Chapter 6
It really felt good to wake up at a decent hour… Not really having to worry about training and being certain that you'd be able to spend the day relaxing… That was what Lily loved about day offs in the Survey Corps.
Since her dad died, she had begun to use every day off she got to see her mother… With time, Evangeline convinced her otherwise, their fights were a bit too constant for both of them, so they agreed that with Lily visiting after the expeditions and writing letters regularly they could settle. Thanks to that, Lily had already gotten used to how quiet the headquarters were when a lot of the soldiers went to visit their families. She just loved it!
"Oh hey! I'm glad you woke up. I would have been sorry if I left without saying goodbye to you!" Said Nifa as Lily sat on the bed.
"Hey I would have understood! Say hello to your family from me." She was still sleepy but she managed to get out of bed and search the wardrove for he towel. She would be better after she had a shower.
"Hey, Lils! Do you have something planned for today?" asked Hange in her usual exited voice while she sat next to the blue-eyed girl at breakfast.
"No, not really. You have something in mind?" She asked curiously while Nanaba and Mike joined them in the table.
"Well, we were thinking about going out for some drinks tonight. You're in?" said the brunette. Lily simply nodded as she stuffed a piece of bread on her mouth. "How about you, Squad Leader?" She said with a little mocking tone at her superior's range.
"Well, I still have to work on the details for the new formation but if I'm free before tonight I'll join you." Answered the blond sitting in front of them. "Also, I think you may want to consider leaving headquarters before night… I think might be looking for someone to watch the new recruits in his stead." He whispered. It really wasn't a surprise. Everyone knew that Flagon was still bitter about being the one babysitting criminals.
"That seems like something he'd do… To be fair, I would also be frustrated if I had to stay taking care of new recruits in my day off." Added Nanaba finishing her plate. "Why don't we meet and dawn? We'll decide where to go from there." She suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement and watched as the blond retired from the room after leaving the dishes.
"Well there's something I wanted to work on, so I better get to it or I'll never do it." Said Lily, getting up off the table and following the same trail as Nanaba had. "See you later, guys!" She finished as she walked out of the room.
"Are you completely sure about that, Farlan?" Asked Levi while leaning on a wall in an isolated part of the headquarters. "You know that if something disappears and notices it, we'll be the prime suspects, right?" He asked. Farlan's plan was good but a little too risky, specially considering the fact that they were acting on a hunch. They didn't even know for sure that Lily Dekker had the documents they were looking for.
"I know, I've considered that… But I've already checked Erwin's room three times, the documents are not there… I know we may be wrong but we can't afford to ignore it." Said Farlan. "Look, she shares her room with other two women, one of them went out and will not return until tomorrow. She and the blond one are going out tonight, they'll leave their room unattended, we may not find an opportunity like this one before. Besides, if we are quick we can do everything before she notices it, we'll be safe."
"Okay so… Let's go through the plan once more… Farlan and I go into their room and search it while big bro stays outside in case someone's coming. Is that right?" Asked Isabel with a bored expression on her face. He really wanted nothing else to do with that woman, was that so hard to understand?
"Yes that's it… The headquarters are going to be almost empty tonight but we can't risk someone to find us. If we are compromised, you hit the door as casually as possible and we'll go out the window." Explained Farlan to Levi. "Still, try to distract whoever may come as much as possible, try to buy us as much time as you can. Is that okay?
"Yeah, that's fine… You two be careful and be sure to look as fast as you can. I still don't think someone as careful as Smith would leave something so important in someone else's hands. So make it quick and don't take any fucking risks." Finished Levi. "Farlan, keep an eye on Isabel while you're in there… We don't need her to try and get revenge on Dekker." He turned and made his way to the barracks ignoring Isabel's complains behind him.
"So… Here it is!" Said Hange excitedly as she brought the first round of beers to the table, Mike close behind her, helping her with the beers. "Aaagh, this is good! I really needed to get out." Exclaimed the brunette after downing almost half her beer in one gulp.
"Well, Miss Hange, that's kind of your own fault for spending your free time in your notes…" Spoke Moblit, shyly. The man was really formal when he spoke and since he joined the squad, he seemed to have taken it upon himself to take care of Hange.
"Hey, let's not talk about that! This is our night off. It will probably be the last one before the next expedition. We would should make the most out of it!" Exclaimed Hange once again.
"Yeah that's right… Besides, Flagon's being making everyone's lives miserable! That guy really has an issue." Said Nanaba earning laughs from her companions.
