The Humanity's Strongest & The Graceful

The Humanity's Strongest & The Graceful Soldiers

A Few Days Later

Location: Scout Headquarters

Tessa's POV:

The morning sunlight shines brightly in the office, bringing life to the room with the rustling of papers flipping to the sound of a pen touching the canvas echoes gently. An empty teacup rests on the desk next to the neatly stacked files as a foot taps against one of the legs of the wooden surface, followed by an exhausted sigh filling the room. Suddenly the tapping foot stops and another sigh escapes the lips of the woman sitting in the desk chair as she drops the papers in her hand. She has been at this for hours, not because it is taking too long but because she needs to keep her mind busy. The once peaceful nights are now sleepless and filled with tears. All because of the news the Scouts received that made everything change.

Yesterday

The Scouts were unaware of the events which transpired after leaving Wall Maria until returning to their headquarters inside Wall Rose around midafternoon yesterday. After walking into the courtyard, Tessa and Hange were the first to hop off their horses to direct in instructing the wounded and medics as Levi, Erwin, Miche, and Kip stood off to the side, watching them take the injured into the medical wing with the physicians trailing behind the two women. Though everyone's spirits were failing, they were thankful for Tessa's warming smile and gentle nature because they needed it, especially after the burdensome journey. After stitching so many cuts and paperwork filled out, Tessa, Hange, and the rest of the team could finally breathe before they left for their quarters. While walking through her office, Tessa lets an exhausted sigh, ignoring the knots in her back until she leans against the door, causing her entire body to feel like it is on fire. She never realized how many kinks and knots she had until she struggled to breathe while peeling the jacket off her tightened torso, only to wince from her back to pop the more she moved.

Realizing there's no choice, Tessa waits until her body stops throbbing before removing the rest of her uniform, "Fucking hell, I'm getting old," She groans while trying to gain momentum to push herself off the door, only for her to fall back which causes her to yelp, "I really need to stop giving Levi shit about being older than me because it's biting me in the ass now." She says through bated breaths before pushing herself off again, leading her to finally move across the cobblestone flooring to the bedroom while undoing the ODM straps, which have confined her breasts since they left for the expedition. With those out of the way, Tessa hangs them in the closet before working on taking off her boots to put them in there as well. After grabbing different clothes and a towel, Tessa goes to the bathroom for the awaited shower to feel the hot water hitting her back and washing away the grime while putting her hair into a messy bun before undressing and stepping in. As she expected, the heat from the water relaxed her tense muscles while rubbing the kinks from her shoulders, allowing a soft hum to escape and for her to enjoy a well-deserved break.

Levi's POV:

After returning home, I watched Tessa and Hange take the injured into the medical wing to help them with their injuries, but I hadn't seen Tessa since she took the first wounded Scout inside to dress their wounds. That was three hours ago, and Tessa was nowhere in sight because when I went to the ward, Hange was still there. I didn't have to say anything to Hange for her to know why I was there because she pointed upstairs, to which I nodded before leaving, with Kip staying by my side while heading upstairs. Over the past year, I've noticed Kip becoming more attached to me because if he isn't by Tessa's side, then he would be by mine. A pattern started forming in Kip's demeanor with the two of us, which Tessa figured out during the third night of my nightmares since Kip would be by my side of the bed at night, while during the day, he would be by Tessa's. We suppose it's his way of watching over us since our insomnia likes keeping us up at night even without the dreaded nightmares.