Show Me Your City [Lovino and Eren]

[Lovino Vargas]

Lovino blinked wide eyed into the bright sunlight his eyes watering. He rubbed his wrist across his eyes before blinking again. The sun had not been up when he was woken four hours ago, but still in the darkness Lovino had dressed and had eaten a small breakfast before his family had set on their trip into the city. Luckily, since he was still young he had been able to skip waking up even earlier to help pack the farms produce into the carts that were hooked up to their two strongest Geldings. He had dragged himself into the carriage, his head resting on his mother’s lap before the gentle rocking had lulled him into his second sleep.

He woke up once they had arrived at the bottom of a hill, the side covered in cobbled stone steps, lined by wooden stone and clay houses. His father told Lovino and his mother to hop out while he was able to find a suitable place in the market square, before he set off once again around the hill along the cobble road. Lovino knew why they were left here. Up the hill, up these stairs was his mother's sister and with his mother's sister was his small cousin whom he hadn't seen for years.

They hastily made their way up the steps, his mother smiling widely. Lovino knew she missed her sister a lot. She often talked about her, and sent letters whenever the months came to a close and the postman would made the long trip around to collect and give our mail. She clenched his hand tightly.

“Now Lovinito, I want you to be on your best behaviour. No fighting with your cousin, no teasing, no being rude. Got it?”

Lovino nodded.

“Also-” His mother stopped beside him before lowering herself down onto one knee. “- I need you to remember you can’t speak our language to Eren. He won’t understand it. You need to speak English…” She held him firmly. Lovino already knew this but he let his mother lecture him anyway. He knew she was only worried. For some reason having a different language was a bad thing.

“Yes Mama.” He nodded.

“Good boy.” She wrapped her hands around his small fist. “People sometimes don’t understand but they see people being different as a bad thing. We only speak…” She lowered her voice dramatically. “-Italian, because we are so isolated from everyone else.” She kissed his forehead gently before wrapping him in an embrace. “You’re a good boy.” She said lovingly fixing up his ruffled collar and wetting her thumb before taming his messy hair. “Now play nice with Eren.” She gave a stern stare before standing up again and taking his hand once more. They stopped outside a door of a house that seemed to be falling apart in places. But, Lovino noted, it looked a whole lot nicer than his farm house.

Maria Vargas and her son Lovino, knocked at the door and waited for someone on the other side to answer.

[Eren Yeager]

The sky was blushed pink when Eren was told firmly to wake up for the second time by his mother. He had curled away from the woman in protest, only to have his sheets confiscated and skin exposed to the crisp morning air. Birds cried like cackling witches outside of his window as if laughing at the young boy’s misery. He got dressed with only a few grumbling protests and even let his mum brush his hair because the sensation could almost lull him back to sleep. When Carla saw him nodding off again though she whacked his backside with the brush playfully and told him to help her with breakfast.

Eren didn’t understand why he had to assist at the markets that morning.

He had been to the markets before with Armin and after years of living so close to the centre of town, they just seemed boring. There was a man, chest hair peaking for his shirt and another with a great dirty nose selling fruits while women weaved baskets with retired fingers. Boys had weaved like braids through the stalls as their sisters unpacked their wears, like their parents had told them to. There was the young boy who eyed the sweaty vender as he slid an apple into his pocket then ran, the apple bouncing in his pocket then rolling into the gutter. Then there were the carts which sold grains and others that taunted children with the scent of freshly baked bread and pastries. Icing drooled over cakes that the fat baker guarded like they were his finest treasure. Everywhere there was civil conversation, haggling, inquiries about health and gossip.

Eren didn’t see the point of any of it.

He didn’t even know Lovino, or perhaps he did, but he hardly remembered the boy from his childhood. Carla’s excitement was hardly infectious and Eren sulked at the kitchen sink, peeling a potato for his mother to fry.

