Chapter Text
No one really told him anything. One moment he was eating breakfast with his friends, trying to protect his bread from Sasha’s eager mouth while steering off Jean’s nasty attempts at flirting with Mikasa, and the next Hanji and Moblit were at his side, steering him away from the table.
Very hurriedly, very secretly, hush-hush. He didn’t even get to finish his meal, and he watched mournfully as Sasha devoured the last remains of his porridge and bread.
Surprise titan experiments? Had titans breached the walls?
Eren wasn’t sure if he wanted to know. He lost his appetite just thinking about it.
Hanji didn’t give him any answers as he was led through the cold castle corridors. She only looked worried, and a bit delirious. He was led to a small room hidden in the furthest corridor on the second floor. Erwin opened the door for them with a solemn greeting, speaking in a very low voice.
Eren felt his heart plummet. Had someone died or something?
Wait. Would they get rid of him?!
The door was closed behind him and he pressed his eyes shut with terror. He wasn’t ready to die-
“Your father is a doctor, correct?” Erwin whispered, standing right beside Eren. “This far from town you are the one we count on to heal Levi.”
Eren snapped his eyes open that fast, staring at Erwin beside him, and then noticing the room they were in, the person lying in the bed against the wall. The window curtains were drawn and the room was too hot, air stale. Captain Levi was lying on the bed looking sweaty and ill with an uncomfortable grimace on his face as he tossed and turned in his sleep.
The coin dropped then. Even though he’d never witnessed it before and even though it was impossible according to the legend, Levi was sick. Seemed to be a cold or the flu. Anyhow, the room was way too hot and he wasn’t wearing enough blankets.
“What happened to Maya?” Eren asked whereas they all hushed him, telling him to whisper. Maya was their field nurse last time he’d checked. He’d seen her two weeks ago when she gave Jean a few stitches on his knee and they all stood around and laughed at him for scraping his knee by falling in the shower.
“Dead,” Hanji offered pitifully. “Died yesterday, actually. Which is why we don’t have any nurses around right now. Could you help us Eren? Huh? Please? Pretty please, please?”
Suddenly Hanji was way too close, all up in his face, breath warm and gross. With a frown he staggered back, trying to make some sense of the situation at hand.
“I’ve never seen Levi sick before,” Erwin admitted, confiding in him, which scared him a little. “I lack experience in this field. Without Levi though, humanity is doomed.”
So. Yet again humanity’s survival lied on Eren’s shoulders. No pressure! He wasn’t even a doctor. He knew the basics though. He’d watched his father a lot. Sometimes he’d treated patients at their kitchen table, when people came by at night, too worried or too poor to book an official appointment. His mother had also been good at remedies, even if most of them had been soothing vegetable soups and make-it-well-kisses.
Make-it-well-kisses. His eyes fell on Levi’s sleeping form. Yeah, he’d save that one for later. Way, way later. He wouldn’t take advantage of someone who was sick and in a vulnerable position.
“I will help,” Eren said, because he didn’t really have a choice anyway. Going against the commander wasn’t an option. And also, he was worried about Levi. He looked really small and weak and fragile lying in that bed. And maybe just maybe Levi would thank him later, maybe give him a hug...
He stopped daydreaming when the adults scrambled for paper and pens, making lists of things they’d grab for him, also planning when and how much Levi would eat. They couldn’t know much about treating sick people. When you were sick you were only meant to drink water and maybe eat a little bit of soup and not a three course meal like Hanji suggested.
Before he knew it he was left alone with his sick captain, a cloth wrapped around his own nose and mouth as he went to work. He started by airing out the room so the air actually smelled good and wasn’t so hot. Then he wrapped two more blanket around his captain’s little body, keeping him nice and warm.
Gently, he placed a hand on his forehead. He was burning hot. A clear fever, but not so high he’d worry. He wet a towel in the bucket of water that Moblit had placed in the room and dabbed Levi’s face, cleaning off the sweat before wetting the towel again, squeezing the water from it and draping it to lie over Levi’s forehead. The uncomfortable frown on his face was gone, instead replaced by a blank expression. It made Eren feel hopeful.
As according to Erwin’s command, Eren wrote down updates in a notebook. He liked to think it was so they’d all learn how to treat sick people by using Eren’s notes as a guide but in reality it was probably to keep Eren in check, and to note what killed Levi in the end.
