The Experiment (Attack on Titan // LeviHan) (Part 1)

A Show of Face

After Levi slammed the door shut so hard it almost jumped out of its hinges, Zoë sat in the rapidly cooling water in her silly disguise and wondered why she felt so insulted.

Levi was a rude asshole. There was nothing new or surprising about that fact. Only someone as insensitive as him would touch her the way he just had - while being naked, mind you! - and then leave her hanging like this. Worse, flee from her sight like she was a leper.

"Asshole," she said out loud.

But hearing this made her realize that calling him names wouldn't fix the weird hurt in her chest. Why did he hate her? Because she got on his nerves like he liked to tell her so frequently? Or because he thought her inept? Below his standards? She knew she wasn't beautiful. Nor was she like a typical woman, she knew plenty of men who were far less manly than herself. But despite all this, there had always been enough men who had shown an interest in her, inside and outside the bedroom. And before Captain Midget the Vexing had crossed her path, she had never had an issue reading the signals they sent about that interest correctly.

Zoë sighed and stood up. Better to let it go. That little weirdo could just go to hell. She would stop being interested in him too. She would stop thinking about that torso, those abs, those arms, those hands. And the lips...

"Fucking handsome shitbag, go to hell," she said and shook herself like a wet dog.

Shedding the drenched clothes and unwrapping the bindings from her breasts brought her some relief. Toweling herself dry, she wondered what she should do next. It would take a while for her clothes to dry... Go up to the room and wrap herself in some bed sheets? She could just lie around and think about all kinds of weird, pointless things.

She snatched up more towels on her way out so she wouldn't have to walk up to their room naked, but quickly realized that someone had put clothes in front of the door. That someone had clearly been Levi because there was a note that said "For Shitty Glasses". What horrible handwriting.

Wait... had she thought these were clothes? No, it was a fucking dress!

"You stupid moron I'm gonna kill you," Zoë seethed as she tried to tie all those strings the right way in vain. A dress! He must have had a good laugh about that! She'd just beat the shit out of him, she decided, as she stormed up the stairs to their room. If he was still here. Which he most likely wasn't. He probably had very urgent business judging from the speed with which...

Levi looked up from cleaning his knife as she barged into the room. He had put on different clothes too: a white shirt, black trousers and a brown vest.

"Do you think this is funny?" she challenged him.

"Not at all," he replied.

"I'm speaking about this... this dress!" she pulled a face, waiting for him to mock her.

"Women wear dresses down here, end of discussion. Save your energy and be quiet if you want to come with me," he shrugged and looked away. "And either wear your hair down or up properly," he added, "not in this weird halfway thing you like to walk around with."

"Like I'm listening to anything you say, you rude grump," she murmured but sat down in front of the tiny vanity table at the wall to try her luck with her hair. "Where are we going?"

He started cleaning his knife again.

"Dickhead," she murmured, shifting her attention back to her hair again. Up properly? What did he know about 'up properly'! Up properly his fucking ass!

"Are you sure you don't want to stay here and rest?" his voice sounded from behind her.

Their eyes met in the mirror. Huh? What new devilry had he cooked up now?