𝕮𝖆𝖙𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖘𝖎𝖘 - [𝙇𝙚𝙫𝙞 𝙭 𝙢𝙪𝙩𝙚!𝙛𝙚𝙢!𝙊𝘾] { COMPLETE }

𝐂𝐡 𝟗: 𝐒𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬

Luckily the soldiers were in the dining hall making a ruckus so sneaking into the kitchen to grab food was an easy task. However, I didn't account for the possibility of running into Hange in the hallway, which became an increasingly more awkward situation.

"Ah, Artemisa, there you are! I was looking for you earlier. Are you not eating with us?"

"No, sorry. I have... to clean," I lied.

"You're cleaning with... a slice of bread?" Hange's eyebrows bent in confusion, her glasses glinting against the torchlight. "You do realize we have cleaning supplies."

"I know. Thanks, commander."

I scampered off to my room to pack my stuff before bringing it to Levi's room, making sure to avoid any wandering cadets who might have been in the hallways. When I opened the door, Levi was already collapsed on the bed half asleep, his empty plate and teacup set carelessly on the nightstand.

LEVI'S POV:

I heard the door creak open and rustling noises coming from the end of the bed.

I slipped out of the sheets and rubbed my eyes groggily as I witnessed a certain redhead conjuring a makeshift nest of pillows on the floor.

I was standing right over her as she was leaning down to the floor, but she must've not heard me get out of bed so I put a hand on her shoulder to signal my presence. She flinched at my touch.

"Sorry, I ran into Hange. I told her I was doing some late-night cleaning in here."

"You'll get hypothermia sleeping on the floor like that, you know. Besides, I washed those pillowcases myself this morning and I'm not about to let you get them dirty if I can help it."

I patted my bed, looking at her expectantly.

"No... I couldn't. If I can't sleep on the floor, then I'll just go back to my room."

She gathered her pillows and was headed for the hallway, but I blocked her path with my arm.

"So stubborn," I muttered to myself as I hoisted her up bridal-style and plopped her on my bed.

"Captain!" She yelped.

"Just sleep right here. And no calling me 'captain' in here. In my room, you'll call me Levi. That's an order, lieutenant."

What the hell am I doing? Only Hange and Erwin have ever been allowed to call me by my first name.

"So I can't call you captain but you can call me lieutenant? That's not very fair."

"I've never been very fair to my subordinates. You of all people should have figured that out by now."

Silence blanketed the room as she arranged the pillows on the bed so that there was a ridge of pillows cutting the bed into two halves.

"What's that for," I nodded towards the barricade.

"Just to keep us separate while we sleep."

ARTEMISIA'S POV:

Levi let out a low hum before laying down and extinguishing the oil lamp on his side of the bed. Mine was still on, though, and it illuminated Levi's toned backside through his shirt. He looked almost angelic, laying there in all white. I found myself standing at the side of the bed gawking but was put to halted when Levi rolled over to face me.

"So, lieutenant, what do you want me to call you?"

"Artemisia," I signed my name and allowed the SMT to translate, but Levi's eyes were following my hands, not my face.

"How do you do that?"

"How do I do what?"

"How do you... you know..." Levi moved his fingers around haphazardly, trying to mimic my sign language. "How do you do that?"

I chuckled silently and slowly reiterated the signs that spelled my name. "Like this."

Yet again, Levi's eyes were intently soaking in the movements of my hands and fingers, but his rendition of it came up short, as expected.

I climbed onto the bed and began teaching him how to spell my name in sign language, along with some other basic phrases. I eased my hands towards his and repositioned his fingers whenever he got a hand position wrong, using it as an excuse to touch his hands and discover if my theory about them being soft was correct. He didn't seem to mind the physical contact.

Am I a hypocrite? I was so angry with him for touching me without asking but here I am doing that very thing to him. Oh well, he isn't complaining so I guess that's a good sign.

___

I wasn't sure how late we had stayed up before I found myself dozing off, but my eyes were burning with tiredness so I laid down and went to sleep on my side of the pillow ridge.

At one point, I woke up in the middle of the night and panicked when I saw a figure towering over me on my side of the bed. I flailed around frantically, trying to shake Levi awake in the event that it was Eren, but a familiar hand patted my head and I realized it was Levi who was standing by the bed.

"It's just me, Temi. You forgot to turn the lamp off."

My cheeks burned pink at the sound of the nickname. The lamp dial made a clicking sound as he turned the flame off.

"Sorry, I just thought—"

"I know. But you're safe here."

The bed shifted as Levi settled back in. We were now completely in the dark, and the steady rhythm of his breathing filled the room with such calming ambiance.

"Levi."

A lethargic hum sounded from the other side of the bed.

"You know, back when you and the commanders came to interrogate me and Eren, you didn't even know the whole truth and you still defended me. Why?"

Levi grunted, rolling onto his side to face me. He propped his head up with his hand, looking me in the eyes with a strangely gentle intensity. "I knew he was lying. That's why I defended you."

No, there is another reason. The Levi Ackerman I know wouldn't defend just anyone. Not for a weak reason like that.

"Why do you ask?"

"I just..." I faltered. "Never mind."

There was silence again, this time without Levi's breathing noises, much to my disappointment.

I rolled over to face the wall but heard rustling noises and Levi's voice reverbing deeply behind me.

There has to be another reason...