Aesthetic Acid | eren x levi |

♛: Sixteenth Awakening

Eren never got any breaks when it came to questioning.

Jean escorted him and basically threw him onto the creaky makeshift bed. Erwin so happened to be there as well, bandaging up his own wounded arm. He turned his head and looked over at Eren with surprise.

"There you are, Jaeger. Everyone was worried about you. What happened to you?" he asked with concern as he furrowed his thick brows.

"The vampires almost got him again," Jean answered for him before Eren could even think of a response.

"I'll call in some medics. You look terrible," he said quietly as he finished up with the bandages and moved to exit the tent. "You will tell me all about it later. Rest up now."

"I'm fine. You don't need to call in anyone, sir."

Eren sighed as he lay on his side to face Jean. The two boys stared at one another in complete silence as if understanding what was going to happen later on. Noises of coughing and soft groans of pain were the only things that entered their ears, but Eren just didn't know what to say. He wanted to tell someone about what was going on, but it would be extremely risky.

"I can't believe this is happening. It's like you want death; going out there on your own and getting yourself into a mess of vampires," Jean scoffed with a sharp 'tsk' of the tongue. "How did you end up like this anyway?"

"I was just exploring in the forest for some berries-"

"There's something you're not telling us, is there?" he interrupted quietly so that no one could eavesdrop on their conversation.

"What would make you say that?" Eren demanded.

Jean crossed his arms and stared at him with exasperation. "You're so bad at lying," he told him tersely as he leaned into his chair. Although he tried to relax, he looked tense. "Listen, I know there are times when we don't exactly get along, but you can tell me if you want. I'll keep it between us if it makes you feel any better."

Eren shook his head. It was as if the other boy was reading his mind, but he knew that would be impossible.

"If I tell you what's really happening, you wouldn't believe me," Eren said simply.

"I see," Jean replied with disappointment in his voice. "Oh well. I'll find out eventually."

"Anyways, Eren moved on to change the dark subject. "Did anything major happen while I was away?"

"Hmmm... Archery, hand-to-hand combat, people dying, battle plans-"

"Wait, what?"

"Archery. We're finally getting deeper into archery."

"No. The one after the second one."

"Oh. People dying. I guess it's inevitable to say that a lot of our fellow soldiers have been disappearing or been slaughtered in the last few weeks. Some individuals of the town have also claimed to have seen them even after their deaths were announced. Crazy, isn't it?"

Eren swallowed. "Indeed."

"I should leave now and let you sleep. I'll catch you later," Jean told him and got up, ending his sentence like a question.

Eren nodded and turned to his side, away from all the other people and stared at the tent wall. He could see the glow of other candle lamps outside and hear the quiet sound of chatter. He wondered what Levi could possibly be up to. Was he still concealing himself within the hollow tree? Was his arm back? Was he even alive?

I don't care, Eren thought to himself. I'm not supposed to care.

---

He missed him.