Dormant Wings | A Levi Fanfiction

十五 Secret Oasis

~15~

I hesitantly raise my hand to knock lightly at the intimidating door.

Short moments that feel like an eternity pass by before I hear the gravelly voice of Levi telling me to enter. I do so reluctantly, noticing as soon as I'm inside that the room isn't any dirtier than the last time I was here. If anything, it's cleaner.

Why am I here again?

"I commend you for being punctual," Levi states, grabbing my attention.

The approval that I once sought out now has the opposite effect on me. I find myself wishing that I was at least ten minutes late.

After all, he took away precious time from me yesterday, when he tore me away from training with Mikasa. By the time I returned to the forest where her and Armin were, it seemed that Eren had joined them awhile before. However, they were already on their way back to HQ.

Mikasa offered to stay back with me a little while longer, but I didn't want to burden her at all. She looked exhausted, as well as the other two boys.

I spent the rest of my day cleaning. One of the few things to do to pass the time here without getting in trouble for slacking off. And here I am, mentally preparing myself to do some more work.

"What is it that you need me to do?" I inquire, wanting to get this over with already.

"I'm glad that you asked." Levi stands to his feet, and walks over to a cabinet near his desk. He tugs on the handle of one of the drawers, pulling out a messy handful of files and papers that give me an instantaneous headache.

"I haven't gotten around to sorting these out, and I would like to be able to go through them without too much trouble," he explains. "If they're unorganized, it adds more to my full plate, as I'm sure you already know."

"So you want me to organize them," I finish for him, staring down at the pile with dread.

"You catch on fast. You really are quite the genius."

I ignore his snide remark, and move to stand in front of his desk. "How do you want them sorted, Captain?"

He huffs tiredly, sitting back down in his chair. I start to realize how exhausted he looks as he explains the process. "It's simple, really. Letters go with letters, resignation forms have the same red seals at the bottom right corner, and you should be able to figure out the rest by yourself. Questions?"

He really is tired. He looks about ready to fall asleep. His dreary tone especially gives him away, and the noticeable blinking of his eyes in order to stay awake.

"No, sir," I reply, and decide to continue. "Um, excuse me, but do you need to take a nap? You look like you're about to pass out."

He casts me an irritated look. "You're in no place to be telling me how I look, Schneider."

I pause. What's that supposed to mean?!

"And are you seriously back with the formalities? I don't necessarily care what you do, but it seems that every time the two of us spend more than a few minutes alone you insult me relentlessly. It really is exhausting to have to break the ice during each of our encounters. Cut yourself some slack, will you?"

I blink repeatedly. He's being very honest, that's for sure. I suppose that's what happens when he gets extremely tired.

"I'm sorry, you want me to insult you?" I ask uncertainly.

He shakes his head. "Tch. Just start organizing. I have work to do."

I nod curtly, sitting down in the small chair across from him. I pull all of the files and paperwork towards me, bracing myself for the boredom in store.