His Promise [Riren/Ereri Fanfic]

Chapter 21: His Lodestone

Levi stretched and snuggled into the warm sheets. His body felt light, and clean, and whole. It took him a moment to register that he wasn't alone. The blanket shifted and he felt warm lips kiss his inner thigh before they wrapped around his cock and gave him a playful taste. Eren. Levi hummed in pleasure but he reached under the blanket and wrapped his hands around the thin shoulders to draw his bedfellow up so he could taste those soft, meandering lips. He closed his eyes and inhaled, prepared to lose himself in wide turquoise eyes. The silky hair that brushed his knuckles should have alerted him sooner. He felt his world slide sideways when the smiling eyes he looked into were elegantly tilted and green. Rushil? Levi tried to sit up but felt like there was a thousand pound weight on his chest. This is wrong. He tried to speak but found he could barely breath. Pain seared across his chest and down his leg setting his nerve endings on fire, turning his world into a hot white mass of agony. Trapped! He had been trapped once before, in a broken body. The pain hadn't faded even though he had known his body could no longer feel anything. In that time he had focused on the only point of light in his world. The only thing that made sense in a world full of horrors. Ocean Eyes. He did the same now. He closed his eyes and focused on breathing through the pain. Keep my promise. He could sense the shimmering edges of his nightmare now. Forever. He was starting to tell the difference between fantasy and reality. The pain was very real. He could handle it. He could handle anything. He had his lodestone. Eren!

Levi opened his eyes and frantically tried to get his bearings. He felt like the room was spinning. He felt a hand on his arm and heard a familiar voice.

"Its Zoe, Levi. Try to calm down and breathe. You are experiencing an anaphylactic reaction to one of your medications. You stopped breathing. The doctor realized what was happening and you are going to be okay. Just try to be calm, breathe."

He could do that. He could focus. He could breathe. After a few minutes his chest felt lighter and he lifted his hand to wipe his mouth but found himself restricted by tubes that hadn't been there when he fell asleep. He had an unpleasant metallic taste in his mouth that could only be blood. He swallowed his frustration and willed himself to be patient. These wounds will heal. He had to be patient. He had time. I will wait for you forever. He turned his head once again, searching. He met Zoe's brown eyes and formed the word that would always be first and last on his lips.

"...Eren...?"

Zoe's eyes fell.

"He's not here. He'll be back, soon, though. I'm sure he just needed some air. You know, hospitals..."

Levi looked past Zoe and focused on the world outside his window, her continued rambling fading into the background. The pain was very real.

•°☆°•

Levi stood in the line, keeping his face stern and impassive. The only indication of his discomfort was the trickle of sweat down his temple. He could feel his leg shaking, but he knew the others wouldn't be able to see it.

Erwin droned on. Levi could sense the pledges' excitement. In deference to his recovery, they had postponed formal initiation until he was well enough to attend. He fondly scanned the faces of the men in the room. He had been in this exact position for the initiation ceremonies of more than half of them. He had always had faith in the character and dedication of the men he crossed, but when he realized the full extent of their personal loyalty to him, he was genuinely moved. Because of ARO he not only had friends, he had brothers.

Levi's eyes rested on one face in particular. A face he had seen surprisingly little of over the last week. Eren was as absurdly beautiful as he had been the first time Levi laid eyes on him in the basement of 59 Marley. Of course, he saw him differently now. He knew every change that could play across that expressive face. Levi couldn't decide which expression was his favorite. Most of the time, 'mischevious grin' was tied with 'pleading lip-bite' for second place. 'Blissed-out-after-a-hard-fuck' had an exclusive claim on first.