I know…I'm just as surprised as you are…
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Mama, just killed a man
Put a gun against his head
Pulled my trigger now he's dead
Mama, life had just begun
But now I've gone and thrown it all away…
They ate their flan in silence for a few minutes before Mike spoke up, "Your hands feeling okay?"
She nodded, wiping the last of the flan from her lips with her thumb and licking it. It was delicious.
Mike didn't know this, but her hands were practically healed by now. A side effect of the treatments she received during her upbringing. And now, they were new scars.
Just another addition to the many she had already.
"You know," Mike cleared his throat, "When Erwin and Hange told me the results of the investigation, I thought you'd be happy to hear the news."
Ares crossed her arms on the counter, leaning onto them so they supported her weight. She made a face before sighing heavily. She understood why he would believe that, but that wasn't how Ares was. She was petty. She was resentful.
A spiteful woman with a violent history to match.
"But you weren't. I don't think I've ever seen you that angry," Mike took his last bite of flan, "Why?" He asked her.
Her eyes darted around in confusion. It wasn't like she would explain it to him.
Suddenly, Mike pulled out a notepad and a pencil, placing both in front of her with purpose and determination. He looked at her smugly and she smirked at him. Touché.
"Well?" He pushed her, waiting for her to write on the notepad. Cheeky little shit.
Rolling her eyes and licking the smirk off her lips, she tentatively grabbed both and began to write down her thoughts.
"Fuck them."
It was written so elegantly, so profoundly. It almost looked like scripture. The juxtaposition of her words and her penmanship were enough to amuse the giant blond man.
"Yeah, I kind of got that. But why?"
"I thought we were friends. There was no proof, yet they blamed me so quickly."
"One could argue that they were just trying to use common sense," He tried to reason.
Ares made a face before scribbling, "That's ridiculous."
"Why?"
"What kind of sense is it to decide someone is guilty on speculation alone. The allegations were baseless," She licked her finger and flipped up to another page, "It's the same reason why your court system's a failure. It's designed to favor people in power, not the victim."
"I would agree with you. But they weren't all that baseless, were they?" He raised a brow at her. She rolled her eyes.
"I hate this place," She scribbled, ignoring his last comment.
"Then why are you here?"
She smiled teasingly at him, "I just wanted to be closer to you."
As he read the words, she got close to his face, flirtingly.
"Bullshit," He chuckled, tossing her back the notepad.
She laughed a little and turned to another blank page on the notepad, "Maybe I just got tired of running."
"We didn't even know your identity until you decided to reveal yourself. You could have lived a very long life without having to worry about anyone trying to capture you. Try again," He said, keeping an even stare with her.
Ares tapped her pencil against the counter. If only he knew…
She sighed before writing, "I'm here because I need to be."
"Vague," Mike made a face.
"I didn't have to tell you anything at all," She quickly wrote down smugly.
"Which would be suspicious," Mike clicked his tongue.
"You worried I'm going to kill someone?" She asked him, smirking.
"I wasn't, now I'm curious," He shrugged. Ares rolled her eyes at him.
"So dramatic."
Mike smiled at her, "Should I be worried about you?"
"No."
She answered honestly. He had nothing to fear from her. Not him. He had showed her kindness when others hadn't. What did he have to worry about?
She would've said the same about the entire legion, but she hated all of them. But she wasn't here to take a life. She was here out of obligation, out of a deal she made with their commander. She was here because she was collecting her proof from the boy and fulfilling a promise. In her thoughts, she realized that Mike hadn't said anything to her, simply choosing to look over her face her deceptions.
Ares didn't think he found any. She was being honest after all.
Finally, when he seemed satisfied with her answers he sighed, "Let's start cleaning up. I'm sure Levi will come back any minute now."
She nodded her head and collected their plates. They couldn't really talk as they worked, so it was silent in the kitchen. The only sound being the clinking of various plates and pots.
There was some flan left in the pan, so Ares wrapped it to save it for later.
…..
