Crack of Sunlight (Ereri/Riren)

•~Chapter Nineteen~•

Oh, look, another one of my favorite chapters. xD (Also, sorry if I've used that tweet before up above; it's hard to remember which ones I've used and which I haven't.)

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Levi padded down the hall the next morning with the intention of waking Eren. He'd just spent half an hour in the kitchen whipping up omelets he miraculously remembered how to make and had no intention of letting them get cold due to a lazy brat. Instead of finding Eren still nestled under the covers, however, he found him to be sitting up, rubbing his face.

"Hey," he said, entering the room. "I was just coming to wake you up. Breakfast is ready."

"Hmm..." Eren mumbled, dropping his hands into his lap. "It's okay. You can go ahead and eat without me." His articulation was groggy and scratchy, lower and lazier than usual. Levi immediately knew something was up.

"What's wrong?" he asked, moving closer to the younger.

"Nothin'...just don't feel very well," he said.

The raven sunk down onto the bed, eyes narrowing and immediately studying the brunet. He looked pretty normal, aside from the grayish outline around his eyes despite having slept a good ten hours, and his usual perkiness was lacking.

"Don't feel well how?" Levi inquired, immediately believing it to be psychological, having to do with his depression.

"Well," Eren murmured, running a hand through his hair, "My throat is sore, my head is pounding, and I kinda just feel like going back to sleep."

"So it's physical," Levi said in mild relief, relaxing just slightly. Eren nodded. "Are you cold?"

"Not really."

Levi hummed thoughtfully as he maneuvered closer. "Let me see if you have a fever."

Eren put up no objections as Levi pressed his lips to Eren's forehead the way the younger had done for him so many times in the past.

"Yeah, you're a little warmer than usual," he murmured. "You up for eating anything?"

"I dunno."

"At least try. I made omelets. It might help restore some of your strength."

"Alright." Levi stood. "Do you want any help?" offered Eren.

"No. Stay here and rest." He tossed the television remote in the other's direction before disappearing back down the hall.

Meanwhile, Eren snuggled himself back under the covers, switching on the TV and surfing through the channels. He settled on some old cartoons, pretty much indifferent to what was playing. His head hurt too much to care. He'd started dozing off again until the sound of Levi shuffling trays brought him back to awareness. The raven strode into the room. He placed one of the trays on Eren's lap with a glass of milk on the table beside him before sitting down with his own food with his classic mug of tea.

"Cartoons again?" he asked, mildly amused. "Will you ever grow up?"

"No," Eren answered. He nudged the remote toward Levi. "Change it if you want."

"Nah. I actually don't mind Tom & Jerry."

Eren snorted a halfhearted laugh as his eyes descended to his plate where, next to his pills Levi had so thoughtfully included, a fluffy yellow omelet sat still slightly steaming, topped with cheese and green peppers. It both looked and smelled pretty damn good; on any other day, Eren would have scarfed it down without thinking. Today, though, he was afraid he didn't much have an appetite for it.