Drearily, the sky lightened, bringing with it a new day. Navy turned into a soft, light blue. Hints of gold peeked over the rooftops. A patch of sun slowly crept from the floor onto Eren's face. Something felt warm beside him. It was so comfortable, that light. He wanted to wrap his arms around the delicate thing. It gave him a sense of peace that he needed. Forget the pain. Forget the people. Eren was content with staying this way the rest of his damn life. Everything else was just a nightmare. Toss it away.

"Oi, Eren," Corporal Levi breathed.

"Nn…"

"Do me a favor and get the fuck off of me."

"Hm?" came Eren's groggy reply. His face was buried in Levi's shoulder and his arms were snuggly attached to Levi's waist. Even his leg slung over the other man's.

Corporal had a look of mild distaste as he tried to wrench Eren off but it wasn't anger or disgust. He didn't put much strength into fighting the boy off of him either. Rather, it was just uncomfortable having a little brat cling to him.

"No…" Eren grumbled. Maybe it was too early for him to realize the situation he was putting himself in by refusing orders. If Corporal really was the one giving him this peace, he wanted to cling to it.

"What do you mean 'no'? Get off. It's an order, brat. Wake…up!" Levi finally managed to untangle his leg and shove it into Eren's morning glory.

Light exploded and with it, the brutal shock of pain. Eren gasped, his arms flying from Corporal's body to caressing the wounded area. "Morning to you too," he hissed through the sting. So what if he held onto Corporal while sleeping? He had been unconscious so why was he being punished? But the more awake he became, the more embarrassed he was. Eren wasn't so sure that this bunking with Corporal Levi deal was going to work out. Sure they were both men but this was somehow different. This attraction or whatever it was that he was feeling, was getting in the way. It had to stop. Eren had never had crushes or whatever on anyone before. He didn't know what to do about it besides try and get away.

"What time is it?" Corporal Levi asked as if Eren had a watch.

"Dunno," Eren answered. There wasn't even a clock in the room but he thought he remembered there being a clock down in the lobby area. He took a look out the window and saw the sun pulling itself over the low skyline. "It must still be early though," he remarked.

"You can go back to sleep if you want then," Levi lazily pulled his shirt over his defined muscles. Eren couldn't help but feel inferior as he looked upon the man. Levi's upper half was covered in taught muscle, sculpting the short torso with tough packs of tissue. Eren's green eyes traced the outline of every line, from the triceps to the pecs and down to the set of 6-pack abs. There were plenty of muscles back at training camp and Eren had his own share, but this…This made a little part of him die inside just as another part threatened to rise.

"Eren, wipe the drool off your mouth. You're grossing me out," his corporal scolded.

Eren obediently scrubbed his chin but there wasn't any saliva there. "Sorry. I'm sorry…" He felt so awkward having to apologize for his perversion. He would've gotten angry about it but it was early and he didn't have the energy for denial.

There were probably no doubts in Levi's mind about Eren's sexuality. Eren himself was beginning to reach clarity. It was a crush. Just a crush and nothing more. And really, all it amounted to was strong admiration. There wasn't any of that lovey-dovey affection stuff that he saw straight couples do. He vaguely remembered his own parents sometimes giving each other small, daily touches of affection. A pat on the shoulder here, a kiss on the cheek there.

For a gripping moment, Eren imagined what it might look like to be with Levi, walking down the cobblestone path with fingers intertwined. They had that youthful sparkle in their eyes as they strolled without a care in the world, staring at each other and laughing at stupid inside jokes. Agh that's gross! What the hell, brain?! Stop it. I've got to focus. He's just my Lance Corporal. I don't really have those kinds of feelings! Plus, he's an adult and I'm still in my mid-teens…the age gap is too big so even if I did like him that strongly, it'd be impossible.

"Well, it's only natural that people are attracted to a body like this," Levi joked again with that scarily serious face of his. "Height only counts for so much," he said pointedly.

Eren couldn't help but smile at that. "Yeah, well I guess that's true since you're our best soldier no matter the vertical challenges."

Levi's thin lips tugged at the corners, threatening some weird version of a bemused smile. "Of course. Didn't you hear, Jaeger? I'm humanity's strongest soldier. Everyone's dying to get their hands on me."

If he was trying to put on airs, Eren wasn't convinced. Levi's voice sounded annoyingly sarcastic and something darker was pushing through the words. It was as if Corporal was actually stressing out about the "strongest soldier" title. He had never made claims of being the strongest soldier in all of the military…or humanity, for that matter. Corporal just did what he felt needed to be done and the title had been shoved onto him. Maybe he was ashamed and felt pathetic, just like Eren. Levi was human after all. At least, Eren thought bitterly, he's more human than I am.

