This chapter covers the rest of year 849 and will be the last before we're getting into canon action...
AN: Thank you again for your lovely comments! Special shout-out to a certain guest who has been reviewing every single chapter from the start: I really enjoy reading your thoughts on my story, thank you so much! And don't worry about your English, I get your meaning perfectly well. :)
Chapter 8: No Place Like Home
"What are you doing Friday evening?"
Nora tensed at Hange's unexpected inquiry. "Same as always. Reading, perhaps. Why?"
Eyes flashing behind glasses, Hange clapped her hands together. "Perfect. Just wanted to double-check. We're going out for a few drinks!"
With a sense of foreboding, Nora asked, "Do I get any say in that?"
"Nope, not this time." Hange smirked. "We know, you know."
The smaller woman groaned. "So I become a year older. Big deal." Frowning, she added, "Who is 'we'?"
"No reason to panic—only your squad and me. And don't even try to wiggle out of this, they go for a drink together every time it's one of their birthdays. Petra will drag you there all by herself, if she has to."
Nora sighed in surrender. "She won't have to. My splint comes off this week." That was good news, at least. It had been almost four weeks, long enough for her to miss even the most unpleasant parts of her training—like running laps, cleaning the stable, or Levi knocking her into the mud. The last few days, she had been grumpy enough to rival her captain.
In that annoying manner she had, Hange threw her arm over Nora's shoulders and squeezed tightly. "That's the spirit, sourpuss!"
#
The pub was as crowded as was to be expected from a Friday night. They had managed to snatch a small table for the seven of them, at least.
Seven, not six.
It had not occurred to Nora that Levi could join them; he really wasn't the type for these activities. But she wasn't, either. Apparently, even the captain wasn't exempt from the duty of birthday celebrations.
They sat crammed at a too-small table, the unfortunate birthday girl squeezed between Petra on one side, and Levi on the other.
It was impossible to tune out the noise of the pub, the clinking of glasses, and the raucous laughter and bellowing of tipsy patrons, and the contact of Levi's body against Nora's, invading her senses. No matter which way she shifted, they'd always touch somewhere; their knees, or elbows, or shoulders.
"Dammit, would you stop fidgeting for one minute?" Levi eventually snarled at her, leading her to down her drink in one big gulp, feeling hot all over.
After a few minutes, the booze started to dull the sensations to a bearable measure. Unable to remember the last time she had ingested alcohol, Nora's body had zero tolerance for it, a circumstance that was working in her favour now.
Two rounds later, and she was laughing with her comrades like they always did at mealtimes, her previous jumpiness forgotten. Oluo was bragging again—he could always find a reason, apparently, no matter the subject.
"…drank him under the table, last time, I tell ya. I was barely swaying, and he already sick as a dog!"
"Is there anything at all you don't brag about?" Nora said, the liquor slurring her speech a bit.
"I see how it is. The lady is salty because she is such a lightweight." Oluo narrowed his eyes at her.
"I'll be the first to admit I can't handle my drink and probably have the lowest tolerance at this table, true." Nora shrugged. "Yet, you don't hear me boasting about something as pathetic as this."
Oluo rolled his eyes while the others laughed, Eld patting the braggard's shoulder, Gunther grinning and shaking his head at them.
Petra got up. "Next round's on me. Wine for Nora, beer for everyone else?"
"Thanks, but no thanks. I've clearly had enough for now," Nora said.
The conversations continued along in a similar manner for the rest of the evening, a blur of laughter, bad jokes and banter. After a while, Nora leaned back in her chair and let it all wash over her, barely listening, not contributing much more than Levi who was as untalkative as expected in this kind of setting.
Though relaxed, for once, she was still well aware of his proximity, everything else fading into the background the more she allowed herself to focus on him. It was probably the booze, but Nora found herself embracing the feel of his solid warmth wherever their bodies grazed rather than trying to avoid it. Why bother? It was nice.
For what it was worth, Levi didn't seem to mind the contact, either. He didn't seem to pay any heed to his surroundings and spent the majority of the time frowning at his pint. Their physical nearness probably had no effect on him whatsoever—and how she wished she could say that for herself—but he seemed comfortable around her. Why else would he regularly sit next to her on his own accord?
So, when their thighs touched as he shifted in his seat, Nora stayed still. The heat of his leg seeped through the cloth covering her thigh. She thought she saw Levi glance at her once from the corner of her eye, but he did not say anything, nor did he move again.
Hange managed to steer the conversation to titans multiple times, to the exasperation of her comrades.
