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The words fell hurriedly off his tongue. “W-wait, Levi!” The change in demeanor was sudden enough to get the captain to look over his shoulder briefly.
Eren gripped the bars of his cell, his face pressed between them. His mouth opened silently; staring. He probably didn't expect Levi to actually humor him.
Levi was losing his patience. “Spit it out, pisshead.”
“Is it true?”
The urge to cup his stomach was instinctive, and Levi knew he would regret giving into that reflex.
But that was all the confirmation Eren needed.
His eyes widened, slumping against the bars. “How…?”
“How?” Levi parroted, sounding offended at the question. “How else are brats made?”
The response was immediate. “Don't call them that.”
The defensiveness gave Levi pause. He had not expected that. He hadn't expected any of this.
Eren’s face fell against the bars, his eyes closed. He looked stressed. The petty side of Levi couldn't help but feel pleased at the sight. The bastard deserved it and so much more.
Pensive silence fell between them. So much was left unsaid. They never talked about it. That night.
“Can I…” Eren mumbled, his eyes half lidded. “I know I don’t deserve but-” His breath caught and he paused.
Levi swallowed thickly. Then again Eren begged. “Can I?” He felt no pull or desire to fulfill the request. He was still rightfully bitter at how their last parting played out. Levi studied his expression carefully. The slight lapse in his breath, his wide eyes, distantly hopefully.
Levi closed the distance between them until only the bars stood between them. He looked to the floor as he shrugged off his green official coat, it fell between his feet. As he worked down the buttons of his undershirt he stole a glance at Eren. He looked…breathless. Anticipation rolling off him. His eyes were so focused. Focused on him.
Levi nearly fumbled with the last button.
Without breaking eye contact, he reached between the cell to pull Eren’s hand through, he felt Eren tense at the contact but didn’t say anything.
Levi placed his hand square on his stomach, he tried not to shiver when he felt Eren’s thumb twitch. He realized Eren wasn’t even looking at him anymore.
Eren’s hand trailed down, feeling the small slope of his stomach. It was an innocent act, but his fingers were dangerously close to his hip bone and other assets. And these few months alone had left…much to be desired.
“I didn’t think I could ever…” Levi trailed off, unsure why he even said anything.
Eren’s eyes flickered to his. The light of the adjacent torch highlighting the shadows of his sculpted face. “I know.” he said gently.
Right. Eren did know all about that, didn’t he? His mind wandered the haze of their first and last night together. The way Eren touched him, kissed him, loved him. He vaguely remembered talking about it through tears of pleasure, of his inability to be a good omega. There were reasons that heat suppressants weren’t advised to be used ceaselessly. But war took priority over his personhood, and no one could afford humanity’s strongest soldier to be inoperative.
Levi’s mouth opened reluctantly, but before he could get a word in Eren gasped. He instantly knew why.
A kick.
The first one.
Emotions flickered on Eren’s face faster than Levi could collect. Pride. Shame. Regret. Joy. Sorrow.
His hand was still stuck in a gentle caress and Levi lurched away, pulling his shirt around himself. Too much. It was too much.
Their eyes met with silent reluctant understanding. Levi was the first to look away and fiddled with the buttons of his shirt. He could still feel Eren’s heated gaze on him, burning into the side of his skull. The abyss ever growing between them, yet still never managing to swallow them whole. Levi almost prayed it did. To end this perpetual dance. He was so tired.
“I’m sorry for leaving you.” Oh how he wished Eren had kept his mouth shut.
“Are you going to stop?” He questioned.
Silence. If anything, there was even more resolve in his gaze.
Levi clicked his tongue. Flimsy aggravation masking the very real fear he felt inside. “Expected.”
“I don’t want you-or our baby- to get hurt, so please-” He stressed.
“Our baby,” he tested the words on his tongue, finding it repulsive. Maybe once it wouldn’t have been. In another life, he mused, where he wasn’t humanity's strongest and Eren wasn’t…
Levi pulled his overcoat back on, his small bump once again hidden, forgotten. He will continue to fight until his last breath. That he vowed.
“Levi…”
Footsteps echoed as he made his way through the dingy cell.
“Levi!”
He started to close the door behind himself, pausing to take one more look. Eren’s hands hooked by his sides, curled up into fists, his gaze hidden by the shade of his hair but Levi never saw him more clearly. For he always would be: The devil of paradise.