Working at the café was refreshing. Petra was an easy-going boss, and the other members of staff soon became good friends. It was easy to forget why he ended up there in the first place.

It was not until evening, once the café was closed and Eren was back in his empty room did he begin to feel lonely and sadness would creep up on him once more.

Petra had said he was welcome to decorate the room, he had not done so yet, but now it was Saturday and Petra had insisted he took at least one day off a week. He had been to the local hardware store and purchased some paint and a few rollers and brushes. He laid out old sheets and pushed all the furniture into the middle of the room and covered that too. Marco had given him a pair of old denim dungarees that he said Eren could keep, he was wearing them to do the decorating. Eren did his research, and by research he meant he googled it and was semi-confident on how best to paint his room.

He was halfway through the cutting in around the edges, of one wall, when a knock came on his open door. He looked up from where he was sat on the floor, casually cutting in the edge along with the skirting board, and saw Levi standing in his doorway.

"Petra, said you were up here?" He greeted, "Fancy a hand?" He asked as he removed his coat, already preparing to begin without waiting for an answer.

"Sure," Eren agreed a little stunned, he had not seen Levi in over two weeks. He had given up hope on seeing him anytime soon.

Levi pushes his sleeves up roughly and takes a few strides across the room towards Eren and the paint. Eren ignores the small part of his brain that is overwhelmed by the sight of Levi rolling his shirt sleeves up.

"Here," Eren hands Levi a spare paintbrush, he was still doing the edges 'cutting in' and had not reached the paint roller stage.

He takes it and dips it into the paint, wiping the excess off on the side of the tin, "Bold choice," Levi remarks.

Eren shrugs his shoulder, "I guess," he glances at the orange paint, "but only one wall is orange, a feature wall as it were. The other three will be grey."

This causes Levi to arch a surprised eyebrow at him, "I'll reserve judgment until I see the finished room,"

"You'll see," Eren defended waving his paintbrush in Levi's direction, "you'll eat your words." He confidently announced. No way was he admitting that he was having second thoughts about it himself. He had looked online and had seen a living room with an orange and dark grey colour scheme and thought it looked great. Vivid, yet, not in your face orange. It was a subtle, earthy orange, not a luminous orange.

They worked in silence for a few moments. Eren doing the edges higher up, no way could Levi reach, whereas Levi did the skirting board edge.

"Are you feeling better?" Eren inquired after some time, just for something to say.

Levi did not pause in his painting, but he did hesitate in answering. "Better, for now, yes," he settled for saying, it seemed Eren had a strange ability, one that made Levi want to be truthful.

What the hell kind of answer was that!? Eren thought. Does that mean Levi anticipated getting sick again in the future? What wasn't he telling him? This worried him. He had only seen Levi a couple of times and had not seen him for weeks, but somehow he found himself caring.

Running his paintbrush along the edge watching in satisfaction as he managed a perfectly straight line, Eren scowls at the wall, deep in thought about Levi.

Glancing over at Eren, Levi can see his statement has caused Eren some confusion. To be fair he knows what Eren is feeling without the need to look at his facial expression. Most people he managed to tune out, only sensing the strongest most powerful emotions. Extreme situations and consequences of those situations through their reactions/emotions. Yet, Eren, he was a completely different story. Levi could sense so many minor emotions from him. Take now, for instance, Eren was confused, annoyed and worried. Levi could guess that his vague answer would confuse anyone, and maybe Eren was annoyed as he did not have the full story. But, the fact that Eren was worried, that was completely foreign to him.

"Are you dying?" Eren blurts abandoning his painting to stare at Levi.

"Yeah," Levi answers solemnly causing Eren to suck in a breath and the emotions that hit Levi is almost overpowering, he hastily adds, "we're all dying." He wished he never made the joke now, he had not anticipated the instant sorrow, Eren, and subsequently, he would feel upon hearing the news and assuming Levi was on death's door.

