Chapter 24: A Drunk Woman's Words

Nora was the last one to join them in the pretty indoor garden on the far end of Azumabito's grounds, somewhat apart from the manor. Two walls were entirely made of glass, bathing every last corner of the—for once not oversized—room in brilliant sunlight by day. Now, though, in the early evening, they relied on the ceiling lamp for some light. Beautiful, fragrant plants she didn't know the names of lined the glass walls. In the centre, right beneath the light, stood a generous, marble table and wrought-iron chairs, comfortable enough with their plush pillows, embroidered with colourful flower motives, to sit on. The vase of red tulips on the centre of the table was currently surrounded by used glasses and several bottles of booze, from beer to wine to stronger stuff Nora had never tried.

"I'm surprised you're here," Armin said to her, though he sounded like he saw it as a pleasant sort of surprise. "I thought you'd be with Hange and the captain, discussing the… not-so-great situation with the ambassadors from Hizuru."

There was that tight iron ring in her chest again, the throat-constricting feeling of hopelessness and dread. Of utter powerlessness. This was the last subject Nora wanted to talk about. They all deserved a break, just for this one evening. "Honestly? I don't need another recap, and that's all it is. There's nothing new about this whole thing. I asked them if they necessarily needed me there, and as soon as they said no, I bailed."

Jean helped himself to some more beer, throwing her a worried glance. "So… You won't rat us out to the captain, right?"

She held out her empty glass at him, her intention behind the gesture clear. "I can hardly snitch if I drink with you."

Still, he hesitated. All around the table, her squad mates looked at her as if she'd grown a second head. "But you never drink," Jean said.

"I don't. But I do, today." She waited patiently until he had filled her glass almost to the brim, then took a generous swig. She couldn't help grimacing, swallowing with a shudder. "Ugh. So gross." Holding her nostrils closed with her thumb and index finger, she downed the rest of her drink in one go—and held the glass out again. "Give me another."

Sasha giggled, while Jean complied with a big grin on his face.

The seven of them chatted for a while about nothing of importance, carefully avoiding any subject of substance. The alcohol, however, they didn't avoid. They had already gone through two bottles of wine and more of beer when Jean suggested a silly little drinking game called 'Never have I ever', to the enthusiasm of the others; save for Nora, who, tipsy as she already was, had the feeling it wasn't the best idea to participate.

But when her mind drifted back to earlier, she suddenly thought it also wasn't the worst. "Sod it," she said, filling her glass again.

And maybe it wouldn't have been too bad—she hadn't done many of the things her comrades mentioned as they went in turns, because apparently, she was just that boring—except Jean played dirty. "Never have I ever… lost an arm," he said, forcing Nora and Eren to drink to the ringing laughter of the others.

Naturally, Sasha had to follow up with, "Never have I ever grown said arm back."

The two shifters gave an almost identical exasperated groan, but toasted each other regardless and gulped down the rest of their drinks. "Enough with the titan stuff, guys," Eren said, his voice louder than usual. "From now on, that's against the rules."

"Yes, please," Nora said. "We don't need to find out if shifters can die from alcohol poisoning."

The game went on for quite some time. Turned out, her younger squad members had done a lot of questionable stuff during their time in the Cadet Corps. With every bottle they emptied in a team effort, the questions grew more and more… risqué.

Grinning impishly, Jean said, "Never have I ever, y'know, done the deed on this continent."

This time, Nora was the only one taking a sip while the others were throwing furtive glances into the round. "What's your bloody problem with me, today?" she asked Jean, wiping the foam of the disgusting beer from her upper lip. That was what she got from playing such a stupid game with a bunch of teenagers. Grown-ups, maybe, but teenagers still.

"Sorry," he said, his tone suggesting that he wasn't sorry at all, "it's just so easy, it's too much fun." But then, a crease appeared between his eyebrow, and he added, "Although… I'm telling y'all, it's not fun having the room right next to them."

"I can confirm that," Mikasa said with a straight face, though the words weren't as sharp and precise as usual.

"Or, the room all the way at the other end of the corridor," Sasha mumbled.

Nora hid behind her glass, drinking more than strictly necessary to conceal the embarrassment leaking through the numb buzz of the alcohol, which, surprisingly, didn't feel unpleasant. "That doesn't count. You have, like, super-hearing." Her face was hot and probably red, yes, but that was due to the booze. For the most part.

Of course, Jean couldn't let it end there. "And they don't even have, I dunno, a usual time for that. Like, sometimes I'll be lucky and it's not too late in the evening so I can sleep in peace, but other times it's the middle of the night, or really early in the morning, even. Freaks." He shook his head at Nora, brows raised. "Don't you two ever sleep?"

