A/N: Yes, I should be studying for my midterm. Yes, I should be gathering materials for and writing my thesis. Aren't you glad I'm not doing either of those things? (*^.^*)

The mates didn't talk on their way upstairs. In part, they didn't want to draw attention to themselves in case someone was wandering around the castle – it was after curfew but it was not like anybody was ever making sure it was followed. It was an unspoken rule in the Survey Corps that if you wanted to stay up until morning and be half-dead later, it was your choice, and your problem. Especially since nightmares were such a common problem all throughout the ranks and there was no point trying to pretend otherwise.

But besides that, there was also the solemn atmosphere hanging in between them. There wasn't anything to say; no need for words of comfort and no need for explanations.

Making a detour to stop by the Captain's room, Eren watched as Levi wiped his hands into his dirty shirt once again in an effort to rid them of as much blood as possible before he touched his towel or sleeping attire.

"It's okay, I'll get it," Eren said after a few seconds and Levi's head snapped in his direction.

"What?" he questioned with a frown.

"I'll take your stuff," the omega repeated as he strode over to where Levi was standing. He picked up two clean towels before heading towards the bed to gather their clothes.

Levi stared as he did so, his frown only deepening. "What are you doing?"

Eren looked over his shoulder, cocking his head to the side. "Coming with you?"

"Didn't you already take a shower? Go to sleep, brat. Don't worry about it."

Eren shook his head, turning back towards the small pile of things in front of him. "No, I want to come with," he said resolutely, before adding more softly, almost as an after thought, "I couldn't fall asleep anyway."

Levi paused at that, looking away, well aware of his restlessness that was probably seeping through the bond and right into the omega. "Sorry," he muttered.

Eren gathered everything into his arms and turned around, walking back up to stand in front of Levi. "Really, it's okay." His expression didn't change but he held Levi's gaze unwaveringly so the alpha relented.

"Come on, then. I can't wait to get rid of this shit." Levi said with disgust in his voice, gesturing to himself vaguely. Eren only nodded, not mentioning the relief that flashed on the other's face.

The two of them took of again in silence, walking towards the bathroom mostly by memory through the dark hallways with the lamp in Levi's hands as their only source of light, and soon closing the bathroom door behind them.

As soon as they were safely alone again, Eren closed his eyes to take a few deep breaths as a tension he didn't realize he was carrying left his body. It was nerve wrecking, walking together through the walls, all the blood on Levi not helping the situation at all. If somebody caught only one of them walking towards the other's room, they could easily lie, saying they were taking a walk because they couldn't sleep. But he had no idea how they would explain this.

Luckily, they didn't have to, and Eren was brought back to reality soon by the distinct sound of someone removing their shirt. He glanced over at his mate, only to see him looking his shirt over critically, with a disgusted face.

"Well, this shirt is ruined," he stated matter-of-factly, before tossing it towards the sink and missing by a few feet. The shirt landed on the floor with a heavy flop, heavier than a bunch of cotton should make.

Eren frowned and walked over to look at it himself as Levi proceeded to remove the rest of his clothes. "It's not that bad," Eren mumbled more to himself than Levi, when he picked the shirt up. It was covered in splotches of red, but none of them were very large and it still hasn't dried up. "I'll soak it and see how it looks tomorrow, maybe some bleach will save it."

Levi looked at him, standing on one leg as he removed his uniform pants. "Suit yourself," he shrugged, before going back to the task at hand – getting rid of those shitty, tight pants and then getting under the blessed spray of water.

The omega took that as a sign of approval and went to plug one of the sinks before filling it with cold water, putting the shirt inside. Immediately, the water turned pink and Eren fought the urge to recoil with disgust. He could hear Levi snort behind him; he should be used to seeing blood by now – and he was. But seeing it dispersing in weird, ominous shapes into the clear water was different than seeing it pour from gaping wounds or on dirty bandages that were going to be thrown away. But he didn't argue, just turned away from the sight, instead searching the bathroom for his mate.

Not seeing Levi behind him, Eren took the clean towels he left in one of the dry sinks before and walked around the wall separating the showers from the rest of the room. Levi was already under the showerhead closest to the far wall, where the water pressure was best, fiddling with the faucet and waiting for the water to start falling in a more constant stream, the choice of the shower more a force of habit than anything as there was no way there would be any hot water left this late.

Eren took a moment to just look at him. He never got tired of it, especially when Levi seemed unaware of his gaze, focused on the task at hand. He watched how his back muscles moved as he rolled hi shoulders, how he raised his hand to push his hair back, how clearly his mating mark stood out against his skin. Warmth spread from his stomach all the way to his fingertips. He still couldn't help but feel amazed and incredibly lucky to be the one to put it there, to be the one carrying this man's child. Sometimes, it felt like a dream; he could still vividly recall the days when Captain Levi was just a name, something to aspire to be. And now he was his.

"Are you just planning to stare like a creep or will you come here so I can hug the shit out of you?"

