Deviate | Levi Ackerman x OC

Ch. 35

It was late afternoon when I emerged and made my way across HQ, the sun a warm gold as it began its gradual transition into the evening. I saw a lot of friendly faces returning from various trainings for dinner, offering tired greetings in passing along the way. When I arrived at the stables, I saw Levi tightening the straps of a saddle bag he'd secured on his horse. He walked around to inspect the other side and when it, too, got the all clear, he reached out to pet the animal on its muzzle. I silently observed from the entrance, feeling my heart swell.
"You're right on time," he called out to me without looking up.
"Did you expect me to be late?"
"Expect? No, but it wouldn't be the first time."
I scoffed sarcastically, approaching him finally. "What are we doing here?"
"We're not doing anything here," he clarified as if it were obvious, leading me over to and helping me onto my horse. He stopped there, though, not elaborating further as he stepped into the stirrup and pulled himself up and onto his own, too.
"Le–"
"Let's go," Levi stated definitively, picking up the reigns in his hand and taking off. Completely clueless, I knew my wisest bet was to simply follow suit, so I gathered my own reigns and cued my horse to head out behind him.

We took off quickly but kept a steady pace for a bit. There weren't many people along our route but those we did pass provided polite smiles and kept their whispers or commentary about 'Humanity's Strongest' mostly among themselves. The atmosphere around us was calm, cool, and comfortable; a much needed literal breath of fresh air. I was so consumed in enjoying the ride and this time away from headquarters that I hadn't noticed we were nearing the wall. Levi was still far enough ahead that I'd have to yell for him to hear me ask where we were going again, so I refrained. When he stopped and I finally caught up with him, I hurried to dismount and got to work tying up my horse beside his. He had undone the bag he brought and draped it over his shoulder, looking over at me. "Ready?"
"For what?"
He didn't answer my question, instead opting to shoot his grappling hooks out and propelling himself up the wall without another word. I sighed and shook my head, getting my horse situated the rest of the way and sizing up the blockade in front of me. I took a breath and repeated the action myself. No matter how many times I did this, there was something so unreal about being here, flying through the air in ways I'd only ever previously dreamed about. I closed my eyes and tried to savor this moment and this feeling before it inevitably slipped away.
By the time I joined him, Levi had a blanket laid out on the paved surface. He took his time and particular care as he pulled several more items out of his bag as I approached, including a brown paper bag, a field thermos, and two canteen cups. I raised an eyebrow at him and attempted to scale back my smile when his sterling eyes finally met mine, his expression a little sheepish.

"Levi Ackerman..."
"Tch, don't make it weird."
"Right, sorry," I tried to keep it collected despite wanting to completely fall to pieces. "... You did all this for me?"
He let out a huff. "Well I couldn't exactly send you off to those piece of shit MP's without formally throwing my own name in the ring."
It was my turn to snort at him. "There is no ring. Only you – it's only ever been you."
This brought out a discrete smile from him and I hurried to have a seat, too. The view from up here was incredible, spanning out across the land in all directions further than I imagined possible. The sky was a deep orange color by now as the sun inched closer to the horizon. He handed me one of the metal cups and the warmth of its contents immediately told me it was tea he'd packed for us. Levi unwrapped the brown paper bag further to reveal pieces of bread and other baked goods.
"Where did you get these?" I asked as he passed one to me.
"When we went into town for Hange to pick up your... attire? For this operation. It isn't much but–"
"No, it's absolutely perfect," I smiled at him, reaching over to catch him in a one armed hug. "Thank you."
I heard him take a breath and felt him kiss my head softly.
It was nice being up on the wall like this without an imminent threat facing us, although I was still somewhat on alert and regularly scanned for anything that would require our attention or intervention. I'd lost track of how much time we'd spent up here eating, talking, and enjoying each other's company but before long, the sun was setting on our day. After helping Levi clear and pack up the items he'd brought, I laid down on the blanket to get some quick stargazing in before we inevitably headed back.
"I don't think I could ever get tired of this."
"Yeah, I learned that about you pretty quickly," he mused from beside me.
"I mean all of this," I clarified, immediately second guessing if I should get this mushy but pushing through anyway. "You included."
I heard him let out a sigh. I couldn't see his face directly but something told me he didn't wear his usual irritated expression. My anxiety made me want to disappear into the darkness when he didn't immediately offer a response but I knew Levi was a man of fewer words and his actions today alone spoke more than anything.