Chapter 40: Homecoming

Levi was walking like a man with a goal.

That didn't quite cover it, though—that would be nothing out of the ordinary; idle, pointless strolling wasn't in his nature. But now he was, while not running, indisputably rushing. After two fucking weeks, it seemed damn well justified to him.

He pushed the door open without slowing down, and without knocking; he lived here, too, after all. Nobody got time for that.

For a split second, he saw her in the position she was in before reacting to his unexpected arrival: elbows propped on the table, covering her face with her hands.

Before unease could bloom in his chest, Nora's head snapped up, hands frozen mid-air, chapped lips parting. Her eyes—the whites reddened and dry, so definitely exhausted as hell—went round as she took in the unexpected visitor—except he wasn't here to visit.

She'd been burying herself in her research for too long, once again. That must be it. He wanted to tell her off—take breaks and don't forget to drink and fucking blink every now and then—but then the look on her face changed, and so did his priorities.

She gazed at him like she had gazed at the ocean that very first time. He must know; he had watched very closely, unable to look away, just like now. It filled him with a warm sense of unrest, only partially uncomfortable.

Levi almost opened his mouth to say—he didn't know what exactly, but it wouldn't have been a good idea with everything that had happened recently. He forced himself to steer his eyes away from her face, anywhere else, any distraction so he wouldn't—

That was when he noticed their surroundings for the first time. Two jackets, slung over the backs of the two chairs by the desk, one of which she occupied. Then, the godawful mess that was said desk: piles of loose papers, some lying strewn around, a pen here and there, and not one, or two, but three empty teacups. A pair of shoes, carelessly discarded on the floor halfway to the bedroom.

Wordlessly, he went in there, knowing what he would find already, and yep; he couldn't decide if it was even worse than the office. The bed was unmade, the sheets rumpled (of course; he was the one who always took care of that chore since she flat out refused to), and her clothes were spread throughout the room: some on the armchair and a few small piles on the floor.

What had been brewing in the pit of his stomach finally came to a boiling point. He whipped around—she'd been bold enough to follow him, standing in the doorway. "What the hell happened here?" He indicated the mess behind him—the whole damn room—with a jerky swerve of his arm. "What a fucking disgrace."

"I didn't know you'd be back today!" Nora raised her hands with a half-hearted shrug, palms up. Barely even mildly alarmed. The audacity of this woman; if she thought he'd let such nasty behaviour slide, she should think again. Hell, anyone else he would kick out. Literally.

"That's no excuse." Folding his arms, Levi ordered, "Clean up. Now."

"Alone?" she asked, giving him what could only be a pathetic imitation of his glare. Not even lukewarm. Her lower lip jutted out; chapped, maybe, but still soft and full and rosy and… Dammit.

"I'd help, but I have to take it easy, don't I?" Somehow, he was starting to enjoy this. A little. Which was already a little more than he ought to. "On second thought, I wouldn't help. I'm not responsible for this shitty mess."

After a short staring contest, Nora gave in with a sigh, likely realising he wouldn't budge.

He watched her start with the shoes and jackets in the office. Some morbid curiosity must lurk inside the Scout in him after all, because he asked, "So that's how you'd live on your own?"

"The answer is all around you." Nora put the shoes in the rack by the door.

Levi shook his head, more about himself than anything else; he was sure that he usually had impeccable taste, but you couldn't have it all, he supposed. "I've gotten myself involved with an absolute slob."

She hung the jackets on the coat rack, not even looking at him. "And I've got myself involved with an anal-retentive clean freak."

It took some self-control to stay where he was and not grab her and… "Tsk. Filthy pig."

She let out an exasperated groan, rolling her eyes heavenwards. "For fuck's sake—it's just some clothes on the floor and a few things on the desk!" She went there and gathered all papers into two neat stacks, in an order that made sense only to her. It was satisfying to watch, admittedly. "Also, I'm keeping everything perfectly tidy when you're around because I know you're insufferable otherwise. Case in point."

