Ymir's Necklace: The Secret You Hold | Levi x Reader

Glare

LEVI

Levi sat there, amidst the familiar faces of Gabi, Falco and others, spooning up the Tuesday stew that, he noticed, tasted slightly spicier than usual.

His attention to detail had always been acute, noticing changes that others might overlook—like the way Gabi's auburn hair seemed longer those days, or the soft shadow of facial hair on Falco's face. Levi wondered if other people paid attention to such things as well.

Yet, it was you who caught his gaze that day, as you entered the dining tent with a light jog that made your long skirt swirl around your legs. Levi was struck by the peculiar intensity in your eyes.

Who is this woman? He asked to himself as his gaze followed your figure. That day was the first time he had ever laid his eyes on you. You had to be new to the camp.

As you took your seat beside Jelena, on the table opposite him and the children (who seemed to dominate every space with their energy), Levi noticed there was a depth to your stillness. You ate quietly, your lips—a focus of your expressions—parting for the spoon, reflecting a mind caught in thought.

Levi involuntarily found himself trying to figure out what you might've been thinking just then. It irked him just how intrigued he was by your sudden presence.

Beside you, Jelena's laughter spilled over, her hand on your arm in mid-story, but you offered only a half-smile, your attention tethered to something unseen.

Then, your gaze found Levi's.

The connection was startling, an arrow of recognition that seemed to pierce him directly. His breath hitched, a sense of vulnerability washing over him as if you saw him too clearly. To Levi, it felt profoundly disarming, this look that held none of the pity or fear others cast his way, but something else entirely—intense, unflinching.

'Who's that?' Levi whispered, an uncharacteristic curiosity in his voice. Falco's response was louder than intended,

'Oh, that's (Y/n). She's from here, from Liberio'.

According to what Falco then began to explain to him in detail, you were an Eldian refugee, and you had been working at the hospital, caring for those bruised by life's cruelties.

Levi found himself unable to break away from your gaze as he stopped listening to Falco's rambling. He began to notice the delicate veins at your neck, becoming increasingly curious at the story each mole and mark upon your skin might tell.

His eyes lingered on the pendant you clutched with your hands, a silent statement of something that seemed so precious to you. It seemed as if you were trying to conceal it - or protect it, Levi could not tell.

The moment stretched, a silent dialogue in glances and breaths held too long. Then, as your cheeks flushed a telling shade of red, Levi wondered if you understood the weight of this gaze, if you recognized him for who he was.

And in that moment of shared vulnerability, as you looked away, he was left to ponder the inexplicable paths that had led you both here, to this instant of involuntary yet striking connection. Did you see the blush that crept up his own cheeks, a mirror to your embarrassment?

In this dance of glances and the unspoken, Levi found himself ensnared by the mystery of you, the why and how of never having noticed you before. Amidst the ruins of Liberio, had you always been there, a presence he had somehow missed until now? How was that even possible?

It made no sense, and yet, here you were, caught in the gravity of a moment neither could fully understand.