Dangerous Territory

Apples and Honey

Levi woke up with a slight headache. He was not drunk, yet he felt hot, and as he swallowed, his throat ached. At least he was not on yet another cot. It felt like that was all he had slept on for a year: floors and cots.

A bed. A nice smell. Food? Someone was touching his head, a gentleness he only vaguely remembered from his mother.

His eyes struggled open, and teal blue eyes were gazing down at him with a soft smile. Levi felt a moment of confusion, followed by sinking relief.

That was right. He returned to Eren. As foolish as it might be, he felt safe by the young lieutenant's side.

"Good morning," Eren whispered. "Did you sleep well?"

"To be honest, I feel like I'm coming down with a cold."

"Then you need something warm. Food is here. I remembered the tea this time."

"Tea?" Levi said, now truly intrigued. He sat up and saw that, indeed, a breakfast cart had been rolled into the room—Eren was dressed, so he guessed Eren greeted the bellhop outside the door, so he could roll it in quietly and not wake Levi. On it were two plates of food, a kettle, and a teapot.

Eren twisted his hands together eagerly. "I actually got tea for us the day you ... no, never mind," he muttered.

Levi flinched inside. Had Eren really ordered tea that fateful, rainy morning? And then he left without a word. It must have broken his heart.

"Anyway," Eren said, laughing to shove past that old pain. "I thought maybe you could show me how to brew it."

Levi shook his head. This brat! "Fine. Let me clean up first."

He got out of bed, used the bathroom, washed up a little, and came back out to sit at the table. He picked up a tin, opened the lid, and saw tea leaves inside. He sniffed them and frowned slightly. What did he expect of the Germans! Still, it was better than nothing.

Rather than eat right away, Eren watched Levi as he measured out tea leaves into a teapot. Levi paused at realizing those teal eyes were focused intensely on him.

"How do you know how much to use?"

Levi shrugged and figured he might as well explain the whole process. "This teapot looks like it holds four cups. As I learned it, one teaspoon for each cup and one for the pot." He put in another spoonful. "That's four, and five." He dropped one last spoonful in. "Now, that's for black tea in particular. There are herbal teas, green tea, white tea. Good luck finding those around here. It also depends on the size of the tea leaves, if they're tiny or large. It takes some practice to get just the right measurement. I don't know how good these leaves are, so I'm going with a basic brew."

"It already sounds hard."

"It's not, really. I'm just picky." He touched the side of the kettle and frowned. He poured some water into a cup and tasted it. "Damn. The water has cooled down too much. It'll make shitty tea."

"Oh! I can heat it on my stove." Eren leaped up and pulled the Esbit stove out of his bag. He set it up on the breakfast cart, lit a fuel tab, and got the fire going. He then put the copper kettle on top of the tiny stove.

"Ideally, you want it piping hot."

"Piping?" Eren asked in confusion.

"Just starting to boil."

"Ah. Kochend heißes Wasser."

"Sure," Levi grumbled. They waited for the water to heat up. "So..." Levi glanced over awkwardly. "You got tea last time, huh? The day I left?"