Crack of Sunlight (Ereri/Riren)

•~Chapter Twenty Three~•

Sort of almost-smut warning? Idk haha that's not the part of this chapter I'm excited about. Enjoy~

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Carrying the scent of shampoo and aftershave, Eren flopped across Levi's lap as he was staring blankly at the TV, surprising him.

"Hey," he said with an amused smile at the startled expression on Levi's face.

"Ass," Levi muttered.

The brunet chuckled. "Sorry. How are you today?"

"I'm alright," Levi said mildly as he began to softly run his fingers through Eren's damp locks that had yet to be combed. He avoided his gaze, though, giving him away.

"Don't lie," Eren murmured, reaching up to cup his cheek and get him to look at him. "What's up?"

"Nothing." He automatically leaned his head into the touch and closed his eyes, the only other alternative to looking at his companion who seemed to so easily see right through him.

"Levi..."

"Leave it alone, Eren," he quipped in a harsher tone that intended. He felt the younger flinch and his hand fell away from Levi's face, causing him to reopen his eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm just not in the mood to talk about it."

"Okay," Eren mumbled, sitting up. "I'm sorry for being pushy."

"It's fine." He leaned in for a quick kiss. "Hungry?"

"Sure."

"Pancakes sound good?"

"Alright."

Grateful for a distraction, Levi stood and strode into the kitchen while Eren disappeared down the hall to comb his hair. When he returned, Levi was already halfway through mixing pancake batter. Silently, Eren put forth his effort - retrieving a skillet and cooking oil, a whisk and the syrup before setting the table. They ate in the comfort of their silence and went back to the TV once done. Eren flipped lazily through the channels, leaning back against the raven's knees while said man played absently with his hair. Eventually, Eren found he was just pushing the button in a slow rhythm and not paying attention to any of the channels flicking by. His mind was instead with Levi and how distant he'd seemed in the past couple of weeks - since looking at those photos, Eren couldn't help but notice. He'd been more lost in thought and smiled a lot less. Eren did what he could, but Levi would only talk so much, rendering the brunet helpless.

"Y'know what, Levi?" he said suddenly, reclining his head to see Levi's blank face.

"Hm?"

"We should go on a date."

That struck something; his eyes lit up a bit. "A date?"

"Yeah. I mean, why not? Today is boring. We're off work. We've only technically been on one date. We should go."

"And do what?"

"I dunno. Anything. Let's be spontaneous."

A thin brow elevated. "Spontaneous, huh?"

Excitedly, Eren sat up and spun around, nodding. "Yeah! We can just...drive around until we find something to do. Or we can just go eat and take a walk. Go shopping, or..." His sentence petered off as the possibilities flew through his head and he smiled brightly.

"Hmm. Alright, a spontaneous date it is," Levi concluded.

"Really?" He brightened further, nearly blindingly.

"Sure, if you want."

"I do! Come on, let's get ready!"

And suddenly Levi was being pulled off the couch and dragged down the hall toward the bedroom. Eren was so giddy that the air around him was practically rippling with excitement. He never stopped smiling as he ruffled through his clothes, chattering away about what they could do, where they could go. Levi found himself playing along easily despite not much feeling up for a date...or anything, really. His mind had been on the downhill slope for days, causing him to lose motivation in a lot of things. He'd even had to postpone some tattoo appointments because he was coherent enough to know he shouldn't be doing things as permanent as tattooing people while in that kind of mood. He knew Eren noticed it, but he couldn't talk about it as much as he may have wanted to lay it all out on the table.