, I can"- he was interrupted by a huge yawn, and then continued "-can make it back home."
Hanji eyed him doubtfully. "Uh huh. Let me rephrase that. I'm driving you home because I don't want to see you on the morning news saying you had crashed into a tree or something on the way home because you fell asleep at the wheel." When he began to protest, she added, "No arguing. Now come on."
With a reluctant sigh, Eren finally gave in, deciding he must be tired indeed if he was too tired to argue. He supposed Hanji was right. He had been running on adrenaline ever since he boarded the plane to get here. Then after his mom had picked him up from the airport he barely stayed long enough to say hello to her before he was hopping out of her car and into his own and racing off towards the aquarium like a man possessed. Now the adrenaline was completely gone and he was left with the crash. So, he carefully tried to work his way out from under Levi. Not an easy feat considering Levi was laying almost on top of him. It took several long seconds of gentle maneuvering to untangle Levi's arms from around him and easy scooting off to the side. Hanji even viscerally felt the tenderness radiating from Eren as he slid his hands underneath Levi's head and gently lowered it to the ground as he at last separated himself from him.
But before he could get up, Levi seemed to register that Eren was no longer there with him. His warmth and solid body were gone, and that tiny frightened part of himself that he had tried so hard to smother while Eren had been gone, that part of himself that was always alert and waiting for danger, tried to rouse him. He began whining dreamily, unhappily, the fingers that had been curled in the boy's coat now flexing, searching. In response, Eren's own anxiety began to rise. He didn't want Levi to wake up, and the whine he was making, the way his brows were furrowing, his expression looking so nervous even in his sleep…it took all of his self-control not to dive back into the mermaid's embrace and hold him close again. Thinking fast, he knelt down and stroked Levi's temple, pushing the hair out of his face and murmuring a string of soothing words too low for Hanji to hear. But whatever he said must have done the trick, because within a few moments Levi settled down, his whining quieting, and his expression smoothing out into one of contentment. Eren sighed with relief, and finally pulled his hand away from Levi's face after rubbing his thumb over his cheek one last time. For good measure, right before he stood up again, he reached over for the bouquet, grabbed it and carefully placed it by Levi's outstretched hand.
When he finally rose to his feet, he gave Levi one final lingering look, before he quietly walked out of the tank, and it was only when they were down the ladder and walking down the hall did Hanji dare to speak out loud and say, "I'll come pick you up first thing in the morning tomorrow? Or I can come get you on my lunch break if you want."
Despite being dead on his feet, Eren insisted, "No, no first thing in the morning is fine. I'll be there bright eyed"- he yawned again, "- and bushy tailed."
Of course, once she loaded him in the car and they were out on the main road, she wasn't at all surprised that he fell asleep in the car within a minute of leaving the parking lot.
000
A little before dawn, Levi finally stirred, the sound of some of the staff milling around and some doors being opened rousing him enough that he cracked his eyes open. Without giving it much thought, he stretched slightly, arching his back and giving a little whine with the effort, his body stiff and his skin feeling stretched and dry as he realized he had spent all night out on the rocks instead of in his cave. But wait, how had he ended up here…?
It took only a second for Levi to recall the night before, that Eren had come back, that he was home now. Last Levi remembered, he was feeling so drowsy that he couldn't keep his head up or his eyes open, and had laid his head on Eren's shoulder. The boy had begun to run his fingers through his hair, and it had felt so soothing, making him feel exponentially more relaxed. He remembered clearly telling himself that he was going to just rest his eyes long enough to get the heavy feeling to go away and then- then nothing. He must have fallen asleep without meaning to. He sat up, head still feeling heavy, reaching blindly next to him. When he felt nothing but empty space, his eyes widened a bit, and he realized that no, Eren wasn't with him anymore.
He gasped, waking up immediately. Where was he? He began looking every which way, panic suddenly welling in his throat. Had he left Levi and gone back home? Gone back to school? Or worse, had it all just been a dream, another attempt by his subconscious to soothe him, to produce lovely images for him so that he could sleep happily and deeply, only for him to wake and feel the full weight of his depression again knowing that Eren was still hundreds of miles away?
