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Eren absolutely hated storms. Now, don't misunderstand, it wasn't the rain itself that made him loathe bad weather—it was the after effects. The mud, the wet grass and floors, the humidity, and the shoes squeaking along the ground all irritated him beyond belief. It was for this reason that he didn't want to go outside for training today.
Eren was curled up in bed; he burrowed as far under the blankets as he could get, hoping to avoid having to leave the warmth of his room to greet the other cadets for conditioning. It had rained the entire night, and Eren knew that the conditions outside were anything but favorable. He prayed to any deity that may exist that he would be allowed to sleep in.
No dice.
Levi strode into his room once he realized that it was ten minutes past the time that Eren is usually up on training days. Upon entering, he noticed the peculiar, human-shaped lump under the blankets. The corners of his mouth twitched upwards slightly as he walked briskly over to Eren's bed.
"Good morning, Eren." Levi said, amusement evident in his tone. Eren grumbled in response.
"Are you going to get up sometime today?" Eren muttered a quiet 'nope' and flipped himself over so that his body was facing away from Levi.
Levi chuckled fondly as he went to pull off the covers and was met with resistance. He yanked a little harder and the blanket gave way enough for a head of brunette hair to pop out from under it. The captain ruffled the soft hair and grinned. Despite himself, Eren found that his head nuzzled into the comforting touch.
"Come on, pal. We have to go." Eren whined at that, but begrudgingly slipped out from underneath the covers and stood up. He went to the wardrobe in the corner of the room and put on his gear, grumbling under his breath the whole time, while Levi turned around to give him some privacy.
The thing was, Eren wasn't entirely in his normal mindset. Thinking about last night's weather and how gross it would be outside today for practice made his little side peek through, wishing more than anything that he could just cuddle up with someone under fluffy blankets, and eat snacks while wathing cartoons all day. Nonetheless, he finished readying himself for the day before tapping Levi on the shoulder. When the man turned around, he offered Eren a small smile.
"Let's get going."
Eren let the raven-haired man lead him out to the field; just as he had suspected, it was absolutely abysmal outside. The near-freezing temperature signaled the beginning of winter, and made the boy's fingetips completely numb within the first two minutes of being out. The grass was covered in leftover droplets of rain water, and the patches of dirt were now sludge because of the storm. He was glad that he had on boots, or else the mud and dirty ground-water would be getting flung up into his shoes and onto his legs.
Levi paid no mind to Eren's grousing, simply putting on his usual impassive expression and continuing out to the field.
Upon their arrival, all eyes turned to the duo. They watched as Levi gave Eren's back a gentle push to guide him to the group of other trainees, and as Eren stumbled a bit before regaining his balance. Levi's eyes flashed with worry in the instant before Eren righted himself, but he hastily covered this up with a slight "unimpressed" raise of his eyebrow. He turned to face the rest of the cadets once he made sure that Eren had joined them, and he cleared his throat.
"Alright, today we're going to be doing basic conditioning; based on what I've seen recently, a lot of you could use it." A few of the cadets visibly stiffened as he glared towards them.
"We'll start with something simple. I want you to run the length of the field ten times there and ten times back. Report back here when you've finished." With that, Levi pivoted in place and walked over to a tree towards the edge of the field. He leaned against the trunk and waited for his order to be heeded.
About half of the cadets took off running, while the other half decided to pace themselves; no matter what training they may have had up to this point, running the length of this field a total of twenty times is enough to make anyone want to keel over, especially if they waste all of their energy in the beginning by sprinting. Eren joined Mikasa, Armin, Jean, and Marco on the field before breaking into a slow jog. The others did the same.
The mud on the ground was brutally slick, and more than once they would look over and spot a cadet face-planting in the muck. One of those times, it was Jean himself that slid and fell muzzle-first into the slimy terf below them. It would have been funnier had they not been struggling to breathe by the time they were halfway done with the activity.
None of them spoke to one another because they knew that it would slow them down. Besides, there wasn't really much to say at this point—they had just seen each other the night before, and nothing major had happened since then. However, Eren wished that someone would say anything at all, if only to distract him from the burning in his lungs and the nagging urge to slip. The feeling was there still, poking at him constantly as he ran, pleading with him to rush over to Levi for some well-deserved cuddles.
He was so focused on his thoughts that he failed to notice how the rest of the group had veered left to avoid a rather gnarly-looking mud puddle. By the time he realized that he should move out of the way, it was too late; he immediately lost his footing and slipped, landing painfully on his ankle in the sludge.
