Busted & Punishment
Rain rolled onto her right side. Her eyes stared at her window. The moonlight poured inside almost as bright as the sun. This was one of the best nights, and her favorite, for flying. You could see for miles with how bright the moon was. She wanted to go for a flight. Her wings were itching right where they connected with her back. She had no idea how much longer she would be able to wait. Hange hadn't yet giving her approval for flying long distances yet. But she knew she would be fine if she did go for a short flight. She knew her body better than anyone after all. And if she still wasn't healed enough to fly then she would know it. Wouldn't she?
She flung her cover off and stood up. Not giving herself a chance to change her mind, she walked over to the window, opened it, climbed upon the window ceil and jumped out. Summoning her wings, she carefully angled herself downward to catch the breeze just right so it didn't jerk her up into the air. Sailing down to the ground, she allowed the wind to graze against her wings before pulling herself into the air. Freedom rushed over her. She sailed through the sky, enjoying the wind raking through her feathers, hair, and even her skin. She missed this sense of freedom far more than she had realized.
Rain angled towards the walls and headed over them. She dipped down, flew high into the air, spun through some clouds, before lowering herself into a steady glide. A slight twinge of pain settled into her shoulder. But she ignored it. She could deal with it easy enough. The freedom was worth a little pain. She spun multiple times in the air before straightening out with joyous laughter. "This feels so great! I feel like it's been years since I've been able to do this!"
A flash of the Survey Corps riding along on the ground flashed through her mind. Pulling in her wings, she dropped fifteen feet before catching herself. Fumbling she made it to a branch. Pressing her hand against the bark, her chest heaved up and down upon realizing she had been flying in the direction of the titan attack. She sat down. Her mind spun with the question of why she was heading back towards that disaster. The dead soldiers' bodies would still be out there, decomposing. Or would they be nothing but bones by now? It's been a only three since that happened. She forced herself not to think about how the decomposing actually happens. She didn't want to think of them like that. Breathing in a few slow breaths she calmed herself down before looking up at the sky. The breeze cooled off her hot tears that leaked down her cheeks, reminding her that fall was going to soon arrive. Closing her eyes, she drifted off to sleep.
…
Levi, with his hands behind his head, started up at the bunk above him. He contemplated why he couldn't sleep all of a sudden. It wasn't like him to wake up for no reason. Yet here he was in the moonlight room with his fellow soldiers, a few snoring, with no seeable reason for having woken up. Swallowing he found his throat a little dry. So he sat up, pulled his boots on, and left the room for the dinning hall thinking that a nice hot cup of tea would soothe him before going back to bed.
Walking down the dark halls he noticed they were a bit cooler than usual. The Survey Corps was going to start heating the building, which meant they'd have to chop up some wood. Or so he assumed. Since he was still new to the Survey Corps he really had no idea who took care of that but assumed they all did since they all shared this space. It also made him think about curling up with Rain in front of a fireplace and sip some hot tea. His heart skipped a beat. He wondered if he could do that. She had confessed to having feelings for him but he remained quiet. Did that mean he was still unsure of how he felt about her? He knew he had a fascination with her. But where exactly were his feelings going?
His eyes drifted up to the stairs that would take him to Rain's room. He wanted to go there. To check on how she was doing. But he forced himself to go on to the dining hall. Stepping into the kitchen, he found the lantern that was always there and lit it before rummaging around for tealeaves. Soon the fresh aroma of the leaves filled the room. The heat from the stove warmed his skin as he waited. He lifted the pot off of the flame and poured him a cup before turning the fire off. Stepping out of the kitchen a strange feeling to go check on Rain flowed through him. The feeling was so strong that he left the dinning hall with his cup of tea in hand. He rushed down the hall and up the stairs. He didn't even bother to knock on the door. Entering the room he went directly to Rain's room, finding the girl missing. His eyes whipped right to her opened window. A cool breeze drifted into the room. His eyebrows drew together. There was no way she would be sleeping with the window open this late into the year. But that didn't mean anything. She could like sleeping in the cold. He didn't know her all that well after all. They were only starting to form a real friendship between them.
