They had seen sunlight before, only because of their 'special place,' but this was the first time they'd seen whole streets bathed in the stuff. Even though his vision was blurred, Levi couldn't help but gently smile at Isabel as she peeled the carriages curtains back to peer out, giggling as she watched the kids play in the street.
"It's so… different" she said, the awe evident in her tone.
"That's because it is different, Izzy" stated Farlan, chuckling when the redhead sent him the 'well, duh' look. Now the sun was no longer beating down on his back the raven took stock of their situation- there was four of them in the carriage: Levi, his friends and one incredibly nervous looking Corps member, he was tall and lanky with black hair swooped to the side, his eyes constantly flicked between the trio (he had no clue where the rest of them were).
"We don't bite" Levi muttered, smirking when the guy's head snapped over to him "you think we're gonna attack you?" The man just stared at him- great "well we won't, wouldn't do us any favours" with that the raven rested his head against the window, revelling at the cool touch against his skin, and stared into the bright street through his sweaty bangs.
He could vaguely hear his blonde companion talking "I'm Farlan, she's Isabel and the short one's Levi" on any other day he would have scolded the blonde for the jab but he just didn't have the energy, even the thought of giving his full attention hurt his head.
After a minute of silence the skittish idiot (seriously if he couldn't face three criminals how did he go up against titans?) answered, "My name is Tomas, the lady with us is Nanaba, you've met Squad Leader Erwin and the other guy" that must be Shrieker "is Mike… we make up Squad Erwin" wasn't that fascinating, he had to stop himself from rolling his eyes as Farlan and their guard struck up a conversation about something.
This was going to be a long ride.
xXx
Eventually the carriage pulled to a stop, Levi's head was incredibly thankful for that, and the four of them piled out.
"Wait there, we've got to get you processed, please don't move" the nervous idi- Tomas he mentally corrected, said over his shoulder… so they just had to stand there and wait? A small part of him was amazed at how unorganised the Corps seemed to be so far. With a deep sigh he made his way over to the stone steps leading up to some building and threw himself down, wincing when he hit the step a bit too hard. His everything hurt like a bitch, his head was pounding, his chest was still throbbing even though he didn't have his straps on anymore and his legs felt like jelly… what a shit day. He just cradled his head in his hands in a pathetic attempt to fight off the headache.
The day couldn't have gone any worse... actually yes it could have gone a lot worse- they could currently be in the hands of those police pigs and god knows what they would do to them. He wouldn't have feared for himself, he could have taken what they threw his way, but it made his skin crawl at the thought of what they would've done to his friends. He saw how some of them would look at Isabel.
"You okay, bro?" He heard the redhead ask, he raised his head to see her worried expression mirrored on Farlan's mug.
"I'm fine, just a lot's happened today," it was only a half lie, a lot had happened but he wouldn't tell them of how uncomfortable he was.
"You're right there" she plopped down next to him, resting her head on his shoulder "but you did it, bro" she stared dreamily at the setting sun.
"Did what?" the raven couldn't help but ask.
"You got us out of there" replied Farlan as he sat on Levi's other side, effectively caging him in but he didn't mind, he was safe with these two "if we don't cause any trouble well be perfectly fine, we are safest together" and he was right, as long as they had each other's backs they would be okay.
Together they sat there, all three of them soaking up the last few rays of sun as it sank over the horizon. It was beautiful, the way the sky was painted with oranges, pinks and purples, the sight alone was almost enough to smother his pain. It amazed him how most people took this sight for granted, he didn't think he'd ever get used to the sight of the setting sun.
He felt like he could spend the rest of his days sat there watching the colours spread across the sky.
"Oi! You three!" of course all good things had to come to an end.
xXx
"These are the bathrooms" Tomas indicated to two doors next to each other, one saying 'Men' and the other 'Women,' "these are your uniforms" he handed a pile of clothes to each of them "we tried to guess your sizes but of something doesn't fit just let me know and I'll change it for you" he finished with a weird smile.
"Cheers!" Chirped Isabel before grabbing the clothes and barging her way through the door.
"We will be quick" stated his blonde friend as he disappeared into the men's room, Levi couldn't help but sigh as he followed, his own uniform held tight to his chest, as the raven entered the room his heartbeat picked up.
The bathroom was... all right, on the left side of the room ugly (but thankfully clean) cream sinks lining the wall, each paired with a mirror that sat above them- almost all of them were cracked in some way shape or form. The opposite wall was covered in various doors- he could only assume they led to shower cubicles? Three benches sat parallel to the sinks, his heart dropped into his stomach when he saw Farlan openly changing in the centre of the room with his clothes scattered over one of the benches- shit, he'd have to change in front of his friend, his breathing picked up at the thought.