Hell, was she glad that she was too drunk to care. Much.

"I don't know what to say to you." She shrugged. "We both have really shit sleeping habits. Levi, especially, is awake most of the time."

Across from her, Armin was looking pointedly away, while Connie and Sasha were snickering like children.

"Can we stop talking about this? It really creeps me out." Eren turned to Nora then, his expression thoroughly disturbed. "I mean, no offence, but thinking of the captain…" He shuddered a little.

"No complaints from me," Nora said, helping herself to the wine. Really, why had she stuck with the beer for so long? It was disgusting. Bitter, and not a good bitterness like black tea. Really rank, the warmer it got. Like, ranker than the wine. As she remembered only now. For some reason, her sense of taste had suffered. It was as numb as her limbs. Which worked in her favour.

Despite the numbness, her limbs felt kind of nice. Her head, too. Though she couldn't see all that well. Weird. Or maybe not.

"You're such a pervert, Jean," Sasha told him disapprovingly.

"Hey, it's not me who is making all that noise screwing—"

"Stop it, please," Armin begged, his face red. As though he was embarrassed in Nora's stead.

"You're just miffed because you don't get any action," Connie said to Jean, waggling his eyebrows.

"Pff." But he dropped the subject, finally.

They continued to play. Probably because everyone was too inebriated to do the prudent thing and suggest to stop, at this point. No one dared ask more lewd questions, though. Clearly, they weren't keen on learning any more details about Nora's and their captain's sex life than they already had, and she was very much alright with that.

No matter how nice said sex life was. Well, 'nice' didn't quite describe it; nothing about him was nice, but Levi was a very talented man. Should she mention that, just to make them all uncomfortable?

No. No. Bad idea. She'd be uncomfortable, too. There was no amount of alcohol that would prevent that.

Better to keep her mouth shut and laugh at all the embarrassing things her squad mates had done.

#

Everyone else was sleeping, and half of them were snoring. Nora was wide awake, though. And bored. Drinking alone was no fun, and quite pitiful, at that, so she stopped, instead rummaging through drawers in search of a pen; she wanted to draw on Jean's face as an act of revenge. Maybe a moustache. Or a dick on his cheek, because he certainly was one.

Before she had the chance, however, she heard the handle on the glass door being pressed down. She whipped around, hoping it was no one from Hizuru, especially not Kiyomi Azumabito. That would be embarrassing. For all of them. Once she was sober again, that was.

She needn't have worried, though, because—

"Hange! Levi!" Nora jumped to her feet, ignoring that the world was spinning around her, round and round, ceaselessly. "You two've missed everything. Everyone else's fallen asleep already."

Now that the two were here, she realised she'd missed them; bloody hell, was she happy they were here. It was just splendid. Absolutely smashing. Really, really excellent.

So she dashed—or more like, zigzagged—to them and flung her arms around Levi's neck with enough force she would have toppled over if he hadn't acted as her pillar—and pressed a firm kiss square on his lips. Just to say hello, really. Why didn't she do that all the time? It made perfect sense.

She drew back after a second or two, before he even moved a muscle. Which was strange; he could react quite fast, couldn't he? For some reason, his face wouldn't come completely into focus. No matter how much she squinted, his features remained slightly blurred, that close. Such a shame, really. Still, she thought she saw something like surprise replace his usual stoicism, his eyes wide open—by his standards. What was the word?

Flummoxed. Yes, he seemed flummoxed. She wondered why.

"Now that's something I haven't seen before." Hange was shaking her head, mouth agape. "There really is a first for everything."

"And hopefully a last." Wrinkling his nose, Levi brought Nora to an arm's length distance, gently but decisively, steadying her with his hands on her shoulders. "You reek like you drowned in a barrel full booze."

"Whoops," she said. "No more kisses for you, then."

"I'll survive." He let his hands drop, seemingly trusting her to remain standing on her own. Risky manoeuvre, she had to say.

Nora took a pointed sniff, brows furrowing. "I can't smell it at all, though. I think you're exer—exash—exaggerating." Now that word was a bitch to pronounce correctly. Somewhat correctly. Well, no matter. They knew what she meant. Besides, she hadn't properly greeted her best friend yet. "You don't mind, Hange, right?" And Nora stood on her tiptoes—which right now was tantamount to an acrobatic feat—craning her neck to give her friend a smack on the cheek. It was softer than Levi's—obviously. Hange wasn't a man, after all. No faint stubble on evenings.

"No, I don't mind," Hange said, laughing and wiping at her cheek, "but I think it's time Levi put you to bed."

