[That Night...]
"It's been awhile since we've slept together, huh?" Chi sighed, laying her back against the grassy floor by the forest. The thick greenery hid both her and Levi from any prying eyes, their only shelter being the night sky. "Well, we aren't exactly in a bed, but it still counts, you could say."
"The ground is dirty," Levi complained, leaning his head back against his folded arms. "There's dirt everywhere, and can you imagine how many animals have shit on these very patches of grass?"
"There's dirt everywhere because we're outside, you dummy," Chi laughed, propping herself up on an elbow to face Levi. "And it doesn't matter; we should be grateful that we still have the privilege to be next to each other, right?"
Silently grumbling to himself, Levi sighed and relaxed his arms, folding them instead against his chest, finally laying his head against the lush green blades of grass.
"Oi," he deadpanned, "give me your hand."
"My hand?" Chi repeated, lifting up her right arm. Resting her cheek on his right shoulder, she found one of Levi's hands, saying, "What do you want to do with my hand, you dirty old man?"
"Shut up, you idiot," Levi snorted, rolling his eyes.
Then, he curling his fingers around Chi's warm palm, lifting them closer to his face. Closing his eyes, he brought her hand to his lips, where they gently placed a firm kiss against her knuckles. Opening his wondrous eyes, he returned her injured arm to where it was laying across his chest and wound an arm around her body.
"You're sorry?" Chi asked. "What for?"
"Many reasons," Levi sighed again, this one longer and more labored. Throwing his other arm around Chi's waist, he pulled her closer until she was nearly laying on top of him, her head resting in the crook of his neck.
"Many? How interesting. Tell me at least three."
"You're as persistent as ever." Playing with a loose lock of Chi's hair, in a faraway voice, Levi spoke. "I made the wrong choice. I'm the biggest idiot I know. I made the choice to leave you on your own, and I haven't even come close to repenting for that mistake yet. When you were kidnapped, I couldn't come after you like I needed to; I had to atone for the mistakes I'd made against my own squad." Levi breathed in the familiar scent of Chi's hair. "I couldn't think straight nor do anything right; I let Hanji's squad die, I lost my own soldiers, I could barely make any of the correct choices anymore—but still yet, I'm glad I have you here, beside me again."
Chi was silent after he spoke, her light breaths falling as a tiny breeze against the base of Levi's throat. Her reply, after a few minutes of silent contemplating, was a soft kiss against his temple, her lips trailing over to his ear, where she whispered a response, her lips brushing against the tender skin of his ear.
"Don't be sorry," she said. "I'm sorry. I put you through so much, and it never even crossed my mind." Pulling backwards, she gazed deeply into Levi's glittering eyes with a melancholy stare. "Never in a million years would I have believed that I mattered this much to somebody."
"I'm such a fool, aren't I?" Levi murmured, his thumb gently brushing her cheek.
" And I'm an idiot for falling so hard for that fool," Chi smiled, nuzzling her cheek against Levi's chest. "Now stop talking so morbidly... it isn't like you."
"You're right," Levi muttered, carefully laying his arm over Chi's hips to secure her body against him. "Stop moving around so much. You're not the only one with injuries."
"Oh, that's right," Chi murmured to herself, adjusting her head so she wasn't laying on his freshly done stitches. "It's just like you, to get injured in a fight."
"You're one to talk." Shutting his eyes, Levi breathed a slow breath then nestled his nose into Chi's hair, tightening his hold on her body. "Now be quiet and get some rest. We've got a long day tomorrow."
"Alright, alright." Chi snuggled closer to Levi, shivering when she realized there was no blanket to provide her cover, and her only source of warmth was him. But the thought of him next to her again warmed her heart entirely, a tender feeling spread from her chest to her limbs. As fatigue began to cloud over her body, half-asleep, murmured, "Levi... I love you. I've missed you so much. Please don't leave my side... okay?"
Surprised by Chi's words, Levi's eyes were solemn when he cracked them open to look at the drowsy face of Chi looking up at him.
"Don't worry," he whispered, pulling her up to touch his forehead to hers. "I won't leave you ever again. I promise. I love you so much... idiot." Levi leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss against Chi's lips, the corners of hers curling when she felt the familiar, soft curve of this touch. Her grip on the fabric of his shoulder tightened when he trailed to the end of her lip and pecked her skin, the kisses moving to her jawline. Chi's skin was sensitive.
"I—I thought you said it was time to sleep?" Chi questioned, flinching when Levi dared drag his tongue against the supple skin from the base of her throat to her chin. "It doesn't quite seem like it."
"Well, alright," Levi sighed, seemingly disappointed as he nuzzled his face instead into the warm skin of her shoulder and neck, his arms wound around her snugly. "Go to sleep, now."
"You sneaky bastard," Chi whispered. Levi was silent, his rigid body loosening. Chi found the way Levi's slow, warm breath blew against her skin to be tranquil, the lull of the crickets finally dragging her into the deep depths of sleep.
~~~~~
"Why the hell did you have to choose this spot, you idiot?!" Alabaster whispered harshly to Clare, whom he was sitting beside stiffly—right on the other side of the bush of a now sleeping Chi and Levi. "We were invading their privacy without them knowing!"
"I didn't know they were there in the first place!" Clare claimed, holding out splayed hands in protest. "They came after; I was here first! Why didn't you just let us move?! Look at us; we saw some stuff that we weren't supposed to, you insensitive pervert!" She leaned forward and glared deeply into Alabaster's own set of tawny orbs, her eyebrows wrinkled as they drew together.
Alabaster leaned closer in, their noses almost touching; he bared his teeth, his lips pulling back into a glower. "Pervert?! If we'd up and gone in the middle of their—their conversation, Chi would've surely fucking killed us! If not, Levi would've, you idiot!"
"Well then, why didn't you just fucking leave?! Or why won't you leave right now, you stupid bastard?!"
"Because—because I—" Alabaster faltered, his eyes widening as his cheeks bloomed a cherry color. He turned away and grumbled, "Nevermind, you idiot. Just go to sleep."
"Oh, so that's how it's going to be?!" Clare exploded, her entire face tinged crimson with anger. "First you join me in my sleeping spot for no apparent reason without telling me ahead of time, and then you listen in on Chi's business without stopping yourself, and then you blame it on me because you didn't up and go when you could have! And you just have to be enough of a dumbass to build it up to this hell of an argument, only to end it with 'go to sleep' and you choose ignore everything else I'm saying, when I'm already this angry? You fucking—!"
Clare's furious remark was cut short when Alabaster whipped around and roughly kissed her half-open, protesting lips. Mid-sentence, she paused, her eyes wide. When Alabaster pulled away, she could feel her own face turn as bright a red as his was.
"I wanted to be next to you, alright?!" Alabaster grumbled through clenched teeth before turning away again, laying on the grass. "Now go to sleep, you idiot!"
Too surprised to think, Clare turned the opposite direction and collapsed against the ground in a trance-like manner, adrenaline rushing through her veins. When she finally regained enough control of her actions, she smacked her face with her hands. What had she just done?