Chapter 17

Eren wakes the next day to a horrible hangover, and what he can only describe as the sound of a hurricane in his kitchen. Levi must already be up and about, more than likely giving the place it's weekly scrub down.

He'd admittedly went a little overboard with the alcohol last night, which he partly blames Hange for as she kept buying rounds of shots for no reason, he distinctly remembers telling her he'd had enough after the fourth shot of tequila, and then proceeded to drink some more. If he recalls correctly, Levi hadn't been too impressed with his drunken antics. But he can't for the life of him remember what he did.

The other reason he'd allowed himself to drink so much was to try and forget the memory of his almost slip up, and the news of Urklyn Reiss's death.

Urklyn Reiss. Historia's Brother. His old gang leader. Isabel and Farlan's killer. The man he'd helped convict. Dead.

He couldn't deny that part of him felt relief at the fact Urklyn is guaranteed to never hurt anybody again, but the for the most part he just feels sheer fury. He's angry that he took the coward's way out instead of doing the decent thing and serving the entirety of his sentence, then and only then would there be any form of justice served for the three lives he ended on that fateful night.

Before he can sit and stew in his anger for any longer, Eren gets out of bed and checks out his appearance in the bedroom mirror. He's still wearing his red skirt, somehow managing to strip out of his blouse in the night leaving him shirtless and his wig is half hanging off his head. He doesn't even want to look at the state of his make-up anymore, what the hell happened last night?

Eren also notes, with slight discomfort, that he's remained tucked the entire night. He doesn't like sleeping with his junk tucked, not only can it be dangerous, but it can be incredibly painful and sensitive the next morning. Normally he untucks after he's changed following a show or when he gets home if he's not passed out in the car on the way back, but obviously he hadn't been in his right mind to do so the night before.

He strips out of his skirt and takes off his wig and cap, attempting to brush out some of the tangles left in the once luscious, red locks. It's no use, and he knows he'll have to throw this one out. It's a shame really, it was a nice wig. He gently untucks himself with a wince and decides today seems like a loose shorts type of day. He's in dire need of coffee and some pain medication, so he leaves his bedroom and heads in the direction of the kitchen.

He finds Levi on his hands and knees on the kitchen floor, scrubbing away at the laminate flooring with a relatively disgusted look on his face. He's wearing pink rubber gloves that reach all the way up to his elbows and a new cravat is covering his mouth and nose, with a bandana wrapped around his head to protect his hair. He looks up when he hears Eren enter the room, annoyance and weariness painting his sharp features. He pulls the cravat down to speak.

"Do you have any idea how many hours I've spent cleaning your vomit from the floors and couches? What the hell did you drink last night? Actually, forget that, what did you EAT and why is it orange?" Levi asks, nose turned up in disgust.

Eren thinks for a moment, trying to rack his brain when it suddenly hits him.

"I had a lot of alcohol last night. Can't remember what exactly, but I do know there was a lot of tequila. Oh, I had like three large bags of Cheetos for dinner!" He exclaims and Levi scowls at him.

"That's fucking disgusting. You do realise that shit isn't food? Please tell me you at least had something else before that?" Levi asks hopefully.

Eren shrugs his shoulders with a sheepish grin and Levi rolls his eyes in exasperation, "Idiot, well that explains the amount of throwing up you did. Seriously, it was like a fucking hose. I had to wrestle you out of the car at 5am this morning after dropping off Shitty Glasses, Mulan and Captain America…. who were ALL fucking shitfaced, so that was an achievement all on it's own. As soon as I got you in the door you decided you wanted to show me the contents of your stomach. You threw up here, there, there, on that, in your mom's vase, on your shirt…. oh, and over there as well." Levi says, pointing in various directions around the living room and kitchen.

"Well that explains why I feel like I've been hit by a bulldozer. Oh shit, I didn't throw up on you, did I?" Eren asks with wide, worried eyes. Levi raises an eyebrow at him.

"Do you honestly think you'd be alive right now if you had, brat? No, luckily for you I managed to avoid the splash zones. It pays to have good reflexes." Levi says, assessing the now clean floor before lifting his bucket off the floor and rinsing the dirty contents down the drain of the sink. He removes his rubber gloves and puts them away, removes his cravat and bandana before throwing them in the washing machine for a clean, Eren can also see his blouse is already in there, Levi must have removed it for him. Levi lets out a yawn behind his hand before starting up the machine.

"Did you manage to get any sleep last night at all Levi?" Eren questions, concerned for the exhausted looking man, almost swaying on his feet.

