Levi awoke that night to the sound of dripping.

"Ah, what the fucking shit? It's only..." He trailed off and looked out of his window at the star-filled sky. "... One in the morning?" He paused, looking back out again, carefully reassessing the light that bathed the land.

He chose to ignore the sound, dismissing it as a leak in the building or something of the sort. "Damn shitty building and those damn shitty brats failing to fucking inspect properly... I'll fix it myself tomorrow." He mumbled before rolling over and settling back into his cot.

Well, he WOULD have dismissed it if it hadn't started sizzling.

He shot up immediately. Only one thing he knew of made that noise, and only one person in this building who could have made it.

"What the hell is that brat doing at this hour?"

Levi pulled himself out of his cot, pulled a shirt on, and walked out of his room. He shot a glare down at the boards of the wooden floor, and saw little drops of crimson slowly sizzling away in a trail down the corridor. The sight only confirmed his suspicions.

He went against his better judgement and decided to follow the trail of blood own the halls. What was Eren doing? Late-night titan practice? Paper cut? He had no idea, but whatever it was peaked his curiosity even more.

The trail eventually lead him to Eren's room. To hell with knocking, he was the brat's Corporal for god's sake. What the hell would Eren hide from him? And, without further ado, Levi let himself inside Eren's room.

What he saw, to say the least, astonished him. There lay Eren in his sheets, with cuts scoring every inch of his body and blood pooling everywhere. What the hell was this?! Some kind of failed Titan transformation experiment? No, the brat wouldn't have gone this far.

Levi immediately ran to Eren's side. "Who the hell did this to you, Eren?! What the hell happened

Eren just looked over at Levi with dead eyes. All the spark and fire that was usually in his turquoise, no, blue, no, green, ah to hell with his eyes! The point was, it had all gone. There was nothing left in his beautiful orbs now. He just said one thing, all the strength having left his body. "I did."

Levi just stared, a rare expression of shock painted on his face. Only one word left his mouth. "Why?"

Eren smiled a smile so fake that Levi wanted to slap it off his face. "Because i'm a monster," by now his whole body was sizzling, cuts fading into new, unscarred skin. "and monsters deserve to be punished." His cuts were now completely healed, all of the blood had disintegrated and disappeared from the floor and his sheets. "Please, leave now, Corporal. You don't need to be seen with... With someone like me."

Levi just stood for a moment before sitting beside Eren, pulling him into the same position he was. He then grabbed Eren's arm and kissed his wrist. He continued up, trailing kisses up to even places that weren't previously cut, finally landing on his mouth.

Eren's breath hitched, and they just stayed like that for a moment before Levi pulled away. He cupped his hands around Eren's face, forcing him to look him in the eye. "You are not a monster," Levi began, giving Eren a quick peck on the cheek. "and you do not deserve to be punished."

Eren just smiled, a genuine one this time, and lay back down on the bed. Tears began to sparkle in his eyes. "Thank you, Levi." Was all Eren said before falling asleep.

Levi thought of returning to his own room and leaving the boy in peace. "Oh, to hell with it!" He mumbled before laying down next to the boy and draping a sheet over both of them.

"I love you... Levi..." Eren mumbled, dreaming. Levi rolled over and threw his arms around the boy's waist. "Love you too, brat."

And with that, they both drifted off soundly to sleep.