There was a moment of peace given for the equal amount of astonishment that every person had to process. Elsie stared at Levi who glared at Jean, who gaped like a fish with wide amber eyes flickering between the three stone faced people, all while Hange wiggled her fingers in greeting towards him. Not the least bit bothered to be seen in Captain Levi's bed with guilty, red faced Elsie.
Levi broke the pause by stepping forward, "Who is it?" His attitude seemed to plummet, clenched jaw, deadly tone inciting Jean to loose all color in his face.
"I don't know, sir! The rider requested Elsie, I think there's a maid as well."
"He can't request shit, scarecrow, grow a backbone." And with that Levi walked quite fast out of the room and Jean was tripping in haste to keep close to the captain.
"Oi, you asses, it's for me!" Elsie shouted after the retreating backs of Jean and Levi, who had been none too discrete with their excitement to see who had dared to visit.
Hange stretched languidly on the bed, "Tata friends, what a great little chat we had. We'll finish it tomorrow!" Elsie was so lost on how everyone else spent their mornings, she barely knew Hange's morning routine and couldn't remember if she'd ever seen the scientist at breakfast. The last thing she needed was for Hange to return to sleep.
"Don't think about it," Elsie threatened, holding the bed post as she shoved her bare feet into boots. She clunked down the stairs, huffing and puffing when she finally reached the front door where the early birds of the army had congregated. "Move it, move it!"
Levi stood at the front of the poorly cared for carriage talking to the rider. He seemed confused by the line of questioning and kept repeating, "I'm just the driver, I don't know who sent us. I'm sorry sir, that's all I know. Ask the lass, I'm sure she knows more."
Elsie made it to the stairs in time to see the carriage door open, a small maid with bouncy curls hopping out with a pink box gently held in her hands. Her nose curled from either the smell of nature or Scouts, not impressed with what she saw, and primly walked to the back of the carriage. It wasn't like the ones that Elsie had ridden in before, a wooden platform that was boxed in with shabby nailed walls. She unlocked the heavy gold chain that kept it shut and swung the door open, stepping back as Levi made his way to the back. His eyebrows rose, clearly shocked, and whispers broke out on the steps at what could cause him to loose his cold facade.
The maid told him something that made him furious, his neck snapping to look her up and down disdainfully. A sleepy body appeared beside Elsie, Sasha yawning and stretching as she said, "Where's the meat?"
"There's no meat, you know that." Elsie said since she was the only squad member around, spar for Jean who had dared to reach the end of the steps and stand on his toes to catch a glimpse of the action. She resolutely faced forward, hoping to avoid the crazed questions that were forming in his daft head.
"I smell it and my nose is never wrong." Sasha made a show of lifting her slim nose to the air, happily inhaling the frosty morning air. With her arrival in baggy blue sweats and a tank top, Elsie wasn't the only person in her pajamas.
Sasha's nose was never wrong. Elsie glided down until she was at the side of the carriage, her eyes running over the red tapestry that had been hung on the inside of the tight side compartment as she made her way to the back. Thankfully her back faced the crowd to hide her slack jaw surprise, dumb struck at the butchered meat hanging off of hooks. Meat! Elsie had forgotten what it looked like, her mouth watering at the thought of a nice grilled chicken instead of the horrendous stew they've been surviving on.
"As I said," The maid stood her ground with Levi, unaffected as she chose to face the bloodied chunks of meat hanging. "It's a gift from the church. That's all I was told, as well with delivering this box to a woman. Her name is Elisabeth Fraser, if you don't mind pointing her out to me. I don't plan to be here long."
Elsie had broken the invisible seal keeping the soldiers at bay. They crowded the back of the carriage, gasping and demanding bacon for breakfast, Sasha nearly crowd surfing to get a greedy hand on the raw meat. Levi met her eyes, a silent approval for her, and she flanked the maid on her other side with a polite smile opposite of Levi's blank stare.
"I'm her," Elsie greeted, her smile stiffening when the maid examined her critically. "Which church sent this?"
"Minister Nick from Stohess," Her chest swelled with pride, suddenly less tense at the mention of her beloved pastor. "He says the meat is a gift to the Scout Regiment for all they do," She didn't seem to agree, often loosing sight of Elsie to scowl at an eager soldier trying to inch closer. "And that this is for you."
The pink box wasn't heavy in Elsie's hands, a purple satin bow holding it together. She discreetly shook it, figuring papers were the only content, "Thank you. Would you like some food before you go?"
"I really must be off," There was no way Elsie could convince the girl to stay. She gathered the hem of her dress, halfway to her secret compartment, before looking back. "I'm sure the lot of you can unload the meat."
"Don't worry lady," Sasha crowed somewhere. "We'll take good care of it!"
Levi made a sound of repulsion before he stepped into the back, having a few men follow and help detach the meat from the hooks. Eventually Levi gave up with trying to pull it off and used his blade to cut the top layer from the hooks, cheers of victory echoing in the lawn whenever someone caught the falling meat. Elsie toyed with the box before heading to the maid's hidden door, knocking on the small compartment window that snappily slid open.