Before jumping to conclusions, he exited her room and checked the bathroom and then checked Erwin's room. He found her in neither. Going back to her room he looked out the window towards the barn, wondering if she was there. No lights appeared to be in the barn. A small flame of anger flickered in his chest. She had gone out for a flight. Grabbing her chair, he pulled it to the corner of the room where it was the darkness and sat down to wait for her return.
…
Rain opened her eyes. Panic raced through her upon seeing the moon setting in the distance. She didn't mean to fall asleep out here. Jumping up she jumped from the branch and headed back towards the walls. She had to hurry. Her hair whipped behind her while she rode the wind stream home. Lucky for her it was going her way. Fifty minutes later the walls came into her sight prompting her to fly higher since she knew a few soldiers would be guarding the walls. And she was right. She could see their bodies scurrying around on the wall like ants. She easily passed over them and made her way back to the headquarters. Relief washed over her. She had made it back in enough time. Her dad wouldn't be up for another hour. Aiming for her still opened window, she flew towards it, tucking her wings in just before rushing through it. She landed and banished her wings. "Yes. Made it back just in time."
"In time to get busted," Levi said.
Rain jumped at his unexpected presence. She stumbled backwards, her back hitting the wall. "L-Levi?! Wh-what are you doing in my room?!"
"I got a bad feeling about you," Levi said stepping closer to her.
Rain swallowed. Even in the little light that was in her room she could easily tell how furious he was with her. "That's…ridiculous. I'm just fine. See?"
"Where were you?" Levi ignored her.
"I was…just outside," Rain said.
"Flying," Levi said. "You're not supposed to be flying right now."
"I'm fine, Levi," Rain insisted. "It was just a short flight."
"I've been in here for hours," Levi said.
"Oh." Hope started slipping away from her. "I…fell asleep."
Levi stepped closer to her, pinning her against the wall. He peered into her eyes. "Tell me you didn't go outside of the walls."
Rain swallowed hard. "Wh-why would I do that?"
"Then tell me what you meant when you landed," Levi said. "You made it back in time. In time for what?"
"To not get caught by my dad," Rain said. "After all I'm not supposed to be flying."
"I don't buy that, Rain," Levi said. "Tell me the truth. Did you go beyond the walls?"
Rain dropped her gaze from his. Her hands trembled at her sides. She couldn't lie to him. "I wasn't in any danger."
Levi cursed. "Not in any danger?! Rain, you went beyond the walls while hurt! How could that not be putting yourself in danger?!"
"Keep it down," Rain said glancing at her door.
"I won't keep it down! Do you have any idea the danger you put yourself in?!" Levi pointed at her bare hips. "You didn't even take your gear with you! What were you thinking?!"
"I was just fine," Rain said. "I keep well out of the reach of titans. Besides its nighttime. You know they're not active at night."
"You keep?! You mean you've done this before?!"
"Crap." Rain mentally slapped herself.
"Rain, do you have any idea how incredibly stupid this is?!" Levi asked.
"It's not stupid!" Rain said through gritted teeth. "I said to keep it down!"
"And I said I'm not going to keep it down! You've been very stupid! Going outside of the walls?!" Levi glared at her.
"I told you! I stay well enough out of the titans reach and I always go out at night!" Rain shot back. "I know what I'm doing!"
"Oh really?" Levi pulled back and crossed his arms over his chest. "What happened if you injured your shoulder or a wing while flying and got stranded out there?"
"Well, I would have…" She didn't know. This was the first time she had been outside of the walls on her own with an injury.
"How would you have handled the titans then?!" Levi continued. "Would you have fought them?! No, you wouldn't have because your gear was left behind and you're injured!"
"Okay. I get it," Rain said. "This was stupid. It was very stupid of me to go out injured like this."
"Like this?! No not this time! Every time, Rain!" Levi said. "You could have gotten hurt out there any time you went out on your own! You promised me that you wouldn't go out on your own!"
"I promised you that I wouldn't go out on my own while we were outside of the wall," Rain said. "I never said anything about when we were behind the walls."
