Disclaimer: I own none of the characters!

Eren sat in a rocking chair, covered with a blanket. A fire crackled at his side, casting a warm glow throughout the room. He was thankful that he made it safely. No more wolves came after him and the monster he saw never resurfaced.

Although now he had a new set of problems.

For starters, his grandmother wasn't home. There was a note, however, stating she had gone on a trip to one of the larger towns with a group of her other granny friends (written in very plain, simple wording as reading was never Eren's strong point). Eren found the spare key to her house in the dirt by a small garden. So his trip had been in vain. He had put himself in danger for no real reason. But he did have a full meal so he was pleased with that.

But then there was the man he had saved. Well…the man who had saved him. All Eren did was drag him into the town and to his grandmother's home.

Eren left the man on the sofa, still wrapped in his red hood. He tried his best to clean the wound and wrap bandages around him; he didn't want to remove the man's shirt because he felt like it was invading his privacy in some way. Eren watched the man from where he sat. The man was sleeping lightly, occasionally opening his eyes long enough to look at the ceiling and fall back asleep.

His clothes, Eren noticed, were very nice. Black trousers and a soft, silky shirt with sleek boots. The sword the man was carrying was silver, adorned with black gems on the hilt. And then there were a few rings on his fingers too; all silver with the same black stones. He had to be a nobleman, but it was definitely an odd case.

Nobles lived in the bigger cities. And they rarely went out alone; they always had a nice carriage and guards to protect them. Or so Eren had been told. So for a noble to be out in the middle of a forest, alone and away from the city struck Eren as being peculiar.

Eren got up from the chair and walked over. He pressed a hand to the man's face to check for a fever. Instead, the man was ice cold. Eren shivered and touched the man's neck, checking for a pulse. He was definitely alive, just cold and so pale.

Eren let his hand trail down the exposed part of the man's chest. He touched the fine fabric of the shirt and could see, as he pulled the material, how tone the man's chest was. Eren's face turned red and he pulled his eyes away, letting them fall on a chain around the man's neck instead. Eren linked a finger around the metal and pulled it free of the shirt. A heavy pendent was on the end of it.

With gentle fingers, Eren looked it over, turning it around.

Grey eyes shot open and an icy hand caught Eren's wrist. Eren jumped and let the necklace fall as he gazed back at the man.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I…I'm sorry…," Eren breathed. "I was just making sure you were alive."

The man looked Eren over and then turned his gaze to the small cabin. Eren watched him closely, his heart racing. He was handsome, despite looking so tired. He had a strong jawline and high cheekbones. His hair was cut short in the back with a longer, messy fringe falling over the shaved part. And his eyes—Eren found them to be the most fascinating part about him. The man had grey eyes, beautiful steel grey eyes. Eren had never before seen grey eyes and he couldn't stop staring.

"What's your name, brat?" the man asked, still looking around.

"My name is Eren."

"Eren, huh? Alright, brat, what the hell happened? Where am I? Why am I here?"

Eren flinched at his tone and choice of words. If it had been anyone else, he gladly would have shot back with his own sharp words. But there was a hint of something in the man's eye that told Eren it would be wiser to play nice.

"Well…sir…I'm not a brat first of all," Eren said, as politely as he could.

"I'll call you whatever the hell I want. What happened?"

Eren huffed and took a long breath. His patience was wearing.

"We were out in the forest. And a wolf attacked. You just came out of nowhere and scared it off. But you were hurt and I felt sort of…bad leaving you there."

"So you brought me to your home?" the man asked, looking around.

"Well…it's my grandmother's home. But yeah, I brought you here. And you're welcome."

The man raised a sharp eyebrow at Eren's remark and then returned to examining the cabin.

"What's your name?"

There was a bitter silence between them, filled by the crackling fire. The man still looked away. Eren dropped his eyes to the pendant hanging around the man's neck. It hung freely since it had been pulled from his shirt. Eren could make out what looked like a head on it; a lady's head, almost like a cameo. Except it looked familiar. He had definitely seen it before somewhere. It had to be a crest of some sort…

"Levi."

"What?"

"My name, brat," the man snapped. "My name is Levi. You asked."

Eren swallowed nervously and nodded. "Yeah, that's right. So Levi. Why were you out at night?"

"Why does it matter? It's my business; stay out of it."

Eren's face lit up red and he growled. Levi looked away again, ignoring him, as he shifted around on the sofa. He tucked the pendant necklace back into his shirt and looked at the bandages around his waist.

"Did you do this?" he asked softly.

"Yeah. I have a little bit of medical experience. But it was hard since you were lying down and I didn't want to undress you in your sleep. So they're a little loose."

"Can you fix them now? Since I'm awake? These feel wet and it's disgusting."

"Just wait here," Eren said, rolling his eyes. He stood up and walked off into a spare room. He dug through a trunk until he found the medical supplies he had used earlier.

He didn't know who this Levi guy was or where he even came from. But Eren was sure he had no right to act so entitled; noble or not.

He gathered what he needed in his arms and made his way back to the sitting room. Levi had already removed the bandages around his body and let them fall to the floor in a bloody pile. He was pulling his shirt over his head when Eren walked in.

The fire illuminated the muscles in his back and shoulders. He folded his shirt and neatly placed it on the sofa. He kneeled and picked up the bloody bandages next, curling them up just as neat. Eren stopped to watch, clutching the new bandages in his hands. His chest and stomach were toned and perfect; his arms were defined and there was visible vein in his forearm that made Eren frantically chew his lip as he stared.

There were light scars across his body; some long and some short, though all of them were fairly thin. And then there was the bloody gash in his side. Blood didn't flow from it, like it did when it was fresh, but the wound was still open and still raw.