The relief that emanates from Eren and washes over him is welcomed. "Fucking bastard," Eren exclaims hitting him on the shoulder, "I thought for a moment there that you had some terminal illness or something." It seemed even through layers of clothes, Eren's touch, no matter how brief, caused him to feel a calmness settle over him.

He wonders how it would feel to have Eren's touch against bare skin. The thought flashes through his mind, but the accompanying image is not that of a wholesome innocent touch – no, his mind automatically heads for the gutter and thinks of him and Eren naked and making love.

Fuck, if that wasn't a surprise! He had not thought of someone sexually for years.

Levi blinks up at Eren and Eren's carefree smile drops as he looks at Levi with concern, "Are you alright?" He asks.

"Probably these paint fumes," Levi announces as he turns his back on Eren and heads for the window, opening it wide, "you're meant to be in a well-ventilated room when painting." He mocks.

"I forgot," Eren mumbles chided, returning to his work.

"What's the plan?" Levi asks still not looking at Eren, his head tilted down to look at the tin of paint as he dips his brush in again.

"Huh?"

"For the room? How are you tackling the painting?" Levi clarifies looking up and meeting Eren's eyes. His open and expressive eyes, eyes that only add to the allure of Eren.

"Oh," Eren mutters in understanding, "I was going to do all the cutting in, orange and grey. Then I could fill the trays and use the roller to paint the bulk of it. May need more than one coating. I could break for food and if it's dry enough I can give it a second coat."

Levi nods, "I'll start the grey, and you finish the orange. We can do a wall each. Repeat for the other two walls." He decides he's staying here to help Eren.

"Not that I don't want your help, because fuck I want your help, but don't you have, stuff to do? Aren't I distributing your plans?" He doesn't what Levi to spend best of his day stuck in his small double bedroom doing tedious decorating.

"No plans." Levi reassures, "I came here to see you and Petra, and planned on just hanging around downstairs in the café. I may as well make myself useful." He wanted to add on, 'besides here I'm away from people, from the constant suffering of having to deal with everyone else's emotions. Here it's just you, and you provide me peace.'

"In that case, get back to work, you're slacking." Eren teases.

Levi flicks his brush in Eren's direction, a couple of splatters hit his dungarees. They both look down at the splotches of paint, then look up at each other in unison. Levi's face is blank, he lifts his eyebrows minutely, and Eren gapes at him, "Y-you got paint on me!" He stammers.

"I'm sure…" Levi makes a point of looking Eren up and down, "…I haven't ruined your very fashionable dungarees." His voice dripping with sarcasm.

Eren shifts from one foot to another, he didn't know Levi was going to show up today. He has hardly any clothes as it is, having only packed a small bag when he fled his parents. He didn't want to ruin the little clothes he had with paint, so he borrowed these, they were not his choice.

"I-I…" Eren began.

"You look cute," Levi cut in, "dorky." He added on.

The smile that broke out across Eren's face was sign enough that Eren was happy. Levi did not need the rush of joy that hit him as Eren's feelings also came to him to know that Eren liked what he had just said.

"Dorky?" Eren echoes, "How dare you?" he playfully protests. He makes a show of checking Levi out, "and what's your style inspiration? Funeral director?"

Eren can see Levi's mouth almost twitch into the beginning of a smile, but he manages to control himself, "Idiot," Levi retorts.

They settle back into their task, and Levi reflects on how nice he feels right now. Previously when he spent his time with people, he would either obtain a dull headache from the tiring day spent with others, or an intense splitting headache if the company he had were experiencing extreme emotions, or, he would hide away at his home away from everyone. He would not have the immediate effects of being around people, but he still had a distant unease about him. However, when he was in Eren's company, as long as he was not having a dramatic time, he felt normal. Of course, he still could sense Eren's emotions, yet they did not leave him with a headache, in fact, Eren often helped him feel calm. It was a new experience for him, to be able to spend time with someone and not have to deal with any negative side effects, to concentrate on the person and not worrying about whether he would pass out soon from overdoing it.

