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Chapter 17

Hi hi, I had so much fun with this chapter.

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Illyria drank greedily from the tankard in her hands, pretty much emptying the jug and clumsily dropping it back down on the table. Her unsteady eyes barely focusing on the boy in front of her who was pouring his own drink while laughing at some comment that was made around the table.

“Hit me again.” Illyria demanded, slamming the beaker on the table. The brunette looked up at her, smiling playfully as he obediently refilled her mug.

“Easy there Illyria. Can’t have you too hungover in the morning can we?” Eren teased, placing the now almost empty bottle on the table and raising his own cup to his lips. Illyria scoffed, taking more long, deep gulps from the cold container.

“Stop trying to tell me what to do, Eren, you’re not the boss of me!” Illyria shrieked indignantly, causing him to chuckle lightly at her.

“Oh sorry, I forgot about your blatant authority issues for a moment there.” He retorted and Illyria glared.

“That would indicate that you are my superior, Jaeger. And you most certainly are not.” Historia looked between the two, trying to determine if this was their usual playful banter or if it was going to escalate quickly. Eren and Illyria had a weird sort of friendship at the best of times. The two were close, but they could both be extremely volatile at times. And with alcohol being involved, Historia was anxious. Eren just chuckled again, blowing through his lips.

“Maybe not right now, but you’ll be taking orders from me before I take them from you, Illyria.” He looked her in the eyes challengingly, his playful nature coming out more with each drink. Illyria raised an eyebrow at her friend and shook her head.

“Not a fucking chance! I could have you working under me tomorrow if I wanted.” A loud laugh sounded from a couple of seats down the table as Reiner snickered uncontrollably for a moment.

“Yeah, Illyria is definitely an ‘on top’ sort of girl, Eren. You’d have your work cut out trying to keep her at bay.” Illyria grinned at Eren smugly, completely missing the sexual innuendo and the brunette faltered, face flushing slightly at the suggestion. Historia winced in distaste while several others laughed at Reiner's comment. Eren relented, not wanting to continue down this route and the playful chatter continued.

The birthday girl, was in deep conversation with Annie, Armin and Ymir, it was quite clear that she had had too much to drink. But then so had everyone else around the table. But that was the point of a celebration wasn’t it? They had been sat in the mess hall enjoying the festivities since dinner time, there had been hugs and toasts to the guest of honour, and even a few gifts exchanged. Illyria herself had brought the girl a slab of chocolate, and had very nearly been tackled to the ground in an overly forceful hug as a show of appreciation.

Illyria, had not been so sure on tonight’s celebration by the time it came around. The last couple of weeks had been nothing short of hell for her, and she had just wanted to spend her time alone. She had taken it upon herself to spend most of her free time training, attacking the combat dummy, the stand or even perfecting her 3DMG manoeuvres. She had felt that during her time off recovering she had let herself slip, and the captain had outright refused to let her participate in training as usual until tomorrow, so she compensated by putting in additional hours. Much to Levi’s aggravation. There was not much he could do to stop her after all, regardless of what he thought.

It had been almost three weeks since her lashing and she was now fit enough to resume normal training from tomorrow. She had successfully avoided Levi for most parts, aside from the very rare conversation during training.

She had, however bumped into said captain on the way to dinner tonight.

“Light.” She had stopped and thrown him a half assed salute, making his eyes narrow slightly, though he did not comment.

“You’ll be resuming your normal training from tomorrow.” She relaxed from her stance and inadvertently raised an eyebrow.

“Oh? Finally decided I’m good enough to re-join the rest of the comrades then, sir?” she had mentally slapped herself for her sass. She had done such a good job at hiding her distaste all this time, why, had she decided that now would be a good time to challenge his motives? Levi’s eyes had grew hard.

“Is that what you think? That I had you working on that dummy because I thought you weren’t good enough?” Illyria did not respond, worried that regardless how she answered, it would provoke him further. Levi shook his head, scoffing slightly.

“You’re welcome to make your own assumptions, Light. But trust me, my intentions were not so malicious. Dismissed.” He gave a curt nod before continuing on his way to his office. Illyria sighed in frustration. Just what the hell had he meant by that?

