Disclaimer: In no way does Dwellin own, produce, write, draw, or participate in the creative process or production of Shingeki no Kyogin (or, if you prefer, Attack On Titan) in any way, form, shape, or manner. It is the brainchild of Hajime Isayama.


Chapter 12


As meals went, it had been a tense one. Sasha blamed 'ole stick-up-his-rear' for that. Many the glare was thrown in his direction, but always when his back was turned; no fool she! Just like him to come along and ruin her perfect plan, it was just like him to—

It was on that last thought her brain froze because it dawned on her what she was thinking. Just like him? Why just like him? Why him? The truth, she reminded herself, was that she hadn't expected him at all.

Sasha's mouth opened to ask and then with atypical restraint snapped shut. It was not uncommon for her thoughts to connect straight to her mouth without a filter of any kind, but this time, something was different and she could tell it was different but not why.

Suddenly she overcome with nerves which for some unknown reason, made her want to pick a fight with him. But I'm not gonna because I'm taking the high road in this and ignore his camp-crashing, rabbit-eating, tea-drinking, horse-riding butt straight into sleep!

Besides, she had the uncomfortable feeling he would win any verbal exchange between the two of them. This is not turning out to be the evening I had intended.

Definitely out of sorts, the brunette turned her eyes upward at the night sky. Usually gazing up at the twinkle of the stars was had a calming affect on her…usually that is. If I keep staring up at them, I might fall asleep and I can't risk that!

In a situation like this, a girl needed to stick to the plan; her gloriously sneaky plan.

All I have to do is out wait him. How hard can that be? Her eyes slid to the side as stealthily as she could manage in order to see what he was doing. He was still sitting up against the tree drinking his after-dinner, or before-bed, tea!

She blew out an aggrieved breath while thinking fiercely in his direction: Go to sleep you obnoxiously awake man! Because as soon as he did, she was off and away!

Then it struck her that she shouldn't have taken off her boots earlier when she got ready to turn in. A quick glance in their direction confirmed they were still sitting obediently next to the end of her sleeping pad right where she had left them. Dang! Why did I do that! But, if I kept them on, wouldn't that have looked suspicious?

Levi sat against a tree, his held tilted back with a forearm resting on one bent knee. He had been nursing his last cup of tea for the night while gazing up at a sky he usually didn't have the time to enjoy the sight of.

After her major announcement that she was going to bed and oh, all good soldiers everywhere should be turning in for a good night's sleep, she had flounced to her bedroll, ponytail swinging back and forth with each step. As backsides went, it had been an enjoyable sight.

Then, she had made quite the production of removing her boots and setting them so-so by her bed before pulling the light blanket over her. With a final defiant glare in his direction just to make sure he understood that she didn't care two hoots about him.

That was all entertaining, but the quick, looks shot in his direction when she thought he wasn't looking, almost made him smile. Almost, but could he help it if one corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly? On the side facing away from her; of course, it wouldn't do to let her know how much her fuming disgruntlement amused him.

He would have had to possess the witless comprehension of a Titan to be unaware of the frowns shot in his direction every now and then. It was a good thing her glares weren't branding irons otherwise his skin would have been covered with burn marks.

He looked down at the now tepid tea in his mug for a moment, lost in thought before pouring out the dregs. He set it down next to him while thinking wryly That's what you get for trying to outlast an insomniac you little fool. Surprising himself, there wasn't an ounce of scorn in that thought.

He moved his head trying to find a spot that was slightly less uncomfortable which was difficult given that the pillow at hand was rough bark. Without realizing it, his gaze drifted over to the sleeping girl. What is it about her? He caught the fondness in that thought and it brought him up short so that he turned completely to catch her eye and this time, it was his turn to stare and wonder.

Sasha gave a small gasp and instinctively flipped to her other side, back to him and dove under the blanket.

The urge to smile tugged at his lips but Levi held firm even though this was the first time ever that anyone had ever aggressively fake-slept at him. This was a new one on him.

Underneath the blanket Sasha clasped the neck of her shirt. What was that?! Why was heat flooding her face and her pulse racing? It also puzzled her that her instinctive reaction was to burrow and hide. What was going on? Well, thank goodness he hadn't known she had been shooting peeks at him all evening. Just to assess his strengths and her chances for escape, of course. That was scary but I don't know why.

