Broken Hearts, Severed Limbs (Levi x OC x Erwin)

|95| Dependence

It was bittersweet. It felt like she was actually leaving him. Levi stared at her. His back against the wall. His hands sunk in the pockets of his black pants as he watched his Nathalie, tucking a few sets of clothes into her brown, leathered suitcase. She had settled the suitcase open on the mattress, and she walked back and forth from their closet to their bed.

He wanted to lock the door. He wanted to pull her into his arms and beg her to stay. He knew she wouldn’t be able to resist that. He knew his Nathalie couldn’t say no to him. Alas, he couldn’t say no to her either. And this was important. She was going to be safe within the palace’s walls, with Historia, Hange and Moblit. It made sense that she’d have to be there, closer to her job than ever. The labs beneath were going to be filled with people. Filled with men that would undoubtedly stare at her, and try to catch her attention, and talk to her, and touch her.

No. He didn’t want her to leave for who knows how long. He didn’t want her to go anywhere without him. He wanted her there, with him. She’d have to be beside him in the nights, or else he couldn’t sleep. He needed her sitting by his couch whilst he’d do his paperwork and he’d steal glances at her beautiful form, either sleeping on his couch or just reading her books.

If only he could go with her. Alas, he couldn’t. He had their brats to take care of. He had to supervise their training. He had the other rookies to train. He had paperwork to take care of. He couldn’t go with her. He had his own duties as the captain of a veteran, important squad of the Scouts. And maybe -just maybe- he was being paranoid. He could come see her. The interior was only a ten-minute ride away from Trost. He could visit. He would come see his Nathalie whenever he’d get the time.

Her sweet giggle snapped him out of such thoughts. She had closed her suitcase, leaving it on the floor, before she approached him and her hands found his chest. His arms slipped around her right away. She grinned.

“What’s with that look?” She teased slightly and he only smiled at her, before burying his face in her neck.

He shut his eyes and breathed her in. His fingers almost clutched around her clothes, as if the tighter he held her, the more chances he had of making her stay. Just stay. Please. He wanted to tell her, but he didn’t. She had to feel free. He didn’t want to make her feel restrained. He didn’t want to make her feel like he had stolen her freedom. His Nathalie was free to do as she pleased, and her research was making her happy. Who was he to take that from her? Her research was going to save the world.

“Just be careful, be safe,” Levi pulled back, cupping her face, stroking her cheek with a rough thumb. “Don’t try anything dangerous, alright?”

She giggled. Always so worried. “I won’t, I promise,” She pecked his lips.

She looked in those desperate silver eyes, and she knew she was going to miss him. It was only for just a few days. Just a few hours. It was going to pass. But it was going to pass so deliberately slow. All these years they had spent every single day, every single second by each other’s side, and now, just a few days without him and without her, it all felt so foreign and hurting. She knew he wanted to ask her to stay. He wanted her to just stay. Stay with me. But he wasn’t saying anything. He didn’t want to make things difficult for her.

Nathalie knew there was no way she’d get the time, but she still said it. “I’ll come visit you when I can,”

“No, I will,” Levi said. “In three days. How does that sound?” He suggested and she giggled.

“I’ll be waiting,” Nathalie smiled at him, before he caught her lips in his own and she sighed in his mouth.

He kissed her slow, and soft. Letting her enjoy every single gentle swirl that his tongue made against her own. She gathered his taste and tried to commit it to memory. Her fingers found his hair and he shuddered, trying to revel in it for as long as they still had.