Lord, if Eren was the reason Levi died he’d never forgive himself. Then again, he’d get killed on the spot too, because without Levi to watch over him no one would be brave enough to be near him, even though it was stupid and Eren literally wasn’t a monster. Well, not fully, only half. Not that people cared about that detail.
He only left the room for rather short period of times. He only had permission to tell Armin and Mikasa of his new job. Because of this, Jean had a blast mocking Eren, certain that he was getting extra writing lessons or something. Idiot. Eren knew how to spell. Most words.
The next time he entered the room he was surprised to find Levi awake with his eyes open. Flustered, Eren rushed to his side and grabbed the now warm towel from his forehead. Levi’s eyes were glassy and he looked weak, and annoyed. Maybe he connected the dots fast because he didn’t ask what Eren was doing there, and maybe Eren’s presence was the reason for his annoyance.
“I need to piss,” Levi grumbled in a rough voice.
Eren felt his cheeks go even hotter. He’d actually seen Levi piss quite a few times but it brought him shame recollecting how he always tried to steal glances of his captain’s dick. Seeing someone’s dick by mistake and actively watching were two very different things.
“Do you want me to lead you to a bathroom or would you rather do it in the potty, sir?”
Eren couldn’t believe he was speaking to his captain, and crush, this way. Hopefully the fever would be high enough to erase all embarrassing memories. He crossed his fingers hopefully behind his back.
Instead of answering the question Levi tried to sit and stand, probably deciding to walk to the bathroom alone. Classic sickness-stubbornness. Eren halted him though, seeing how Levi was shaking all over, shivering and trembling with his fever. Snot ran own his nose as well, just like a child. With fondness blooming in his heart, Eren handed his captain a clean handkerchief, but Levi looked confused so Eren held it against his nose himself.
It was strangely intimate to hold a handkerchief under someone’s nose as they half-heartedly blew into it, some yellow snot ending up on Eren’s hand instead. Eren wasn’t disgusted, he’d seen far worse, and Levi was being super cute right now. He’d never seen him look so cute before. All defenceless and fragile. He held in the back to squeal.
Levi needed help to stand on his shaky legs but he frowned and faced the other way, clearly embarrassed and bothered by the situation as Eren pulled him up from the bed and steadied him with a hand against his back. He led him to the desk in the corner where he placed the potty, making sure that Levi had balance before he left him to it.
While Levi pissed in the potty Eren stood in the opposite corner, pretending to sort some books. His heart raced in his and his cheeks were hot, knowing from the sound of piss smattering against metal that Levi was holding his dick right now, his dick was so near Eren.
Eren was such a pervert.
Don’t look!
“I’m done,” Levi muttered, sounding pretty confused as if he’d forgotten what he was doing there already. Eren sucked in a breath, trying not to look caught. “Have to… wash my hands.”
More like, he needed to lie down and rest some more.
Eren steadied himself before he walked back to his cute captain and grabbed the potty, trying his best not to look into it or breathe as much. Levi didn’t look Eren in the eyes as he put the potty on the other table and grabbed a small bowl and filled it with clean water before placing it on the table in front of Levi for him to wash his hands in. Some grunts later and Levi was back to sleep, hands carefully cleaned before he basically fell into bed and tapped out instantly. Eren tucked him in with a fond smile on his face and then left to empty the potty and grab some more handkerchiefs, and some soup for dinner.
Taking care of Levi was surprisingly easy. He didn’t whine or moan or cry out of self-pity. He spat a string of curse-words whenever he woke up, but they were never directed at Eren. He was a silent sleeper and didn’t seem annoyed with Eren at all. He ate a half bowl of soup when Eren fed him sitting on a chair beside the bed, even though it was very embarrassing and Eren couldn’t meet his eyes out of shyness. Levi’s lips were so soft and pink as he sipped from the silver spoon.
Levi was the most obedient patient he’d seen, even nicer than Armin who’d always received compliments from Grisha, much to Eren’s jealousy.
Hanji and Erwin were relieved when they heard this. Eren headed for the boys dorm when the day was over, but was instantly stopped by Hanji who led Eren into and told him to sleep in the room right next to Levi’s, so he’d hear Levi screams if he needed help. It seemed over the top but later that night Eren was actually woken up by a scream.
