Bad Things - Rayland Baxter
"Of Past and Family."
Thalia blew a wisp of breath between her chapped lips as she made her way down Main Street. The sound of Petra giggling and Kaine's bell like laughter behind her grated on her taut nerves. Eren walked beside her silently, seemingly petrified to speak. Though, Thalia couldn't blame him.
She was in a particularly sour mood that morning after being awoken by Levi earlier than normal. Sunday was the day she allowed herself to sleep an extra hour and having that privilege taken away made a scowl press into her face all morning.
And in addition to that, Kaine was flirting up a storm with a certain doe eyed soldier. She had half a mind to snap at them to shut up but bit her tongue. She would scold him before he left for home that night. For now she would focus on the task at hand - going to the blacksmith's forge.
Thalia was in need of additional parts from the local blacksmith for the ODM gear and had Kaine come along as her pack mule. What she hadn't anticipated was her brother's idea of bringing not only Petra but also Eren along for the outing as well. She was surprised Erwin had allowed Eren off the compound, given his unpredictable abilities of Titan shifting in moments of aggression.
After turning into a silent alleyway, the dingy shop came into view and Thalia's stomach clenched. It's slated, soot covered roof was stark and its rotting window shutters gently clacked against the peeling decorative siding. Intense heat radiated off the brick walls as they neared and the shop, rhythmic pounding of a hammer against metal breaking the still morning.
"Mind your footing," Thalia said. Carefully, she walked around bits of broken metal that lay gleaming in the dew covered grass to the front of the caving building. She gently rapped gloved knuckles against the charred door and pushed it open. Heat rushed to her rosy cheeks.
The heavy pounding stopped as Thalia stepped into the brick room. She felt Kaine move beside her as she strode to greet the blacksmith.
The man bent over the glowing forge straightened. He carefully placed his hammer down and wiped his hands on his leather apron.
"Miss Wolfstien," he said, extending his hand. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" His emerald eyes swept over the forest green cloak draped over her shoulders and her new companions lingering behind her.
Thalia took his blackened hand and resisted grimacing when he shook her hand in a bone crushing grip. "I sent in an order to your wife last week," she said, pulling back her throbbing hand. Griffon Harvey clapped Kaine on his suit clad shoulder, leaving soot behind in the fine fibers. "She said it would be ready today."
Griffon ran his hand over his shaved head and tucked his hands under his lanky, but wiry, arms. "I see. I must have forgotten, I apologize." He turned and rounded the chimney that took up the middle of the room. He rose his voice as he continued speaking. "Things have been difficult to manage since Nathanial's passing. We're still adjusting, even though it's been so many years. Leon's only fifteen so he does what he can, but the boy wonders,"
At the mention of Griffon's eldest son, Thalia felt Kaine's eyes pierce through her skin and bones to her core. She didn't shift under the heavy weight and kept her attention on the flickering flames inside the massive fireplace. "I completely understand, Mister Harvey." She should have told Eren and Petra to remain outside. She didn't anticipate an argument to break out, but one couldn't be too cautious with grieving parents.
Griffon came back around carrying two burlap sacks on his sturdy shoulders. He handed one off to Kaine and the other to Eren, who grunted under the weight of the equipment safely stowed inside.
Griffon didn't meet Thalia's gaze as he tucked his hands in his apron pockets. "I checked in the books, it seems as though you paid upfront. A tad too much, however. I'll have Leon give you what we owe in the morning,"
Thalia shook her head and looped her fingers through her brace's straps. "Think of it as an early Yuel's Day gift. Or Thanks Day gift. Whichever you choose."
His eyes widened, the weathered skin creasing into crows feet like Levi's. "Ma'am, that is far too much,"
Kaine placed a firm hand on Griffon's shoulder. "We insist." He squeezed gently and let his hand fall.
