Paper Airplanes (Ereri - SNK)

You Promised.

This is kind of a little filler chapter while I'm working on the next. It's all just a flashback. So yeah. & sorry about the shitty title; it's 5 AM, I can't sleep, and I'm not feeling particularly creative at the moment.

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Eren's hands shook vigorously as the bandages were peeled off, agonizingly slow, from the bite marks in his hands. He had a lip trapped between his teeth, grimacing at the pain and trying not to make a sound.

As soon as the wounds made their reappearance, his stomach churned. They were still bloody, the skin around them swollen and red. Angry looking. He had to keep himself from passing out again.

The medic in front of him had a deep frown set across her thin blonde brows. Her touch was gentle as she leaned closer, examining his hands further.

"Am I wrong to assume these should have healed by now?" she asked.

"No..."

"Hmm. We should get someone who knows more about you to look at these before we bandage them," she said. Eren only nodded. Watched as she soaked a clean piece of gauze in alcohol. "This will sting a bit," she warned before taking his hand again and gently dabbing at the wounds. He hissed in pain as the substance assaulted his injury. It burned. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes and he couldn't help but turn his head away until she was completely done with both hands.

Almost as soon as she'd finished and tossed the bloody gauze into the trash, Levi hobbled over using a wooden crutch on the left side. He looked tired. No, exhausted, like he himself would collapse at any second. He said nothing, but frowned with eyes pointed at Eren's hands resting in the boy's lap.

"Still not healing, huh?" he murmured, resting his weight against the table Eren sat on. The teen could only shake his head; his entire body seemed to ache, his hands throbbing, his side stinging.

"Any ideas why?" the medic asked him.

The captain's eyes narrowed; he reached for Eren's hand and stopped just short, giving the brunette a questioning look, to which he nodded. His touch was light and tender as a butterfly's wings, turning the limb back and forth to study the wounds. They were almost perfect molds of Eren's teeth; three bites on just the one hand and Levi swore he could count his teeth by these alone.

"No steam," he murmured. "I have no idea." He released Eren's hand and glanced up at his face to find his head dipped, eyes mostly concealed by his hair and tears making trails down his dirty cheeks. Levi placed a gentle hand on Eren's shoulder, feeling a dull ache in his chest at the sight of more of Eren's tears, the way he had just hours earlier at the top of that building.

"Oi, glasses!" he barked.

From across the room, a bespectacled head snapped up. Levi nodded the owner of the head over, and in just seconds they were in front of him. Hanji, too, looked fatigued and haunted after the expedition, though this wasn't an uncommon sight.

"Any ideas why he's not healing?" Levi asked, gesturing toward Eren's hands.

Hanji leaned down and, without touching, inspected the wounds, peering through the thick lenses. After a moment, they stood up straight and shook their head.