So here's the deal: I will finish this arc, but I'm not so sure about the rest of it. I'm currently trying to think of a way to compress things if possible but idk. Winter is really rough on my motivation and my brain problems have been acting up a lot so yeah. We're very near to the end of this arc and then we'll see from there.

.

Eren watched Levi for a few minutes, taking in the small shifts as he got comfortable and the tight pull of the blanket across broad shoulders. Eventually Levi's body stopped moving and his breathing evened out though his body never lost the coiled tension. There was nothing particularly interesting about the sleeping body in the other bed but without anything better to do, he watched. Part of Eren knew that he could probably let himself out quietly to borrow a book from the motel office but that meant having to talk to Irene, not to mention that he didn't want Levi to wake up and find him gone. And so Eren tried to amuse himself, staring at a shadow on the wall and trying to figure out whether it looked more like a starfish or a hand.

His attention was beginning to wander when he heard a sudden exhale come from Levi as his body tightened and curled in on itself. Pained and sharp exhales continued to escape him as Eren watched in horror, unable to figure out just what he should be doing. Levi had woken him up the night before but this – Levi had mentioned having regular not-so-quiet nightmares and so hypothetically this wasn't anything out of the ordinary for him. A small part of him also thought that regardless of the fact that Levi was unarmed, there was no way he was going to be able to wake Levi up without sustaining some sort of injury. He stayed where he was, uncomfortably aware of Levi's restless body and uneven breathing, watching as his body tensed, fingers grasping tightly at the sheets as he made a sound like the air was being punched out of his chest.

"Levi?" When he didn't respond to Eren's voice he stood, shuffling those few steps between their beds, hovering at the edge of Levi's own. "Levi?" Eren flinched backwards as his eyes snapped open, staring unseeing at the wall for a few seconds before drifting closed again. He curled into himself more tightly but some of his tension eased and the pained noises stopped, replaced by uneven breathing.

Retreating to his own bed again, Eren sat down and leaned back against the headboard again, frowning as he glanced over at Levi again. The world around him seemed to retreat as he stared at Levi's back with a single-minded focus, his consciousness eventually narrowing to nothing more than his own senses and the body less than ten feet away from him. Eren watched the small movements of his body, the tension and the slow release as his mind eased out of whatever horror it had been stuck in. Levi's calmer breathing and the slow rise and fall of his body was hypnotic as Eren continued to watch, his eyelids slowly lowering.

Eren woke up mildly disoriented, his mind fuzzy as he stared at the alarm clock on the nightstand for a few minutes before realizing that it was already 4pm. He startled upright, checking Levi's bed and finding it empty, panicking for a brief moment before processing that the shower was running. Leaning back again Eren took a moment to center himself, his calm broken almost as soon as the shower turned off and the door to the bathroom opened.

While Levi was wearing jeans, his torso was unclothed and almost as soon as Eren's eyes dipped down he looked up again sharply, focusing on Levi's face rather than his bare chest and the tattoo on his ribs. For a brief moment he was seized by panic as he realized how poorly Levi might take it if he found Eren awake and watching him. He was about to cough when his gaze flicked down to Levi's arm.

"You're bleeding?" Levi looked up in surprise at Eren's voice, pausing in his search through his bag.

"Yeah, the bullet graze from yesterday. Didn't get to clean it last night." He looked down at his bag and coughed awkwardly. "I can't find the first aid kit. Seen it anywhere?"

"You didn't bring it in?"

"I thought I did." Levi let out an annoyed sigh. "Probably left it in the car." He pulled a light colored shirt out of his bag and tossed it on the bed, rummaging around and finally pulling out a darker one.

"Wait, don't get one of your shirts all bloody. I'll go out and get it." There was something about Levi's narrowed eyes that almost made Eren want to laugh. "You can literally see the car from the window."

"Fine."