Her and Mike spent the rest of the day together. She taught him various phrases and words. Some were funny, others were simply useful.
"How do you say, 'That's stupid'?" He asked her. She showed him the signs, which he would practice in front of her. Sometimes she would need to adjust his fingers or motion, but for the most part, Mike picked things up pretty quickly.
She guessed they had to. In a legion like this one, mistakes cost you your life.
Mike turned his head in her direction, "How old are you?"
Ares raised her eyebrow at him and scribbled on her notepad, "How old do you think I am?"
He responded immediately, "You act like you're twelve."
She scoffed, "This, coming from you?"
Mike smirked, "I don't know what you're talking about."
She rolled her eyes, "Sure."
"You didn't answer the question."
Instead, she wrote down a different response, "How old are you?"
He sent her a playful look and simply repeated her previous answer to his, "How old do you think I am?"
She smiled smugly, "Sixty-four."
"You think you're funny?" He pushed her slightly.
She giggled and wrote down, "Funnier than you."
"Impossible," He shook his head.
She smacked her lips, considering telling him her actual age. Not many people knew it, "I think I'm nineteen."
Mike blanched. Nineteen? Hadn't she been on the MP's Most Wanted list for a couple years? If she was nineteen now, she had to have been much younger when they put a warrant out for her arrest. A child.
"You're so young," He whispered.
She was so young. So small. When did she start killing people?
"You think so?" She rose a brow.
"For a serial killer with your rap sheet, yes," Mike answered, still in shock.
"Have I impressed you?" She chuckled.
"You've concerned me," He responded. It was concerning. He couldn't fathom a child killing people. He could fathom a whole police force being slaughtered by a little girl that could have been no older than…fourteen, fifteen?
"Why?"
"When did you start killing people?" He asked her, ignoring her question.
She blew some air from her face and sighed, trying to think of what to say. She's always been killing people. As long as she can remember. And it wasn't just titans. It wasn't just monsters. She had been killing all kinds of people since she was young.
The Man didn't discriminate. He only wanted results.
If a newly wedded couple, or a random bartender had to suffer for them, so be it. No one was safe from her. Innocent or guilty. If The Man wanted them dead, they would be.
Practice for the monstrosities she would commit later in her life.
…
It was another day. Nothing special than the last or the one before that one. It wasn't like you could tell the difference. In the Underground, all days looked the same. Dark and dreary.
They had been sitting at a table in a bar together, scooping out potential victims for her practice. There weren't too many people inside. The bar had a bad reputation for murder. People who walked in, sometimes didn't return home.
Ares wondered if The Man had been paying the owner off. Allowing them to continue to stalk their prey and agreeing to keeping their mouth shut for a high price. The bartenders never looked their way. A grown man and a ten-year-old child sitting together at a bar.
Or maybe they thought she was His plaything.
Perverts weren't looked down upon as often as most would think in the Underground.
It was sick down here. Treacherous.
Red had noticed them before He did. She would regret this later because she felt like it was her fault. If she hadn't have seen them, looked at them, He wouldn't have noticed.
"There. Those two," The Man said lowly into her ear.
Ares didn't show any kind of acknowledgement, she just turned her head back forward.
"Make it quick," He whispered.
Ares slowly got up from her seat and walked over to them. She had death in her low lidded eyes, and she felt her nerves flare up. She hated this. She really did.
They were an attractive couple, more attractive than any she'd ever seen down there. It wasn't that the people down there were necessarily ugly, it was just that they had other things to worry about other than their looks.
Even the prostitutes didn't' mind the dirt and scum.
She made sure to compose herself differently. The Man always told her that she needed to utilize everything she could in a situation. If she had to use her body, so be it. Her looks? So be it.
Her youth? So be it.
Nothing mattered except the results. Her body was just a tool for war and devastation.
When she approached them, she targeted the woman first. Women had a soft spot for children. Ares believed it was a motherly instinct.
Ares softly gripped her arm and brought her face up. Instead of cold indifference, she now looked scared and troubled.
"Excuse me, ma'am?"
