Yesterday's Enemy [AoT]

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'The word of a stranger is unmatched in power.'

-An extract from the book 'Evolutions' written by philosopher Adette Briggs.

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Wall Sina, Interior, Underground City

Levi awoke somewhere he didn't recognise.

When he opened his bleary eyes, the first thing he noticed was a pounding headache. Rubbing his head, Levi looked around his foreign surroundings.

He was tucked up in an unfamiliar bed, still in his clothes from last night. Where? he couldn't say. This certainly wasn't the palace. It was an old, creaky room that smelt distantly of mildew and rot. The bedding was coarse and mildly damp. The rowdy shouts from the street below told Levi he was still in the Underground. Great, he thought. This was probably one of those dodgy old inns. But how on earth had he gotten here?

What had happened last night? It seemed the alcohol had stolen his memories. The last thing he remembered was... stars, laughing, and... Lorelai.

Lorelai. Where was she?

Startled, he felt something shift next to him in bed— or rather, someone. He looked across. Lorelai was tucked quite comfortably in next to him, her face smooshed against the pillow. She was fast asleep, her makeup smudged, and her hair stuck up at a funny angle.

He immediately stiffened, lying in that creaky old bed like a statue as she clung to his arm with a sleepy mumble. He worried for a second if she could hear his heart hammering away at his chest. He dared not wake her, though. Therefore, Levi resigned himself to staying deadly still and trying his very hardest not to have a heart attack.

It was... intimate, seeing her like this.

Her fair lashes spilling onto her cheeks, the smear of her lipstick, the soft in and out of her breathing... it was all like a dream. Still, Levi remained tense and respectful, despite the urge to pull her to his chest and breathe in the fading scent of her perfume. Fool, he scolded himself internally. He'd probably repulse her; she'd cast off the covers and demand he never touch her again.

His adrenaline spiked as Lorelai began to stir.

"Levi...?" she murmured sleepily, blinking open those doe brown eyes. Levi's mind had short-circuited; he could do nothing but stare at her, his cheeks burning bright red. "Pff," she chuckled at his face. "Good morning."

How in the hell could she be so nonchalant? Levi realised this was probably not the first time she'd woken up in bed with a random man after a drunken night. That was just Lorelai's style.

Realising her surroundings, she glanced under the covers briefly—still clothed. Thank Larken, at least she wasn't that much of an idiot. "...Not to be a snob, but... did you take me to a brothel?"

Levi's cheeks turned a shade redder. "What? No- I would never-"

"Shhh," she pressed a finger to his lips. "Don't talk so loud; my head's splitting."

He lowered his voice an octave or two. "I don't know how we got here."

Lorelai only yawned, clearly not overly bothered by the mystery. Instead, shuffling closer and quite happily using his arm as a pillow, she once more closed her eyes.