Covered Eyes (No Name Levi X Eren)

Chapter 14 - The Gardens

The Botanical Garden is large with plenty of large art pieces constructed of metal or concrete to make anyone feel small. There are flowers of every kind and every color, almost. Despite my best attempts to find one that matched the Brat’s eyes, I’m having no luck.

Eren keeps close to me, looking down whenever a security guard looks in our direction, not that I blame him. I lead us down a path marked “Maze” with an arrow to point us in the right direction.

The maze itself is lined by brick walls covered in lavender vines that give off a calming scent as we walk through. When we finally reach the center of the maze, marked by a weeping willow and benches, we rest a moment.

“How's your wound?” I ask, sitting on a shaded bench.

“It's fine,” he responds as he lifts up his shirt enough so I can see the bandage. Not seeing any blood, I nod approvingly.

“Tell me if the pain meds wear off. They should last a good 12 hours, but just in case they don't, I have extras,” I tell him.

“I guess you would know,” he chuckles. “Do you mind me asking what happened?” I shake my head.

“We were performing in a rather large theatre and it was a rather unruly crowd. A little blonde haired, blue eyed girl was accidentally pushed into crowd surfing.” I stare at the brunette beside me, listening to my story with his full attention. His eyes twinkle with excitement like the lights in a concert.

“She was scared to death and heading for the buffer zone Sawney and Bean were working in,” I continue, “the problem was, both were heavily occupied by people picking fights and trying to get closer. She was damn near thrown off the crowd, so I jumped off the stage to save her. She was fine from the whole ordeal and I twisted my ankle so badly I couldn't walk at all.”

“Ouch,” Eren cringes at the feeling, mirroring what I felt that night.

“I finished the show of course,” I smirk.

“Of course,” Eren rolls his eyes, “I shouldn't have expected you not to. You're not some softy that doesn't complete the show because of a little bruise.”

I laugh, knowing that someone, somewhere has done just that.

“I expect you also didn't stop for a hospital,” Eren teases.

“Why waist the time if you've got a friend that'll take care of it for nothing more than your attention while they lecture you?” I smile, Eren shakes his head at the mention of the eccentric doc.

A breeze dances through the leaves, and I can feel him want to get closer to me, like a magnet being attracted to some metal. He manages to resist the pull and smiles at the rattling leaves. His jaw tightens, as if he wants to say something, but he doesn't.

A couple walks into the area and smiles at us. Eren's cheeks turn red as he chuckles. I stand up as I ruffle his hair. He looks up to me with those eyes again, a real smile sparkling within them. I offer my hand and help him up. We continue through the maze without much conversation, just comments on the beauty of the plants or art we pass. The lotus is especially beautiful today.

Hours fly by as we cover the entire area, leaving nothing unseen. Eren never strayed far from me, for when he started to, we both quickly realized and fixed it. Even now, as we walk in the setting sun’s orange light back to the hotel, he stays close. He's so close I can feel heat radiating off him as the evening air cools.

We run into Mike, holding our dinner, as we walk to our room. He's prepared some cheesesteaks for us and Eren's eyes light up at the sight.

“Cheesesteaks are my favorite!” he exclaims, drooling over the smell. I can't help but roll my eyes.

Mike gives a small smile and hands him his plate. He then hands me mine.

“Thank you Mike!” Eren looks to him. Mike nods and leaves to his room with only glance and nose laugh to me. I figured as much.

Mike has nose that borderline surpasses a bloodhound. He doesn't need eyes to tell someone is lying. He could tell that Eren is a cheesesteak person with just a whiff. I honestly still find it creepy though, even after years of it proving it's authenticity and accuracy. He's the reason we're with Recon Records and not someone else and the reason we have Erwin instead of Keith, although I also think emotions played a role in his decision (Erwin is a looker when he's not trying to work you like a horse).

I get our door open and let Eren in. He nods a thank you and makes his way to the bed. I lock up the room before joining him. He turned the TV on to the national news, which I quickly turn off. He look to me confused, trying to play dumb.

“It won't do you any good,” I state, tossing the remote to the couch. He continues to pretend like he wasn't watching to see where the police were in the investigation involving him and his parents. “Tch, you shouldn't play dumb Jaeger.” I scowl.

He looks away from me, “I was just wanting to see if they got any further,” he defends.

“They haven't with Lovof involved, so don't put yourself through that.”

He sighs and nods. “I guess you have a point there.”

“Let's just eat and listen to some music.” I hand him my phone, opened to YouTube so we won't have any news interruptions.

He gives a small smile and pulls up a playlist, letting it play as we eat.