"Are you going back to bed? Make a decision. I'm hungry as hell and want to fetch something to eat," Levi said as he finished putting on pants. Eren didn't miss the size of those calves before they disappeared beneath uniform pants. The clothes did such a good job of slimming Levi down even more. No one could guess just by looking how ripped the guy actually was.

"I'll come with you," he insisted and clumsily put on his own clothes. Eren was afraid of looking at Corporal's face, afraid that the man's eyes would be judging how inferior Eren's body was.

"Not so bad yourself, you know. This doesn't have to be a contest." Corporal Levi began gathering his things. "I'd win anyways…" he huffed.

Instead of reassured, Eren felt all the more awkward. Blood was rushing to his face and he didn't dare look in the mirror when he went to the bathroom. Deep breaths. Breathe in….Breathe out…"Are we checking out?" he asked upon return.

"Are you going to finish the whisky? It'd be a waste…" Levi was examining the half empty bottle he had begun last night. "Maybe I'll give it to Erwin or that daft gramps, Pixis."

"If we're staying here longer and not checking out, then you can probably finish it later. It's not a big deal."

"I paid for it so it's a big deal."

You still haven't answered my question. Are you sending me to Hanji or not? Eren thought with a twitch. "What are we having for breakfast?" Maybe a different question would get an answer.

Levi set the whisky bottle back down on the end table and took out the key to the room from his pocket. "Whatever we can find. Then we meet the others. The gathering isn't until later but you shouldn't have anything else to do, right?"

"No, I don't."

"That whisky left me with a bad taste in my mouth this morning," Corporal randomly said as the two descended the stairs and out of the lobby door. The clock read 8:00. "I'm going to need tea."

"I don't really care." I think I saw a place near here before that served some… Eren began half-hazardly browsing the wooden buildings around them. It was early and people were just now getting themselves out their front doors. The two soldiers explored the area, looking for any place that was open and ready for business. Levi walked faster than Eren. He used long, quick strides. Eren figured it must be because Levi was cautious about his short legs. Eren could have easily pulled ahead if he put in the effort. Walking without 3D maneuver gear was much easier. His muscles didn't ache nearly as much. They had left their gear in the room for now, making sure the locks were secured so no one could bust in and steal it.

It wasn't necessary to carry that heavy equipment everywhere. Regardless, Corporal was still armed, having slipped a knife down the back of his pants. Eren figured that years in the underground city and then fighting in the army would make anyone want to stay on the safe side. Hell, maybe he should even get a knife of his own soon. That is, for emergency purposes only.

"Here," Corporal Levi stopped in his tracks and yanked Eren's sleeve to a stop him as well. They stood before a small, family-owned diner with a weak-looking door and mouthwatering fumes leaking outside.

"It's small," Eren spoke before he thought, which was a bad habit to have. Wasn't this supposed to be the most rich and high-end district? He'd expected something a little more polished.

"Well excuse me, princess," Corporal's flat, grey glare made Eren swallow. "If you want to be a brat then you can starve. I'm going inside."

"Sorry, I'm coming too!" Eren hustled after him at the insistence of his empty stomach.

"No bitching or I'm throwing you out, Jaeger."

But you didn't throw me out of bed last night, Eren countered mentally. The two found a table and took a seat near the kitchen area where they could see the food being prepared.

"I didn't kick you out of bed because you're too damn fat. That's why I had to kick your dick, because it was small and weak."

And the reading-your-soldiers-mind-award goes to none other than Lance Corporal Levi!

Corporal Levi ordered Earl Grey tea and sat cross-legged at the table, cup in hand, eyes glowering at Eren. He seemed to have more wrinkles today than yesterday. Eren tried ignoring the vibes and cautiously chewed up his eggs. The taste wasn't too bad. They were better than the eggs sold at the market in Trost at least. Corporal took mild sips, his hand holding the cup in what Eren thought was the most inconvenient way you could hold it. What was the man's deal anyways? Did he not notice the handle?

"You know, you called my name in your sleep last night." Corporal said out of the blue.

Eren practically choked on his food. Wrong pipe! Ack!

Corporal watched the boy's reaction with subtle amusement as he lifted the cup of Earl Gray to his mouth for another sip. His head was a bit foggy and the tea was helping him wake up.

"Sorry. I tend to sleep talk a lot." But he already knows that. What is this? The third time?

