Wings in the Dark

Chapter 14: Creatures of the Dark

*Levi's POV*

When the Scouts finally came back from the expedition, practically Levi's entire crew took a day to rest and recuperate. Levi was tired, though of course being the insomniac he was, that just meant he spent most of his day stationary doing reports and paperwork or having a relaxing cup of tea, got three hours of sleep on the first night instead of two. There were a lot of quiet hours spent in his office for once. It helped Y/N and Gunther were staying in and sleeping the rough expedition off. Petra, Oluo, and Eld weren't at headquarters, they had gone home to family for a couple personal days, which was usual for them after a long expedition.

It had been a long one. Between the massacre, the close call with Gunther, and a few scrapes on the way back, everyone was tired. They hadn't had another incident like the behind the line massacre, though. Y/N had been sharp as their blades after that massacre, keeping her senses well-tuned to pick up any trouble around or within the formation to avoid another massacre. Of course, she couldn't do anything about the right wing, just the left wing with her current position so the Scouts didn't get out without any incidents.

He got his routine reports out of the way, first, while he had these few hours of quiet peace. An official performance report for the rookie that wasn't entirely a fully-fledged member of his Special Ops Squad was the first of that official paperwork, followed by a report about the massacre, and how Gunther got his injuries. Once the important, official stuff was finished, he wrote the under-the-table report for Erwin about how Y/N's vampire senses had worked mostly unhindered in the field. Pros and cons, which meant he mentioned how she hadn't caught the Titan within the ranks until it had eaten through part of the ranks, but she did adjust with the new information going forward. And he also mentioned the struggle with her bloodlust when she ran into the massacre. But besides those two situational incidents, Erwin's plans could continue to develop as planned--that wasn't in the report, that was just Levi's opinion. She'd already fixed one issue, and she had a tentative plan for fixing the other.

Though Levi wasn't too keen at the risk that posed, how his squad would be around her when she was fighting her thirst like dangling meat in front of a starving wolf.

But he'd seen her control in action, too. If she said she could handle it...he would give her the chance to prove it. She'd at least agreed to give herself a cushion of distance if it got bad enough, which was a bit of reassurance in his mind, at least.

The first day back passed uneventfully, besides the report writing. The next day started mostly normal--he didn't have training with Y/N today, since the squad had a couple days off, so he exercised alone, got cleaned up and had breakfast alone in his office. He had to do a few more stray tasks for the day, and he was going to help in delivering any remaining notices of death a little later in the day. When that was finished, he made himself a cup of tea, white sage and all, and sat down in his chair with a sigh, a gloomy mood hanging over him when he settled down, sipping on his tea in the pressing silence of his office as he stared off at nothing in particular, drifting off into his thoughts...

There was a knock on the door, pulling Levi out of his ruminations as his gaze flickered to the door. "Yes?"

The knob turned, and in walked Y/N, head peeking around the corner as she stepped just inside, mostly closing the door behind you and leaving it open a crack, which told him she wasn't planning on staying.

"Captain," she said respectfully in way of greeting, a hand lingering on the door's edge. "You wanted me to tell you when I went out, from here on out?"

Levi's eyebrows rose slightly in surprise, and he studied her a little closer, gaze roaming across her body and expression for signs of fatigue. Which there were. A day and a half of rest, and she looked tired, a little slow even--maybe irritable, as well. She was a little paler than normal, her eyes a little dull, but besides that...