"I wonder if ingesting toxic substances would have any effect on them, at all," she was saying, a crazy glint in her eyes, "Take alcohol, for example—"
"For fuck's sake, Shitty Glasses, will you shut up. No one cares," Levi burst out.
"That's not true, you old grump! Nora always likes to—"
"Sorry, Hange," she interrupted, too exhausted for further discussion, "I'd usually agree with you, but I'm quite done for tonight. I'm still tipsy, and I really want to go to bed." Nora stood up, bracing her hands on the table.
"You're leaving already?!" Hange whined, while Petra giggled and said, "Drinking's really not your forte, is it?"
"Nope, not at all. Told you so," Nora said, shrugging. She had never been one for partying—with or without drinking. "Good night, you guys."
Taking the opportunity, Levi rose as well. "I'll go too. I've had enough of you brats for the rest of the weekend."
#
This was how Nora found herself walking back to the HQ with her captain in the midst of the night. Her slight intoxication rendered her unsteady enough that her shoulder occasionally bumped into his, to her embarrassment. When it happened the third time, she was surprised Levi still didn't snap at her.
Now that Nora thought about it, she had seen him drinking alcohol for the first time today, so it was safe to assume he rarely did, just like her. Yet, nothing about him suggested he'd even had a sip—his gaze was cool, his gait steady—and she knew for a fact he had had more drinks than her tonight. Again, she wondered if the guy was even human.
"Tell me," she finally asked, "are you even the slightest bit inebriated?"
Levi frowned at her. "Why're you asking?"
"Scientific curiosity."
His eyes turned heavenwards. "You're almost as bad as four-eyes."
Nora's current state boldened her, and she nudged him with her elbow. "Would it hurt you to just answer a question for once?" She grinned at his glowering stare. "Come on, it's my birthday."
"You're annoying as shit, brat," Levi said, "But if you must know, I guess I am a bit less clear-headed than usual. Nowhere near your sorry state, though."
"Hey, it's not that bad," Nora objected, almost stumbling over her feet just then, "Plus, this wasn't exactly all that voluntary on my part."
His lips quirked up at her clumsiness, but he didn't slow down. Unperturbed, Nora continued her small rant. "I hate pubs. They're crowded, and noisy, and disgusting, and after tonight, I can confidently say that alcohol tastes quite disgusting, too. If I had to choose a location for a birthday celebration, it'd be a tea shop."
What happened next made her almost stumble again: Levi smiled.
A real, true, smile. And it was nice, too—really nice. The individual features didn't change all that much, closed lips curving up—but at the same time, his whole face seemed to transform.
It was beautiful.
"For once, I agree with you," he was saying, but Nora had forgotten what they were talking about.
She didn't speak again on the rest of their walk home.
#
When they arrived on the floor where their rooms were, Nora opened her mouth to bid him goodbye, but Levi forestalled her.
"Wait here," he said, and was off down the corridor to his office.
He was back before she could even think on what was going on.
"Take it." He pushed a small box into her hands.
She looked down at it, uncomprehending. The labelling was all too familiar. It contained her favourite—their favourite—tea blend. About a month's worth of it.
Nora gaped at it, then at his face. He was close, his expression serious, eyes shining steel.
"Why?" she finally managed.
"Are you an idiot?" Levi asked back.
They looked at each other for a few seconds, Nora's heart racing in her chest. He wasn't backing away, wasn't turning to go.
"Thank you," she said, breathless.
His eyes turned to the side. "It's just some tea, brat."
Nodding, she snapped out of her trance, taking a tentative step backwards.
"Good night, Levi," Nora said, feeling stupid. She wondered if she'd ever called him by his name before.
"Good night, Nora." The sound of her name on his lips, clear and deep and unhurried, was nothing short of delicious, like the black tea in her hands, and she didn't feel so stupid anymore.
#
Their next expedition went down without a hitch. Nora could barely believe it.
As was planned, the only two squads involved—Squad Hange and Squad Levi—did not get far; never even straying out of sight of Wall Rose.
Their supplies: two enormous sleighs, a load of thick, sturdy wires and iron stakes, and the wall cannons manned by Garrison soldiers.
The mission: Catch at least one titan alive.
The soldiers managed to capture two, with the Special Ops squad in charge of the cutting, severing tendons and muscles and effectively immobilising arms and legs, and Hange's squad constraining them to the sleighs, shooting hooked wires and hammering stakes, one target after the other.
When everything was over, they had two relatively small test subjects—a three- and a five-metre class—to drag to the dedicated, secured space halfway between the gate of Trost and the Survey Corps headquarters.
