They'd returned to their bunker from battle, and Eren dragged himself to the fridge with what little strength he could muster. He pulled out a half empty glass of milk, vaguely aware that Heichou had been drinking from it the morning before.

He plopped onto the chair, cringing as it creaked beneath his weight.

Just as he was about to take a sip, a purple stone had been tossed onto the table before him.

Eren startled, spilling the milk across his face as his arm jerked.

Levi looked back down at him evenly, gaze never faltering from Eren's with it's intensity.

Eren quickly glanced at the stone, turning back to see the back of Heichou's head as he began to walk away.

"Wait!" he called out, rising from his chair so quickly he had knocked it back. The clatter echoed throughout the small room.

Levi stayed as he was.

"What is this? I don't understand … " His brow furrowed in confusion as he picked the stone up. It felt smooth. Cold between his fingers.

"It's an amethyst."

"An amethyst?"

"To protect you," he said simply. Eren could see the muscles of the backs of his thighs and buttocks clenching as he remained rooted in place. His fists were clenched as well.

Eren felt a blush heating up across his face. "Uh … I … thank you, Heichou!" he said as he bowed forward deeply, the stone clutched tightly in his fist.

Levi scoffed. "Learn your mythology before you realize what you're thanking me for. Amethyst is used as protection to help those who don't tolerate alcohol well. I fully expect you to repay my time for dragging your ass back to your filthy cot after you passed out drunk from that one little bottle of sake."

Eren felt a different kind of heat coursing through his veins. His fist clenched around the stone, and he bit down sharply on his lip, trying to calm the sudden electricity spiking through the air around him.

"Understood, Heichou," he said, voice hard.

Levi walked out with a curt "dismissed".

As he lay in his bed hours later, unable to fall asleep, Levi spoke into the empty darkness: "and to protect myself from falling in love with you like a drunken fool."