She had continued to dinner as normal, the captains words echoing in her mind. She had been struggling the last couple of days, her original intention of pushing all thoughts of Levi aside, tumbling down. She had been thinking a lot the last few days. And that was the main reason she had decided to come to the celebration tonight. She needed to forget everything for a little while, and alcohol helped with that.

However, after a while, Illyria grew restless and leaned over to Eren, indicating for him to come closer.

He blinked but did as she asked, leaning across the table so she could whisper in his ear.

“Shall we get out of here for a few hours?” Illyria asked mischievously. Eren's eyes widened slightly.

“Are you crazy? Do you have any idea how much trouble we would get in if we were caught?” he rasped, trying to whisper while still getting his point across. Illyria’s eyes shone with a dauntless gleam and she chortled at him mockingly.

“Aw, is Eren scared?” she jeered taking his wrist and giving it a playful squeeze as his eyebrows furrowed at her insinuation.

“Big, bad, powerful Eren is scared of a bit of stable duty?” she continued to make fun of him and he pulled his arm away from her angrily, practically snarling at her words.

“Don’t be stupid! I’m not scared.” Illyria licked her lips and looked into his eyes.

“Then what are we waiting for?” she whispered. Eren took a moment to contemplate the situation before he grabbed Illyria’s hand and stood, practically dragging her out of the mess hall. Once in the corridor he started to head to the stables and stole a glance at Illyria.

“Where exactly do you plan on going?” he asked and she smiled, quickening her pace to keep up with him.

“I don’t care, a bar or something let’s just get out of here for a bit.” She honestly didn’t care where they went, she just wanted to get out of the grounds for a while and have some fun. She needed the distraction.

Eren helped her mount a horse and then joined her, riding behind her and they took off. It didn’t take long before they found a bar and Eren tied up the horse, shaking his head slightly.

“You are fucking crazy you know that? If the commander or Levi finds out about this...”

“Fuck them. Come on let’s go!” she interjected, grabbing his hand and pulling him into the bar.

The overwhelming smell of alcohol and smoke invaded her senses. The dimly lit bar was full of life and atmosphere, men and women chattering amongst themselves and having a good time. A man sat in the corner of the room playing a guitar, the music making Illyria feel warm inside. Eren shifted slightly next to her and she dragged him over to the bar and ordered them both a drink.

After a little while, Eren relaxed into the initially uncomfortable atmosphere and sat with Illyria at a small round table on the outskirts of the bar, laughing and joking together. It was a decent sized place, numerous tables filling up the space with several stools around each table. There was barely any room to manoeuvre around, impossible to make it from one side of the room to another without inadvertently bumping into someone or brushing against them. It was clearly a very popular tavern.

Illyria drank deeply from her tankard, engaging Eren in light conversation. As the night progressed, she became more and more unsteady. She had lost count of the amount of drinks she had had, not including the ones she had partaken in before leaving the castle. Her vision was blurry, her balance totally off as she swayed on her stool unsteadily. Eren, was not in much better shape, but he was definitely the more responsible one out of the two.

“We should head back, Illyria... it must be l-late.” Illyria screwed her face up, tutting disapprovingly at his request.

“It’s not late! We’re fine!” She exclaimed, smiling at the barman who had just arrived to put another two drinks on her table. Eren blinked, not even noticing when she had gone back to the bar.

“Illyria we need to head back before we get caught. The captain is going to be so mad.”

“Yes, he is.” Eren froze, head snapping to the familiar and yet unexpected voice, eyes locking onto the captain. Illyria didn’t pause in her drinking, eyes glancing up to Levi as she continued to gulp. He did not look amused. His arms were folded across his chest and he was glaring at Illyria with a fierce intensity. Illyria smiled, pulling the drink away from her lips and sighing happily.

“Ah! Levi! Here to join the party?” She smiled smugly at the captain. She noticed his eyes twitch in annoyance.

“Party is over, Light. Come with me, now.” Illyria raised an eyebrow at the captain daringly, leaning on the table coyly, firmly holding his intense glare.

“Really? Looks to me like it’s just starting.” She replied, her voice light and playful. The captains hard look intensified.

