His pen flew over the page, the foreign language flowing from the tip, letters molding into the shape of Eren's writing, cleverly imitated, so well, that Eren could have mistaken it for his own. Despite being tutored in French by Levi the past two weeks, Eren felt like no knowledge whatsoever had been absorbed by his brain. Levi had reluctantly accepted to help him out in the test, after Eren resorted to threats of removing all of the tea in the house, hissing across the table, eyes darting over to where Mr. Pixis was standing, making sure he didn't see them.
Mr. Pixis had allowed them to return to their original seats, but Eren didn't feel capable of properly facing Armin or Mikasa, after he distanced himself from them, driving a wedge between them. If they were together, he felt uneasy, seeing the clouded glances his two closest friends gave him, having only short exchanges if the occasion arose. Knowing full well it was his fault didn't help. Eren still hung out with his friends, occasionally, whenever he didn't say he was busy studying, being a good host to Levi, or helping out his mother since Grisha had left. The goodbyes on Friday evening were the coldest ones given by the angry brunette. He couldn't for the life of him comprehend why Grisha decided to come home for barely five minutes, just to give a two second goodbye after grabbing the bags and lunch Carla had packed for him, handing Eren a list of things to do after he left because he "didn't have time". To be precise, a letter to hand in to the post office, another to the Sina Hospital secretary, and then a box of items to pick up that Grisha had ordered from Sally's Savings. Needless to say, Eren didn't return his hug, and only uttered the faintest "goodbye", not feeling the least bit sad as he watched the front door close behind Grisha's figure.
Since then, both him and Levi made an effort to help around the house, providing some bonding time and a whole lot of yelling at Eren because he didn't clean up properly. Eren wholeheartedly disagreed with him, but Levi was too menacing and decisive to be reasoned with, so he gave up protesting.
"Done, you owe me one brat." Levi slid the sheets over onto Eren's table, allowing him to add his name to the test papers. "I made some mistakes."
Eren looked at him quizzically, flipping through the three sheets, searching for the mistakes.
"Or else he'd definitely know you cheated."
"Oh so this is your way of telling me I'm terrible at French, huh ?"
"A nicer way."
"Shut up."
"Actually young man, it will be your turn to "shut up", as you so kindly put it. May I remind you that no talking is permitted during a test ?" Mr. Pixis spoke quietly, as to not disturb the other students bent over their papers, raising his eyebrows warningly at Eren.
"Sorry sir, we were done with our tests, so ..."
"You should know better, Eren. Now, please wait silently for the bell to ring, you two." Mr. Pixis picked up their sheets, walking back towards his desk.
"Yes sir," said Eren meekly, hiding his smile behind his hand. Once Mr. Pixis was out of earshot, he whispered "Success !", grinning at Levi.
Levi rolled his eyes at him, laying back on the back of his chair.
"That was great !"
"Little cheat," chided Levi, expressionless.
"Hey ! You a -"
"Mr. Yaeger !"
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
A delicate hand grabbed his shoulder, spinning him towards the angelic face surrounded by a halo of golden hair belonging to Historia. "Do you want to come have lunch with me, Annaëlle and Sasha after gym ? Text me ! Catch you later, Ery !"
He blinked in surprise, watching the blonde whizz past him, obviously in a hurry. He looked over to Levi, watching him out of the corner of his eyes.
"Are you going with them ?" Levi asked, resuming their walk towards the gym building, a large concrete building beside the main one, painted in the same pale yellow, windows on the upper half. It had become barely visible, now covered in the students' graffiti, depicting their cheer team's many trophies, and then some other random designs, with a few of them that probably weren't authorised. Eren had asked for the cheer practice dates from Historia, the cheerleading captain, so that he could bring the stony and never-smiling Levi to one of them to give him the "authentic American experience".
"And you're not ?" he questioned as he watched the athletes warm up on the large running track nearby, switching his attention onto the door when they got near it, pulling it open, stepping aside to let Levi enter first.
"Thanks," he said quietly, slipping into the cold hall. "Why should I ?" he answered once Eren had also entered.
"Because your job is to follow me around like a loyal little puppy."
"Fuck you."
"You too," Eren smiled sweetly.
Levi let out a string of French insults under his breath, pausing outside the door leading to the male locker room. "I'm not welcome, I was just checking to see if you were going, so that I would know whether to go eat with Erwin, Petra and Hanji or not."
