Crack of Sunlight (Ereri/Riren)

*~Chapter Thirty~*

"I'm gonna go get you something to eat," Eren mumbled, sitting all the way up and rubbing a hand across his damp face. His eyes were beginning to hurt and throb after crying so much; he needed a minute to compose himself. He started to crawl off the bed when the tug of Levi's hand stopped him. "What's wrong?" he asked, turning. Levi studied him with narrow eyes before shaking his head and murmuring a small "nothing".

Eren gave his hand a final, gentle squeeze before sliding off the bed and disappearing out the door. He wandered to the kitchen, taking the opportunity to compose himself. As he searched around the kitchen for something to eat, he couldn't help but notice the dark cloud that seemed to be following him around. It stirred up his inner demons, made them restless, even as he tried to ignore them by focusing on heating up a can of soup. Unsurprisingly, however, they persisted, conjuring familiar, negative thoughts.

Levi could have died, bled out if he he'd waited a second later. If he'd acted on instinct in the first place, this wouldn't have happened at all. And now Levi's body was deficient of blood on top of everything else.

"You're an incompetent idiot," his demons snarled. "He's going to die because you don't know what the hell you're doing. It'll be your fault. You're gonna kill him."

Eren's teeth seized his bottom lip and he forced himself to focus on the stirring of the soup. Once he felt it was warm enough, he poured it into a bowl and set it on a tray alongside a spoon, a napkin, and a cup of tea. He balanced the tray in one hand while he moved to the living room to retrieve his phone, Levi's sketchbook, and the CD before carrying it all back to the bedroom where he flipped the light on. Levi sat in virtually the same spot, though he'd gotten dressed into a dark gray muscle shirt and a pair of plaid sweats.

"Here," Eren said, carefully setting the tray in his lap.

"Chicken noodle? Really?" Levi asked, eyeing the bowl.

Eren's half-grin was semi-forced. "It's great for reducing fevers."

"Tch. I don't have a fever."

"I beg to differ."

Levi's eyes narrowed. "So do I."

"Mind if I check?"

Scowling, Levi muttered, "Whatever."

Eren leaned forward and his lips were descending to connect gently to the side of Levi's forehead not covered by his hair. He didn't miss the light, quick intake of air into Levi's lungs, nor the tingle in his own lips from the contact.

"You're really burning up..." he murmured, brows knitting together.

"So you're still gonna make me eat this," mumbled Levi.

"Please." Eren sunk down on to the bed in front of Levi and pulled his legs up to face the man, crossing them in the process.

The raven continued to eye the contents of the bowl. Admittedly, it smelled pretty good, but he remained cautious for the fear that his stomach would immediately reject it. Deciding to humor the brunet some more, Levi plucked up the spoon and dipped it into the liquid before holding it to his lips and taking a subtle sip. Impressively, it was the perfect temperature and, surprisingly, it tasted as good as it smelled. He took tentative little sips while avoiding the solid parts, seeing as that was generally what his stomach couldn't handle.

"Good?" Eren asked. His face had softened into a subtle smirk as he watched.

"I guess," Levi muttered. He then realized what Eren held in his lap and raised a pierced brow. "What are you doing with that?"

Eren followed his gaze to the sketchbook. "I was...uh...kinda hoping you'd...let me look through it..." he mumbled, shifting his eyes around.

Levi pretended to consider for a minute before murmuring a soft "alright".