"It's the same exact thing, Rain!" Levi said.
"No, it's not," Rain shot back. "And for the last time, keep it down. You're going to wake my dad up."
"You're right," Levi said after a pause. "I am going to wake your dad up."
"What?" Rain stared at him. Panic set in her entire body when he walked towards her door. She leaped at him. Grabbing his arm, she pulled him back to her. "No! Levi, please! Don't tell him about this!"
"I have to, Rain," Levi said. "You've put yourself in serious danger. I won't allow you to do it again. You…you mean too much to me to let you continue going beyond the walls." He cupped her face. "Do you understand me, Rain? I care about you more than you'll ever know. And I can tell that you're not quite ready for us to be anymore than friends right now, but that's okay. I can wait a little while longer. But I won't let those monsters take you away from me, too. I won't let them kill you like they did Isabel and Farlan."
"But, Levi," Rain said desperately searching for words that would make this better, that would make this go away. She had none. She couldn't promise him that she wouldn't go beyond the walls again.
"If you can promise me you'll never go out there again, I won't tell Erwin," Levi said.
Rain's heart shattered. She closed her eyes to fight back her tears.
"I'm sorry, Rain." Levi pulled his hand away from her.
"Levi, please, don't tell him," Rain said following after him. It didn't matter. Levi's walk was full of determination. She had brought this on herself. And now she was going to have to face up to the consequences. She flinched when Levi threw opening her dad's door. That alone woke the man up.
"What's going on?! Levi?" Erwin sat up and looked at the intruders in his room.
"Erwin," Levi said.
"Levi, please," Rain begged.
"Rain's been sneaking outside of the walls with her wings," Levi said.
Rain closed her eyes.
"I just caught her coming back from a flight," Levi said.
"Rain, is this true?" Erwin asked.
"You could at least demand to know why he was in my room in the first place," Rain mumbled.
"Don't try and change the subject," Erwin said. He stood up and walked over to her.
Keeping her eyes locked on the floor, Rain forced herself not to flinch at the intimidating presence of her dad standing over her.
"Answer me, Rain," Erwin said. "Is this true? Have you been taking flights outside of the walls?"
Rain sighed. "Yes, sir. It's true." A dead silence filled the room. Rain took a cautious glance up at her dad. The man had his eyes closed but it was obvious that he was furious with her. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry is not going to fix this, Rain." Erwin turned and walked away from her, pausing at the foot of his bed. "I'm going to need some time to think of a proper punishment for this. You can go for now. But you are grounded, no riding on Flame, no going off to see your friends, and no leaving the headquarters without permission."
"Yes, sir," Rain said before leaving his room. Upon hearing her dad's door shut, she glared at Levi. "Thanks a lot."
"You brought this on yourself," Levi said whiled heading for the door. "I'll see you at breakfast."
"Whatever." Rain stepped into her room and all but slammed her door shut. The desire to slam her door was strong. But she knew she had already upset her dad enough. She didn't need to get permanently grounded, for life. Shaking it out of her head she started getting dressed. While dressing she heard her dad walking about in the living room before hearing the door open and close. She winced, wondering if she really angered him so much that he wasn't going to walk with her to breakfast. She hoped that he just was in a hurry. He probably had a meet or something to go to. But then she remembered that breakfast wasn't for another hour. Sighing she dropped onto her bed and just stared up at the ceiling.
…
Rain cringed upon the harsh, disappointed looks she got when she reached the table where Hange and Mike were already sitting. "I guess my dad has been by here already."
"He has," Hange said. "And we're very disappointed in you, Rain."
"I know," Rain said sitting down.
"Do you have any idea of the dangers you put yourself in?" Mike said. "You're injured."
"I know," Rain said again. "And Levi already chewed me out about that. You don't have to do it as well."
"We won't make a scene here," Hange said. "But we fully agree with your dad punishing you."
"I figured that," Rain said.
"And I for one completely ground you from flying," Hange said. "You could have seriously damaged your shoulder."
"Fine," Rain said. "I'll just stay inside and do nothing."
