Chapter 20: Origins

Milcah snuck along the hallways of the headquarters as silently as she could manage in her nightgown, each footstep measured with precision and contemplation. When she at last reached his door, her heart was giddy with excitement at the thought of seeing him. They'd barely said two words to each other over the past few days because of the new recruits and Milcah was tired of listening to them rolling around in their bunks or the occasional one crying themselves to sleep out of realization of the reality of the Survey Corps. Milcah slid through his door, congratulating herself on her sneakiness as she closed it when a familiar "tch" echoed behind her.

Levi was sitting in his bed, propped up by a couple of fluffy pillows, a lantern on the nightstand and a book in his hand. Milcah tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled at him nervously, having not expected to find him awake. His bare torso was revealed tantalizingly by the lantern light and Milcah found herself wondering if he was wearing anything underneath the bedsheets, her eyes traveling down his lean body.

"Hange needs to teach you how to follow orders. Like staying in bed after curfew." Levi told her, drawing her eyes back to his in disapproval but scooting over so she could join him in the bed. "If you were on my squad you'd be too exhausted from training to do anything but sleep."

"I am constantly thankful I am not on your squad sir," Milcah teased as she slid under the covers, letting her right arm fall across his abdomen and her head lay against his chest as he went back to reading his book. "I missed you."

Levi paused at that, obviously searching for words to say that were more in keeping with his gloomy and untouchable persona. With a sigh he let one of his hands rest on her head in a momentary gesture of affection causing Milcah to grin into his chest. "How are your new recruits?"

"Tch." Levi replied derisively, lowering the book for a moment in disgust. "The shitheads get worse and worse every year."

Milcah snorted and he appraised her silently as she shook with barely contained laughter, prompting him to inform her, "Had I known you would lose all respect for me I would never have entered into this relationship."

Milcah clapped a hand to her heart in mock anguish at his cold response and grinned at him and he hid his face in his book in order to avoid responding to her smile. She lay back down on his chest, content just to remain in his presence, knowing that his letting her stay with him and not immediately ordering her back to the barracks was a testament to how much he missed her. His left hand ran across her right wrist, twisting the bracelet that adorned it as if he'd done it a hundred times and Milcah frowned, shifting uncomfortably against him as she thought. The stone had been polished and the leather well cared for, but upon close inspection the colors of the stone hid small nicks and the leather was supple and worn, easily bending around her wrist rather than needing time to be broken in.

"What is it?" Levi asked her, and Milcah realized he'd been staring at her for the past few moments.

"Nothing," she smiled at him reassuringly, but Levi captured her jaw in his hand, the lantern-light flickering in his dark eyes as he stared at her.

"Don't lie to me brat," he told her, his voice absent of malice, "You get quiet and tense when you're thinking, and your nose crinkles."

Milcah blushed pleasantly at Levi's analysis of her, staring appreciatively into his dark eyes, it was when he said things like that, or when he let their hands brush in public, that she realized how much he cared for her, even if he had yet to say it out loud.

"Levi…" she began hesitantly, "How old are you?"

His eyebrows raised in surprise at her question, her cheeks darkening further. "It's not that I care, I just realized I don't actually know."

"I turn thirty-three the Thursday after next," he answered slowly, examining her face for a reaction. Milcah wasn't overly surprised, Levi looked young, but the more time she spent around him the more she realized that he was older than he appeared. She let her head drop against his chest thoughtfully as he continued to examine her. "And you?"

"I'm twenty-two until this autumn," she smiled, happy to have been asked by him.

"I thought you were younger," he admitted.

"And I you," Milcah agreed with a soft chuckle. "I was much older than the typical recruits when I joined."

They fell silent for a while after that, her attention focusing on the bracelet again when Levi flipped her onto her back pinning her arms above her head and looked dangerously into her eyes. "What did I tell you about lying to me?"

"I-I umm, what?" Milcah said dumbly, breathless at his body pressed close to hers and his face hovering just above her own.

"What's wrong?" He demanded.

"A man in town seemed to recognize my bracelet," Milcah told him, and he frowned deeply at that.

"Who…?"

"I'm not sure, it was just in passing…. You didn't buy this bracelet in town, did you?" She asked quietly and he rolled off of her to the side, their legs still entwined, and he ran his fingers across her bracelet.

"It was my mother's, before she died." He said emotionlessly and Milcah balked, sitting up in surprise.

"Levi! I can't keep this, I never would have accepted this if I'd known—" her rant was cut off by his lips on hers, a silencing finger replacing them when he pulled away.

"I want you to have it. I don't have many memories of her, so it's not terribly important. But you're the only one who would be able to appreciate it." Levi grasped her hand in his, locking eyes with her. "Keep it Milcah. For me."

By the time morning came Levi had successfully distracted her from worrying over the bracelet, multiple times. She lay curled in his arms and he held her soft body, enjoying the touch of her skin against his and the look of complete contentment on her face as she slept. Levi trailed his fingers up and down her side, taking a moment to memorize the location of each freckle on her back. Her questions about the bracelet had shook him, he'd never planned on telling her its true origin and her meeting of someone who claimed to recognize the bracelet was disconcerting. As far as Levi knew there was only one person who knew about the bracelet but he was long dead, probably finally captured by the military police and hung for the countless murders he was responsible for.

Levi reminded himself that fluorite pendants were not uncommon and the man had probably seen many like hers. After all, it seemed that men generally enjoyed complimenting young beautiful women. The thought of someone approaching her in that way made his stomach boil, but as Milcah's eyes flickered open to stare at him sleepily, filled with complete devotion, Levi knew he had nothing to fear.

Milcah assisted Levi in putting on his uniform, resulting in him taking much longer than he normally would have on his own, and she snuck quietly into the hallway, her tussled hair and nightgown her only attire. He followed her with a neutral expression on his face, he was hardly embarrassed of their sexual relationship, and if she hadn't had the foresight to bring clothes for the morning that was her fault. Two new recruits walked by them and snickered softly to each other.

One of them turned to the other and whispered, "That's his girlfriend."

Levi froze and turned a dark glare at the two new cadets whose smiles immediately melted into looks of terror.

AN: haha! two chapters in one night! Hope you're enjoying everything, you'll thank me for the cute smutty chapters later.