(A/N: i can totally see Levi saying "welcome home" in this gif. also, let me know if you're enjoying these frequent updates so far by voting and leaving me a comment :) enjoy~)
-Kaisa-
A headache grounds into my temples.
I faintly hear the shuffling of papers echoing through my ears but, I can't seem to open my eyes just yet. The ringing in my ears consumes me and I can only sit and suffer through the overwhelming senses. I groan in distress because the throbbing doesn't seem to be stopping any time soon and the pain increasingly becomes worse. The shuffling of paper stops, and I hear rushed footsteps near me.
"Kaisa!" A voice resounds.
I groan in response—my eyelids feel so heavy, they won't open.
"Kaisa? Are you awake?" I feel someone shake me slightly.
I don't know if I open my eyes because of annoyance or because I have an urge to throw up after being moved so quickly. I blink a couple of times, trying to settle my vision on a proper image but all I see is a slide shadow of someone leaning over me. White shirt, short black hair, I can't see their eyes, their face is covered.
"Le-vi?" I wonder out loud.
My eyes lazily open once more and I see Humanity's Strongest leaning over me with concern written all over his sharp features. His eyes dart back and forth between mine and to be honest it makes me a bit dizzy since it's too much movement to handle at the moment. I close my eyes and raise an arm to push his face away but instead I'm met with a reminder that the human body has limits, and when those limits are pushed, you get a one-way ticket to hell.
"Holy fuck, everything hurts." I complain, drawing my eyebrows near each other.
I feel a shift and so I take another look at Levi to see he's now leaning on his knees with his hands in his lap, head down. His body is tense and his fists clench for a moment before I see him relax next to me. It's my turn to search him for answers—I have no idea why I am laying here like a sack of potatoes. I glance towards my laying body and see that I'm not wearing my standard soldier clothes, rather, a really oversized...sweater? When did I get changed into this and who changed me? I ignore the thought and instead focus on getting up.
Pushing through the irritating restrictions my body set on me, I lean up quickly and shove an arm underneath me, propping my body up slightly before rotating it to the side, facing Levi. He looks at me with a death glare and softly, but forcefully, puts his hands on my shoulders to gently lay me down against what I'm guessing is a futon or bed.
"What's wrong Levi? You don't look so strong right now." I laugh dryly. It's then that I realise that I am craving water—no—I am craving literally everything right now.
"Oh my gosh, can you stop sitting there like a lost deer? I'm going to die of thirst before I even get close to healing." I chastise him lightly before coughing.
"Tch." This is the first word (if you can even call it that) to come out of his mouth, but once again, I'm not surprised. I close my eyes and melt into the soft bed mattress, or whatever it was, comfortably. Soon, I can feel the presence of someone behind me, or, on top of me? My best guess is that they were sitting above my head or behind me. I ignore it, it's probably just Levi grabbing something from a drawer.
Suddenly, I feel two arms nuzzle their way past the sheets and hook around my underarms before giving a soft tug. A whimper escapes my lips as searing pain fills my body because of the sudden, unexpected movement. It's the only thing I can focus on and I feel an undoubtable wrath towards Levi.
"Levi, what the fuck are you doing?! I swear to God that once I get out of this immobilized state that I'm going to kick your ass across the Wall of Rose!" I spit, eyes wide open.
I'm sitting up and an arm wraps around my waist before pulling me closer. I feel Levi's warm chest against me once more and my body relaxes naturally, almost as if it was free from any of the strain it just went through.
"You'll have to forgive me for that." Levi mutters as I feel him shuffle behind me.
"A 'sorry' would have sufficed but of course you wouldn't do such a thing." I grumble back at him.
"Drink." He says, wrapping another arm around my shoulder, holding a glass up to my lips. Without giving me time to respond, he tilts the glass against my lips, and the cool liquid soothes my throat. It's like heaven in a cup and before I know it, I've downed the entire drink. Levi shuffles behind me and I hear the cup touch the ground down next to me and I sigh once more before leaning deeper into Levi's body. It makes sense why he sat me up now, who knows what would have happened if I tried to drink water while laying down. Silence fills the room as we sit there in each other's arms, but now that I've had time to overcome all the physical aspects of being awake, it's like I've been struck over the head with all of my repressed thoughts.
