captured

the sound of chains rattling woke you from your already restless slumber, being reminded of your uncomfortable confinement as you blinked fog out of your eyes. you were greeted with the heart wrenching view of levi's limp form being held up by the wrists from the heavy chains hanging from the stone ceiling.

the man's black hair was disheveled, creating a dark shadow over his eyes while his head hung over his bare chest. he was finally able to sleep, exhausted from hours of torture. you were surprised when levi had demanded to be tortured in your place, he claimed that you were just a clueless cadet that knew nothing of the scout regiment's plans. his statement was only half true, you were a cadet, but you weren't clueless.

levi never kept secrets from you, you were the only person in the regiment that was able to gain the captain's trust. though, you never knew how or why you were able to gain levi's favor, you never questioned it. you eyed the captain's body from the corner that you were chained to.
you felt grateful that you were given a long chain that allowed you some freedom to move.

you couldn't tell how long you were out, but you figured it must've been a while. you tried to silently inch forward in levi's direction desperately wanting to console him in whatever way you could. the closer you got, the more apparent levi's wounds became in the low light. deep cuts and slashes were scattered across his pale skin, you took in a sharp breath as you grazed your fingers over his abdomen trying to access the damage.

you had never been so close to levi before, the two of you always kept at a safe distance, not wanting to intrude on each other's boundaries.
your fingers slid over his chiseled abdomen lightly, while you internally chided yourself for never telling the man how you really felt. you wished you could say that it was all the time you spent together that caused you to love him, but that would be a lie. you knew that you loved levi the second you locked eyes with him years ago. you could still remember how his cold eyes and quizzical brow softened when his eyes met yours, it was like the two of you caught onto the same wavelength and never let go since that moment.

your daydream was cut short, levi's head shot up, groaning loudly into the large gag jammed into his mouth. the crazed look in his eye slowly subsided when he realized that it was you that was caressing his body. you shushed levi, reaching up to cup his blood splotched face, "shh.. it's me. it's me. you're okay." you reached up to remove the damp cloth out of levi's mouth, he coughed and sputtered at its removal.

levi's chest heaved up and down quickly looking at you with half lidded eyes, "hi." was all he could manage.
you couldn't help but laugh as you drug your thumb across his cheek. tears pricked your eyes as you looked at the man fondly, your heart swole with love, "hi captain."
levi leaned into your touch as much as the chains would let him, the two of you stood in silence while his gray eyes bore into yours.

heat rose to your cheeks as you tried to cultivate the bravery to confess to levi how you've felt about him all this time. you didn't know if the two of you would ever make it out of this stone lined hell-hole, and you didn't want to die letting your words go unsaid. you were never good at putting your thoughts and feelings into words, you were not an articulate poet, you were a soldier. how could you tell him that you loved everything about him?

you loved every little thing about levi. you loved his stern glares. you loved his love for earl grey tea, the way he sucked his teeth when irritated, the way he had the ability to be as strong as a hundred year old oak tree, and as swift as a feral alley cat. you loved how he was effortlessly good at everything, and didn't chide you when nothing seemed to come easily to you.

the silence was finally broken from levi calling your name. the man realized that your mind was far away, "we don't have much time, they'll be back any minute." your eyes lost their glaze as your brain returned to the moment, paying close attention to levi's words, "i don't want to scare you but i have to be truthful, my body will probably give out after this next round of lashings. it's very unlikely that i'll make it out of here, but that doesn't mean you can't. my only priority is keeping you alive, because i-" his words were cut short at the sound of a key turning in the iron lock of your cell.