Be My Salvation (Ereri/Riren)

XIV

The scent of frying batter was the first thing to register after Levi had opened his eyes to the sun-filled room, still lying on his left side that'd fallen numb after hours of being laid on. Something warm remained pressed to his back, and still lying beneath the sheets, he could feel himself sweating.

Before he had time to sit up and wake Eren, a soft knock was sounding at the door.

"Yeah," he called tiredly, pushing himself up on an elbow.

"Oh, you're awake," Hannah said as her chestnut colored head poked through the opening of the doorway. "Franz is making pancakes. I figured I should wake you before they get cold."

"Hmm...thanks," he said, attempting to rub the sleep out of his eyes. "Hey...can I shower after breakfast?"

"Of course. Meet us in the kitchen whenever you're ready." She left with her classic smile.

Yawning, Levi turned to find Eren still sound asleep, his face completely relaxed. He almost hated having to wake him up. Even so, he reached over and gently shook the kid's shoulder.

Beneath their lids, his eyes flicked; Levi shook him only once more before his long lashes were fluttering open, his arms stretching out like a cat's.

"Hey, kid," Levi said. "Breakfast is ready."

Eren's sleepy eyes found Levi quickly. The raven couldn't help but notice they were still tinged pink near the corners.

"Pancakes?" Eren mumbled, wrinkling his nose a bit.

"Yeah."

The other smiled a bit. "I love pancakes."

"Then get up and let's go eat."

The brunet sighed before sitting up. A cowlick stuck out on the side of his head, and running a hand through his hair as he yawned did nothing to tame it, but in fact made it worse. As he stood up, Levi let out an amused snort.

"What?" Eren asked.

"Take it you slept well."

"Um...well yeah, actually. How'd you know?"

In answer, Levi reached for his hand and tugged him out of bed to pull him over to the mirror above the dresser. As Eren took in his appearance, he had a hand up his shirt scratching his stomach.

"Oh," he said with a giggle. "Water will fix that."

Levi only rolled his eyes before going for the door. "C'mon. I'm starving."

Eren didn't hesitate to follow Levi to the kitchen. Once there, as they thanked Franz and Hannah for the food, filled their plates and sat down to in turn fill their stomachs, Levi felt Eren's presence to be close again. In fact, he stayed quite close the entire morning, save for when Levi excused himself for a quick shower, after which he found the kid in their room, only half dressed, the shirt he planned to wear draped across his lap with his eyes fixed on it, a blank look on his face.

As soon as Levi walked back in, his head snapped up and he fumbled to pull the shirt over his head, but it wasn't before Levi saw the scars. A breath caught in his throat at the sight but he refrained from letting his internal reaction be known outwardly.

"Hannah said we'll be leaving soon," said the younger quietly as he stood up, retrieving his night shirt from the floor to stuff carelessly into his bag.

"Mkay." Levi worked on folding his own pajamas and tucking them away in his suitcase before picking up the violin case and strapping it across his chest. "Let's take our stuff to the living room so it'll be ready to go."