Bargain (Levi x Reader)

Chapter 3: Obsession

As promised, Wrath allowed Levi to return to the mortal world after he had bathed and slept. But instead of sending him back herself, she had a servant do it. In fact, Wrath didn't even bother to see him before he left. Perhaps she had finally given up on her "loving wife" act.

Levi didn't care. The only thing that concerned him was returning to the mortal world and finally, finally fulfilling his promise to Erwin. And hopefully not losing any more comrades in the process.

He had dressed in the least-opulent outfit he could find in Wrath's wardrobe, not wanting to draw attention to himself when he returned to the mortal world. Thankfully, he was able to find a relatively nondescript pair of black pants, along with a white button-down. The fabric was much finer than anything he – or most people, for that matter – could have afforded, but no one would notice as long as they didn't get too close. His ODM gear was busted, so he didn't bother trying to strap it on before he left.

When he finally got back, Levi was surprised to find that the servant had sent him to his room at Scout Regiment Headquarters, rather than dropping him in the forest that he had entered from. Oh, well. At least he didn't have to trudge through the trees in the middle of the night – or face the rest of his titan subordinates, if no one else had killed them already.

Speaking of, it seemed that Wrath had been right about time passing differently in the mortal world. While it had been morning when he left her house – or so he thought, since his windowless room made it difficult to be sure – it was just after midnight here. But despite the hour, he wasn't about to try sleeping again. On top of the fact that he had just woken up, he didn't have any of Wrath's magical bubble bath to soothe away his depressing thoughts. Thus, if he slept, it wouldn't exactly be a pleasant experience.

Instead, he went down to the kitchen and made himself a pot of black tea. Just as he was sitting down to drink it, Hanji entered the mess hall. In the dim lighting, she didn't notice him right away. It was only when he said her name that she whirled in his direction, dropping the stack of papers that she had been holding.

"Tch," Levi hissed as he rose from his seat. "You always make such a mess, Four-eyes."

He bent down and started scooping up the scattered documents, not bothering to put the pages in order, since Hanji's distinct lack of a system meant that there were no numbers on them, anyway. Both Moblit and Armin had tried to fix that, but there was only so much you could do in the face of such sheer disorganization. At least Hanji seemed to know where everything went most of the time, or else they would all be lost.

While Levi worked, Hanji remained frozen, gaping at him. Her arms were still outstretched from throwing her papers. She didn't move or speak until he had gathered all of the pages and set them on a nearby table.

"Levi!" she finally managed to gasp. "You...you're alive!"

And then she was on him, wrapping him in a bone-crushing hug and laughing hysterically. She lifted his small frame from the ground, pressing her cheek against his as she spun around aimlessly, nearly making him nauseous. "I can't believe it! We all thought you were dead!"

With an irritated grumble, Levi managed to pry himself from her grasp, brushing the wrinkles out of his fine clothes. "Oi, didn't I tell you not to pick me up? And what are you rambling about, anyway?" he muttered flatly.

He met Hanji's gaze, and it was only then that he saw the tears in her eye. Instantly, he felt a pang in his chest. Hanji may have been annoying at times, but she was the only person he had left – the only one from before. He didn't want her to be upset.

"We saw what happened in the forest," Hanji explained quietly. She wasn't smiling anymore. "We knew that Ackermans couldn't be turned into titans, but we also couldn't find any trace of you, and we thought...I thought..."