They had never changed in front of one another before, Levi had always managed to come up with some sort of excuse as to why he could be excused, usually it was "I need to shower," but there was no way he could get away with that today, there was no time to shower.
He silently laid his clothes onto the bench nearest the door, it was only changing his shirt that would be the issue- his bandaged chest would raise far too many questions, if he was quick there would be no problem... he waited until the blonde man had turned his back on him before ripping his shirt off, he had to swallow down a pained groan at the fast movements. The raven's heart beat thumped in his ears as he fumbled with the shirt, the blonde began to turn to face him as he finally got the fucking shirt over his head, that was far too close for comfort.
"You okay there, Levi? You look a bit out of breath" it was then he realised he was in fact breathing heavily- the pain around his ribs forcing harsh breaths in and out his lungs.
"Yeah, I'm fine" was all he gave before moving to change the rest of his clothes, but his vague response seemed to appease his friend. Methodically, he swapped out his grimy clothes for the crisp new uniform- the scent of fresh fabric sent a shiver down his spine, he tucked the shirt into the tight white pants (what dumbass chose white?) before turning to tackle the ODM straps. With practised ease Levi tightened the buckles over his body, it was almost like a ritual that brings him mixed results, the straps over his body put him somewhat at ease- they made him feel less... vulnerable- but the throbbing in his chest intensifying hurt like a bitch, each individual bruise seemed to burn.
"You ready to go?" The raven turned to see Farlan admiring his reflection in the mirror "You know these uniforms aren't half bad."
"Apart from the white pants, what idiot chose white?" That earned a laugh from the blonde "but yeah I'm ready to go" with that he threw the weird cropped jacket on (this uniform made no sense whatsoever) and moved to the bathroom's door. The sight they were met with was an amusing one: Isabel seemed to be telling some amazing tale to poor Tomas, her hands were gesturing so fast they were practically blurs.
Tomas spotted them "Oh! There you are, let's get going!" He sounded almost relieved, Levi had to suppress a chuckle at that. The trio followed the black haired corps member down the hall until they came to ended at, yet another, door "these are one of the dorm rooms, Flagon will show you around, I'll see you all later" and with that Tomas escaped.
Before any of them could get a word in the door swung open to reveal a tall man with dish water blonde hair, and to top it all off he had a patch of hair glued to his chin. Levi already hated this man.
"I'm Flagon" no shit "keep up" and then he turned to disappear into the dorms, the trio had no choice but to follow. The room they were faced with stunk of sweat and the floorboards creaked beneath their boots- that was going to get annoying at night. They made their way down the centre of several bunks "these are the military barracks" this guy just loves to point the obvious out.
"Sweet! So we still get to sleep in the same room?" Isabel sang as she skipped next to Levi.
"The women's barracks are separate" retorted Dish Water.
"That's not fair! I wanna stay with you two!"
"That's enough Izzy" reasoned Farlan "those are the rules."
The raven could see Dish Water's eye twitching in irritation at their squabbling, good "this bunk's for you two" he indicated to the bunk at the very end of the room and Levi had to swallow down a gag, there was so much filth he could see the layers of dust from where he was stood. The raven approached the bed, his fears were confirmed when he swiped a finger along the wood only to see a shit tone of dust wedged under his fingernail- it was fucking disgusting "I know you've spent your whole lives in the trash, but at least try to keep this place clean."
Without thinking he swivelled on his heels to face Dish Water "what?" How dare this asshole say that about them when he could practically taste the sweat in the air from the other filthy idiots that lived in the room, the shorter man marched up to Dish Water "what did you just say?"
"Hey! You watch your tone with your superior officer, you little punk" Levi was five seconds away from clocking the asshole in the nose when he felt Farlan's hand on his chest.
"Don't worry Mr Squad Leader Sir! We'll keep it clean" he turned his head to glare into the raven's steely eyes "right?" When Levi didn't answer Dish Water just tutted.
"First thing tomorrow morning you'll report to the training yard, no excuses" and with that he marched out dramatically, slamming the door behind him, what a baby. There was a beat of silence until Farlan span around to face him head on.
"Levi! I thought we agreed to not cause trouble!" At least the raven had the decency to look at his boots in shame- that was until he couldn't hold his retort in any longer.
"Didn't you hear what he was saying about us? It was like shit calling shit dirty" the sigh from the blonde cut him off.
"The military is a vicious place, if we keep drawing attention to ourselves over something like this-"
"They'll only treat us with courtesy if we act dull like them" he snapped back as he continued to inspect the state of the bed "what a pain in the ass this all is."
"Levi-"
"Stop bothering Levi, Farlan!" Retorted Isabel as she hung her top half over the edge of the bed, when had she climbed up there? "We can just beat 'em up like we did in the Underground!"