Covered in sweat and panting, Nora was beaming from ear to ear, her exhilaration only beaten by the madwoman she called her best friend, who was jumping up and down, babbling and whooping.
"We did it! Son of a bitch, we did it! What a historical day for humanity!"
"And what a shitty bunch of upcoming days for these poor ugly bastards," Nora added grinning, nodding at the confined titans, lying pinned to the ground face down.
"Our test subjects need a name," Hange said, eyes wide as saucers, cheeks red.
"And that's our cue," Levi muttered, turning to his squad, "We're done for today—good job, everyone. Come on, let's go wash up and eat."
"No way, I want to stay and name one of them!" Nora protested while her squad mates turned and left as quickly as they could.
Shaking his head at her, her captain said, "You're bloody mental. Fine, then. Stay with the other maniac." He did not go with his squad, but hung back, crossing his arms, apparently waiting how this would play out.
"Okay, then," Hange turned to her friend and clapped her hands together. "Let's hear your name suggestion. No promises, though."
Nora looked at the two titans for a second. The smaller one had blond, chin-length hair and a permanent, stupid grin plastered on its chubby face. The other had a shock of shorter brown hair and a long face with sunken, dark eyes and a disfigured mouth turned downwards at the corners.
Pointing at the bigger, gloomy-looking titan, Nora said, "This one's an Albert."
Bending down so her face was only inches from Nora's, Hange took her hands eagerly. "Like the killer Albert Fish from that story, right?"
"Er—yeah, of course," Nora said, trying to keep a straight face. "Exactly what I was thinking about. Not like I'd just choose the first random name that came to my mind…"
Behind them, Levi snorted. Her dry tone went right over Hange's head in the overexcited state she was in.
"That's perfect! Then the small one will be Chicachironi."
"Obviously," Nora agreed, nodding.
#
The months that followed were filled with training, research, and fighting—either Levi or titans. Even though she didn't keep count—her squad mates did it for her—Nora's kill count kept rising steadily over the course of several expeditions in the rest of the year. Engaging titans, there would always be risky situations and close calls; still, none as close as the one that had caused her leg injury on her first expedition, luckily. Best of all, she and everyone she cared about—Hange, Petra, Eld, Gunther, Oluo, and yes; Levi—remained unhurt, aside from the occasional scratch or bruise; though she was unable to recall a single incident of Levi bleeding. The only blood coming in contact with his skin was of unfortunate comrades and titans.
It was all she could ask for. Blood and death became a fixed part of her life, but Erwin managed to keep the toll low (for Survey Corps conditions, at least). Just another reason for Nora to keep her distance from most of the soldiers. She only failed miserably with these few closest people in her daily life.
Aside from her purpose, she had found something entirely unexpected this year, as well: her home.
Together with Hange and her assistant Moblit, they learned quite a bit from their test subjects. For instance, they found significant differences in activity, need of sunlight, and pain tolerance between the individuals.
But alas, their testing eventually exceeded its limits, thus leading to the untimely demise their subjects. One of the experiments on possibly vulnerable body parts—including the spinal cord—went too far.
Nora was kind of bummed about it, having lost valuable research material, but Hange cried for two days. Comforting her distraught friend, Nora promised they would capture more titans sometime.
"When is Levi's birthday?" She asked Hange out of nowhere one day, while bent over research in the lab.
"Why do you want to know?" Hange asked back, the corners of her mouth lifting. "I think he purposely doesn't tell anyone."
"I owe him something," Nora said. "Plus, he knows mine. I can't let that sit."
"I'll look it up for you, but you didn't get it from me."
"You're the best."
#
It had taken her all afternoon on a cold and windy Saturday, but Nora eventually found what she had been looking for: a set of elegantly shaped tea cups, unusual due to their lack of a handle. On the 25th of December, she snuck into Levi's unlocked office while he was out for a few minutes, probably on a short tea break.
Nora left the box with the shiny new cutlery on his desk, a note lying on top.
They seemed suited for you.
-Nora
#
There was one problem she couldn't solve, unfortunately. Nora had thought her strange and bothersome infatuation with Levi would just abate given enough time. But the year 850 began, winter was coming to an end, and it got even worse, if possible. There was no getting used to him.
They trained together, they sat together at least once a day at mealtime, they bickered, and sometimes they had tea and talked. Her traitorous body reacted to him in the most unsettling way, growing as heated as their arguments whenever he was too close or looked at her a certain way.
