Erwin was silently painting the carved lines as Levi tried his best to slow down his work so he will have at least, an ephemeral eternity with Erwin for Erwin is a busy man that had too many things to worry about and Levi was certain that he, Erwin, will not have time for romance.

As he carved lines down the wooden stool, he thought of burying his feelings and he did it while he was carving the lines. An outline of lavender began to appear but it was unfinished. Levi's eyes ran through the fine lines and gazed at them like it was something that can comfort him.

He could see Erwin in his mind, bloodied with torn limbs and he was certain that he was the one who did it but everything was fine since it was all in his head.

Later on, he was convinced that he held no more feelings for the knight and that he wasn't a sinner anymore as what the people who brought him up would say.

Meanwhile, Erwin was uncomfortable with the silence that Levi was offering. Levi always talked to him most of the time, no matter how absurd Levi's topics were.

"Do you think men can possibly give birth?" Was one of Levi's absurd statements and Erwin chuckled a bit as he reminisced the things Levi used to say as a substitute to the silence that Levi was giving off as of the moment.

Levi put the carving tool down and looked at the little scrapes of wood that were present on the floor of his room. He did not really notice Erwin smiling to himself for the mess was keeping him occupied. He clicked his tongue since untidy things always bothered him.

The taller man didn't pay him any mind as he dipped his thin paintbrush on a goop of violet and added a small dot of white to the top of the brush. He started painting the second lavender and he hummed as he did.

"Levi," He said to the squire who was gathering the thin strips of wood. "Would you want something else to add so that the lavenders would not look demotic?"

Levi did not reply immediately and focused on picking up the wood carvings.

"Well, if you could burnish the lavenders-" Levi suggested but Erwin cut him off with a question.

Erwin placed the palette filled with diverse drops of colors on the floor, careful to not spill any of it. "Could you please tell me what burnishing is?"

Levi looked up to him, one brow raised. "You do not know what burnishing is?" Levi inquired the man who shook his head.

"I am not fully acquainted with art." Erwin admitted as he folded his hands. "So please enlighten me about it." Erwin stated as he reached for the pallete and handed it to Levi. "Here."

Levi accepted it and Erwin gave him the brush. He began to brush at the lavenders but he used green and painted the bottom part of the lavender and he added a little bit more of the mixture of violet and white to blend the green in so that it would not look outrageous. Erwin leaned forward, eyeing Levi's hands as he painted through the used to be plain, flat, violet lavenders.

He smiled at the talent Levi was showing and said, "So, is this burnishing?"

"Aye." Levi replied as he added little white dots around the sides of the lavender. "This is burnishing."

"So, where did you learn to do art?" Erwin asked as he saw Levi add little orange dots over the the white ones and Erwin could see that Levi was being careful enough to not cover the white dots fully with the orange ones and he could see that Levi was trying to make the white dots look like the shadow or highlight, whichever was it.

"My uncle..." Levi said as he covered the white dots partially with the orange ones. "Aside from teaching me survival, he taught me art which was not really expected from an executioner like him. He taught me all I know about art and he always told me that the best art comes from pain." He stopped talking and began pondering if him talking about his uncle, Kenny, was a good idea.

Erwin analyzed his sayings and came to a conclusion that maybe, Levi was making art from pain. "Are you pained about something that you decided to put art to this chair?"

The raven-haired man sighed in exasperation. "Look, I do not really believe that every great art came from pain." He added. "And if you want some reason behind this art I am making with some relation to pain, I would say that it was a pain in the ass so I decided to paint some lavenders in it."

Erwin let loose a hearty laugh. "Very funny, Levi!" He exclaimed and as Levi watched, he could see Erwin's blue eyes laughing too and it was a beautiful sight, something Levi would want to paint so he can keep this cherished scene forever.

He looked away and continued painting although he did not seem to have heart on painting anymore. He put down the brush and swiped imaginary sweat on his forehead. "I am tired of this one," He pointed at the chair. "I will continue this later on."

Erwin just smiled, smiled like he always did and he knows deep inside that he is a fool and he was one person who decided to be one.

Such a big fool.

"Alright." Erwin said, standing rigidly. "Also, we have some mission to do this afternoon. Are you available this afternoon?" The man asked courteously.

Levi looked up to him, like he always did since he was short. "Sure, I have nothing better to do this afternoon. It's turning to be bleak and boring and the lavenders are not interesting anymore after I have stared at it for so long."

Erwin frowned. "So are you saying that you're sick of my residence?" His brows furrowed as his hands formed into a gesture of disbelief.

I'm lying... Levi thought.

"Somewhat," Levi said with blunt honesty. "I'm sick of sitting here all day. Also, you did not want me to do any of the housework so I am unamused to the bone no matter how breathtaking the location of the manor is."

Erwin gasped in offense. "What?" He grabbed the smaller man's shoulders and looked directly into his eyes as he hoped that he would reach Levi's soul for someone had said: "The eyes are the windows to a soul."

Levi shook his head in annoyance. "Just..." He sighed deeply. "I apologize for my words and let us now keep this chair somewhere." He pointed at the half-done chair. "Or else I'll throw it out of the window."

"Well, is the attic a good choice?"

•••

Levi was chilly and his spine shook occasionally. He was not wise enough to bring a cloak to warm him and he's greatly upset by it. He was only wearing his usual attire, excluding his vest. The spring was sunny but the rushing winds were cold.

Erwin said that they were going to this squire camp to let him socialize and be not bored but Levi did not really like the idea. It reminds him that he'll probably see the boy he picked at one time.

Surprisingly, Erwin brought Mikasa with him and Mikasa was tailing them with her golden horse which she named Frey. Levi thought about how he did not name his horse so he decided to do so.

"Hm," Levi said in thought. "I will call my horse, Loki."

Mikasa laughed as soon as Levi ended his sentence. "Very funny but are you just naming your horse something related to Norse mythology because I named mine Frey?"

Levi narrowed his eyes. "Shut up, Loki can hear you." He said as he tried to cover the ears of his black horse. "He will be offended!"

"Ha!" Mikasa shot back. "You sound like a pathetic, blithering idiot!"

Levi rolled his eyes, preparing himself to say something smart but Erwin interrupted their debate.

"Now, now, you two. Be silent."

The two hushed themselves but that did not stop them from glaring at each other.

So sorry if this chapter is boring. Please abide with me. :D

(I know some of y'all might hate this story telling stuff but I want it here...)
Also, I had long week this week. I joined an art competition. I got a 4(which is the highest score the judges can give an artist) as a rating. I didn't really expect it to be that well received but yeah. It was totally unexpected.

See ya in the next chapter! Love y'all!