Author's notes:

Hiya! Hope the wait wasn't too long! Thank you all for your favs/follows and reviews! What a motivator it is! I am just posting this chapter and then getting right back to writing! So please enjoy xxx

~0~

Chapter V

Eren awoke the next morning with sunlight hitting him directly in the eyes. He groaned and sat up on one elbow, feeling a giant kink in his neck. He blinked and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

A quiet sipping brought his attention to beside him, and he turned to see the Corporal sitting there next to him on Hanji's sofa, tea cup and saucer in hand.

What had him flush red though was the fact that his legs were sprawled across the man's lap, covered from sight by a Survey Corp's cloak. He froze, somehow convinced that this wasn't happening to him and that by not moving, Levi wouldn't have even noticed.

A small part of his brain registered that as a stupidly dumb idea though, as clearly the man was awake and alert. Some dangerous side of Eren had himself wriggling his toes experimentally, digits brushing up against Levi's outer thigh.

He stilled his movements when he heard a sigh, he looked up at Levi and saw him now looking back, eyebrow raised in question. Eren's eyes widened as he searched for something to say, with brain malfunctioning, he settled for the obvious,

"Er, morning?"

Levi took a sip of his tea, "Indeed, it is."

Eren had a moment of clarity to sense just how awkward this was, eyes taking in the both of them on the sofa. He had just short of a thousand questions, but all were overridden by how nice this felt, even if he was just a fraction away from dying of embarrassment.

"Um…" He tried.

"You fell asleep, I got here and talked with Hanji, had some drinks, ended up falling asleep here too. Now my back aches and I've got my own personal Eren blanket," Levi rattled off, looking down into his cup, "Hm, not sure where the tea came from though, my guess is Hanji, which is welcoming."

They shared a look, Eren confused and Levi nonchalant.

To be honest, Eren didn't even know where to start, his toes had continued wriggling at some point through Levi's explanation, and his thoughts had gone stray, "You're warm." He stated, feeling the heat of Levi's thighs seep into his calf muscles.

They continued to look at each other, a slight tension in the air that couldn't seem to be shaken, if either occupant were trying.

Levi opened his mouth to speak but was rudely interrupted by Hanji barging into her office, three breakfast bowls balanced precautiously in her hands. She grinned widely at the both of them as she thrusted a bowl each into their hands.

"Ah! Eren! Glad to see you awake!" She chimed, plonking down into her chair and digging right in. As soon as she had a mouthful, she pointed her spoon at him, "I take it you slept well?"

He immediately felt his cheeks heat, so opted for nodding and shovelling down his own food. Levi just scoffed at them both and continued sipping his tea. He would have no further part in Hanji's game, although it was probably not helping that Eren had still not removed his legs.

He squinted his eyes just slightly at Hanji, who was looking between the two of them with a shit eating grin, he hoped she choked on her damn food. He felt Eren adjust his leg, ankle slightly digging into muscle, before settling again.

He should probably do something about this. It wasn't normal for officers and subordinates to be like this.

He just continued sipping his tea.

Hanji launched into an explanation to Eren on what her final verdict was, and that they were planning on testing it today. Eren nodded along, agreeing with what was said and interjecting his own experiences to Hanji. Levi sat and watched the two of them, noting that Eren appeared to be in a better mood than he had anticipated. He had expected Eren to be in quite a low mood after yesterday's events, but now he was watching Eren as he talked, eyes shining green and hands moving animatedly.

He wasn't sure why Eren was in a stable mood, perhaps it was because he had woken to the sun on his face and in good company, in a safe warm room instead of a dark chilly cell. Maybe it was because he wasn't immediately killed yesterday, who knew.

As the talk fizzled out and the three fell into companionable silence, thinking about the day ahead, Levi decided the reason didn't matter, as long as they could find good progress today.

~0~

He had been slightly sheepish at first, stood in the field that morning with the squad around him. There was a slight awkwardness at the meet up, as though each member wasn't sure who would speak first. The silence dragged on, Eren soon fidgeting under the pressure, sure he was about to melt into the grass just for some form of temporary escape.

He was seriously considering how to melt, before Petra gave in first and grabbed him into a hug. Face smooshed into her bosom, he somehow managed to hear what she was saying.

"Oh Eren, forgive us, please!"

The tension seemed to break for the group, and each member was letting out the breath they had been holding and soon they were muttering their apologies too.

Eren was baffled, shouldn't he be the one apologising? If he had been more careful perhaps, he wouldn't have had a face full of blades.

