The Horrors of War (ErenxLevi//BoyxBoy)

Chapter 6

Once Eren had gotten changed and into bed, his back was still facing Levi, their conversation still at a minimum. His mind, however, was filled with thoughts of the nameless ravenette, finding his kind and considerate approach towards Eren heart warming, extremely thankful and grateful for his kind, gentle words of comfort. After a moment of silence, Eren opened his mouth, hesitating before saying in a small, quiet voice,

"Eren."

Furrowing his eyebrows, Levi, not moving from position, quietly responded, "Sorry?"

"Eren. My name is eren." The brunette repeated, sliding his hand underneath his pillow.

"Eren..." The ravenette repeated softly, the name slipping off his tongue with ease. Eren...Eren Jaeger...such a wonderful name. It was foolish. What if Levi escaped and revealed his name? A name was something so valuable in this situation. He wondered if any of the other soldiers knew his name.

"I....I like your name..." He said quietly. Eren's eyes widened slightly before he smiled softly.

"Thank you."

Should he tell him? He wasn't sure. The brunette trusted him enough to tell Levi his own name, however the consequences of revealing their identity were completely different, Levi's being more dire in this certain situation. 'Not yet..' he thought to himself. Yet?  No. Never. He was never going to tell Eren his name. He could never trust him. 'He's the enemy...' he thought to himself. It was at that moment did he truly realise how idiotic and pointless this all was. They were both human. 'He was the enemy'. He'd been trained to think that. Didn't Eren think the same? No. Eren treated Levi like he was human, saved him, waited for him, cared for him, told him his name. But what if it was all an act?

Whilst Levi was feeling self conflicted, his thoughts were interrupted by a small sound. It was sweet, soothing, calming almost, at a time like this.

"You are my sunshine......my only sunshine.....you make me happy...when skies are grey.....you'll never know dear..how much I love you..."

"So please don't take...my sunshine away.." Levi quietly sang along. Eren's voice was soothing. He didn't know why, but it made all his thoughts and worries temporarily disappear for a few seconds

Smiling, Eren spoke again. "My mother used to sing that to me when I was younger. I got into a lot of fights and often I lost.." he said with a slight chuckle. He turned himself so that he was facing the ceiling. Growing interested and curious, Levi turned around to face Eren, his hand tucked under the pillow as he watched eren, listening to him.

"Mikasa usually had to come and save my ass, even though she's younger than me...god..that girl was good at everything. Still is."

"Mikasa...?" Levi asked softly, wanting to know more and more about Eren as each second passed by.

"Mikasa's my sister. Adoptive sister. My father and I found her one day, alone in the streets. I didn't know why at the time, and I still don't know. It's something she doesn't talk about. Needless to say that she was an orphan or abandoned and my father was kind enough to take her in." He explained. Levi nodded as he kept silent, hoping Eren would continue. "Anyways, Mikasa, Armin and I were always together. Armin was usually bullied for his intelligence. People often felt threatened by it.." He said, sighing softly. "Anyway, people often beat him up because of it. I usually intervened, got pretty badly beaten myself. Once Mikasa appeared, they vanished within seconds. She'd drag us home. Armin would go back to his grandad, both  Mikasa and my parents scolded me. However, when my mother cleaned my cuts and looked over my bruises, she'd sing that song to me then hug me...it often calmed me down.." He said with a smile. Levi found this to be sweet, surprised yet honoured that eren was willing to share such a personal memory with him. It was clear that it meant a lot to him.

"So when I miss her, I tend to sing it to myself...I know it sounds childish and you'll probably laugh bu-"

"I'm not laughing." Levi interrupted. Eren looked over to the raven, his smile bittersweet.

"Thank you."

Why was eren thanking him? He did nothing. If anything, it should be the other way round. Levi should be thanking him. He'd be dead if it wasn't for him however....it wasn't like he valued his life much anyway.

"Don't thank me. I have no right to laugh...I tend to do the same.."

Eren furrowed his eyebrows in curiosity. "You do?"

"Mhm...when I can't sleep, I usually play a piece in my head."

"A piece?"

"A piano piece..." Levi days shyly, biting down on his lower lip.

"Do you play then?"

Levi nodded as he met Eren's gaze. Smile widening, Eren fully faced Levi.

"Really?! That's so cool. How long have you been playing?"

"A few years...before the war, Erwin was going to take me to Vienna..I got accepted into the best music university.."

"That's amazing!" Eren was in complete and utter awe. The Raven wasn't used to sharing his personal life or little things like that with other people, willingly. He didn't remember the last time he did that.

"It is..?"

Eren nodded enthusiastically, wanting to know more.

Before they had even realised it, the two soldiers had gone from completely ignoring each other with their backs turned, to their gazes locking, their bodies fully facing one another, exchanging valuable words that only strengthened their bond.