Blue and White - Levi Fanfiction

Ch. 08 - The High Rollers

By the time we got home, I wasn't sure who had spent more time in the lead nor even really who won. If you counted the winner as to who reached the rooftop first, it had been me. I had pulled ahead right at the end with a bubbling sort of laughter passing through my lips. But if you counted the winner as to who reached the door first, it would go to Levi, because he dropped down from the rooftop with ease to open the door for us, letting me through first.

If you ask me, I counted the winner as who stepped through the doorway first and into our home, meaning it was me. And anyway... I won two out of three of those thresholds, which meant I was the overall winner. So.

Regardless, when the door was closed behind us, Farlan greeted us from the couch. "You were gone for a while," he said cheekily. "Naughty business?"

"Absolutely not," I said, rolling my eyes. "Is that all you think about?"

Farlan pouted dramatically, jutting his bottom lip out in a distinctly childish, yet incredibly funny, way. "I get lonely."

That got a laugh out of me and I shook my head incredulously at him. I knew he was joking, and I knew he was just trying to get a reaction out of us, but it worked on me, anyway. "You're ridiculous."

When Levi started to undo the belts and straps and began taking the gear and harness off, I followed suit. Unhooking the gear itself was easy enough, for they were hooked to the belts in a rather straightforward way. The only challenge doing that was removing the gear set behind me and doing it in a way that wouldn't let them tangle impossibly. I set the pieces down gently, but peeked over often to see how Levi was doing it.

He started on the harness and straps and I followed suit... or tried to, anyway. My uncertainty in doing this and how to do it must have shown on my face because Farlan chuckled. "Start from the top," he told me, but did not stand to help or further guide me. When he'd come inside, he had put his gear away already. "That's the easiest way."

I loosened the strap across my chest and from there I could shimmy my shoulders out of the harness, but after that, I was lost again. Levi slowed in his movements, and upon noticing my hesitation to go any further, began putting the straps about his hips and legs back on. "Watch," he said simply, and I did.

"Thank you," I said gratefully as I followed his example. I finally was able to step out of the gear - after having to take my shoes off, a step I had forgotten about - and held the tangled mass in front of me, grimacing. "How do I..."

"Don't ball them up," Farlan told me. "I made that mistake once. When I did, the next time we tried getting the gear on for a job, all the straps were tangled together."

Levi gathered his gear into his arms and headed to a small closet. "He's forgetting to mention that we missed a job because of that shit. We lost hundreds that day."

"Whatever," Farlan muttered defensively. "We made that money back, didn't we? We just got an unintentional day off. I thought it was fine."

"You put us a day behind schedule," Levi said. "And yet you haven't gotten us any closer to making that day up."

"Well," Farlan said with a smile. Levi had opened the closet and inside were several hooks modified to hold the gear. "I feel like Amaya's plan more than made up for it."

"Amaya's plan," Levi reminded him as he hung his straps up, then set the pieces of the gear down neatly in a box set on the floor. "Not yours."

When he was done putting his things away, Levi turned and reached for mine. I hadn't been expecting it, but I let him take the harness and belts away from me. Levi set them on an unused set of hooks and I watched over his shoulder as he did so I could figure out how to do it on my own. He then took the metal boxes, the fan mechanism, and all that was left.