"What?" The girl's abysmal attitude was making Elsie readjust her viewpoint on Himari.
"Did the Minister say anything else? I don't recognize you from the sermon."
Her tightly pursed lips proclaimed, "I'm Minister Nick's personal assistant," What a word, Elsie thought, the woman was proud to say it instead of servant. "He was very tight lipped about what we were to do except find a Miss Elisabeth Fraser and deliver the box."
"What's with the meat? We both know that the church doesn't support our regiment." Elsie continued, choosing to twine the purple ribbon around her finger instead of meeting the girl's judgmental eyes head on.
For a second Elsie thought she wasn't going to get an answer and then a small admission escaped the window, "Minister Nick has been unusual lately. He thinks that people are following him, he's always locking himself alone in prayer, he refuses to go into public. I think he was nervous someone would stop our carriage and gave us the meat so that robbers would take it instead of us."
Elsie had a feeling that if a robber did stop this carriage it wouldn't be for the meat but for the box in Elsie's hands. The Minister had been careful; a mass shipment of meat to distract from the package. He did say that people were watching and letters were too risky between them. It seemed he'd found a way to contact Elsie.
She smiled, "Have a safe trip back and thank the Minister for me."
The girl was happy to end the conversation with a click of the window. Elsie stepped back, following the flock of joyous people into the castle. They formed a line to the kitchen, cheering and calling dibs on parts of meat they wanted as they went, and Elsie couldn't see Levi's raven hair in all the mess. He was probably still in the back of the carriage, or keeping an eye on Sasha, so Elsie went up the stairs by herself.
Hange continued to make herself comfortable on the bed, now spread legged and using all the pillows to prop her head up. She snored peacefully, horribly comfortable in Elsie's favorite place. She took a moment to stare at the woman, annoyance bubbling in her stomach that she hadn't listened to Elsie's request. The bed is meant for Elsie and Levi, for the time that he slowly opened his heart to her and gave her the best moments of her day. To see it being used as a vindictive napping spot for Hange, who looked disgusting with drool in the corner of her parted pale lips and their duvet pulled to her chin, made Elsie want to drag the squad leader from the bed and give her a helpful kick in the ass into the hallway.
Instead, she looked down at the beautifully decorated box. She could do this until she calmed enough to wake Hange up in a more appropriate way. The last thing she wanted to do was to cause tension between another person. Deciding to leave the parasite alone for a few minutes of opening Minister Nick's package, she headed to the black couch.
She curled her legs under herself as she got comfortable, pulling the bow free and lifting the lid. Frayed, yellowed parchment of all sizes were strewn in the box, nearly filling it, and Elsie eagerly lifted the top one, recognizing the German but having a hard time reading the loopy cursive.
4.1.43
Her eyes widened at the date, gathering the rest of the papers and realizing that they were letters preserved from the royal family over a hundred years ago. Two names were signed on the bottom, Karl Fritz and Abelard Tybur. Tybur, Elsie thought it over hoping it would ring a bell. Nothing. She should've paid more attention to the show, damnit.
Levi entering the room broke her focus. Elsie smiled at his arrival and she was immediately greeted with the faintest twitch, a barely contained smile that was diminished before it could grow when he heard the stranger snore from their bed. She had no chance at saving Hange. Levi stalked to the end of the bed and clasped Hange's ankles with a tight grip, intending to hurt. He held no hesitation, hauling her out of the bed until her head hit the stone floor and crudely waking her up.
"What the absolute fuck?" Hange screeched, yowling in pain and curling into herself to cradle her sore head.
"The next time you pick my lock I'll cut those disgusting fingers off," Levi threatened, stepping around as she got to her feet. "Who the hell sent you this shit? Ugly fucking frilly shit," He flipped the lid, annoyed with the morning, annoyed of the people who were speaking to him too early. "What the fuck is it?"
"Letters between the old king and someone named Abelard Tybur," Elsie glanced between them, ignoring Levi's intimidating arm shooting past her to grab a letter for himself. "Do you know the name?"
"Never heard of it." He couldn't focus on her, his incensed dark gaze drawing towards Hange, no doubt wondering why she hadn't left yet.
Elsie put the papers down, as much as she wanted to read it, and began to remove the blankets, saying, "Once Erwin returns with information about Historia we'll know everything. For now I'll read the letters, Minister Nick only sent them because they were in German. Is there a letter in there, Levi, from the Minister? Maybe he wrote one for me."
As Levi looked Hange stepped closer to the less agitated, "Wait, the Minister sent it? Did he come himself?"
Elsie gathered the sheets and blankets and slugged them into the intruding woman's arms, smiling at her befuddled expression, "No, he sent an assistant. Go clean these, Hange, and I'll read more."