Griffon seemed to roll the idea in his head for a moment before slowly tipping his chin down. "My family thanks you. Please, let me know if there is anything else we can do for you,"
Thalia tried to smile gently but it felt forced and came out more of a grimace. "We will." She nodded to the two Scouts who were giving her curious looks and began to follow them out when Griffon said, "Congratulations on your recent marriage. He's a lucky man."
Thalia paused at the door, her hand gripping the handle tightly. She stared at the dry, cracked ground beneath her boots and her teeth grounded together. "Thank you, Mister Harvey." And with that, she pulled the door shut.
Thalia could practically feel Kaine's agitation radiate off his body as the group began the trek to where they had tied off their horses. Eren and Petra remained silent as the siblings stewed in thought.
However, almost as though the Saints were punishing Thalia, Leon Harvey came jogging around the corner of the alleyway just as the group was to turn. He stopped cold in his tracks. His blonde hair fell into his bright blue eyes that narrowed at the sight of Thalia standing tall before him. Hair and eyes that were the same color and length of his brother's when Thalia flicked her wrist and ended the boy's young life.
Her heart cinched.
After a tense moment, Kaine pushed past the boy, ruffling his hair and murmuring something under his breath. Most likely an apology.
Leon slid past Thalia, a curse falling from his lips as he did so, and dashed to his father's shop, slamming the door and making the windows shutter.
Thalia stood there a moment longer, heart thrashing and chest aching. She deserved the curse Leon cast upon her. Deserved every curse she knew the family said after her name.
The trekk back to the compound was made in tense silence. Their horses' hooves beating against the solid ground were the only sources of noise up the hillside to the headquarters. Not even the sunlight streaming through the bare tree branches lightened Thalia's mood.
Kaine was upset, Thalia could tell that much by the rising of his shoulders to his ears and the hollowness of his voice as he murmured to his horse. Petra had try to make conversation with him, but gave up after he gave simple responses with strained smiles.
It was Eren who asked the question that must have been burning inside of him after a long stretch of silence. "Why did that boy look at you like that?"
Kaine cut Thalia a glance. Thalia thinned her lips and curled her fingers tightly around the leather reigns. She could lie. She could make up a story so that Eren and Petra would keep looking at her as they always had. Or she could be somewhat transparent and allow fragments of the truth to slip through her tight walls.
"The family business isn't exactly kind," she said carefully, unsure of what to say. She ran a hand through her mare's maine. "Nathaniel got caught up in a scheme that clashed with them. He died because of it. However, it was a death my family doesn't take lightly."
Petra took in a sharp intake of breath. "The poor boy," she said. Though Thalia didn't know how much Petra was aware of when it came to the Wolfstien business, she had her suspicions Kaine had told her enough during his short stay.
He always had been far too trusting.
Eren turned to Thalia, unnerving boldness pulling his spine straight. "So he had to die because he got in the way? What could have been so important?"
"Eren," Petra warned.
"Business's are always messy," Kaine said smoothly. "Especially ones run underground. Do you know much of the Underground City?"
Eren shook his head. His bright eyes slid between the siblings, lingering on Thalia who was keeping her focus on the leaf covered path.
Kaine leaned forward in the saddle and ran his gloved fingers through his mare's maine. "It's unkind down there. Plenty of poverty and crime running rampant. To have anything successful, you have to be willing to play your cards wisely,"
"What business does your father run?" Eren asked.
"It's a betting hall," Thalia said, cutting off Kaine's completely honest answer. "A tavern where the wealthy come and gamble their fortunes away on their own accord. It's illegal, of course, which makes the business risky." She stared hard at Kaine, daring him to rebuke her explanation. He just sat back in his saddle, blue eyes narrowing and handsome face darkening. He was far too trusting.
Eren thinned his lips, studying the saddle horn his hands gripped. "I understand," he said simply.
Thalia watched the gears turning in his head out of the corner of her eye. As clever as he may be, she knew he wasn't that clever just by observing him train for the past few weeks. He was resourceful but lacked some brain cells to fully connect the dots between a betting ring for the wealthy and being located underground. The word mafia would never cross his mind.