"How long have I been out for? Is Eren okay? Did everyone make it back okay?" I shoot out questions quickly and two hands grip my wrists.
"Kaisa, stop stressing your body out, you need to let it rest." Levi reminds me.
"It's been about sixteen hours since we found you passed out on the floor. I can't believe you put the horse away before getting yourself help first." He scolds.
"She must have been hungry though..." I say quietly.
"Do you hear yourself, you idiot? You disappear for three fucking days and your first concern is 'oh shit, my horse hasn't eaten, guess I'll take care of it first'?!" He reprimands my actions.
"Well, yeah?" I answer. He sounds completely reasonable.
"You're unbelievable. Do you know how worried I-we were? We thought you were fucking dead when we found you—Eren almost shit himself." He scolds me again. I notice the quick change in words, but I don't bother to point it out.
"Not gonna lie man, it was not a walk in the park out there, I bet even you would have died." I joke, trying to lighten up the mood.
"Not the time, Kaisa." Levi's grip around my waist gets tighter.
"Ow! Levi, not so rough, it still hurts." I say childishly. "Where even am I? Is this my room?" I peer around at the neatly organized space.
"We're in my room." He answers.
My eyes widen and I try to pull away but immediately fold back into his chest because my chest burns the second I attempted my escape.
"Why the hell am I in your room? Where's my room?" I ask before gasping.
"Levi, I swear to God if you did something gross I-"
"If you could do me the pleasure of shutting that annoying mouth of yours up, I would greatly appreciate it."
"Fuck your appreciation man, why am I here?" I complain, half joking.
"Because this way I could keep make sure that you were getting better." This answer is softer than the rest of his responses, and I can feel his head rest on my right shoulder in annoyance.
"I see." I respond. "So, what you're saying is...that I'm just so special to you that you couldn't even let me be alone!" I tease.
"No that's not-"
"Awh, Levi, who knew that you could have a heart so big for a little person like you." I continue. I can't move, but I make sure to use my voice to prove my point.
"Don't make me drop you on the floor, you moron." He threatens.
"Levi! I. Am. Appalled...at this behaviour." I fake a shocked gasp. "I thought we were comrades." I swiftly twist my neck to the side.
Big mistake.
"Holy fuck, ow, ow, ow, ow." I curse underneath my breath.
"Looks like you're so stupid that I didn't even need to drop you on the floor." He says in amusement.
I notice that my cheek is resting right against his bare shoulder blade and I feel my face heat up immediately.
"Levi...are you not wearing a shirt right now?" I could have sworn that he was wearing one when I first saw him.
"Yes, but all of your resistance when I tried pulling you up pulled my shirt halfway down my arms." I can almost feel him rolling his eyes. I slightly move my head downwards, wincing at the movement before taking a look at where his left rests around my waist. He wasn't lying; the button up shirt is pooled at his elbows, meaning that...the shirt wasn't even completely buttoned up in the first place?!
"Oi, Levi, this isn't looking too good for you, Captain." I say, slightly raising my voice at the end.
"Are your ears broken or do I need to smack the words into your head? I told you, you were just laying here. It's literally almost time for dinner and I was doing paperwork. Don't flatter yourself." He exasperates.
Coincidently, my stomach decides to speak its mind and let me know that it's craving a meal. I lean my head back against Levi's shoulder completely. I can't even move without feeling pain, but I'm stronger than that, I know I am.
"Okay, let's go to dinner then." I say before gently resting a hand on Levi's to pull his arm off of me.
"You really are suicidal and stupid. You're staying here, you can barely move, nevertheless walk." He convicts me.
"If you think I'm that weak, then you shouldn't call me your equal." I challenge. I peel myself away from him and slowly turn over to get on my hands and knees, facing Levi before using his body as support while I pull myself up. I can feel Levi sit up straight once he feels practically my entire body weight resting on while I attempt to stand up on both legs.