"We hope you understand that it's just instinct! We've been fighting titans for so long now—."

"—And it's like, you see one, and oh! Blade is drawn! How did that get there! Eh heheh…"

"Guys, I know, I understand, really…" Eren attempted, looking around the group a little dazed. He wasn't sure if Levi had talked to them yesterday when he left with Hanji, but he was certain that they were genuinely sorry. "I would hope you'd act the same way if I were to get out of control too, it's important that you stop me, but I will try my best to fight for you!" He said with as much determination as possible, he didn't want them second guessing this sort of thing.

Petra released him and took a dainty step back, seemingly more comfortable now that the air was cleared. The guys saluted him before returning to the edges of their tent. Eren hovered around, noticing Hanji addressing her band of scientists, probably giving them the rundown of today's schedule.

He made his way over to the edge of the well, perching on the brick and scanning the field. The tents, various equipment and the bustle of activity served well as a distraction for him, but he still couldn't help taking inventory to see if Levi was around. After checking and deciding he couldn't spot the man, he frowned, feeling a tiny bubble of anxiety.

He wasn't sure what it was, but he usually found himself looking out for Levi these days, he decided it was because he was used to the other's presence now, it was familiar to him, yet that didn't explain why his stomach did small flips when he was around him on occasion.

In fact, after the way he woke up this morning, his cheeks were down right toasty. He hoped the Corporal didn't think he was taking liberties, even if it were in his sleep. Yet, if he was totally honest with himself, it had felt nice. He wanted to do it more often, whatever 'it' was. Being around him? Waking up to see him? Touching him?

Eren frowned, eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he studied the grass caressing his boot.

But what did it all mean? He'd never had those kind of thoughts before, so why now? Why with Levi? This was all too confusing…

He was heaved forward by a hearty slap to his shoulder blade,

"Let's get this show on the road!"

Hanji had arrived, raring to go and containing her overwhelming excitement as much as usual. Which… was not at all.

Eren rose to his feet, turning to Hanji who had the bundle of rope ladder in her hands, looking as though she'd rather just push him in to save time. She threw the ladder down the hole and Eren waited for the clattering to stop.

She nodded at him and he took his cue to start descending. Feeling a sense of déjà vu as he hit the ground with a thud, he watched the ladder being pulled up as he waited for his eyes to adjust to the dark.

"Alright, on the flare, boy-o! Got that?" Hanji called, voice echoing off the dusty walls.

"Yeah!" He responded, already mentally preparing himself with an objective in mind. This time, they will make progress, he was determined in that. He didn't want to let them down anymore, they have to make progress today.

He waited patiently, watching dust motes lazily flutter across his vision where the slim amount of light could be seen.

He heard the flare before he saw it, and looked down at the hand that wasn't bandaged. Thinking clearly in his mind that he wanted to transform, to make progress, he chanted it until it was the only thing he could hear. He screwed his eyes shut, and brought his hand up to his mouth.

Then he took a bite.

The effect was immediate. He felt the heat first before the steam blurred his vision entirely. Then came the pain, the familiar feeling of tendrils gripping him and sprouting bones puncturing his flesh had him fall to his knees, he felt his mouth fall open as he stared up at the circle of light. He was silently screaming as he could see the billows of smoke shoot up through the hole, and out into the sky.

His vision began to darken, until he had no choice but to close his eyes, his mind became hazy, thoughts slipping from him like sand through a sieve. He tried to shake his head, to clear his thoughts, but soon he couldn't.

His mind was overtaken by other thoughts, by anger, by urges he couldn't control.

As the tendrils reached his face, he tilted his head back and bellowed.

~0~

The group waited patiently in front of the tents. There was a deathly silence that lingered around them, each pair of eyes studying the well.

The flare shot through the sky, its trajectory leaving behind a line of fuzzy smoke, and then they waited.

The wind rustled the grass along the expanse of field, sun feeling hot against their skin as time ticked by.

Then, in the time it took them to blink, smoke shot up over the top of the well. In seconds the well had been surrounded in thick rolling waves. They could feel the heat of it where they stood, some with shock registering on their faces. By instinct, some took a step back, others shielded their eyes, and some, like the special operations squad, stood their ground, not moving an inch, studying closely, carefully.

They all remained silent, until a great echoing roar reached their ears. The roar punctuated the air, long drawn out and filled with rage.

"WAHOOOOOOO!"

The band of scientists jumped as Hanji flailed up and down, almost unbearable in her glee. She started running towards the well, members from various teams yelling at her to stop, but she wouldn't listen, she was on a mission and soon she was disappearing into the smoke.

