This is stupid. I shouldn't have to do this.

Eren sits, pouting, next to his mom in one of the hard chairs in the waiting room.

I don't need to see a therapist. I don't want to talk about my feelings, and I definitely don't want to talk about my weird dreams.

"Eren Jaeger?" a somewhat short man calls from the door. Eren stands and walks to the door in the back of the room. He glares at his mom for making him do this before slipping past the therapist into a new room. On one side of the room there is a large black stained wood desk with a black leather chair behind it, and on the other side there is a love seat and a large couch, both also upholstered with a serious black leather. On the walls are some fancy looking certificates showing the therapist's various degrees and qualifications. The real only color in the otherwise monochromatic room are the books contained in the white book shelves that line three of the walls, the fourth wall largely taken up by a window, covered in drops of rain from the storm outside. The room is impeccably neat and clean, not one thing out of place. For a moment, Eren is frozen, intimidated, but a light shove on his back from the therapist snaps him out of his fear. He takes a seat, rebelliously propping his muddy shoes on one arm of the shiny black leather couch. The scowling therapist manages to scowl even deeper, and Eren smirks. The therapist smacks Eren's shoes off of the couch before sitting in the matching love seat, making sure that his suit doesn't wrinkle when he sits down.

Eren stares over at the bookshelves, taking comfort in the brightly colored spines, not wanting to look at the therapist. The therapist, however, keeps his narrow, steel eyes fixed on Eren, studying his bored face.

"Eren, my name is Levi, and for the next few months, I will be your therapist and emotional support."

"Great." Eren replies, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He rolls his eyes in annoyance.

Eren turns to face the therapist, taking in his appearance. Levi has a pale, pointy face with prominent cheekbones. His face is set in a scowl, and his eyes are narrowed, as if perpetually glaring at something he is displeased with. The clear lack of sleep shows underneath his eyes, making him look even more grouchy. His raven black hair is somewhat long on top, but buzzed underneath, and paired with his severe black suit and tie, he looks as if he stepped off a photoshoot for an ad featuring the latest in suave business suits. Levi is shorter than Eren, but is clearly well built underneath the sharp suit.

He looks vaguely familiar, but I can't place where I know him from… Eren thought to himself.

"I've been told that you suffer from poor sleep due to nightmares. What are these nightmares about? Are they all similar, or are they all very different?"

Eren puts a finger on his chin, thinking.

"They are all similar. I can't remember all of them very well, but the one I had last night was the worst…" Eren shivers.

Levi raises his eyebrows and stops scribbling on his legal pad.

"Oh? What do you remember?"

"It haunts me… I was sitting in a black and white office, and there was this really, really short angry guy, and I had to talk to him for hours! Oh my god, he was so annoying, with a lot of questions, and I wasn't allowed to leave until I answered all of his questions, all of which were incredibly stupid…"

As Eren went on, Levi was looking increasingly more pissed, a vein throbbing on his forehead. After another minute of Eren describing his current situation, Levi cut him off.

"Oi, brat. Are you going to take this seriously or not?"

"I'm taking this very seriously." Eren nods his head vigorously.

Levi sighs loudly.

"What grade are you in, brat?"

"Doesn't it already say all of that on your chart? My name, age, grade, and so on?"

"Yes, but I want you to tell me. What grade are you in?"

"I'm a junior in high school."

Levi nods.

"Favorite class?"

"I don't have to tell you." Eren crosses his arms defiantly, causing Levi to sigh again.

"You're a stubborn one, aren't you?"

Eren smiles and nods, proud of himself.

"I'm willing to wait. You're my last appointment of the day, so I don't have anyone coming after you. I can and will wait for you to answer my question."

"Then I guess you'll be here all night. Hope you didn't want dinner."

"That's fine. I'll just have my receptionist bring me something."

Eren, being strong-willed, closes his mouth and says nothing, staring out the window at the falling rain. For half an hour, they sit in near silence, the only sound being the clock on the wall ticking away, and Levi's black pen scratching away on his legal pad. Levi eventually stands, walks over to his desk and makes a quick call before returning to stare sharply at Eren. Eren meets his eyes for a minute before grunting and turning away. A few minutes later, the receptionist peaks her head in and hands Levi some fast-food, having a brief, quiet conversation with him before leaving. Levi eats his dinner in front of Eren, the corner of his mouth twitching upward in delight when Eren's stomach growls obnoxiously.

In this moment, Eren sees a glimpse of one of his dreams. A man with jet black hair sits on the other side of the bars, the faintest grin dancing on his face as he eats. Eren hold his stomach, rumbling with hunger, the chains connecting to cuffs around his wrists clanking when he moves.

"Are you alright?" Levi asks, concerned, startling Eren from his vision. Eren realizes that he had been holding his stomach with one hand, and his head with the other, and he quickly drops his hands into his lap.

"Here." Levi offers Eren a single french fry. Eren doesn't want to accept it, but his stomach feels like it is eating at him from the inside, so he begrudgingly takes the offering.

"Thanks." Eren mumbled under his breath, putting the fry into his mouth, almost letting out a moan of delight when the hot, crisp, and salty fry hits his tongue. Levi arches an eyebrow at Eren, causing him to blush, thoroughly embarrassed.

He's kinda cute… He reminds me of someone, but I can't place where I know him from… Levi thought to himself.

Levi offers the remaining fries to Eren, and Eren accepts them without hesitation, scarfing them down. Levi watches him eat feverishly, remembering a dream from long ago…

Levi takes a bite of bread as he watches the boy inside the dungeon. He's a monster, but Levi is sure that he can take him down if he needs to. This thought gives Levi confidence, and he lets a small smile slip through his mask. But in this moment, the boy looks entirely human, so sad and pathetic, shackles on his wrists and legs creating a lot of noise as he covers his stomach with one hand. A loud gurgling escapes from his stomach, and Levi sighs, offering a single steamed potato to the boy on the other side of the bars. The boy looks up at him and apprehensively takes the offering, his green eyes filled with hate and fear, with the tiniest hit of hope. He devours the potato, and Levi sighs again, already plotting how he is going to train the monster they called Eren Jaeger.

Levi returns to reality with a gasp, his eyes growing wide.

"Eren?"

Eren looks up at the therapist, his green eyes filled with the same hate and fear, with the tiniest hint of hope. Levi's heart twinges, threatening to break as all of his dreams, no, memories, come flooding back to him.

"You can return home now."

Eren's face is surprised and confused for a moment, but then he quickly stands and leaves, not wanting to be there a second longer than he has to be. As the door closes behind him, Levi puts down his food and walks over to the window to watch Eren walk with his mom to the car. Levi puts a hand over his mouth, and as the car drives away through the rain, taking Eren far away, a single tear rolls down Levi's pale cheek.

"Eren…"