"Don't you talk to me about 'perfectly tidy'. And the only insufferable things here are your attitude and this shitty mess."

Lips pursed, she passed him on her way back to the bedroom—only to launch a surprise attack, trying to punch him in the shoulder. One step to the side and her ridiculous little fist struck nothing but air. Using his foot, he shoved her ass in the right direction.

"Case in point," he repeated mockingly. "Insufferable attitude. When will you learn your manners, brat?"

Nora's eyes were narrowed to near-black slits, anger colouring her cheeks a gratifying shade of red. "Maybe I have learnt them; it's just that you were my teacher."

When she stomped into the bedroom, he followed, picking up the two pieces of clothing nearest to the door while she took the other two by the bed. Levi made the most out of the time and checked out that tasty ass he'd just kicked. His patience was wearing thin now; watching her tidy up didn't quite cut it anymore when all he wanted to do was make her a mess. Hell, he'd just got back. He was back, he was with her. They had done their usual squabbling exactly as it should be—she always gave him a reason—and he had watched and listened to her react, matching him blow for blow, and now he needed to finally greet her properly.

"Oh?" Brows arched, Nora was watching him dump her clothes in the hamper. "Look who's helping, all of a sudden." She put the trousers she was holding back in the wardrobe—apparently clean enough for her taste.

And he couldn't give less of a shit about forming an opinion on the matter.

One blink and Levi had crossed the room, trapping her between the wooden furniture and his body. "Shut up. I'm done with foreplay." He inhaled deeper through his nose, catching just a whiff of the lavender scent of her hair.

More colour flooded her cheeks even as a tiny groove appeared between her brows. "Foreplay?"

He took a step forward, and she took one back, closing what little space had been left between her and the wardrobe. He pressed one hand against it, right next to her head. "C'mon, don't play dumb. It's been two years of this. You know what comes next."

They had now entered the phase where Nora got particularly bad at eye contact. "Well, we're fighting, so I assumed we were gonna keep—"

His free hand snaked around her hip and under her shirt. Beneath his fingertips, he felt the goosebumps rise on her soft skin. That was enough to quicken his heartbeat, to send more blood rushing down south. Before she could move even an inch, the clasp of her bra was undone with a flick of his fingers.

Nora was moving now; lips parted, lids lowered, she clasped his forearm, his hand still beneath her shirt. "What are you doing?" It was barely more than a breath, and definitely not a question. She wasn't actually dumb, after all.

"Exactly what I promised yesterday." He dragged his hand over her waist, his touch slight, coming to a stop beneath the cup of her loose bra, his thumb grazing the underside of her breast. "I'm gonna fuck you senseless," he told her matter-of-factly, looking her straight in the eyes.

Her admonishing scowl was undermined by how her teeth dug into her lower lip, her grip on his arm tightening briefly. "You should rest, you idiot."

"To hell with that. I've had more than enough rest, and I've had far too little of you. That circumstance needs to be rectified." With a sharp intake of air, her eyes squeezed shut. "As long as you don't punch me in the gut, we're golden." He thought for a moment, evaluating the situation in said body part. "Probably even then." Really, the lot of them were overly careful, medics included.

This time, Nora's scowl was more convincing. "You're full of it."

"I'm not, and you know it, brat." She'd seen several times he healed quick. To be fair, it had never hit his organs before, but it had been two weeks. He was fine. Almost. Fine enough for this, without a doubt.

When his hand crept upwards, covering her breast, he felt her answering shudder, and he felt the answer against his palm. All his muscles tightened, long past the point of mere anticipation. "I should be reasonable here and say no," she said, voice resigned and shaky.

His hand was rubbing tiny circles on the soft flesh of her breast. He pressed his lips to the tender spot underneath her ear. "I know what I'm doing. Not that you'll say no, in the first place."

"Fuck you," she half moaned, her pitch elevated—and brought her hands to his chest, bunching his shirt.