"You know what else?" Corporal looked like he was having fun, though his face did not change.

"What?" Eren let out a tired breath, not knowing where this was going. Gradually, he was coming to understand the changes in Corporal's mood. It's said that the eyes were the door to the soul but to him, that was bull shit.

By looking into the dark grey eyes of his superior now, for instance, he still couldn't figure out what going through that head. If anything, Eren was picking up on Corporal's body language, tendencies, and little changes in the voice. He didn't know if this attentiveness was a symptom of a "crush" but it helped avoid beatings.

Right now, Corporal didn't seem mad but one could never know for sure. Recently, Eren had discovered other variations of Corporal's moods. That is to say, he thought he could tell when Corporal was being obnoxious, uncomfortable, awkward, or pained. It was easy to know if Corporal was pissed so that wasn't even a challenge. To the novice, humanity's strongest looked like he had a permanent stick up his ass.

"You broke the one rule. I wonder how I should punish your shitty habits. Maybe I should make you scrub all of my things clean with a tooth brush. Or perhaps I'll have you as a personal stepping stool for whenever I can't reach things," Corporal stared his underling down.

Eren kept shrinking and shrinking under that cool fury. "I can sleep with Hanji if you want, though I don't know if she can take me since she couldn't have me last night." He heard his voice speaking but it sounded like someone else. The real Eren was probably crawling in a deep, dark space in the corner of his stupid mind. Embarrassed as he was, he couldn't even get angry because Corporal could really kill him. He really, really could die!

"Four eyes can go shit in a sewer for all I care. You can accompany her," Corporal accented the insult by putting down his tea cup with extra force. His eyes swiftly checked to make sure he didn't break the thing, before they returned to eradicate what was left of Eren.

"Y'know, I'm just a growing boy a-and it's not like I can really control what I do in my sleep! You had to deal with that once, right? Corporal?" Eren stammered, grabbing blindly for words. All he was doing was sinking deeper into the quick sand.

"That's not the point."

So he was a normal teenager too.

"I'm not taking you to Hanji's though. It's too late for that," Corporal huffed and carefully wiped his mouth with a handkerchief. "I don't know if your Paps fucked up the 'fuck talk' or shit, but brats should know a little control. No wonder you can't figure out your Titan form. If you can't handle your dick no one can really expect you to handle something a million times larger."

Was that some sort of joke or insult or what? This was getting uncomfortable. Just talking about it with Levi was sending Eren's blood down towards his groin. In a sweaty panic, he crossed his legs tighter.

"What do you want me to do about it? Cut it off?" Please say no. I was stupid to give you that option.

"Unfortunately, the excessive bleeding might actually kill an idiot like you. Or we could…test the limits of your Titan healing ability?" Corporal's eyelids narrowed, making the daggers of his stare all the sharper.

"I'd rather not," Eren had to look away. There was a picture of a rose on the wall by the door. Oh what nice petals it had. Who was the artist? Maybe Armin and Mikasa would like it…

"I've thought some things over tonight…and I've come to a conclusion. I'm going to work you harder from here on out, Jaeger," Corporal Levi didn't even bother giving attention to whatever the brat was stupidly looking at. "It's occurred to me that I've been going easy on you."

"You call that 'easy'? You must be jok—"

There were a couple stomps, a clamper of the table, and Eren was being held by his neck. Levi's cold hand was crushing his windpipe. His boiling blood halted its quest to his groin and surged to his face, which was now turning the color of fire. Cold sweat dripped down his forehead and grazed Corporal's tight fingers. How long was this going to last? Eren wondered as he struggled for the smallest breath of air.

"What are you going to do now, Jaeger?" Corporal's voice was low, grating, threatening. Eren was scared yet hands down attracted at the same time. Gawd, how sick was he?!

"G….t…ff!" Eren struggled to pry Corporal's hand off of him. The veins of his forearms were bulging with the effort. He felt so helpless. How could he be this weak?

When upper body strength failed him, Eren desperately sent a right kick to Corporal's stomach but the man brought his own leg up and blocked it. Things were starting to get hazy. Corporal's crisp black undercut was becoming a dark blur. Only when Eren thought he were about to pass out did Levi release him.

Gasping, he fall back into his chair. Behind them, two other guests and the supposed manager were staring in horror, their faces consumed with fear. Their frozen bodies were in the middle of "fight or flight". When Corporal let Eren go, the guests hustled out of the diner and the manager demanded they "take it somewhere else!"