However, Petra was that clever, and Thalia dreaded the whispers that would surely bounce off the castle walls in the oncoming days. The Scouts had been kept in the dark about her family to keep their presence as unknown as possible. She wondered how much longer it would be before someone spilled something and potentially got themselves killed for it.
The castle spires loomed over the dead tree branches as the group trotted up the hillside.
Immediately as they entered the glade, a sharp whistle rang out. Thalia sharply turned her head toward the noise. Levi leaned against a doorframe of one of the side entrances, his cloak around his shoulders and arms crossed. His ODM gear hung on his hips, the metal gleaming in the sunlight.
He jerked his head toward the woods, a signal to Petra and Eren to get their gear and join the others on the training grounds.
Swiftly, the two dismounted their steeds and handed off the reins to a scrawny stable boy. "Do you need us to carry the parts?" Petra asked, eyes lingering on Kaine.
Thalia took notice of Eren shifting his weight from one foot to another and the anxious darting of eyes from Levi to the woods. "No, I can get my husband to help," she said. Revenge for waking her early. She waved a hand at Levi and he pushed off the frame.
Petra hesitated. "All right." she said after a moment. "Thank you, ma'am." She smiled softly at the siblings and walked briskly to catch up with Eren as they headed to get their gear. They saluted to Levi as they passed by the scowling captain.
Kaine swung off his mare and Thalia followed suit. Instead of handing off her horse, she slowly guided the gentle beast into the stables. "Will you please help my brother get the parts inside?" she called, not bothering to listen to his response as she disappeared into the shadows of the stable.
The raw scent of straw mixed with manure hit her nostrils as she lead the mare into the stall. Slowly, she unbridled the chestnut mare. She ran her hand down the mare's long nose soothingly.
The beast shook her mighty head and snorted in response. Its large, dark eyes bore into Thalia's gray ones as though she could read Thalia's whirling thoughts.
Thalia stroked the mare's nose for a few moments longer before allowing the stable boy to do his work. She had never learned how to properly rub down her horse, seeing as how there was no need to learn underground, and she barely left the town to begin with. Perhaps she would learn while the soldiers were on their expedition. Quickly, she pushed thoughts of the grounds being empty away.
She blinked rapidly as she exited the dim barn, scanning the glade for her brother. She pulled off her gloves, stuffing them in her back pocket and flexed her fingers, welcoming the warmer afternoon air.
Thalia spied Kaine speaking to Levi under the archway of the door they had gone through and her stomach clenched. As she crossed the brown grass, she hoped Levi wouldn't say anything childish to her younger brother. As tough as Kaine was, his heart was still tender. However, judging from Kaine's easy smile and Levi's relaxed shoulders, she had little reason to worry.
Instinctively, without breaking conversation, Kaine stretched his arm out for Thalia's shoulders and curled it around her. He never once allowed his anger or frustration, no matter how great, keep him from showing affection to the ones he cared about. A lesson Thalia was still learning.
"So you plan to leave in two weeks?" Kaine asked. Thalia stiffened against him.
Levi nodded, shifting his gaze between the two siblings. "Given if all goes well and the new recruits don't shit themselves, it should be two weeks from today."
Thalia's fingers went to her ring, spinning it around and around. "When do they arrive?" she asked.
"Tomorrow morning,"
"Not much time for them to learn," Kaine said, squeezing Thalia's shoulders before letting his arm fall. Thalia tilted her chin up at him to speak but bit her tongue when she saw the quivering muscle under his right eye.
He was upset about something. And it wasn't directed at her.
Levi shrugged his shoulders, cooly indifferent. "They learn quickly,"
A sharp crack followed by angered shouts of the Scouts echoed from the training woods. A sigh dragged Levi's shoulders down and he squeezed his eyes shut. "Duty calls," he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose as he took off for the rising voices. His ring briefly caught the light as he played with the edge of one of the blades in its holder.