He’d fallen asleep the moment he hit the bed, because the bed was much bigger and softer than his bunk and he slept in a silent room for once and not in the barracks with cackling Jean and snoring Connie. All was good until a very scary scream woke him. He was up on his feet in an instant, rushing out the door with a broom as a weapon, when he realized that the sound came from Levi’s room.
With shaky hands he unlocked Levi’s door and hurried inside. Locking someone in was not adviced normally but they couldn’t risk anyone barging into Levi’s room when he was weak and defenceless like this. There was a key in the door if Levi wanted to leave but it was still there and dropped to the floor when Eren entered.
The candle had burned down on the night-stand and it was dark. Eren heard heavy panting and the room was hot despite the small gap in the window he’d left open. Pulling the curtains aside, he let moonlight filter in through the glass. The sight that met him made his heart clench. Levi was lying on his side, having kicked off all blankets, shivering and gasping as he trembled. He looked terrified.
“Sir?” Eren whispered, not sure if he could touch him or not. Screw it. He placed a hand on Levi’s shoulder, gently patting him awake. “Are you okay? Did you have a bad dream?”
Levi didn’t reply, only kept panting. Feeling braver, Eren sat down beside him on the bed and draped himself over him in a loose hug. Levi smelled like sweat, sick-person-sweat. He’d need to bath soon.
“Do you want me to sleep in here?” He asked, even though he’d probably get sick in the process. He knew that fevers could bring hallucinations and nightmares and with Levi’s past that probably wasn’t a good combination. Eren wouldn’t want to dream of his mother’s death, even though he did so quite frequently. He could only imagine what kind of ghosts haunted Levi in his nightmares.
“Cold,” Levi muttered, voice raw. “Hungry.” His tongue was so dry it was hard to hear the words. “T-thirsty.”
Eren bounced up in a second, quickly grabbing the blankets from the floor and tucking his captain in again. He’d been tired, but this was more important than his sleep. The worry for his captain’s health and the need to help was making him alert. He filled a glass with water and placed a hand under Levi’s jaw as he guided the cup to his lips and made sure he drank it all. Then he grabbed the dry bread left from dinner and fed it to Levi in small chunks, soaking it with water when he struggled swallowing it.
He had no idea how long he sat there beside Levi on the bed but eventually Levi stopped shivering, breath calming down as he leaned on Eren. He sighed.
“Why are you here brat?”
Eren’s cheeks blushed. Maybe the fever had went down, if Levi had more clarity now. The nickname made it feel like he was getting his captain back.
“Apparently the nurse died and my father is a doctor so I got the job instead,” Eren rambled. Levi was warm, of course he was he had a fever, and he smelled like a sick person, but Eren still enjoyed it, he rather loved feeling Levi’s body weight lean on him. “If you wonder why I’m here right now it’s because Hanji made me sleep in the room right beside this. If you’re asking why I’m here as in why I exist I’m not really sure...”
Levi snorted and Eren’s heart jolted. Was it a laugh? Did he made Levi smile?
“What’s wrong with me?” Levi said in a weak voice. “Prognosis and shit. When will I be well again?”
“Uhm.” Eren drummed on his knee with his fingers. “It depends on how well you are tomorrow. If you’re worse then I’d say you’ll be sick for over a week. If you’re better then you’ll be good sooner.”
Levi cursed lowly. “I feel like complete shit.”
Eren laughed lightly, turning to glance at his pretty captain in the moonlight. “Yeah, that’s what happens when you get sick. But I think you’ll be good in no time. You’re a very good patient.”
“Huh.”
Levi sighed, and then they were silent. It wasn’t strained. Eren’s heart beat loudly in his chest but if Levi could hear it he didn’t say anything. It sounded like he started drowsing off and Eren made to stand up, but then Levi grabbed his wrist with his clammy hand.
“Don’t go.”
With a heart aching, Eren nodded.
“Okay.”
He slept on the floor that night. He carried the mattress from the other bed into Levi’s room and kept him company for the rest of the night. They kept a candle burning and they could faintly hear the river through the partly open window. Levi fell asleep rather quickly once Eren was settled. Eren lied awake for longer, until the stars faded in the sky. He kept his eyes on Levi’s soft face, wondering what he was dreaming, wondering why he’d asked him to stay. Eren felt safe in his company but he’d always thought it was only him.
But maybe it wasn’t only him...