Pairings/Warnings: Levi/Eren, light angst, fluff, sap, implied sexual situations

It was the first morning in their new apartment when Eren heard the cat.

He was leaning over the counter, brewing coffee and yawning into the back of his hand, stretching sore muscles after a rough night and contemplating how likely he was to get round three this morning if he woke Levi up just right when he heard it. It wasn't a very loud meow, but it was long and persistent and made Eren's brows furrow in sleepy confusion for a minute. But once he gathered his thoughts, Eren glanced to the sliding glass door and laughed. There was a fat, orange tabby cat outside, sitting up up against the door, with one paw pressed against it in anticipation.

"Sorry little buddy," he apologized, feeling a bit guilty considering how expectant the cat was. He wondered whether it was the previous owners' that they dumped outside or whether it was just a stray they had fed. Not that it made any difference really but he hated to imagine it had been dumped there to fend for itself.

Eren carried two mugs of coffee into the box-filled bedroom to his boyfriend, pretending to still be asleep with the covers thrown haphazardly over his gloriously naked body. Unable to resist, he set the mugs on a box near the bed and slid in next to Levi, resting one hand across his abs and burying the other in his hair as he nuzzled into his neck with affectionate bites. Levi didn't move, just let Eren run his teeth up his neck to his ear and back down to his clavicle until he managed to get a sigh of contentment from Levi, releasing some hormone driven shiver of success through his own veins.

"I made coffee," he murmured as he nipped down Levi's stubbled jawline to his lips.

"I can smell it." Eren knew Levi hated obvious statements and morning breath, but Levi indulged him today, letting the kiss linger, and Eren felt his chances at round three were pretty damn good.

"We've got a beggar outside." His lips had begun their downward path across Levi's neck to the lovely dip between his collarbones when he felt Levi tense and paused to look down at him instead.

"A what?"

Eren smiled for Levi's unwarranted concern. "Just a cat at the door, wanting to be fed."

Levi grunted and frowned in a way that seemed like an overreaction given that it was just a cat and not whatever else he had envisioned. Eren's smile widened, amused at his partner's reaction.

"You heard me, right? It's just a cat."

"Cats are disgusting."

Eren laughed at the way Levi said it, like the very word 'cat' tasted bad in his mouth. He stared down into Levi's unamused eyes, trying to figure out what was so offensive about cats.

"A cat shit on your birthday cake or something?"

Levi's eyes narrowed, clearly unimpressed.

"No – but they do shit inside and kick it all over and shed hair everywhere and lick their own assholes and then they lick you. They're disgusting."

"Have you ever even had a cat?" Eren asked, more entertained than not by Levi's vehement explanation.

"No – and I don't want that one either, so don't get any ideas," he commanded and Eren just laughed and reignited their kissing, unwilling to give up on round three, despite being sidetracked.

But the more he thought about that fat little sad cat as they unpacked boxes that day, sitting outside every morning until this apartment was filled, waiting to be fed, the guiltier he felt. It wasn't the cat's fault it's routine had been disrupted. Who knew how long that little guy had gone without being fed.

And so it was the second day in their new apartment that Eren left food for the cat outside.

Needless to say, Levi was not impressed. He sighed and huffed and accused Eren of wanting a pet before instating the silent treatment for a few hours. But he knew Levi would get over it – eventually. After all, it wasn't like he was asking for a pet. If the cat stayed outside, Levi really couldn't argue. And it brought Eren a small amount of joy to run his hand down the cat's back, scratch under its chin, and listen for a minute as it purred it's satisfaction as it ate. Even if Levi glared at him with unwavering irritation until he washed his hands afterward.

But then, two weeks after they moved in, the second cat showed up.

It was a tiny little thing, scrawny really, white with black patches, ribs that showed through its skin, a limp in its back left leg, and half its right ear torn off. It was so pitiful that despite his initial aggravation, Eren didn't have to work that hard to convince Levi that they could easily feed this cat too.

When the third cat joined Fatty and Tiny at the door a month into their lease, Levi's patience was done.

"I don't want a fucking chorus of cats at the door every morning for breakfast!"

Eren cringed as he set two bowls down outside and slid the door shut. Levi did have a point. It was annoying, he had to admit. Three cats meowing at you and running their paws down glass created quite a racket. And since Levi got up almost two hours before Eren went to work and refused to feed them, he was the one who had to suffer the noise. It really wasn't fair to him, especially since he didn't want to feed the first one, and it prompted the big, silent question – exactly how many cats were going to show up at their door?

"Shouldn't have brought your buddies, Fatty," Eren admonished under his breath as he stared down at the happily oblivious cat. "The Jaeger buffet is about to be over."

"They come up to that window all day, you know," Levi continued over his tea cup as Eren washed his hands. "Just because I work from home doesn't mean I don't work."

"I know," Eren replied in his most apologetic tone. "I don't know what to do now. Even if we stop feeding them, it doesn't mean they won't come back."

He grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down at the breakfast table with Levi to watch the cats eat and contemplate the issue. This new one was solid gray and not really skinny or fat. Just average. No name immediately came to mind but then he supposed he wasn't supposed to be naming them.

"If we could only guarantee no more would join them..."

Levi snorted his disbelief at that notion and tapped the keys on his laptop for a moment. The breakfast table had the most natural light available in their apartment – as well as convenient access to the electric kettle for his tea – and therefore was Levi's favorite place to work. Eren had felt guilty for Fatty initially, but now he felt worse for Levi and wished he'd just let it go.

