Xora froze, unable to stop her mouth from falling agape. The two men pulled away from each other, sharing her astonishment. Eren—already a light shade of pink—turned downright red, his forest-y eyes wide with embarrassment.
"E—excuse me!" he choked, mortified. Hanging his head, he ducked past Xora and scampered away, his face flushed the entire way. With her eyebrows knit in puzzlement, she turned back to face Levi. He was seated in his chair, leaning back with a rather nonchalant look on his face.
"I'm sorry, did I interrupt something..?" Xora inquired slowly, shutting the door behind her.
"Nothing at all," was Levi's clipped response. He motioned for her to come forward and take a seat in the chair in front of his desk. Xora did as he implied, searching for something to say.
"I don't mean to pry, but is there something going on between the two of you?"
"It's not something to worry about, so there's no need to beat around the bush." Levi closed his eyes. "He's in love with me, though I've rejected him before. I do things to quell his yearning, even if only for a short while."
"That's seems a bit harsh. Why not try to hear him out?"
"He was asking for some form of affection, and I answered with a kiss. It's as simple as that—nothing more, nothing less." Levi rolled his shoulders before leaning against his desk, his hands folding upon each other. "Now, Xora. What is the real reason you came in? You rarely ever enter my office."
"I had a few questions," Xora answered, her face blank.
This seemed to pique Levi's interest. "Shoot."
Taking a slow, deep breath, Xora looked deeply into Levi's eyes, searching for any traces of honesty in their lost colors. "It may not be the right time to ask you this, but... these questions have pestered me for so long now."
It was briefly silent; Levi hadn't moved an inch.
"What is this strange feeling that seems to haunt me whenever I'm in your presence? It's as though I've become ill; my heart begins to race, my head becomes clouded, and I always feel myself get warmer." As if on cue, a flush came to her cheeks. "Not only that... my mind seems to remember memories that I've long forgotten; you're even in some of them, but it feels like nothing more than a hallucination."
"Elaborate a little more," Levi murmured. He leaned across his desktop, peering deeper into her than ever before.
"It's been happening since I first met you. I've been wondering why I feel so vulnerable with you. If you are next to me, it feels as if I can trust you enough to lower my guard, even in the slightest. It feels as though I've known you for a long Time." Xora clutched the fabric of her suit in front of her chest. "And my chest. Why does my chest hurt when I look into your eyes? Why is it that whenever we're alone together, you seem to grow so much warmer?
"And the way you hold me—" Xora's eyes were full of confusion and troubled thought, the stormy color of Levi's eyes piercing straight through her. "You are able to hold me and kiss me so easily—the same that you do with Eren. How do you do this, and without meaning? I am someone who struggles with feeling my emotions and perceiving them as they are. So when you act like this, I'm unable to understand how I feel."
Again, silence filled the air; the gaze the two shared was not broken for a single moment. Then finally, Levi spoke.
"That's a lot of damn questions," Levi scoffed. Xora's eyes flickered to her hands in her lap. "First and foremost, to answer all of your questions in a nutshell: I believe you haven't experienced what love is. Or maybe you have, and you've only forgotten it, and what it feels like."
"Love?" Xora repeated. "As in, a romantic relationship? I already told you that I have not the time nor need for such a trivial thing."
With a distasteful click of his tongue, Levi leaned back on his chair. "No, you fool. That is a part of love, but romance is not the only kind of love. Love can be for family, or there is also a love between companions and friends."
Xora's gaze lowered to the floor. "Of those, I have none. I am alone—but I still have not the need for love."
"You're only human. All humans need love of some sort, after all else. You can't deny that."
"You may be correct, Levi, but all I am asking for is the answer to these questions. Nothing else."
A flicker of a strange light danced across Levi's eyes. "The only answer I can give you won't make you happy, and even I am unsure of it."
"Then, what is your answer, Levi? Enlighten me."
"That is for you to find out on your own, Xora," Levi smirked, standing from his chair to gaze out of the tall window behind him.
"What?" Xora, too, rose to her feet. "You won't tell me of your answers?"
"I said that I can, but I never said that I would." Turning his head, he glanced at her with eyes full of mischief, taunting her to press on. Instead, Xora swallowed hard and abruptly stood
"If that's how you want to act, then so be it," she snapped. "I shall find out these answers myself; and know, Levi, that I learned nothing by asking you such ludicrous questions. Perhaps I have made a mistake in voicing them to you."
"Good luck," was all he said. Xora left, shutting the door swiftly without a second glance backwards. Shuddering, she cleared her head and started for the data room, hoping to find something to do. She desired to leave on another assignment, such as another field mission, but she knew Levi would most definitely not allow such a thing—especially after the last incident.
Xora crept inside the data room to find Hange fast asleep with her head against the control panel, her glasses slid up to pin her bangs to her head. A large glob of drool dripped from the side of her lip. The large screens pictured the Stylized Lily insignia and the faces of several people she did not recognize; many donned masks that looked strange, and others wore abnormal expressions. Among them lied Alan Clark's profile, but a large question mark covered his face.
"Archangel!" Eren's voice piped up. Xora turned to see he was sitting at the round table. Once their gazes met, his face flushed once again, but he greeted her warmly nonetheless. "Is there something you need?"
"Not anything too important," she answered, then pointed at the sleeping woman. "What exactly was Hange doing?"
"Oh, her? She was just doing some research on the Titan organization."
"The Titan organization?" Xora pulled out a chair beside the boy and took her seat, drawing her full attention to him. "Can you tell me what you know about them?"
"I'm surprised you haven't been told this yet," Eren murmured, setting down his pen. He shot Hange a nervous glance but turned back to Xora with a strangely fierce look on his eyes. "They've been one of the Iridescent Empire's worst enemies, and we're constantly at war. Their forces are absolutely massive, and very strong."
"I see. And so, why is this information about them kept confidential?"
"It's because of our suspicion of their ultimate goal," Eren responded in a grave tone. "Most of us think that their plan is to overthrow the world's largest government."
A wrinkle formed between Xora's brows. "How would they do that?"
"Cannibalism. They believe that because humans are at the top of the food chain, we've been able to live peacefully for centuries—but if they change that dynamic, with the aid of fear, they'll be able to control the world. Apparently, they have an extensive process for joining the organization to guarantee loyalty. If you disobey them or drop out early, you're tortured and eventually eaten." Eren shuddered.
"That's quite horrifying," Xora agreed, wrinkling her eyebrows. "Do you have any idea of how many people are involved with them?"
"We actually have no idea. There's a rough ballpark of millions of people, which is an extremely terrifying number. Though there are billions of people in this world, with efficient distribution and expansion of fear, millions of Titans will easily overthrow the entire globe within mere months, if not weeks."
A rumbly breath coursed through Xora. "I see... a truly terrifying group of inhumane people, aren't they?"
"Very," Eren said with a nod. "I hope we'll one day bring them to justice, but who knows what'll become of them until then. Everything they do is extremely hard to pinpoint, and even harder to track."
Xora glanced at the several screens again, her eyes flitting over Alan Clark's picture. "Is there any explanation as to why Clark's picture is up there?"
"Well, it's only a suspicion," Eren murmured slowly, "but it's believed that Alan Clark is part of the Titans—if not someone who holds a high position in the organization."