Chapter 2 Chance Encounter

Levi woke up to the grim reality of the barracks. His thin lumpy mattress and the snoring from his comrades bitterly tore him away from the lingering effects of his dream. In the dark vast room of the barracks, he was reminded of how alone he felt which was a stark contrast from the dream.

In the dark barracks, Levi stared up at the bunk above him and felt so alone that it almost felt like the loneliness and darkness could creep inside him. Levi rolled out of his bunk and silently crept outside as he wished the darkness would swallow him because he was tired of feeling the storm of emotions that accompanied his grief.

In his dream, Farlan and Isabel were still alive, laughing happily beside him. The sun was high in the sky, casting its bright rays on to the earth and warming his skin. A playful breeze tickled his face as they excitedly rode their horses across the open plains that were stretched beyond the walls. Farlan, Isabel, and Levi were blissfully happy.

In his dark reality, Levi jogged aimlessly across the grounds of the Survey Corps headquarters while trying to remember the last time he felt happy. The moon was partially hidden behind thick dark clouds that also blocked out the stars from his view as a gentle breeze carried the familiar scent of rain from someplace else. The only light Levi could see in the vast darkness of night came from the Officer's Quarters. He briefly wondered if Erwin was awake or maybe even Cyn. He felt a rush of excitement washed over him and a sort of warm giddy happiness came over him at the thought of her. He felt jittery and euphoric at the same time. Levi mentally scolded himself as he took a breath to remind himself that Cyn was nowhere near him. He hated feeling like one of those love-sick recruits that shared the barracks with him. The seemingly endless pining for someone else annoyed him immensely. They were always so much more concerned with getting laid than staying alive. Maybe that was some sort of coping mechanism that they developed, but Levi was annoyed by it. Levi was frustrated with the similarities he shared with them. He rolled his eyes at the thought of them and his own hypocrisy. Even though he promised himself that he would not pursue these feelings he had for her, he still occasionally wondered about how her lips would taste, how her skin would feel against his fingertips, and how her breath would sound as she slept beside him. Then he remembered the way her soft delicate fingers grazed his skin when she pressed Farlan's and Isabel's patches into his hand and his heart fluttered again.

A bolt of lightning flashed across the sky and then thunder boomed after, dragging Levi away from his thoughts of Cyn. He looked up to the sky as he felt a cool thick drop of water hit him between his eyes. He blinked as another followed. It soothed him as it rolled down the side of his nose and then on to his lips. It tasted pure and fresh, unlike when rain reached the Underground.

"Rain" in the Underground came after rain fell on the surface and then seeped through the ground before falling from the cavernous ceiling that separated the Underground from the surface. In the Underground, rain tasted like the dirt it soaked up from the ground. It was cloudy and when it evaporated, it left behind a kind of residue on your skin.

Not wanting to get too wet, Levi ran towards the nearest turret and then pulled aside the heavy wooden door. He stepped inside and his eyes fell on a lit torch mounted on the wall. A sudden harsh gust of wind threatened to extinguish the flame and sent a shiver down his spine. He slowly and quietly closed the heavy door and then silently tiptoed up the stone spiral staircase. Usually these torches were not lit unless someone was here. He passed one lit torch after another as he climbed. The hissing sound of rain gently splattering against stone fell on his ears when his eyes found an open door at the top of the stairs. He vaguely wondered who he would find. Maybe a shitfaced officer too drunk to realize that it was raining.

Levi stood in the doorway, silently staring at an all too familiar figure, as she gazed out at the rest of headquarters below. This was the first moment he had been alone with her since they returned from the expedition. After a moment, she seemed to be aware of his presence and looked over her shoulder. Instead of being covered in a fine layer of dirt and grime, she was clean. Her white blouse was crisp and showed no signs that she had any interaction with blood recently. Dark circles were present under her eyes as she offered him a kind smile.

"Hello, Levi," she greeted him. His heart swelled when she said his name. He loved the way it sounded on her lips. It was different than how everyone else said it. Everyone else said his name like they could taste the dirt from the Underground on their tongues. She continued, "How can I help you?"