There was a knock on the door and his mother excused herself with an excited, ‘oh! They’re early!’ And hurried to the door to greet her sister. Eren followed behind curiously, poking his head out from behind his mother’s hip. She told him to stop being shy and urged him to say ‘hello’ to his cousin.

“Hi…” He said, but it sounded forced by his mother’s pushing.

[Lovino Vargas]

Lovino stared at the other boy his hazel eyes scanning over his clothes and almost pained expression. "Hi" He said back trying to appear more confident than he felt. His mother hardly seemed to notice the awkwardness between the two boys before she had wrapped her arms around her sister, warmly.


"Carla!" She exclaimed. "Dear I have missed you." Lovino stared at the two women with a look of bemusement. Why get so worked up over seeing someone again? It seemed so fickle a thing to be so worked up over. His mother had always been an excitable emotional woman. He often heard his father compliment her on it or complain about it. This was usually followed by the advice of. "Women are hard work Lovi, unless you know how to deal with them I don't recommend it~" He would then usually wink. But Lovi didn't see this as an issue. He thought girls were Icky anyway. All they wanted to do was play mum and dads and feed him like a baby. Lovino hated being treated like a baby.


Maria turned from her sister to Lovi and Eren. "If it’s alright with you Carla, Joseph has already taken the cart into the town. Do you think Eren could take Lovi there to help him set up?" He smiled at her sister and back at the two boys. "I think it could be fun for Eren to help out, be on the other side of the stall for once, right?"


Maria felt guilty for trying to get the boys to run off so quickly but she really hadn't seen her sister for years. It had been too long, and so much had to be caught up on. She also had quite adult things to talk about with Carla, some things that neither Eren nor her own son should really be hearing.

[Eren Yeager]

That seemed to be the extent of their willing conversation. Eren looked up at the bruised ceiling of the world and wondered what he’d ever done to deserve this. Lovino looked nervous, just like his mother had warned him he might be. Town was a terrifying place for young farm children, she had said. They were used to open pastures and not the sculpted structure of the city with its narrow allies and closed off spaces.

Carla agreed with her sister, placing a hand on Eren’s shoulder to force him from behind her skirt. Eren gave his mother a look of shocked betrayal, as if he couldn’t believe he was being offered up as a working sacrifice so that she could have tea and biscuits with her sister. It hardly seemed fair.

“I want to see Armin today!” He complained, thick brows drawn into a glare he probably had the right to trademark at this stage. She wasn’t phased by it, or so it seemed. She simply pinched his cheek and told him he could see Armin another day. Eren’s glare passed over to Lovino, as if it was somehow his fault that he had to work instead of seeing his best friend.

A few more minutes of general socialising, questions about the journey and inquiries about her father in law, and Eren was shooed outside. Before they left Carla wrapped a red scarf around his neck and told him to be good. He was even given a couple of coins and a loaf of bread wrapped in a tea towel for their lunch.

“It’s this way,” Eren said moodily, intending to be a guide and nothing more. If he could escape then he fully intended to.

[Lovino Vargas]

Lovino kept his eyes low. He already could feel that he was not wanted here. He had kept close to his mother and had a reaction that was quite close to Eren's when he heard his mother's offer. Couldn't his mother see that Eren really didn't want him here? It was obvious in the way he stood, the way he scowled and the way he spoke. Lovino frowned. Eren probably just saw him as a country bumpkin. All the excitement he had from before to meet his cousin now had slid off his body like rain over leaves. This guy was acting like a dick, and they had hardly even seriously met each other.

Once they were walking side by side Lovino turned to Eren and scowled. "You should really watch your attitude. You're incredibly inconsiderate." Lovino had thought hard and long before he had spoken so he sounded literate and not like an idiot country bumpkin. "You should think about how others feel." He huffed his own eyes narrowed on the other. He didn't want to make things difficult between them seeing as this was the first time they had met since Eren was only a little baby. Lovino had barely any memories of meeting the other then and when he had been told they would be meeting again Lovino had only felt excitement. Not only the aspect of meet his cousin but getting to see the city since before his parents had deemed him too young to be able to help in the store and look after himself while they sold produce. Usually this meant he spent a week with the family in the next farm over which was half an hour ride to. He didn't mind staying with the family as they had three kids that loved to run amok but Lovino had been over the moon with the prospect of spending time in the big city with his own family.