She looked at the sheets before at Elsie, "You're not serious, are you? I'm a squad leader, I don't do laundry."
"You dirtied them, you clean 'em," Elsie quipped easily, smiling and patting Hange on her shocked shoulder. She lead the woman towards the door, ushering her with a slight push to get a move on. "I'll find you after you're done with Eren to pick them up. Thanks, you're the best!"
The emptiness of the room did nothing to sedate Levi, his eyes dragging slowly across their space as if it had been contaminated, a letter forgotten in his hand. Elsie returned to her spot on the couch, pulling the box into her lap as she skimmed through the dates. They weren't organized, she would do that first so that it made easier reading. She might need Ymir's help, too, her translation time at least an hour to Ymir's fluid thirty seconds.
"Did you find a note?" Elsie asked, easily snatching the paper from his hands and grinning when she finally saw English. "In due time I pray for the Scouts to realize their insulting nature and to cease all entries through the Wall. For now, I provide you cherished meat as an offering to any Scout who should wish to discharge and follow God's path with the promise that a comfortable, peaceful life awaits them. Jeez, you can never catch a break with this guy. I wonder if he thought it was going to be intercepted so he made it so cringe? I have included ancient Holy readings for the soldiers to read with prayer that they will see the truth in due time."
Levi sat, grabbing a stack of letters to riffle through, "It's in that damned language. He knew you would be the only one able to read it. I'm impressed the walking ballsack pulled it off."
"The girl said he's been weird lately, I think the Interior Police is following him." Elsie said absently, finding the first letter in 4/11/72 and setting it to start a pile, often confusing the month and date. She'd been baffled when she saw 18/1/73.
"He knew he wasn't the only one aware of Historia, I'm sure there were other people at that ball who caught sight of her," Levi leaned back to rest his head, the apple of his neck moving when he swallowed. "Fuck, why is she so important? The Reiss' are a noble family but they don't mean jack shit for the police to search for her."
"For all that you know. Once Erwin returns we'll know more, I promise," Elsie eagerly held up a letter. "Look, they're from 743. Isn't that cool?"
"Fucking amazing." He didn't look.
She swatted his arm, "And don't call him a ballsack in person, I can't believe you even think of that." A distraction is in order. Levi's routine had been trampled and thrown out the back door, leaving a cranky old man to banter with. Elsie wouldn't admit it but his crude jokes were up her alley in humor, her lips tugging at even having to say ballsack to Levi Ackerman.
"How can you not with all those wrinkles crying for attention?"
"I'm gagging. Do you have secret nicknames for everyone?"
Levi grinned, pale pink lips titling upwards, Elsie's eyes trained on the ripple effect it caused on him. His eyes crinkled, his cheeks seemed to have more color, his shoulders finally settled on the back of the couch.
"Sure," His hand came to land on the back of her neck, squeezing the flesh. "They're not so secret."
"So you call Eren little bitch in your head?"
"All the time. It helps with not beating the fuck out of him."
Elsie rolled her eyes, "That's one way to look at it. Sheesh, you must get tired of calling me shithead then."
"Mhm, start acting better and it won't be a problem." His voice was deep, casual, holding no other meaning to his words. Just a superior telling his underling to do better. Nothing else. There was no reason for her to suddenly become hyperaware of her thigh brushing his.
"Have I been bad?" She leaned back, his fingers tightened, and she was back in her rightful spot. Please call me a good girl, oh fuck what I would do for you to say that one more time.
"Yes, horribly." Not exactly what she wanted but she would take anything coming from his lips. Did he know that she wasn't thinking about her behavior?
Elsie rolled her eyes, "It's a taste of your own medicine. I'm sure you were just the most perfect student when you enlisted."
"I was a ray of fucking sunshine." He sure looked like it with the yellow hue coming from the window behind him, that pesky black strand of hair coming to brush against his eyebrow.
"A pain in everyone's ass more like it. Trust me, I know."
"Tsk, we're talking about you," Levi drummed a beat into her skin, his striking features drawing her enchantingly closer to him. "You've been a brat lately what with breaking tea cups and sleeping for days on end."
"How terribly rude of me," Elsie rolled her eyes. "I'll try to do better."
Levi's grin became a permanent fixture in their conversation, her thigh tingling at their proximity, her neck warm from his hand. Oh Levi, was he taking their game out of the bed? She could play. It is her turn after all.
He tutted with a slight shake of his head, "You will do better. Starting with a reason why you should read these letters instead of clean the castle with the rest in thirty minutes?"
"I swear we just cleaned, you can't be serious." Elsie groaned, thinking that she had seen the stairwell clean her boots on the way up.
"You can read them later then."
Elsie frowned, "I didn't say I wanted to clean. I'm going to read them, they're from the first king Fritz. He has a lot to do with the Walls, which, now that I think about it, should've been revealed weeks ago." Her thoughts trailed to titan Annie and Eren smashing a hole in the wall of Stohess, exposing that titans built the walls.
