Tasteful - Levi x OC (Attack On Titan)

War of The Heart

It took almost 2 hours for the affects of Drystan's blood to wear off. The whole time Arden spent sitting uncomfortably still with her knees to her chest, arms wrapped around them and face buried in the small crevice of her knees. Not to mention she was summarily cursing the greater demon and plotting how she would make him suffer in torturous, writhing agony, tenfold.

And when the humiliating affects finally did wear off, Arden was able to slowly bring herself to a standing position. Hands gripping wildly at the wooden chair behind her, the bedpost, wall, anything within reach.

Her wound, though not as bad as before, still hurt like a bitch. And every little movement caused a groan to want to escape her lips, yet she bit down on her tongue to stop them.

For the most part she was back to normal, well, a weaker version of her normal self. But that would only last a few days. For starters, despite having recently fed, her demonic energy was drained and would take long hours of rest and more blood to replenish. Body completely exhausted and trembling at every joint. Even now that she was standing, her knees were under constant threat of just buckling underneath her, sending her plummeting to a hard, no doubt painful landing on the wooden floor.

Yet still she found the ambition to carry on. One shaky leg after another, wobbling mercilessly and stifling the screams, groans and shouts of agony from the shooting pain of her injuries. Unconsciously gripping her stomach to add more support to the wound, now only if she could reach her back and do the same thing.

And after several minutes of trembling steps, she crossed the 8 foot distance and made it to her bedroom door. And my was that hard wooden door connected to the cold stone doorway looking more and more comfortable by the second.

Perhaps just sitting there for a few minutes would ease the tension in her body. Afterall, those 10, maybe 12 steps were a workout of a lifetime just then.

So that's what she did, grudgingly sliding down the wall on her left side before ever so carefully scooting her back to lean against the wall behind her.

Was I supposed to open the door? She thought. Not entirely remembering just why she had walked over there. But the second her head leaned back to rest on the cold, hard stone, she didn't care. And her eyes fluttered shut as the world was enshrouded with a pitch black.

~•~

It was now about 1am the next morning. The castle an eerie silent apart from the occasional creak or groan of the buildings old infrastructure. All the soldiers had long since returned to their bedrooms, exhausted after the expedition or being treated in the medical wing.

What was once bustling with Scouts now felt empty, cold. Over half their forces were gone, and it really showed in the deafening silence of the base.

In the dining hall, all the wall torches had been turned out, leaving the one lone lit table to stand out against the darkness. The flicker of the candle casting eerie shadows around it, yet also filling the space with a warm, orange glow.

Sat at the table were 2 figures, one sat tall and dignified, slicked back blonde hair appearing auburn under the orange hue of the table top candle. Icy ocean blue eyes staring blankly at the cup of hot tea in front of him, steam rising and tickling his forehead.

The other a shorter man with a head of neat raven hair, steel grey eyes narrowed into their usual stoic expression, right foot propped up onto a chair infront him so he was sat sideways at the table. And a cup of tea raised to his lips, hand holding the rim of the cup instead of the handle.