Before his thoughts could start spiraling, his hand thankfully brushed against something hard and crinkly. Startled, Levi looked down, and to his utter relief and joy saw that it was the bouquet that Eren had brought last night, wrapped in plastic paper around the stones the same way it would be wrapped around a bunch of flowers. He really had been here, it hadn't been a dream. Levi sent a quick thank you to the moon spirits and picked up the bouquet, trying his hardest to be careful with it. Pulling back the wrapper slightly, he saw that it was full of several large and small precious, sparkling stones of many different colors. Amethyst, rose quartz, citrine, opal, and of course, aquamarine. It was far better and far more useful than any bouquet of flowers for a mermaid. Levi hugged it close, a giddy smile forming on his face. Just then, another thought occurred to him; if the sun wasn't up yet, then that meant he had some time to kill before Hanji and Moblit got here, and when they got here, perhaps they would bring Eren with them.
Heart pattering with excitement, Levi decided to ready himself, hopping into the water, taking his bouquet with him.
True to his word, Eren arrived just a couple of hours later, all bright eyes and red cheeks, bundled up and wearing a blue beanie that said "I Believe" with a little mermaid next to it, carrying a tote bag that swung on his arm, and a spring in his step as he shot up the ladder. The boy's stomach felt all warm and fuzzy when he saw that Levi had broken into his bouquet and had laid all the stones out onto the pathway and was currently picking them up one by one to admire them. When he heard Eren, he swung around to face him, put down his stone and he began his guinea pig chirping, a sound he hadn't uttered since he had last seen Eren face to face.
Once he was next to Levi, he bent down and folded him into his arms again, the mermaid beaming up at him so brightly Eren was sure he was going to be blinded by it. He greeted him with a soft, "Hey baby. I'm sorry I had to leave you last night. But I see you found the rocks. Do you like them?"
Levi nodded against Eren's shoulder enthusiastically. When he pulled out of the hug, he was still wearing that dazzling smile, and he signed up at the boy, "They're perfect, thank you so much for getting them for me. I want to put them in my cave later, perhaps. Or I might leave them out here since they're so pretty sparkling in the light like this."
Eren's gaze swept over the stones, and then he turned back to Levi, saying, "Well, might have to keep that in mind for Christmas. But before we can get there, we have some Thanksgiving things to worry about."
Ah yes. Eren had mentioned this Thanksgiving stuff during their video chats. Another weird human holiday thing, yes, but like most human holiday things, Levi was excited and intrigued by this one too. If nothing else, Levi liked the idea of the holiday because it had gotten Eren home. Speaking of…
"So, you're done now with school, yes?" he said up at Eren hopefully, eyes sparkling.
The boy's face fell as he admitted, "Ah, no. I'm sorry Levi, it's just for five days for the holiday. After this I have to go back to school again."
Levi's eyes widened with shock, and suddenly his chest felt like someone had knocked the wind out of him. He opened his mouth to protest, then he closed it again. Of course he couldn't have Eren all the time, but he couldn't believe he had come home like this and was only going to up and leave him again at some point. He understood, but it still hurt, and he didn't think he was ever going to get used to it. He felt his expression fall, and Eren of course must have seen it, because he quickly said, "But I'll be back in a few weeks, and for that break I'll have almost a month off between semesters."
Levi brightened again at that. "Really?"
"Oh yes. For a while things can go back to how they used to be."
The mermaid almost teared up at the thought. He would give almost anything for that to happen, to have Eren every day in his life again. He could hardly believe what he was hearing, and he smiled so hugely at the idea that Eren laughed, made so happy by Levi's excitement that he couldn't help it.
"Right, so," he finally said, sliding the tote off his arm and setting it in front of him. He also took off his jacket, leaving his beanie on his head to keep his ears warm. "I did come here for a reason today. My parents are home getting Thanksgiving dinner ready for tomorrow, and I told them we'd help however we could. So this afternoon we are going to frost the shit out of these cookies."
