IMMORTALS • Levi Ackerman

chapter twenty seven

027: the both of us

"You're getting a little antsy than usual..." Levi snidely commented, giving me a short glance which I caught. He turned away, holding his cup by the rim instead of the handle, bringing it up to his mouth.

"Can't help it." I answered, looking back through the window of the office. My heart pounded against its ribcages, even threatening at one point out at the suspense. The sun was beginning to set and there were still no signs of ay deployed squads returning.

I clasped my hands, harshly rubbing them together to create warmth, a habit I had picked up when I was uneasy, which was never shown that often, in fact this may be the first time I felt this ever, and it was making my gut growl with uncertainty.

A warm palm softly slammed against my own, effectively stopping me from moving. I looked up to meet Levi's hard gaze, eyebrows slightly scrunched up in a disdainful manner and lips frowning. I didn't notice how he moved towards me, now our faces were closer together, and I swore I felt my insides heat up and my heart stammering again at the proximity. Lately, these kinds of feelings have been wilding up, specially with the Captain close by. 

"Stop." he ordered, making me furrow my eyebrows. I slightly leaned back, creating a bit more space in between us. "Stop it. I've never seen this nervous-- in fact, I've never seen you nervous before so stop. It's unsettling to see you this troubled... I... I don't like it.." he trailed off, sounding a bit more quieter as he finished his statement. 

My heart paused, before it resumed to beat again, this time on full blast. "I-I'm sorry. I can't help it... this is the first time I've sit out on a big mission and I'm not used to it. I'm not used to being a burden.."

"You're not a burden." he answered back, not missing a beat. He moved back to his seat, letting go of my hand and leaving a hint of tense emptiness with his warmth now absent. I shook my head at the thought and turned back to him, waiting for him to continue because I was honestly too caught up to ask with all the shit that was going down. 

"You being here is already lessening the problem. If you were out there in this state, the chances of you dying in vain would be higher, so you being here is lessening the burden, so therefore, you are not a burden." 

I lightly chuckled at the little explanation he had, for reasons I don't even know. It was just amusing how he worded the whole thing and the little confidence he outwardly showed when he used a tone of certainty. Levi was actually humorous without even trying for once. 

He raised his brow at my reaction, and I gave him a dismissive wave to assure him it was nothing at all. Levi didn't say anything, only leaning back on his chair and waiting for me to finish my little episode of giggling. When I was done, the only thing I could manage to reply back was a small "Yeah, sure..."

The room fell silent for a short while.

"Corporal Levi, the scouts have returned!" a soldier busted through the open door of the room, panting heavily. 

My senses sharpened, heart immediately bounced back. Without waiting for Levi's word I stood up from my seat, dashing away and out. I could vaguely hear Levi's call to me, but I choose to ignore it, not even minding the pain from the abrupt movement.

The hooves of my boots collided painfully with the cemented hallways and I made my way past the busy soldiers and towards the open field, where they were deployed earlier, already hearing the sound of lift carts and neighing horses. 

When the first few bloodied soldiers came into view, I halted. My tracks stopped right in front the the archway entrance as my brain tried to process all the injuries and the clearly majority of the soldiers missing. My heart shot up, and my eyes were starting to strain, even wanting to cry.