"Better find a way to tell me."
"Only if I'm out of the cleaning crew. We both know how much Jean would love to mop."
"You have until lunch then." Her eyes narrowed at his time crunching greediness, that damn grin growing.
"To tell you the big revelation?"
"Yes. Can you manage that?"
At the moment she said, "Obviously, dick." Elsie had no idea if she could. How would she even go about it? The letters could be about scandalized rendezvous or castle gossip. It would be out of her way to talk about the creation of the walls, another burn to her throat that she couldn't risk.
But Levi stood up, patted her head, and she swore she could do it when he said, "Good girl."
Elsie caught his wrist, her smile too big for such a short sentence, "Where are you going?"
"I told the idiots to give the meat to the chef," Levi slacked, his resolve to leave crumbling at her touch. "He's known to use a knife if a rat tries to steal food."
She didn't give a damn if Sasha lost a finger trying to take for herself. Elsie pulled on his warm wrist until he leaned over her, making Elsie's head fall back to keep their eyes in contact. Her fingers shook when she combed them through his hair, pushing the pesky strand back with the rest of his thick strands, and leading her hand to rest on the back of his neck.
Levi licked his lips, hooded spell binding dark eyes holding her captive as she said, "I'll meet you for breakfast then."
"Lazy ass." His throat rumbled beneath her fingers as she straightened his cravat.
She shrugged, her hand dropping when he stepped back to leave, "I have big revelations to discover, what exactly are you doing?"
"Not strangling you." He muttered, the door clicking behind him.
Elsie grinned, her shoulders lighter as she returned to organizing the letters. She could do this.
Ten minutes after breakfast was served Elsie found herself catching Alaric on the second floor for directions to Ymir's room. Fifth door from last on the left, not closed all the way and making Elsie push the door gently open with a cautious call of, "Ymir?" assuming she had already headed to the dining hall.
She gasped when she took in the two bodies tightly entwined on the bed, Historia's tangled blonde head popping up with a horrified gasp. Ymir, limp and happily taking all of Historia's sweet kisses, owlishly blinked in greeting at her surprised visitor.
"I-I'm so sorry, I-I won't tell anyone!" Elsie squeaked, a nervous sweat breaking in her palms as she slammed the door shut. Wasting no time for one of the girls to catch her, Elsie booked it down the hallway and entered the dining hall panting.
Levi glanced up from the report he'd been reading, reaching for his tea when she plopped into the seat left open, "Did you go running instead?"
"No, I... I..." Elsie didn't know how to form what she'd witnessed. Levi held no patience today and returned to his reading, leaving her to fill her plate with eggs and bacon.
Historia and Ymir entered at that moment, cool and calm collected as they laughed their way to where the others sat at the table. The tension remained from last nights spat, Mikasa now on par against Armin and Eren. It seemed that the real reason for the problem had been revealed and she was left alone to point an accusing finger at Elsie. She needed to speak to them and soon.
Jean resembled a scarecrow with the way he crouched over his seat, weaving his head in and out of the others to meaningfully catch her attention. She hastily avoided him, facing the side of Levi. He scratched out a sentence and scribbled a sloppy correction, ignoring her stare for a heavy minute before she broke the silent table.
"When can we talk to the others?" Elsie asked, deciding to fix one problem at a time. She'd confess all the dirty truth to Levi later.
Miche paused in pouring his first goblet, "Oh, you're seriously going to talk to them? I thought you were kidding about that."
"I can't ignore Mikasa calling me a titan. If one person thinks that then someone else will too," Her eyes caught on tall Bierthodlt as he tried to hunch lower in his seat beside Fumio. Cast aside after not making the cut to Levi's Squad. "How about this afternoon?"
"Yes, let's do it before training so they can beat their feelings out on you," Levi agreed, rolling his parchment to tuck in his pocket. "It's better to get all that emotional pansy shit out like that anyway."
"I'm sure that's how you were raised but no, just no," Elsie shook her head, not the least bit shocked at his advice. "Although, with this bunch, it's probably the best way to deal with it."
"So you're gonna take a beating is what I'm gathering?" Miche summarized, bacon hanging out of his mouth.
Elsie did no better with two pieces of bacon in her mouth as she grunted, "We'll see how they take it."
Levi tutted in disgust as Miche excitedly asked, "What time is training?"
"Ymir! Wait!"
Elsie hastily shoved aside the people in her way, earning herself a few flattering curse words as she made it into the lawn where she'd disappeared too. Her feathery hair shined in the sun, cold eyes halting Elsie's approach at the bottom of the front stairs. The rest filtered out, parting around them as they enjoyed their last few minutes of freedom before squads were to report for duty.
"What do you need?" Ymir wasn't any more rude than she usually is. Elsie didn't know if she should mention what she'd seen but it wasn't her reason for searching for Ymir in the first place.
Elsie stepped forward, glad she had caught her without her girlfriend, "I have insider intel that the Captain is making everyone clean again."
