If Erwin could know that fear, that drive, he would do whatever he could to set it to rest; Levi is enough, and he always has been, no matter the guilt he carried telling him otherwise. So many of the things that went wrong were outside his real control, or a result of Erwin's decision. It's painfully obvious how thoroughly he puts himself into everything he does, how hard he tries. It's always been enough - more than enough - for Erwin.
He takes the critical look, hardly any different from the last time Levi saw him healthy, albeit missing an arm. Perhaps he could find a way to remedy that, here.
The talk a while more, ordering more tea as needed, their legs still resting against one another under the table. Erwin can't find a convenient excuse to reach out and touch him again, though the desire is there. He listens as Levi tells him of the things that happened after his death, nodding quietly or making soft, attentive sounds. He studies the subtle changes in his expression, the movement of his lips, the shifts in his eyes. The damaged right one is becoming less and less strange, the scar running the length of his face less jarring. Many things are different, but so many more are the same, and he is still wonderfully, beautifully, Levi.
As he comes to the end of his story, Erwin is silent for a few moments, holding all of it in his heart. It ached, to know what they had suffered. To have finally found the truth, the edge of the walls and the shores of their island, only to find the whole world against them. Erwin doesn't waste time dwelling on what he would have done; it wouldn't make any difference against what had actually happened. The horror of their home turning against them in militant regime turns his stomach. But at least some of them had survived.
And Levi...
Erwin remembers seeing him there, at the end. Alone, amidst the tearful reunions of the others with their loved ones. At the time, it had been little more than memory, without real feeling, unable to show that he had been really there. He is thankful, grateful, that he'd been given the opportunity to really acknowledge his sacrifices.
That it was enough.
"...I was there," he says quietly. "In that moment, and in others. We all were, watching over you. Just beyond the veil."
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He takes the critical look, hardly any different from the last time Levi saw him healthy, albeit missing an arm. Perhaps he could find a way to remedy that, here.
The talk a while more, ordering more tea as needed, their legs still resting against one another under the table. Erwin can't find a convenient excuse to reach out and touch him again, though the desire is there. He listens as Levi tells him of the things that happened after his death, nodding quietly or making soft, attentive sounds. He studies the subtle changes in his expression, the movement of his lips, the shifts in his eyes. The damaged right one is becoming less and less strange, the scar running the length of his face less jarring. Many things are different, but so many more are the same, and he is still wonderfully, beautifully, Levi.
As he comes to the end of his story, Erwin is silent for a few moments, holding all of it in his heart. It ached, to know what they had suffered. To have finally found the truth, the edge of the walls and the shores of their island, only to find the whole world against them. Erwin doesn't waste time dwelling on what he would have done; it wouldn't make any difference against what had actually happened. The horror of their home turning against them in militant regime turns his stomach. But at least some of them had survived.
And Levi...
Erwin remembers seeing him there, at the end. Alone, amidst the tearful reunions of the others with their loved ones. At the time, it had been little more than memory, without real feeling, unable to show that he had been really there. He is thankful, grateful, that he'd been given the opportunity to really acknowledge his sacrifices.
That it was enough.
"...I was there," he says quietly. "In that moment, and in others. We all were, watching over you. Just beyond the veil."