Blessed be the Fruit, May the Lord burn this place down ┃a levi ackerman AU

Chapter 2: The Ceremony

The handmaid was on her knees in the living room waiting for the Commander, it was already dark outside, and she was waiting for him for quite a while now. It gave her plenty of time to overthink about her situation. In a few moment she will have her first Ceremony, at that simple thought her hands began to shake. Suddenly the door opened, Oferwin took a side glance and saw Levi and the Martha entering, she held her breath 'it's happening' she thought. Levi looked tensed too even if he tried to hide it, how could he not be? He was a driver, it's not like he ever thought he would have to help someone ra- for a Ceremony...

Finally Commander Smith entered the living room, the woman quickly looked back at the floor not wanting to meet the man's eyes. She heard him heading towards the fireplace in front of her and taking the Bible that was locked in a little box, women weren't allowed to read in Gilead, it's been so long since Oferwin ever read anything she was not quite sure if you would still be able to read to be honest, her mother had taught her to read even if it wasn't allowed, as far as she remembered she loved to read the books her parents were buying at the black market. "Let's read a verse before proceeding; 'And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die. And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her. And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.". The Commander closed the Bible and put it back in the box, he headed towards the handmaid, and helped her stand up by taking her hand. He leaded her to his bedroom, the entire time not letting go of her hand, her whole body was already shaking, she could feel Levi following them.

Commander Smith motioned her to sit on the bed, he then looked at Levi, the smaller man hesitated, but like Oferwin, he seemed to not have a choice and after closing his eyes for a second he sat on the bed, behind her.

The Commander was standing in front of her, unzipping his pants, with a little push on her shoulder he motioned the handmaid to lie down. Her head was in between Levi's legs, she closed her eyes immediately as the Aunts told her it would be easier that way and put her hands up on the black haired man's legs. Levi's surprisingly soft hands were holding her wrists. She held her breath in apprehension as she felt the Commander lift up her red skirt to her waist and take out her panties, his fingers touching her tights in the process made her feel even more vulnerable that she already was. Oferwin bit her bottom lip as she heard the Commander unzipping his pants, she knew he would have to 'take care of himself' first before continuing. The woman tried to remind herself every steps of the Ceremony as she was taught at the Red Center. Suddenly the handmaid opened her eyes, she felt fingers on her womanhood, the Aunts had taught her some men didn't like to use lubes and prefered the 'natural way'. The muscles in her tights started to clench as the Commander kept caressing her folds. Tears started to form itself in her eyes, she blinked rapidly to not let them rain on her face. As much as her mind didn't want to, Oferwin's body began to react to the Commander's touch and soon she was wet enough. Levi pressed her wrists a bit more, she looked at his troubled grey eyes when suddenly without any warning, the Commander entered her, the handmaid moaned in pain, the driver pinched his lips as he traced circles under her wrists with his thumbs. The woman chocked in her tears, she never had a man inside her before and the Commander had fully entered her walls in one movement, without consideration, he was now going back and forth. The pain was much more important than the Aunts had told her, she could feel her walls trying to stretch, the blonde man's breath became more erratic as he fastened his pace. Levi was still looking at her, if left like his gaze was locked in hers, locked in this humiliating moment. With one last stroke Oferwin felt the Commander cuming into her, a warm liquid filling her inside, and all she could think about is that she wanted to throw up.. The Commander took his member out and zipped his pants up; "She needs to stay like this for a moment. Watch her." he said to Levi as he left the room.

Her body felt cold, she felt like a used trash bag, left in the sidewalk. Levi let go of her wrists and with a quick movement of his hands he covered he lower half with her skirt. She felt numb, Levi wiped her tears with his thumb, the black haired man had a frown on his face, they both stayed there for a few minutes, Levi wiping her cheeks every time a tear was leaving her eyes. No words were exchanged but she felt a little bit safer. After this he escorted her back to her bedroom, the Martha was already waiting for her there, Levi left Oferwin with her, before leaving he whispered to her ear "Don't let them see how much they broke you...". She spent the night in her bed, the Martha running her fingers in her long dark brown hair, "My name is Ruth", an almost unnoticeable smile appeared on the handmaid's face, they weren't supposed to know theirs names, back in the Red center she remembered in how much trouble an handmaid got because she said her name to someone, Oferwin whispered back her real name to Ruth as she closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep.

The next day, Levi's words kept resonating in her head, since the Ceremony she didn't have the chance to talk to him, the Commander gave him a lot of work. She could see the already noticeable dark circles under his eyes get darker as the days went on. As for herself, after this traumatic night she was expected to go on with her days like before, her body was on semi-automatic at first, she woke up and helped the Marth- Ruth in the kitchen and then went running some errands with an another handmaid. She couldn't go alone, it was ruled in Gilead; handmaids have to be accompanied with an another handmaid if they have to go out. Even if she knew they made this rule so they could monitor each other, she liked to know she wasn't alone in this mess.

Ofgrisha was already waiting for her at the gate, the sun was out today, a breath of fresh hair met her skin that was shielded under her white bonnet. As she headed towards her shopping partner, Oferwin heard a vacuum noise coming from her left, when she turned her head she saw Levi vacuuming inside the car's trunk. For a short second their eyes met, she felt the unexpected urge to let him know that she was ok, even if it wasn't entirely true, so she gave him a small smile, hoping he would know what she meant, and that he would maybe care? The handmaid didn't get the chance to see his reaction, as she was already at the gates now, "Blessed be the fruit" greeted Ofgrisha. "May the Lord open." answered back Oferwin. The two handmaids started walking side by side.

"Ofdaniel is pregnant...", Oferwin's eyes widened at this news, "Really? But she has only been assigned to her family not so long ago...", Ofgrisha chuckled "Well, good for her, she will be spoiled for the next nine months, I told her to enjoy it while it last!". She nodded at her statement, despite how messed up her words may seem, in Gilead, being pregnant is the best situation an handmaid could ever be in, during all the pregnancy she'll have more food, no work to do and... no Ceremonies. The two women finally arrived at the store, a few handmaids were shopping, all of the labels had drawings instead of words. Oferwin got everything that Ruth asked her to buy, as she counted down the tokens she had left she realized she had one left to buy a fruit. As the handmaid looked at the fruits in front of her, her mind suddenly craved for apricots, but as her hand went on to pick one of them, she saw apples in the corner of her eyes.

When Oferwin arrived back at the house, she stopped next to the car, the front door was open. The woman looked around to see if anyone could see her, no one was in sight so she quickly took the apple that was in her bag and placed in on the driver's seat.