Dangerous Territory

Pakt Mit Dem Teufel

He rolled the tray in and shut the door before the bellhop could see anything inside. The food admittedly smelled amazing.

"Lock the door, idiot," came a whisper from down low.

Eren turned back and made sure the door was locked. Then he rolled the breakfast cart into the room.

"Come on out and eat."

Levi crawled out, but he looked disgusted. "Do you have any idea how much dust is under that bed? There's no way they cleaned this place before you arrived. I wonder if they even changed the sheets!"

"Those at least were fresh," Eren assured. "Eat."

"No. I'm covered in dust, and I itch with dust." Already he was rubbing his arm.

"Oh," Eren whispered. Now Levi's cleanliness made sense, if he was allergic to dust. "I have a bathtub. Wash before you eat."

Levi glared at him distrustfully.

"I won't go in there," Eren promised. "Just let me pee first."

He relieved nature, washed his face, combed out his hair, and changed his bandage. Then Eren came out, seeing Levi munching on a sausage but looking miserable as he itched his arm.

"Sorry it took a while," Eren whispered.

"Did you brush your teeth?"

The question stunned Eren, a very fatherly thing to ask. "I will after I eat."

Levi grunted, only mildly satisfied by the answer. "If you open the door, I'll slit your throat."

Eren had to laugh at how casual and nonthreatening the fatalist warning sounded, just something Levi said all the time.

Levi walked to the bathroom, still scratching his rash-covered arm. "And don't eat all of the food."

"I can order more."

"That'd be suspicious." With that, he closed the bathroom door.

Eren heard the bathtub running. So would anyone else, he guessed. The pipes were loud enough that even someone in the hallway would hear that tub running. As he waited, he went ahead and changed into his clothes. He pulled on the uniform trousers and a green-gray undershirt, and he was about to put on the tunic out of habit. He paused to look at the uniform on its hanger, medals he was proud of, a rank he had worked hard to obtain.

All for an army that would kill him and the man he loved.

He decided, since he was staying in his room, he would leave off the tunic. The breakfast cart had tea, and he poured himself a cup. There were also two waffles. He set one aside for Levi, and covered his own with butter and syrup. The breakfast came with a newspaper, and he flipped it open to read the latest information on the war.

As he waited, his mind drifted away from articles about battles, his eyes focused on the bathroom door, and curiosity got the better of him. He set the paper aside, stood, walked slowly, and stopped in front of the door. The running pipes stopped, and now he heard dripping mixed with the sloshing sound of water lapping against flesh. He heard a soft groan as Levi's muscles relaxed in the hot water.

Eren closed his eyes, remembering the sight of Levi's body from his trips to the river, watching him clean himself, lean muscles flexing across that scarred back, and his gaze always inevitably drifted to that tiny pale ass. There were other, darker times when he had seen Levi nude, but he liked the memories by the river, after the others left, when it was just him and Levi, a bright memory mixed with the pastoral sounds of rushing water and birdsong.

Through many of those weekly trips over those five months, he and Levi said nothing. It was just a duty a trusted few members of his platoon did every Saturday. A few trips, though, had been more personal, or even if they said nothing to one another, just watching Levi bathe made Eren's throat tense up and his imagination run wild.