"You know that won't work," Mike said. "Your dad is not going to let you just sit around. He will find suitable work for you to do."
"I'm sure he will." Rain eyed Levi when he came over and sat down beside her. They ate in peace after that. The disappointment settled in around them like a thick fog. Only the chatter of the other soldiers kept the silence from becoming deafening.
"I expect you to come to my office for your therapy," Hange said as she stood up.
"I will." Rain stirred her oatmeal. She didn't mean to make everyone upset with her.
"I'll make sure she comes," Levi said.
"That's not necessary! I haven't skipped a session yet!" Rain said. "Besides, you haven't missed one either!"
"Deal with it," Levi said.
"Ugh! You're so annoying!" Rain shoved a spoonful of oatmeal in her mouth.
"Let's go," Levi said a few minutes later.
Rain scarfed down the last of her oatmeal and followed him. Ditching their dishes they left the room. Reaching Hange's office, she started in on her exercises while Hange and Levi watched close by. She sighed at Hange's silent treatment. It was odd not to hear the woman talk about anything and everything.
A knock came on the door. Levi opened it to reveal Mike. He said, "Levi, Erwin wants to see you in his office." He looked at Rain. "He wants you to come up after you're done here."
"Fine," Rain said.
"You should go, Levi," Hange said.
Levi nodded and left with Mike.
Rain watched the men leave. Never has her dad wanted to speak to Levi alone. The idea didn't sit with her so well. She glanced over at Hange. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset everyone."
Hange sighed. "I know. But you have to understand why we're so upset with you."
"I know it's because I was stupid," Rain said. "I went outside of the walls where I could have been killed by titans."
"Why did you do it?" Hange asked. "You know what those things can do to us."
Rain nodded. "I'm not really sure. There's just something calling for me."
"Calling for you?"
"I'm not sure what it is. All I know is I need to go look around. I don't really go all that far," Rain said.
"That's no excuse, Rain," Hange said.
"I know, I know," Rain said. "I wish I could promise you that I'll never do it again, but I can't."
"It's all right."
Rain looked at her.
"I can kind of understand how you feel," Hange said. "You have a gift that none of us do. And that gift can take you very far away. You're a naturally curious girl. And it doesn't help that you have no memories of before you came here. We all can only guest what those memories are that lye beyond the walls. There had to be a reason you were there. Perhaps that's why you feel the need to go beyond the walls."
"I never thought of it like that before," Rain said. "But it makes sense. And feels right."
Hange stood up. She walked over to Rain and placed her hand on the girl's uninjured shoulder. "I can understand that you want answers to who you are, but you can't get them by being so reckless. Try your best to not go outside of the walls again unless it's with the Survey Corps."
"I'll try," Rain said.
"And, who knows? Maybe one day we'll find a clue about you while on an expedition," Hange said.
"You think so?"
"You never know." Hange smiled.
"So, you're not upset with me anymore?" Rain asked.
"Oh, I'm still upset. But I'll get over it." Hange pulled her into a hug.
"Thanks, Hange." Rain wrapped her arms around the woman.
"Let's get back to your exercises," Hange said. "I'm sure your dad won't want you to be late to your sentencing."
Rain groaned. "Thanks for reminding me."
Thirty minutes later the session ended. Rain waved to Hange before heading up to her dad's office to face her fate. Her mind buzzing with what kind of punishment her dad was going to bring down on her. She never disobeyed this bad before, so she had no idea what to expect. There was no way just a simple grounding would fit this crime. She paused at the door. Her eyes stared at the wood until they became unfocused. She blinked the focus back in. With a deep breath, she knocked on the door. "It's me."
"Come in," Erwin said.
Rain entered. Her eyebrows lifted upon finding Levi was still with her dad. Nonetheless she stepped up to her dad's desk. On any other day she would have put her hands behind her back and stood at attention but with her shoulder still a bit sore she didn't.
"Rain, Levi and I have talked extensively and we have come to an agreement," Erwin said.
"You and Levi?" Rain looked from her dad to Levi then back to her dad.
"From this point on he is going to be your escort," Erwin said.
"Come again?" Rain's eyebrows drew together.
