One Million to One || Levi x Reader

king of hearts (2)

Enjoy my loves!!

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"None of it's real," you blurt out.

Levi's hands are still mapping you out, but he eventually settles on just holding your hands. "Explain," he murmurs. "Please."

With pleasure. "The creature. Wait- what have you been doing? Have you been hearing that thing?"

He nods. "Yeah. This place is a fucking maze, though. Not sure where it is."

"That's because it's not real."

"...We can't possibly be having joint hallucinations," Levi says slowly.

That makes you smile. "No," you agree, "but I think the King of Hearts set something up in here. Speakers. Look, I- shit. Okay, no flashlight anymore. But I had a flashlight," you explain. "And there's no marks on the floor or the walls. Nothing. Just perfectly good floorboards and drywall. If the thing's got the claws that I keep hearing-"

"I hear those too."

You nod encouragingly. "Then they've got to be tearing into something, right? There's no way the floors and walls would be coming out unscathed. It's made up. Either- either a hallucination, but if everyone's seeing- I mean, if everyone's hearing the same thing, then there's probably some technology at work."

Levi's nodding along, which is comforting. "Right. It's all made-up."

"All made-up. I was guessing, but when we were- when we separated and you were trying to find me and we heard our own voices coming from different places. It's definitely some sort of speaker system. Maybe in the vents."

His shoulders dip. Not only does he believe you, but you've filled him with confidence. "So don't believe anything we hear," Levi says, "and go upstairs."

"Right."

"And we watch our step."

"Right," you repeat, kicking some of the debris on the ground away from you. "I'm wondering, though. Is your heartrate up? Are you a little more freaked out than normal? I'm wondering if they drugged us, but I'm not sure with what. Or maybe it's just the tightness of the hallways and the darkness. I didn't think I was claustrophobic, but I might be."

"As much as I could listen to you talk all day," Levi murmurs, squeezing your hands, "save your energy. We've got a lot of stairs to climb."

You groan. "Don't remind me."

There's a pause, where neither of you move despite the urgency of the situation. You don't care to: you savor the moment to reset yourself, grateful that you found him and that you're going to do this together. 

Okay. Your shoulders rise and his do in sync with you. Deep breath in, deep breath out.

"Hold onto my arm," Levi mutters, and you wrap your arms around his without question. "Alright. We take this slow. Do you remember what way to go?"

"No," you admit, and together, you start to walk. "But I think the next staircase upstairs is near the comatose guy on the ground."

You can't see it, but you can picture fairly clearly the look that Levi's shooting you. "Who?"

"I nearly tripped over him. The growling was loudest then," you explain. "Probably trying to keep me moving."

"Stairs here," Levi says, and together, you slowly make your way up the staircase. "I kept getting turned around. I heard the fucker but I couldn't figure out from where. These damn floors are larger than they look from the outside."

"It's all the narrow hallways." You reach the top step, and you're back on the floor you were on prior. When the beast first came after you. "Fear of the dark, fear of the unknown, claustrophobia- all pretty traditional fears. We'll probably see fear of heights at one point."