Dangerous Territory

A Bright Garden Walk

Levi squinted at the Tanakh, trying to sort out some of the Hebrew text. He remembered that this particular scripture was supposed to be very inspiring, and he wanted to read it to his people later that night, but Levi had a secret.

He could barely read Hebrew.

Once early on, he let someone in another Jewish group he had been in to take his Tanakh and read a few passages aloud. He was enraged to find that the book later had dirty fingerprints. Maybe he was not interested in religion and rarely bothered to read books, but at least he knew better than to touch the paper if his hands were filthy. This was precisely why one used a yad when reading the Torah.

After that, although there were many in his current group who knew how to read Hebrew, Levi refused to let them touch his book. He had been paranoid when he was forced to give the Tanakh over to Eren, and he had searched the whole book for new fingerprints or bent pages—he personally felt that people who bent the corners of pages to mark their place in a book should be shot by the author. Either Eren did not touch the book after confiscating it, or he had clean hands when he did so.

However, in his insistence at reading the book himself, that meant Levi was limited to a few passages he already knew by heart, or sections that had words he recognized. Anything more, he had to study ahead of time so he did not sound like a man who had not given a shit about his religion until four years ago.

"Betakh el adonai bekhol lee- ... -beh- ... -kha. Libekha; ve'el bee- ... bah-naht- ... no, dammit, what is this? Binatkha ... al ... tisha'en. What the hell is tisha'en? Prosperity? No, I remember. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and on your own understanding do not lean. Tisha'en is lean. Bekhol deh- ... -rah- ... -khe- ... oh, derakhekha, your ways ... da'ehu; vehu, yeyasher orkho- ... ah fuck ... orkhotekha. Your paths. Your ways, your paths. Derakhekha, orkhotekha. Got it."

In the middle of this, he heard footsteps above. Levi quickly blew out the candle and hid the book under his pillow. He saw a lantern gleaming as the person walked down the stairs, and finally a person turned the corner into the dungeon. He saw the lamp light up Eren's face.

Levi felt two emotions almost simultaneously. On one hand, he was excited, as he often felt a leap of joy whenever Eren came to visit him. On the other hand, memories of the kiss yesterday returned to him with a cold chill, and he almost felt like yanking the covers over his face, hoping Eren would think he was asleep and go away.

It was too late, though. Their eyes met, and Eren had a bright smile. Of course he did! He wasn't the one who stayed up half the night tormented by a mere kiss.

"You know," Eren said casually, "although you blew the candle out, anyone who walks in here can smell the smoke."

"Then I'll put it out better next time," he stated sharply.

Eren stepped up to the cell. "Do you feel like coming out?"

Levi's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"On a walk. No one came to get me, so I figured the prison guard didn't know you're due to be out starting today."

"I simply said nothing. He barely even looked my way, and I'm not going to complain if he leaves me here."

"Good! Then we can walk together."

Eren unlocked the cell, but Levi hesitated. Was this a trick? Still, if it meant fresh air and sunshine, he would be led astray a little. He walked past Eren, glaring sideways, expecting him to make some lewd move, but Eren simply smiled like a happy boy getting to play with a friend.