"How the hell did I get to this point," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. It didn't sound like a question. No, it sounded like he was contemplating all his life choices. It went well with his weary expression.

"Poor man," Hange said with a dramatic flourish, smirking. "If she's such a burden to you, I can look after her tonight, no problem."

Nora's face drew into a pout. They were talking like she wasn't there. Or like she was a toddler. She did not like it. "I don't need a babysit—"

"Nah," was Levi's immediate response to his commander's kind offer, talking right over her, "I'll deal with the shitfaced brat."

"Of course." Hange's smirk stretched into a shit-eating grin, and even in her inebriated state Nora noticed that her friend had clearly been baiting him. "You go on ahead, I'll see to it that the kids here don't choke on their own vomit in their sleep." She indicated the fully-grown soldiers with a flick of her hand; they were lying all over the floor in random directions, sleeping like the dead. "Or coma, whatever you wanna call it."

"Good luck with that. And kick their asses for me as soon as they wake up," Levi said, and hooked his arm under Nora's, pulling her outside before she had a chance to protest.

Admittedly in part because she was too busy trying not to fall over her own feet.

###

She was heavily clinging onto him, both her arms wrapped around his left as they crossed the grounds, walking the lamplit gravel path towards the main building. Unlike usual, they progressed slowly, thanks to the stumbling mess by his side.

"You've really outdone yourself, you loon," Levi told her when she tripped for the umpteenth time. Without him as support, she would already have eaten stone several times over.

"I know you're being mean," Nora slurred, quick-witted as she was in her current state, "but I'll just take it as a compliment, instead." She was staring at him as he all but pulled her along, paying no attention to her steps. The way she squinted made him sure she was seeing two of him. "You have the prettiest eyes, did I ever tell you that?"

Levi scoffed. That was certainly a new way for her to mock how he always looked like he was half-dead. But her expression remained straight, unsuspecting, and he realised she was being fucking serious.

"No, you didn't," he answered.

"So pretty. Who has eyes like that, I've always thought, with no colour in them at all? I mean, that shouldn't be possible."

Levi was a hundred percent certain that no one before had ever used this word in relation to him. He and 'pretty' didn't exactly go together, but just leave it to the sloshed crackpot.

"'Permanent bedroom eyes', was it?" He thought back to that very first night, to their stupid fight about obvious shit—such as their mutual, irresistible attraction to each other. Obvious in hindsight, at least. Admittedly not one of his worst memories by a mile. "I wasn't entirely sure if that's supposed to be a good thing, seeing as you were throwing all those swear words at me along with it."

"Obviously good." Despite her unfocused gaze, she managed to look at him as if he was slow on the uptake. "Turns out I'm really into that. I mean, just see for yourself." And she gestured wildly at his face. She would have accidentally hit him had he not leaned out of reach. "Not right now, of course, it's not like we have a mirror with us—"

"I suppose there really isn't a single person in the world who doesn't become an absolute moron when they're wasted," Levi told her, flicking her forehead. She didn't seem to feel it, judging by her lack of a reaction.

"What is your problem? Everything I'm saying is perfectly accurate," she said, the words blurring together. A far cry from her usual crisp and clear accent; so very deliberate when she spoke, making each word count.

This situation right here was definitely a first. "The saying goes 'a drunk man's words are a sober man's thoughts', right? Or woman, in this case." He shook his head at her when she tripped over her own feet and he had to catch her once more. "I refuse to believe that. You aren't stupid when you're sober, after all."

Levi wasn't sure if Nora had registered his answer; she blithely continued the conversation. "Oh—and I like your hair. It's really black. Like, you know, completely, even in the sunlight. And it's really, really soft. I must have told you that at some point, right?"

"No, brat." Fuck, but she was absolutely hammered. Unfortunately for her though, she was still able to talk. At least enough that he could still understand what she was saying. She was talking shit, yes, but the interesting kind, admittedly.

"Really? Seems like a tremendous oversight on my part." That sentence came out surprisingly well. Lucky hit, he supposed.

"You're gonna regret this come tomorrow," he told her, just to be fair. "And I'm not just talking about the massive hangover you'll have to deal with."

"Why?" She blinked at him, clueless.

"You're the talkative type of drunk." Whereas he, himself, wasn't any type of drunk at all; since he'd learnt his last name, he'd assumed it was an Ackerman thing, but looking at Mikasa back there, sleeping forehead-to-forehead next to Eren, that wasn't necessarily the case.

"I did tell you that you're hot, though, right?" Nora said, squeezing his arm tighter.