"Yes?" The woman asked her, concerned by her looks of sadness.
"I-I don't know what to do. I'm so lost. My parents, I can't find them."
She formed her mouth into an 'O', before leaning down to caress her shoulder lovingly. The band on her left ring finger caught the silver-haired child's attention. They were married. Probably newlyweds, "Oh no! That's no good at all. Lucas," She turned to the man, "We must help her find them. Poor thing."
"Of course. Where was the last place you remember seeing them sweetheart?" He asked, bending forward closer to her height.
"Outside," Ares sniffed, "But when I turned around, they were gone. I-I," Ares stuttered for affect, "I tried calling for them, but now…"
Ares pushed her face into her hands, allowing her shoulders to shake. She needed to look as desperate as possible. The Man said to make it quick.
The woman gently shh'd her. Ares thought her voice sounded beautiful. It was a shame she was going to take it from her.
"It's okay, darling. How about we go outside and help you look. If we can't find them, you can come with us, okay?"
Ares felt nauseous.
They were too kind.
Probably the kindest people she had ever had the privilege of meeting down there.
Most people didn't help anyone down here. They all had their own problems. They didn't have time to worry about anyone else's. She didn't know if it was because of her looks or her acting, but they were overwhelmingly generous.
She was upset that she saw them. She wished she had looked at someone else. Anyone else.
"Okay," Ares wiped the nonexistent tears from her eyes.
The woman took her hand in hers. Ares thought she had soft hands. A waste.
"What are your parent's names?" The younger man asked.
"Natasha and Eli," Ares said somberly. It was automatic. She used the same two names in every situation. She liked to imagine that if she had parents, they might've had names like those.
Any moment now…
They all walked outside, the couple taking turns to yell out the names. She allowed them time to be together. To touch one another. More time than she should've. She just hated that she would taking it all away so soon.
Ares felt her eyes begin to get low. Her beast was coming to shoulder some of it. She thought that it knew that she couldn't do these horrible things without its help. It made it all easier.
She let them continue to call for about two minutes before walking towards a dark alleyway.
"Do you think they went down here?" She asked, her tone slowly returning to normalcy.
"How about we check?" The nice woman said with a bright smile.
When they turned the corner and went a little ways down, Ares licked her lips and sighed.
"I'm sorry," She whispered to them, before letting her beast overwhelm her. She choked on air as she felt its influence take over.
The couple turned back to her, confusion in their eyes—then fear, because this child looked different than the last. This child had sharp red eyes, filled with a craving. The fear didn't last long because Red had already swiped her sharp knife across their throats.
They choked on their blood for a moment before the life left their eyes. They were holding on to each other in the end.
Her beast didn't allow her to feel anything. There wasn't enough time for that. She was on a tight schedule.
Make it quick.
When she returned to The Man, she was back to herself. He had already put His hat back on, getting ready to leave.
"That was longer than usual," She heard Him say lowly.
She blamed herself. She had tried to give them as much time together as possible.
"It won't happen again."
He tsked at her, "You said that last time, Red."
She did. She did say that last time.
When she had to kill a girl and her mother.
For the longest time, she didn't understand the purpose of the exercise. She couldn't comprehend why He forced her to slaughter such innocent people, decent people.
People who hadn't done anything particularly cruel or terrible, but were just…unlucky. In the wrong place at the wrong time.
She felt like a Reaper. Taking lives away for sport.
Eventually, she began to unravel its mystery. That The Man wanted her to kill anyone and everyone because He was preparing her for something more wicked, more sinister. He needed to make a monster out of her, like the ones that roamed outside the walls. Because if He took away her innocence, if He took away her choice, her compassion, her guilt…her humanity—why, it would make it all seem like child's play. It wouldn't kill her from the inside like it did the others.
If He sculpted her into an unfeeling piece of shit, maybe she'd survive longer than the rest.
If she didn't fear death, maybe she wouldn't question her own mortality. She'd just obey.