His friends had stopped jogging once they heard the sickening pop Eren's ankle made upon impact. They waited with bated breath to see what would happen next. They didn't have to wait long. A couple of seconds ticked by in complete silence and anticipation before Eren burst out into tears; his howling sobs pierced through the air and made all of the other cadets turn their heads in they boy's direction. Instantly, the other four surrounded Eren, trying to quiet his cries and calm him down so that they could get him off of the field.
Eren had barely registered himself regressing in the time that it took for his brain to register the pain and react to it. Once he did, however, everything around him became so much bigger, and the throbbing in his ankle seemed to multiply tenfold. His weeping grew louder as he noticed the eyes on him from all around the field, and he let his thumb come up to rest beside his mouth for comfort.
Levi, who had been scanning the field, was alerted by the sound of crying. He recognized the sobs, and he marched over to the group swiftly.
"What happened here?" He demanded, taking in Eren's appearance: covered in mud, tears streaming down his face, and his thumb drifting dangerously close to his mouth.
He recognized straightaway that the boy was regressed. He knew from prior experience that Eren didn't usually just regress out of the blue, but instead he did when he had been feeling on the verge of it for the entired day. He wondered briefly why the little had neglected to tell him that, but knew that he wouldn't get an answer until later. Right now, he had to worry about getting Eren's mud-soaked self out of the cold and away from the curious crowd.
"Well, Captain, we were running our lengths, and Eren spaced out for a few seconds. I guess he didn't notice the strip of mud and ended up slipping on it. I think he injured his ankle." Armin provided helpfully, staring up at Levi from where he was crouched by Eren.
"Alright, step back so that I can get him up." The four teens did as instructed.
Levi leaned down to Eren as the regressed boy's friends moved away. He lowered his voice to a calming whisper so that he wouldn't frighten the boy more than he probably already was.
"Hey, babyboy. I bet everything is super scary right now, huh?" Eren whimpered and nodded in response.
"I know, buddy, but I need you to try and stand up for daddy, alright? We need to get you out of those cold, wet clothes so we can get your ankle checked out. Do you think you can stand up for me?" When Eren shook his head rapidly, Levi sighed sympathetically.
"Okay, stay right there, baby; I'll be right back to help you."
Levi stood up again and called out for the other teens to join him. They scrambled over to where Levi stood, anxiously waiting for him to speak.
"He's going to be alright, but I need some help getting him into the building and to the infirmary," he looked pointedly at Marco, "Bott, come with me."
The freckled boy nodded quickly and flashed a quick smile to the others before their Captain tood them to continue on with their task. He followed Levi over to his friend obediently, piecing the puzzle together quickly.
'In most situations, Levi would have chosen Mikasa to help with Eren, since they were the closest to one another. If he's getting my help now, that must mean that something happened that Mikasa doesn't know about.. maybe he regressed?' Marco's thoughts hit the nail right on the head.
Levi had, in fact, remembered the exchange between he and Marco a few weeks before, and was confident that there would be far less questions as to Eren's behavior if he chose him to help over Mikasa, Armin, or Jean. With that in mind, he led Marco back over to the sniveling boy.
"Okay, sweetheart, we're going to lift you up and carry you to the infirmary. Ready?" When Eren nodded in understanding, they picked him up and began walking.
Marco tried not to let his emotions show on his face, but he couldn't hide the smile wanting to consume his face. He had never seen this sensitive, caring side of Captain Levi before, and it was incredibly endearing. Nonetheless, he pushed aside his thoughts and continued walking alongside Levi, who was gently cooing at Eren in order to calm him down.
Once they reached the infirmary, they gently set the teal-eyed boy down on one of the cots. He hissed in pain and pouted deeply up at his caregiver, not even bothered by Marco's presence. The raven-haired man gave Eren a kiss on the forehead and petted his hair as the nurse came over with a first aid kit. They delicately took off the boy's sopping clothes, laying a fresh outfit on the cot beside them. Levi knew that they would need to change Eren into something more fitting for his regression space once they got him back to his room, but was grateful for the temporary replacement clothes regardless.
The two guys sat with Eren through the process of her checking his ankle, and smiled in relief as she told them that it was not broken, just severely sprained. She wrapped up his ankle and warned them to go easy on the boy for the next five to six weeks so that his ligaments can fully heal. They thanked the nurse and redressed the boy gingerly. Then, they picked Eren up again and left the room; Levi led Marco down a hall that the teen had never taken the time to check out, and into a room with what looked to be oversized infant furniture.
