Paper Airplanes (Ereri - SNK)

Damaged.

BEFORE YOU START READING LOOK AT THE THING ^^^ UP THERE. Absolutely adorable and amazing fanart the wonderful kingofhellordoftime drew inspired by this eh fic. You can find their art on their page and their tumblr under the same url. :3

Okay, you may proceed in reading~

---

Inky black locks floated around him in tendrils, the water surrounding him freezing cold, numbing his limbs and stealing his breath away. As soon as his mind made sense of where he was, he instinctively flailed, attempting to create momentum and find the surface of the water, if there was a surface. It was dark, the only think darker being the hair floating around his head, blinding him to what little light he might have been able to catch sight of.

Panic rose up and he continued to flail, his arms reaching in every possible direction and his legs kicking tirelessly at the water, but as far as he could tell, he wasn't moving.

His fingers suddenly came into contact with something solid - soft, like flesh, but solid unlike anything else around him. He moved further, trying to grab onto whatever it was, only to find the slick texture of skin sliding against his own. A shoulder. He wanted to gasp or cry out, but it seemed the water had him in a chokehold and there was no way to breathe; he was going to drown, he was going to die...

The tendrils slowly faded outward and away to reveal a face - so pale it glowed in the darkness. Slowly, his eyes made out the figure of a woman wearing a torn dress, floating around her much like her jet black hair that matched his own; her eyes, too, were similar to his, and recognition slammed into him so hard he'd stopped flailing about. The woman smiled at him, her hand gently caressing his cheek before she gently floated away, before he could latch onto her and hold on for dear life...

* * *

Levi could feel eyes on him at breakfast, even as he made it a point to keep his focus on the wood of the table in front of him as he sat back in the chair, nonchalantly sipping his tea without so much as acknowledging any of the other recruits. It was only one pair, but it was a stubborn, relentless set that, for him especially, was difficult to ignore. But he wasn't about to go down without a fight and meet those eyes, knowing he'd have to answer a bombardment of questions once he did.

Hanji chattered away throughout the meal, discussing with Erwin strategies they'd use in the next expedition in ten days. Though he knew he should've been paying attention and taking mental notes, he didn't retain a single word of it. No one questioned him.

Later that morning, familiar footsteps approached him without invitation as he worked on strapping up his maneuver gear. He pretended not to notice, but Eren didn't like to be ignored.

"Something's bugging you," said the teen. It wasn't a question. Eren could tell. And Levi hadn't a clue how to respond. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"There's nothing to talk about," he lied, thankful he'd practiced and perfected such an impassive, stoic facade that no one, not even Eren could completely decipher.

But, as it seemed, Eren was getting better. Finished strapping up his gear and with nothing else to distract himself with, he was forced to glance up at his subordinate, whose brows were slightly furrowed, a slightly analytical look in his eyes. Levi raised his own brows, and the teen said nothing.