Off The Beaten Path

Sweet As Can Be

He strode up the winding path, his shoes causing small pillows of dust to gather in the creases of his pant legs.

It had been a hard, painful day. His aching shoulder and his burning eyes could attest to that; yet somehow he felt lighter as well. Almost free in a way. For so long he had been shackled to his duty and now...

~*~*~*~*

He hated that she had to see that part of him, the part of him that was violent unforgiving. His booted foot rested against the titan shifter's face. Levi didn't have time to worry about what Bernell would think, her trial set to immediately after this. He knew she was in the stands watching form somewhere; lost in the sea of faces. He could feel her gaze - the only one that mattered to him right now. the only one he could feel through the flush of adrenaline and the guilt of his orders. Levi's eyes rested on the tooth he had knocked loose for just a moment as he turned to face the council; the judge.

Brat. He thought.

Later that evening Bernell had hesitantly approached him, scared not by his actions but by the callous uncaring with which he preformed.

"They've declared that I'm free of all charges." She whispered, sitting across from him. Her hands knotting in the dimly lit house. "They've given me a settlement sum for my time and trouble as well. I can buy my own house. And I have my job... And, Levi-" She bit her lip, her neck flushing. "I-I spoke with Erik last week. He wants to pursue me and I-"

Levi couldn't help his reaction - visceral, possessive. Jealous. She started when he stood, his chair toppling over in his haste.

"No." He growled as he approached her. His hands moved to her hair, "No." He repeated as he pulled the pins out.

She shuddered, burying her face in his abdomen, clinging to his shirt as tears leaked from clenched eyelids. "Good." She whispered, rising her face, "I was hoping you'd say that." She let him plunder her mouth ravenously, returning his passion with equal fervor. "I said no ,too." She responded with a sharp grin, breathless and needy.

~*~*~*~*~*~

He shuffled past one of the neighboring children, "Brat." He growled under his breath as the heathen knocked into him without so much as a backwards glance.

His leg didn't work like it should have. He'd ignored it for too long. His hand rubbed at his thigh. The break had been messy, shattering in multiple places; ligaments had torn. He frowned, fingering the permanent scar. It had been a humbling, ironic coincidence that Archer had been the doctor to perform the operation. If it had been anyone else he may not have had a leg still. Sometimes he wished he didn't. Movement would have been easier without one.

He paused at the gate. It was white washed, the little house was alone - a gift from the nobles for the trouble they had caused. Historia had been more the quick to right many wrongs done to the people she ruled over. The house was small, quaint. a little table set out in the sun accompanied by two seats sported a variety of flowers and dirt clumps. The sounds of children's laughs and screams and one woman's familiar, exasperated, beautiful yelling. It hit him as somehow wrong, despite the years of visiting and the family he'd come to know as his own. His hands trembled as he lifted the latch of the gate.

Could he... do this? His eyes raised to the familiar sensation of being watched. A smile ghosted his features as the shadow turned away. He was grateful she knew when to leave him be; when to let him take his time coming around to things.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Levi?" She was breathless as his mouth settled on the nape of her neck, planting a kiss.