Be My Salvation (Ereri/Riren)

V

God, you guys, I'm terribly sorry for this being so late. You don't understand how mad I am at myself for taking so long to get this done. Life has just been kicking my ass hardcore...

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Eren's throat felt dry as he hovered in the kitchen doorway. Petra faced away from him, working on mixing spaghetti sauce ingredients in a large pot on the stove. He attempted a swallow. Another. But his throat felt like it was all stuck together, and there wasn't enough moisture in his mouth to counteract that. Sighing through his nose, he took another small step into the room.

Hell with it, he thought.

"P-Petra?" he attempted. The woman didn't turn; he cleared his throat and tried again. "Petra?"

And suddenly the redhead whipped around, startled, with a box of spaghetti noodles in her hand. A few remaining pieces of dried pasta flew out of the box and scattered across the floor, several breaking in the process. Eren flinched back toward the doorway just as his eyes met surprised golden-brown irises, his throat attempting a nervous gulp.

"Eren," breathed the woman, lifting a hand to her rapidly rising and falling chest due to her surprise. "Was that you who said my name?" The teen gave a small nod. "Goodness, hon. I didn't recognize your voice. I'm sorry for jumping like that." She bent down to pick up the few noodles that had scattered across the floor. "Are you alright?"

He nodded again, looking once more for his voice. "I..." He cleared his throat needlessly; getting words out was suddenly more difficult than it had been speaking to Levi. "I want to use my wish."

A bright smile immediately spread across Petra's face as she discarded the floor noodles and their box into the trash. "Alright. Let's hear it."

"I want to buy Levi a violin." Once the words were out, he pressed his lips together with nervous anticipation.

Petra's brows immediately furrowed, though whether it was in confusion or something else, Eren couldn't tell. "You...want to use your wish on someone else?" she murmured. Eren merely nodded yet again. Petra hummed, thrown off a bit as she turned to stir the spaghetti sauce. "Are you sure? It's really supposed to be for you..."

"I'm sure." And he was. Though he couldn't completely fathom why he wanted to use his wish on something that would in no way benefit himself, he was sure in his gut that this was what he wanted to do with it.

Petra was silent for another moment as she lazily stirred the steaming sauce. "Alright," she said, turning to send him a soft smile. "Let's do some research after dinner on it, okay?"

"Can...can we keep this a secret from him? To make it a surprise..."

"Of course. Now would you mind setting the table for me?"

Nodding again, Eren moved to the cabinets above the sink to retrieve six plates; he piled the same amount of forks and spoons onto them to carry them into the dining room and laid out the place settings with napkins before going back for glasses for milk (and tea, for lactose-intolerant Marco's sake). Once finished, he was walking back through the kitchen to head into the sunroom to wait for the dinner announcement when Petra softly called his name.

"It's nice to finally hear your voice," she said fondly.

Eren managed a small smile back that felt more genuine than he'd anticipated. Quietly, he slipped into the sunroom and opened the back door for Lucy, who always came running across the yard when she saw him. He settled in on the floor with her and a book until dinnertime.

~

"Alright, Eren, here's the money you'll need based on our research." Petra held several large bills in his direction, looking him directly in the eye. "Are you really sure this is how you want to use your wish?"