Nothing eventful happened in the ten minutes it took to go through Levi's car. He hadn't looked closely at either the backseat or the trunk whenever he'd been in it previously and found himself lingering slightly. The backseat was almost empty save for the spelunking kit they had used back in Shiganshina chucked haphazardly in the back, the material of the seat under it still damp from the rain the day before. The trunk was far more interesting with two locked hard cases and a roll of nylon material that ended up containing a small armory of knives. A cardboard box contained what looked like two different old wool blankets that smelled faintly of lavender and couple bottles of water and granola bars. Even after moving aside the locked cases and looking behind them he still couldn't find a first aid kit. Straightening up and closing the trunk, Eren was in the process of walking back to ask Levi if he was sure that he hadn't brought it into the motel room when he realized that Levi was standing at the open door, still shirtless and raising his eyebrow.

"Underneath the passenger seat."

"Oh."

Eren grabbed the hard box shoved under the seat, feeling somewhat foolish for not checking there first and handed it off to Levi, pointedly avoiding looking anywhere below his neck. He watched from the bed as Levi went back into the bathroom and began to take things out of the first aid kit, cleaning the wound quickly and somewhat more roughly than Eren thought was a good idea if he wanted it to stop bleeding and clearly struggling slightly as he tried to put a bandage over the wound. Before he could second guess himself Eren was standing up and walking across the room towards the bathroom.

"Need any help?" He'd never thought that someone could look both annoyed and grateful at the same time but somehow Levi pulled it off.

"Yeah, if you can just –" He cut himself off as Eren reached across him to grab the first aid kit.

"Can I see it a second?" Levi moved his hand, moving the red-tinged ball of antiseptic-soaked gauze away from the wound. While Eren knew that it was in no way a major injury he couldn't help but think that Levi's claim that it was 'just a graze' was something of an understatement. Though in fairness he had never seen a bullet graze wound this close before. Even so, the skin was torn up and the gash was deeper than he had thought it would be. Thankfully it seemed to be clotting decently well on its own. "Press this down over it." Eren offered a new square of gauze to Levi, mouth quirking up as Levi gave him a nonplussed look. "Hold it while I wrap it."

Levi held the square of gauze in place as Eren rolled more gauze around his bicep to hold it in place, moving his hand away as Eren passed over the square again. He tried to keep his touch light but Levi didn't react at all when he pulled the bandage a bit too tightly while reaching for the surgical tape. After cutting the tape and making sure that the dressing would stay in place Eren moved back out of Levi's personal space, suddenly aware of their proximity and watching as Levi moved his arm and flexed his bicep lightly, testing out the comfort of the bandage.

"Thanks." It was barely a murmur as Levi reached for the dark long sleeve shirt he'd left on the back of the toilet and pulled it over his head. "You're good at this."

"A lifetime of fights and now bandaging up my sister and friends." Eren gave him a slight smile, feeling far more at ease now that Levi was fully clothed. "Would you have been able to do that yourself?"

"Not as well but yeah. Like you said; a lifetime of practice." He shifted his arm again and rubbed at the stubble on his jaw before letting out a sigh. "Well that's not happening right now."

Eren stepped out of the way as Levi walked out of the bathroom, packing up the first aid kit while Levi looked around the room, throwing his bag onto the bed and starting to put everything back into it. When Eren returned with the first aid kit he found Levi sitting on the bed with his bag half slung over his shoulder, waiting patiently as Eren got his things together as well. As they stood both of their gazes were drawn to the hand gun sitting on the nightstand. For a moment they stayed still, neither moving until Levi finally let out a sigh and took the two steps forward to grab the gun and the room key next to it, holding it loosely with the muzzle down and his finger off the trigger as they exited the motel room.

.

"Thought ya two were stayin' through th'night."

"Places to go, people not to see." Irene smiled lightly at Levi and shook her head.

"Well, was nice to meet'cha. Woulda preferred diff'rent circumstance though."

"It was… interesting to meet you." Levi's brow was furrowed and he lifted his hand, putting the gun on the counter and sliding it towards her. She stopped him, covering his hand with her own and pushing back lightly.

"You need it more'n I do. They got guns an' you don't." Irene looked at them both pointedly. "Already had a run in with 'em. No reason to get caught out 'gain." She raised an eyebrow at Eren's confused expression. "I did yer wash, no mistakin' blood."

