Levi.
Out of all people, it had to be Levi.
To be honest, I wasn't even happy about it. What was he doing here? Or rather, what was I doing there in his presence? And why did he say my name, instead of the usual 'brat'-nickname he normally went for?
Noticing I was lying on top of a mattress with a thin sheet above me, I got up and looked his way. His piercing eyes looked back at me, as if reading every thought that shot through my head. I had my first question ready.
'What is this place?'
Levi sighed and crossed his legs while leaning back in his chair. 'Take a wild guess, brat,' he said, rolling his dark-coloured eyes unamused, 'your own place has burned down to the ground. You can't go back to your sister, or whatever she is. Plus, I'm here and you know what happened to me.'
I mouthed the words almost invisibly, as the realisation hit me. The room wasn't recognisable, so it just strengthened my suspicions. This place had to be inside the Legion's base. I itched the back of my neck, breathing sharply through my clenched teeth. My mouth was dry and it probably made my breath smell. There was a warm area on my whole chest and shoulders.
'So... How did I get here?' I decided to ask next, while another urgent question laid at the back of my tongue. With anticipation I watched Levi open and close his mouth again.
'Even I don't know.'
I was dumbfounded.
'I was just put here, because they don't trust me,' he added.
'Don't trust you? And then they put you with an ex-teammate?'
Levi breathed in relief. 'I thought you were going to stop at ex,' he mumbled, with a smile tugging on his lips. I tilted my head a little.
'Are we a thing then?'
He frowned and looked at me with big eyes and his mouth half-opened. 'Weren't... We...?' It seemed as if I saw his heart break in a thousand pieces. He stood up and walked over to the mattress I was on and kneeled there beside it. With his index finger he raised my chin up, making me look at him.
'I thought it was obvious, Eren,' he whispered, with my name rolling over his tongue. It awoke a strange feeling inside me.
'Do I need to make it more obvious than it already is for you?'
I gulped, thinking of what he would mean with "making it more obvious". By the ways of what?
'Then, Eren,' he shuffled closer toward me, 'be my boyfriend.'
I chuckled at his more of an order than a question. Typical. I waited a little, before giving a response. It was obvious it made Levi impatient.
'I'd be glad to be your boyfriend, Levi,' I smiled, softening my expression at him. He let go of my chin and just stared at me.
'Your breath smells dirty,' he stated, 'you should eat.'
'But-'
'I'll kiss you after you made your breath smell a bit better, brat. Don't be impatient with me.'
Again, I chuckled. It was a comedic sight. He gave me a piece of bread and some water, as if that'd help much. The bread was dry and unsalted, it tasted awful, but with the thought of it being the only chance I'd get at eating in the back of my head, I managed to chomp it all down. Levi sat beside me, watching me all the while.
'So... Yeah. They're pretty stupid to put us together in one room. You're right about that,' Levi mumbled, raising his nose up in the air, letting his eyes glide over the ceiling. I swallowed the last bits of bread through my throat and eyed him for a while.
Had I ever appreciated how beautiful he looks? Especially when he's like this. He's not trying to intimidate me, nor is he commanding me. He was just how he always was outside of business, on our free time. When there was nothing to do and nothing to earn. I had never taken the time to appreciate that personality of his. Although he seems careless, he seems to care about me, thinking of how hurt he looked when he betrayed the Corps.
Oh.
That's right.
'Levi?'
'Hm?'
I tried pushing the words back, but my brain told me to just say it. To go for it.
'Why did you betray us?'
He turned his head to look at me. He was frowning, but his eyes were hurting. And it hurt me, too.
'I had no other choice.'
'Oh.'
It was quiet after that. We just kept staring at each other. But it wasn't too long until I heard myself speak to me, saying I had to talk further.
'Why didn't you?'
'What?'
'Why didn't you have another choice?'
'Oh... Well, I... They said that if I wouldn't go with them, they'd blow up our basement. With all of you in it.'
'What?! But they still did that, right?!'
'Yes, they did. When I read the news about the cafetaria being burned down to the ground in the newspaper, I already planned on assassinating Erwin. The prick that he is. I was so enraged, that I tried strangling one of the members. I can't quite remember her name, though. She was blonde, small, and the only other person there.'
'Damn...'
'Yeah. Indeed, damn. Damn them. They can all go to hell for my part. So after I tried strangling that woman, she tried beating me up. She had quite the moves, y'know. The ruckus made the others check the place out and eventually we got separated. And I got put here. After a few days you got thrown in here and I've then been waiting for you to wake up, you seemed in a pretty bad state. You were moving as if you were in a nightmare, so I tried comforting you. None of it seemed to work though, you're not Sleeping Beauty.'
'Heh... Was that bread all you got?'
'They told me it was food for the next 3 days. Don't worry, though, I reserved some of it. I hope it's enough to keep us both alive for a while...'
'How long are they going to keep you here?'
He cracked his neck and breathed in heavily, thought about it for a second, then shook his head, 'I don't know. They didn't tell me.'
I sighed deeply, throwing my head backwards, 'what if they keep us here forever?'
'Then we'll kill ourselves.'
Shocked, I shot up. He showed me two revolvers from his belt, both with only one bullet in them.
'Are you crazy?! What the hell, Levi! I don't want to kill myself! I don't want to die! We can't just give up, right?! We'll find a way out! Why didn't you use those guns against them in the first place? And why do you have two?! You could have easily shot two people there!'
'Well, to be very honest with you, I didn't have the guns with me back then. I had nothing. They stripped me off of my weapons and took them for themselves. But when you got thrown in here, they came along. Erwin told me it could come in handy if we wanted to give up and off ourselves. He told me that with only one bullet you can't do much, neither can you with two. They probably have automatic guns out there, lots of ammo ready. It's either kill yourself, or get killed by someone else.'
'I'd rather be killed by someone else, though.'
'No problem, that'd just mean we're going to shoot each other at the same time.'
I gripped on my heart, feeling a lump in the back of my throat. 'Shoot... Each other...' I barely whispered, since the lump didn't want to have me talking. Levi got up too and placed a hand on my shoulder.
'We can't do anything against them. We'll just sit this out for some time and see what happens. Maybe they will set us free, maybe they won't.'
'Can't we just escape or something?'
'Eren, look around you. There are no windows and the walls are caged concrete. That'd mean you'd have to go through iron in order to get out. The door is heavy and creaky, probably locked with a tight lock and guarded. There's no way in hell we would be able to escape from here.'
'Why don't we just shoot each other right here, right now? Sounds better than sitting this out hopelessly,' I mumbled without tone, I felt dead already.
'Because there might be a chance... And if so, we can be happy together afterwards... After we've escaped and destroyed them. We'll be happy, Eren. Together.'