Stiff neck. Hard rock trapezoids. A precise pulsating point at the back of the head.

Levi woke up this morning knowing very well he was about to experience an unpleasant day simply by those symptoms. At this point, he wasn't even sure medication would be effective, but he had to take a chance.

Migraines haven't been much of a problem for Levi up until he reached university. The stress-induced by the workload combined with his genetics made up a strong pair into awakening the condition. Kuchel had hopes that her son wouldn't inherit the curse that seemed to plague their family for generations. However, the mother's wishes were not fulfilled as Levi truly was an Ackerman through and through.

From a young age, the man had had encounters with the disease; he wasn't unused to spend his weekends playing on his GameCube while his mother was battling an attack in her pitch-black room. Quietness, darkness, comfort, sleep; those were the word order when it came to Kuchel's migraines, and Levi made a point to respect it. In fact, his cleaning habits stemmed from those precarious times, and, if anything, his mother was glad he got something out of the situation.

Now, Levi's migraines usually weren't as bad as his mother's. He didn't get much nausea and didn't need as much effort to cure them, but the headaches were terrible and sometimes cost him a class for him to get back on his feet. Usually, taking his pills when the first symptoms arose and drinking caffeine was enough for the so-called curse to disappear for the day.

But not today.

Levi knew deep inside that today would be like he just walked straight into hell. The throbbing points at the back of his head were just about unbearable. "Tes nerfs d'Arnold, minou" his mother would say. He knew when the occipital nerves region wouldn't stop pulsating that his day was over at the moment it started. In a short moment, he would be a goner: the right side of his head would be full of tension, his ocular nerves would cause a massive strain, and lastly, he would probably get exceptional nausea.

With all the energy he could muster, Levi got up from bed to get his triptan prescription. The pill popped, he let it melt under his tongue, filling his mouth with a disgusting taste of medicated toothpaste. It probably was the worst part; why make distasteful pills for people who get nausea? The concept seemed so stupid to him, yet he didn't delve into it; he was in too much pain to care about the horrible pill taste for now.

As Levi trudged back to his bed, deception filled his mind when he thought about the day he planned with Petra. "What a waste," he thought. They were supposed to spend the weekend at his place to catch up with the time lost from the busy week. Yet here he is, sick as fuck and unable to move with his head pulsating like a ticking time bomb. Even if Levi knew the whole situation wasn't his fault, he still felt the need to explain the ordeal.

To do so, Levi was about to send a text message to Petra, but he was stopped by the glaring blue light of his smartphone.

"Fucking hell…"

Petra knew something was wrong.

Sure, Levi wasn't the most affectionate all the time, but he usually sends her a text message throughout the day unless he previously told her he was busy with something. It's not the first time Petra gets worried out of nowhere and even addressed the weird phenomenon with her mother.

"I get those too, but only when I know for a fact that something's wrong with you or your brothers." The tingling mom sense she called it. Petra wouldn't call her intuition like that, but maybe Carla's side did have some weird sixth sense.

She sent him two texts earlier today to express her excitement about the upcoming weekend. Petra was craving some time with her boyfriend, and she would stop at nothing to satisfy all their needs during this time. However, the lack of response drove her insane, and worry started to fill up her mind.

It apparently showed because Nifa turned to her best friend and eyed her with a questioning glance.

"What's wrong? You've been sighing for the last 5 minutes. Aren't you supposed to be at Levi by now? You're worrying me…" Sweet Nifa, always the empathetic friend. Petra found herself lucky to have such a great person as her best friend.

"I wish I could tell you, but he's not answering my messages… I don't want to call since he could be busy with homework. I don't want to disturb him."

"Maybe you should still try once? It wouldn't kill him to answer if he's working on something." Petra let out an audible sigh at her friend's suggestion.

"Yeah, ok fine. Let's try once"

The contact selected and the ringing tone next to her ear, Petra lightly chewed on her bottom lip in anticipation. A female robotic voice finally answered the phone, and Petra's anxiousness only grew at the sound of the generic voicemail message. She was getting upset, and she just wanted to confirm Levi was fine.

"Nifa… He's not answering either."

"What's wrong with him? Maybe you should pay him a visit, he's incapable of willingly ignore you, and everyone knows it."

Even if she has been his girlfriend for a while now, Petra still got surprised at how special she seemed to be for Levi. The fact that everyone seemingly knew they were head over heels for each other made her a bit bashful and reluctant to share anecdotes about their life as a couple. The whole gang didn't need to know everything that was happening between the both of them, right?