I fail to do so, and instead I crash on top of the man, face buried in his bare chest. His arms wrap around my waist once again as to catch me and we stay in silence for a short moment before I begin apologizing profusely.
"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to fall on you." I stutter.
"You're determined. Stupid, but determined." He comments.
"Mama didn't raise no bitch." I shoot back before I feel him shift underneath me uncomfortably. I don't know why he shifts, there's no reason to, but he moves quickly.
"Okay, time to get up, you clutz." He says, pulling me off him quickly. I swear I can see a bit of panic flush through his face, but Levi is so unpredictable at times. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion, but comply nonetheless.
"I thought you wanted me to stay in bed." I say.
"Knowing you, you'd get up anyway, fall down the stairs, and then actually die." He mutters, while sliding himself from underneath me.
"I wouldn't fall and die! I would just fall...and then maybe a coma, but not die!" I reassure him.
"Oh wow, what a great alternative!" He shakes his head sarcastically while basically lifting me up. I barely have any strength in my legs, and I can only imagine the time he's having lifting my fatass off the mattress.
Finally I'm up, but my entire body weight rests upon Levi as we slowly reach the door. He reaches for my right arm and lightly pulls it to put over his shoulder but before he can I let out a yelp.
He furrows his eyebrows and pulls back slightly to take a look at my arm. He lifts up the oversized sweater and bunches it at my shoulder before his eyes widen in surprise. I can feel the bunched-up fabric being crushed underneath his grip and he stares straight into my eyes and I know he wants an answer.
"I couldn't let myself sleep. The reason it took so long for me to get back was because there were literally dozens of titans surrounding me at all times. I had to stay in trees that were high enough to avoid their attention, but I couldn't take the risk to sleep because all it takes is one mistake to become a victim. So, I took one of the shuriken and cut my outer bicep every time I felt like dozing off so the pain would distract me from my unforgiving sleepless nights." I plainly answer.
"What kind of shit is this, Kaisa?!" He grits his teeth. His eyes are raging with disbelief.
"You gotta do what you can to survive." I do my best attempt to shrug. "I had no idea how much gas I had left and wanted to save it for emergencies. I ran every night until the sun came up in order to get back in time for the expedition." I casually say.
I slightly coward at Levi's unrelenting stare and slowly start pulling away from him, a bit nervous from a possible outburst.
"It...It's not that bad, I promise! See? There aren't many! Plus, they'll heal quickly cuz we have antiseptics now!" I lie through my teeth and smile at Levi. He doesn't respond and brings my other arm towards him gently before rolling up the sleeve on my left side. I don't stop him from doing so.
"This one, too?" He hides his face from me, asking a rhetorical question softly. I'm caught off guard by his sudden mood change, but I stay quiet. It's not like I want to, but I have no words. My legs begin to tremble from the lack of support I was receiving from Levi since I pulled away from him slightly, and I bite my lip as I place more of my weight onto him to avoid falling over. He holds onto my arm and opens the door
This time, Levi rolls down both of my sleeves gently before taking both of my arms, placing them around his neck. I'm confused but also excited at the same time. Why exactly, I'm not sure, but his intention dawns on me as soon as I feel his hand rest on the left side of my waist. His bends slightly and gently scoops me into his arms, before walking out of the room, leaving the door open.
"Levi..." I whisper.
He doesn't respond and carries me down the stairs, mumbling something before we reach the bottom. "We somehow always end up in this scenario, don't we?" This time, I don't giggle, instead, I feel like a burden that's been placed upon someone who's focus should be towards saving humanity. I don't have an outburst though, at least I can recognize that it's unwise to do so. We turn a corner and we arrive at the dining room where everyone seems to have gathered around. Looks like we made it just in time.
The chatter is killed with silence once our presence is made known, and everyone looks at us with horror spread across their faces.
----
hi hey hello!
what's this? possible romance? maybe so, but we won't know until the story continues!
(and it continues with long ass chapters like this one! over 2600 words ;))
much love and take care,
~cendiain