Thalia watched him leave, his cloak snapping behind his knees. Kaine shifted beside her.
"What's bothering you?" she asked. Petra and Eren ran up beside Levi, their heavy gear strapped to their wastes. The girl saying something and Levi shook his head, replying curtly.
Kaine moved to lean his shoulder on the wall opposite of her, spine straight and arms crossed. Defensive. He rarely stood that way.
He popped his neck. "I assume you're not talking about the blacksmith incident," he said, bright voice unusually low. When she didn't reply, he said, "Sometimes I forget that you and Levi didn't marry out of love."
Levi and his subordinates disappeared in the shadows of the treeline, the leaves engulfing their forms. "It was more or less a business transaction." She said. Something in her chest tugged and her fingers spun her ring. Round and round and round her finger it went. Limitless. Unending.
"Which is why," he said, a heavy sigh escaping his chest, "him having previous relations shouldn't make me want to sic Vince on him. But it does."
Her spinning stopped and a sharp pang lanced from her chest to the depths of her stomach, curling around her intestines painfully. "What makes you think he had a previous relationship?" But she suspected the answer. She just didn't want to think it were true.
Kaine tilted his head down to look at her and she met his eyes. Gentle. Safe. As blue as the sky that had once been hidden from them as children. Worry lines were already pressing into the edges of his mouth, the between the corners of his eyes, and in the planes of his forehead.
She wished to wipe those lines away.
"Ulou said something to me," he said and Thalia made a face. "He told me not to bother pursuing Petra because she was still healing from a heartbreak. That the man she liked chose a different woman. Now how many men here were recently married?"
A sour tang filled Thalia's mouth and she schooled her features. "One." She continued twisting her wedding band. Round and round and round.
Black hair fell into Kaine's eyes as he tilted his head, the strands falling between his brows. "One." He repeated softly, as though admitting it would shatter her.
Thalia looked back at the woods, where her husband had just disappeared into with Petra and Eren. The shouting had stopped. She wondered what Levi had done to quell it. One scowl from him had his company flinching back in submission, though not in fear. They were so loyal to their captain, they craved his praise almost as much as she craved his touch.
And though her chest tightened and her toes curled in her boots and her fingers moved, she could not bring herself to be jealous of Petra. Because jealousy meant fear. And Thalia did not fear petty things such as that. But she did not deny the peculiar pain in her stomach.
"I'm with him. For better or for worse." The ring felt even colder than usual against her skin.
Kaine eyed her fingers play with the wedding band. His lips thinned. "Perhaps it was for worse,"
Thalia stopped the spinning and placed a gentle hand on his arm. "Levi is a good man, Kaine. You don't need to worry." She searched his face.
The muscle under his eye ticked again. "He used to be one of our informants. I looked into him after you two got engaged. He ran his own gang for a while, did you know that?"
Thalia hesitated. "I didn't." She hardly knew anything about her friend and she wanted to kick herself for it. The whole point of her even pursuing him was because she was curious about his past.A fine detective she made.
A shot of anxiety ran through her blood and she swallowed harshly. She was a fool. The fact that Kaine was raising his hackles pushed her nerves farther on edge.
Kaine ran his long fingers through his hair, sighing slowly. He blinked up at the sky, squinting. "Vince was worried about this marriage and I wasn't." He shot her a gentle grin, just a quirk of the lips and a softening of his eyes. "Now you have your baby brother uncertain about your husband,"
"Believe me, that wasn't my intention," Thalia murmured hand falling to her side. She barely bothered to ask Levi anything about himself. Not even during their quiet moments in the shop had she inquired about his life Underground. She had grown complacent, waiting for him to speak while she lay her soul bare.
She had grown lazy. Uncertain to ask the wrong thing and make him walk away.
