The Ereri Project!

Pretty

Levi loves when Eren spends entire days at the bakery. Not that Levi doesn't love him, he just loves getting time with Petra all to himself sometimes. Levi has learned a lot as a parent from how much babies are supposed to eat to the easiest way to entertain a toddler but the one thing he can't seem to grasp is how to braid hair.

Petra looks up at him expectantly and he wishes she had asked him to buy her a pony because at least he can say no to that with a legitimate reason. "I don't know how hazelnut," he says.

Petra pouts at him, twirling the end of her long (it reaches a little past her butt now) hair around her finger. "But Papa's not here and I always get paint in it when I try to do art if it's not braided."

Levi sighs. "How do you do it?"

Petra perks up. "Uncle Erwin looked it up online when I asked him to do it before."

Levi picks up his laptop from the coffee table and Petra perches herself on the couch beside him. The first thing that pops up is a WikiHow titled 5 Ways to Braid Hair. "You should probably do the basic one Daddy," Petra says, as Levi starts scrolling past it.

"That one's not cute though," he says.

Petra shrugs. "That one's pretty."

Levi stops at the fishtail braid. "Okay, we'll do this one. Can you get me your comb and the bottle Papa filled to spray your hair with?"

Petra hops off the couch and Levi sits his laptop on the table so he'll be able to see it while he works. Petra returns with both items plus a hair tie with a little pink ball on either side of the loops. As Levi started combing her hair, he regretted letting her grow it out so she could "look like Rapunzel": long hair is an enormous pain in the ass to comb.

Petra takes him tugging at the knots like a champ though, so it isn't as bad as it could have been.

Levi is almost so exhausted with combing he almost wants to tell her he can't braid it. But when he thinks about the face she'll make at him, he sighs to himself and starts parting her hair. He's surprised at how easy the actual braiding comes to him, once he's started, finishing it goes pretty quickly and he ties it off. Petra immediately runs to the bathroom so she can see it in a mirror. He hear an excited gasp as he follows her, albeit much slower. "It's so pretty Daddy!" she says. "Can you take a picture and send it to Papa?"

"Papa's working," Levi replies as she sits her comb beside the sink. "So he might not answer but we can send one anyway."

Petra stands still just long enough for Levi to snap a picture on his phone to send of Eren. She's off getting her paint set out by the time the message is sent. Levi sits with her at the table while she paints, using her crayons in her coloring book instead of painting.

They've only been sitting for ten minutes when Levi gets a reply from Eren:

Sweet now Petra hair duty is your job ;)

Petra won't let anyone but Levi do her hair again until she gets it cut five years later.

Levi doesn't mind.