Deviate | Levi Ackerman x OC

Ch. 8

I fell headfirst into the kind of sleep that is too deep to even dream in. I figured between the exhaustion of my regular daily life and then living an entire 'day' in the dreamscape I'd crash landed into that this was to be expected, but I was a little surprised to find how groggy, yet overall well rested I felt when I began stirring again. I could see that the morning sunlight flooded my room before I even opened my eyes. I was sure Violet would've come looking for me to wake up by now, but maybe she'd had a late night getting in. I certainly wasn't going to complain; I was very snug in my current set up. The farmer's market would still be there for a few hours anyway. A yawn forced its way out and I turned over onto my stomach in my bed. After a few minutes passed and I was sure I wasn't going back to sleep again, I stretched and opened my eyes, quickly understanding why Vi hadn't made herself known yet this morning.

I was still in the room I'd gone to sleep in, the room Levi had walked me to last night, and the room Hange had so affectionately woken me up in yesterday
How could this be? This can't be. Have I completely lost my mind?
I sat up in my bed and looked around. My discarded clothes from the party were in a crumpled pile on the floor and smelled strongly of lingering bonfire even from over here. Some of the dresser drawers were still ajar from when I'd searched through them the night before. A desk across the way had a few books, notebooks, and stacks of paperwork on top of it. The room was otherwise in pretty good shape. I pulled the blanket off of me and got out of bed, making my way over to the bathroom. I don't think I've ever appreciated not having a roommate and having a private bathroom so much in my life.
The mirror greeted me and allowed me to do a much needed self examination. I poked and prodded myself in the reflection, verifying that it was still me looking back. There was something strangely comforting about seeing that I'd retained the things that helped make me 'me', like my body type that I don't always love but still served me well here and the scar above my eyebrow. Seeing these helped to ground me in this otherwise unbelievable state. I ran some cold water and splashed it on my face, sending a quick shock to my system. I'd hoped this would jolt me awake back on the other side but to no avail.

After cleaning myself up a little bit, I walked back out to my bedroom area entirely unsure what to do next. Yesterday I'd had a little help setting the tone and course of action, but I wasn't quite that lucky so far this time around. I heard faint voices from the other side of my door and walked over, putting my ear up to it in an effort to listen more clearly. It felt like the sharp knock that came through at that moment instead rattled my brain from the inside out. I stumbled backwards a bit, clutching the side of my head that just got a little more surround sound than we'd bargained for and opened the door.
It did come as a bit of a shock to find Levi on the other side. He gave me an obvious but quick once over and extended a cup he'd been holding out to me. "I had a feeling this is how your morning would go. Here."
I was immediately a little disgruntled. Holding my now beating inner ear could probably be perceived from the outside as a hangover-induced headache, making Levi all the more smug in his assumptions that I had drank too much last night. Knowing that arguing with him was entirely pointless, I took the cup he offered anyway. I was a little surprised to find it full of water instead of tea but welcomed it after realizing how thirsty I was.