Triumph rarely tasted sweeter. "Now we're on the same page."

Next they knew, he was kissing her fiercely before they'd made even a single step towards the bed. He only refrained from carrying her because she'd make a fuss if he lifted something 'heavy' in his state. Ridiculous flyweight was always testing his patience.

Didn't matter, though. Even kissing and touching and tugging on clothes, they eventually made it there, tumbling onto the messy sheets. And messy, too, didn't matter any longer.

One had to get his priorities straight.

###

They lay skin to skin with nothing in between, afterwards, not even bothering to get up to use the bathroom. Nestled in the crook of his neck, Nora started to drift off, surrounded by his scent, his face pressed against the crown of her head.

Didn't her hair tickle his nose, she wondered vaguely. But the lull of his deep, even breathing and the familiar, solid warmth of him were too strong to resist, and she was out before she could ask.

She did not dream a single thing.

#

"Must be strange sharing a bed again after half a month, huh?" Hange said at breakfast, winking as she took a bite of her bread.

Instinctively, Nora's eyes flicked to the side, meeting Levi's—because he, unfortunately, must have done the same. She focused on her plate again, giving a shrug. "It's alright. He is many things, but not a blanket thief."

"No worse than the shitty hospital cot," said Levi's deep and morning-rough voice beside her.

"Why, you flatter me," Nora deadpanned. She hoped her poker face was still firmly in place as she thought back to earlier this morning.

They woke up in the same position she remembered them falling asleep, and the moment after their eyes found each other—before either of them could say so much as "morning"—they were suddenly kissing, deep and slow and intoxicating. She didn't know how it happened.

Then—and she did know how that happened—he rolled her on top of him and was inside her again.

Only after that did they finally leave the bed and take a much-needed shower.

Sometimes, Levi wasn't such a clean freak, after all.

"Fine then," he said. "It's 'alright'." He made one-handed air quotes as he echoed her, not bothering to put down his teacup. "Though not so much because of that annoying smacking you do every now and then."

Nora's lips twitched, either in dismay or amusement, she wasn't sure. "Well, and I didn't exactly miss you complaining about it."

Hange made an undignified sound, the sort one would make spotting a puppy. "You two are adorable, pining for each other yet acting like—"

"Shut it and keep your hooked nose out of our business." Levi glowered at her.

Not for the first time, Nora was thankful for his… Levi-ness. Pining. That was a bit much, wasn't it? Ridiculous. So ridiculous it felt like she was flushing from head to toe.

She leaned back a bit, just in case Hange—whose elbows had crept halfway over the table—intended to pinch her cheek. "What he said, but less mean."

Hange snorted. "Yeah, alright. Doesn't need to be said, anyway."

Nora chose not to respond, waiting for Levi to deny the accusation.

In the end, neither of them answered.

#

They should have come to supper earlier; unlike at breakfast or lunch, the hall was nearly full, accommodating the bulk of the Survey Corps. When Nora and Levi made their way to their usual seat, they were greeted with murmurs all around. Not all of them were swallowed by the ambient noise, the buzz of laughter and chatter.

"Varis said thirty, at least—"

"And he made it out of there? That's crazy—"

Now that he was back on his feet, Nora could kind of see the entertaining side of the gossip. She elbowed Levi as they sat down. "Seems you've got some more fans."

"Hmph." Nothing about him revealed more than mild displeasure, as if he had discovered that his tea wasn't the right temperature. "Maybe I should strip. That'd shut them up quick." He pointed at his abdomen, where the scar was hidden beneath his shirt. "Makes this one look like a scratch." And he indicated the side of his head.

Looking away from his scar as quickly as she could possibly justify, Nora swallowed her discomfort with a sip of water before he could see. "You taking off your shirt won't make it any less impressive, trust me on that." Her gaze skimmed the hall, pausing on the dozen or so soldiers who were still staring with varying expressions on their faces, ranging from unease to awe to undisguised admiration. Okay, this was getting annoying already. "Also, a resounding no from me. Not in front of the female soldiers." Still watching her comrades, she added, "And some of the men."