Levi tilted his head, confused. But he watched curiously as Eren began to pull container after container out of the bag, setting up a little kitchen right there on the rocks. There were several little drying racks, some knives, and a couple of plates for them to place their cookies so they could frost them individually. Levi had never seen many of these things before and his eyes shone brightly as he took everything in. He listened with rapt attention as Eren explained what he had to do.
"You're just going to take a dollop of frosting like so," he told him, demonstrating by piling some of the vanilla frosting onto his knife, "and spread it on the cookie like this," he spread the frosting, "and then put it over here on the rack so we can let the frosting harden a bit."
Levi took his first cookie and the knife, trying to do exactly what Eren told him. He even began chewing on the inside of this cheek as he concentrated, determined to get it right, to make the boy proud of him. However, rather quickly, he found out how soft these cookies were, and he broke his first one as a result of trying to frost it too hard. He froze in shock, staring at the two pieces for a moment, before looking up at Eren helplessly. His boy merely snorted at Levi's terrified face.
"It's okay, there's plenty more," he assured him. "Look at it this way. The ones you break you get to eat, that was always my mom's rule. So frost both halves if you want and then you can try these cookies out."
The mermaid perked up at that, and did as he was told, being more careful this time as he judged his own strength better. When he decided his cookie had enough frosting, which wasn't much to start with since he wasn't sure how they tasted, he lifted it to his face, sniffing it curiously. It had an overly sweet but vaguely spicy scent to it as well and he wondered why that was.
"It's pumpkin," Eren said, seeing Levi's twitching nose and the unspoken question in his expression. "They only ripen in the fall, so they're considered one of the tastes of fall. You can bake it into all sorts of things."
Levi hesitated for another moment, before giving it a lick. Then, deciding he didn't mind how the spice tasted, he put the whole half of the cookie in his mouth. When he registered the taste, Eren noticed his cheeks turning rosy and he lit right up, the mermaid nodding in appreciation for the sweet taste.
"Good?" Eren asked needlessly, not surprised at all when Levi nodded vigorously and stuffed the other half of the cookie in his mouth as well.
From there on out, Levi got better at frosting, finding the activity to be relaxing, and pleased with himself that he could help Eren with this important holiday business in some small way. And if he broke a few more cookies "accidentally" just so he could eat them, well, Eren certainly didn't call him out for it. Levi even dared to think he did the same thing. Eren also explained more about what Thanksgiving was, what his family was going to be doing for it, and what he was going to be doing for the break in general.
"I do have homework to do," Eren sighed, and Levi had to fight back a smile at just how displeased the boy looked by this fact, "but I'm going to probably come here and do it. If I could manage it over the summer I can do it here now. Ugh, it was so awful there without you. But…" he paused, a soft smile coming to his face, and the mermaid watched him intently. "In a way, I'm glad about that. I was afraid that by being apart from you, I might lose whatever feelings I had for you. That I'd realize maybe what I felt for you was something trivial that might change when I went to school. But no, it hasn't. I still care about you a whole hell of a lot. Still infatuated as a stupid teenage girl. Still want to call you dumb cute, sappy names. Still want to do crap like this to you because I can."
Before Levi could ask what he meant, he watched as Eren's pointer finger came up with a huge glob of frosting on it and dabbed it onto his nose. He froze in surprise for a minute as the boy laughed, and then joined it, wiping it off and licking it up. Once he finished, he felt the need to respond, "I feel the same way. My feelings for you haven't changed at all, even if you are a big dork."
Eren laughed, setting the last of the cookies aside to dry. "Your dork, it looks like. Really, I'm so happy though. I really thought I wasn't ever going to feel like this for anyone again. And then you showed up, you monster, and now my therapist is telling me that it's entirely possible for me to still have a shot at a good relationship even after my last one ended so horribly, that I'm capable of making good judgements and all that. I think you're all conspiring against me to make me eat my words."
Levi lifted himself out of the water to sit next to him, before replying, "Perhaps. What can we say, we're evil like that."
