Crack of Sunlight (Ereri/Riren)

•~Epilogue~•

"You ready?" stage-whispered the brunet to the raven. The two stood at the end of the sidewalk to the house of Eren's legal address, hand in hand. It had been nearly two months since Levi's overdose and since Eren made his proposal, though unofficially. Inside the house, they knew Carla awaited, oblivious as to what was about to happen.

Levi simply dipped his head in response. As they sauntered toward the front door, he couldn't help but think, ready or not, here it goes. There was really no backing out at that point...not that he would.

Carla opened the door just as Eren raised his hand to knock, greeting them with her motherly smile and warm honey eyes.

"You don't have to knock at your own house, silly," she chastised jokingly, reaching up to ruffle her son's already tousled hair. "Come on in."

The two took the invitation graciously, making sure to remove their shoes and shut the door in their wake before moving too far into the home. Despite having grown up in that house, Eren couldn't help but feel a bit nostalgic being inside of it. He spent little time there anymore, and after today, things would change on an even more drastic level.

"I've prepared lunch," Carla said, "so I hope you're hungry."

"Thanks," Eren said, already making the decision to eat before Levi could protest. They sat down to home cooked garlic and butter pasta, one of Eren's favorites, and settled in to normal, idle chatter as they ate. Despite Eren's ever growing nervousness, Carla remained oblivious to anything out of the ordinary...

...until she was invited into the living room by Levi himself, stating they had a few important things concerning her.

"You first," he murmured to Eren. They'd taken their places on the couch while Carla resided in the recliner, gazing expectantly at them.

Feeling both giddy and as if he were about to vomit, Eren lowered himself to the floor and moved over in front of his mom. She raised her eyebrows at him, smiling lightly.

"I hope you don't kill me for this," he joked halfheartedly before scooting around on his butt and reaching back to pull his shirt over his head. The woman watched in curiosity until she saw it - the colorful, evidently new tattoo between her son's shoulder blades.

The design was a complete circle. On the left, the sun, its rays dancing away from it toward his left shoulder. On the right, a crescent moon, gently caressing the right half of the sun. Their colors, vibrant and almost life like - oranges, yellows, and subtle reds for the sun; various shades of blue for the moon - merged together almost right down the center with the tips of the moon sharing the hues of the sun and the part of the sun cradled by the moon sharing the colors of the celestial body. It was fairly simple yet very unique, and very striking.

Carla's amber eyes closely studied the exquisite artwork forever embedded on Eren's skin. It was a long while before she said anything.

"Why on earth would I want to kill you for adding something so beautiful to your body?" she inquired, reaching out to squeeze the man's shoulders lovingly.

"You like it?" Eren asked hopefully, peeking over his shoulder at her.

"Of course I do. Besides, even if I didn't, you're a man who can make his own choices. You don't need approval from anyone, even your old mom."

"Hmph, you're far from old, Mom." The brunet stood and squeezed his mother around the shoulders. Smiling proudly, she squeezed back before he crossed the room, simultaneously pulling his shirt back over his head, and took his place next to his shorter companion once more, hand automatically sliding into Levi's to squeeze.