Eren startled, nearly dropping the towels at the unexpected interruption. "Sorry," he muttered a second later, fumbling to hang up the towels on the hooks and to take off his own clothes, much to Levi's amusement.

In under a minute, Eren was naked and walking carefully on the slippery, wet floor to join his mate under the cold spray. As soon as he was close enough, Levi grabbed his wrist and yanked him close, their chests colliding and arms going automatically around each other. Levi buried his face in the crook of Eren's neck, closing his eyes and finally, finally letting himself relax. It was over; they were safe. His mate and child were safe, here, in his arms, the one who endangered them rightfully punished and most probably unconscious, and the alpha in him growled at the rightness of it. Even as the more rational part of him frowned at the action of beating up a subordinate until half-death, he just couldn't bring himself to really, fully regret it.

"Are you okay now?" Eren questioned quietly after a while, his fingers threading lightly through the alpha's hair.

Levi snorted in response, "What makes you ask?" He moved away a bit so he could speak, opting to rest his forehead on Eren's shoulder, as his hands loosened their hold slightly, with thumbs tracing circles on the omega's hips.

"Wild guess," Eren said with as much sarcasm as he could muster, taking pride in how it made Levi bark out a laugh which resounded around the room.

"I'm fine Eren," Levi sighed finally, a small smile still on his lips.

"Are you sure? You didn't even wear gloves or, I don't know, an apron earlier."

"Cause it was personal," the alpha answered matter-of-factly, a slight growl in his voice as an echo of his previous fury came back to. At the sound, Eren resumed his forgotten petting and Levi gradually calmed down again.

Deeming the topic done and over with, Levi decided to change the subject to address – according to him – a matter more pressing than his emotional state. Watching Eren undress earlier, an act which said omega managed to make as unsexy as it gets in his embarrassed hurry after being caught staring, he couldn't help but notice Eren's pants fit him more tightly than could possibly be comfortable, and he couldn't help but wonder why. So, as was his nature, he just asked outright, "You need larger uniform. Why the fuck do you not have one yet? Do I need to hurry shit up for you?"

Immediately, he felt Eren stiffen and that gave him answer enough. Frowning, he straightened up, pushing Eren away a bit to be able to comfortable look him in the eye. Which was impossible anyway as Eren apparently found something incredibly interesting somewhere above his right shoulder.

"You haven't asked for one, have you," it wasn't a question.

Eren frowned and his eyes flickered towards Levi's grey ones before veering off again. He mumbled something intelligible and Levi absentmindedly noted the goosebumps on Eren's arms. He quickly turned off the shower; Hanji would kill him if she knew he let Eren stand in cold water for this long. He pushed his mate backwards until they were on dry floor again and proceeded to wrap him up in one of the blessedly warm towels, all the while scowling unhappily.

"Why the fuck have you not told Erwin you need bigger clothes?" he asked sternly, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Eren blushed a little, although that might have been just the warmth returning to his skin, and pulled the towel more tightly around himself. He still refused to look at Levi as he finally answered clearly, "It's embarrassing, admitting I've gotten so fat."

Levi closed his eyes, fighting the urge to face-palm. "Eren, how many times do I have to tell you that's not fat, it's the kid? Do you want to suffocate and crush the kid in the process?"

Eren's eyes widened at that, his arms instantaneously moving to cover his stomach.

"Thought so," Levi said with eyes narrowed dangerously. "Tomorrow you either go to Erwin first thing in the morning or I'll do it myself. Are we clear?"

"Yes sir," Eren replied dejectedly, resigned to be forced to admit to having gained a pound or two. A pound or two that was not muscle. Unthinkable for a soldier, in Eren's opinion.

"Good," the alpha nodded before he turned around to finally wash up properly.

The next day found Eren pacing nervously in front of Commander Erwin's office right after lunch; but that was also only after having been – most kindly – assured that his Captain indeed didn't forget about the uniform issue and that he would, without hesitation, follow up on his promise, and in the most embarrassing wording possible.

Eren would much rather embarrass himself, thank you very much.

So, after several unsuccessful attempts, he finally brought his hand up to rap sharply on the wood of the door the Commander's office.

Only when a few seconds later came the prompt to come in, did the young omega realize he was holding his breath. Why was he so nervous? It was not like he was about to break it to his mother that he broke her favorite vase or something. Just asking for a new uniform. Easy, right?

Apparently not.

He took a large breath before he pushed the door open to be greeted by the Commander himself, smiling pleasantly at him. It unnerved him, that smile. Like he could see right through him and knew all of his deepest, darkest secrets. How had he used to keep his calm around him when his and Levi's relationship was a secret only between the two of them?

Maybe he was this nervous because it was not their own secret anymore.

Or maybe it really was just because saying the words "I need bigger pants, my stomach's too big" out loud was, actually, that awkward, no matter who you said it to.

