Levi nodded to Hanji as she said that she will be back down to Levi's room in a moment because she wanted to grab something. Setting the toddler down, Levi watched as the boy walked over towards where the couch was before looking back to the door as he closed it. He did not bother to lock the door though since he knew that Hanji will be back down at any minute. Taking his coat back off he placed it on the peg before walking over to the table in front of the couch and placed the bowl of apples down on it.
The man then looked down to Eren and could not help but smile as the boy tried to reach for the bowl of apple slices, "Alright I will cut you a deal." He said as Levi picked the boy up and placed him on the couch before picking the bowl of apples up, "If you do not make a mess you can sit on the couch and eat them." He watched as the toddler reached for one of the apple slices and started chewing on it, looking up at the man with his green eyes. Levi sighed with some relief, "Good.. I will be right back." The man walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.
Walking back out from the bathroom he was caught by surprise when he saw Eren fast asleep, his hand still lightly holding the apple slice. Levi had no idea when exactly the toddler fell asleep but the man was glad that he was not expected to be at the Scout Regiment's Headquarters just yet. Thinking about getting to headquarters made the man realize that he had no idea what to do with the kid when he is not in town, just what is he to do with the kid? The officer gently picked the toddler up and walked over to the bed. Laying the boy down he placed the toddler's teddy bear next to him before pulling the blankets over the boy a little. Running his hand through the boy's hair with some affection he quietly walked over to his desk to finish up some paper work he had been working on since yesterday morning.
Picking up the quill the man lightly tapped the end on the piece of paper, glancing over to where the boy was sleeping to make sure Eren was still asleep, Levi looked back to the stack of papers and started writing. While he was writing the man was quietly thinking of what he is to do with the kid while he is away. Really he did not know anyone well enough besides the people he worked with to leave the toddler with anyone. Putting the quill down Levi sighed, running his hands through his hair, "... Maybe.. no. I don't think they will be caring enough.." He looked over to the toddler and sighed, "The others will just have to get over it. I don't know anyone else besides those in the Scout Regiment.. He will have to tag along." Picking the quill back up Levi finished up the paper work. Neatly putting all the papers into a stack he set them to one corner of the desk.
Eren whimpered quietly, hugging his teddy bear with all the strength he can. Tears appeared at the corner of his eyes as he started to whimper louder. Enough so that Levi looked over to him, a light frown on his face as he saw the expression on the boy's face. Concerned the man came to a stand, accidentally fast enough to cause the chair to bang into the corner of the desk. Startled by the noise Eren screamed on top of his lungs as he started crying loudly, tossing his bear away as he brought his hands to his tightly shut eyes.
Running over he as gently as possible tried to pick the boy up, but it just seemed to scare the boy more, swinging his little arms madly before grabbing what he could and biting the sleeve of Levi's shirt. Concern and sadness were in Levi's eyes as the boy's panicking seemed to be escalating more, "Eren it's me. Open your eyes kid." Levi said calmly to the boy, "You are having a nightmare, wake up. Come on Eren."
The man said as he took the top blanket off of the bed and wrapped the toddler up in it as tightly as possible. The boy continued to cry though as the man held the boy close to him as he continued to try calming the toddler down. Adjusting himself on the bed so he was sitting on the bed fully, not caring if his boots would get the sheets underneath him dirty, "You are alright Eren. You are just having a nightmare, a bad dream." Levi brought the boy's head to his chest, remembering that the last time the child was scared that it calmed him down, "Open your eyes please Eren.."He wondered what a mother would do in his position to calm a child down, sadly he did not remember much of his mother at all. But then he remembered seeing what other mother's and most fathers would do, "You are alright Eren.. You're safe remember?" He gently kissed the top of the boy's head.
The toddler's screaming came to a stop, replaced by eager gasps of air that was accompanied by silent wails and sobs. Eren's eyes were still shut tightly enough to tell the man that the nightmare that the child was having was not quite over yet, but he had no idea what to do. Levi did not even know how to try waking the toddler up with out scaring the child more. Cradling Eren in his arms he held him as close as possible without hurting the toddler, resting his cheek on the top of Eren's head, "Come on kid.. If you open your eyes you will see everything is alright. Wake up. Please." The man looked down to Eren as he felt the child move, he could see the expression was now soft again, but there still appeared to be some fear still as the boy quietly whimpered.
