Ereriweek Days4/5: An Animal in the Rain
Eren Jaeger was running late. Literally running through the streets under the dripping grey sky. It wasn't his fault the tires on his bike were flat. Sure, they'd been flat for the last week, but it wasn't his fault that he had no other mode of transportation. Sure, Levi had offered to pick him up, but he had refused because he had no idea the sky was going to leak today and it's not his fault his alarm didn't go off in time. Sure, he could have set an alarm, but it wasn't his fault that the second to last episode of his show had to end in a cliffhanger. So, with all of those should've-could've-would've's, he was most definitely going to be late for his date with Levi. His shoes soaked in the puddles as he took shortcuts through different allies. He could see the building now, could practically see Levi pacing the living room on the 13th floor as he rounded the corner and immediately slipped to the pavement.
“Sshhit!” He cursed as he prompted himself up on his left elbow. He look at his right hand which was bleeding from where he scrapped it on the pavement. His right elbow and leg had scraped the ground as well and they stung through the coarse wet fabric of his jeans and sweatshirt. Smooth, Jaeger.
He was disgusting now. Soaked through the bone, scraped up, and a total wreck, he should probably just call Levi and reschedule. Eren sat up and crawled to his phone which had fallen from his pocket a few feet away. When he unlocked the screen once he reached it, the bright glow made something shift in the shadows of the sopping box it landed beside. Curiosity caught the better of him and he tilted the phone’s screen into the box and discovered a small calico kitten. She looked up at Eren with warm golden eyes and tilted back ears. He cautiously hung his hand into the opening of the bos. She regarded him skeptically, sniffed the air a couple times before moving closer to sniff his hand she looked at him again, hesitated for a moment, but finally nudged her head against it. She looked far too scrawny to belong to anyone and as he looked at her, he knew he couldn’t just leave her there. But he couldn’t very well take her home either. Their landlord was supposed to be stopping in sometime this week to fix their dishwasher and they aren’t allowed pets. Still, to leave her in the cold rain to fein for scraps didn’t seem fair.
Her voice was high pitched and scratchy, but her purring was loud and reverberating off his chest as she allowed him to tuck her beneath the panel of his sweatshirt. Eren knew it wasn’t the best idea in the world. There was a real chance that he could fuck everything up just by trying, but they’d been dating for almost two and a half months and he hadn’t scared Levi off yet. Still, he had to ask. If not then, he could take the kitten to the shelter, he didn’t want to take her to the shelter but he would if it looked like it would actually scare Levi away.
Leaving a wet trail behind him, he made it to Levi’s door. It opened to Levi with an unbuttoned raincoat and umbrella leaning against the wall. “Jesus, kid, you had me worried.”
Eren smiled bashfully. “S-sorry.”
“You look chilled to the bone.” Levi sighed and started hanging his coat back in the closet. Then, after closing the door behind Eren, he left to grab a towel from the restroom at the end of the hall. Eren shifted the kitten in his sweatshirt to keep her from making noises. “Here.”
He took it with one hand . “Thanks.” He peeled off his shoes and began rubbing it on his head. “I’m just going to dry off real quick, if you don’t mind.”
Levi shrugged and followed him to the end of the hall. “You can wear some of my dry clothes.”
“I don’t know if I can fit into your clothes.” Eren laughed, still cradling the kitten to his chest.
“You’ll find a way to fit because like hell am I letting you on my couch like that.”
Eren laughed again before closing the bathroom door. He let the kitten hop onto the cool marble counter.
“Shh!” He urged her as he peeled himself out of his wet clothing. Only after stripping out of everything else did he realize that his briefs had also been compromised. Awesome, now I have to try to fit into his clothes commando.
“Eren, everything okay?” Levi asked through the door.
He faked a cough. “Yeah, sorry, just clearing my throat.”
“Well, I’ve got your clothes so open up.”
Dammit. Eren picked up the kitten and put her in the shower and wrapped a towel around his hips before he opened the door. “Thanks.”
Levi looked at his bare skin and smirked. “You sure you want to get dressed?”
No. No he did not want to get dressed, but Eren thought about what he was trying to hide from Levi and reluctantly grabbed the clothes from him anyway. Levi just shrugged.
Eren physically winced while Levi’s body went rigid. “Eren, what was that?” Panicking, he tried to simply slam the bathroom door in his face, but Levi caught it before he could. “Eren?”
The tiny calico pranced toward the open door between Eren’s feet.
Levi raised an eyebrow at the kitten.
“Levi, I’m sorry!” Eren began frantically. “It’s just, I was late and running and I fell in the ally and there was this kitten who looks super skinny and sad and I couldn’t just leave her out there!”
“Eren, I can’t just take her.”
“I know, and you don’t have to! Well...not forever…”
“Eren…”
“Just until after my landlord finishes fixing the dishwasher!” Eren pleaded. “I promise that the moment he leaves I’ll come get her! She just need somewhere for a couple days, four tops! Please Levi, just look at her!”
And he did look down at the tiny thing rubbing against his ankle and purring. He looked from her warm golden eyes to Eren’s sparkling emerald ones and sighed in defeat. How could he say no to those? “Fine. Four days tops, but you’re buying all the supplies and shit!”
“Done!” Eren exclaimed before throwing his arms around him.
“And you’re coming over everyday to clean the fucking litterbox!”
“I promise you won’t regret it!” Eren smiled before leaning down to draw the man into a kiss.
“Bitch, I better not.” Levi grumbled against his lips before he not-so-casually pulled that towel sitting round Eren’s hips straight to the floor.
Continuation of days 2 - 3