But these exercises proved to be difficult for Ares. She could fake as much indifference as she wanted to, but she still hated herself afterwards. There were times during her stay at the compound when she made mistakes. Not on purpose, she just didn't know any better. Of course, they punished her for these. She didn't like those that much.
But when she made them purposefully, when she took a little longer than necessary, when she dragged out killing people because she didn't want to—she preferred it.
In her mind, she deserved it. She deserved punishment.
For who was she to play God and Devil? Who was she to take away what she couldn't return?
Is that what made a monster? She wondered…
"I apologize, Sir. I should be punished," She said robotically.
The Man took a long drag of His cigarette and sighed. His golden eyes bore into hers apathetically.
But she knew.
She knew that beneath the indifference, beneath the detachment, there held a viciousness that craved for more than what she could deliver. Beneath all of that, there was a desire to make her suffer for her inadequate performance.
His deep, cool voice wafted over them, "You know, I'm beginning to think that you like it sometimes," He tapped His finger on the bar counter, "That you enjoy getting beaten for intentional mistakes."
Ares didn't answer, she didn't move.
"Would I be correct in that assumption?" He continued to puff.
Ares swallowed. He caught the action. He caught everything.
"Answer me," He demanded. It was soft. He didn't need to yell or scream. In fact, it scared them more when He was calm, collected. When He seemed like He was simply asking for directions rather than flirting with calamity.
"Yes, Sir."
"And why is that?" He asked her with feigned curiosity. But she knew that He already knew the answer. He just wanted to see if she'd lie.
"Because I deserve it, Sir."
He exhaled a blanket of smoke in her direction. It burned her eyes, "Is that so?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Why?"
"Because I'm killing people, Sir," She whispered.
He took a moment to think on her words. And as the time went on, she got increasingly more worried about His reaction.
Then, He leaned over, close to her face. Gold met gold as He stared evenly at her, "You think they're better than you?" He asked huskily.
Ares was confused by His question.
"I'm sorry, Sir. I don't understand your question," She whispered.
"You think these people," He motioned with His cigarette hand around the bar, "Are better than you?"
Ares furrowed her brows. What did He mean by that?
He didn't give her a chance to ask, "The people down here are worth less than the shit on my boots. So are you," He pointed to her, "Nobody down here is worth a single fucking thing. A single fucking moment. If they were, you think they'd live down here?" He asked her.
She still didn't answer, and He continued.
"If they were worth a speck of what you thought they were, they'd be up there," He pointed in the up direction, where the cities stood, "They'd be in the sun. Breathing in clean air. Drinking fresh water. Eating decent food. But they're not. They're down here. In this," He made a face, "Hell."
He took a another drag of his cigarette, "This place— it's for the Filthy. For the Undeserving. And they are not better than you. They deserved everything you've done and more. Death was merciful. Do you understand?"
Is that what He thought? Is that how He saw the world around them, their circumstances? He thought they were undeserving of happiness or life.
Ares understood His point, she just disagreed with it.
"And why are you down here, Sir?" She asked Him. She regretted it the moment the question left her mouth. She blamed her teacher. He was always encouraging her to ask ridiculous questions. Questions that got her in more trouble than the answers were worth.
He sucked in a breath, disrespectfully flicking His cigarette on the bar floor, and stepping on it, "Because the Devil is just as undeserving and filthy as the rest of you."
He got up from His chair and stared down at her before walking out. She followed Him immediately.
"You're not like the rest, Red. You're special," He muttered to her, taking out another cigarette and lighting it. He always told her this. Always made sure she understood her place amongst the rest of them. She imagined it was the reason He pushed her so much harder than the others.
He continued, "So, I'm not going to punish you today," He exhaled, "Drown in your sins, child. You'll be better for it."
….
"It's been so long now, I can't remember," Ares wrote down.
Mike stared at her answer, then stared back at her. She had a haunting sadness in her eyes. Even though her answer was incredibly morbid, he found himself feeling sorry for her. What had the world done to her to make her this way?
He didn't ask her. Instead, he preferred to see her smile. So, he changed the subject.
