Levi x OC | Humanity's Greatest

15 - Wall Rose

"We're going to need you to go into the city today, I need people I can trust to go and pick up some documents from Commander Pixis" Erwin told me the following morning. "Remember to be careful though, there are almost five times as many people in Wall Rose now, and most are refugees from Wall Maria. Some of them could still be...sensitive about the Titan invasion."

"Yes sir"

*1 Hour Later*

Levi and I had got our horses saddled up and ready to go in complete silence, along with the rest of our squad.

It was slightly odd being so formal around Levi, after almost 3 years of being inseparable. But I guessed we weren't together anymore, and it hadn't really hit me yet.

We rode over to the city in silence, apart from a few orders coming from the two of us here and there. I think at one point I heard Gunther mutter 'Awkward' under his breath.

When we arrived at the city in the centre of Wall Rose, I immediately realised what Erwin was talking about when he warned me of the over populated area.

We had to leave our horses outside of the city because it was so full, when you got into the streets you could barely move due to all the people pushing and shoving each other out of the way.

Some soldiers from the Garrison regiment cleared a path for the six of us as we made our way through the city to the Garrison headquarters.

Civilians stared as we walked past, some muttering about taxes, some whispering about us being useless. I didn't care much about it though, I knew if any one of them ever had to face a Titan, they'd be dead in a second.

There were a few kids staring at us too. Well, they at least looked like kids, but the expression that plastered their faces made it obvious that they'd seen things that no child should ever have to see. I made the assumption that they were from Shiganshina.

The sounds of our footsteps on the cobbled ground echoed through my ears and the silence amongst me and Levi was deafening.

A part of me wanted to wrap my arms around Levi and be as close to him as possible, but another part of me said that things couldn't be the same between us anymore. Not after what happened. So I stayed silent.

We walked through the streets for a few minutes until a civilian man pushed his way through the crowd and stood in front of us, taking us by surprise. The man had no shoes on, messy hair and he wore a pair of cracked glasses on his face.

"My daughter..." the man growled.

My heart pounded.

"My daughter was eaten!" He roared, marching up dangerously close to Levi and I. "Where were you to save her?! You're the Scout Regiment right?! It's your job!"

Levi stepped forward, standing in front of me slightly.

"I'm sorry" he muttered, his face emotionless and empty. "We can't save everyone"

There were tears in the civilian man's eyes, but his face burned with anger and hatred. "You son of a-"

I thought he was about to hit Levi when a Garrison solider pulled him back and pushed him into the crowd of refugees.

We resumed our walk through the streets to the Garrison Headquarters when we eventually got there. Commander Pixis was waiting for us inside.

I'd never met the Commander before, but I assumed he'd be a little like Erwin. Grave, serious and professional.

Pixis approached Levi first and grasped his hand, shaking it firmly. Levi looked a bit taken aback, but he allowed his hand to be shaken.

"Ah!" The Commander beamed slightly. "Captain Levi! What a pleasure to meet you in the flesh, I've heard lots of stories about you"

He reminded me a little of Hanji, but something told me that he was to be trusted and that, unlike Hanji, he wasn't completely off his head.

Next, he moved on to me and to my surprise, planted a wet kiss on my cheek. I could have sworn I saw Levi tense up beside me when he did so, but it could have just been my imagination.

"And Captain Grace...you're just as beautiful as they say, my dear"

From this proximity, I could see the pink flush on Pixis' cheeks and I could smell the pungent scent of whiskey that practically radiated off the man.

So he's a drunk. Erwin trusts this guy?

Pixis lead us inside and talked to us for a while before we recovered the documents that Erwin wanted. We decided to get something to eat whilst we were there, and afterwards I started getting ready to head back, eager to get home. I didn't like the city all that much, I much preferred the peace and quiet that came with living in a camp on the outskirts of the wall.

I reluctantly walked over to Levi, who was sitting by a windowsill that overlooked the marketplace, to see if he was ready.

"Hey" I spoke up, gaining Levi's attention. He turned his head to me slightly, but didn't look at me in the eye.

Oh, so you're being indifferent now? Fine.

"You good to go?" I asked.

"Not really" he responded bluntly. "My leg is killing me, so we're staying a while"

I grunted slightly as a way to say 'fine' and walked off, purposely sitting on the other side of the room, as far away from Levi as I could get.

I wondered if the deadly silence between us was affecting him as much as it was affecting me.