Thalia then bumped her shoulder against Kaine's, pulling his attention from the cloudless sky. "Try not to get too emotionally involved with Petra. Scouting is a risky profession, and our business even more complicated."
His face hardened. "I know." He pushed his hands in the pockets of his suit pants. "I should leave soon if I want to make my inn reservation in time."
But Thalia wasn't finished yet. "Did you tell her about the family?"
He hesitated and Thalia knew. She resisted the urge to smack him upside the head, or throttle him, she couldn't decide. A shot of adrenaline set her heart pounding. Her fingers went back to her ring.
"She had practically already had it figured out," Kaine pushed his hair back with his hands.
Thalia shot him a sharp look. Her brows creased and her mouth hardened. "What did you tell her?" If he said anything about her family plotting to kill the King, she would be silenced and he punished. There would be nothing Thalia could do to stop it.
Kaine stared at the forest where Petra was most likely flying through the towering branches. His spine curled a fraction. "I told her we had a betting ring, like you told Eren. But I also said we do jobs for the wealthy. She pieced the crime syndicate part together herself,"
"But you didn't tell her about our current job?" Thalia pressed.
"Saints, Lia, no." Kaine straightened, his crystal blue eyes darkening as he gave her a look. "I would never betray the family like that,"
Thalia held up her hands to quell the storm bubbling beneath his skin. Her own electricity dampened. "I don't doubt your word but I had to know. If Father or the Don found out, misfortune would plague this military sect far more than it already does,"
The lightning crackling in his eyes dimmed. He let his head fall to the side, resting his temple on the cold stone archway. "I'm well aware of what they would do."
Long shadows started to creep to their feet. Thalia watched the lines for a moment, unsure of what to say. Kaine was not a boy of shadow, he never had been. He was not built for this life. A life of running a betting ring, perhaps, but not this type of deceit. Not the constant lying and death nipping at their heels.
Thalia was barely holding on to the will to push forward with it. But she had to. If she didn't who would help finish this fight?
"I wish you could love her, Kaine." Thalia said gently. He snorted and she blinked slowly, crossing her arms over her chest. "And you can love her. But not the way you want to, and you know that. Not a Scout."
"You got your Scout," he said, though not bitterly.
Thalia glanced at her ring on her hand, her fingers peeking through the crook of her arm. "And I live with the fact that he could die on Thanks Day." She didn't want to admit it. She didn't want to think of it, but it was the truth. Hard and cold, but true. He could die before they were even married a month and for the first time in years, it gripped her in heart stuttering fear.
Kaine's arms found her shoulders and she let him curl them around them as though she were glass. She stood firm and proud, her chin steady and mouth straight. He was light and goodness, though he tried to put on a dark face like her and Vincent. His tenderness and whimsical ideals would always keep his head in the clouds, and that was all right.
In a world where sorrow and misfortune was the norm, the need for daydreamers was crucial. And Thalia would do anything in her power to keep his head high and eyes lifted to the endless sky.
AN: The holidays are quite crazy! So much has happened this break, but so much good. I hope everyone is having a safe time with their family and friends during this holiday season. Prayers for all of you!
Hifivebuddy: pushing and pulling those two apart are quite honestly a lot of fun. Yes, she does have a bit of a warped sense of justice, doesn't she? ;)
Minerva Andromeda: Thank you so much for reviewing! I remember reading your comment on my way back to my car after a long study session with some friends, and it truly put a big smile on my face :)
Jerzu: You are a saint, darling
Thebeccac: Again, your comment was one I read after studying for finals (God rest our souls) and it melted my heart. Truly, your words are so kind and uplifting! I wish you all the best for university! Never feel shy to to PM me if you need someone to lament to, because I totally understand.
Valen Goncalvez: Thank you, darling! I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)
This chapter was less Levi/Lia focused but those moments are coming, I promise. If anyone is interested, ya girl has a tumblr account! I go by erzzaberry (Ray), feel free to follow!