Looking to the door he saw Hanji bursting into the room, he put a finger to his lips to tell the woman to keep quiet. Hanji got the silent message and closed the door quietly before quickly walking over, "What was all that about? I heard that from my room two floors up Levi."
The man looked somewhat pained as he looked down at the toddler, "I think he was having a nightmare.. he.. was panicking about something. It happened so fast as well." Levi sighed, planting another kiss on the top of Eren's head, who snuggled his face into the man's chest, "I think this is what that couple were stressed about.. I do not even know if this is working to keep him calm Hanji." He looked over to the woman.
Hanji gave Levi a warm smile, "Levi.. you actually did what any good parent would have done with a child that was having a nightmare like that. Besides.. it seems to have worked to calm Eren down enough to sleep more peacefully." The woman said as she looked to the boy, "Parenting is not something that comes with a guide at all.. you just learn as you go along with it.. Not even I know how to be a mother Levi."
Sighing the man nodded, "I understand.. But now that I have seen a glimpse of what Eren's panic episodes can be like. I don't want to leave him with anyone while I am away." Levi looked back down to Eren, who appeared to be sleeping more peacefully, "I'm afraid that someone might hurt him if he had a panic attack while I am away."
Hanji sighed with content, "Well.. I'm sure that everyone at headquarters will understand.. I certainly do." She moved to be a little bit closer carefully to keep from startling the already frightened Eren, "If anyone has a problem they can just get over it."
Levi thought quietly for a moment before silently speaking up, stuttering a little bit at first, "Hanji.. will you.. help me take care of Eren? I'm certain he will need a mother figure."
The woman looked at the man with some shock in her eyes. She could not believe what she was hearing. Did he just ask her to help him take care of Eren? No way! He just asked her? Of all the women she was the one who he asked. Hanji's eyes appeared to sparkle, "Of course I will help you Levi." She looked down at the toddler, "I would love to help you take care of him." The woman looked to Levi with a warm smile.
Smirking he looked back down to Hanji, "Well it appears I will be here for a little while. It is a good thing I got my paperwork done.." He ran his hand through the boy's sweaty hair, "He.. must have been having quite a bad dream. His hair is all wet." The man looked down at the boy with concern, "Just what could have happened that has caused him to be like this?"
Hanji shrugged, "I don't know.. maybe it has something to do with the last Titan attack." She gently ran her hand through the toddler's hair, "Maybe.. it is something that will get better with time."
The man nodded, "Yeah maybe.. hopefully it will get better." He tried to put the boy down just for a moment to readjust the blanket that he wrapped the boy in, but a quick fuss from Eren told Levi that he should not do anything but hold the toddler close to him.
Hanji climbed off the bed and faced Levi, "I will take yours and my paperwork to the Captain. If he asks anything I will tell him what happened.. he should not have a problem. You just stay there and help the boy calm down." She gave the man a quick peck on the cheek before walking over to Levi's desk and picked up the stack of papers before quietly walking over to the door.
With another glance at the boy, the Lieutenant quietly sighed before adjusting himself on the bed and laid down. Careful not to scare Eren or to let him fall off of the man. He gently ran his hand through the boy's still wet hair, "You are safe Eren. There is no need to be afraid.. I don't know what happened. But I promise what ever it is.. that it will never happen again." He watched as the boy put a thumb to his mouth and started gently sucking his tiny thumb, causing the man to smile a little bit with some relief, "That's right."
The toddler then finally opened his eyes, his thumb still in his mouth as he looked up to the man with his tear glossed eyes. The man put a warm smile on his face, wiping the tears away from the corner of the boy's eyes, "Hey.. that must have been one bad dream you were having." He gently poked the boy's nose, getting a giggle fit in response, "But now you know everything is alright."
Eren's green eyes continued to stare at the man as the boy rolled himself over to be on his belly, his free hand that was not currently occupying the boy's mouth ran along the man's face lightly, before the boy crawled some more onto him to be closer to his face, "Daddy!" Levi looked at the toddler with shock in his eyes when he heard Eren say that one certain word, unsure of how to react.