"Ugh, fuck, again? I have blisters from scrubbing the grout." Ymir groaned, head slumping. Clearly, Elsie was forgiven, if just a little bit.
"Unless you help me read a few letters," Elsie coaxed, fighting back the urge to grin coyly when Ymir perked in interest. "I'll tell the Captain I need you and you won't have to clean."
"Say less. Let's go."
The letters were boring. Ymir droned the remaining sentences of a letter from Fritz describing the lacking whore industry that his new civilization held. He was most upset with the hand maids that his wife had chosen to bring with them, in fact he thought she'd done it spitefully and how dare she, doesn't she know he's a King?
"Man, this guy was a dick. No wonder someone wants to kill us," Ymir tossed the letter to the bed, both women sitting criss cross in Elsie's abounded room. "So, what, King Fritz made titans?"
"Don't you remember what you read to Erwin?"
"I want to hear you say it."
Elsie turned her letter over, inspecting it more than the others before, "Some times I can't say things."
"What do you mean?"
"It's like a... curse," She thought of Levi's words in the bathroom, cringing at using them herself. "I know a lot about titans and my body keeps me from telling you everything. Having you around has helped with translating, I'm barely getting by with what I have. So, thanks. And, you know, don't worry about earlier. I kind of already could see you two getting together."
Ymir too found her new letter very interesting, although her down cast gaze did nothing to hide the shimmer of tears in her eyes as she said, "Thanks for keeping everything a secret, Elsie. Why do you do it? You know I'm a titan like Annie, don't you?"
"Yeah but you're not a titan like Annie. I don't know what makes her want to fight for Marley but I know what you fight for, Ymir. It's the same thing I want, what everyone here wants- a safe life with our loved ones," Elsie didn't understand why they were pretending to read letters but it kept them from crying so she kept it up as she continued her small rant. "One day you're going to have to transform to keep Historia safe, I know this as much as I know how much you love her to do it for her. When the day comes, just know we're all behind you. You're one of us, no matter your past."
Her words hit Ymir deeply in the heart. She managed to mutter, "Just like you're one of us, even with your mysterious past."
"Exactly. We're an army full of misfits, might as well get used to it. I have." Elsie simply said, clearing her throat and finally beginning to read the letter dated from late November, 843.
"Yeah," The dark haired woman laughed, her sharp shoulders bouncing with someone voicing her acceptance in their world. "I think I'm about used to it too. She's very clingy, you know? Want to know if I ate, or slept, if I'm happy or what made me stressed. I've never had someone care so much about me like that."
Elsie grimly grumbled, "I've noticed a lot of people here don't know how to be cared for."
"Blame it on the awful childhood," Ymir tossed her letter aside, rolling her eyes to say that it held nothing worth talking about. She plucked the next weathered one from the box on the center of the floor. "Enough about me, what about you? How do you know Marlian?"
Ah, so that's the name of the language. Duh, Elsie. She bit her lip and returned to her letter, "I'm going to tell everyone after lunch. It's time that you guys knew the truth, we're on the same squad after all."
"Right. I figure that your old squad knew all this."
"Yes, and the Commander and squad leaders."
Ymir pursed her lips, "You're very trusting."
"A girl needs some allies in this world," Elsie shrugged, not feeling that she could trust anyone she'd listed anymore. "Besides, I only really trust one person."
Ymir smirked, "I wonder who? Jean had a pretty interesting story about you being in the Captain's bed."
Fuck. Elsie paled at the confrontational topic, her paper crinkling at her tight grip as she curtly said, "Did he?"
"If you guys are hiding it because of how you'll be treated in the squad don't worry about it," Ymir said out of the blue, not taking the conversation where Elsie had dreaded it would go. She perked at the soft tone, meeting kind brown eyes as the woman continued. "We figured it out after your incident and he was such a mess, and no one's said anything because we don't care. You're not treated any different, in fact I think he trains you harder than anyone else. So, yeah, just so you know your secret's safe with us."
"Oh," Disband the rumor or let it go? What could she say that her and Levi were if she did fight the assumption of being boyfriend and girlfriend. She chose the route that she yearned for. "Thanks, Ymir. That means a lot."
"No problem. If you even thinking about telling anyone we talked about gooey love stuff and I'll tell everyone you had a threesome with the Captain and Hange."
Jean made sure to inform Elsie that she had the pleasure of being on mop duty when they cleaned next. To satisfy him she gladly agreed, relieved when the conversation didn't travel to where she slept.
"Where were you guys?" Mikasa snapped, more specifically asking Elsie than Ymir who had disappeared to suction to Historia's side.
"Doing a side project for the captain. Sorry for missing out, I'll be there next time obviously." Elsie's hip naturally leaned to the side when she felt attacked, folding her arms as she looked Mikasa up and down.