Some people hesitated, but soon members were running after her, especially once seeing the special operations squad were hot on her heels. They gathered around the well, waiting for the smoke to clear and could hear and feel heavy breathing, matched with an underlining feral growl. It was disturbing, and it had some drawing their blades as a precaution.

"Oooh, Eren… you're beautiful…." Hanji cooed, the members behind her could see her frame backlit by a dark silhouette of the titan's head. She was almost vibrating on the spot in happiness.

The smoke was rising, and the group could see what Hanji was seeing. From the top of the well, Eren was now visible. Broad shoulders were crammed tightly by its circumference, wedged firmly and not leaving an inch of space to move his arms, which were trapped out of sight. His long locks of hair spilled down around him, partially covering his face and his eyes which were almost glowing.

They remained perfectly still, as if by instinct, and as they studied him, he was studying them. Every time he breathed was like a giant huffing sound and Hanji's hair fluttered to and fro, ponytail whipping around behind her.

She extended her hand, too far back to actually touch him, yet so eager it wasn't even a conscious decision. As soon as her hand started to raise, Eren's eyes zoned in on her actions, a snarling noise began from the back of his throat, like a trapped wild animal giving warning.

Hanji was mesmerised, so very keen in her rare opportunity to be this close to a titan, that she took a step forward.

That was all it took. Eren had tried to reach her, teeth snapping together and hair flying wildly around his face. He didn't even get close to her, the well restricting his movements enough that he couldn't quite reach ground level, but that didn't stop the special operations squad from grabbing her and pulling her back.

That had started him off, Eren was now roaring at them, the noise so loud it had members covering their ears. He was thrashing wildly against his restraints, fruitless in his efforts yet terrifying.

Hanji was calling to him, even as she was lifted into the air by Gunter and being dragged back a few respectable feet.

"Eren! Heeeey! That's a magnificent roar you got there, buddy! 10 outta 10!"

Gunter let her go but as soon as she went to take another step forward, his hand clamped down hard on her shoulder. He used force to get her to kneel, making sure she was relatively seated. She never took her eyes off him, fascinated to the point of stupidity.

Gunter leaned down next to her and shook her shoulder enough to gather her attention.

"Hanji, let him calm. He isn't himself, can't you see that?"

Her mouth was open, yet she nodded, finally sitting still long enough. The others came to kneel a respectful distance away from Eren, as though in mutual agreement. He had to have time to calm down, if that was even possible, they didn't even know, and that is when testing truly began.

Levi sat perched in a branch midway up a tree, he raked his eyes over the situation, alert and tentative to the situation. Hanji knew he was around, best decided to stay out of sight yet close in case needed. They had decided this because if things became messy, it was Levi who would really piss Eren's titan off. If this became a common occurrence, just the sight of Levi may become a trigger of anger for him, which they didn't want or need.

It was decided that if Eren needed to be cut out, then Levi should approach from behind, where the eyes couldn't clock him doing it. It was a safety measure, however, it could be changed quickly depending on how the situation developed. Already, Levi's fingers were twitching, annoyed that Hanji couldn't keep her tendencies to herself.

He shouldn't have expected any different, really.

Levi's eyes took in the titan, he had seen him before, of course, but it was rare enough that the sight still held his interest, how could it not? He looked unique compared to the other titans. What really had him baffled, was that he could still see elements of Eren in this form. His brown hair, although wilder and longer, the green eyes that held such burning intensity it was hard to look away. He could sense the power in the way the muscles moved across his upper back and shoulders. If they could wield Eren in this form, then they could do some serious damage back at the titans.

However, as Eren continued to thrash in his anger, bellowing at the crowd gathered around him, he knew this would be no easy task.

He sighed, settling his weight down on the branch and waited along with the rest of the squad.

The sun trekked its curve along the sky, few hours passing leaving room for shadows to grow from the roots of the surrounding trees, creeping along the field slowly. The members at this point had unpacked and eaten their lunches, packing up the leftovers after they had finished. Hanji thought what a bizarre sight this must be, humans picnicking in the grass next to a titan.

All the same, they had waited it out, and Eren had long stopped thrashing, returning to his heavy huffing and occasional growling. As a precaution, they had waited longer, until he grew silent and was back to studying them again, great green eyes flicking across each of their forms.

What a brilliant sight, she thought, as she watched Eren studying her again. She waved at him, and he just stared unblinkingly back at her.