"Right." Eren frowned and shifted awkwardly.

"Ya two be careful." She gave them a sharp nod, her expression hard and her eyes sad as she watched them pick up their bags and head for the door. Eren paused at the door a few steps behind Levi and turned back.

"I'm sorry about your brother. But you uh, have your daughter, yeah?"

"She don' live here no more but if yer ever in trouble in Sina, look up Imelda Braus." Irene misinterpreted Eren suddenly going still, letting out an amused snort. "She ain't a hero or a villain; jus' a lawyer."

"Yeah." Eren nodded, shock making it difficult for him to find the words. "Thanks for everything."

Outside, Levi was standing next to the car, his door open although he didn't make an effort to get in. Eren felt slightly dazed as he opened the door and got into the car, only vaguely aware of Levi watching him as they pulled out of the parking lot and finally onto the road again, doubling back towards Shiganshina. Neither of them spoke as the light softened and the sun set, orange flaring up behind the black silhouettes of the mountains, giving the illusion of the world being flattened, as though they were inhabiting the world of a shadow puppet play.

.

It was fully dark now as they drove down an even smaller twisting road that would bring them to yet another highway before linking back to the Trost-Shiganshina. Levi had explained the logic behind it to Eren but he still wasn't entirely certain that it made sense to be taking such a small highway through the middle of nowhere after dark when there were people who were looking to kill them but at this point he was willing to fully put his faith in Levi's instincts.

The car's headlights picked up the flash of reflectors on a guardrail and even in the dark Eren could see the shift of darkness under the pale moonlight as the empty black beyond the rail slid down into a ravine. There was something mesmerizing about the way the lights caught the lower branches of the trees and the white and yellow lines on the road; things lit almost like they were glowing from within, casting some eerie inner light into the darkness as it swallowed up their headlights. The hypnotic stretch and curve of the road continued ahead of them, always more road ready to be revealed as they rounded another bend or crested another hill. Looking over, Eren could only vaguely make out Levi's expression but he could tell that the lines of his face were more relaxed, the tension in his jaw and around his eyes released as the dark enveloped them and the only sound was the howl of the wind in the mountains as they sped along.

.

At some point Eren had drifted off, coming back to consciousness with a soft blue neon glow illuminating the car. The first thing that he noticed after the lighting was that they had stopped. After that came the awareness of a rushing sound and the heady scent of gasoline and exhaust. He burrowed into the warm cocoon of rough blankets he had ended up in, the peaceful scent of lavender filling his nose. A breeze suddenly blew in causing him to curl in away from the cold, pushing his way upright as he heard the car door slam.

"Good morning."

"What time is it?" Eren stretched and realized that at some point Levi had pulled a blanket over him, upon closer inspection he recognized it as one of the ones he'd found in the trunk earlier.

"A little after midnight."

"Not exactly 'morning' you know." Levi shrugged and put the car into gear, pulling out of the gas station and onto the highway again. "Thanks for the blanket."

"Pulled over after we got off the local highway to take a look at the map. You looked cold."

"Thanks." The words came out quieter this time.

"You should drink something." Levi shoved a plastic convenience store bag at him.

"So there's a sandwich and –" Eren stopped and turned to Levi, glaring at him. "I swear if you got me something off the kid's menu I'm going to make sure I get crumbs everywhere."

"Fuck off. And no, I didn't."

"Good." There was a moment's pause as Eren went through the bag, pulling out the sandwiches and setting them aside before finding – "Wasabi Kit Kats? You got wasabi Kit Kats? At a convenience store in the middle of nowhere?"

"I was surprised too." Levi kept his eyes on the road and put his hand out to Eren. "Hand me one?"

"They're gross."

"Don't knock it if you haven't tried it."

"Oh I've tried it. Sasha likes them."

"Sasha?"

"The Hunter."

"You know, you shouldn't give out people's identities. Bad etiquette."

"Yeah but you already know all my friends."