Mikasa didn't reply, lifting her scarf to cover her disdainful look, and she pivoted to face the trees. Armin and Erin, hanging near the pillar of the stairs, frowned and glanced at Elsie in greeting. Sasha and Connie sat on the bottom step, ignoring the usual spat that happened among friends, and discussing what they imagined dinner to be. Elsie much preferred that conversation however the door opened, Levi walking onto the patio for their after lunch spar session.
"Eren, you missed a weed, you blind fuck." Levi immediately pointed out, catching sight of a dandelion growing between the crack of the stairs.
"S-Sorry, sir!" Eren dashed up the steps to scornfully yank the offending weed, shaking his head at it as he returned to Armin's side.
Levi stopped at the step above Elsie, taking them all in before jerking his chin to their usual spot, "Before I pair you up we're going to have a squad meeting."
"I told you he would find out about it." Elsie heard Connie hiss furiously from behind. Thankfully their captain was too far ahead to hear but his words drew Elsie's attention, catching Sasha's fiery gaze at the impending doom she thought she faced.
Once the new members lined respectfully for Levi, his stone eyes landing on her to talk. She took a breath and stepped forward, turning to face them and clasp her hands in front of her, "I haven't told you the full truth about me."
Mikasa eagerly edged closer, "So you are a titan?"
"No, I'm not a titan, and I'm sorry it looks that way. I'm from the future..."
Silence. Shared astonishment. Disbelieving whispers. Levi shifted in the grass and she glanced back at him, not able to tell what he was thinking. Alone, she turned back to the group in time for Armin to say, "What?"
"I'm from the year 2018. One day I woke up Trost and I couldn't believe it, I've only read about this place in books. I knew when the Colossal titan would attack, I know what lies beyond the walls, and I've known all of your paths since before I met you. It's hard to believe, I know, but-"
"You knew when the Colossal titan would attack?" Eren's deadly voice broke her rant, drawing her worried eyes to his face.
"Yes." She didn't bother putting up a fight. Having dealt with her squad's reaction the first time around, she wasn't surprised to see the sneers and narrowed eyes at what she insinuated.
Eren raged loudly, "So that's how you knew I lost my leg and it grew back. And that's how you know so much about what I am. Why the hell are we doing this if you're from the future? If you know everything why don't you tell us how to fix this!"
"It doesn't work-"
"Eren, you're not listening like always! Who cares on how to fix this, she knew about the attack! That means the entire Scout Regiment knew when the Colossal titan would come and they still went on that mission," Mikasa snapped, throwing her hand out to hold him back. "Don't you see? It was a plan to get you to change."
"No, it's nothing like that," Elsie calmed, holding her hands out to gain their glinting gazes. She was reduced to a nervous wreck beneath their glares, hating that she could see how much her truth was distancing them. "I can't change the entire future, it doesn't work like that. I burn my throat if I say something that can affect your timeline, which is what happened the other week. I said too much and... Well, you know. I've been helping in every way I can, you have to understand."
"Your blood is just like a titan's though, how do we know you're not tricking us?" Mikasa snapped.
Sasha scratched her neck, "I mean, did I not tell everyone that she was a witch to begin with? It's not really surprising, she's always said freaky stuff to us."
Historia held Elsie's gaze when they met, understanding flicking in the blue abyss before Connie's loud laugh drew her to the right, "Remember our first night she told you not to sneak into the kitchen after hours before bed? You thought the old training commander wrote her!"
"I don't know everything, who knows if my blood was messed up on the way to this world," Elsie answered Mikasa, knowing she was the one that she needed to worry the most about. Her silent companion stayed a shadow, listening as the others loosened to Elsie's new discovery. "I'm here to help Eren, that you have to believe. I'd never hurt any of you."
"You couldn't kill me if you tried," Jean huffed, dismally waving her emotional confession to the wind. "Have you guys seen how she fights?"
"True," Armin agreed, suddenly having a say at the worst moment. "There have been multiple occasions she could've shifted. When we were stranded during the mission Elsie could've shifted to help the Female titan when she had Eren in her mouth. Also, I held my suspicion of Reiner being a titan when he survived Annie's impossible move and she suddenly went in the direction Eren was. It was Elsie who noticed this as well, and she is the last person who saw Reiner alive."
Okay, Armin could've stayed silent. This topic was off limits, a locked vault that had been open for the briefest of freshest agony before being tucked in the back of her mind. She'd rather not get into the gory details of how she handled the Armored titan, and Levi not a fan of discussing murder to begin with, stepped forward to end the questioning.
"Reiner was dealt with by the last squad, that's all you need to know," Levi stood shoulder to shoulder with her, facing the mixed reactions of their squad. She relaxed at his proximity, glad the worst part was finished. "Mikasa, want to spar with Elsie first?"
Mikasa unwound her scarf, "Yes, very much so."
Fuck, Elsie did not want to think of the bruises she'd have tonight.