“We're leaving now, cadet.” He grit out. A man walked past Levi, brushing past him and the captain winced slightly, clicking his tongue in an annoyed fashion and frowned into the man’s back before returning his eyes to Illyria’s. She found all this rather amusing. The captain was clearly uncomfortable in the establishment, so she was in no hurry to leave if it meant causing him more discomfort.

“No.” She replied simply, finishing off her tankard and dropping it onto the table straight into a small puddle of beer, pushing the empty container aside as she reached for her full one. Levi blinked, completely taken by surprise. He scowled.

“It wasn’t a question, cadet.” He hissed. Eren, looked like he was about to throw up from fear. He stood to his feet, timidly looking at the captain.

“Sir, if I can just...”

“No you cannot. I think you’ve done plenty tonight don’t you, Jaeger?” Eren looked away nervously, reaching to scratch the side of his neck and Illyria frowned.

“Don’t have a go at him, this wasn’t his idea, this was all me!” she exclaimed, immediately jumping to the defence of her friend. Levi scoffed.

“Oh I have no doubt about that, Light.” His sarcastic reply filled with hostility toward the woman in front of him. She smirked at him, tongue darting out and licking her lips quickly as she let out a small laugh.

“Get up.” He commanded and Illyria shook her head.

“I haven’t finished my drink yet.” She cooed, waving her half empty drink in front of him. Levi rolled his eyes and snatched the drink from her hands, Illyria objected instantly, jumping to her feet and stumbling a little. Eren grabbed her arm, helping her stay on her feet, her unfocused eyes turning towards the captain as he downed the rest of her drink and slammed the tankard on the table, shocking both of the cadets.

“There. Now it’s finished. Get moving. Now. I will not tell you again.” Illyria couldn’t believe what she had just seen. Shaking the shock from her face she glowered at the raven haired man, pulling her arm away from Eren, staggering a little and steadying herself against the table.

“No! That was my drink! I paid for it. You owe me a drink!” She pointed an accusing finger at the captain, her voice loud and angry, causing a few people to start looking over at the commotion. Levi was seething. He reached forward and took Illyria’s arm roughly but she quickly snapped it back, giving the captain a firm shove to the chest.

“No! I said no!” Eren gently reached forward, trying to diffuse the situation, his hand sliding around Illyria’s waist as he moved to whisper in her ear, effectively putting himself between her and the captain.

“Illyria, come on, please? Calm down a bit?” Illyria was still fixing the captain with a heated look. She looked to her right as Eren cupped her face, trying to make her look at him, trying to make her see sense.

“Illyria. Come on. We’ve had a really good night, let’s quit while we’re ahead, yeah?” he murmured, just as worried about his own involvement in all of this as hers. Illyria noticed Eren’s still full tankard and a small smile pulled onto her lips.

“Yeah... sure...” she said, reaching for Eren’s drink and bringing it to her lips. Eren rolled his eyes and looked away, taking a step back at her adamant attitude. Illyria drank deeply, emptying the tankard without a pause, determined to get her point across. She would not be ordered around, especially on her day off, especially when she was outside of the castle grounds, and especially not by him. When she was finished, she dropped the empty canister on the table and pushed herself off it. She took a step forward, legs wobbly and totally disoriented. She felt sick. Drinking the entire tankard had not been a good idea, but she was determined to prove a point.

Eren reached out to support her but Levi beat him to it, roughly seizing her arm and dragging her through the tavern with a complete disregard to her unbalanced state. As they approached the entrance several men turned their attention to the clearly drunk woman. A man with dark hair tied back in a ponytail smirked.

“Want me to take care of her for the night, gentlemen?” He leered, straightening up and running his hand through Illyria’s silky locks. Levi gripped the man’s forearm, nails digging into his skin dangerously, holding his arm in a vice like grip, making the man frown and wince a little.

“Get your filthy hands off her.” He spat out, shoving his arm away and pushing the door to the tavern open, leading Illyria outside with Eren following silently.

He released her arm sharply, plunging her into the wall, her back smacking against the cold and wet stone forcefully and she groaned, tilting her head back and looked up at the sky. He pointed an accusing finger at the unsteady woman, eyes focusing on the male cadet.