"Didn't get a chance to, needed to get this finished before I went to bed. And before I knew it, it was already afternoon. Doesn't matter, I don't need that much sleep anyway." Levi says, shrugging very obviously tired shoulders. Eren feels terrible for having caused the man to have so little sleep or resting time, it's been all go recently and they've both been busy, Eren himself has barely been holding on, he suddenly feels incredibly selfish at the thought.

"You need sleep Levi, you haven't been to bed in almost 24 hours, and I know you only got a few hours then too. It's only just gone noon, why don't you go to bed for a bit and I'll wake you up to get ready for dinner?" Eren suggests, resting a hand on Levi's shoulder. He looks like he's about to argue for a second but is inevitably far too tired to do so.

"Alright, I'll go and get a couple hours if it'll quit your whining. Wake me up at six, that'll give me enough time to get showered and dressed before we need to leave. Can I trust you not to destroy the place while I'm gone? I've just spent the last 6 hours making it spotless." Levi smirks, letting his arms droops at his sides.

"I'm a big boy Levi and been living alone for a long enough time before you showed up. So yes, you can trust me, the house will be just as clean when you get back up." Eren assures, "Unless of course you need a snuggle buddy, or someone to sing you a lullaby?"

"I might be exhausted, but that doesn't mean I can't kick your ass." Levi threatens, and Eren laughs loudly in response, the sheer sound of it making him want to tear his own voice box out. Honestly, hangover headaches were the worst, second only to migraines. Those were a bitch.

"I believe you, now go to bed old man." Eren turns away, facing the kettle and switching it on to boil, grabbing his favourite mug and scooping in two spoonfuls of coffee. When he turns back around, he notices Levi hasn't yet left, simply resting against the wall with his arms crossed, looking at Eren with an amused expression.

"You know, you made a very similar offer last night when I put you to bed." Levi teases, smirking at Eren's confused face.

"What do you mean? What offer?" Eren asks.

"Well, you offered to let me share your bed last night. Told me you needed me to hold you tight until you fell asleep, said you'd keep me safe in your arms. Or something of the like…. anyway, night kid." Levi calls behind him as he makes his way to bed, leaving Eren standing dumbfounded in the middle of the kitchen.

Well shit, he thinks.

Eren managed to wake Levi at just before 6pm as per his request, and they manage to get ready and over to Jean and Marco's place in time for dinner without much incident.

Eren had been productive in the hours that Levi was asleep, he'd managed to edit, render and upload his new video featuring the addition of Levi and the views began pouring in right away. He'd decided to be a little self-indulgent and made the thumbnail a picture of him grinning widely with an arm slung around the shoulders of a grumpy Levi, looking at him with complete disdain. He loved the picture so much, he even made it his cellphone wallpaper.

The views and comments on the video were going up by the second. Eren even read a couple aloud to Levi in the car on the drive over.

"Listen to these, 'OMG I LOVE LEVI SO MUCH! He's like the grumpy cat meme. I want to see more of him!'

'Eren's roommate is so sassy, it's hysterical. Also massive respect to him for being a veteran, we appreciate the sacrifices you've made for the country!'

'EREN PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE MAKE LEVI A REGULAR ON YOUR SHOW, YOU TWO ARE SO FUNNY TOGETHER HAJKHSAAA!'

'Wow Levi is hawwwwt, sry not sry.'

'The way Eren looks at Levi at….

You know what, I think that's enough for today! We're nearly there anyway." Eren said quickly, trying valiantly to hide his blush. Luckily, Levi's attention seemed to be fixed on the road ahead, so he'd gotten away with it.

Currently, a cheery looking Marco greets the pair at the door as usual and gives them both a hug before leading them through to the dining room. To Levi's shock and surprise, a very hungover Erwin and Hange are present and already sitting at the dinner table, their heads hanging limply and barely conscious to the world around them.

"Erwin? Hange? What are you two fuckwads doing here?" Levi asks, probably a tad louder than necessary, but then again, he reckons they deserve it for the shit they pulled on him last night. Being sober has its perks but not when you're left to hold up a big blond lump who can't keep control of his legs and hunt down a bespectacled moron running off in a strange city.

"Please Levi…. Not so loud." Hange begs, resting a weary hand on her forehead as Erwin pinches the bridge of his nose.

"OH REALLY? YOU NEED ME TO BE QUIET DO YOU?!" Levi yells at them, a sadistic smirk gracing his lips. Even Eren, who'd managed to calm his headache down in the last few hours, recoiled in discomfort at the sound.

Marco chuckles and explains, "I invited them here, we were talking over a couple drinks on Friday and I mentioned we have a weekly dinner, so I asked them to come along. Plus, with the night they've had, a good feed is definitely in order! I take it you guys all had a good time at the bar?" He asks teasingly.