Cruel and relentless, Elsie fought Mikasa, Jean, Sasha, and Ymir because she felt like being a dick and could see that Elsie wanted nothing more than to lay in bed. Connie couldn't care less about where Elsie came from except for the fact that she wasn't out to murder them all, smiling and cheering her on when Mikasa had made her nose bleed with a well aimed fist. Sasha wanted to fight for the mere fact Elsie knew everything about her without meeting her. It was easy and fun, the girl going easy and asking questions about Elsie's world between fast kicks.
Jean seemed to hold a grudge with taking over mop duty. He claimed that even time travelers had chores and it reflected negatively on herself for not holding her share of the squad's work. Fucker, she gave him a knee to the balls and didn't feel the least bit bad.
She'd thought she'd get a laugh out of Eren for that. He only turned away, upset about the truth, refusing to fight her to get it off his chest. Mikasa relentlessly beat down Elsie until Levi called the fight - which fazed no one. Expected, Elsie had prepped herself since breakfast for the Ackerman power. At the end of it, wiping the blood from a cut on Elsie's eyebrow, Mikasa shook her hand before walking away.
Only Eren held contempt for Elsie by the end of practice. He beat the squad by minutes since he left early, his figure at the patio by the time Levi dismissed everyone for the night. Elsie groaned in agony, pretending to be in worse pain for his attention and falling into his side.
Levi stepped back, allowing her to stumble and nearly eat shit, "Watch where you're walking."
"Do you have a caring bone in your body? I'm in pain here, coddle me!"
"The fact that you're demanding for me to baby you makes me want to call Mikasa back."
"Levi," Elsie sighed, catching the back of his shirt to keep him with her. "Do you think that went good?"
Her soldier paused to face her, wiping the drying blood from her cheek gently as he said, "Yes, out of all the way it could've gone, only Eren being pissed is great."
She exhaled, smiling happily and releasing him to head for bed, "I'm going to shower and skip out on dinner."
"Tch, you're not done for the day."
Elsie rolled her shoulders, "What do you mean?"
"Did you find a way to tell me about the walls?"
"I did," She stopped, glancing over her shoulder. "Braid my hair and I'll tell you."
Levi caught up with her, his cold hand resting on her neck as they walked towards the lit castle, "You don't have to bribe me to do that."
"Good, I prefer you to do it." Just another excuse for him to touch her.
Levi followed her up the stairs, "Fix your drawer and I'll braid your hair."
"You can't turn around and bribe me!"
"Bribery gets you far," They passed the line for the second floor bathroom, Elsie highly aware of the eyes that followed them. She'd been so oblivious to the attention that they'd gained, unaware of the rumor floating in the castle. "Always bribe people, dumbass."
"Dick," Elsie opened their bedroom door, pleased when she saw freshly cleaned blankets folded at the foot of their mattress. "Look, Hange did the laundry."
"She wanted to live another day, how sweet."
Elsie giggled, elbowing his stomach, "She probably did it to keep her fingers."
"Smartest thing she's done, fucking banshee," He grumbled, parting to put the sheet on. "I need to add another lock."
"They'll be leaving soon then it'll be us again," Elsie gathered her usual sweats and shirt, making it clear she wasn't changing the color scheme when his OCD ass blatantly stared. "Then you'll have to deal with Sasha and Eren on our floor."
"We're getting another lock." He finalized, sorting their pillows and hiding his dagger.
Bubbles of affection and infatuation warmed her stomach at being included. 'We', she fucking loved it. Elsie headed towards the bathroom to turn the shower on, letting the old pipes run before it warmed enough for her to enter. With the door open as their new game allowed, she winced as she began to pull her shirt off. Halfway up a horrible pain shot through her side, making her immediately drop her aims to alleviate the stab and taking a breath.
"You bruised a rib," Levi said, strolling leisurely into the bathroom. "They're a bitch."
"How many times have you done it?" She grumbled in agitation, huffing when he amusedly caught her hazel gaze in the mirror.
"Too many to count. Hold your arms out."
Levi slowly fingered the fabric of her white blouse to her waist, dragging it against her stomach. He ran his hand over her arms as he directed them out of the sleeves so that her shirt came to her neck. Levi deftly pulled it over her head, taking the time to undo her tight bun from the day. Sweaty and stiff from being coiled it looked disgusting to Elsie, yet Levi shook it out before running his hands down her side. He could claim inspection if she called him out on it but Elsie knew the rules. Don't say anything and all will be good.
She rested her head onto his shoulder, her eyes closing to embrace the touch of his fingers rubbing soothingly at her waist. The exposure of her white bra did nothing to embarrass her or hide herself, instead encouraging her to arch when his left hand got a little rush of bravery to tickle at her belly button.
Elsie turned her head, lazily opening her eyelids to meet his heady grey inspection. She'd left the shower running and steam began to rise in the room, his hair flattening, her skin clammy beneath his ritual strokes up and down her side.
His hand shot up, dragging his thumb at the corner of her mouth, "You handled yourself well today."