"What do you mean, not welcome ? She's literally the nicest person on earth, she wouldn't mind if you came."
"Because you want me to come with you ?" he said cockily.
"I don't care if you do or not !" Eren protested. "I was trying to be nice !"
"Besides, I don't like people."
"Believe me, I could see it," grumbled Eren. "Or ... Does that mean you like me ?" he grinned.
The grin vanished when Levi walked past him into the changing room, slamming the door shut behind him.
Did I ... say something wrong ?
Eren watched Levi, confused as to why he closed himself off all of a sudden. He nibbled on his thumb, before realizing he should stop, or else he would smear blood on his sports outfit.
A pale hand slapped down on his bag, leaving behind a clear band-aid in the dent it created.
"Le ..." The name died in his mouth when the door leading into the gym room closed behind the raven.
He changed into his usual shorts and tee-shirt, moving a little more rapidly when the other students started to file in.
He decided to sit down beside Levi anyway, and so there they sat, waiting in silence for the class to start. Who decided to make those couple of minutes feel like an eternity ? Eren squirmed uncomfortably, almost preferring to be under Levi's double-bladed gaze, instead of the cutthroat silence.
He instantly regretted that thought when the teacher arrived, briskly putting them in pairs, and because she had been absent for the past few weeks since a week after the beginning of the school year, she obviously paired up the foreign student with their partner.
They were split over many different stations, Eren and Levi receiving the rope climbing one to the brunette's despair. His strengths lay in endurance, and his lithe figure, not so much strength. It fit perfectly with Levi though ...
"How did you know I needed a patch ?" Eren asked Levi, as his hands found the right grip on the rope.
"You always need one when you chew your fucking thumb off."
Observant, noted Eren.
"I am."
And he was off before Eren could think of an answer and catch up his millionth mistake, hauling himself up with ease, muscles visibly flexing as he climbed higher in the view his tank top was giving Eren. He decided it was enough staring for the day when Levi was about to drop onto the mat.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
"Don't sweat it, we're good."
"Are you positively sure ?" asked Eren once again, his brow scrunching up, fiddling with the patch on his thumb with one of his nails.
"For f - yes, Eren, I'm sure," repeated Levi, holding in his impatience.
"Because I'm so sorry and I don't know what happened but -" the brunette continued on, worried Levi was lying.
"YES, EREN," Levi grabbed his wrists to halt him, pointedly raising his voice. He quieted back down to a murmur. "I'm certain."
Eren stopped short, raising his bowed head to meet Levi's piercing gaze. He was dying to know the thoughts whirling behind those magnetic, yet intimidating eyes, what he thought of him, his reactions, of this situation, of his physique ... Because he was sort of insecure about it, although he knew he could be proud of himself. Eren also wanted to figure out how he seemed to read him like an open book, but further than people close to him, successfully reading in between the lines, to see the fine print and invisible ink others did not. He wanted to learn his secrets, to hide how he felt, but then at the same time, he felt like pouring his heart out to the raven. Did it seem like a stretch to think of Levi as a safe for all of his secrets and troubles ?
Not in his opinion.
Only, he wanted a little more than that. Friendship, a sincere, long-lasting one.
"You stepped in dog shit by the way."
Way to ruin the moment, grumbled Eren to himself, looking for a patch of grass to wipe it off the sole of his shoe. ... What moment are you even talking about ?
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
"Snap !" yelled Eren, slamming his hand down on the thick pile of cards settled on the bed between him and Levi. His hand hit Levi's, who somehow managed to get his hand on the cards first.
The raven smirked, gathering the cards up into his hands, eyeing the thinning stack belonging to Eren. "So truth or dare ?"
"It's not fair, you always get under first ! You've only done a single dare - and I went easy on you with the hot sauce."
"You made me drink a fucking quarter of the bottle, and it was extra spicy. I can't feel the inside of my mouth anymore, brat. Now, truth or dare ?"
"Dare," sighed Eren helplessly.
"Again ?"
"Yes. You can't complain after all the ones you made me do. Hot sauce is nothing compared to the jelly beans you made me eat ! It's the most foul thing I've ever tasted. I mean who invented the "vomit" taste ? They're mad !" Eren exclaimed, grabbing the packet lying next to him, now empty of every single vomit jelly bean, shaking it vigorously in Levi's face.
