Friends with Benefits (Levi x OC)

Ch. 29: The Fall of Shiganshina

Chapter 29: The Fall of Shiganshina

It's been a few weeks and my wound has been healing up really well. It's closed up and the scar is settling down. I started sleeping in my dorm again with Sarah as it was unlikely that I would need more medical help. We swapped beds so I could have the lower bunk to make getting into bed every night easier. I also found that now I wasn't spending any time with Levi, I relied on my friends to keep me company a lot. Sarah and Eld still had a bit of an on/off relationship. They got into a fight recently after Sarah found out that he was a lot younger than he seemed, giving them an age gap of seven years. This kind of thing happens a lot in the military and people usually don't care because everyone holds the assumption that they'll die soon, so they might as well indulge where they can. Their fight was resolved, however because at the end of the day, they're both adults. It was definitely strange hearing my comrades talk about their physical relations with others now that I was alone. It made me feel worse for it. 

Levi and I still occasionally fell back into our old habits, the tension between us never disappeared but would grow every time we spent longer than two minutes together. We tried to be casual but we would always end up getting too close.

'What are you stupid?' Levi's voice as muffled through the door. 'If we bring her, we'll be putting her into immediate danger. She's only just recovered. It's not safe.' He continued.

Erwin waited a second and begun again, 'Thank you, Levi. But she's a skilled soldier. She's been well rested and released from the hospital. I don't see any good reason to leave her behind.'  Then there was a stony silence.
'Okay, dismissed.' Erwin called. The sound of footsteps dispersing made me get into gear and run down the hall. I could hear the door about to open, so in my panic I ran straight into Levi's room because it was a lot closer than mine. If I hadn't quickly ran in, I would have been caught eavesdropping. 

I walked over to the bed and sat down, putting my head in my hands. Now I had to wait for Levi and Erwin to get out of the hallway before I could leave. It was odd that Levi didn't lock his door.

Ugh, he's being so overprotective. I feel like a liability.

To my surprise, the door swung open and Levi entered only seconds later. I jumped up from the bed.

'What are you doing here?' Levi said, taking off his jacket and walking over to his desk to place it on the back of the chair. He sat down on the bed, waiting for my response but I ignored his question.

'Why are you being so overprotective of me? What did I tell you about being obvious?' I was  getting a little worked up. I crossed my arms over my chest.

'And what did I tell you about eaves dropping?' He retorted. 'One of these days it'll actually be important.' Levi added, folding his arms. I lent against the wall, my expression displaying how un-amused I was.

'Hm, I don't recall you telling me anything about eaves dropping.' I knew I should leave but I wanted to keep it going.
'How are you sleeping without me?' I asked in a mocking tone.

'Tch, it's fine, short ass.' he replied back in the same sarcastic tone. I chuckled. 

'We're literally the same height, short ass.' I teased. Levi stood up.

'So you're wound is all healed?' He asked, slowly walking towards me (or the door but I wasn't sure which.)

'Yep. Good as new.' I replied, walking to meeting him in the middle while hitting my side with my fist to demonstrate that my wound was no longer painful.

'Good.'

Levi immediately swiped at my knees with his leg and grabbed my arm just before my back hit the floor, keeping me suspended in the air only a few small centimetres from the floor. Then, he placed me down on the ground gently.Noises of confusion and surprise fell out of my mouth. Levi stood over me before kneeling on the floor over my stomach. I pushed off the floor with my legs and pulled his shoulders down to the side, switching our positions. I chuckled in victory.
He twisted my arm, pulling me off him and onto the floor. I screamed and laughed as we played around. Levi's hands pinned my arms down to the floor, I was still giggling. This time he was sat between my legs, our clothed crotches just inches away. The energy in the room shifted. Both of us were panting a little. I struggled against him to no avail. Until I stopped fidgeting under him and looked into his eyes. Levi watched me with an amused look on his face. 

He lent down to get closer to my face and cocked an eyebrow as though to say 'What are you gonna do?'

'...Levi.' My panting began to subside. Only then did I realise how intimate we were being. I saw us almost from an outside perspective and rapidly stood up and brushed off my uniform as though someone had come into the room. Why did we always get so close? Why did the energy in the room always get weird? Why couldn't we be friends and mes around with sparks going off in the air? Without his touch setting my skin on fire?

'I'm going on that expedition. I signed up to this job to be a soldier. Going into battle even after an injury is part of the job description. So stop trying to protect me.' I said, seriousness had returned to me tone of voice.

'That is all. Can I be dismissed?' I asked, trying to bring back some semblance of professionalism to the situation even though it felt weird. Levi nodded as he stood up and then I left. As I stormed down the hallways I felt like bashing my head against a door. 

We were just messing around... It's like we can't help but fall into these sexual situations.

Preparing for the expedition wasn't as time consuming as usual. This one was a mission to kill titans within Wall Maria so we didn't need as many horses or wagons. We didn't need to bring as much emergency food or water. But instead we brought double the amount of ODM servicing equipment and spare parts. Including more gas and blades than usual as we would have more opportunity to use the gear in the cities. Petra had proved to be a very good team fighter. She, Devin and Gianne all made a really good team and often grouped together during expeditions. Sarah and I usually worked best with solo kills but we're often found fighting side by side. 

During this mission we would be taking this year's new scouts. Those who had gone out to fight the titans once and returned back alive who still chose to fight in the Corps. We were expecting a lot of casualties and the older scouts were given the extra job of looking out for the newbies. Swinging in to help people out impulsively is a common way to get killed so I reminded myself to always make sure to look around before doing anything rash like that. I was too used to seeing people getting worked up on the battle field and acting on emotion. People that pull stunts like that are never aware of their surroundings and end up getting themselves and others killed. 

So as we rode our horses into the outermost Wall, we engaged Erwin's new battle formation he created specially for use in the city. Being in a place that used to be occupied by people gave us all a false sense of security. While the buildings did make combat a lot easier, we felt too optimistic. It was a sunny day, the titans were slow and many were at the same height of the buildings. It seemed easier and that's where a lot of our new recruits were getting cocky. At the beginning of every expedition there's always a calm before the storm. You're never sure about when the panic is going to set in. Or when the blood bath will start. But by the time we had begun the return home, it had been exactly that, a blood bath. 

Levi wasn't stationed any where near me. I felt relieved by this as he wouldn't be a distraction for me. I had a feeling we would always be trying to kill each other's targets and try to keep each other safe even when it wasn't necessary. Being apart was probably for the best right now. 

The sheer amount of houses made it very difficult to see the titans coming. As rode down one lane a five meter titan jumped out at us on all fours. Luckily it leaped over us and into the opposite alley. 

'Shit!' A choked scream came from behind me. I immediately engaged my ODM gear and moved up to the roof on the street the five metre was in. 

'KEEP GOING!' I yelled to the group. It turned around to follow them and when it passed me to pursue that was when I stepped off the edge of the building and twisted my upper body to get a deep cut at the nape. Immediately after, I used my gear to get up to another building. My heart was pounding a million miles per hour. I looked around at city. There were a few soldiers on rooftops scattered around. So I pulled my hood over my head and soared over the streets, meandering through the buildings and alleyways with my ODM gear to join them.