"If you go anywhere Levi will be with you," Erwin said. "And that includes sleeping in your room."
"You can't be serious!" Rain said.
"You know I'm always serious," Erwin said. "You have proven yourself untrustworthy of being alone. Because of our duties Mike, Hange, and myself are not able to watch over you all of the time. Levi has proven himself trust worthy of keeping an eye on you. And since you two are basically the same rank, this is the best solution."
"The best solution is to give me a constant babysitter?!" Rain demanded. "And a babysitter who was planning on killing you no less?!"
"That has long passed," Erwin said. "Both Levi and I have put it behind us."
Rain glanced at Levi. He gave her a firm nod to agree with the older man. "But, Dad! I can't have a man sleeping in my room with me! It's just…wrong! Do you know what people will say about that?!"
"I don't care what they'll say. The other option was to nail your window shut, but that would be a dangerous solution. I won't have you trapped inside if the building catches on fire," Erwin said. "And you can't spend every waking and sleeping moment with me. I know Levi is trustworthy enough to not do anything improper to you. I will hear no more on the subject, young lady. The rest of your punishment includes no horseback rides outside of training, no playing with the horses when cleaning the barn, you'll help gather wood and clean fireplaces for the winter, and you will be cleaning the headquarters wherever it's needed. I've already cleared this with the commander. You are to report to him every day to see what your assigned task is until further notice." He turned to Levi. "I leave her to you. You have my permission to punish her as you see fit if she tries to run away from you or disobeys you."
Levi nodded.
"But, Dad!" Rain said again.
"You're dismissed," Erwin said.
"Let's go." Levi grabbed her arm and pulled her out the door.
"Levi! Let go!" Rain demanded.
"I'll let you go as long as you don't run away from me," Levi said releasing her.
Rain bolted away from him the second he let go. She about made it to the stairs when her body was jerked backwards. She groaned when a cold circle appeared on her wrist. Her eyes dropped down to the cuffs. The other end was around Levi's wrist. "You have got to be kidding! What do you think you're doing?!"
"I told you not to run away from me," Levi said. "This is your punishment for doing that. Until you can prove to me that you won't try and run off again we're going to be handcuffed together."
"That's insane! What about when I have to go to the bathroom and take a shower?!" Rain demanded.
"I can unlock you for that," Levi said. "But I will be outside of the bathroom until you are done."
"You really are a jerk," Rain said.
"I wouldn't have to do this if you didn't sneak off," Levi said.
"What? Where you carrying them around just for this purpose?" Rain jerked on the cuffs again.
"Erwin suggested I hold onto them," Levi said. "He thought you might try and run away from me."
"That man," Rain grumbled. "He knows me far too well."
"That he does." Levi leaned in close to her. "Now you really are my bitch."
Rain's cheeks flushed bright red. Her heart slammed against her ribs. Levi's warm breath smelled like tea. It almost distracted her from his words, almost. She whispered, "I'm not your dog."
"You are until you start behaving like the well trained, obedient mutt that I know you are." Levi smirked.
"You are so going to pay for this," Rain said through gritted teeth.
"Let's go, Mutt," Levi said taking off. "We need to get your daily assignment from the commander."
"You are really, really going to pay for this one day," Rain said. She followed right along side of him doing her best to not noticed the odd looks people were giving them as they made their way through the headquarters. They didn't get to the commander's office quick enough. She knew without looking that her face was as red as a tomato. Never would she have guessed it would have been so embarrassing being handcuffed to someone. The commander just stared at the cuffs between herself and Levi.
"Well, that's very unorthodox," Commander Shadis said.
Rain scanned her eyes around the room in a desperate attempt to distract herself. The commander's office was very neat. All the books on the shelves were lined up from tall to short spines, the two lanterns sitting on the fireplace were scrubbed spotless, and the papers on the man's desk were all in two neat piles. The curtains were pulled back letting the sun flow into the room, highlighting the commander. But then that wasn't a surprise at all. He was a commander after all. He was probably used to having things in order.
