Daisy II | Levi Ackerman

Chapter 4 - Waves of Change

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[Naomi]

I was quiet when I entered the already dead silent room, slinging my satchel gingerly over the chair by the nighstand. Levi was assembling his gear by the table in front of the window, I assumed he broke them off part by part to clean them again. He was standing up, though.

We didn't talk to each other, I didn't have the energy to converse with him especially after I saw the bed, however small compared to ours at the Mansion. My body shut down like how an engine would do once it loses fuel, I insantly felt somnolent. In my drowsy motion, I took off my uniform, no intention of keeping the silence, just the subconscious action of letting it linger further.

"You're not going to talk to me, then?" Levi asked, his dull voice a ghost in the air. "You think it's better like this, when you're the one who always tells me to address the issues between us."

"Can we just sleep? I'm tired, you're tired." I said weakly, slipping my uniform off of me as I pulled my brown skirt and white button-up from my satchel.

"The tone you're using makes me think you still got a lot to say." He added. I stopped from buttoning up my shirt, looking back at him.

"You sound like you're provoking me. I don't like it." I said. My mind felt like hell. I didn't know if I was offended, or hurt, or both.

"Because you won't tell me what the damn problem is." Levi said, looking to me. "Naomi, is there anything you're not being honest to me about?"

I buried my face in my palm in frustration, unable to pull out any words from my mouth. I shook my head. "If you could just stop treating me like I'm only something to protect, you know? Because I feel so feeble in your shadow. Everytime something this bad happens and then I see how you react, I feel as if I'm just a mere child. Levi, I am not a child anymore."

Levi stared at me with an unreadable expression, as I continued on with my exhausted monologue. "Moreover, I'm your comrade. I'm your equal. I'm not just your wife, or the daughter and niece of your closest friends. I hope you understand that I feel assured when you worry about me, and I feel protected with you, but I need to feel like I'm my own person at times too."

"Naomi," Levi began, his voice taking a sympathetic tone yet his facial expression communicating otherwise.

"I don't... Let's not..." I uttered out in a sigh, shaking my head as I sat down on the bed. "I need to clear my mind. I don't know if I'm thinking straight."

With a pause, I lay down on the bed, pulling the sheet over me. It was relatively short and thin for the one we shared back at our own residence, so I slept on my side, my back towards him. There was a dark haze in my chest that was smothering the beating of my heart.

A couple of tears trickled down my eyes as I closed them, myself drifting off to sleep. I didn't know what I was crying about for certain, but it was probably the inner frustration I kept for being babied for the past eighteen years of my life.

Before I knew it, I was asleep. It was shallow and dreamless for a moment lingering on.

I was gently lured out of my slumber when a warmth met my face, and a soft but deep voice filled my ears. I was half-asleep, but I could hear and feel vague perceptions of my surroundings. I could tell, through my peacefully closed eyes, that the room was dark, and I was facing Levi.