"Shut up, idiots should be seen and not heard" the blonde retorted dryly, only to be met with an offended squawk from the redhead, he decided to leave them to their bickering, silently thankful to Isabel for giving him an escape route. A cupboard in the corner caught his attention, silently he stalked over and wriggled the doors open (when was the last time they had oiled these fucking hinges?) and the contents made his eyes light up.
"Oi! Idiots" his companions turned to face him only to immediately groan and slump over.
"Do we have to, bro?" Whined the hanging girl.
Levi smirked whilst he threw the window by their bed open, both hands holding a broom each "Yes, we are going to clean the shit out of this bed, don't leave a spec of dust behind."
xXx
Sleep did not come easily to Levi that night, the most he could manage was a solemn stare at the slats of the bed above him. Even though the day had been exhausting and his body felt heavy his mind refused to shut up, it was slowly driving him insane. His fucking head wouldn't stop running at a hundred miles per hour, he couldn't stop thinking about how the day had played out. His friends had woken up cuddled together on their pathetic couch, but tomorrow they would wake up cuddled together in an actual bed in some shitty military barracks- the sudden change gave him mental whiplash (the most confusing part was how Isabel had managed to not get caught in the men's dorms).
Even though they had made sure every spec of dust had been banished from the bed he still felt... uncomfortable, he had no clue if it was down to his aching torso, sore legs or throbbing skull. Either way he felt like complete shit.
Rolling onto his side his silver eyes observed the rows of other bunks that lined the walls, snoring lumps lay under each blanket- good thing someone's getting some sleep. Sighing, he pulled his knees up to his chest before wrapping his twig-like arms around them, it gave him some sense of safety, tomorrow they would train with the others for the first time and he could already predict that they would be complete assholes to the trio so, a good nights sleep would come in handy.
With that he forced his eyes shut, evened out his breathing and wiped all thoughts from his mind.
Eventually, the raven fell into an uneasy sleep.
xXx
A wet spine was the first thing he registered as he woke up... what? His eyes snapped open to see a wall opposite him, a thin layer of moss covered it giving the bricks an uneasy tint of green. He looked left to see the opening of the alleyway he was sat in, it was a fair walk away, pushing himself up Levi began to move to the mouth of the cramped path.
The cobbled floor was cold on the souls of his bare feet, why didn't he have any shoes? Where were his shoes? Looking down he confirmed his lack of footwear and he flinched when black hair fell into his eyes, that was his hair... he ran a hand through his black locks only to find that it reached his shoulders, why did he have long hair? He hadn't had long hair since his early days with Kenny...
No, this wasn't right.
Pulling the collar of his large shirt away he looked down to see his greatest fear- his chest was bare, no bandages in sight, no, no, no! This was wrong! He suddenly felt the need to suck in quick, panicked breaths, it made his head go fuzzy.
"Hey there, little one" the voice behind him made him jump slightly, he swivelled to face the person when he was suddenly pushed backwards, his back forcefully smacking into the grimy wall.
He opened his mouth to talk but any words he could think of got tangled around his tongue. A sob tore its way up his throat when he felt disgusting, rough hands make its way up his thigh.
"Oh yeah, what a good little girl" Levi willed his limbs to move but they wouldn't listen to him, it was like he was paralysed, and it terrified him. His attacker wrapped his arms around Levi's weaker ones, before slotting himself between the smaller man's legs. He didn't want this, he wasn't a girl, he was a guy but he couldn't talk! He was trapped, he felt so weak and helpless.
Suddenly he felt teeth pierce the flesh of his neck, a scream clawed its way out of him- the bastard had bitten him.
His heart picked up when he felt a hand get higher, and higher up his thigh, the thumping in his ears was borderline painful.
He didn't want this.
He wasn't a girl, he was a guy.
No, no.
No!
xXx
Steel eyes snapped open, his body was covered in a sheen of cold sweat, making him feel disgusting, he raised his shaky hands to his eyes giving them a rub to clear them before flitting his gaze around the room. Everything was how it should've been, several bunks containing sleeping bodies, his quaking fingers move to his temples, giving them a quick massage to try and wake himself up.
He figured he wasn't going to get back to sleep, through the window he spotted the sun peaking its way over the horizon, it was nearly time to get up anyway. Pushing himself up out of the bed the raven grabbed his uniform before stumbling out of the dorm on shaky legs, his goal was the shower room.
Eventually, he reached his destination, the chill of the room somewhat refreshing his senses. Without a second thought he stumbled his way into the first shower cubicle he came across.
The second he'd stripped himself of his clothing he turned the lever, wincing when it screeched like a banshee, and revelled in the feeling of warm water washing away any physical remains of the mental horror he'd endured. Grabbing the soap he started washing his arms, the skin turning a light pink at the harsh scrubbing, his neck throbbed slightly, like the bastard had actually bitten him.