He wasn't sure what to say, but somewhere along the line of this weird-ass conversation, Levi had stopped being annoyed. "You mentioned it." Three times, to be precise. And once, she'd called him beautiful.

But this, right now, was a new level of detail he couldn't have guessed at.

It wasn't that he thought himself ugly. But he was ridiculously short, inexpressive with his face, and well aware that he made an unsettling impression, overall. He didn't appreciate height jokes, but other than that, he had never cared; considering his lifestyle, his looks were as irrelevant as it got. On the contrary; his menacing appearance had come in handy time and time again.

Of course, Nora hadn't put up with him all this time because she thought him attractive, nutcase that she was. But it sure was a nice plus. The pull between them—physical and otherwise—was undeniable, a force of nature. Nothing he'd ever have imagined happening to someone like him.

And it wasn't just him, judging by the way Nora looked at him, touched him…

Shit, those goddamned looks. So worth it for them alone.

Suffice it to say, she clearly had a strange taste.

From the very beginning, they had… clicked, and that was exactly why they'd fought so much; they hadn't always seen eye to eye, yet they'd always met at eye level.

Damn him if he didn't love the shit out of that too-clever, glib mouth of hers.

Well, not so clever right now, but this wasn't all that bad, either. There were worse things she could say or do in her inebriated state.

###

Ah, there was the bed. How enticing, all of a sudden. Purposeful, Nora made to cross the room—but Levi's hand on her elbow stopped her after two steps.

"First shower, then bed." He pointed at the bathroom door with his thumb. "And you haven't even taken off your shoes, idiot."

She huffed. "Fine. Need to use the bathroom, anyway. I have to piss like a horse from that minging beer."

"Can you manage alone in there, or do I have to help you wash your sorry ass?" he asked, opening the window.

"I said I don't need a babysitter." She tried to sound stern, but the intended effect was entirely destroyed by the fact that her sluggish tongue wouldn't let her pronounce her Ts properly anymore. She closed the bathroom door behind her with more force than necessary—only partly on purpose, admittedly.

Taking care of her bursting-full bladder took longer than her quick, wobbly shower. Literally wobbly; she was quite certain the shower tub was swaying, not her.

Okay, maybe that didn't make any sense; it wasn't like she didn't realise she was drunk as a skunk right now. Funny how she didn't care.

Nora walked out wearing nothing but a smile because she hadn't thought of taking her nightclothes with her into the bathroom. Not that it mattered; other activities aside, they slept naked more often than dressed. Physical nudity had never been the issue. But it was chilly in the freshly aired-out room, tonight.

Levi's inscrutable gaze followed her as she walked over to the bed and carelessly put on her sleepwear, rolling his eyes when she almost lost her balance.

"It's a good thing you're pretty," he muttered.

"That sounds nice at first, but I know perfectly well you're being mean again."

"Genius."

She huffed at him once more, but she didn't really care enough to continue their little spat. Besides, somehow she felt like she was currently at a slight disadvantage. And his perpetual, sarcastic rudeness was fun, anyway, however he managed that. It came with the package, and she liked that package very, very much.

The shower had made her even sleepier. And a bit shivery. She flopped down on the bed, nestling into the pillow, clumsily drawing the blanket up to her mouth. Her lids were suddenly heavy, and no matter how much she blinked at Levi, he wouldn't come into focus. "You're my favourite person," she slurred, just because she was thinking it. "Did you know?"

She was only met with silence, at first. After a few seconds, he said, "Isn't everyone, right now?"

"Nah. Most people still suck just as much as when I'm sober." Damn, was she tired. It made talking so much more difficult than it had already been before. But this seemed important to clear up, so she put in her best effort. "You're really, really my absolute favourite person ever."

This time, he was quiet for even longer than before. So long she almost nodded off. But then the mattress dipped under his weight, and he said, in a very deep, very soft and warm and scratchy timbre, "C'mon. Move over."

That wasn't exactly polite, she thought. As usual. But she did not mind at all. Especially because somehow, it sounded so gentle, and that was unusual.

She complied sluggishly, but willingly. Even this little movement made her head spin more. He lay down next to her, joining her under the blanket.

"'m sorry I smell like booze," she mumbled. Her eyes really wouldn't stay open any longer, and she felt warm and heavy and dizzy, but it was quite alright.

"It's worth it," he said, still in that fantastic voice, and now that she would consider polite.

And she wasn't sure if she imagined it, or if she was already dreaming, but he put his arm around her, pulled her even closer on the narrow bed, entangling their legs—and kissed her on the forehead, slow and tender.

Real or not, it felt very, very nice. Perfect, even.

And that was a good last thought to have before drifting off into blackness.

AN: Guess we found her emotional laxative.