She sat there as long as she could before she couldn't take it anymore. She stood up, piquing the interest of Gunter, who began to rise as well before she held out a hand, letting him know that she wasn't going to do anything stupid and began to walk a few metres closer.

The group watched her approach Eren, before she came to a stop a healthy distance away.

She brought her hands up to her mouth, cupping them to make sure she was heard,

"Eren! Can you understand me?!" She shouted.

His eyes narrowed fractionally, but that was all the response she got for her efforts.

"If you understand me, blink three times!"

He just stared back at her, muscles tensing ever so slightly.

This carried on for ten minutes, Hanji shouting instructions and questions at him, and receiving no indication that Eren was in control. She brought her chin to her hand, resting it there as she thought. They needed to gather much more data, and having Eren in control of his titan was crucial. For if they couldn't even achieve that, then the council would have Eren put down faster than a dinner stealing dog.

She looked over her shoulder, "Special Ops!" She called, the members standing to attention immediately. They gathered around her and waited.

"How about we see if our boy-o here wants to actually kill us? We need to determine if he wants to eat us like a regular titan, or if he is feeling threatened and just wants to defend himself. It clearly isn't Eren in there at the moment, but we must find out if he is acting like a regular titan, or a hybrid of them both." She said reasonably, however the team looked at her as if she grew another head.

She just pushed her glassed up the bridge of her nose, "Well? What are you waiting for?"

Erd was the one who asked what everyone was thinking, "How?"

Hanji smiled wickedly, "Well, how we do things best of course! Use the 3DMG! There's enough trees dotted around! Just swing around his head and see how he reacts, if he's all teeth, then he wants to eat'cha! If he looks like he wants to pull his arms out, or wants to head butt you, then we got ourselves a defender!"

They didn't look convinced.

"Oh for heavens sake! You call yourself Levi's squad! Fine I'll go myself" She huffed, releasing her 3DMG into the nearest bark of tree. Before they could utter a word to her, she was off, arching wide and circling around the back of Eren's head. She zip lined in front of his vision, close enough to definitely have caught his attention. He just roared at her, force of breath so strong she felt uplifted for a faster arch around him.

When she circled the second attempt, closer this time, he snapped his jaws at her, craning his neck as far as it would allow. He was trying to yank his arms free, head rocking back and forth as if to wriggle out of his confines.

The crowd was shouting at her, after another attempt to bite her was a little too close for comfort and she came away with half a shredded cloak.

Hanji landed heavily to the ground and shrieked with laughter. "Oooh boy is he pissed!" She gleamed, turning to face an equally unhappy Special Ops squad.

She was taken aback by the looks on their faces, "What?" she questioned, suddenly confused.

"You could have gotten yourself killed! This isn't a game, Hanji!" Gunter yelled, angered by her actions.

"Who said it was a game? We need this data, we need Eren in control and we must learn how—."

"You don't understand Hanji!"

"No, YOU don't understand!" She had had enough, disbelief washing over her face. "Eren's life is depending on this, and if you truly want to support him, then you'd help us figure out how to stop his titan from taking over his mental state! You all know he can do it, you've seen it with your own eyes!" Here, she patted her glasses with open palms in exaggerated movements, as though she was talking to children.

"If we don't take risks, if we don't push ourselves and him, then you may as well start picking out the flowers for his fucking funeral!" She turned sharply, eyes looking up high into a tall tree, giving a hand signal before she stormed off to her tent.

Gunter looked deflated, and hung his head low as though her words had hit deep.

He didn't have long to mull over the words though until the sound of steam hissing reached his ears. He looked up quick enough to see the Corporal arching through the air at such speed he looked like a spinning top. The sound of steam was coming from Eren, where it was escaping from him severed neck.

The titan slumped forward, chin resting against chest, as Levi arched round and came to land easily on its shoulder. Here, he bent down and hooked his hands under Eren's lithe human body, before heaving the boy free. Gunter could hear the sound of ripping muscles from his spot on the ground and soon saw Levi fully disengage Eren from his Titan. He adjusted him in his grip, one arm around his shoulders and the other arm under his knees.

From Gunter's spot on the ground, he could see Eren was entirely unconscious, head lulling back, neck completely exposed and limbs dead weight for the Corporal to support. He looked in bad shape, like he wouldn't wake up for days and Gunter felt a pang of guilt for what this boy had to go through.

Levi used the decomposing titan to anchor his 3DMG into, before he jumped lightly off the shoulder and descended to the ground. Eren was tucked close up to his body, Levi managing to adjust his head so it rest against the crook of his shoulder now. He walked up to his squad and came to a stop.