"I really would like to know what you did to get Erwin so upset," Commander Shadis said. "But he didn't say and I'm not going to pry. I've also been informed of your shoulder injury. So I won't be asking you to do much until that's healed properly. For now you can just sweep the floors."
"All of them?" Rain asked.
"Do you have somewhere else to be?" The commander sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.
"No, sir," Rain said.
"Good," Commander Shadis said. "You're free to go then. I'll see you tomorrow for your next task."
"Yes, sir." Rain turned to leave but was stopped with jerk and stumbled into Levi's chest. She forgot about the handcuffs. Her face heat up even more, if that was even possible at this point, when the commander laughed.
"It's going to be interesting to see you two moving around while handcuffed to each other," Commander Shadis said.
"Very interesting," Levi said.
"Shut up." Rain glared at her keeper.
"Let's go, Mutt," Levi said pulling her towards the door. "You have some cleaning to do."
Rain grumbled under her breath the entire way to the cleaning room. Opening the door dust wafted up into their noses. She huffed. "Well, isn't that ironic? The cleaning supply room is completely filthy."
"It's disgraceful," Levi said. "We'll have to clean it."
"Excuse me?" Rain narrowed her eyebrows. "I'm suppose to sweep the floors not clean the supply closet."
"Tough." Levi pulled her inside of it. "We're cleaning this until it's spotless."
"Just great," Rain said. "And how are we suppose to do this while handcuffed?"
"We'll take turns sweeping," Levi said handing her the broom. "You first."
"Such a gentleman." Rain took the broom and brushed it across the floor. For two hours they swept and scrubbed the room spotless. "No way that should have taken that long. It wasn't that big of a room."
"Stop your complaining," Levi said. "You have more sweeping to do. Get to it."
"Can I at least be released of these handcuffs?" Rain asked. "I'm not going to get much done being tied to you."
"You did just fine in the supply room," Levi said.
"Maybe, but it was murder on my shoulder to move like that," Rain said.
Levi looked around the hall and spotted a soldier carrying a rope. "Where are you going with that rope?"
"I'm taking it back to the barn," the soldier said. "I borrowed it a little while ago to pull down a dead limb from a tree." His eyes went to the handcuffs. "What's going on?"
"None of your business," Rain said. "Just go away."
"Okay," the soldier said.
"Give me the rope." Levi held out his hand. "I can use it right now. I'll take it back to the barn later."
"Sure." The soldier handed the rope over to Levi then walked off with one last curious look at the handcuffs.
"This is so embarrassing," Rain said.
"Remember this when you think about going beyond the walls." Levi unlocked his half of the handcuffs. He then closed it and threaded the rope through it. Holding onto both ends of the rope, he stepped back and leaned against the wall. "There. Now you have more movement."
"And I feel even more like a dog now," Rain said. "Thanks a lot."
"Get to work, Mutt," Levi said.
Rain swallowed her words of waiting to tell him, again, that he was going to pay for this. She placed the broom bristles to the floor and started thinking about possible revenge scenarios. But nothing came to mind. Levi was a tricky person to be around. Getting revenge for this and for the way he dragged her to Lena's party wasn't going to be an easy task, but surely she would come up with something. She could wait.
Her grip tightened on the broom handle while she pushed it across the floor. Maybe she should completely trash his bed with dirt. That would be fun and easy. And there was plenty of dirt around. Or maybe she could put his horse in his quarters. That would be fun as well. She would love to have a horse in her room. She chuckled.
"You better stop sweeping so aggressively," Levi said.
"Huh?" Rain snapped out of her fantasies and looked at him.
"Your shoulder's still not healed enough yet for that," Levi said.
"Oh, right." Rain relaxed her arm. Keeping her left hand light on the handle she started sweeping again. Her mind drifted back to her fantasies. They were instantly shattered when she remembered that Levi was going to be following her everywhere. It appeared her revenge wasn't going to come any time soon. She focused back on sweeping. After the entire hall was swept she grabbed the dustpan and tossed the dirt outside. Her eyes locked down on the dirt she just threw out. "Sweeping the entire headquarters is going to be such a pain in the butt."