"I'll take over feeding them."

Eren blinked and stared at his partner in disbelief. Literally anything else Levi could've said would've been less of a shock than that after how bitter he had been about the whole thing.

"Why?"

Levi looked up from his computer for a moment at the apparently unexpected question.

"I'll make them go away."

After being with Levi for almost two years, he knew that was a potentially dangerous proposition. Levi didn't fuck around or half-ass anything.

"You're not going to poison them... are you?"

Levi sighed and Eren caught an eye roll from underneath his bangs.

"No."

That answer didn't satisfy Eren much.

"Are you sure?"

There was a tense moment of exacerbation between them, mostly on Levi's part.

"I'm just going to slowly cut them off until they give up," Levi said with a dismissive hand gesture, long fingers reaching for the rim of his cup, not even looking up from the computer screen.

"Oh." It seemed a reasonable plan. At least it was humane. "If you want, then."

And so Eren let Levi take over the task, not thinking much of it again.

Two months into their lease, the cats stopped coming to the door at breakfast.

Truthfully, Eren kinda missed seeing Fatty and Tiny around. Occasionally he'd catch a glimpse of one of them – or some neighbor's cat skirting across the patio – on the weekend but then they weren't home much on weekends and when they were they were more likely in the living room or bedroom, enjoying each other's company in comfort and avoiding the rooms in which they typically worked. But Levi seemed happier and that was all Eren really wanted so he let it go.

In fact, Eren figured their cat food expenditures would be non-existent soon... Until three months in when they suddenly went up as Levi started to buy premium cat food and not the grocery store stuff Eren had been buying.

"They eat a smaller amount therefore they aren't around as much," Levi explained and Eren let it drop.

Although Levi often broke this rule, being older and a perfectionist by nature, they tried not to give each other shit about the way they handled chores the other didn't have to do. But that didn't explain how the cat food seemed to get used up quicker than it did before... Either way, for his libido's sake, Eren chose not to start that fight.

And everything continued along okay until about five months after they moved in and Eren got sick.

It was just a head cold, nothing too bad, but he decided to stay home that day and rest. Levi seemed particularly motivated to keep him in bed, so he obliged, taking the opportunity to catch up on some much needed sleep.

Until he woke in a coughing fit and decided that some of Levi's tea might be the perfect thing to soothe his throat and help him go back to sleep.

He anticipated Levi would be in the kitchen, but the only evidence of him was his laptop, left abandoned. Eren went to the counter, poured out the tepid water and refilled the kettle, getting himself a cup and a packet of tea while waiting for the water to boil.

And then he heard it.

At first, he thought it was just a product of the cold, his head feeling foggy to begin with. But it became more and more distinct as he listened more closely. It was definitely meowing.

Amused, Eren realized Levi must still be feeding Fatty and Tiny and that gray cat, if it still showed up. So much for getting them to leave.

Filled with a bit of self-righteous satisfaction, Eren went to the door to catch Levi in the act and maybe poke fun at him a little. But his mouth dropped open in disbelief when he got there and all he could do was stare.

There were no fewer than fifteen cats on their patio and Levi was in the center of them all, soaking in the affection. There were two cats on his lap – one of which was Tiny – three at his feet and legs, others eating or just lounging about like they belonged there, even Fatty was there still, sunning himself on the bench next to Levi. It was ridiculous.

Eren wasn't sure that he was even going to disturb Levi. Honestly, he had half a mind to just turn and walk away and pretend the whole thing hadn't really happened. But then the kettle started to whistle and Levi turned his head towards the door and their eyes serendipitously met. Levi's eyes went wide, like a kid caught in his parent's liquor cabinet – but then Eren wouldn't want to hazard a guess at what he looked like, slack-jawed and all.

He clinked his teeth shut as he regained consciousness, sliding the door open for an explanation.

Eren had wanted to say something that if not witty was at least intelligible. But instead all that came out was –

"The fuck?"

Levi blushed. At least, as much as was possible for him. Which essentially meant his ears pinked and he turned his eyes away and down to the cats in his lap. Unfortunately for Eren, such a reaction from Levi was irresistibly adorable to him and he found a grin twitching at his lips despite his best effort to keep a straight face.

"This is an... an unreasonable number of cats," Eren admonished – though it came out much more like a tease than a serious reprimand. "I thought you were going to get rid of them – not invite all their friends to a smorgasbord."

Levi couldn't say anything to defend himself. He knew this situation was indefensible. And Eren certainly wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to milk this for all it was worth.

"I thought you hated cats," he continued, taking a step forward. "That they were disgusting."

"I… I didn't mean to..." was all Levi could manage, his fingers moving through Tiny's fur, comforting him in his embarrassment.

"It's okay." Eren smiled as he chased Fatty away and sat down on the bench next to Levi. "It's cute."

Levi frowned, his hand making a fist in the fur and Eren laughed, knowing Levi hated nothing more than to be deemed 'cute' by his significantly younger boyfriend. But Eren didn't care. Levi was cute.

"It's okay," he repeated, leaning down a little to attempt eye contact. "I understand."

He did, to an extent. Anything that made the dark things in Levi's past that he refused to talk about bearable was fine by him. And Eren knew how a pet could help.

Gently he slid his fingers under Levi's chin and forced him to look up at him, his grey eyes clouded – much to Eren's surprise. He brought his face forward, so that their noses were nearly touching.

"Hey," Eren said, lips softening into a small, genuine smile, not the big joking grin. "We can keep feeding the cats."

And that was a promise he sealed with a kiss.