"How do you say, 'Kiss my ass'?"
She smiled softly at him before showing him the sign. But it didn't reach her eyes.
Mike regretting asking her questions that made her look at him like that.
.….
Mike told her she had to sit with her squad today. He had no excuse to escort her anywhere anymore and he had other responsibilities to his own squad.
Ares asked him why she couldn't just join his, to which he laughed at her.
"I don't think Levi would like that too much."
Ares cocked her brow and signed to him, 'Why not?'.
She had been trying to incorporate words she had already taught him in between writing to him. She wanted him to learn of course.
Mike shrugged, "He's a hardass. Wants to keep a close eye on you," He chuckled to himself as if he was in on a joke and pushed her towards her own table.
Ares made a face at him, taking her notepad and pencil. She decided to keep them. They might come in handy.
Pushing them into her coat pocket, she walked towards her table. She didn't sit next to Eld this time. She didn't even want to look at him, let alone sit next to him.
Instead, she shoved Oluo to the side and took a seat in between him and Gunther.
"Hey! Rude!" Oluo exclaimed at her abrupt push. He still made space for her, though.
She rolled her eyes at him and proceeded to eat her food.
Levi, who had been watching her closely since she arrived with Mike, noticed just how intentionally she sat down. He brought his eyes to Eld, who looked horribly distraught.
Eld didn't try to get her attention, he just stared at her. He felt horrible. He was the first person to talk to her. The only person she could communicate with. And he ruined their friendship over nothing. He knew how much she valued respect and trust. He could see it in her words when they would communicate with one another. He also knew how much she valued their friendship over the few months they had been together. They talked every day, sometimes for hours at a time. And they would talk about all kinds of things, all varying in topics.
He just wanted to know her better. He wanted her to feel comfortable with him. And not because he was instructed to, but because he genuinely liked the girl.
She was interesting. She was smart. She was beautiful.
And instead of giving her the benefit of the doubt, he abandoned her.
She had been sexually assaulted for fuck's sake! God only knew what else those perverts did to her. And instead of standing by her, he left her.
He couldn't even finish his food.
Ares could taste his guilt, but she didn't care. She continued to eat, keeping her head down as the others talked amongst each other.
She had almost finished her food when she felt Erwin approach her. He was walking with a certain kind of determination that she wasn't too familiar with and she looked up at him with low lidded eyes when he finally reached her.
"I told you to come to my office when you were finished this morning," He stared back at her sternly.
She turned her head to ignore him, taking another bite of her food.
Fuck him.
He didn't allow her the opportunity to take another bite after that and grabbed her arm. She turned back to him, vengeance in her eyes. But this didn't deter the taller man. He had grown accustomed to her violence long ago. Leaning closer to her face, he glared at her, "You're angry with me, you've made that clear. And you have a right to be. But I will not have you disrespecting me in my own legion. Get your shit together and come to my office. Now."
She rolled her eyes at him and grabbed her tray. When did he get so fucking dramatic? What right did he have to demand anything from her? He hadn't earned anything. He hadn't deserved anything from her.
But still, she threw away her food and followed him out to his office. He didn't speak to her on the way there. Ares licked the air to see if she could taste his anger but couldn't find any. There wasn't anything there. He was just…there.
When they arrived at his door. He unlocked it and opened it for her to step inside. He walked around her and leaned against his desk, a deep sigh leaving his body.
She didn't take a seat. She just stood and stared evenly at him.
This should be good.
She wondered what he could possibly say to make this better. In her opinion, there was nothing he could do. He lost her trust.
He met her gaze, "I was unfair to you. I was wrong."
She didn't respond and he licked his lips nervously, "I made a mistake. I'm human. We make mistakes."
Was that his excuse? That he was human?
Mike was human. Nova was human. Yet they still managed to show compassion.
He sighed, "Please talk to me. We have to talk about this. I hurt you. You trusted me, and I hurt you. You must have something to say. Please."
She didn't. He didn't deserve to hear her voice.
Not many people had that privilege.
