Bleed Slow

chapter one; of bars and ballrooms

There was a cold tingle in the air that night. It breezed into the bar, only for a moment as each body would enter or exit. A young woman sat poised on a stool before the granite counter; short black hair, an ominous stare, and a deadly pair of red lips to match her crimson evening dress. Her lipstick left a stain on the fancy cup of white wine she sipped, as her wary gaze glanced at each moving body that passed her by.

He was late, again.

"Another drink, miss?" The bartender inquired from behind the counter, casually cleaning out a glass with a white cloth. She nodded, handing him the now empty glass.

Four cups in, still no sign of her date.

Mikasa, though not generally impatient, tapped her toe against the metal stool in anticipation.

The bar she sat in was elegant, as it was just branched off one of the top hotels in Trost. All around her were rich people going about their casual evenings; expensive evening gowns and classy suits with silly bow ties engaged in leisurely conversation and drinks. It all made Mikasa sick.

She geared her head around she felt another breeze waft through her hair, tingling her bare shoulders. It was as if she could sense his presence from the moment it entered her radius. And there stood Jean Kirschtein, Mikasa's supposed husband, dressed up in a tan suit with a purple tie. It was tacky, Mikasa thought, but she sent him a wave upon seeing him.

"You're late again." She spoke with bitterness lacing her tone. The tall man rushed to grab his seat beside her.

"I'm sorry, Mikasa." He stared at her face, but she refused to look at him as she sipped from her freshly filled glass of wine. "My father had me held up at the office, there wasn't much I could do about it."

"Even though it's our anniversary?" She shot him a venomous glare, and Jean sweat dropped.

I-I'm sorry... Please, let me make it up to you." He stood up and offered her his hand. Reluctantly, she swallowed the rest of her drink before accepting his offer. Jean lead her towards the ballroom. Though Jean and Mikasa had been married for exactly one year that day, apparently, he still hadn't a clue what she was interested in doing.

She scoffed at how much of a fool he was for taking her to a hotel ballroom dance party for their anniversary, but she kept her mouth shut, thinking that it was sweet of him to at least try to please her.

"I invited some of our friends too, Mikasa." Jean smiled to her.

She looked to him quizzically. "Oh? I thought this night was supposed to be for us."

"It will be, but I figured that you would like to celebrate with our closest friends for the first part of the evening."

He somewhat had that right. She could tell that Jean was trying to please her, as it had been blatant lately that she was growing sour around him. "So, who did you invite?" Mikasa inquired as the two entered the ballroom, taking in the regal appearance of it. It was a different atmosphere than the bar; rather than being dark and decorated with red, the ballroom was open and golden with an unnecessarily large chandelier. Many couples were dancing under the rich light.

"Marco, Sasha, Christa, Connie, Armin, and Eren of course."

Mikasa flinched at the last name. "You invited Eren?"

"Of course." He smiled. "I know you haven't seen him in a while, and I figured this would be the perfect time to get the guy to come out."

She pursed her lips. It had been a while since she'd seen her step brother. They lived in different cities now, after all. Mikasa had left Shiganshina to live with Jean in Trost, six months after their wedding. Their childhood friend, Armin, had also moved to continue his education. Trost was a larger city and had more opportunity for work and schooling, but Eren insisted on staying. Mikasa hadn't seen him since the move.

"Did he say he was going to come?" She asked skeptically.

"Yep! Isn't that great?" Jean beamed brightly at Mikasa, and she forced a small one back at him.

"Y-Yeah... Thank you, Jean." She kissed him on the cheek, though inwardly, she was anxious about Eren's arrival.

Mikasa and Jean danced for a while, despite Mikasa being horrible at dancing. She basically had to have Jean twirl her around like a rag doll. Her husband came from a prestigious family in Trost, so he had grown up attending events such as this, things that were foreign to Mikasa upon meeting him. After all that time, he still didn't know how much she hated dancing...

An hour later, the night was still young, and Mikasa's mood was only seeming to get worse. Even after Armin and the others arrived, all looking great in their suits and dresses, she wasn't exactly stoked to see her 'brother'. Not because she didn't want to see him, more because she knew that it would be awkward.

She was standing by the appetizer table, alone, checking her cellphone when she heard his throat clear near her.

"Mikasa, hey." He spoke, watching as her head slowly lifted from the screen of her cellphone to his painfully familiar face. He wore an off smile, and she simply looked at him, shocked.

"Eren."

He pulled her into an uncomfortable hug, which she reluctantly responded to. "How have you been?" He grinned as he pulled away. Mikasa could tell that he, too, was feeling weird.

"I have been fine. Yourself?"

"I've been okay... Just been learning a lot about medicine from my father, lately."

"I see. How is he?"

"He's good, he told me to tell you to give a phone call every once in a while." Eren laughed bashfully, making Mikasa blush and avert his eyes.

"Tell him that I'm sorry. I've been busy."

"Yeah, I bet..." He trailed off. "Well, I think I'm going to go see Armin. I haven't run into him yet."

"Yeah, I need another drink." The girl pushed pass him and went straight towards the bar.

