❝𝐈𝐟 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐨, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚.❞
Selfishly fascinated with her own strength, Valen Ferreira is willing to do nearly anything and everyth...
Holding a mirror, Levi gingerly pressed the cold, soaking rag to his cheek, wincing upon contact. A dull soreness pulsed in his skin and facial muscles, fixing his expression into a frown. He clenched his idle hand in a fist as he endured the coldness spreading through his muscles. Even hours after, he swore he could still feel her palm on his face.
Damn it. Levi removed the cloth to inspect the injury. He clicked his tongue at the sight: a faint bruise had formed on his pale skin, blue and purple hues lightly blossoming along his cheekbone. For the most part, the swelling had lessened, but some puffiness persisted under his eye.
She'd slapped him hard.
Levi wrung the cloth over a pail and sighed. No amount of cold compressions would erase the contusion forming on his cheek. He draped the rag over a towel rack. Standing up, he slipped on a clean shirt, the gentle linen scent ushering in a sense of comfort—the little comfort he could feel, anyway. He believed it'd be weeks before he'd fully recover from the horrid excuse of a spar he had in the gymnasium. What had he been thinking, allowing her to play dirty? Thinking about it closely, though, she would have done so even if he'd established rules.
Raking a hand through his hair, Levi cursed quietly as his finger accidentally brushed upon where she'd yanked back his head. Had she tugged any harder and he'd be like Ness, concealing a bald spot with a bandana. He picked up the mirror again and devised an explanation for the bruise. What sounded more convincing? That he bumped into a wall? Fallen off his horse? Truthfully, anything sounded better than 'I sparred a recruit in the gymnasium, ripped her shirt, and she slapped me silly for it'. The symbols—surprisingly —weren't his biggest concern.
More than anything, it was his reaction that astounded him.
Under any other circumstances, he would have instantly lashed back with greater force—perhaps he would have reported her insubordination to Commander Erwin. But no. He'd stood there, gaping like a moron, his feet stuck to the ground.
Her strength frightened and captivated Levi, ensnaring him in unspeakable ways and daunting him beyond words. Whatever she'd slapped in him, it'd rewired his brain and reduced him to a simple-minded dimwit who allowed himself to be smacked around like an unwanted toy. Just like that, she'd grasped his fascination, dizzying and pinning him to the wall, and the only thing he could think about was her, and the power she'd held over him.