He crossed his arms hoping the other at least felt a little bad for what he did. Lovino wasn't a spiteful person, or at least he liked to pretend he wasn't. According to his mother wanting revenge wasn't a good thing. "So don't even try and ditch me." He huffed, his cheeks puffing out. "I don't know my way around. I could get lost and die." He said, "Since I'm older I am wiser so I know this." He said, holding a hand above Eren's head to prove the point that he was taller.

[Eren Yeager]

Their strides were fairly even against the smooth, stone path and sunlight gleamed from behind them, lighting their way now.

Eren wasn’t overly concerned with Lovino, he didn’t think of him as ‘his’ problem specifically. He would take him to the markets like his mother told him to and then he would buy something delicious to eat and find Armin. Out of the corner of his eye Eren could see his cousin scowl in a way that was not unlike his own and it inspired another glare from the young boy.

“Huh?” If Lovino was doing his absolute best to be eloquent, Eren had probably just demonstrated how unnecessary that was. He was seven. Lovino obviously thought he was the most important person in the world, using big words that the seven-year-old barely knew the meaning of. “I don’t care how you feel,” he said, far too honestly. There was a reason that Eren struggled to make friends, and this was probably one of the many.

As a general rule other kids didn’t like him. Adults either thought he was sweet and misguided or they tolerated him because of his father. He hadn’t had much hope that his cousin would be any different. Besides, he was the inconsiderate one, making him wake up before the sunlight was bursting at the seams of his window. He would not have stirred a moment before then had he been given his way.

“If you die it’s because you’re stupid. It’s not my fault.” He resisted the urge to bite Lovino’s hand purely because he knew that he would get in trouble for that. And he knew that from experience.

[Lovino Vargas]

Lovino bit the inner part of his cheek to hold back from yelling at the other. He didn't want to fight with the other even if he was being a stinky brat. Lovino also knew that his mother would come down on him since he was the older one here meaning he had to be more responsible. Lovino didn't like being responsible, but in this situation he didn't exactly have a choice in the matter. "You don't have to care how I feel. I don't care either." He said, rolling his eyes. "But just don't talk to me then. I didn't ask for this either. I just wanted to have fun." He said his eyes lowered at the ground, scuffling his feet in the dirt.

Then a sudden uproar of noise erupted from behind the houses. Lovino had never really heard such loud noises but was able to detect the sound. "Cheering?" He looked at Eren a brow raised. "Is something going on here? A festival?" He started to run toward the noise not caring if he left the other behind. He wanted to know what the noise was forgetting to stay with the other. There were hundreds of people lining the streets cheering. Lovino tried to get passed them but the density of the people was too thick for him to get through. He looked to the right and spotted a few discarded crates. He quickly piled them up and stood up on top. He saw a line of men in camel colour jackets walking past on stallions and carrying carts. His eyes were wide as he stared at them. Most men looked forlorn and upset. Lovino was scared by the haunting look in their eyes. He felt his stomach drop when he spotted the carts, inside them were sheets covering what looked like human shaped cargo. He felt his heart lodge in his throat. "This… This is terrible…" He muttered.

He looked over to the right and saw more men only their jackets had a different symbol on it. They were keeping the people back form the on coming parade of dead faced camel jacket men. They looked friendlier than the other soldiers and were taking care of the people while the others looked as if they hardly knew the cheering people weren't even there. Why were these people cheering for them?

[Eren Yeager]

Eren had been instructed to take Lovino to the markets, not to make sure that he had ‘fun’. That wasn’t his job and he certainly wasn’t going to go to any extra effort there without an incentive. Lovino hadn’t been particularly nice to him anyway. “You’re talking to me still,” he pointed out with a sort of clipped tone that suggested he was done with his cousin. The silence between them was uncomfortable but more bearable than any forced conversation.

