Chapter.3. The Library. Part.2.
Levi walks away, leaving you looking onward, puzzling at his cryptic words. No time for that however. If you do not get this place cleaned and spotless before day's end, you only predicted only harsher punishments to come. You push one of the sliding ladders across to one end of the room and begin to climb it to the highest shelf. You dusted and scrubbed and polished the lengths of the shelving for what felt like hours, until your hands blistered. Wiping the sweat from your brow, you long to be outside feeling the wind in your face, soaring through the air of the town with your 3D gear.
It is twilight by the time you slide the last few books back into their correct places. The floors, tables and waste paper baskets were sparkling. Your arms felt like lead. Exhausted, you peel off your apron and gloves and fall into the nearest chair and lay your hot sweaty forehead down onto the cold hard table. It was bliss.
"That wasn't so bad was it?" Levi's voice echoed from across the room, almost with a hint of victory in his fight against the filth.
You could only muster a groan as you sat back on the chair gazing up to the ceiling.
"Levi...do you enjoy this so much?" you groaned rhetorically.
"Good cleaning is proof of discipline. An idiot like you wouldn't understand it in its fullest concept". He scoffed as he removed his gloves and apron.
"Humph. Well you know...ugh! Dammit!", you spotted a book at the end of the table. You get up and read its spine to find that it belonged on one of the higher shelves. Casting your eyes upward, you assess the situation. You would need the ladder for this. You stroll over to it and give it a tug.
"Hmm?" you blinked confused.
You tug harder...nothing. You push it...nothing. It had become stuck.
"Seriously?" you yelped.
You felt a tap on your shoulder. You turn to Levi's neutral expression. He could see you stressing. He walked over the bookcase and got down on one knee.
"Stand on my shoulders." He said.
You stop and look at him for a moment and nodded agreeing to his idea. However, he stops you before you could thank him for his assistance and frowns, pointing at your boots.
"Take 'em off!" he ordered.
"Oh...oh yeah." You laugh nervously. You sit down beside him and remove your long brown leather boots to expose the dainty flesh of your feet. They were warm and aching from being up on the ladder steps all day. After propping your boots up beside the bookcase, Levi reaches his hands out to you. Feeling hesitant you take him by the hands as he supports you. Gently placing each foot on either shoulder, he rises slowly under you. It reminded you of your training days when you were first learning how to keep your balance in the maneuver gear class. Luckily you had a natural talent for it.
"Are you done yet?" Levi called abruptly.
"It hardly smells of sunshine and roses down here".
You blush furiously at Levi's insult. Suddenly feeling very self-conscious, you quickly replace the book and turn back to retort. Foolish move as this made you lose balance. Panic stricken all you could do was fall. Your foot slips off Levi's shoulder. You shut your eyes tight and brace yourself for impact.
"Mph!"...you felt a pressure around your ribs. You feared you'd broken something. You slowly opened your eyes afraid of what you might see. You quickly gathered your courage and found that you had clumsily wrapped yourself around Levi to break your fall. You felt like a fool. What must the two of you look like? You blushed with embarrassment at the thought of Levi's penetrating glare of disappointment.
"AH...AH...I-...I'm…" you tried to blurt out an apology amidst the nervous drivel you were spewing. You straightened yourself up so you could look him in the eye.
"I'm so-..."...your eyes met with Levi's. Your noses were practically touching. Your arms locked around his neck. He had somehow managed to catch you and still remain standing. The pressure on your chest was because he had caught you in his arms and was holding you tightly. Your heart began to flutter; your cheeks began to burn. It was getting harder to breathe. Levi only continued to gaze up at you with those eyes, the colour of thunder clouds. He seemed a little different this time. His gaze almost felt...emotional. You noticed his cheeks glowing. Or it could have been your imagination. A trick of the rosy twilight and the shadows it cast around you. And that's when you felt it. One of his hands had slid up the back of your jacket and the other was clasping your thigh. You started to feel something inside of you. Like walls had started to crumble around your heart as it pounded away inside of them. The warmth of Levi's body against yours soothed the aching that had been tormenting you since you started having the dreams. Those night terrors filled with the same familiar blurry faces night after night. Silently surrounded by the evening's stillness you drew your hands around Levi's neck. One hand ran through the back of his dark soft hair. The other, you drew around his face. His ivory skin was warm to the touch and was as soft as silk. You close your eyes and rest your forehead against his. Levi loosens his grip around you causing you to slip through his embrace. Your lips fall into his. Your eyes shot open. What was happening? Levi was there, holding you in his arms and kissing you. The flesh of his lips was soft and sweet. You melt into his grasp and surrender your senses to this sumptuousness comfort.
"Gnn!" You gasp with the sudden surge of pain in your arm.
Levi breaks away with an almost concerned look on his face. You draw back your arms from around his neck and nurse the bandage on your arm. A throbbing painful heat consumes it.
"What's wrong?" Levi asked coolly.
"Captain…Please put me down." You whimper.
Levi gently releases you from his embrace. You hold your aching arm close to you and shyly look down at the floor. Levi just stands there, his head hung low and his eyes obscured by his hair. You were afraid you had offended him. The same Captain renowned for his crude, brutish manner, the most offensive individual you had ever met in the military. You pick up your boots and hurriedly slide back into them.
"I-I have to go. It's so late already." You smile nervously.
"Yes. *Ahem* I expect you in my office first thing in the morning (Your Name)." Levi clears his throat before correcting his cravat, returning to his normal stoic self.
You fidgeted as you walked away from him towards the door. You couldn't let him see just how red your face was in the light of the corridor.
"Yep! See you bright and early for more of that thing tomorrow...and...stuff...BYE!"
You sprinted as fast as your legs could carry you. You didn't care where they took you, so long as it was as far away from that library as possible. You reach your dorm, burst through the door and lock it fast. Puffing and panting, you leaned back against the door. Exhausted from the day's work and that sudden unexpected turn of events, you slid down to sit on the cold hard floor in disbelief. A few moments later, you calmed down and ran your fingers through the hair that hung around your face.
"Dammit." you mutter sadly clasping your arm.