Work Text:
Levi was supposed to be the badass in this relationship. Literally, the first time he'd attempted to flirt with Eren, he'd used the whole I eat nails for breakfast without any milk bit. Eren was a different story. He didn't like bees or automatic toilets, he refused to take things out of the oven because he was scared of burning himself, and Levi had accidentally caused him to piss his actual pants by jumping out of their closet and scaring him. None of that meant Eren wouldn't beat the shit out of anyone who dared to aggravate that hot-headed temper of his, even if the offender was twenty times his size with neck tattoos and a face like a monster truck. (He was a real person, Levi won't ever forget Eren's glorious black eye that survived for so long, they named it Rasputin)
The point was that Levi was supposed to be unflappable. He was too fucking proud to let himself be scared so easily, especially with something stupid like this.
Another crash of thunder, and Levi dropped the glass of water he was holding, distantly hearing it shatter on the hard tile of the bathroom floor.
Honestly.
This is so fucking stupid, Levi told himself, frozen stiff as the liquid started soaking into his socks. It's just a fucking loud noise, there's nothing to be scared of—
The next thunderclap had him dropping to the wet floor, shaking hard enough to hurt his clenched jaw and scrabbling backwards until he felt his spine collide with the solid surface of the bathtub. The ringing in his ears was loud enough to drown all the sound around him, except for the thunder. Even with his eyes shut tight, he could still see the blinding flashes of lightening through the skin of his eyelids, and the dreadful anticipation of waiting for the crack of thunder made his nose sting with panicked, unshed tears. He managed to pull himself into the bathtub, knocking over everything around him with his frenzied shaking.
You can wait it out. You've done it before, you'll do it again. He repeated the mantra in his head, over and over again until the words blended together and ended up being overpowered by the pounding of his heart and the ringing in his ears. He felt like he was drowning, like every clap of thunder was pushing his head underwater and holding it there until he couldn't do anything more than choke. The storm was in his lungs, surging up to angrily scrape out of his throat and mouth and nose. Levi could no longer tell the difference between the thunder and the horrible sound of his own sporadic breathing.
Blinding whiteness filled the previously dark sanctuary of his closed eyelids, but it couldn't have been lightning. Lightening flashed, it didn't linger, and this light was still wrapping around his brain, strangling him with its cruel intensity. I'll be okay, it's almost over, it has to be almost over, who the fuck is scared of thunderstorms, I'll be okay, I'll be okay, I'll be okay. Levi didn't know why he always wasted time chanting to himself, trying to reassure himself when his mind was scrambled to pieces, trying to process too much at once and sending feedback to Levi in the form of an angry, terrified tempest.
All the growing irritation in Levi's head was scorched away once again by a thunderclap so loud, he swore he felt the entire bathtub shake underneath his curled up body. There was no warning, no identifiable flash of lightening seeing as his mind was already filled with white, and he couldn't do this anymore. Not alone.
As much as he didn't want Eren to see him like this (he really didn't, the brat would tease him until he died), it was too much for him to deal with. Figures that one of the biggest storms Levi's ever had to suffer through had to happen at night, while Eren was so conveniently present a few doors down. He took a deep breath and tried to shout Eren's name, but he wasn't sure what came out of his throat when he was cut off by more thunder. There was something salty in his mouth, making it harder to breath than it already was, and everything was too loud, overwhelmingly loud, and Levi took a shaky breath, preparing himself to yell again, only to be interrupted by warm hands, lifting him up just enough to slip a giant pair of headphones over his ears.
He didn't even have time to appreciate the silence before he was being lifted again, just enough for a warm body to slide against his and tuck him close. He pressed his face into Eren's neck, focusing on the feeling of the long fingers tracing patterns into his shoulder and calming the sobs trying to rip their way out of his throat. Another flash of lightening had him pressing closer still, throwing a leg over Eren's hips and clinging to him like his life depended on it. Eren's other arm draped over Levi's waist, running gentle fingers down his tense spine and coaxing Levi's mind further from hysteria.
The silence was blissfully soothing, and he thanked every existing higher being that he'd decided to buy Eren these expensive noise-cancelling headphones for his birthday. The younger man's neck did a much better job of blocking out light than Levi's eyelids, and Levi could feel his heartbeat start to slow in the oasis of calm Eren had created for him. The only thing in his head now was the soft pulse of static coming from the headphones, and with the firm warmth of Eren's body wrapped around him, Levi's drained and exhausted consciousness finally let him relax.
He didn't know how long he stayed like that, wrapped in Eren's arms with fingers tracing patterns into his back and shoulder, but eventually Eren shifted to slide the headphones off Levi's ears and place them outside of the bathtub. The smaller man was hesitant to break the silence, unsure of how his boyfriend would react at having to literally hold Levi together because of a fucking thunderstorm. He resolved to stay quiet, face burning in shame as he kept his nose tucked into Eren's neck.
"Levi," Eren whispered, moving his fingers up to card through his lover's black, silky tresses, "It's over, the storm's over. Are you okay?" Levi nodded against his neck, reluctant to move from where he'd hidden himself. "You have some cuts from the glass on the floor, will you let me clean them up?" Levi nodded again, wincing as he finally noticed the stinging in his palms and around his ankles.
Somehow, Eren managed to get out of the tub with Levi still in his arms before setting him down on the toilet seat and grabbing the first aid kit from the wall cabinet. He silently picked the tiny shards of glass from Levi's foot and ankle with tweezers, leaving the smaller man free to look around the bathroom and avoid Eren's eyes. Most of the broken glass was pushed to the far side of the bathroom, and the bright overhead lights were on, glaring down on the tile harshly. Eren must have turned them on when he found him all crying and pathetic in the bathtub. Great.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Eren murmured quietly, swiping over the cuts on Levi's ankle with disinfectant. Levi opened his mouth, ready to retort with something sarcastic, but when he looked down at Eren's face and saw nothing but concern, he swallowed his words, choking on the guilt in his throat.
"I— I didn't want you to see me like that. It's fucking pathetic, I shouldn't—"
"No one's invincible, Levi." The smaller man's mouth snapped shut at Eren's words, and he couldn't think of anything to say as Eren started cleaning up the cuts on his hands. He worked in silence for awhile before finally closing the first aid kit, standing up and pulling Levi to his feet with him. Levi didn't move, just kind of... stood there, staring at the ground and feeling so deliciously stupid.
"Hey," Warm fingers slipped under Levi's chin, coaxing his face up until he had no choice but to meet Eren's viridian stare. "I love you, yeah? I almost had a fucking heart attack when I heard you scream." He closed his eyes and leaned forward until his forehead touched Levi's, "I just want to be here for you. It's okay to be scared, but you shouldn't have to be alone to deal with it."
"Who the fuck is scared of thunder?" Levi muttered, picking at the sleeves of his shirt and staring at his bandaged ankle.
"Who the fuck is scared of automatic toilets?" Eren retorted softly, pulling Levi's fingers away from his shirt and into his own hands. "C'mon, if we go back to bed now we can still catch a few hours of sleep before we meet up with Hanji and Erwin for breakfast." Levi let himself be tugged back into their bedroom and tucked under the sheets, wrapped himself around Eren's warm body and closed his eyes. All pride aside, he supposed it was much nicer to get through thunderstorms with a little help.
He could always redeem himself tomorrow, or really later today he supposed, but right now, he let himself be lulled to sleep by the sound of rain against their windowpane and the soft huff of Eren's breathing.