"Come sit over here," Eren said, turning to the rug by the fire. Without a word, Levi walked over and sat down with a heavy sigh. Eren sat down by him and looked at the wound from a distance.

"Is it so bad you don't want to get close, brat? Is it infected?"

Eren shook his head. "It's not infected. And I just don't want to invade your space…"

"Tch, invade my space? You're worried about that?"

Eren was being polite. It had nothing to do with Levi having such a nice body.

"Lay down on your side," Eren said, picking up a bottle. "I'll be able to pour this on better."

"What exactly is that?" Levi asked. He obeyed again, lying so that his wound was closer to Eren. He stretched his arms under his head and Eren took a moment to admire how splendid he looked on the floor. Sprawled out and tired and dirty and—

Eren closed his mouth. "What?"

"The fucking bottle in your hand. What the hell is it?"

"It's an herbal potion," Eren said. "It helps with wounds."

"Magic?"

"Never. Granny doesn't like the idea of magic," Eren replied. He tipped the bottle and let the cool liquid drizzle on to Levi's side. The man gasped as the liquid hit his wound like fire. Eren sat the bottle down and leaned forward, blowing air on to the spot to sooth it. "She likes to use natural medicines. She says it's better than magic."

"Ironic. Most little towns like to use magic," Levi said softly. He closed his eyes and Eren picked up the bandages.

"I guess. Hey, sit up."

Levi winced and pushed himself into a sitting position. He groaned with each movement and glanced down at his throbbing side. Eren threw the bandage around him and started to wrap Levi up properly. He held his breath, being so close. He would occasionally brush against Levi's skin, feeling how cold he was. He took in Levi's scent and could smell, under the sweat, a sweet musk mixed with lavender. And then there were Levi's stupid hipbones, peeking out from his trousers.

Eren's face burned red.

"Your eyes are fucking big, brat," Levi said. "It's weird."

"What?" Eren gasped. He turned away, tugging at the bandages. "Well…it helps with seeing just what the hell I'm doing."

"Your mouth is pretty big too. You talk a lot, huh?"

Eren tugged the bandages even tighter, tying a knot in them. Levi winced and a little smirk spread over his lips, apparently amused. Eren blushed more and finished tying the bandage.

"Finished," Eren muttered, his eyes locked on to Levi's. He didn't move; he couldn't move. He was inches away from Levi's face and he couldn't bring himself to move back. He bit his bottom lip, his eyes wide.

Levi slipped away and got to his feet. Eren whined to himself and watched Levi pick his shirt back up. Eren could tell, by the scour on Levi's face, that he wasn't pleased with his shirt and the bloodstain on it.

"I have extra shirts here," Eren said. "I think they'll fit you. You're shorter than me, so they should."

"Whatever."

Eren assumed that meant yes and he went to go through the clothes he had left over the last time he visited. His shirts weren't as silky soft as Levi's, but they were clean enough and lacked bloodstains. He walked back into the room and handed the shirt out.

"Thanks, brat," Levi said, slipping the shirt over his head. "Where do you live? I'll return it."

"It's a shirt. I'm not worried about it," Eren replied. "But I live in Shiganshina."

"Small town, isn't it?"

"Fairly," Eren said, slipping into the armchair. "Where do you live?"

"Not Shiganshina."

"I figured."

"Keep talking, brat."

"You want me to…keep talking? About where I live?"

Levi shrugged and sat back down on the sofa. "Is it hard to believe that I'm mildly curious?"

"A little…," Eren laughed. He looked back up at Levi. The man had narrowed his eyes and was looking at him; only him. Eren dropped his eyes to his hands. "Everyone knows everyone there. I live on a little farm with my mom and sister. My best friend lives only two houses down. It's nice. Really. But it can get boring. I've never been outside of Shiganshina. Really outside of it; I even count this village as being part of the district. But it's hard trying to venture out. Mom needs help with the farm. Help in general. And then with money; it's just…not always easy. And here I am telling you all of my problems. I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

Eren looked back up at Levi. The man was awake and all eyes. He was actually listening. Really listening. And interested in Eren's pathetic peasant boy story.

"It's rare that I'm around people who actually talk," Levi said. "So when I am, I like to hear what they have to say."

A little smile spread over Eren's face. He couldn't help it. He felt a warmness in his stomach and it brightened his face. He felt a little silly that a stranger could make him smile in such a way. But he knew if he sat and questioned the logic, he would lose that warmth and start to feel cold. So he accepted that a stranger made him smile and made him feel so comfortable and kept talking and talking.

He talked until he started to ramble and when his rambling turned to soft snoring.

Eren woke up around noon. It was rare for him to ever sleep in, but he was just so relaxed. He stretched out and realized he was lying on his grandmother's bed. He rubbed his eyes as he sat up, looking around. His cloak had been thrown over him as a blanket and he pulled it close to his chin. He slid off the bed and started to walk around the cabin.

"Levi?" he called with a sleepy voice. "Levi?"

But there was no answer. And he saw no one. He even looked outside. The little village was alive but from where he was, he did not see Levi around the house.

Eren walked back to his grandmother's room and sat on the edge of the bed. He glanced at the night table and saw a folded piece of paper. He picked it up and looked it over; at the very neat handwriting on the white paper. He smiled because he knew it had to be from Levi.

He just didn't know how to read it.

Notes: I reaaaaaaaaally want illiterate!Eren in this. So he's semi-illiterate because he could read the note his grandma left him but not Levi's. He's probably used to what his granny writes and can sort of decipher it. But Levi's writing would be pretty hard for him I would think. Because it's fancy.