The team looked down at their unconscious comrade, who radiated heat from his skin that even they could feel.

"Sir? He's burning up, he must be burning you!" Petra said, concerned for the both of them.

"I'll be fine," Levi answered, dismissing it easily, "I am going to check Eren over in the tent. You can pack up for today and go. I'll talk to Hanji. Dismissed." He stated, already turning to leave.

As Levi headed towards the tent that Hanji occupied, he couldn't help but look down at the boy cradled in his arms. This really took it out of Eren and Levi wondered how much this boy had in him to give. No one could comprehend what Eren was going through.

He entered into the dim lit tent, shoulders sagging and already knowing that they would possibly have to go through this situation countless more times.

~0~

Eren woke up forty two hours later.

He cradled his head and sat up in what appeared to be a double bed with a comfier mattress than what he was used to. Taking in his surroundings and noting that he hadn't seen this room before, he felt disorientated and sluggish and immediately gave up on trying to know whose room he was occupying.

On his bedside table there laid a notepad and pen, open on the last page to be written in. He leaned over, curious on what had been scribbled down and read the last few lines.

"Hour 38 – Has been completely healed physically now for 37 hours, titan healing power activates with immediate effect. However, still unconscious, mental state of mind unaffected by healing abilities? It appears this technique cannot heal fatigue. Vitals stable, pupils dilate naturally."

Eren's eyes skimmed over the last few hours, the page filled with hourly reports, like a log book of data. He almost huffed out a laugh, Hanji was still taking data from him even if he wasn't awake for it.

He tried to recall even an ounce of what had happened, yet the last thing he remembered was biting into his hand, down in the well.

He looked down to the last logged hour.

"Hour 41 – Had shifted position since hour 40 log, first time to move independently since unconsciousness, called out in his sleep, couldn't make it out. Took temperature, showing levels of normal temperature for Eren, which is higher than average humans, see reference data sheet 12FG. Pupils still dilate to light source. Called out again, this time heard it clearly. Called for Levi."

Eren's eyes widened as he leaned back up, back ramrod straight as he slapped a hand across his mouth. His mind kept replaying the words over and over, as though taking great amusement in his humiliation.

Called for Levi. Called for Levi, CalledforLevi, CalledforLeviCalledforLevi, Levi, LEVI—

"UGH!" Eren moaned loudly and flumped back down into the pillow, arm hiding his eyes from the world as though he could block it out. Just what was that? He honestly felt like punching himself in the face just to become unconscious again.

Hanji had heard him call for Levi in his sleep? She had even written it down and left the book open on his desk for the world to see! Had Levi read this? Jeez, he cringed so hard into his arm, cheeks burning hot and utter dread filling him. Just how embarrassing, how was he ever going to live this down?

"Just…. Fuck it."

That had felt oddly satisfying, Eren felt his hands ball up into fists and he slammed one down into the mattress. Yeah, that had felt good. He tried it again,

"Fucking…. Fuckity fuck balls!"

He slammed his heels down into the mattress, gaining momentum until he was a flailing mess of childish anger, arms and elbows, heels and thighs kicking and pummelling the mattress as he threw his head back and forth, colourful language spilling from his lips.

"Jesus fucking shitty ball licking wanking TITFUCK!"

In his anger, he hadn't seen the door open. He hadn't seen Levi pause in the threshold, taking in the amusing childish tantrum and settling for leaning his shoulder on the frame, crossing a foot over an ankle.

Levi watched the flailing mass of limbs, eyebrow quirked at the creative curses flying from Eren's mouth. When the boy had finished and was breathing heavily trying to catch his breath, Levi cleared his throat and watched as Eren physically jumped in surprise.

"Well, that's not usually how I say hello, but I'll take it."

Eren saw who it was and instantly groaned as his cheeks became scarlet, his whole body became like fluid as he collapsed back on the bed, taking his pillow and smothering his face from view.

Levi had come to his room, intent on checking up on an unconscious boy, but as he watched Eren desperately try to mould with the mattress, toes even curling in humiliation, he couldn't help but feel a wave of relief wash over him.

Oh, and a hell of a lot of amusement.

~0~

A/N: Okay, and that's chapter 5! Here hopefully you can see how it is starting to drift away from canonverse, I mean, it will still follow it, but a lot more of 'inbetween times' are now at play :)

I absolutely love the comments by the way, it really keeps me writing, and I hope the updates aren't too long? Last two chapters roughly have a week between them? Please keep reviewing, I love your support!

Cohali x