lovefool | eren x levi

two years.

♡♡

carla put eren's shoes on his feet so they could go to the playground, though eren was more fixated on the jar at the middle of the table.

"c'mon, eren, it's time to go to the park to see levi."

"cookie?" he asked, pointing at the container.

"if you talk to levi today, i'll let you have a cookie when we come back. okay?"

"yes, mommy," he said, grabbing her hand.

grisha was home today and the car was free, but eren liked it better when they walked to the park. he got to see all sorts of things before they got there, including his neighbor chasing cats out of her yard, or a plastic bag floating in the air.

"are you excited to see levi?"

"i don't know," eren said, clutching his mommy's hand.

carla walked eren through the iron gate and towards the slides. eren wanted to clap his hands in delight.

"kuchel!" carla said, hugging a woman with long black hair. she was carrying a baby—or, at least, eren thought it was, because his mommy never carried him, and he was a big boy—on her shoulder, and smiled at eren.

"hey, carla! i was expecting to see grisha, honestly. you should be sleeping, seeing as you have the night shift!"

carla shrugged. "i needed to get out today, anyway. i can never stay choked up at home for long."

"hey, little birdie," kuchel said, dropping to eren's height to grab his cheek. "levi's a little sleepy right now, he just had his nap. can you get him to wake up?"

eren nodded and kuchel put down levi. the boy nearly collapsed to the ground and collected himself.

they stared at each other for three seconds at a time, before eren turned back to his mom.

"eren, what do you say to levi?"

"hi, levi!"

levi sped off back to his mom, cowering behind him. kuchel chuckled.

"he's just a bit shy, that's all," kuchel said. "levi, if you go play with eren, we can go to the store later."

"store?"

"yeah, levi. the store," she said, cooing. levi nodded and walked in front of kuchel again.

"hi."

after that, levi pulled out his favorite toy and began to play with it on the ground, completely in his own world. eren, clearly overstimulated by the mere interaction with a kid his age, snatched the toy from him.

levi stared at the toy that eren held in his hands with an enigmatic smile for a moment, properly registering the crime the boy had just committed.

carla was not fast enough to tell eren to give the toy back to levi before he started loudly bawling, his head high into the air and red, and his feet hitting the pavement repeatedly.

"eren, that was really mean!" carla said, looking eren in the eye. "that was levi's toy, and it isn't right to take other people's toys without asking! go say sorry to levi and give him back his toy."

eren walked back to the bumbling levi and handed him back the rolling teacup, muttering an apology.

levi huffed and played with the toy next to his mother on the bench, not even bothering to get up anymore to play with eren.

♥♥

"head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes," kuchel sang to levi, pointing at each body part. levi bounced up and down as she did, trying to copy her.

"head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes, and eyes, and ears, and mouth, and nose! head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes!"

kuchel gave him a 'boop!' on the nose, quietly giggling.

"can you show me where your shoulders are?"

levi pointed to his shoulders, followed by a whooping noise from his mother.

"good job, lev! now tell me, where is your... mouth?"

levi pointed to his mouth, smiling.

"i don't think so. i think my mouth is right here!"

she pointed to her nose, obviously trying to evoke a reaction from levi. levi snickered and shook his head.

"that's your nose, not your mouth!"

♥♥

a putrid, malodorous stench floated and swam its way from eren's crib to carla's nose. although she was the first to notice it, grisha was the one who took the time to get up and inspect.

"carla, carla, honey," grisha said, shaking her awake. she groaned.

"oh... what is it?"

"do you smell that?"

"yeah, sure, i do, let's just handle it in the morning..." she said, tossing to the other side of the bed and pulling the blanket to her neck.

"alright, alright, fine, you go to sleep, and i'll see," grisha said, patting carla's arm twice and getting off the bed.

his first thought, judging by the odor, was that eren had peed in his training underwear again. but, as he neared eren's room, he knew that it was way more than just ammonia.

eren's crib was soaking wet in one spot, though the toddler himself was sleeping peacefully on his back, limbs stretched out.

grisha picked him up and, with one whiff, recognized that eren had done both deeds while he was sleeping.

it wasn't particularly eren's fault he did both in his training underwear. grisha had forgotten to take him to the bathroom before settling him down for sleep, and if grisha did not remember, then eren would most likely pee in his sleep. carla, being on the night shift, was never there to remind grisha, and when she did come home, she desired to do nothing but sink into the deep abyss of her bed.

grisha understood. he was a stay-at-home dad, and carla worked and still took care of eren. he knew he was pulling the easier weight around, and he didn't have any right to complain.

so he picked eren up, put him on the changing table, and discarded the stinky underwear.