"Well, I can't think of a single person who'd want to be on his place." Added Mike.
"Well yeah but he doesn't have to be a pain about it!" Continued Lily while laughing.
"Hey, Lils, what's up with you? It is a beer, not liquid gold. You don't have to make it last!" Mocked Hange. Lily had barely tasted her beer.
"I'm not kin to the idea of waking up with my head pounding tomorrow. Besides, you know what happens when I get drunk! I would really like to have control of my actions, thank you very much!" She finished with a small gulp of her beer, feeling her Squad Leader's eyes on her during barely a second.
"Hey what do you think he is doing?" Whispered Nanaba at Lily, she was signaling Marcus who seemed to be lost in his thoughts looking at the people in the bar.
"He's probably looking for someone to get laid!" Exclaimed Hange without regarding her friend's private thoughts, startling him. "What? It's true, isn't it?" She reached to the other side of the table and padded him on the shoulder. "It shouldn't be difficult, women love a man in uniform." She winked playfully at him making Lily and Nanaba roar with laughter due to the blush on his cheeks.
"No! It's just… That girl…" He said as the women in the table looked as discretely as possible to one of the barmaids, the youngest one. "We used to be friends when we were children, she is really nice… Oh well, that's how I remember her." He finished shyly. He was the youngest member of the squad so bothering him was a lot of on.
"Well, I think you should go for it. Ask her out!" Said Lily. "I'm not looking to be grim or anything but now's your chance. You don't know if you'll ever see her again… Go, ask her!" Marcus shook his head many times and downed the rest of his beer.
"No, I don't think is a good idea… We haven't spoke in years! She probably forgot about me already." Lily rolled her eyes but added nothing else to the conversation.
"Maybe… Or maybe you're losing your time, thinking about all of this instead of acting like a man and go talk to her." Stated Nanaba as if it was obvious making Marcus blush even more.
"They are not going to stop unless you do what they say…" said Erwin looking sympathetically at his subordinate. "Just go and we'll keep them at bay when you come back." Marcus took a deep breath and got up, his face was a mixture of worry and resignation.
"Go on, it's really no big deal!" exclaimed Hange, as Marcu's pace seemed too slow for her liking.
"Oh really?" asked Lily mockingly. "Well, if it's not that big of a deal, don't you have something to say to Commander Shadis?" Hange blushed wildly due to both embarrassment and alcohol.
"Oh! That's the battle you'll choose to fight, Lils?" She answered, her tone a little threatening. "Well if you are so sure about that…" She was interrupted before she could go on.
"All right, all right, I'm sorry!" Exclaimed Lily covering Hanges mouth with her hand. "Just shut up, will you?" Hange gave her thumps up. Lily released her friend and they got back to drinking and eating pretty soon.
"Well… Looks like we were right… Cheers for that." Said Nanaba pointing at the door of the bar, Marcus was currently going out, the girl from before grabbing his arm. The three girls made a small toast to celebrate their "success as matchmakers. Mike rolled her eyes while smirking and Erwin simply chuckle and shook his head.
"Wait up, I'll go and get us another round." Said Hange quickly disappearing through the people in the bar.
Nanaba and Mike were soon in a conversation between just the two of them. Lily felt a wave of heat hit her, probably thanks to her tipsiness and the amount of people in the place, she decided the best thing to do was to go out and get some fresh air before the next round. She excused herself, mostly to Erwin considering Mike and Nanaba paid little to no attention to her, and went out of the bar.
She stood there for some minutes, enjoying the breeze… Since the first time she had gone on an expedition, she noticed the air outside the walls was much cleaner. Later on, she admitted she yearned for it while being inside the walls. She'd certainly rather die breathing that clear air than die feeling her lungs for the last time with the heavy breeze inside the walls.
"It's not the same is it? In here…" said a voice behind her back. She turned to see Erwin joining her. They had gotten a little far of the noise of the bar.
"What? Do you read minds now?" She said smiling. "No, it's not… I really hope someday we'll be able to breath freely."
"Well, that's what we fight for…" they feel into a sort of comfortable silence, they didn't even look at each other. Still, Erwin's mind never stopped working, there were some things he felt the urge to know. That drove him to break the silence. "What was Hange talking about, back then?" As usual, he went straight to the point. Lily visually tensed up, clearly not expecting the question… But hell! When did this man ever do something she expected?