"It's your fault," Levi said.
"I know, I know," Rain said. The wind blew. The loose strains of her hair waved in the wind, tickling her skin. "I guess you're still upset with me."
Heat from Levi's body floated over to her skin when he stepped closer to her. He said nothing as three soldiers walked passed them. Once they were gone he reached up and pinched a strain of her hair between his fingers. "You were being very stupid."
"I know," Rain whispered. Her heart thumped at his closeness. "I'm sorry."
"I am still upset with you," Levi said. "But I'll forgive you soon enough. Now get back to work. You have more floors to sweep."
"Fine." Rain forced herself to turn and walk back inside of the headquarters. Suddenly she didn't mind sweeping the floors as long as Levi was close by.
…
"I never knew how big this place really was until I had to sweep it," Rain groaned as they walked into their now shared room. "That literally took up the majority of the day. My shoulder hurts so much right now."
"Is it really that bad?" Levi asked sitting his duffle bag of belongings on the floor.
"I think it'll be fine with a hot shower," Rain said. "It's mostly just muscle spasms. The hot water will relax it."
"Then take one," Levi said.
"You going to set me free?" Rain lifted up their cuffed wrists.
"We'll have to see." Levi scanned his eyes are the room.
"What are you looking at?" Rain asked.
"Your room is rather clean," Levi said.
"Um, okay?" Rain said.
"People usually don't clean like this," Levi said.
"Oh, well," Rain said. "Since I grew up pretty much friendless I had a lot of time on my hands. So I cleaned a lot."
"You mean you didn't spend every second with the horses?" Levi asked.
"Not every second," Rain said. "I had to do something on rainy days and days it was too cold to go outside."
"I suppose so." Levi continued on looking through the room until his eyes landed on her teddy bear. "So what's with the bear? I've seen it on your bed before. Aren't you a little old for toys?"
"It was one of the first gifts I got from my dad," Rain said. "I don't feel like getting rid of it."
"Going to keep it for your kids someday?" Levi looked at her.
"Why would I do that?" Rain asked. "It's not like I have a ton of guys lining up to court me." She tapped one of her buns. "Besides there are not many guys who'll understand about this."
"I suppose you have a point," Levi said.
"Can I shower now?" Rain asked.
"Fine. Get your stuff and let's go," Levi said.
"You're not going into the bathroom with me." Rain glared.
"To use it myself I have no choice," Levi said.
Rain's face burned red. "You have got to be joke!"
"No joke. Now let's go." Levi dug in his duffle bag for a change of clothes before opening the door.
Rain groaned before grabbing a set of clothes and following him to the bathroom. She couldn't help but eye her only escape. Her thoughts were cut off when Levi stepped between her and the door. "I wasn't going to try to escape."
Levi hummed. "You shower first."
Rain sighed and entered into the bathroom with Levi following. Placing her clothes down on the sink counter she slipped out of her boots then stepped into the shower. Pulling the curtain closed she undressed, tossed her clothes out onto the floor, and then proceeded to take her shower. Turning off the water she reached out for her towel. "I'm assuming you're showering as well?"
"Yes."
"Hand me my clothes." Rain wait for the clothes to appear inside. She took them and dressed before stepping out. "There. You can have it now."
"Give me your wrist," Levi said.
"Oh, come on. I'm not going to run away," Rain said.
"You have to regain our trust, Rain," Levi said.
Rain held out her arm with a sigh and let him lock her to the towel rack. While she waited for him to take his shower she brushed her teeth then brushed out her hair. Just as she finished Levi stepped out of the shower fully dressed. Without a word they exited the bathroom. She turned off her lantern and walked over to the bed where Levi was currently sitting. "Um…"
"You're sleeping by the wall," Levi said. "No arguing or debating."
"Fine." Rain crawled onto the bed and faced the wall. The bed dipped when Levi joined her. She swallowed nervously with having him so close and in her bed.
"Remember, I'm a light sleeper," Levi said. "I'll notice if you try and leave the bed."
"I know. You've said that before," Rain said. Grabbing her bear, she tucked it to her chest and closed her eyes.