Essentially, although he still experienced Eren's emotions, it was pleasant and not intrusive and skin-crawling inducing, like with everyone else's emotions. He contemplated telling Eren, it felt rude to know every last feeling Eren was experiencing whilst Eren was not privy to this. Nonetheless, he held back from mentioning it, he would hate for Eren to think of him as some freak, or be angry at him for reading him through his emotions. What if Eren thought he was a liar and a weirdo? It may be crazy, but he did not want to risk losing Eren by telling him about this damn curse. He had already given up so much because of it, why couldn't he keep it a secret and keep Eren? It was time for him to be selfish for once and think of himself.

With the two of them tackling the small room, the cutting in was soon done, and they were now using the rollers to cover the main area of the walls. Eren had snuck out to fetch them some refreshments, and when he handed Levi his favourite tea, Levi got an up-close view of Eren's face. He had somehow managed to spalt flecks of paint across his face and nose, and all over his hands.

"You have paint on your face," Levi points out taking a sip of tea before placing the cup on the windowsill.

Using the back of his hand Eren only manages to smear it across his face making it worse, as he attempts to rub it away.

Levi huffs out a laugh, "You're making it worse," he informs Eren.

Eren looks into Levi's completely, paint-free, face and says, "Yeah," stepping closer as he speaks, "well, you have some on your face too!"

Levi frowns, "Where?"

Eren lifts his right hand and uses the edge of his roller to dab a big patch of paint on Levi's cheek, "There," he answers smugly.

Levi's heart rate has accelerated, and for once it is not from stress, but, from the tension between them and Eren's blatant flirting. He glares at Eren, but Eren does not flinch, he remains close, waiting for Levi's reaction.

Levi moves slowly and deliberately, he picks up a paintbrush and walks up to Eren. Eren takes a few steps backwards, until he bumps into the covered bedroom furniture, "No, no, no..." Eren protests.

Levi steps into his personal space, his face up close to Eren's, the paintbrush looking threatening in his hand. Eren has bent his legs so he is sat slightly against the furniture, making him level with Levi, they stare at one another, waiting for one of them to make a move. One hand is gripping the sideboard behind him, and the other he uses to take hold of Levi's wrist as he endeavours to push his hand away.

"Don't you dare," he says laughing.

His attempt fails, Levi is oddly strong and the paintbrush inches closer to his nose.

"L-levi!" Eren exclaims panicked. It's only a bit of paint, but it seems fitting to protest as part of their teasing.

"Call it retribution for this," Levi coolly states as he points to the stripe of paint now drying on his cheek.

Eren snickers as he looks at the offending paint blotch, Levi steps closer, slotting himself between Eren's legs, "Did you just laugh at me?" he asks seriously.

Eren's eyes dart from Levi's face to the paintbrush, "Erm...maybe..." he admits.

A sudden wet and cold feeling, spreads over his nose, as Levi runs the paintbrush from Eren's forehead, down his nose and to his chin. Painting one long line down the centre of his face. Eren grimaces as he tastes paint on his lips, "Ew," he whines, pulling on his sleeve and using the cuff to try and wipe his mouth.

He stares at Levi, he flinches expecting another round of paint when Levi lifts his hand, but Eren soon realises that the hand Levi has raised is devoid of a paintbrush. Levi reaches out and rubs his thumb across Eren's lips, trying to remove some of the paint.

Eren's mouth parts slightly in shock, his eyes connecting with Levi's.

"You have some paint on your face, did you know?" Levi remarks as he drops his hand.

"Do I?" Eren says breathlessly.

They hear someone swear softly under their breath and they both look over to the door to see Petra. Her arrival results in Levi stepping away from Eren quickly.

She looks mortified, "I'm sorry, I didn't...I..."

"No, it's fine," Eren reassures her.

She wasn't disturbing anything, or was she? They had been flirting, messing around with the paint, and Levi had been between his legs and so close to his face, within kissing distance - but that didn't mean they were going to kiss, does it?

