[It ends all too soon - ever too soon. Eren parts from him for a breath, and Levi echoes it, grey eyes remaining closed for a long, lingering moment. Gently, affectionately, slender fingers still comb through Eren's short hair, savoring that feeling of closeness, closeness, closeness with the boy he couldn't bear to be close to.

[Levi doesn't know the Hell that Eren faces in his own mind, but it's clear now, at least, that there is one. He wants to understand - needs to understand, in fact, because a difference must be made, a solution must be found. This fight won't end on the grounds of defeatism. He won't allow it. He can't.

[Especially now.]

We need to get back. [His voice, for what it's worth, is gentle.]

When it's safe, I'll meet with you. We'll figure out what to do next.

I need you to trust me until then.