Chapter 5:
It was still raining extremely hard, and the clouds were covering the sky. It was dark enough that Levi had to grab a lantern, so he could actually find Andrews tied to some tree. He had just passed the grain tower. It was so quiet outside other than the sound of rain pouring down around him, and the crunching of twigs and leaves under his feet.
"Who's there?" He heard a shaky voice coming from the other side of a tree. As he approached the tree, there was Ivy Andrews tied up with a blindfold over her eyes, shivering from the cold. Levi was surprised to see her standing there in nothing but a pair of underwear and a damp see through light coloured t-shirt. The word goddess crossed his mind again while his eyes were taking in her desirable figure. He couldn't help but stiffen slightly, seeing her perfect breasts pushed against the thin fabric of her shirt.
"It's me Andrews." comforted Levi as he removed the blind fold from her eyes, and he could see the relief on her face knowing she wasn't in danger. He was worried about her health because her lips were starting to turn a shade of blue that screamed hypothermia.
"Ohhh ah tha-thank you Cccaptain." She stuttered.
She was shaking and shivering the entire time that Levi undid the knots that held her to the tree. After he was done, she went to step down from the roots of the tree and she slipped down on her ass in the mud.
"You okay?" Levi helped her up.
"Ya"
"Good, but now you look like you shit yourself."
"I guess it does." She laughed. "I was tied to that tree for a very long time captain so you never know" she raised her eyebrows playfully, and Levi couldn't help but smirk. She was cheekier than he expected.
"Here" he took his jacket off and handed it to her.
"You don't have to, I'll survive sir." She mustered all her confidence, but she was still trembling from the cold.
"Your shirt's see through." Levi pointed at her chest. "Take the jacket."
She looked down at herself, looking back up at Levi to reveal her blushing face. She quickly grabbed the jacket and threw it on to cover herself. Levi wasn't the best at being subtle by any means, and he knew that pointing out her nudity would be the fastest way to get her to take his jacket.
They continued to make their way back to the main building. "You're going to need to take a hot shower and warm yourself up, or you're going to end up with hypothermia, pneumonia or some shit like that."
"You're right…" she agreed. "But the showers are out of hot water by this time…" she trailed off wondering what she could do to warm up.
"Shit, usually after nine it's out." Levi sighed and looked down into Andrews sparkling big orbs. Her eyes were like their own little worlds, but they didn't stop him from noticing her ceaseless shivering. "I guess we will have to go to my room" he thought out loud. Levi noticed that another blush had started to redden the face of the freezing girl in front of him.
"Um your room" she repeated.
Levi realized what she might have thought he was implying something else with his last comment, but decided to put her mind at ease. "Hange rigged up my room so I always have hot water for my bathtub."
"You have a bath tub?" Andrews gushed. "I haven't gotten to use a bathtub in years"
"I wasn't expecting you to be so excited, but I guess you're cold and covered in shit." He grinned, and he caught himself hoping she'd laugh; he liked the way it sounded coming out of her mouth the first time he heard it.
"Very excited" she smiled, and instinctively stuck a piece of hair behind her ear. "Would it be alright if I grabbed a change of clothes from my room first?"
"Be quick, I don't have all night."
Ivy grabbed a change of clothes quickly while Levi stood inside the door frame of the workshop. Levi never realized that there was a bedroom in the back of the equipment managers workshop until today. He was blown away with how clean and organized it was since she had moved in and taken over.
"I thought I was a clean freak"
"Well when you have a bad habit of tripping over things you tend to keep your space pretty decluttered." She shrugged going into a cupboard and grabbing what looked like a bar of soap and a strange vial.
"What's that?" He pointed at the vial she was holding.
"I'll show you when we get to your bathtub."
Levi opened the door to his bedroom. It was a nice room with a double bed, a dresser and a chair by the window. He led Ivy into his bathroom that was perfectly cleaned, with a small clawfoot tub off to the side.
"It's perfect." She bubbled while Levi sat on the edge of the tub fiddling with the tap to find the perfect warm temperature. After a few seconds, he leaned down to put the plug in the drain and the tub began to fill with water. Ivy went into her bag and pulled out the mystery vial and poured a decent amount into the water. The water began to foam and bubble across the top of the tub which was something Levi had never seen before.
"Bubbles?" He questioned, very curious about the concoction that she poured into his tub. It smelt like the candy he ate when he first got out of the underground.
"It's something my mom used to make, and so she taught me, but I haven't come across a bathtub in a long time." She was looking into the tub watching the bubbles swirling around. Ivy had the bar of soap in her hands which was a very light lavender colour. She brought the soap up to her nose and smelled it, but she quickly handed it over for Levi to smell. "This was my mom's favourite recipe she created."
He brought it up to his nose, and it smelled like lavender, but also like vanilla. "It smells nice."
He could tell that Andrews was feeling nostalgic, but there was a bitter sweetness in the tone of voice she used. It didn't take a genius to realize that her mother was no longer alive, but he wasn't going to ask. He knew what it was like to lose someone, and some things were better left unsaid.
"Well I guess I'll let you get to it" Levi stated. He was about to stand up and leave the bathroom to give her some privacy when he felt a cold hand grab his wrist.
"will you um stay and talk to me." she was pleading with her eyes. "I spent last night tied to that tree, and it's been really nice to hear the sound of somebody else's voice."
"I guess I can do that. " Levi couldn't believe that she almost spent another night tied to that tree. He figured this little task could be his thanks for the shirt and the saddle.
"If you could just face the wall, and then I can uh undress."
"Right." he quickly looked away and ended up seated on the floor with his back against the tub, and eventually he heard her crawl in. "I can't believe that asshole tied you to a tree, you could have gotten sick or been eaten by a wild animal."
"Yep, he's an asshole." she sounded content probably from the warmth that surrounded her body finally. "They came into my room while I was in the middle of getting dressed."
"I'm pretty sure I broke that fuckers nose." blurted Levi.
"You did, why?" he could hear the surprise in her voice.
"I felt like it and his face was kinda pissing me off."
She laughed, and he really did love the sound of it echoing from his bathtub.