Levi clicked his tongue, sparing nothing but her and his meal a glance. "You're being stupid."

Nora pierced a potato with her fork and pointed it at him because she knew he hated that. "Don't underestimate the effect you have on people. Aside from scaring them."

Glaring at her fork, he pushed her hand away. She had the suspicion he only did it rather gently so that the potato wouldn't fall. "I don't have much of an 'effect' on people, idiot. Most of them are nowhere near as crazy as you."

Alright, interpreting body language or conversational nuances wasn't her forte, but that one was a no-brainer. It came with being Humanity's Strongest and having that face. Plus, his past was solid evidence. "We talked about this. You slept with dozens of women over the years." She grimaced as she ate the potato, not that there was anything wrong with it.

Levi's frown deepened, eyes skidding back to his plate. "I never said that."

"So am I wrong, then?" Utterly quiet, he took a bite of his food, never once looking anywhere else. The satisfaction of being right tasted acrid on Nora's tongue. "Yeah, thought so. It's simple maths; you're old."

There were a few, every now and then, he'd said the one time they had broached the subject. What was 'a few', in Levi-units, she had wondered then. And she had an inkling; even if she was stingy with her estimation and her interpretation of 'every now and then', considering all the years before they'd met…

It wasn't a big deal. Really, it wasn't. Irrelevant and superficial, not something she bothered her head about. But, insecure and immature and possessive as she apparently was in all matters Levi, Nora still hated the thought of him doing… Doing the things he now did to her to someone else. Any of these things. They were all her things.

Damn that pointless, irrational jealousy. She was only glad that it, for lack of a reason, rarely ever reared its ugly head.

"I'm barely four years older than you, brat," Levi said, indignant, yet continuing to eat. "And not dozens. Besides, most of them were in my Underground days. Best way to blow off steam without beating someone to a pulp. Or worse. Up here, I had titans to kill, so it usually wasn't worth visiting pubs and all the insufferable talking."

Practical as always. Except titans—or anything he had to fight—had never kept him from wanting her. Over and over. Something warm and familiar swelled in her chest, extinguishing the ridiculous flicker of jealousy. Nora suppressed a smile. "Fine. Around two dozen, then."

No further protest from his side, so she must have got close. He squinted at her, choosing offence as his defence. "And your tool of an ex sure was your one and only until we met."

"Almost, though. Taken all together, it was, like, three and a half."

Finally, Levi put down his cutlery. The creases between his brows were particularly pronounced. "You had sex with half a man? Did he make the acquaintance of a titan beforehand, or what?"

"You're horrible." Nora lightly punched his arm, the effect negated by her snicker. Those brow creases smoothed a little as Levi watched her, for some reason not bothering to point out her hypocrisy. Taking a steadying breath, she clarified, "It was just over before it really began, if you know what I mean."

He knew. A muscle in his cheek twitched, but he firmly maintained his habitual grumpy poker face. "Can't say I blame the wimp."

That shut her up for a beat too long. It was stupid, but his incidental sort-of compliments—undeniably displays of his affection—always caught her off-guard, warmed her up a bit. "My fault, then," she said thinly, her sarcasm falling flat.

The steel of his eyes hardened, ensnaring her. "You're finally catching on, brat." Levi's voice was dark, deep and rumbling, and that warmth inside her changed quality, rising a few degrees.

"Will you ever stop calling me a brat?" Nora found herself a little short of breath.

Apparently not caring about their surroundings, he leaned in, leaving just a smidgen more than a hand-width of air between their faces. Thinning, crackling air.

Only then did he ask back, "Will you ever stop being one?"

#

When the Marleyan newspaper arrived, Hange insisted on inviting Ayad to the meeting, as well—in addition to the Special Ops Squad, Varis, and Rob.

