The Good Captain | Levi x Reader

Chapter Eight

Levi awoke before dawn with a massive headache. Nothing new there. He decided there was no point in trying to go back to sleep, so he decided to wake up.

The best way to start the day was to drink a cup of fresh black tea, so that's exactly what he did. He stood under the overhang of his personal cabin overlooking the training grounds, just like the day you had twisted your ankle in the rain. A few cadets followed your example and tried to get up early to start doing warmup exercises before Shadis called everyone together. Even though you weren't out on the field with them, you were still a big influence on the others.

He noticed this as he watched the recruits start their training for the day. Sometimes a group of them would run across a problem, look at each other and say "What would (Y/N) do here?" If that wasn't a testament to your character he didn't know what was.

After a morning of doing what he's actually at the training grounds to do for his job, he decided to go visit you, making sure to bring along the book he just finished. As he walked he noticed he's felt strangely happier during the past week. He chalked it up to not having to deal with his regular work back at HQ.

He knocked twice on your door, waited for your faint "Come in," and then entered, seeing you standing in front of the door. He resisted the urge to put his arms around you in case you lost your balance, but then he remembered it was ok for you to put some weight on your leg now.

You limped back to your bed as he closed the door.

"Hi." He said.

"Good afternoon, Captain." you said. He looked confused, probably wondering why you chose to use his honorific. It was because you were trying to get yourself more used to the prospect of him being your direct commander in the near future, but you hadn't told him that yet.

"I want to go on a hike." You blurted.

"No." Said Levi.

"Oh, come on. I've barely left this stupid room for days."

"You only just started walking. Maybe in a few days. I'll check with the nurse for you."

You smiled. "How did I get so lucky? The captain of the scout regiment is taking care of me..."

He ignored your comment, instead looking down in his hands, where he held another book intended for you. "Here." He extended his arm to you with the book. Your fingertips brushed as you took it from him, and read the cover. It was another romance novel, of course. A good one to add to the pile you had been collecting.

In turn, you retrieved the two you were able to finish and handed them back to him. Levi was like your own personal library, which only gave you the most amazing and compelling stories to read.

"How did you like them?" He inquired.

The two of you spent a few hours discussing the two books, talking about the characters and the challenges they had to face. Levi had a surprising amount of opinions on the workings of love in these kinds of books. He saw it more as an action than a feeling, and felt that the characters only really fell in love when they started actively caring about each other, rather than 'falling in love' at quick first glances.

"So you don't believe in love at first sight?" you asked him.

"I think that a moment like that can lead to love." He paused. "Think of it this way. Someone can have a natural affinity for something, like combat or even qualities like leadership, but it takes time and effort to develop those things, and once they're developed they become actually skilled with the subject matter."

His eyes shone with passion. "It's the same way for love. Two people can glance at each other by chance, but only if they act on the feelings can it really come true. And this can be applicable when two people seem to stop loving each other, too. You'll see them stop making an effort to do things for each other. They stop talking and spending time with each other, and then they just grow completely apart."