This is all too much... She thought, grabbing the only empty stool, not caring if she would be surrounded by random people, or in someone's spot who had stepped away for a moment. Her mind was in turmoil, all the feelings she had for Eren that were repressed had came back instantly the moment she saw his face. The boy she'd grown up with, who she was ultimately in love with and had rejected her all those months ago was now back in her life, at her anniversary, making things worse than they already were. The familiar, cool sting of rejection she'd felt from her step brother was bubbling inside her stomach. It wasn't that she didn't care for Jean, but she couldn't lie to herself and say that she loved him more than Eren. On top of that, over the year, she had grown annoyed by his constant lateness and inconsistency. And after being in a relationship of the same thing for well over two years, the girl was getting-

"Bored?" A new voice entered her ears, snapping her from her reverie. Her eyes darted to the man seated to her left; a man she'd never seen before. He was evidently older, either his late twenties or early thirties, and stared at her with a pair of blue, half lidded orbs. He wore a crisp black suit with a red tie; much classier than Jean, her mind instantly thought, though she shook that thought from her mind and focused on why this stranger was speaking to her.

"Uh, yeah..." She replied nonchalantly, looking away.

"As am I." He sighed. She noticed that he was drinking whiskey on the rocks, rattling the ice cubes in the cup as he swirled it around with boredom. "You're a bit young for something like this, aren't you?" He asked as if it were his business. His voice was low, yet velvety. He spoke with a distinct slur.

"I am." Mikasa admitted. "Which brought me to the bar, where I fit in more."

The man chortled. "Touché."

Mikasa almost winced as she watched him take a sip of the straight alcohol. She took the moment he was looking away to see his face; well, there was an attractive man. She mentally slapped herself for thinking something so dirty. When she looked away, the man was eyeing her with the same interest.

"Would you mind if I asked your name, miss?" He queried politely, a tone Mikasa wasn't accustomed to hearing from a man, which was strange considering he didn't exactly look like the kindest. He was handsome, but his sharp eyes were daunting and mysterious. Regardless, Mikasa shook her head.

"It's Mikasa."

"You can call me Levi." He said curtly, holding out his hand. Hesitantly, the girl eyed him with suspicion, before offering him hers. There was something alluring in those eyes of his. Something dangerous, that glinted especially strong as he pulled her hand to his lips, placing a gentle kiss upon it, their eyes never wavering. Mikasa's heart and stomach fluttered in unison. "It's nice to meet you, Mikasa." He said, allowing her hand to drop and regaining his original composure. "What brings you here tonight?"

"Actually, it's my one year anniversary with my husband... Yourself?"

"Work." He replied simply, showing no concern about her marital status. "Yet the man I'm looking for appears to be late."

"Ah, I know how you feel."

"Is that so?"

"My husband is always late, so I know how you feel." She muttered, cursing under her breath. Where was that fool, anyway? Not one person had come to check up on her at the bar. She imagined that Jean was talking away with Eren, entirely ignorant to Mikasa's feelings. She quickly finished the rest of her wine, waving to the tender to grab her another. The alcohol was starting to kick in, and she felt more at ease with this stranger than she normally would have, had she been sober.

"That's unfortunate." Levi said. "This is kind of a shitty place to bring a woman for an anniversary anyway, though. No offence intended."

"It's okay, I agree."

"I suppose that's why you're sitting at the bar, conversing with a total stranger?"

The girl nodded. "I guess that's why. He's trying to please me, though. He rented a room in this grand hotel for the night, and he invited all our friends, but... Evening dresses and fancy wine just aren't my thing."

"So, what is your thing, then?" Interest sparkled in his eyes, which was enough to make Mikasa want to speak. She wasn't the talkative type, but under the influence, everyone's shell cracked every once in a while. And besides, when was the last time a man had actually shown genuine interest in what she had to say?

"If you must know, I'm training to become an investigator."

"An investigator? Like a police detective?"

"Yeah... I'm still in training. I've only really dusted finger prints off for corner store robberies, but, my hope is to someday be solving murders."

Levi raised an eyebrow, not expecting such an answer. "You must be a smart woman." As Levi said those words, the presence of Mikasa's husband caught her attention. The tall man stumbled into the room, visibly drunk, and made his way over to her.

"Mikasa, let's dance!" He slurred, red-faced, not even taking notice to the older man who was leaning towards his wife with interest.

"Let me finish my drink, Jean." The woman replied dryly, sipping from her glass. "I'll meet you in there."

"Alright." He said, disappearing the same way he came in.

"It was nice to meet you, Levi." She spoke through an exasperated breath, as she finished off her wine. As she stood to walk away, ready to return to her normal life, but she couldn't help but think that for some other worldly reason, talking to this stranger had given her night a thrill.

Levi scanned her body with his eyes, before nodding to her. As she drifted by him, she could have sworn she heard him say "perhaps our paths will cross again, Mrs. Ackerman."

A/N: Alright ya'll, this story is going to be a bit... Different.

I know this chapter doesn't tell you much, it's more of a prologue or teaser, I guess, but I hope it captivates some readers. Also, I want to apologize in advance for the way I've portrayed Jean in this chapter, he's actually going to have a much more significant role, rather than just Mikasa's annoying husband. I know that Levi seems OOC as fuck, but he won't be ;P

This story is probably going to be super angst, but we'll see where it goes.

Give it a chance? :)

Please review and let me know what you think!