"I thought you could use some lunch, I was just bringing some up," she explains awkwardly, as she raises the tray she has clutched in both hands.

Eren smiles at her, "Lunch sounds wonderful, thank you," She places the tray on the floor, and glances at them apologetically before leaving, probably returning to the cafe.

Whatever it was that was happening between them had vanished, the moment lost. Eren smiles awkwardly at Levi before muttering something about going to the bathroom to wash his face.

When he returns Levi's cheek is clean, and he's eating his sandwich. Thankfully the paint on his face was still wet and therefore it was easier to wash off. He could not help but laugh at his reflection in the mirror, he did look ridiculous after all, with a long stripe down the centre of his face - it was comical.

They eat sitting on the floor, Eren marvels at how different Levi appears to be today. Although his face is still unreadable, Eren thinks that he does not seem as tense. He is not forcing his features to show indifference, he is naturally relaxed and this is how his face looks when relaxing. Previously, Eren could see the slight pull of his eyebrows as Levi furrows them slightly, he could see that Levi's lips were thinner as he grimaced slightly, and his jaw was clamped shut. These were only subtle differences, and one would not notice unless they were in close proximity, like when he was opposite Levi over the counter. Not to mention his countenance, yes, he was still a man of few words, and he never really smiled, also a lot of his reactions were from the way he looked at you, but Eren thought, he was happier.

"Stop staring," Levi's low cool voice orders, as he pointedly watches Eren.

Feeling caught in the act, Eren drops his gaze to the tray of food, "Sorry," he starts off saying, adding, "I can't help it, you seem different today."

He flicks his eyes up quickly to gage Levi's reaction - not like his face will give much away, but his eyes might. "Today is a good day for me," Levi explains, although his answer is still vague and not particularly enlightening.

"Oh," Eren returns not willing to let it drop, "how so?"

Levi's eyes travel slowly from watching Eren's mouth back up to his eyes, "Great food, great company, my favourite tea, and no headaches. What more could I want?"

Eren ignores the compliment about the great company, instead, his mind fixates on the, 'no headaches' part. His stomach drops again, there it was that ominous allusive threat to Levi's well-being that Eren had no clue about. He knew he was not terminally ill, Levi had joked about dying but corrected Eren when he could see he was upset. Unless Levi lied? Maybe, he saw Eren's reaction and felt bad so pretended it was a joke. Fuck! He feels sick.

A hand on his knee pulls him out of his downward spiral, he glances up to see Levi looking puzzled, "Hey, you okay?"

He wants to say no, to scream at Levi for keeping things from him, but what right does he have to demand Levi spills all of his secrets. He is nobody. Just some guy Levi took pity on, who happens to now be working at his friend's cafe.

Levi's fingers tighten around his knee as he squeezes it gently, "Eren?"

Levi can sense that something is not right with Eren. To him, Eren is probably the easiest person to read. He can sense even the subtlest changes in his emotions. When he mentioned the headaches, he instantly felt the change in Eren. And fuck now the bastard was pouting at him, his eyes looking sad - Levi was a goner for sure.

"I hate that you are suffering. Whatever is the cause of these headaches, must be awful. I want to help. I'd take them away if I could!" He declares passionately. Happiness flows through him, but for once it is his happiness, not second-hand happiness he is experiencing from someone else. Eren wants to help. Strangely enough, Eren does help, his touch helps alleviate the worst headaches. So it is ironic that Eren says he would take them away if he could because he does, he just does not know it.

"You help, more than you realise," Levi reassures, his hand still resting on Eren's knee.

Eren's pout transforms into a slow pleased smile, "I do?"

"Yes," Levi confirms.

He wants to reach out and caress the side of Eren's face. It would be wonderful to feel Eren nuzzling against his hand accepting the intimate gesture, alas, he refrains. His whole life he has shut himself away, suddenly there was a boy who has changed his whole world, and he is experiencing emotions for himself for the first time; it is overwhelming. He does not know what to do.