Eren's Nightmare (ON HOLD)

Chapter 3

Was it morning already? Eren thought to himself, not bothering to open his eyes. He was surprised to find himself not tired, but well rested. Had the dreams stopped? He laid there listening to birds chirping their early morning greetings for a few minutes before he realized that there was someone else lying next to him. He found himself enjoying the feeling of warmth but was completely caught off guard when he opened his eyes to see who was there. "Corporal Levi?!" Eren yelped in surprise, shocked by how close his face was to his own. Hearing the noise, Levi snapped awake to find himself still in Eren's room. Levi quickly stood up and backed away, blushing heavily. Both boys stood frozen, neither making eye contact, both blushing severely. The seconds of silence dragged on until Levi finally turned and left the room.

Eren watched as he left, still dumbfounded. Why the heck was Levi sleeping in my bed? Eren continued to puzzle over this strange event as he put his uniform on and headed out to the field. The boy's training, however useful, proved uneventful, as did the strategy planning to take back wall Maria. The day dragged on and Eren found himself thinking of that morning's event often. The like of the warmth of another person however desirable and comforting, shocked Eren that even though it was Levi that had provided this he still wanted to wake up to that warmth every day. He continued to puzzle over these strange thoughts as he made his way over to the horse stables. When he walked in he was still deeply absorbed with his thoughts, so he failed to notice that he wasn't alone. Still oblivious to his surroundings, Eren briskly sauntered over to his horse, Ebony, and began to brush the knots out of her long mane. Then Eren heard a separate voice further towards the back of the stables, a voice that he knew all too well.

Eren quickly dived behind the horse stall door, hoping that Levi hadn't seen him come in. "Eren? Uh, could you give me the brush?" Levi had seen him and now Eren had to face the corporal without showing his acknowledgment of that morning's occurrence. Here it goes. Taking a deep breath, Eren silently stepped out from behind the stall door and made his way towards Levi and his horse, trying not to drag his feet. Levi stood facing his horse, Lakota, which happened to be in the opposite direction from Eren. However, as he approached, Eren noticed that Levi's horse's mane was smooth and shiny with no apparent knots. Clean Freak Eren thought to himself as he handed Levi the brush. Levi took the brush without a word and began to comb through the animals mane. Eren, seeing an opportunity tried to start a conversation to cover up the awkward silence. "So, uh... where's your brush?" Levi finished brushing through his horse's mane and handed the brush back to Eren before responding with, "I'm not sure. I think someone might have barrowed it. Probably Connie." A simple answer, one that clearly wasn't looking for a response. The only sound to be heard was the occasional whinny of a horse and the defining, uncomfortable silence. Eren gathered up his courage before asking the question that had been puzzling him all day. "Uh, corporal, about this morning..." the corporal quickly held up his hand, signaling for Eren to stop, so he did, expecting Levi to say something, but the man only put his hand back by his side and continued to tend to his horse. "Corporal..." "Not right now Eren." Levi cut him off clearly evading the situation. "But corporal-" "No." Levi briskly finished what he was doing and picking up the empty bucket that he had used to fill the horses trough, he walked away, heading for the door.

Without thinking Eren reached out and grabbed the corporal's wrist. "Levi! Listen to me!" on contact the corporal froze in his tracks, still facing the door. "What the heck do you want Eren?" the corporal was clearly annoyed, but Eren saw that he couldn't back down now. He had to ask the question that they both knew would eventually have to be answered. "Corporal, why were you in my room this morning?" Levi stood unmoved, frozen in mid-step. The man made no attempt to answer, or even let Eren know he had heard him. "Levi... why?" Eren's voice echoed through the empty stables like a lonely ghost, persistently searching for an answer. "You were having a nightmare so I came in to wake you up..." the corporal answered lamely, clearly not wanting to elaborate. "But why were you in my bed?" Eren was surprised at how casually he had managed to ask the question. He watched as Levi struggled to find an explanation. "I...I-I don't know." This answer surprised Eren even more. He felt sure that Levi would have had an explicate answer to everything, even this. Levi used Eren's surprise to shrug him off and quickly departed, leaving Eren alone in the stables.