They were about two streets away from the major market place when a crescendo of cheering and applause caught their attention. Eren instantly knew what the fuss was about and his eyes glinted with sudden excitement. “It’s for-“ he didn’t even have a chance to explain what the commotion was about before Lovino was scrambling to get towards whatever the fuss was about. “HEY!” He shouted after him, thinking his cousin was an absolute moron for attempting to abandon his guide. If he got lost Eren was going to be the one slapped on the wrist.

He was tempted to topple the crates with Lovino on top of them but instead pulled himself up and settled at his feet, sitting on the splintering wood to get a better look at the saviours of humanity. And then he was beaming at them, the way they moved as if carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders, still standing strong. Their expressions were lost on Eren who idolised heroism above all else. He didn’t even seem to notice the cloths of white which hid disfigured remains from view.

Eren looked up at Lovino when he spoke again and his face fell into a scowl that was entirely disapproving of his attitude. “They’re the bravest people in the entire world.” He explained, miffed by his cousin’s pessimism. “You don’t understand.”

[Lovino Vargas]

Lovino rolled his eyes before staring back down at his cousin.

"Okay sure, they're brave but why are there so many dead bodies. Bravery means nothing if stupidity is mixed in too. I don't see anything to celebrate! Look at their faces! They're sad. What did they even do? Did they go beyond the walls?" It was then everything clicked into place.

"Oh, they're part of the Military right? The… uh… Scouts Corps?" He had heard his father talk of them before. Apparently they were meant to be fighting agains the titans for the good of humanity but they didn't seem to get far at all. He scoffed loudly turning a few heads in the crowd to his direction.

"Its so stupid that they're losing more people!" He then pointed to the men in the military who were keeping the public back. One man was even calming a woman who looked frantically into the oncoming parade of men her eyes darting from face to face.

"Where is she?! Is my daughter alive?! Alice! Alice!!" She began to sob into the man's arms. Lovino pointed it out to Eren.

"See I think that’s brave… He knows her Alice is dead… but he's still looking after her. The scouting legion aren't even paying attention to her… where is the honour in that? The people who we should care about most are those who don't have everything. The Titans are outside these walls and they protect us. Nothing will happen. Titans will never come in! To keep sending people out to get killed is stupid! We need to care for the people here… those who really matter." Lovino smiled down at his cousin. "That’s why my Dad started the farm. He wanted to be apart of the Military too but really why do that when you can grow food for the people… people need to eat too."

[Eren Yeager]

“Of course they went beyond the walls, that’s where all the titans are.” Eren explained, exasperated by Lovino’s seemingly limited understanding of the happenings in urban Maria. In the city the basic nature of the military was common knowledge and their bravery was celebrated. To Lovino the experience was new and his opinion was unbiased, based on his own sense of morality, for Eren it had always been influenced by those of the town. Military good. Military brave. Military free. He wanted to be good and brave, but more than anything he wanted to be free.

For a moment Eren was able to marvel at the men, blinded by his admiration which hid crimson stains behind rose tinted lenses. Lovino, of course, had to ruin it by mouthing off and Eren was tempted to shove him off his high horse… and by high horse he meant the crates he was standing on. “It’s not stupid! You’re stupid! They’re learning about the titans so we can kill them all! What are you doing to help?” He snapped back at him, looking back only when the father of a fallen soldier rushed out into the streets to ask about his daughter.

“That’s not brave…. That’s sad.” He stated and he really couldn’t see the bravery in clinging to the past. The brave thing to do was to move forward. “You don’t know anything, you don’t even know what the ocean is. You’re stupid and you should go back to your stupid farm.” He huffed, and at that moment he had convinced himself that the Military was right beyond argument. He wanted to be right too. Maybe then he would stop having those reoccurring nightmares about the wall collapsing.

How old did he have to be to enlist, he wondered.