That was when he realised in his panic he hadn't taken his bandages off, and now they were soaked- shit, shit, shit. He had no choice but to unwrap the sodden bandages from his chest, cringing when they made a harsh 'splat' as they hit the floor, the pure brown dirt that washed out of them very nearly made him gag- it was revolting, he did his best not to think about how that had been on his body.
He scraped the sponge over every part of him, his thighs got the worse of the abuse- the raven could still feel the ghostly touches of those perverts hands on him.
After his shower his skin felt raw to the touch, perhaps he'd scrubbed a bit too hard.
He went to wrap a towel around his form, only to realise he'd forgot to grab one, fucking perfect, nothing was going his way. With no choice but to dash to the towel rack he popped his head out the door- no one in sight, okay maybe the morning hadn't been a complete disaster so far.
Eventually, Levi found himself partially dressed in front of the mirror, turns out getting dressed with red raw skin hurt like a bitch, so he stood there with his white uniform pants on and his towel wrapped around his shoulders. Then he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, and to put it lightly, he looked like absolute shit. The bags under his eyes would be impressive under other circumstances but it made him look slightly homeless, a line of bruises peeked out from his towel, he didn't really fancy looking at the state of his chest- the pain was bad enough as it was.
"...Levi?" The raven shot up like a scared cat before spinning around to face the newcomer- Farlan "you okay? I heard you leave in a rush and you look kinda pale..." he couldn't talk as one of his closest friends approached him, it was like all words had been stolen straight from his mouth, the only thing he could do was tighten his hold on his towel.
He was aware of how weird his current situation looked.
His friend's gaze flicked down to his chest, a small squeak escaped the raven's mouth, he was being truly being pathetic. The blonde began to make his way towards him, moving like he was approaching a wild animal rather than his friend "you've been hiding something Levi, I haven't missed the signs."
Shit, he couldn't move, his legs wouldn't listen to him.
"Those bruises look painful, who gave them to you?" Levi... Levi gave them to himself "you can trust me, Levi," suddenly he felt his heart crack, and like a dam breaking the emotions flowed, a broken sob wracked his frame. Burying his face into the fluffy towel he let the tears flow freely for the first time in so long, he nearly missed the arms pulling into someone's (Farlan's) chest "who did this Levi?"
"Me" he whimpered, his voice hardly audible, but nevertheless his friend held him tighter.
Eventually Levi's sobs quietened down to gentle hiccups "Let me take a look at the bruises," the raven didn't move but he also didn't resist when Farlan pulled the towel from him, essentially taking his only shield away. He didn't miss the subtle gasp from the younger man when he took in the horrific sight that was Levi's chest, but apart from that he ignored the un-manly torso Levi had "okay, wait here, I will be back in one second" he explained before rushing to the cupboard. He returned with a first aid kit.
He vaguely heard his friend say something about cleaning and stinging but he didn't react, he couldn't react, any words said to him sounded like they were being spoken through glass- all he could do was glare at a spec of dirt on one of the tiles as his arms were manipulated by his friend.
Minutes or hours could have passed by the time Farlan finally declared he was done, his bruises ached from being prodded but the lacerations under his arms felt way better, the stinging had become more of a throb- it felt more... manageable. He was forced to glimpse up at his friend when the blonde held his shirt out to him "the others will be getting up soon" no he needed bandages, he couldn't leave without bandages around his chest.
"I need bandages" his voice was coarse and raw from crying, when the other raised his eyebrow he elaborated "for... this" he gestured to his chest.
"Um... okay" Farlan rummaged in the first aid kit until he held up his find and handed them to the raven, watching as he wrapped the bandages around his ribs, pulling them tight to make sure they stayed flat "this explains... a lot."
"Don't you have questions?" Of course is friend had questions, he'd just found out his partner (who he thought was a man for as long as they'd known each other) had fucking breasts.
"Not really" what the fuck "I'm not gonna pretend to fully understand what's going on and I am slightly upset that you didn't tell us" here it comes "but it's your private business" it felt like a weight had been taken straight from Levi's shoulders "and I won't tell anyone under two conditions."
The raven took a deep breath before nodding to his companion, pulling his shirt over his head as he listened.
"You let me keep track of your injuries, they could easily get infected" that made sense and it would be easy enough. "And you tell Isabel" ah... that would be a bit trickier "she deserves to know." God he was right but that didn't make him any more comfortable.
"Fine, if we're done here I'm going to wake her up" the blonde inclined his head and headed towards on of the showers "and Farlan" he turned to face the elder.
"Thank you," he didn't specify what for but he had a feeling his friend understood.