Slowly her heart resumed its normal beat and as it did so, the uncertainty and, whatever else that was, faded, leaving her in with a gnawing sense of frustration at his refusal to cooperate with her plans.

What is his deal?! Why isn't he getting sleepy? Any normal human being would be getting sleepy. Distressingly, even if he wasn't tired, Sasha could feel the unrelenting drag of a drowsiness slowly stealing over her. She tried to shake it off with thoughts of how irritating she found him.

He's not even trying to go to sleep, blast his beady little tea-drinking eyeballs to… wait, that doesn't make sense. She forced her eyes open wide and blinked rapidly. I'm not getting sleepy. I'm alert and ready to spring into action! She repeated this several times.

Over time, her eyelids got heavier and heavier and with each passing minute it was harder to drag them back up, but she repeated her mantra, reminding herself that she had to outlast him. That's when the yawning began even as she thought aggressively at him: Fall asleep you stupid man, fall…asleep—*yawn* fall asleep….*deep yawn* fall…a- sleeep— fall a…sleeee

It had been one of the most amusing evenings he had experienced in a long time. Watching her struggle to stay awake and losing the battle was entertainment in itself on top of everything else since he had arrived.

It was only a short while later when Levi came out of his thoughts to notice the deep, even breathing of someone fast asleep. It was only then that the corners of his mouth lifted in a small grin he had been suppressing all evening.

Levi studied the back of her head. She had taken the ponytail down and after flipping and ducking under the covers, the only part of her visible was a rich brown mane of hair pouring over the pillow. It looked velvety and soft and his hand itched to touch it.

He stared at the stream of dark fall where different strands caught the weak light given off by the dying coals, some with tiny highlights glittering while the darker strands appeared as shadows of velvet. He wanted to lift each one and run fingers through each and raise them…

Levi jerked, surprising himself by the intense reaction to her…hair? Hair?!

His narrow eyes widened in the awareness of what he hadn't been letting himself realize since he had the dubious honor of first meeting her. He was attracted to this…. this…newbie, this idiot impersonator! It finally all came together for him. It wasn't just a mild interest either.

He squeezed his eyes shut and mouthed, "shit". He didn't need this, he really didn't! His life was just the way he wanted it right now, which meant no entanglements.

After a moment, he opened his eyes as the truth of the matter was not going to evaporate by the application of mental command; no matter how much he wanted it to. With a sigh, he looked back over to her and watched her. That was a new one on him.

If he was the type, he would have shaken his head over what was obviously her plan although a simpleton could have figured it out. She was going to wait until he fell asleep and then slip away in the night. Unfortunately for her he was not the type to easily fall asleep.

Some time later, with the coals a bare dim glow in the dark, he rose to his feet and without making a sound crossed over to his gear. Removing something he then went to squat near the sleeping girl. And sleeping she was, deeply, with soft breaths. He studied her for a moment and then went to work. When he was finished he sat back on his haunches to regard her again.

Hooded, obsidian eyes came to rest on what still struck him as a fall of dark gossamer silk, shiny and yet, at the same time, deeply shaded as it poured over her pillow. Finally, he allowed the truth of the moment to rise to the forefront of his mind as he considered her. He was attracted to her.

Yes, for some odd, strange, inexplicable reason, he was attracted to this idiot. She was nowhere near his usual type. He mulled it over, maybe he could take her to bed a few times and that would be that then any interest in her would disappear. That happened often enough, why not this time too?

He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. If it was a merely matter of want, then he knew how to handle the situation and what to do.

His dark eyes dropped again to the rich stream of hair as he pondered this unusual state of affairs he happened to find himself in. Definitely not his usual type and her type (whatever that may be!) might not want to explore a brief, but intensely satisfying fling with him, and for sure it would be one she would never forget.

Levi's hand stilled and then lowered from his neck. He really didn't want to think about her anymore; he was certain he could feel his blood pressure was rising as he did so.

Oh hell.

He rose and crossed back to his previous spot and sank back down against the tree and leaned his head back and crossed his arms over his chest. He heaved a small huff of breath and closed his eyes.