The raven plucked the bag out of the raised fist, picking out his preferred apple flavour. He was a simple man of simple taste, according to himself. Eren strongly disagreed, very much convinced the simple was to be changed into cruel.
"Let me see ... Read out everything in your search history from the past two weeks."
Eren felt the fear clench his chest, as he pulled out his phone, his fingerprint hovering over the sensor.
"We swore to truth and total obedience," reminded Levi, causing Eren to curse at his own previously announced rule.
"Yeah ..." He quickly thumbed the fingerprint sensor, unlocking his phone, heading onto his search history. He cleared his throat, beginning to read out in a low voice. "Chicken Jambalaya recipe, watercolor pencils, French for "not in a million years", wyzaxx, b -"
"Wyzaxx ?" questioned Levi.
Eren blushed furiously, refusing to answer.
"How about this. Answer, and I'll do a dare next."
"I like to type things in the search bar to pretend I'm busy because it keeps people away and it works pretty well," he admitted, speeding through his words.
"Makes sense," declared Levi, amused, as he chewed on a red Jelly Bean.
Eren glared at him, before resuming his dare, wanting to get it over as soon as possible. "Best singer to ever exist - that was all you Levi - how to .... do stuff, where to find -"
"I'll interrupt again, and call BS on your how to do stuff," said Levi. "Is it because they're ..."
Eren sat up like he got electrocuted. "NO. WAY."
"Okay okay, just checking brat, no need to be so defensive."
"Need I remind you it's my search history you're going through ?"
"What is it then."
"Nope. Not a chance."
"Come on," Levi shifted on the bed to sit cross-legged.
"Still no ... no, no, no, and no," Eren denied each eyebrow raise Levi gave him.
"Fine. But you owe me one for not completing the dare."
"Make someone happy. There. Happy now ?" shouted Eren.
Levi looked taken aback, not expecting Eren to answer. "You needed to search that up ? You're doing an amazing job already."
Eren's outburst calmed in a second, strangely soothed by the compliment. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to explode like that."
"Don't apologize, I pushed you too far."
"Forget it ?" offered Eren.
Levi nodded, grabbing the playing cards once again. "You're up."
The cards piled up, both players looking out for a pair, Eren jerking forward each time a card was put down, he was so motivated to win that round. Ace, four, ten, two, seven, six, King, King - Eren threw himself onto Levi, taking him by surprise, promptly knocking him over onto his back. Eren then crept his hand over the King, his concentrated expression morphing into a proud grin. He stuck out his tongue at the now vanquished Snap champion, mere inches away from his face.
"Snap ..." he smirked.
They were so close that Eren needed to make sure his tongue wouldn't touch Levi's lips. Or anywhere. The proximity dawned in him, as he came back to reality after his victory. He gulped, now acutely aware of the warmth beneath him emanating from Levi, the solid and yet comfy chest, the little specks of grey on the outer corners of his irises, the little scar on his temple, his warm breath fanning his face.
"I choose dare," whispered Levi, not making any movement to get out from under the brunette.
Eren bit his upper lip, trying to focus on finding a good dare. "Okay, got one. When I ask for it, you must do what I say."
Levi's brows furrowed, as he observed Eren's face. "A cash in favor ?"
"Mhm."
"If that's your definition of a dare, then I'm glad you didn't win more often ... More than twice," Levi specified, earning a pout from the other boy.
"Still, you have to do what I say."
"Yes sir," he murmured.
Eren cleared his throat, uncertain of what he should do at that point. He got a little too carried away with his tactics, and ending up on top of Levi was not the most ideal scheme to come up with.
"Would you mind helping me ... Excuse me, I didn't mean to interrupt ! Come down when you're done darling !" Carla called out from behind the door she had hurried to close, surprised at the sight of the two teenagers lying on top of each other. Eren turned beetroot red, scrambling off of Levi to clarify things with his mother, feeling like a child caught eating sweets from the forbidden candy jar.
Way to go, Eren.
Levi watched him disappear behind the door, allowing his conflicted emotions to ripple across his face, before he masked them once again, slowly beginning to gather the cards into the little cardboard box covered in Eren's drawings.
Okay, let's be real. This was a lot shorter than usual, but I needed something to connect the dots. At least a little bit of progress is being made in the "getting closer" area. Sorry for the delay btw :/ I feel nervous posting this one.
See you soon for the next chapter !
- Val