There was a white bed in the far corner of the room with detachable bars on all sides; a mobile was clipped to one of the rails, and the inside of the crib was decorated with soft sheets and blankets, as well as a few stuffed animals. Next to the crib, there was an inviting rocking chair. On the wall adjacent to the crib, there was a dresser-type piece of furniture with a fluffy mat on top of it—a changing table, perhaps? There was a soft, baby blue rug on the floor that tied in perfectly with the color of the walls, and a shelving system with a bunch of kids' books in it. On the wall opposite the crib, there was a television sitting on another storage unit with a bunch of pastel baskets in it, full of what Marco was sure had to be toys and movies. It was absolutely amazing, and somehow seemed truly fitting for Eren. You could tell that Eren thought so, too, because he went limp with relaxation once he took in his surroundings.
"Is this Eren's nursery?" Marco asked politely.
"Yeah—cute, huh?"
"Definitely. It's incredible." Marco was in a sort of awe with this room, and for a second he wondered what it would be like to design a room like this for someone he loved.
The couple of men sat Eren down on the rug before Levi moved over to the boy's closet, coming back with a pair of shortalls and a long-sleeved, light blue sweater. He then went to the changing table and opened one of the drawers. He pulled out a diaper and a pair of fuzzy, thigh high socks, then scooped Eren up from the rug. The boy was sitting there and sucking on his fingers contently, but he whined quietly as Levi went to settle him onto the changing table.
He wasn't sure what compelled him to do it, but Marco moved over to the duo and got the baby's attention, making goofy faces and cooing at him as Levi changed him into the diaper and clothes. Eren giggled sweetly at Marco. Once Levi finished dressing him in his outfit, he settled the boy on his hip, being careful not to hit his ankle on anything.
"You're really good with him." Marco was startled as Levi spoke, and he blushed slightly as he nodded.
"I love kids. You're great with him, too." Levi offered him a half-smile and set Eren in his crib for a moment, handing his little one of the stuffed animals at the end of the crib. He turned back to Marco after admiring his baby for a second.
"I really need to get back to the field and continue their training—they're probably done running by now. Do you think you could watch Eren and make sure that he's comfortable? I'll tell the rest of the cadets that you stayed back to make sure he doesn't need anything." Despite his stoic face, Marco could see a hint of pleading in his eyes, and he nodded.
"Of course I can, Captain Levi." Levi thanked him gratefully.
"Alright, well I'm going to go convince Erwin to make Eren a bottle before I head out. If anything goes wrong, Erwin's across the hall and I'm on the field. Find one of us, and we'll figure out how to fix it. You can put on some cartoons or a movie for Eren; the DVDs are in the middle two baskets on the top row of the TV stand. If he needs a diaper change, you can try to do it or get Erwin to. Please just don't let him sit in it; he would get a rash, which is painful for both him and me. I'll probably make this training say shorter so that I can come back sooner, too, so it'll only be a few hours—"
Marco cut Levi off with a chuckle.
"You really care about him, don't you?"
"More than life itself, yes." Marco smiled at Levi's words.
"I can handle this, and I'll get you or Erwin if something goes wrong. Is there anything else I should know?"
"Just one more thing, really; if Eren gets fussy, you have a few options: cuddle him in the rocking chair, sing to him while bouncing him in your arms, or give him him stuffed puppy, Silk. Silk is a brown puppy with black dots circling its eyes. Those are the only ways that calm him down relatively quickly, from what I've experienced." Marco nodded and told Levi that he would keep that in mind.
Levi turned back to Eren one more time, gave him a kiss on the forehead, and told him that he'd be back later, before he walked out the door. As soon as the door shut, Eren pouted up at Marco, wondering where his caregiver went.
"Aww, it's okay buddy, Levi will be back in a while." Eren just nodded sadly and made grabby hands for Marco.
Marco picked the boy up with some difficulty, balancing him on his hip and bouncing him. Eren sucked on his thumb and held onto Marco's shirt with the other. The freckled boy remembered having seen Eren with a pacifier last time, and he went searching for one with the boy in his arms. A peek into the middle drawer of Eren's changing table revealed multiple pacifiers, and Marco let the boy choose one after removing his thumb from his mouth.