Levi caught it. The subtle choice of words. She had not asked whether or not he needed help. She was asking him what she could do for him, like she cared for him and what he needed. Levi mentally scolded himself. He knew that he was thinking too much into this. Words meant nothing. Words were lies. Only actions mattered. Actions were the only way to determine who a person was. Levi knew that better than anyone, especially since he grew up in the Underground where everyone talked tough but wasn't a threat until they followed up their empty words with real action. As the cliché goes, actions speak louder than words and after a while, Levi learned to speak louder than most and without even opening his mouth.

"I saw the lights and thought someone forgot to extinguish them," Levi said. "You're up late."

"So are you," she said.

"Why?"

"I like watching the rain," she said, looking back outside the window at rain that fell in a sheet of thick fat drops from the clouds above.

"Here?" he asked. "This late at night?"

She bit her lip in thought. Levi wished she'd bite his instead and almost immediately after that thought came into existence inside his mind, he felt a sudden rush of heat wash over his neck and cheeks. He was grateful that she wasn't looking at him.

"I occasionally get... anxious. This helps soothe me, most of the time," Cyn answered. "I come here because, well... rarely anyone else... does."

Levi considered her words and caught her meaning. She came here to avoid being found and bothered. She came here to be alone. Levi felt like he was intruding, but he wondered why would she honestly reveal something about herself to him? No one revealed any sort of truth about themselves. Then she lowered her gaze away from him and looked to the wall beside him as she let out a sharp exhale.

"That must make me sound like a horrible person," she said.

"No," Levi answered. "Not at all. It makes you sound human."

Her eyes darted back to Levi's face, studying him for a brief moment and then smiled softly at him. As his heart seemed to leap up into his throat, that's when he realized that he would do anything for that sweet smile.

"Makes me sound human?" she repeated slowly.

"Yeah," Levi said. "People talk about you like you might ascend to godhood any day now."

She threw her head back and laughed. He felt like he might burst and amended his previous thought. Cyn's laugh and her smile were worth doing absolutely anything for.

"Would you like to join me?" She asked gesturing towards the window.

Levi nodded and then started towards her. Cyn turned back to the window and then leaned her shoulder against the windowsill as he took to the other side of the windowsill. They were less than a foot apart. Her scent filled his nostrils. He tried to identify the scent. It was soap and something he couldn't quite place, but it fit her somehow. He could feel warmth radiating off her. Rain pelted the cobble stone ground and the stone turret in an overwhelming downpour like a steady drum. Levi was mesmerized by this moment. He was surrounded by two wonders of the surface. One inspired him to fight on despite everything while also invoking feelings that he'd usually prefer to forget about because they left him nearly breathless and confused. The other was the thunderstorm.

"May I ask you the same question? Why are you up?"

"It's difficult to sleep in the barracks," Levi said, indifferently, with a small shrug.

"Ah," she nodded knowingly. "Say no more. The female side of the barracks was always cramped. I can only imagine how the male side is."

"Tell me about it," Levi said.

"If you promise to keep it a secret, I might be able to arrange for you to sleep in the infirmary occasionally. You could get a full night's sleep with minimum snoring."

"I'd appreciate that."

She smiled. "I'll let you know then."

A flash of lightning lit up the sky in a blinding light, which briefly disoriented them, and then loud clap of thunder shook the ground and walls surrounding them.

"You look like you have a lot on your mind," Cyn said after a few minutes of silence. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Levi glanced at her. "You look like you have a lot on your mind too," he replied.

She gave him a small tired smile. "What gave me away?"

"Lucky guess," Levi said.

She eyed him suspiciously.

"Your eyes," Levi answered finally. "Their unfocused and looking past what's in front of them." He turned to her and then asked, "What about me?"

"Your eyes," she parroted with a small smirk. "Your brows more specifically. They're furrowed."

"Hm," Levi said. He was overjoyed that she noticed this habit of his. The butterflies in his stomach became more pronounced along with his loud pounding heart. He loved that she was paying attention to him and honored to have her look at him. He wanted more and with that, he realized that he was in trouble, but in this moment, he didn't care. "I guess I'll have to work on that."