The boy breathed a laugh through his nose, and then stilled, suddenly realizing how close their bodies had drifted together. He was very much in Levi's personal space, but of course the mermaid wasn't making any indications that he was uncomfortable. Instead, he just scooted closer, inch by inch, until he could feel the heat coming from Eren's body. Their eyes met, and Levi scanned his face. God he was cute with that beanie on, with the little mermaid on the front of it. He really was such a huge dork, and it gave him a thrill that Eren had come out and said that he was essentially Levi's.
Their eyes met, and a charge went through their bodies. Suddenly they were unable to look away from the other, and Eren placed a hand on Levi's tail, right around where his thighs would be. He took a deep breath, and leaned forward, a little bit at a time. Levi's heart began to pound. Was he…he was, oh he was, he was still leaning in, cheeks red, hand balling into a fist where it was situated against Levi. The mermaid reached down and groped for Eren's other hand, taking it in his own and squeezing it. Immediately he felt the tension leave the boy's body, Eren soaking up the comfort that he was being offered. Levi remained still, trying to tell him with his gentle, beseeching expression that everything was alright, that he could keep leaning in, or back out completely, and Levi would be fine with either. Eren took another deep breath, and kept leaning in, and this time Levi's eyes fluttered shut, anticipation pooling hot and low in his belly. His breathing began to pick up without him knowing, and he parted his lips.
And finally he felt Eren's lips, just not brushing against his own.
Instead, the boy bypassed them and kissed his cheek, lingering there for a minute, before he pulled away and began apologizing dejectedly, "I'm sorry Levi, I thought I could do it. I've been working every week with my therapist and she said I'm doing so well, and I was so excited to see you that I thought maybe- I'm such a coward, I hate myself, why am I like this? Too scared to kiss the guy I like on the lips, what a fucking joke I am."
Levi shook his head rapidly, gripping his hand tighter for a moment, before he let go of it to say, "You're not. And you have no reason to apologize, I'm not upset."
Eren lowered his gaze to his lap, unable to look at him. "I'm mad at myself though. And ashamed, so ashamed. What is wrong with me? I wasn't like this with Reiner, we kissed on the first date and I had no problems with it. I want to kiss you so bad, I promise I do"-
The mermaid quickly leaned up and kissed his cheek to stop his tirade and oh yes, it did the job and it did it very well. Eren froze and blushed like mad, all of his attention now focused on Levi instead of his awful thoughts. He was looking up at him now instead of his lap, and the mermaid took the opportunity to say, "There's no rush, and there is nothing wrong with you. Eren, I promise you, I can wait as long as you need. You're worth it. And if we do nothing more than hold hands and kiss each other's cheeks, I'll be the happiest fucking mermaid on the planet."
Eren blinked in surprise, completely unsure how to react to such beautiful, selfless words. He finally managed to squeak out, "Really?"
"Yes, really," Levi insisted, "You're so precious to me, and I consider it a gift that despite how badly you were treated before, you're willing to try and make room in your heart for…for a murderer"-
"Levi, no, don't start," he cut him off, placing a hand on his cheek. "I don't blame you for those deaths. I never have. They hurt you for years and years, and then you finally lashed out. That's on them. You never wanted to hurt anyone."
He didn't reply for several moments, unwilling to look Eren in the eye, before he said slowly, "The sentiment still stands. You're willing to overcome your fear for me, and I don't take that lightly."
Overwhelmed, Eren felt his throat tighten up, and he pulled Levi against him, burying his nose into the mermaid's hair, unable to come with the words to reply to a sentiment so beautiful. So instead, he remained silent. Levi did the talking for both of them, beginning a quiet song that made Eren's blood thrum gently, relaxing him and encouraging his affection for the mermaid. And Eren supposed that was a good metaphor for their relationship. His and Reiner's romance had been wild and hot and immediate, like summer at its peak. His and Levi's was soft, slow and tentative, like spring trying to push its way past winter's iron grip. It couldn't be more different. And for that, he was grateful.