"I'm sorry Marco, I can't promise your bar is still there, because I think I drank it." Erwin says pathetically, sipping on a glass of water.

"Whoever that was shouting, you should know I'm not past murdering you in your sleep." Mikasa says as she enters the room, wearing a pair of dark sunglasses and holding more glasses in order to set the table with Reiner in tow, carrying a box containing the rest. He looks very amused at the proceedings and beams at Levi as he passes.

"I think I may have made their drinks a little too strong last night, my apologies for the aftermath, I heard you had to get them home all by yourself. How the hell d'ya pull that one off?"

"Tch, it was far from my first time hauling drunk asses home, these two especially." Levi says, gesturing to Erwin and Hange, "Back in our trainee days, they were notorious for sneaking out and I was always the one left to make sure they didn't get themselves caught or killed. Then my own squad would do the same when they I thought I'd gone to bed, always far from subtle."

"Ah, the good ole days!" Hange remarks from her seat, perking up slightly at the mention of their training days. They were, in fact, some of her best memories. She had made a best friend in Erwin, a boyfriend turned best friend in Levi, and countless comrades both alive and dead that she thought of with nothing but nostalgic happiness in her heart. Plus, if she'd never joined up when she did, she'd never have made Commander and met Moblit Berner, her husband and love of her life. She fiddles slightly with the chain around her neck as she thinks of him.

"Hey everyone!" Connie calls from the doorway, carrying baby Kaya in his arms, "Look who's calmed down and ready to say hello properly."

Levi visibly brightens when he sees the little girl, and when she spots him too, she throws her arms out and tries to wriggle out of Connie's hold. Acting quickly, he takes her from Connie, who transfers her over with a laugh.

"Someone's excited to see Uncle Levi, it seems. She'd been a little too loud earlier for the fragile folk."

Taken aback slightly, Levi holds Kaya tightly in his arms as she babbles her baby talk animatedly at him, evidently trying to tell him all of her exciting stories. He adores Kaya, he really does, but he didn't expect Connie and Sasha to award him with the title of "Uncle" so soon. Sasha had gradually begun to relax around him after a couple of weeks of knowing each other, and now they get on like a house on fire. She happily traded off her favourite recipes to him in exchange for his best cleaning tips and advice, as having an almost 10-month-old child is bound to bring about all kinds of mess. Levi was a godsend to her in that regard.

"Well, I'm also excited to see my favourite little princess, isn't that right sweetheart?" Levi coos at Kaya, as she grabs and inspects the grey sweater he's chosen to wear for the evening. He lets her do her usual exploring of his clothes and face, using her little hands to paw at him happily before settling in his arms.

"Now that's a sight I haven't seen in a while." Erwin says with a chuckle, evidently remembering the days when he'd come home with Levi whilst on leave and they'd help Alice by feeding the babies and younger children so she could get all of the older ones bathed and put to bed for the evening. By this point, Isabel had been in college and had been coming home late from her studies or had been with Farlan, so a few extra sets of hands had never gone amiss.

Annie enters the room after some time, as the rest of the guests begin taking their seats, holding a large dish of an undeterminable kind of food and lays it on the table, "Jean and Sasha are just finishing up, so dinner shouldn't be too long. Marco is just getting the wine." She says, as she takes her usual seat between Reiner and Eren. There are four sets of groans at the mention of wine.

Eren notices that Erwin and Hange are sitting in Historia and Ymir's usual seats, he thinks he knows the answer, but he decides to ask anyway, "Marco, where are the girls tonight?"

"I'm assuming you mean Historia and Ymir? Apparently, Historia had a family emergency, so she and Ymir had to drive all the way to Marley last night and they're just back this afternoon, so they've gone to bed. Ridiculous if you ask me, after the way her daddy treated her." Marco says in disgust, just as Jean enters the room, carrying a large turkey and setting it on the table with the rest of the food, before sitting in his usual chair. Sasha also takes her seat between Connie and Erwin.

"Yeah, well that's not for us to decide babe. You know how complicated families can be, we aren't ones to judge." Jean says diplomatically, remembering the numerous issues he's had with his own family and knowing how quickly he'd drop everything to help them if necessary.

"Maybe not, but I did say to the girls that they could come by later this evening if they want something to have something decent for dinner. Doubt they'll come mind you. Anyway, enough of that business, let's eat!" Marco says.