Which included everyone who'd taken part in the mission. Save for one.

"They call it a 'vile act' and 'cruel, pointless slaughter'," Hange said, tapping her finger on the newspaper spread before her.

"I mean, they aren't exactly wrong." Nora shrugged. "Except for the 'pointless', hopefully."

She always knew just what to say; the room filled with uncomfortable silence. Not even Ayad made one of his cheeky-wry remarks, although he sat there evidently unaffected, his expression serene. All eyes belonging to a Scout were averted to the table—except for Levi's, meeting hers with an inscrutable look. Why hadn't she kept her sodding mouth shut? All her thoughtless if truthful comment had achieved was making them feel bad and think of Connie, probably.

Hange, mercifully, was the one to recover first and dissolve the gloomy tension. "And did you know? Apparently, we fled the scene without being able to steal anything—or anyone." Her gaze snagged on Ayad.

Surprised, he was not. His only reaction was to put a hand to his chest in a melodramatic manner. "I am deeply offended."

Ah. That must be why Hange had decided to let him in on the news. Why not tell him that his countrymen most likely considered him a lost cause, not worth the trouble? Else, they wouldn't hush up his abduction, add him to the list of casualties. Were they to divulge the truth to the public, voices of unease at the loss of a renowned researcher would rise.

That settled it once and for all; Paradis was Ayad's best bet. Or, more accurately, his only one. And he was now aware of that.

Well played, Commander.

"There isn't much else," Hange said. "I suppose they want to keep it all as much under wraps as possible, considering the mayhem Levi caused."

Lounging in his chair with one ankle crossed over his thigh, he didn't even stir as he answered. "Yeah, pin it all on me. Makes sense."

Armin was half-standing, bending over the table and reading the article upside down. His brows pinched. "They didn't even divulge our numbers."

Now that he mentioned it… The Marleyan government seemed incredibly stingy with information. Then again, aforementioned mayhem. "Maybe they don't know," Nora said. "Maybe no one was left to see."

Just as Armin opened his mouth, Hange spoke up next to her. "Or they don't want the public to know how few of us it took to wipe out an entire base roughly seventy soldiers strong."

All eyes were on Levi, again. He was frowning into space instead of acknowledging their attention.

Sans him, it'd been four of them in the facility, plus Sasha firing from the airship. That was what had been needed to fight their way through roughly as many enemies as Levi had taken on on his own. Not without losses in either case, yes, but the staring was entirely justified. Maybe next time, Nora hoped, she would be in a position to take over more than just a small fraction of all the responsibilities weighing on him. How was it fair that he always had to deal with the shittiest, cruellest parts of missions?

"Where does that leave us, now?" Jean asked.

Sasha followed up with, "Are we in immediate danger?"

"Certainly," Nora said. To be fair, she'd have said the same had he asked anytime before the mission.

"Don't listen too much to Miss Pessimistic, here," Hange hastened to say as the faces of her soldiers fell. "As things stand, I don't think they'll retaliate promptly. Yes, they'll attack eventually, but not because of this, when they don't even want their stolen scientist back and the war with the Mid East is still in full swing. I'd be highly surprised if they risked their shifters now, with all their resources allocated to a more imminent threat."

Prudent or not, she searched Ayad's eyes for confirmation, but the man just shrugged, expression uncharacteristically blank.

"That situation could change from one day to the next, though," Levi said, rendering Nora's effort to for once bite her tongue moot.

Hange gave a nod, the set of her shoulders tensing. No reprimands for pessimism.

"Correct," was all she had to say.

AN: The year is about to end, so here's some fluff (okay okay, I know it ended on an ominous note. How fitting.). A part of this chapter might have been inspired by what Levi said to Zeke once: "I was popular enough."

Also, a nice, round chapter number. Hope you stick around for the next forty! (I'm kidding. I hope.)

Have a good new one. Things are really gonna be different this time around, right? Right?