He might as well try and pretend he was tired.

Levi didn't know how or when he had fallen asleep, but like the night before he awoke suddenly and with full awareness. Only this time it wasn't a natural awakening; he had been roused by an outside source. He wondered briefly what it was that had woken him when he felt his arm being jerked. He realized that he had been, literally, jerked out of sleep by a sharp pull on the rope wrapped around his wrist.

That's when it all came back to him and he opened his eyes to find a certain female soldier sitting up on her bedding, desperately trying to untie the rope around her ankle as fast as she could. However, her desperate haste made her clumsier rather than helping to achieve her aims. The flustered attempt to free the tied leg was working against her, resulting in frequent tugs on his wrist.

What do you know, he thought and then gave a sharp tug on the rope in response to the next jerk. This in turn warned her to the fact that he was awake. I actually fell asleep he mused slightly surprised.

He hauled his arm back to himself which jerked her leg away from her fingers and toward him.

He saw her wide, panicked eyes lift to his face. Before she could jerk it back he decided to take the initiative. Might as well deal with this now.

"Mornin', any ideas for breakfast?" He asked although it was that predawn darkness where one could only sense the depth of it was starting to lift rather than any real show of light on the horizon.

"Breakfast!" Sasha exclaimed, but her mouth started to water instantly at the thought of a meal and her traitorous stomach took that moment to rumble. "Sounds like a good idea." Maybe he wouldn't mention her intent to flee before he woke.

"You really suck at sneaking off."

Or he could address it first thing.

"This whole escapade of yours from start to now leads me to believe that you wanted to be stopped and encouraged to return," he said while untying the rope around his wrist.

Sasha's mouth dropped open to refute that statement, but then it occurred to her that maybe he was right. Her woodcraft was much superior than this and she could have easily lost anyone following her. Was he right? Did she want to return? Maybe she did. Her graduating group had become a sort of second family and yes, she could admit that she had been reluctant and sad to leave them.

Sasha tilted her head, mulling over these new thoughts when he interrupted her.

"Yes, I think you do."

When her fawn-colored brown eyes lifted to his face and said, ""Huh?" Levi felt a lurch within him, but quickly hardened his expression. No way in hell he was going to let her know, instead, his eyelids lowered and he stated flatly, "It's obvious. You're not exactly inscrutable."

Sasha's hands flew to her face, covering her cheeks.

He blew out a soft snort and watched as a blush rose up her neck and cover the areas of her face that were visible. He looked away and finished coiling the rope. Who knew when it would come in handy again.

"Are you saying I'm 'scrutable'?" Sasha narrowed her eyes, searching the side of his face. Darn him, he was so hard to read! But what he had just said—

Biting her lip as if weighing her options, she finally asked, "Wait,…how did you…you can't read minds can you?"

For the first time in his life, Levi rolled his eyes. Instead of answering he stood up and moved over to her and squatted next to her feet. His dark eyes pierced into hers before he lowered them as he deftly and quickly untied the knot around her ankle.

When he was finished he threw the thin rope behind him toward the coiled portion and returned his gaze back to her. Levi's hooded eyes obscured any expression in his eyes, but they lingered, taking in every curve and plane of her face until a new wave of red rose to her cheeks making him give smirk, and that in turn made her blush harder.

This may take a while so he might as well get to the nub of the reason for her fleeing. "I think we need to talk about why you felt the need to impersonate me. I have a theory but I would like to hear yours first."

Sasha sprang to her feet and shouted, "Breakfast! I have just the thing!" She took one step and yelped. Looking down she saw that her foot had come down on a pinecone. "Ouch!" .

She promptly hopped back to her pad and sat back down, reached for her boots and pulled them on. Without a glance at him, she nonchalantly rose to her feet and went over to kneel by her own saddle bags before pulling out items to place around her.

Levi moved back to sit by the tree and quietly watched her scramble to make them a quick, hearty breakfast. It was a poor distraction but he wouldn't confront it for now.

Well, let it ride for now.


I write stories how I like to read them. I don't like ones where everything happens in the first chapter or even in the first couple.

~Dwellin