Daisy | Levi Ackerman

Chapter 46 - Beautiful

[Naomi]

"I'm going upstairs now." Levi said, kissing me on the cheek from behind the couch as Mikasa and I were just finishing up on knitting a new wool blanket.

"Okay. Good night." I answered as he passed by.

"Are you going to share my bedroom?" He asked from the door of the drawing room.

I pretended to think for a moment, but I have already begun my little gift for him. "Sure."

Without another word, Levi left the scene and headed for his bedroom upstairs. I returned to my knitting, taking a glimpse of the pocket watch I kept close to my side. It was seven fifteen in the evening, and in only five minutes more, my mother's and Aunt Celine's collaborated chocolate cake recipe will have manifested physically inside the oven.

"So..." Mikasa started, putting her end of the knitting work down gingerly. "I suppose you have something planned for His Majesty's birthday?"

I smiled, shaking my head at the funny endearment. "Yeah, you know me. I never let special days slip."

"Does that include something... oh, you know." She suggested coyly, reverting her attention on the wool. I laughed, shaking my head.

"Curious much, Mikasa?" I teased.

"Let's just say, I can't begin to imagine how Captain Levi expresses his passion. He doesn't come off as one to me." She said. "And you seem far too innocent to even induce me to think about it."

I laughed louder, throwing my head back. "Mikasa, you little sneak. You imagine?"

"Not imagine, but you know... Thoughts pass." She shrugged, making us both laugh.

"Well," I began, slowly toning down into the quiet composure we shared earlier; "He's actually a very sweet lover, despite his rather intimidating air."

"Sweet?" Mikasa asked, as if that was the weirdest word she's ever heard. "That would be the last adjective I'd ever use on Captain Levi."

"I'm having trouble believing it too, but..." I answered, sighing dreamily as my mind fluttered back to the first night we shared. "He's not the way I've imagined men would be like. I've always thought every single one of them bedded their women because of absolute desire. But with him, the way he holds me like I'm fragile, like I'm bound to break or shatter... It just spells pure love all over it."

When I returned my pensive, wondering gaze to Mikasa, she was looking at me vacantly. "God, you really are in love with that dark shadow. The good ones really get taken first."

I laughed, shaking my head. "You say it as if it's a bad thing. Honestly, there's no one else I could imagine being the wife of."

"Oddly, I can't really imagine you being anybody else's wife too." She answered. "Captain Levi is quite fortunate to be loved like this by someone like you, Naomi."

Her softly-delivered remark made my heart flutter for a moment, thinking about how peculiar mine and Levi's development of feelings for each other has been, and how it must still be a mystery for some of our comrades.

Later that night, I crept into the Captain's bedroom as I held the chocolate cake in my hands. It was a small-sized cake, just for two; and I followed the recipe at one of the last pages of my mother's personal journal upon baking it. As instructed, I decorated it with Levi's favorite dessert fruits, strawberries; and vanilla frosting. As I have learned through reading and experience, he was quite the sweet tooth. I hoped this little gift would make him happy tonight.