"With the exception of your sister – and now the Hunter – I actually don't know any of their names."

"Oh."

"For being kids they were actually pretty good about keeping their names to themselves when we were working together."

"When did you –? Right." Eren ducked his head and stared down at his hands, suddenly quiet. "Sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"Yeah, but –"

"No." Levi interrupted him, his tone stern. "I thought you got over your pity parade months ago."

"So what, I'm not allowed to feel like shit because me getting kidnapped means that two of your friends got killed?" His voice rose in volume, body tense as he clenched his hands. Beside him, Levi's shoulders slumped and he let out a sigh.

"I'm not saying you can't feel like shit, what I'm saying is that it isn't your fault." Levi's eyebrows drew together tightly for a moment before his face relaxed again. "You can be sad but if you're going to be angry at anybody, be angry at the bastards who did this." His expression went cold and angry. "None of this is your fault."

"It doesn't feel that way from where I'm sitting." He watched as Levi's jaw clenched and his grip on the steering wheel tightened, knuckles going white. For a moment Eren thought that he was going to continue – to argue with him further – but he remained silent, the sound of the highway filling the wordless space between them.

The tense silence between them remained uninterrupted, even as Levi held his hand out and Eren passed him a sandwich and one of the wasabi Kit Kats, the both of them ignoring one another. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Levi took cautious bites out of his sandwich, being careful not to let anything fall. Even so, Eren watched as a couple of crumbs fell, as small as snowflakes and landing somewhere on Levi's seat. Uncertain of how Levi react if he mentioned it, Eren let it go uncommented-on and ate his own sandwich with more caution. He couldn't help but shift slightly so that he could watch Levi better when he finished his sandwich and opened up the packet of wasabi Kit Kats. There was an almost morbid curiosity to it; Sasha ate and enjoyed them but it came at the price of tears and sniffling, eyes reddened and moist as her eyes watered. Some part of him thought that Levi wouldn't react at all, that he would eat them as though they were without so much as a sniffle, as though they were just any ordinary candy.

He was dead wrong.

Levi looked just as pained as Sasha did; eyes watering as he sniffled slightly, and yet he had that same look of masochistic enjoyment that he usually saw on Sasha's face when she ate them. A smile crept across his face as he continued to watch Levi's face until finally Levi finished the last piece and glanced over at him.

"Someone's in a better mood."

"You were making some interesting expressions." Levi turned to him, his glare less intimidating given that his eyes were still slightly watery. "Why do you like them?"

"I don't know. I just do." He shrugged, head forward and focusing on the road ahead. "I don't like sweet things much so that's part of it. What about you?"

"I don't really eat that many sweet things. Mostly just chocolate. Baklava if I can find somewhere that does it from scratch. There used to be a Lebanese restaurant near campus that had it sometimes but it's gone now." Eren shrugged and frowned. "Not that it was as good as my mom or nene's anyway."

"Never had it."

"It's really good." He yawned and stretched before settling back into his seat.

"Going to sleep again?" Levi glanced at Eren, an eyebrow raised.

"I haven't really slept much in the past couple of months. And long car rides make me tired anyway."

"Well at least one of us is sleeping well."

"Sorry."

"Don't be. It's not like I'm sleeping much worse than usual."

"But you've been driving during the day." Levi's head turned his head sharply, eyes narrowing.

"Stop." His voice was curt and he turned back to the road after a moment. "I told you to lay off the pity party. You sleeping better doesn't do shit about my own sleep."

"I just –"

"Keep it up and I'll make you sit in the trunk the rest of the way. Though I don't know, maybe that masochistic streak of yours would enjoy it."

Eren grumbled but didn't continue, falling silent and shifting to get more comfortable as they continued on, heading due east on the highway. Hours slipped by like the scenery, indistinct and abstract in the dark until the horizon began to glow steadily brighter. Slowly the world around them came into focus; indistinct dark forms sharpening into low-slung buildings and billboards, trees sloping down towards the highway and stopping at the steep drainage ditch running parallel to the road.

