heartless [Levi x Reader]

Hurt

He wasn't in his office.

He wasn't in the mess hall.

You'd asked Hanji, she didn't know.

Mike wasn't sure either.

Some cadets claimed he was at the stables— but why would he be there?

You'd checked the showers.

He wasn't in or near any of the supply closets— you figured he might be looking to clean something, considering who he is.

You even went back to Erwin, stopped in front of his door, then turned back around and decided to listen to the cadets.

A slightly drunken Levi just might be hanging around the horses, who knew?

On the way outside, you'd run into Jeager. He apologized quickly, bowing and saluting— But you wave him off.

"My fault, I just..." you sigh, thinking about the situation with Levi. You give the cadet a small smile, pointing to your eyes, "Can't see, I guess."

He looked confused, then amused. "That's funny. Captain Levi said you had better eyes than anyone he's ever met."

You nearly choked. Why the heck was he talking about you? With cadets? You furrow your brows, "Well then, he was probably being sarcastic."

Eren shakes his head, "No, I don't think so."

"Wh..." you narrow your eyes at the cadet. "When was this, anyways?"

"Ah— just during one of Hanji's experiments. I mean, the whole thing failed, and Levi was explaining how to get me out of my Titan form—"

"You know what? I don't care anymore." You say a little more harsh than you wanted. "But I'm out to kill him right now anyways. You know where he is?"

The cadet looked a little scared now, eyes wide at your interruption. A bead of sweat forms on his forehead, "Uh— the stables, I think. That might not've been him, but..."

"Yeah, thanks." You walk past Eren, feeling bitter just talking to him. You couldn't stop thinking about your sister, especially the longer you stood near that kid. Being outside brought you some relief, at least. You took in a breath of fresh air, standing still for a few moments while staring up at the stars. Then you walked in the direction of the stables.

You were in no rush to get there. At all. You didn't even know what the heck you were going to say to him.
"Your boyfriend wants me to babysit you."
He'd give you a mean reply, like usual.
"It's not my fault. You didn't have to tell him I tucked you in to bed."
Then he'd probably insult you. Or bring up the 'mess' you made in his office.
"It's just a stupid pen and paper. Calm your horses."
Get it? Because there were horses around?

You shake your head. That would be a really awkward and awful conversation. Let's not do that.
But how else would you start a talk with Levi? You two were always verbally abusing one another, throwing insults, calling each other bad names, then maybe, throwing the occasional fist-to-the-face. You huff. Maybe you should bring up his squad. That would hurt.
And you really wanted to hurt him.

You get to the stables, and lo' and behold, there he is. He's slumped against one of the wooden doors, one knee up while the other leg lay at rest. The one that he was limping with, so it seemed.
You approach him silently, and even when you drew near his line of sight, he didn't even glance up at you. You sigh quietly and sit down, criss-cross, beside him. He had a bottle in hand already, half empty, with his glazed eyes staring out at nothing. After a few seconds of nothing but silence, he begins to bring the bottle to his lips. You scoff like he does and take the bottle out of his hands, taking a huge gulp of the alcohol yourself. This action brought a little life back into his eyes, and he gives you that signature glare of his. But he says nothing, simply watching you drink.
When you finished it off, you tossed it as far as you could from the position you were in. The two of you watched it break in the distance, glass flying everywhere.

"What's wrong with you?" He finally speaks up,  but his tone is rather weak, and broken. "Always messing shit up."

You counter him, "What's wrong with you, always cleaning things?"

A soft breath of air slips past his lips like an amused huff. This was a start.

You allow a few more seconds of comfortable silence set the aura before you spoke again. Clearing your throat, you begin, "I saw you limping earlier."

You expected a reason why, not a freaking: "Yes, a lot of people did."

You give him a deadpanned look. "Oh, that's nice. Yeah, I was wondering if I was the only one who saw." You made sure sarcasm laced your tone perfectly. "No, Levi, how did you hurt your leg? Not when, I know when, but how? How?"

The rarest thing of all happened— and maybe it was just because of the alcohol taking its toll on him. But he grinned and looked down at the ground as a small, tired chuckle made his shoulders and chest shake. He explained, "When rescuing Eren, that cadet— his uh, friend, tried to attack the female titan. Her hand came up," he made the gesture, "and I landed on it a little harder than I thought."

"So you twisted your ankle?" You observe, not even thinking when you reached over and placed your hand on his thigh. He made no comment, so you didn't move back away. "Badly?"

"I'll be fine in a few days time."

"Is that what a doc told you? Or have you just decided that yourself?" You ask with a smile. He leans his head back and hums, not giving you a solid response. You grin. This wasn't so bad. You should start offering him alcohol— you could get used to a tipsy Levi.

"I apologize for hurting you."

"You—" you sit upright, shocked at his words, "What?"

"Come on, brat— don't tell me you can't see or hear. I'm not repeating myself."

Just then and there, you wanted to bring up what Eren had been talking about. But that would be a good conversation starter for some other time. "Okay, Heartless, geez." You roll your eyes, "I just don't understand what you're talking about."

"Tch, that's a new one," he mumbles, then continues before you could reply, "what I said about your sister was... rude. And as much as I hate you," he glances in your direction, "you didn't deserve to hear something like that."

Yeah. You really liked tipsy Levi.

"Well, thank you." You blushed, "I'm glad you apologized."

"Don't get used to it." He scoffs.

"You'd never give me the chance." You reason.

"Good point."