"Levi? What are you doing here?" I could hear Hange ask as they approached.
"Making sure she was alive and capable of delivering her decision to Erwin, Shitty Glasses. No thanks to you," Levi countered, noticeably avoiding the eye contact we'd seemed to build up to yesterday.
Hange laughed at his snarkiness and finally came into view at my doorway, too. "Good morning, Stroi–"
They stopped themselves short, their smiling face dropping a bit as they looked at me. "Uh, still getting ready for the day?"
I pulled my eyebrows together as I watched them, too, give me a brief inspection as Levi had. It was then that I quickly remembered what I'd worn to bed, acutely aware that I've been having these very public conversations in nothing more than an oversized t-shirt that hid my underwear from view. I opened my mouth but no words would come out, immediately stepping backwards out of the doorway and slamming it shut.
I heard Hange snickering from the other side of the door as I hurried to put on a more suitable outfit. Once I'd pulled on a pair of pants and a blouse, I opened it again, undoing the braid in my hair and shaking it out. I tried hard to banish the blush that undoubtedly glowed from my cheeks but something told me I wasn't doing a great job.
"Now, now. You didn't have to do all that for me," Hange teased, clearly amused at my fluster. "I've seen it all and then some. But that probably wasn't the start to the day Shorty here was expecting."
He clicked his tongue at them. "Anything is more ideal than seeing your psycho self first thing in the morning, Four Eyes."
I shook my head and raised my cup to cut them both off before they really got into it.
"Thank you," I lauded Levi. "This kind of liquid courage goes a long way, too. Especially with what I'm about to do."
Hange clapped their hands together eagerly. "Oh, I knew you'd make the right choice, Stroid! I'm so proud of you. You're going to kill it and you'll see – Levi isn't that bad!"
He rolled his eyes at their comment but didn't otherwise engage. I suppressed laughter of my own and stepped out into the hall with the two of them, closing my door behind me. Levi and Hange talked among themselves as we passed through the halls. When I hung a quick right to get to Erwin's office, I felt a hand reach out and grab my arm, directing me forward instead.
"Eat first. I know how your nerves get," Hange said matter-of-factly. "Why you still get nervous with Erwin, I'm not sure, but you'll feel better if you eat something."
I wrapped my own hand around theirs and nestled into their shoulder as we walked. "I love you. Have I told you that?"
"Before? Yes, but not so far today so I'll take it."
"Jesus," Levi complained from behind us. "You two always manage to make me feel like I'm intruding on something intimate."
"Nothing overtly private going on here, just love," Hange corrected as we closed the distance to the dining hall. "You'd learn a thing or two about that if you allowed anyone within a ten mile radius of you."
He huffed at them and broke apart from us to retrieve his tray.

The mess hall was already lively with chatter and banter from our peers and fellow Scouts as they filled the tables before us. I followed closely behind Hange until I noticed them stop. They turned around and handed me a tray and a cup before continuing onward. Mike waved us over as we approached the tables, offering us seats across from him, Gelgar, and Nanaba.
"Morning everyone!" Hange greeted as they took the seat on the end.
I sat beside them, surprised at how well everyone looked despite drinking to their hearts' content so late into the night.
"Good morning indeed," Mike mused across from them, shifting his attention to me. "How are you feeling this bright and early, Attie?"
I pursed my lips as I picked up a piece of bread from my tray. Was my tendency to be a total lightweight a well known fact here, too? I tried to keep my tone even and hoped my mild embarrassment didn't show on my face. "I'm good, really good. Probably wouldn't be the case had I taken Hange here up on their offer to top my drink off, but I'm feeling fine as it stands."
He nodded, smirking slightly and taking a drink from his cup. "Happy to hear it. Already an improvement from the last time."
The table as a whole chuckled quietly but offered earnest eyes and sympathetic smiles to let me know it was all in good fun. I ripped the bread I'd been holding and popped it in my mouth. Hange was excitedly babbling away to Mike and the others about my upcoming meeting with Erwin and I instantly wanted to disappear under the table. This is a lot of attention directly on me first thing in the morning.
"Erwin was telling me about it," Mike confirmed. "Sounded optimistic, but also mentioned you seemed a bit... hesitant?"
"She wasn't hesitant!" They corrected firmly from my left. "She was just... weighing her options. Can you blame her? I mean working daily with me has to be as close to heaven as you can get."
"More closely resembles hell from here," Levi added, putting a tray of his own down on the other side of me. Hange had up until recently taken middle spot in our erratic trio, but being in that rank myself now didn't go unnoticed; this would likely become the new norm if I had to guess as he and I would be spending the most time together we ever have here soon.
"You just wouldn't know what a good time looked like if it swallowed you whole, Captain Clean."
"Something tells me our ideas of a good time are on two very polar opposite ends, Titan Freak."
Mike's eyes had followed their exchange back and forth until he finally met mine in between. "How do you do this?"
I smiled and sighed a little dramatically. "Well I've all but mastered this one here," I nudged Hange lightly. "But that one will probably be something of a learning curve."
"Some of the best of the best no doubt," Nanaba piped up then. "Just a bit of... an interesting dynamic, that's all."
Mike chuckled quietly and nodded at her input. The rest of our meal period continued on this way. I wasn't especially hungry, but Hange was right that eating something improved my budding anxiety. By the time we cleared out, I felt more confident in my decision and a little more prepared to share that with the Commander.