Well, he was inside now, so there was no way around it. And Erwin's eyebrows were starting to knit together in confusion; he'd better get it over with before this got even more awkward.

So Eren took the leap and just blurted it out before he could think about it any more. "I need bigger pants." On second thought, maybe he should have thought about it for just a second longer. He saw Erwin blink once, twice, the corner of his mouth twitching, so he quickly cleared his throat and tried again. "I mean, I need a new uniform. A bigger size. Sir."

Eren could swear he saw Erwin gulp down a laugh but when the Commander spoke up, it was with a level, absolutely calm voice with no trace of amusement, and Eren had to admire his ability to keep his emotions away from his voice, if not his eyes , which were obviously dancing with mirth.

"Of course, Eren, I was wondering when this would come up. In fact, there should already be a uniform waiting for you. Just go talk to Nanaba and she'll get it for you. And if the size is not right, tell her and she'll get it sorted out."

Eren saluted stiffly, "Thank you, Sir."

"No problem, Eren," Erwin smiled, nodding his dismissal.

The omega turned around, hurrying to be out of this mortifying situation, however, before he even made two steps, the Commander spoke up again, "Oh, by the way," he paused as if searching for words and Eren stopped in his tracks, turning back around curiously.

"Sir?"

"Hanji has been running around all morning asking everyone she saw some questions, I thought I should warn you."

Eren blinked, cocking his head to the side slightly. "What questions?"

Erwin shook his head with a smile wider than before. "I'm sure you'll find out soon enough. But be prepared for the worst, I noticed your friends Sasha and Connie answering with particular enthusiasm."

Eren's stomach filled with dread. If Sasha and Connie were helping "enthusiastically", the result couldn't be anything good.

Seeing Eren's expression, Erwin laughed. "No need to be so scared, I promise it's nothing too bad. Or life threatening in any way or form."

'That doesn't really help, you know,' Eren thought bitterly, but to the blond alpha he simply nodded in acknowledgement of the warnings before saluting again and filing out of the room, followed only by Erwin's quiet chuckles.

After successfully locating Nanaba and finally getting his new uniform, which did not go without a few teasing coos and snorts from both her and Mike, who was keeping the female Squad leader company during the weekly supplies inventory, Eren went to his room to change before returning to Levi's office for their daily tea date.

All the while he had to marvel how comfortable he suddenly was in his attire when he did not have to worry constantly about the button flying off. He smiled to himself smoothing the pure white pants, untouched by constant washing in both color and feel of the material, for the sixth time since putting them on and had to berate himself for taking so long to ask for new ones. But then again, he was sure he would have to make similar request a few times over yet.

He was still smiling when he entered Levi's office, where fresh tea was already waiting for him, along with Levi who gave him an appreciative once-over as soon as he saw him.

"Seems like you're actually comfortable now. Good," he said before returning his gaze his desk. There was no paperwork this time, but he looked busy cleaning out his 3DMG.

Eren's grin widened. "Yep," he confirmed, throwing himself at the couch, teacup in hand, and blissfully forgetting about the warning he had received from the Commander.

It did not stay that way for long, however, as only a few minutes after he had settled in, Hanji herself barged inside, not even bothering to knock in her obvious excitement.

"Guess what I have?" she sang loudly with a wide grin, several papers fluttering in her hands as she waved them around.

Without any hesitation or even looking up, Levi deadpanned, "Syphilis?"

Hanji frowned, dropping her hands to rest on her hips. "No, I do not have syphilis. And for that attitude you do not get any say in what I do have, young man."

Eren quickly covered his laugh with a cough but Levi glared at him anyway, obviously not fooled. He tried to ignore the eyes burning a hole into the side of his head, instead focusing on Hanji. "So what do you have?"

At that, the Squad leader immediately brightened up again, jumping on the couch next to Eren, kicking off her boots and crossing her legs under her to get more comfortable. "Names!"

Kenny landed soundlessly on a tree branch next to his subordinate, who has been observing the castle for the day. "Anything new to report?"

The woman shook her head, not taking her eyes of her target. Kenny smiled wryly at her dedication to the task. "No, sir. No opportunities have presented yet."

"Weeell," he drew out, laughing quietly. "I'm nothing if not patient. We will take the brats, sooner or later. And Mr. Oh-so-important can go take a nice, long shit in the meantime. Maybe it will make him less irritating."

"Sir?"

"Yes, honey?"

"I really hate when you talk like that. Please stop."

Kenny gasped dramatically, "You wound me."

"Good," she replied effortlessly.

"Such insolence from my second in command," Kenny sighed in mock hurt tone, before he laughed again, jumping off the tree and disappearing into the forest without a trace, the marks from the hooks of his 3DMG blending in with the ones left by the scouts during their drills.

The woman could only roll her eyes and return to her watch. As the boss said, they would get to those kids, sooner or later.

They only had to be patient.

A/N: As you might have figured, I'm on the market for stupid/weird/horrendous baby names. If you have one, don't hesitate to share :D