“Keep a fucking eye on her Jaeger, can you manage that?” he barked, turning his back to retrieve the horses. Eren threw him a sloppy salute, staggering slightly and stood in front of the dazed woman, watching her carefully.

The air hit Illyria hard. Her head was starting to spin and she felt weightless. She felt fingers grasp her arm again and opened her eyes. The captain gave a forceful tug, making her fall forward and she lost her balance, falling against him, her head resting against his chest. He tutted, grabbing her more firmly and lifted her, forcing her to stand upright and led her to a horse.

“Come here.” He whispered, voice still dripping with venom as his hands found her waist. He instructed Eren to stand on the other side of the horse to ensure she didn’t fall backwards and lifted her up, placing her on the saddle sideways. Illyria sat still, holding onto the saddle to support herself as Levi mounted the horse, settling behind her. She groaned and attempted to move away, not wanting to be this close to him but he locked his arm around her stomach, holding her firmly in place.

“Keep still, brat.” He warned. Illyria groaned.

“I don’t wanna...” she whined, her body leaning lazily against him, brows furrowed. Levi ignored her. She was in no condition to ride by herself, and there were only two horses. With Eren being as unsteady as he was, there was no way he was about to let him ride with her. He would need to focus on what he was doing, not take care of Illyria, and the last thing the captain needed was both of them falling off their horses. He took the reigns and positioned Illyria accordingly, making sure she wouldn’t fall, quickly glancing at Eren to make sure he was ready before he started riding off.

The bitter cold air whipped across Illyria’s face, biting into her warm skin and she winced, turning her head away from the unforgiving wind and inadvertently nuzzling against the captains chest. She liked his warmth right now. The tavern had been warm and cosy and the alcohol had made her feel even warmer, but the chilly night air was unwelcome. Levi’s body heat, however, was not. She closed her eyes, feeling her stomach churn slightly. She really should not have downed that last drink like that.

She felt herself doze a little, her addled brain succumbing to the power of the alcohol she had been drinking. After a while, Levi took hold of her bicep, squeezing gently.

“Get up.” He said, forcing her forward and prying her away from the comfort his body offered. She swayed a little and he waited a moment before demounting his horse, quickly reaching up for her and helping her down. As the sleepy haze cleared from Illyria’s eyes, she realised she was back at the castle. She rubbed her head, her head spinning and tried to push Levi away with her other hand, though her strength was lacking.

“No. Get off...” she grumbled, but Levi wasn’t listening. He turned to Eren.

“Sort the horses out Jaeger, be in my office after breakfast tomorrow.” He announced, throwing Eren the reigns and storming off, dragging Illyria with him before the boy had chance to reply.

Illyria tried to yank her arm away, grumbling as Levi tugged her along the halls of the castle, which only made him squeeze harder.

“Ow, let me go damn it, you’re hurting me!” she shouted, stumbling slightly on her uneasy feet. He scoffed.

“You’d know about it if I were hurting you, Light.” He hissed under his breath. Illyria frowned, yanking her arm away forcefully and finally freeing herself from the captains grip. She staggered slightly and stopped walking, righting herself and glared at him, a glare he returned with equal strength.

“Your threats aren’t going to work this time, Levi.” She hissed and he let out a malicious snort, eyes narrowing dangerously.

“Oh someone is feeling brave tonight.” He commented. Illyria could almost feel the weight of his words smother her, his heated gaze so severe, but she shook her head.

“Where the hell do you get off? Coming in, ruining my night with my friend, dragging me out of a bar like you own me?” Suddenly, Levi switched, grabbing Illyria by her face and slamming her into the wall. His thumb and fingers clutching her jaw, body pressed close to hers, his silver orbs bore into her emerald greens, face twisting into a malevolent grimace. Illyria felt her fear spike momentarily when he grabbed her and pinned her to the stone walls of the corridor, but she held her black look, neither one of them wanting to lose the battle.

“Hold. Your. Tongue. Light.” He growled, voice sinister, promising nothing but savagery if she continued. Illyria’s brows furrowed, taken off guard by the captains outburst, unsure of how to react herself for a moment. She tried to pull her head away, her hand coming up to the captains chest and pressing firmly, trying to put some distance between them. His grip tightened and he grabbed her arm, slamming the limp limb against the wall.

