Stray {Ereri~Attack On Titan AU}

Chapter 12

"Erwin, I can't do this." Erwin looks at me incredulously.

"Then why did you let me go this far?" He asks, gripping my hips tighter and making me squeak.

I wriggle out of his grasp and start putting my clothes back on and push his hands away when he tries to reach for me again. "I wasn't thinking straight. I'm sorry, but I need to go." I slide on the coat that he bought me and leave his house, getting back to Eren the only thing on my mind.

~~~

Eren's POV

Levi's birthday was in three days, and Armin, Petra, and Hanji were helping me plan a party for him. We sat at my dining room table, trying to think of what we were going to do about his cake.

"I'm sure he'd love it if we all worked together to make one for him. We don't work at the bakery for nothing!" Petra says with a giggle, and I let out my own giggle and nod in agreement.

"True. What kind of cake does he like?"

Petra's brows furrow. "I honestly don't know. I'll have to ask him about that, and I'll make sure to ask him what his favorite color is too."

"That'd be great, we could frost the cake in his favorite color. Okay, what about gifts?"

"Oh oh oh I know!" Hanji squealed, practically jumping out of her seat. "Let's get him a giant bag of catnip!" We all looked at her with smirks before bursting into laughter, Armin even joining in on the joke. Hanji gives in and cackles herself. "I'm serious! He's part cat, cats love catnip, so who's to say it won't drive him absolutely crazy just like any other cat?"

Armin grins and his tail flicks mischievously. "Being a Neko myself, I'll admit catnip makes me lose my mind. Just imagine Levi rolling around on the floor and rubbing himself into it. You gotta admit that'd be amusing."

"That'd be cute," I mumble to myself, a blush rising to my face as I picture the raven falling victim to the effects of catnip and rolling around in it. I shake my head and tune back into the conversation. "I've haven't known Levi for as long as Petra but I'm pretty sure he'd kill us all once he recovered," I say with a chuckle.

Petra giggled and nodded in confirmation. "Levi's really not that big on receiving gifts, no matter what day it is. He's never once asked me for anything specific or super expensive even though I've told him every year he needs to lighten up and just let me spoil him. I guess he doesn't really care about material things unless it's a necessity."

"Well that just made things harder," I say, feeling a bit frustrated. "It's almost like, even though he can be intimidating and come off as a total ass sometimes he's always thinking of others first behind the scenes." A smile forms on my lips. "He deserves to at least be praised on his birthday, if not every day."

Hanji and Petra grin and wiggle their eyebrows at each other then at me. I scowl and flick them off as heat floods my cheeks. "That's so cute, Eren!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" I ask, trying to play dumb. The girls giggle and shake their heads.

Hanji knew how I felt about Levi since day one, when he first entered the bakery. The first thing that caught my attention was his steel gray eyes. He looked so desperate to show he could take care of himself, and his eyes looked so determined. The fact that he was a Neko just happened to be a bonus.

Levi was absolutely adorable, and I was neck deep in my feelings for him already.

"How about a collar?"

Everyone at the table goes silent at Armin's suggestion. Even though I didn't own a Neko I knew what getting Levi a collar would mean. Collars were basically a symbol of ownership, usually either a sign of a romantic relationship or a family-like bond between a Neko and it's owner, but I couldn't do that to Levi, at least not so soon. I'd actually had the nerve to consider it, but I forced myself to forget about it and promised myself that if I got the chance, I would ask for Levi's permission first.