Coming for your heart

Chapter 15

"I just want to sleep.", he whispered. "I want to forget who I am. Just for...a single night."

Mikasa slipped down under the blanket and Eren curled up against her. With closed eyes he noted the presence of a second body next to his.

It was warm. It was Armin.

He smelled like old books. Like memories caught up in a storm. Like leaves shaking in the wind. Soft and calming. 

Mikasa was the exact opposite. She had a scent that reminded him of the brutality of a fire in the woods – it's flames beautiful and stunning to observe but with the power to leave only ashes behind.

It was comforting.

Resting between his family. Between what was left of them.

He listened to their breaths. Armin's core moved with every single one, huffing out the air against his neck. But he didn't mind. He...liked it. It reminded him that the boy was there.

He grasped Mikasa's hand.

His sister squeezed back gently, reassuring.

If mother were here, Eren thought before sleep consumed his mind, she would be happy to know that I am not alone.

Levi POV

Meeting the advisors proofed to be a task Levi couldn't be bothered to handle. They would arrive in a few hours if everything went exactly as planned.

Erwin was somewhere else, talking to the same shitty men he conversed with every day. Levi had finished his work so far which was the reason for his walk through the sunny gardens that afternoon. The golden sun was standing above his head, burning down on him.

In Eldia no one could be sure which season they were in because honestly, time passed different here. They had times when snow and sun were combined so that the mornings were filled with the annoying, white splendor and at midday not a single drop of water was left outside. They also had wild mixes between thunderous storms and cold nights, unusually for the warmth that normally followed right after a thunderstorm.

For now Levi was glad that he could just walk through the grass, watching the gardens he had visited not often enough.

A few years ago his friends had often taken a seat out here.

They would drink. They would laugh. Mostly about him and his scary attitude. But that was okay. It was far more than okay. Because now he would give everything to hear them joke about his dark face again.

"Leeevviiiiiiii!" The excited screech was followed by a pair of arms thrown around his neck and the feeling of messy hair against his cheek.

"Get away from me, shitty four-eyes!"

"But Leeevvviii...!"

He shoved them away and hastily took a step back to get some distance between him and the crazy woman who grinned at him maniacally.

"What's got your knickers in a twist, my cold-hearted friend?", they sang and propped their arms up on their waist. Their glasses reflected the sunlight and Levi blinked, trying to find a better angle to look at the silly scientist. Why he and Hanji had bonded the way they had, Levi would never understand. "And where is my favorite puppy?"

"Izzy isn't a puppy, four-eyes. And she's probably digging out something to-"

A startled scream chimed and Levi spun around.

Why did that sound so...familiar?

"Izzy! I'm gonna help you, sweety!", Hanji screeched, sprinting away in the direction from where the scream had come from.

"Please! Help! Get that monster out of my face!", the voice wailed and Levi got faster.

When they arrived at the scene he had to hold back a smug chuckle.

Hanging on one of the rare trees in the garden the servant from the day before eyed the barking dog under him with fear reflected on his face.

Her fur as raven black as his hair and her eyes just as bloodthirsty as the ones of any predator Izzy growled and barked at the boy, her white and razor-sharp teeth glinting in the sun.

"Where is my baby? Come here, Izzy, come here to me!", Hanji shouted and opened their arms for the dog. It recognized their voice and turned around, barking in excitement. Izzy threw herself onto Hanji, who broke down under her weight but laughed like they weren't petting one of the most dangerous animals in Eldia.

Levi hadn't trained her for nothing after all.

"Stop shitting yourself and come down, brat.", he called out to the servant boy who only reluctantly did as he was told. He whistled and Izzy left Hanji alone to come back to him, enjoying his fingers caressing the fur behind her ears.

"Why is that monster outside of the cage at all?", the boy grumbled and rubbed his arms. Levi narrowed his eyes at him.

"Watch your fucking tongue. Call a monster out and you can expect to get proven right."

"Oh, Levi! Don't be so harsh with this little flower!", Hanji laughed and threw enthusiastically and arm around his shoulders. "He can't know that she is such a good girl, yes she is, aren't you, my baby?"

Since Hanji seemed to no longer be talking to Levi, he shrugged their arm off and faced the brat again.

"Don't you have to be somewhere?", he asked, his patience already thin as it was. "Those shitty advisors are too incapable to serve themselves food on their own after all."

The brat raised his head and the strands of his flaxen hair fell from his face. For the first time Levi got a chance to look at his eyes. They were nothing but a simple brown. He felt a twinge of disappointment for whatever reason.

"Why don't you go serve them yourself, short staff.", the servant boy hissed.

While Hanji cracked up on the grass at his words, Levi was rendered speechless. No one ever had the audacity to speak like that with him. Most of his soldiers wouldn't even look at him, not to mention talk with him.

A scowl remained on his face and stared at the boy with an intensity that had him swallowing in discomfort quickly. But he never – not for a split of a second – averted his eyes and soon they both found themselves in a staring contest.

"You have quite some mouth on you, don't you? Come closer and..."

"What? You wanna test out the theory?", the boy retorted with a raised eyebrow and one corner of his mouth tugged up. Levi wondered if Hanji would smother on the ground where they were rolling around, laughing like the crazy person they were.

"Don't press your luck, brat."

"Why? What do you wanna do? Throw me into the basement?", the boy puffed, crossing the arms in front of his solid chest and lifting his chin. His mocking gaze made Levi want to punch the hell out of that brat. "Been there before. Didn't like it. Wouldn't recommend it."

Those words caught Levi's attention.

"You haven't been here for any longer than a few weeks." He didn't even try to hide the exulting glimmer in his steel-grey eyes. He stepped closer to the brat who seemed to realize the mistake in his choice of words. 

Their eyes met and even though Levi was smaller than that big ass tree of a human in front of him he saw in the eye of the servant, that he feared him just as much.

"So answer me one question, brat. Since I get informed of every single prisoner in that basement, in those cells – why have I never heard about a servant like you having been down there?"

(Hope you like it! I'm so bad at cliffhangers.

I will try to update 'Silence' and 'Coming for your heart' at the same time, not sure if it will work but for the moment I'm testing the waters with my strange updates.) 

:)