At night, Nora was haunted by nightmares when sleeping, and by inappropriate thoughts of her captain when awake. When she gave in and touched herself to relief the tension, Levi was at the centre of her imagination, no matter how hard she tried to think of anything else. It had certainly never before been so easy for her to get off.
Nora's frustration with herself—and him, to equal measures—increased every passing day. Sometimes she liked him, and sometimes she hated him; but she always, always wanted him.
Even though she knew the man pretty well by now, his past remained an enigma. Nora knew as little as every other Scout, Hange and the commander aside; that Levi had grown up in the underground and become a notorious thug, and had joined the Scouts without formal training about six years ago, presumably involuntarily and through Erwin's involvement.
It was probably safe to assume her captain had quite a rough past, but she could only guess at it. Not even Hange would tell her anything, instead insisting it was his story to tell and suggesting—with a wink—that Nora just ask him nicely.
Not only was she lacking the guts to do that, she was also lacking in opportunity. It was only partly her fault. Even though she despised tossing and turning in bed, she had become more and more hesitant to get up and go to the roof or dining hall, with vivid images of what Levi might look like underneath his clothes too fresh on her mind. In short, Nora was avoiding alone-time with him.
But that wasn't all of it. There had been enough occasions where she had made one of her nightly trips over the past months, yet she had run into her captain only a very few times. Ever since that moment—if it even was one—on her birthday night, their by-chance encounters rarely happened anymore. Maybe Levi had just lost his desire for nightly strolls.
Or, the paranoid part of her brain insisted, it might have something to do with her.
#
After a particularly aggravating night, Nora was having breakfast at a table with Hange and Levi. This early, it was almost impossible for her not to be in a sour mood, and today she was jumpy on top of that. Not because of nightmares, this time—not in the traditional sense, anyway—but because of dreams involving the soldier currently sitting next to her. Dreams that had been far too vibrant and detailed.
Levi must have taken a shower shortly before coming here. His hair was still damp, and every time he reached for his tea, a waft of his scent hit Nora's nostrils. A weak imitation of it had featured in her dreams. The original, though—still the most delectable smell she had ever encountered—was on a different league and made it impossible for her to cool down. She got angrier with every sip he took.
She distracted herself with her own cup, holding it under her nose, when he moved again and accidentally brushed his elbow against her arm.
Nora snapped. "Would you watch it? I'll spill my tea if you keep bumping me!"
Eyes flashing in irritation, Levi returned, "It's not my fault a tiny brat like you needs so much space. Your arms are flailing all over the place when you're eating."
"That's bullshit! Besides, I was here first. You decided to take the seat next to me. If it bothers you, there's a free chair on Hange's side!" Dimly aware how childish she sounded but not caring, Nora was glaring daggers at him, not even sparing a glance at her friend who was watching their exchange thoughtfully, chewing on her meal.
Apparently, Levi's temper today was equally as short as her subordinate's. "What's your damn problem? I can sit wherever the fuck I want, and I don't need your unjustified bitching, especially not this early."
Their faces were closer now, tight with fury. Nora's voice lowered to a hiss. "I will bitch however much I fucking want to when you're being an absolute—"
"Bloody hell! Will you two just bang already?"
Hange's intervention silenced the two squabblers abruptly. Both of them were now staring at her; Levi with widened eyes, looking ready to kill, and Nora with her mouth hanging open.
"What are you… Why would you… It's not like…" she stammered, her beet-red face a stark contrast to the messy, sandy-blonde waves framing it.
Hange rolled her eyes, though she failed to hide the amusement in the tilt of her lips. "Spare me, please. I didn't want to say anything, originally, but I've been watching you two ogling and fighting each other for months. It's getting boring."
Levi stood up, pushing his chair back noisily. "None of your damn business, Shitty Glasses."
That was all he said before he strode off.
Nora buried her face in her hands. "Fucking hell, Hange! That'll be the most awkward training day ever, thank you very much!"
Shrugging, Hange continued eating, unperturbed by her friend's mood. "You brought this on yourself."
Biting her lip, Nora remained silent, glaring into space.
"Besides," Hange added between two bites, "Shorty didn't even deny anything, in case you haven't noticed."
Notes:
This one was a bitch to write, not only because writing out the interesting and more important parts of a bigger time span is hard, but also because 'upbeat' doesn't seem to be my strong suit. Ha, that checks out.
Well, I guess it's good for me then that things in the following chapters won't be as nice...
Sorry but also not sorry for the pub scene.
I've been itching to write out a certain dream Nora had, and maybe a bit from Levi's perspective of those months, but I guess that would have been overkill for this chapter.