"Yeah, I'll take my stuff for the weekend just in case. Maybe it's all a misunderstanding…"

"Alright, stay safe and have a nice weekend! Please release all the pent-up sexual frustration you're feeling. I'm actually pitying you right now."

"NIFA!"

Answered by a round of belly laughs from the darker red-haired young woman, Petra quickly grabbed her things for the weekend and left the apartment with haste.

Sometime later, an asleep Levi woke up abruptly due to knocks on the door. The resonance of the sound against the walls made its way to his bedroom, and Levi left out a complete colourful sentence of curses that would put a sailor to shame. The throbbing was so bad he wished he could unscrew his head like the cartoon characters from his childhood.

Hearing the door get unlocked, Levi sighed in relief; he wouldn't have to hear the pounding made from a second and even third series of knocks from unsolicited people. Knowing that very few people could enter his apartment at will, Levi could only guess that Petra was the one entering the apartment. He could use the human proximity she would probably offer to him.

The "Levi?" she let uttered out loud was enough to send him into a groaning fit. Right now, his jaw, along with his teeth ached terribly. All the muscles from the lumbar region to the cervical one were taut, as though rocks were the only thing left inside his body. Nausea was also creeping up, and Levi had pretty much fallen victim to the worst migraine of his life.

The sound of his girlfriend's feet against the floor became a little louder as she came closer to his room. Ever the polite person she is, she lightly knocked on the door and opened it while whispering a little "Levi?".

The sight of his girlfriend at his door caused a little relief from all the tension he felt. He let out a brief greeting as she made her way to his bed and gently sat down next to him.

"Don't think I have to explain this shit show for you huh?" Talking out loud made everything worse, so he had to resort to deep mutters.

"I think I have enough info to know what's going on Ackerman." Fuck it. She had a waver for this one. As a matter of fact, she knew how much it turns him on to hear her call him by his last name, but the feeling of her soft hand caressing his cheek and face was enough to convince him. However, he would get back at her for using this in times of weakness.

"Fuck, you're taking advantage of this."

"Sorry love, I was trying to lighten up the mood a little… Anything I can do to help." Never mind, the hellion was actually an angel sent by God himself. What would he do without his precious and wonderful girlfriend?

"Strong enough coffee might help, also need my second dose…"

"I'll be right back with everything" A small kiss on his forehead later, Petra quietly left the room to get him the goods. Levi closed his eyes and opened them when she made her way back. He was in bad shape indeed if he was that much disoriented.

"Here, it should help you."

"What would I do without you…?" To his dramatic retort, she let out a soft smile combined with cutely closed eyes. What a sight to see; he could now die a happy man.

After the bedridden Levi finished his coffee, Petra settled herself comfortably against the headboard and started to massage the tension away from Levi's head and neck. A while later, he would be able to get some restful sleep, and Petra removed herself from the bed to allow her favourite person some beauty sleep.

"I'm sorry I know you were looking forward to the weekend…" That made her stop in her tracks and turn back to her boyfriend. She shook her head a little while coming back to his level.

"Levi it's ok, we'll have plenty of other weekends to spend with each other. If you're down with it, I could spend the week with you to catch up. Don't fret over it and focus on taking care of your migraine." At her words, Levi could only look at her in amazement. How could she still surprise him with her bouts of immense understanding and kindness? The sweetest angel on Earth then gave him a kiss that nearly made him melt, and he swore at this very moment that he would marry her. She was the only person he could see himself grow old with, and his resolve to make her happy increased tenfold after she showed up worried about him. He wasn't the easiest person to live with, and he knew that very much, but each touch, word, kiss, action she did was enough for him to fall a little more in love with her.

As he sighed in contentment after their lips touched, the dark-haired man laid back and was about to get to sleep when a teasing voice resounded in the room.

"Goodnight sleeping beauty!" With a light giggle, Petra left the room and left a deadpanned Levi alone.

Fuck. She would get it next time. As soon as the man gets back on his feet, he would make her regret this. Maybe next time she was begging him to stop or go harder, she would remember to not tease him like this again.

Levi probably doesn't get sick often, so I see him as someone on the whiny side when he's coming up with something.

Translation:

"Tes nerfs d'Arnold, minou" Literally means : "Your Arnold nerves kitty." In context, it means: " Your occipital nerves, pet name."

Here, "minou" is used as a French term of endearment and is equivalent to pretty much any pet name parents give to their children.