000
Thanksgiving was the day after, and after Eren had eaten with his family, took a tupperware container filled with turkey, mashed potatoes smothered with gravy, some cranberry sauce, squash, and a couple of pumpkin cookies to the aquarium. He figured since he couldn't take Levi to dinner with his family, he'd take Thanksgiving to Levi instead. And judging by the mermaid's expression when he took the lid off the container and showed him the contents, it had been worth it. Levi's eyes had sparkled and his mouth dropped open in awe, like Eren was presenting him with the finest treasure.
He had snarfed it down excitedly, though he had to figure out how to use utensils pretty quickly, and that in and of itself had been an amusing venture. Levi had dropped them more than once and had to go diving down to retrieve them, until he finally just decided on gripping the meat in his claws and tearing it with his teeth, only using the spoon for the softer things like the mashed potatoes. And oh, the whole meal had been heavenly, the best thing he had ever tasted in his life.
"I'm glad you came home if for no other reason than to introduce me to Thanksgiving food," Levi had commented, making Eren laugh, and say he would accept that comment without complaint, as it was very true.
Once he had finished, stomach more full than he could remember it being in a long time, it hadn't taken more than an hour for Levi to slip into the always deadly tryptophan induced coma and slowly fall asleep in Eren's lap, purring contentedly, where he remained for a good chunk of the afternoon. And Eren sat there with him without complaint, soaking in Levi's presence and looking down at him with fondness swelling in his chest, stroking his hair and down his neck and shoulder.
As promised, Eren returned every day of his vacation to work on his homework in Levi's tank. Well, work on it as best as he could, as Levi was very distracting, constantly demanding his attention by being annoyingly cute, patting and pawing at Eren, or just laying his chin on his knee and looking up at him with huge round eyes. Of course his boy hadn't been able to resist most times and had either cuddled with him for hours on the rocks, or hopped into the water and swam around and played with him. They of course had been caught by Hanji or Moblit more than once and given stern looks or warnings, and then pointedly told to get back to work. This had then prompted a game of sorts to see how long they could get away with goofing off before someone caught them, which was only made harder when they couldn't stop giggling like a couple of idiots.
For those few, blissful days, it was like those four months had never happened at all, and Levi completely forgot that Eren was going to leave him again. Instead, he was in heaven, soaking in all of Eren's happy energy, his presence, and all the warm food he kept bringing him, feeling closer to his boy than he ever had.
Which is why it was that much more painful when he had to leave him again.
On the morning of his departure, Eren was once again in his tank, mermaid beanie in place, and just like four months ago, Levi was clinging to him so hard that his muscles were straining. He was whining and nuzzling Eren hard, rubbing their temples together, before he buried his face in the boy's chest, still whimpering. The noises cut Eren to the core; he stupidly thought this would be easier the second time around. But no, it was just as painful, of course it was. Levi still relied on him heavily for comfort and affection, still only seemed to truly thrive when Eren was here with him. And now he was leaving him once more.
"It'll be okay," Eren said as he stroked his hair, trying to sound cheery, "It's just a couple weeks this time, then I'll be home for a whole month. We can get up to all sorts of trouble in a month, right?"
Levi sniffed, and nodded with his face still hidden in Eren's chest. He lifted his head after a moment, to which the boy finally managed to make him smile a little by placing kisses all over his face. Levi couldn't help but nuzzle under his chin, cooing, which just made Eren tighten his grip on him, covering him as best he could so he could surround him with his warmth.
"When I get home," Eren promised, "we're going to have so much fun. And it'll be so warm and so festive and happy in here that we'll forget it's winter outside. I'll make sure of it."
And, snuggled in his arms, breathing in his musky, boyish smell, Levi finally felt safe enough and confident enough to believe him.
A/N: If anyone wants to know what Eren's beanie looks like, here it is: ht /product- page/i-believe-mermaids
And in case anyone wants to see what I imagined for Levi greeting Eren at the beginning, I took inspiration from this video: ht watch?v=axK MUdPlAeQ