Crack of Sunlight (Ereri/Riren)

•~Chapter Eleven~•

This chapter's so cheesy we gon' need some tortilla chips. Nachos, anyone?

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"You're telling me...Eren did this?"

"Yup. He volunteered. Said you could re-do it if you wanted, and he'd help. But if you ask me, you should leave it as is," Reiner explained.

Levi could only shake his head slightly. He stared in awe at the back wall of the shop that before had been mostly blank, scattered randomly with other artwork. Now...the only word the raven could think of to describe it was unique. Very unique. Like Eren himself.

It started out dark around the edges. The darkest pieces of Levi's work that he'd left for Reiner to feature on the walls occupied the outer part of the design. Gradually, however, as one looked toward the center, it got lighter and lighter with random splotches of color from each piece scattered throughout. The overall shape was pretty random, but the gradient was actually kind of incredible. In the center stood the brightest piece of all - Levi's phoenix. The one he'd drawn for Eren during his downtime in rehab. Amongst all of the darkness, something he would now consider as bland, it was almost blinding yet it strangely fit almost perfectly.

"It took him forever to figure out what to put in the middle," Reiner went on. He stood next to Levi, hands proudly on his hips. "But then a couple weeks ago he showed up with that and it fit perfectly in the center, almost like it was made to be hung there." The blond shrugged nonchalantly. "But maybe it was just coincidence. I dunno. Pretty cool, though, huh? Kid said he's not at all an artist but I beg to differ." He shrugged again. "Anywho, back to work." He turned and headed back toward his station, leaving the raven to admire the wall on his own.

At the moment, he and Reiner were the only ones in the shop. It was before opening hours, but Reiner had announced he had a customer coming in first thing and got busy setting up his things. Levi, on the other hand, was client-free after not having been in the shop for months. The last time he'd set foot on that black and white tiled floor, Eren had confessed his feelings and asked Levi to allow his help in getting better. It was only back in January, just three months prior, but so much had changed. Suddenly Levi was not only ready to get back to work, but was eager.

With that, he tore his eyes from the wall and got to work dusting off his own supplies. His station hadn't changed since the last time he'd used it, but that had only meant it was beginning to collect dust. He dragged a finger across the wood of his small desk and let out a disgusted 'tch' at the grime that collected on the digit. He got to work, thoroughly dusting his area and everything in it. To most, it really hadn't become that dirty, but to him it was absolutely uncalled for. Having grown up in several houses and apartments where the walls grayed and browned from the endless cigarette smoke from his mother and eventually himself, and dragging dusty smoke-stained furniture around wherever they went, he'd grown remarkably repulsed by dirt and clutter. For a while he hadn't cared as much, being on the verge of death for so long, but the trait had come back in full force since becoming sober.

Over a half hour passed before he was satisfied with the cleanliness of his work area and both Petra and Reiner's first clients had showed up in that time. The redhead greeted him in her general soft, friendly manner. She kept her distance from any physical contact; even she knew he didn't liked to be touched. It didn't take one long to pick up on that with him. She merely cast him a smile and told him she was happy he was back before she, too, got to work, leaving the only sounds in the shop to be the buzzing of tattoo machines. Being surrounded by the scent of green soap and the overall chill aura of the place, Levi begun to remember why he'd taken the job there in the first place, other than needing the money for food and drugs. There'd been two other shops looking to hire him at the time and both had been busier and more well-known than Reiner's rundown little hole in the wall, but that aura (and admittedly, the extra seclusion, being constantly on the lookout for police) and the friendliness of the shop was his ultimate reason for choosing this place instead of the others. Simply being around them was calming.