"You mean… The threat?" she turned to look at him feeling smaller than she already was as she saw her reflection in his light-blue eyes. He simply nodded and waited for her answer. "Oh it was nothing! It's just… Hange knows a lot of embarrassing stuff about me… Things I've done, thoughts I've had… I didn't know what would she reveal so I stopped her…" Well that was not completely a lie, except she was almost sure she knew what Hange was about to say.
"I see…" said the blond, clearly unsatisfied with the answer. "Lily, may I ask you something?" She simply nodded her hands grabbing strongly the cloth of her brown dress. "What happened between us two years ago… I just wanted to say that, I don't think we ever discussed it."
"We did… We talked, we agreed it was a mistake that would never be repeated…" She frowned. She was clearly not prepared for him to bring the topic up after two years. "I don't think we should talk about that again. I mean… We've been fine." Erwin frowned at this, his mind going back to that morning.
After they had talked, Lily went back to her room trying to enter before everyone woke up. He had taken a shower and went he got back in the room, he noticed a small red stain in the sheets. That confirmed what he was fearing since he saw her asleep beside him, that had been her first time. He thought about talking to her about it again but she soon began acting as if nothing had happened so he decided to do same, thinking it was not that important to her… But now that Hange had almost brought the topic to the light… He knew he might have been wrong…
"Lily, I just don't want anything to be left unsaid…"
"Don't you think it's a little late for that? We were doing fine, I am fine with things the way they are right now… Why bring it up after two years?" Her hands had turned into fists as she tried not to snap at her squad leader. "Besides, there is nothing left unsaid! We were both drunk, we had sex, but it meant nothing. We've moved on…" She looked elsewhere for some seconds before sighing. "I think I've drank enough… I'll be going back to the headquarters. Please, say sorry to the guys for me. Would you?" she hugged herself and began walking away from the bar.
Erwin sighed as he watched her leave. He knew she would not appreciate his company while returning to the headquarters. She was perfectly capable of defending herself so he decided to let it go, for the moment, and go back inside the bar.
Lily arrived at the headquarters feeling awful… Why couldn't he just leave it there? Why did he want to talk about it today?
She decided to make herself some tea before going to bed, trying to calm down her nerves. She put the water in the fire and waited for it to heat while looking for a cup and the tea leaves. She began to pour the hot water when she was distracted again by her thoughts, the cup was quickly full and the hot water began to spill. She didn't realize until her felt a burning pain in the hand that was meant to hold the cup still.
Complaining soundly, she began to pour colder water onto it feeling relieved as the pain lessened a little bit. She knew Nifa had something for burns in their room, she knew her friend would not be angry to know she had used some of it.
She made her way to her room silently, in case there was someone sleeping. Before, she realized she was just at the corner, she just had to take one more turn. Suddenly she felt her body being crash and being pushed backwards. She immediately clutched her injured hand to protect it as she fell on her butt.
"Hey, watch where you're going, brat." Said a voice in front of her. Her eyes moved upwards to find Levi staring at her as if she was some dirt he had to clean. She saw his gaze move to the back of her hand which was still slightly red.
"What the hell did you do?" He asked as she got up the floor.
"It's nothing. I was just making tea and spilled hot water…"
"Tsk, now I know I shouldn't worry about the expeditions anymore. If someone as stupid as you has managed to make it back alive, anyone can do it." Lily frowned. She knew she shouldn't let him get to her but still felt offended by his comments. She tried to ignore him and continue her way when he blocked it once again. "What are you going to do with that?"
"My roommate has some kind of ointment for burns, I'll just grab some of it." Lily tried to brush him off and walk past him. For a second, she thought she was going to make it and then felt her other arm be grabbed strongly. Her reflexes forced her into a fighting stance as she turned to face him. He had raised his one of his eyebrows at her reactions.
"Considering how you got this injured, I wouldn't be surprised if you confused "ointment" with something else. Come here." He began walking in the other direction, dragging her along, ignoring every single one of her complaints along with his desire to shove anything in her mouth to shut her up. He took her to the infirmary despite her attempts to get away. "Will you just shut the fuck up and sit there like a good girl?" He snapped at her, as he pushed her down to sit on one of the beds.
Lily shut her mouth due to the impression. He moved quickly around the room and grabbed a little jar with something white inside it and bandages. He grabbed her hand a little harshly and opened the jar. A little minty scent came out of the white ointment. She felt a refreshing sensation as Levi spread the ointment over the back of her hand. They both stayed silent until he had finished by wrapping her hand up with the bandages.