"Stop, you'll make me blush." She whispered faintly, the tingling sensation spreading in her stomach. Why can't you pick me? I already picked you.
"You already are."
Elsie grinned, "You have that affect on me."
She counted the freckles that hid near his nose, saw him swallow as his hand rubbed her cut eyebrow, "She got you good."
"My ribs hurt more than that, did she really have to go so hard? I'm not like you people." Elsie pouted, soaking in the after care.
Levi's lips twitched, hands resting on her hips, his cheek brushing against her nose when he said, "You want to be one of us, man up."
"Dick."
"You should get in the shower," She sunk further into his body heat, pressing herself into him when he squeezed her sore hips in parting. "You still have to tell me about the walls."
"Of course," She licked her lips, debating, contemplating, before deciding not to mention her good girl status. "I said I could do it, didn't I?"
He told her to wash herself. It wasn't too desperate of herself to reach down and unbutton her pants to undress for said shower. She met his blank face in the mirror, too scared to meet him eye to eye, and watched the intense way his eyes followed her fingers pulling the zipper down and sliding the down slightly. Her underwear hemline flashed cheekily, his jaw clenched and he shifted.
But he stayed and huskily said, "You looked like you were bluffing."
Elsie kicked her pants off, shrugging and happily retorting, "I always stick to my word, captain, no need to worry about me."
"Fuck off with that captain shit."
"Why can't I call you that? It's your rank." Elsie turned, crossing her arms in hopes of drawing his attention and weakening his weird revulsion.
Levi kept to his gentleman ways and met her eyes, "Just don't use it."
"Fine," She stepped past him, sticking her hand in the water. Pleased that the hot water hadn't run out, she glanced back at him to quirk an eyebrow. "Are you staying?"
He pinched her ass. Elsie squawked in anger and swatted at him but he whistled a breezy tune as he strutted out of the bathroom.
"The letters weren't very interesting," Elsie told from between Levi's legs. He leaned against the headboard, fingers nimbly working in her hair. "Mainly King Fritz wrote to his friend Abe who chose to stay in Marley instead of coming here, and all they talked about was who they had sex with. Nothing interest, that is until the end of 843 when tensions grow between the people and the ones who had titan power. He references to using Holy powers to construct the walls."
"Old news," Levi tugged a bit harder than necessary and her head fell back submissively. "What else you got?"
"Minister Nick being followed by the Interior Police. I'm sure offering him protection in return for information about Holy powers will explain the walls." Elsie timidly mentioned the police, hating to bring it up at all. She didn't know how to bring up Kenny. Any chance at talking about Levi's childhood didn't get very far, he's very tight lipped about himself.
"There's something you need to know about the shitty government," Levi finished the braid, Elsie relaxing into his chest once his hand landed on her neck. "That ballsack will be smiting the Scouts for another forty years. The Church pays for the king who controls the Interior Police. Long story short, once he complains about them they'll lay off."
Elsie ran her hands over her thighs, noting that her toes fell short to his by an inch. His toned thighs encased her safely against him, encouraging her to daringly say, "It's not the king."
"What do you mean?"
"Who pays for them. It's someone else."
His hand tightened on her neck, "Who? Fuck, don't answer that. Do I really have to save the preacher's ass?"
"If you want to know about the walls, yes. Sorry, I tried but I couldn't find anything for Ymir to read. And you know how it goes when I try to write." Elsie inspected her right hand, feeling the warped flesh more than seeing it.
Levi sighed, bending a knee, "Do we find out about this mysterious benefactor at least?"
"Yes, we'll know when Erwin comes back."
The mention of Erwin brought forth thoughts of Shiganshina. By midday tomorrow he would return and their plan would be put in motion to head out. Elsie stressed for the Beast titan, feared for the man she leaned against, wondered if there was any way that she could possibly do something last minute.
"Elsie," Levi's breath shuffled her hair. "Try to go home."
She appeased him, leaning back in his arms and closing her eyes, "Should I imagine going back to my apartment? I'd like to see my room again, I had the best bed and a TV... And electrical oven."
"You should imagine seeing your friends again," Levi whispered. "Going out with them, not having to worry about a monster knocking your house down."
"I stayed out till two am and puked before falling asleep," Elsie admitted to his amusement. His laugh shook them, filling the empty room and making her giggle in synch. "How about I imagine going to dinner with my dad? We used to go to a bar to watch games, which I never cared for, but it was time for us to catch up."
Levi silenced as she reminisced. Nothing changed, as she figured, instead she discovered a new way to fall asleep in Levi's arms. She stirred, barely aware, when Levi lifted her to pull the blanket over her before climbing behind her. She turned and curled into his chest, sliding against his chest and pressing her nose into the base of his neck.
"I tried." She whispered into the dark room.
Levi muttered sleepily, "Thirty more times you have to try."
"Thirty more times I'll prove you're stuck with me."
His lips lifted and his hand came to caress the back of her head, silencing her as they dozed off.