Levi has just finished his large helping of dessert and is feeding Kaya little tastes of ice cream from his dessert. He usually lets her have a bit of cream when it's served, as she's not used to solids yet, but she's not had ice cream before. The way her face screws up in confusion and delight at the new sensation makes him unexplainably fuzzy inside as he watches her enjoy the treat. She soon becomes sleepy and restless however, so Sasha takes her from him and puts her down for a nap.

Everyone has scattered in their own conversations in the living room after clean up, and he finds himself in a strange game of 'would you rather' with Jean, Eren, Connie and Hange, and are in the midst of a debate on whether they'd rather fight thirty regular sized men or one thirty foot tall man, when the doorbell rings.

"Huh? I guess the girls decided to come by after all…." Marco surmises, as he gets out of his armchair and goes to answer the front door.

"Anyway, as I was saying, surely a man that stands that tall must only have one particular weak point, and if I'm correct, that would be at the nape of the neck where the spinal cord connects, so how on Earth would you suppose to get up there and weaken it? I'm telling you, 30 regular sized men would be easier." Hange argues passionately, gesturing wildly and nearly spilling her water in the process.

"Yeah, but the question wasn't what would be easier, it was which would you rather fight? And I would rather fight the giant." Levi says easily, "I think I could take it down."

"My money would be on you." Eren agrees, "You may be short, but you can be terrifying, I think you could probably take the thing out with just a glare, it would probably shit itself."

"I agree, you'd just activate your super-saiyan mode and it would be game over." Jean jokes, just as Marco stands at the doorway with a grin.

"Everybody!" He calls in to the room, "So, it seems we have a very special, surprise guest for dinner this evening!"

He grabs the arm of the person hiding next to the doorway, and presents a man with short blond hair, wearing a suit and tie, and waving sheepishly into the room.

"Hello…." He singsongs with a bright smile that makes Levi's heart lurch and he swears he feels it stopping for a second. He can sense his own jaw dropping in shock, as he's faced with someone he hasn't seen in almost 2 years, a face he thought he'd never see again. The face that appears in his nightmares, a face that he expects will no longer be smiling when he notices the inhabitants of the room.

Levi looks to his left and locks eyes with Hange, who seems to be just as surprised by the turn of the events as he is.

"Oh my god! You're back!" Annie yelps, as she runs into the man's arms and he lifts her with ease, spinning her round and kissing her lips softly as he brings her back to the ground. Marco shakes his head with laughter, and goes to stand next to Jean, who wraps him in a hug of his own.

"I missed you!" She cries, wrists crossed behind the man's neck.

"I missed you too baby." He says, looking into her eyes and rubbing her nose with his in an eskimo kiss.

Mikasa and Eren are next to excitedly greet the blond man, hugging him tightly and demanding to know when he came back, where he's been and when he'll be leaving again. However, before he gets a chance to answer any of their rapid-fire questions, he looks past them and locks eyes with Levi.

The man doesn't look angry, sad or even confused, as Levi may have expected him to. Instead, he simply side-steps his friends and walks in front of where Levi is standing. The room is silent as he does so, and Levi unconsciously takes a deep, steadying breath at the action.

The man is mere centimetres taller than he is, so they end up looking straight into one another's face, and to Levi's shock, the boys smiles at him. A real smile, not a fake or a sad one, a real, genuine smile.

This is not going the way Levi had expected it to, if the pair were ever to meet again. He's imagined this scenario in his head more times than he can count, but unlike the way it plays out in his mind, there is no loud shouting, no angry accusations, no running tears and no hurt evident in the man's face. Just silence and a smile. And Levi has no clue what to do.

Before he can think any further on it, the man raises his right hand in a fist, and Levi braces himself for the inevitable punch, to his face, abdomen, genitals…. he's unsure where it's going to land, until the man inverts the fist and holds it to his chest, over his heart, in the unique salute of their team.

The salute of their specialist squad. The Black Ops. The Recon Corps. Whatever you wanted to call it. The symbol still meant the same thing no matter what name you give it, the sign of offering up your heart. The sign of pure trust and respect, something that Levi assumed he'd lost in the months they spent in captivity together. When Levi couldn't protect him in the way a leader should.

Levi doesn't hesitate this time and returns the salute with vigour. The man's smile becomes impossibly wider and Levi notices a small tear escapes the corner of his eye at the gesture.

He can see Annie, Mikasa and Eren watching them, looking hopeful, confused and bewildered respectively. And he realises that Annie knows, she's known all along, and she's said nothing at all in the time they've known each other.

However, before he can ponder on it any further, the man addresses him for the first time since they last met, which in this moment, feels like a million years ago.

"Lance Corporal Levi Ackerman, it's been a long time." The man says, the tiniest of hint of shakiness in his voice at the words.

"It has indeed, Private Armin Arlert."