"It should be better now… Try to keep yourself from doing something stupid again, you could end up dead the next time…" He turned to leave, his plan was to go back to Lily's room and warn Farlan and Isabel but he had to be quick…
"Hey!" Her voice stopped him in his tracks. "Thank you…" Her voice was lower, she was clearly embarrassed. "Err, do you… want a cup of tea? It shouldn't take long for me to make some more…"
Levi pondered the situation carefully… He had no desire to spend his time with one of Smith's lap dogs, but he could buy Farlan and Isabel more time if he kept her distracted. Besides, he found he was having a hard time rejecting tea.
"Well, I suppose I should make sure you don't burn your other hand." He held the door open waiting for her to pass. The look on her face told him she did not expect him to join her.
They walked silently through the halls. Levi kept his eyes glued to back of Lily's head, while she felt slightly uncomfortable… She didn't know how to react to the situation. Luckily for her, they arrived soon at the kitchens. The water had gone cold so she moved it to the fire once again to reheat it. All of this, under the scrutinizing eyes of Levi.
She did not completely trust him so she chose to keep her guard up, he could tell by simply looking at her, the way she avoided to turn her back to him, how tense her shoulders were… He clearly had the upper hand in the situation and that pleased him.
He watched as she pulled another cup out he cabinet and patiently waited for the water… The classical sound of the pot brought them from their thoughts. Lily moved to take it out of the fire when his hand stopped her once again.
"I'll do it. You'll either ruin the tea or burn something else…" Lily frowned, offended, but chose to stay quiet and let him have his way.
She watched him pour the tea in the cups. Silently, she got up and walked to the cabinets. A few seconds later, she come back with a jar of honey in her hands. Levi frowned as he handed her the cup.
"Are seriously going to put that on the tea?" He asked.
"Just a little bit… I like my tea sweet…" She said shrugging. For a moment, she though he might take the cup away from her as she grabbed a tea spoon and poured a little bit of honey and mixed it in her tea. "So… How are you dealing with the change?" She asked looking to break through the awkward silence they had gotten themselves into.
"You could say I'm glad to be out of that shithole… Still, we didn't come here willingly, idiot." He was glaring at her over his cup which, she noted, he had grabbed on a very strange way…
"Well… It was either with us or the Military Police… At least you have a certain amount of freedom in here." She tried to appear unmoved by his glare and kept drinking her tea. "Speaking about freedom, where is Squad Leader Flagon?"
"I don't know and I don't give a fuck…" He answered honestly. That man pestered him about everything he had quickly grown tired of him.
She didn't ask anything else and Levi was not wiling to make any conversation, there was not point in doing it. If Farlan found what they were looking for in her room, Lily Dekker would be dead soon.
"Big bro!" said a voice that came from the halls. A few seconds later, Isabel entered the kitchens running. "Farlan wants to see you, something about a mess in your room." Lily raised an eyebrow, this sounded just plain ridiculous. She soon found herself under the glare of the redhead, making her roll her eyes and finish her cup of tea. She got up and moved to pick up Levi's empty cup too.
"Tell him I'll be there soon…" Despite this, Isabel did nothing, she just kept standing in the door. "And what do you think you're doing, dumbass?" He asked, stopping Lily from taking his cup.
"Well, it seems like you need to go and we could get in trouble if leave this disaster in the kitchen, so I'll wash the cups." She explained as if it was obvious.
"Are you really this stupid or you just fake it? You can't get your hand wet yet." He got up and took the cups out of her hands. "You put everything else away, I'll wash the cups." He said turning his back to her.
Lily stood there astounded for a few seconds. She turned to look at Isabel, who had yet to leave and stood glaring at her with her arms crossed. She moved to grab the tea leaves and honey to put them back inside the cabinets.
They had soon finished and walked out of the kitchen together joining Isabel at the door. They separated ways and Lily simply waved and said good night to him before going to her room.
"So… Did Farlan find the person who made the mess?" He asked just in case Lily or someone nearby could hear him, hoping Isabel would catch the meaning of the question.
"Yes… I think he did." She answered with a small smirk on her face.
Once in her room, Lily realized she'd probably be alone for the night, she decided to make the most out of it and get a good night sleep praying that Nanaba wouldn't come in drunk ad noisy… Well, she'd probably stay with Mike…
She changed into her sleeping gown and made her way to the bed, pulling the covers up to her shoulders she could not help but think about her bandaged hand and, most importantly, who had fixed her up… That guy was just so weird… She couldn't make sense to any of the things he did and say. Maybe it was due to the time he spent in the Underground but his two companions were more… Well, normal… With these thoughts in her mind, she decided to close her eyes and call it a day…
