Wings in the Dark

Chapter 3: Quicksand

*Levi's POV*

You could tell a lot about a person from how they treated animals.

For the Scouts, it was the horses especially that mattered, as they were one of the few lifelines out beyond the walls. With how the horses had avoided L/N with everything they had, people in the vicinity would mutter about how she would never go beyond the walls at this rate, or how she had to be a bad person and the horses were sensing it.

That was one theory to go with.

However, as Levi continued to watch her, he never once saw her get angry or frustrated with them. Sometimes there was sadness, or it looked like she was on the edge of admitting defeat, but she continued to approach them with patient understanding, as if she knew exactly what they were afraid of, and was asking them not to be because she couldn't change it.

Gradually, the dappled grey allowed her to come closer and closer. They started having problems giving someone else the job of cleaning the stables because she was spending so much of her free time in there, and she would clean while there to allow her to spend more time around the horses and give her something else to do besides just sitting there waiting for skittish horses to calm down. She was smart enough to know that she needed more than just one to calm down around her, though she was still putting in the work to form a bond with at least one. In case she was ever in a position where she needed another horse, though, it seemed she wanted the other horses to at least be comfortable with her presence–hence all the time spent in the stables.

If she wasn't out in the field walking with the mare, then she was inside by the horse's stall, leaning against the wall or sitting against the door. Then, at long last, she could be seen walking around side by side with her horse, the lead short and fairly loose. And after a few days holding a treat into the stall and waiting for the horse to feel comfortable coming up to her to eat it out of her hand, she finally made it into the stall. Her hard work was paying off, as now she could be found inside the stall, gently brushing the dappled grey mare while she spoke in soft tones to the horse, continuing to build up the trust and bond between the two of them.

As Levi stepped into the stables, he could hear her speaking softly with the mare, her words underlined with each thoughtful brush stroke.

"There we go...that's a good girl...see, just like I said, nothing to be afraid of. I know I'm scary, you all remind me every time I come in here, but I'm not going to hurt you. I don't want to hurt anyone–I'm just here to help. See, that feels much better, doesn't it? I'm not going to hurt you. I promise as long as I'm around, nothing's going to hurt you. There we go...Steady...Shh..."

Levi's head turned slightly at the subject of her rambling, his gaze following down the line until he spotted the stall his horse was in, not far from L/N's horse.

"You don't mind all my rambling, do you, Zephyr? It's nice to talk to someone, even if they're not going to talk back. I haven't had anyone to talk to in..." She grew quiet, and even the brushing stopped for a moment. Curious. "...too long," she finished, her voice hardly above a whisper.

She seemed to quiet down entirely as Levi risked stepping into the stables, and he realized he had been heard, or at the very least she'd become aware she wasn't by herself. Continuing forward casually, Levi turned his head to look into the stable as he passed, spotting L/N with the brush set off to the side and currently working on undoing any tangles in Zephyr's mane. Their eyes met for a moment, and Levi paused.

"Will she let you ride her, yet?"

She turned away, the faintest touch of red entering her cheeks at the mention of her trouble with the horses. "Not yet. But I don't think it will be much longer before she does."