He sighed again and walked over to his shelf to pour himself a drink. Erwin didn't bring her one, he didn't think she'd take it. He took a long sip before looking back to her, "You know, when I first met you, actually met you, I thought, 'This is it. This is how I'm going to die'. Then you showed me your face, and I thought you were beautiful, too beautiful to be a serial killer. What was someone like you doing killing men twice her size for seemingly no reason? It didn't make any sense to me. And for me, things have to make sense…always," He said.
He took another sip and licked his lips, "I quickly came to realize that it didn't make sense because of your passion. Your pain. It wasn't the notebook that convinced me to help you. It was how sad you looked when I said you could never be a soldier. The pain in your eyes. You looked like you had seen so much. Too much. And you were upset at the world for it."
Erwin swallowed the last of his drink and stared into the glass, "And when I told you that you were a prime suspect, when I punished you simply for existing—punished you for crimes that you committed because of how the world treated you, I saw that same pain in your eyes again. I'm sorry that I was the cause of it."
Erwin brought his eyes up to hers again and tried to look as convincing as he possibly could. She couldn't hear his desperation, but he hoped she could taste it.
"I'm so sorry, Ares. You don't deserve how the world has treated you, how I treated you. You never have."
'Can I go now?' She signed to him. She still didn't speak. She didn't think she would again for a while.
Erwin nodded solemnly, "Yes. I-" He paused, sitting up, "I actually need to show you to your new sleeping quarters."
Ares raised a brow but followed him out of his office anyways. They walked up some stairs to the third floor of the building. This was where her squad stayed. She knew that Levi's room was at the end of the hallway from how often he had her clean it.
Eventually, he brought her to a door and unlocked it for her. The wooden floors creaked as she walked deeper inside.
It was much bigger than her cage in the basement. It was bigger than any room she ever had. There were shelves along the wall and a side table. There looked to be a closet tucked in a corner, a bathroom was across from it. Her own bathroom.
She never had one of those before.
And at the center of it all, was a bed. A comfortable looking one. She walked over and tentatively took a seat on the plush covers. Her body sank softly into the mattress. She had never laid in anything so soft. Of course, she had never really laid in a bed even. Nova could never afford one and she didn't have the space. The children would sleep on the hard floor in bedrolls.
This was all very new for her.
She didn't know how to respond to any of it. She looked back up at him, confused.
"It's not as big as the others', but Levi had insisted, and I agreed," He said casually.
Ares' eyes dilated at that news.
Levi had insisted she get a room?
"But you don't have a roommate and it's more comfortable than the basement. I hope you don't mind," Erwin said to her.
Ares swallowed, caressing the duvet with her hands and licking her chapped lips, "It's fine."
She whispered the words.
She couldn't help herself. Her mind was too preoccupied with her new room. Her own room.
Erwin waved his hand slightly to get her attention again, "I won't ask for your forgiveness because I know that I don't deserve it. But I do hope you can forgive me, Ares. You're more than a soldier to me, you're a friend. And as irritating as you might be, I've come to appreciate your company more than most."
Ares blinked at him. She then stood up and walked over to her window. It was an actual window. A place where she could look outside. See the sun. It was beautiful.
The sun was setting low in the sky, and below it was the grassy field. The horses were grazing, relaxed. She was so incredibly thankful for it, but she struggled between her resentment and her gratitude.
Looking out into the window, she crossed her arms and stared at his reflection in the glass, "Don't do it again," She whispered solemnly.
"Never," She saw him respond.
…
Levi had been walking back to his quarters. It was a long day and he was tired from all the cleaning he had to do.
His thoughts were running wild with who might've killed Jonas and what this meant for their legion. He couldn't focus on them too much, though, because his mind kept pulling him to other thoughts.
Like the silver-haired woman.
Levi wondered if she liked her new quarters, if she was in them now. When he approached Erwin about giving her an actual room, Blondie was all too quick to agree. They had both been racked with guilt and were looking for ways to rectify it.
