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When I woke the next morning, a stranger was leaning over me, studying my face. I shrank back into my pillow pulling the covers up to my nose and feeling myself shake.
Who was this man? What did he want? Why were his eyebrows his most threatening feature?
He reached out a hand towards me, for what purpose, I have no idea, but my only reaction was to scream and throw my hands up in front of my face.
I heard my name, though it was muffled and I had no idea who was speaking or where it was coming from until I heard the familiar metal on metal shrill of cable firing out of ODM gear. I saw a small cloud of dust from the open window where a small figure burst through and tackled the man standing over me. When the small figure stood I could see the dark hair and knew it was Levi and he was holding the man on the floor at the tip of his blade.
"Levi?" the man said.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Erwin?" I involuntarily shivered. In the short time I had known Levi, I had never heard that scary of a voice from him. I never imagined such a deep and angry voice could come from his little body.
Wait... Erwin? As in the crazy Commander of the Scouts? That Erwin? And Levi was holding him at blade point.
"Levi..." I said quietly and his shoulders dropped as before he turned around.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
I nodded, still a bit too dumb founded to use words.
Levi put is swords away and stood back helping the Commander up.
"Are you sure you don't want me to skewer him, kid?" he asked.
Was Captain Levi trying to make a joke? Trying to lighten the mood? He seemed very different from the serious commander that I was expecting him to be. He seemed like a completely different person than the man I had seen ride through the Shiganshina District's gates so many times as a child.
When I didn't answer, Levi turned to me, tilting his head like a confused puppy, "You okay kid?"
"Yeah..." I nodded not meeting his side.
"I must have scared you. I'm sorry about that. I am-" Commander Erwin began but I cut him off.
"Commander Erwin Smith, the Bloody Tactician, you're in charge of the scouts. You're Levi and Ms. Zoë's boss." I still did not meet his eyes.
"The bloody tactician?" he asked and I saw him look to Levi and give him a look.
"That's what people in the Underground call you. Everyone, for the most part, who signs up with the scouts ends up dead because of your tactics which throw away lives in favor of small momentary victories."
Levi and Erwin were both looking at me. The mood had fallen through the floor at this point and I still couldn't really look at them.
"Erwin, I'm going to have to ask you to leave for a bit," Levi said, "the kid and I need to have a talk."
"Oh, am I interrupting?" Hanji appeared in the doorway with a tray of tea and cookies.
"Yes," Levi pushed Erwin toward the doorway, took the tray from Hanji and slammed the door in both of their faces. "Finally, some peace. You want some tea?"
"Yes, please." I trained my eyes on his hands, watching him carefully pour the tea from the big pot into the pretty little tea cup. It was porcelain with blue, yellow, and pink flowers and golden accents. I don't think I'd ever seen such pretty tea cups before.
"Be careful with them," Levi gently handed me the cup and saucer, "These are Hanji's prized possession. Passed down in her family for years. You must be pretty special if she's breaking out the nice cups this soon after meeting you."
I finally took a chance to look up at Levi as he poured himself a cup of tea. He was smiling, just a bit, only the very corners of his mouth had turned up, but it was a very pretty smile. I couldn't help but smile too as I took a sip of the tea.
It was floral, smelling just like a rose garden. I smiled even wider when I tasted how sweet it was. Sugar doesn't come easy nowadays and the fact there was enough in my tea to taste it right now was unbelievable to me. It had to be close to a month's ration of sugar.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" I asked, putting the cup and saucer down on the night stand, "I appreciate it and don't mean to be rude, but I just don't understand what I did for you to be-"
"I know what it's like," Levi set his own tea cup down and moving to the edge of his seat. We were only about a meter apart and he put his hand lightly on my shoulder, "I know what Kenny is like and no kid should ever have to go through what you have."
"And you too," I put my hand on his, "We were both kids. Neither of us deserved it."
"No, I guess we didn't." he sighed, taking his hand from my shoulder and looking me in the eyes, "Don't worry too much from now on. For the most part, the people here are nice and friendly. At the very least, none of them are like Kenny and his band of psychos."
"How are you so sure? I didn't think Kenny was so bad at first." I was a bit on the defensive.
"Me neither, but I have been here for many years and I guarantee, the people here will be very nice to you. So rest easy, have some cookies and lunch will be in later." I softened at his words and took a bite of a Madeline.
Levi stood. He filled my tea cup and put two whole spoonfuls of sugar and left the plate of cookies for me. He took the tray of expensive china and as he closed the door behind him said, "It gets better."
The next few days a Scout Headquarters, laying in a bed and waiting around were boring, but soon I started to settle into a rhythm as more visitors began to appear. Levi or Hanji would come in the morning with tea and cookies. When Hanji came, she dictated her experiment observations for me and I wrote them, like a scribe, and when Levi came, we didn't talk much, but when we did, he often reassured me that I was safe, the Scouts would take care of me, I did not need to fear Kenny anymore.
Depending on the day, a ginger girl or Levi would bring me lunch. The girl would smile as she set the food down, ask if I needed anything or any help, and when I said no, she would leave. When Levi came, he would eat a sandwich and drink tea beside me. Sometimes he would read a book or do paperwork, but most day he just looked at me with a blank expression. At first it was uncomfortable but I learned to get over it a bit, even if I was nervous. I did not trust him fully, not yet anyway, but he seemed like someone I should take a chance on. His reassuring words only pushed me towards granting him my trust.
For dinner, I was brought food, but as time went on and I realized no one I knew the name of would be with me, I had it sent to Levi's office. I walked down the old stone castle's halls and when I arrived at the office, I would sink down into the leather couch. Levi stayed in the chair behind his desk the first few times that I came, but when I started pushing myself to get up and bring him a cup of tea or something to snack on, he relented and sat with me in the sitting area in a matching leather arm chair.
As I healed, I grew more and more comfortable in Levi's office than I was anywhere else. The leather couch was always cool against my skin, the green and brown rug was soft against my bare feet, the roar of fire in the fireplace reminded me of Mr. Hannes' living room, and most of all, Levi's silhouette against the wall painted by the shadows of the candle and moon light was comforting. It felt like I had a guardian angel watching over me, protecting me, and that is the biggest reason why I kept falling asleep on Levi's couch.
He never said it was an issue. He always just let me sleep. Sometimes I would wake with his green cloak draped over me and other times I would wake back in my room, tucked under the covers with the light of the moon showing Levi retreating out my door.