Eren, now suckling on the pacifier contently, closed his eyes and relaxed against Marco's chest. Running, falling, and crying had worn the boy out, and he was in desperate need of a nap. Before he could fall asleep, however, Erwin walked in with a milk-filled bottle. He smiled at the adorable scene in front of him and handed Marco the warm bottle. The boy whispered his thanks to the older man, then settled himself into the rocking chair with Eren in his lap as Erwin left the room.
"Hey, buddy, don't fall asleep on me yet. I have a yummy bottle for you to drink before you take your nap." He held up the bottle to the dozing boy's lips after removing his pacifier, and watched as Eren latched onto it.
He suckled lazily on the milk before getting into a steady rhythm. Marco looked on, awestruck, as the baby drank. He let his mind wander to what it would be like if he had a little of his own, and he knew it would be so incredible that words couldn't even come close to describing it. A small part of him yearned to have this, to be able to give his love and affection to someone while they were this vulnerable; he wanted to have someone that he could cuddle with, could give bottles to, and could show the best parts of himself to. He thought of Jean, and he hoped that, one day, it might be possible for him.
He had been so focused on his thoughts that he had hardly registered the boy in his arms finishing off his bottle. He switched Eren's position and lightly patted and rubbed his back, waiting for the baby to burp. Once he did, Marco began rocking him once again while caressing the boy's hair.
He softly sang ‘Lullaby’ by Sleeping at Last to Eren as he drifted off, then stood and layed him in his crib. He covered the regressed teen up with a blanket, and placed Silk, as Levi had called him, into Eren's arms. Finally, he replaced the pacifier that he had taken out of Eren's mouth to feed him, and twisted the mobile's knob. A beautiful lullaby began playing in the quiet room, and Eren fell asleep almost immediately after.
Marco sat down once again in the rocking chair and thought about his hopes for the future.
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About an hour later, Marco woke Eren up from his nap. Rather than having to deal with a cranky toddler, as Marco had expected, he was met with a far less difficult challenge: a cuddly, nonverbal baby who wanted nothing more than to watch cartoons.
Marco was more than happy to comply with the boy's wishes, but as he checked Eren's diaper, he realized that it would have to wait for a few minutes. He set Eren down on the changing table and pulled a patterned diaper out of the top drawer. He then undid the brunette boy's shortalls and had him lift up so that he could pull them off. The whole time, Eren sucked on his pacifier and buried his face in Silk's fur, still drowsy.
The change was quick, and Eren barely squirmed throughout it, so Marco considered it a win. He put the shortalls back on and snapped the straps into place. Then, he settled Eren on the floor and pulled out a few movies and cartoons for him to choose from. The baby ended up picking 'The Iron Giant,' an adorable movie about a kid befriending a huge robot. In Marco's opinion, the storyline was good, and the movie was both funny and cute. Eren must have thought so too, because he was giggling and babbling to himself behind his pacifier the entire time.
Levi came back towards the end of the movie and took in the scene. He smiles fondly as he watched Eren clap at the giant robot on the screen, and then smirked knowingly at Marco as he registered the longing, admiring expression on his face. He gently tapped on Marco's shoulder, who jumped and turned towards the touch. Levi put a finger to his lips and nodded towards Eren, silently padding to the middle of the room behind his baby.
Eren was so entranced by the movie that he didn't notice his daddy's presence behind him until Levi swooped down and started attacking his face with kisses. Eren squealed loudly and threw himself into Levi's arms without a care for his ankle, and Levi eagerly wrapped his arms around him.
"How was he?" Levi questioned, affection in his tone.
"He was perfect; I gave him a bottle right after you left and then he took an hour-long nap. When he woke up, I changed his diaper and then we put this movie on." Marco told the caregiver.
Levi nodded approvingly.
"And how was it for you?" He smirked once again as Marco rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed.
"It was really good. It made me think about being a caregiver someday, if I'm honest." He smiled sheepishly and Levi smiled.
"That's alright, kid; it isn't all sunshine and rainbows, though. There are bad times, too. As much as it makes me want to cry for him, though, I can't deny that it's worth it. Thank you for all of your help today, too," he turned to Eren, "Did he do well, tiny boy?"
Marco beamed when Eren nodded speedily.
"You heard it here, kid. If Eren thinks you'll do well, then you must be doing something right. A word of advice, if I may?" Marco nodded.
"If this is truly something you want, then you need to talk to your partner about it. If it doesn't go well, then there's not much you can do, but you'll never know if you don't go for it."
Marco left a few minutes after that, contemplating Levi's words. He was right.
'I've just got to go for it.'
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