But when he thought of her, he began to think of how happy she looked with Mike, and he found himself grinding his teeth.
He couldn't fathom why he felt so strongly towards the girl. He had seen beautiful women before; he had fucked beautiful women before. It couldn't have just been her looks. He couldn't imagine that he was that shallow.
It had to be something else.
It was just incredibly strange to him. Levi had never felt such an attraction to another person before. And it was as if his feelings only grew stronger as time went on. Before, it was dull. Almost impossible to notice. But as the months passed, he found himself having problems keeping his erections in control around her.
It only made him angrier.
He imagined that was what fueled him to punish her so often. To forcefully condemn her for a crime that had no evidence against her. He needed it to be her. Because if it wasn't her, if she hadn't done anything wrong, then he had no reason to hate her as vehemently as he did.
He too often compared her to Kenny, the murderous old man who killed anyone without remorse. But after he had heard what she had to say about the kid's brother, after he had found out that she might have been sexually assaulted—he wondered what right he had to feel so angry at her. He wondered how many others had done something that sick to her, and if all her killings were just to compensate them for their crimes.
He hated the MP's as much as the next person. Everyone knew that the MP's were the most corrupt division out of the three. In the Underground, he witnessed more crimes committed by them than he could count.
And he had killed people, just as she had. So, what excuse did he have now?
It had been more than three months now—almost four since she'd been with them. And all she offered to him was excellence. But still, he punished her for it.
It was like he was seeing her with new eyes. Her beauty, her motives…her perfection. Because she was perfect. She followed orders, she didn't talk back, she saved a man and came back to them.
He wondered if this was how Mike saw her. He wondered if the taller blond man decided to overlook her past transgressions and, instead, focus on all the good that made her up. Levi found that it was incredibly easy to like her. In fact, the only person that didn't seem to like her throughout the entire legion was him. All because he was horribly attracted to her and didn't know how to act on it.
He hated Mike. Hated that he got to spend so much time with her, got to see her smile like that.
He sighed when he finally got to his door, ready to struggle for sleep; but before he could take another step, he noticed something sitting on the floor outside of it.
It was a small bowl wrapped in a cloth; a spoon sat on top of it. Curious, he picked it up and flipped it over. In it, was some of the flan that Mike and Red had made earlier. Levi huffed. Mike probably brought it over to tease him.
He was about to turn around and stalk over to his door but stopped in his tracks.
In the doorway across from his room, Red stood with her arms crossed, staring at him. Her golden eyes illuminated spectacularly in the darkness and her silver hair was flowing down her back.
She was beautiful.
She looked down in his hands at the flan and then back up to his eyes. Turning her head to look inside her room, she faintly licked her lips before returning her eyes to his again.
Then, she smiled at him and walked back into her room, softly closing her door.
Levi was at a loss. Did she leave this for him? He thought she was mad at him. Why did she leave it at his door?
Turning back around, he walked back to his quarters and took a seat at his desk. He placed the flan there and picked up the spoon. He wiped it many times before flipping over the cloth and staring at the dessert. It looked delicious, smelled delicious. Levi had never had flan before, so he was curious how it tasted.
Scooping up a piece, he took a bite and felt his eyes dilate. It was incredible. He finished it all in haste and slumped in his chair when he was done.
He glared at the ceiling above him for a few minutes before finally understanding why he was so attracted to the woman.
It was more than just her looks. She was mysterious. She could be kind when she wanted to be. She was strong, resilient, smart. He liked her.
And he didn't know what the fuck to do about it.
OOooooOOo Levi's crushin'. Well, he won't admit it for a while, but between you and I (whispers) He's most definitely crushin'.
We're shifting things in a new direction now. Strengthening relationships. More Levi/Ares situations. And with every chapter, we're getting closer and closer to the climax.
Well, the climax of this part. I'm going to take this bitch to the end and eventually it's going to follow the manga.
You guys have NO idea how badly I want to just skip around and get to the good parts, but I really have to follow my little timeline I got going on in order for these moments/relationships to mean something.