The edge of the sky was a bright pink and a sliver of blinding gold was peeking over when Levi pulled off and parked outside of a diner. In spite of having driven all night Levi looked fairly awake as they ordered their food, neither of them talking beside Levi telling him that they'd be driving a little further to find somewhere to stop off for the day. They ate with determination, no spare words besides plans spoken and throwing down a few bills as they left quietly and returned to the car.

.

Levi chose the first decent-looking motel with a sign advertising vacancies to stop off at. Eren paused as he walked towards the office beside Levi, catching sight of a small knot of people on the other side of the parking lot. The hand on his lower back applying enough pressure to encourage him forward was unexpected and Eren wasn't entirely sure that he could remember another instance of such a casual touch. Levi hadn't let him fall flat on his face when he was drunk, had hit him in the face, had literally dragged him through fire, had not hit him when he'd decided to throw a punch of his own and then cried into his shoulder, had shaken him awake when he'd had a nightmare. This though, this touch was almost warm and familiar.

He watched Levi surreptitiously as they waited for the manager at the front desk, his expression giving no indication of anything and leaving Eren to sigh and cast his gaze elsewhere, coming to rest on a collection of commemorative plates on the wall – the 100th anniversary of the Maria State harvest festival, the 25th annual Spring Fling, five different plates for the local Wallist Church.

The latter commemorative plates made him suddenly uncomfortable and he watched out of the corner of his eye as Levi carried out the transaction with the manager, a man who didn't even give him a second glance as Levi passed over a number of bills and was given a key and directions to their room in return. He followed Levi out of the office and walked the short difference to their room just a few doors down, eyes darting towards the people still in the parking lot. There was the light pressure of Levi's hand on his back again as he gently pushed him through the door and suddenly it was much darker as the door closed behind.

"For future reference, don't glare at cops when you're trying to fly under the radar."

"How do you know they–? And I wasn't glaring."

"I can see better than you – literally – and yes, you were." Levi dropped his bag and flicked the light on, revealing a small room with a small couch and a single bed.

"Um."

Levi frowned and turned back to Eren. "It's a pull-out couch."

"Oh." He let out a quiet breath and let his shoulders relax. "Okay. I'm not really tired right now anyway."

"I'm going to try and get some sleep and we can head out again later in the afternoon."

"Won't it be weird that we only stayed a few hours?" Eren was frowning deeply.

"We're returning to Trost after visiting my sister in Shiganshina. She's going to go into labor three weeks early while her husband is on a business trip in Sina and we have to head back."

"And so I'm…?"

"I let him fill in the blanks for himself." Levi shrugged and Eren felt his face heating up as Levi grabbed his bag again and headed toward the bathroom, groaning as he collapsed back onto the couch and brought his hands up to cover his face. The not-real memory of cuddling up with Levi inserted itself into his mind and he couldn't help but let out a frustrated noise before rummaging through his own bag before remembering that he'd forgotten to bring a book.

Eren had the contents of his bag strewn across the couch and a frown on his face when Levi exited the bathroom dressed in sleep clothes. A frown pulled at his face as he tried to figure out what he could do for the next few hours while Levi slept. He knew at some point he would probably drift off, but until then he would need something to occupy himself with.

"Any chance you packed a book?"

"Only the notes from Hanji and Erwin about this mission plus the ones I took down yesterday." Seeing Eren's confused expression, Levi continued. "Wrote them up while you were asleep."

"So, can I – " Levi cut him off.

"No."

"They're literally about something that's fucking happening right around me." Eren glared at Levi who simply frowned back at him.

"It's not just about this. It's…" Levi paused for a moment. "It's shit you don't want to know. Trust me."

"Fine." Eren jerked his gaze away from Levi, scanning the rest of the room and noticing two books on the small desk up against the wall. Levi was getting into bed as Eren stood up and crossed the room to pick up the books; a cheap action-mystery paperback and a Wallist bible. He took both back to the couch with him and sat down again. "Mind if I turn the reading light over here on?"

"Go for it." Levi rolled over to face away from the light as Eren reached to turn it on, opening up the paperback and starting to read.