“Look at the state of you. Do you have any idea how lucky you were that I came to find you tonight?” he asked, eyes shining brightly in his rage. Illyria shot him a scornful look.

“I was with Eren or didn’t you realise?” she snapped, sarcasm lacing her voice and the captain chuckled vindictively.

“Eren... really? The boy was almost in as much of a mess as you.” Illyria swallowed and grit her teeth, feeling the captain loosen his grip on her slightly. Taking the opportunity she pulled her arm free from him, taking his forearm and pushing his hand away from her roughly.

“Yeah well luckily for you, I’m not your problem.” She attempted to brush past him, intending to head to her room but he smacked his hand against the wall, right next to her head, forcing her to freeze on the spot.

“Wrong. You are my problem, Light. Every cadet in my squad, is my problem. And I won’t tolerate my problems, creating even bigger problems without reason.” Illyria avoided his eyes and pressed her lips together. He was too close for comfort, his body still far too close to hers. Her mind was too muddled to deal with him right now. She shook her head and finally met his gaze.

“I didn’t ask you to come.” Her voice was barely above a whisper and his eyes narrowed again.

“Well it’s a good job I did, isn’t it? Because otherwise you would have been in a world of shit. I doubt very much your precious Jaeger would have been much help with those men waiting for you at the door.” Illyria blinked, slightly confused and her frown deepened.

“Men? What men?” she asked, scepticism dripping from her voice and the captain cocked an eyebrow, eyes still hard and angry.

“That out of it are you? Unbelievable.” Illyria rolled her eyes, reaching up to try and knock his arm away.

“I don’t need you to protect me.” She spat, suddenly insulted that he was suggesting that she was unable to look after herself. Even if she was drunk, Eren was there, and he was a trained soldier just like her. She realised that her attempt to knock his arm away had failed miserably, and instead she had smacked his arm and was clinging to the sleeve of his jacket.

“Enough, cadet.” He warned, taking her arm from off his and letting it fall to her side. Illyria was struggling to keep her eyes focused. Her mind was fuzzy, legs weak and she felt nauseated. She also felt very tired, she was about ready to collapse, the alcohol in her system having it’s intended effects. Still she scoffed at the captain, fixing him with an unfocused and angry stare.

“Why do you care what happens to me anyway? You don’t give a shit, so drop the act.” This time she reached up, gripping his shirt in both her hands and gave him a push backwards with as much force as she could muster. Levi stumbled for just a moment, taking a step back before he practically growled at her, seizing both her biceps and driving her back into the brick wall.

“Do not fucking test me, Light. I am in no mood for your childish outbursts.” Illyria frowned slightly at him. He thought she was being childish? She snorted mockingly.

“Well that’s fucking rich...” she retorted. Levi shook his head slowly, eyes still raging. He was trembling slightly now. Illyria could feel his body shaking lightly against hers but she didn’t care.

“Don’t.” He warned and she smirked vindictively at him.

“What? Hit a nerve did I, sir?” she spat. Levi’s jaw clenched and he pulled her from the wall, turning to continue marching her down the hall. Illyria fought him the whole time, trying desperately to get out of his iron like grip. He eventually reached her room, twisting the doorknob and opening the door, practically throwing her inside the room with unparalleled strength.

Illyria stumbled into the black room, somehow making it to her bed. Her eyes flashed with anger as she met Levi’s cold ones and Historia stirred, waking up from the commotion and turned to look between the captain and Illyria. She rubbed her eyes tiredly and frowned softly.

“Wh-what's going on?” she asked, her voice heavy with sleep but both the captain and Illyria ignored her, gazes fixed only on each other.

“Get to sleep cadet. I expect you to be on time for your training tomorrow.” Levi stated, his voice returning to his usual flat tone and Illyria cocked an eyebrow, having an arsenal of witty comebacks ready to hurl at him.

However, noticing Historia was now very much awake, she repressed the urge to use any. She bit her lip, not trusting herself at the moment to not say something inappropriate.

Levi didn’t wait long for a response, and a second later, he slammed the bedroom door, leaving Illyria and Historia alone.

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