"There is no easy life for people like us," Corporal Levi readjusted his white cravat as they stood outside the place they'd been kicked out of. At least Eren had gotten to finish his eggs beforehand.

"I didn't claim that there was. I meant that it feels like you've been picking on me ever since I became part of your squad! I thought you trusted me and considered me a valid addition. You said so yourself. Why do you have to treat me like a piece of trash? Is this about Petra and the others? Are you still mad about that? I've already killed myself over that enough!"

Corporal Levi came in with a strong left hook but Eren knew it was coming and dodged left, only to be landed a blow in the chest with the other fist. Black dots flashed in his vision and Eren sucked in the cool air, letting it freeze his squeezed lungs. "I don't need soldiers who are putting up half-assed efforts. I don't need soldiers who don't realize what's at stake here," Corporal explained in his monotone voice. This time, he spun and his right boot met Eren's face. It was so fast he couldn't bring up his arm to block fast enough, and he was sent flying to the side. With a thud, he knocked into a building. The impact rattled his teeth. Another gasp for air.

"I don't need soldiers who are easily distracted. Distractions get you and others killed," Corporal continued closing in and threw a series of punches that Eren was hardly able to block in his light-headed state.

"What distractions? What am I distracted by exactly that you seem to hate?" he demanded. As Corporal reared back an arm for an upper punch, Eren saw his opening. He shifted his hips and the rest of his body followed. With as much force as he could manage, he swung his left arm, aiming to knock Corporal off with the back of his fist.

Sensing this, Levi's hand stopped mid-punch with perfect control as the other grabbed Eren's mid-air. Exerting no more effort than necessary, he twisted the wrist around until it was no longer mobile. Eren was afraid Corporal would break it but instead, a fist crashed into his nose with a sickening crack. He fell onto the cobblestone walkway, holding his throbbing bones. A trickle of blood travelled down his nostril and kissed his lips. It tasted of iron and salt.

"I would hand your ass over to Hanji if I could." Corporal placed his heavy boot on Eren's chest to keep him down. "But Erwin likes reminding me that you're my responsibility. So I've come to this conclusion. Fuck, I hate talking about this shit…How do I put this in the clearest way so that even a brat like you can get it through your head? If you hated me, at least that would give you a better motivation and drive but that's not the case here, is it? Eren?"

"What the fuck are you talking about? I don't hate you but you seem to like beating me up for no goddamn reason. I'm beginning to doubt your judgment."

"Your doubts don't matter to me anymore," Corporal countered matter-of-factly. "All you need to do is follow the orders given to you." Corporal took his foot off of Eren so the brat could sit up properly.

Anymore? So does that mean they used to matter? Eren wondered as he delicately touched his nose to measure the extent of damage. It had been knocked out of place. Bracing himself, he grabbed the sides of the misplaced cartilage and snapped it back into place. Tears formed at the corner of his eyes and he wiped them away quickly with his sleeve. Moving his wrist like that stung.

"Get it? We're just soldiers. We're not best friends. We're not LOVERS."

The word was like another stone cold smack to Eren's face. "I don't think we're lovers!"

"I don't know how you came up with it, but I think that you consider us as something more than Corporal and soldier," Corporal snapped back haughtily.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit! He had just realized it was a harmless, love-lacking crush but Corporal was already turning it down. It was wrong for Corporal to act on these stupid assumptions! Did he really think Eren was stupid enough to actually fall for his superior? During a war? Eren thought he had more control than that. He thought he had hid it. He thought Corporal Levi…might have actually come to like him back. God, this sucks, this sucks, this fucking sucks!

"You've got it wrong!" Eren made a rocky ascension to his feet. "You just think I'm some hormonal teenager but I don't have anything to prove to you anymore. I'm not distracted from my goal. I will kill the Titans. I'm not doing it for you. I'm doing it for myself and my friends and the rest of humanity. I'm going to feed the puppet king and his wall worshippers their own shit. I can do it on my own, without you! I can stand on my own two damn feet!"

Author's Note: It's funny because that ending came completely out of the blue. Events kind of just spit up on the page as I typed because originally, that was not how the chapter was going to lead. I know the traditional "confession/rejection" might be considered too soon (I'm sure Eren does also) but I'm thinking that Levi actually didn't realize Eren's feelings until that very morning and not any earlier LOL. I think he was just so shocked and confused that this is how he dealt with it. I might make the next chapter from Levi's perspective then... It's been forever since I've written and the only motivation I have to write is whenever I read other people's writing, haha. Hopefully, this longer chapter has partially satisfied the cravings of the special few that remember this fanfic even exists. :D