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↱" 'It was a mistake,' you said. But the cruel thing was, it felt like the mistake was mine, for trusting you."↲
-David Levithan.
✺
later that day/the return
"HARDER, LEVI!"
"Shut it. I'm going as hard as I can."
"Do you want me to find someone else to do this with?"
That comment landed Katerina a swift but forceful kick across the face, and the sound of Levi's barefoot colliding with her cheek rang through the cramped room.
"That's more like it!" Katerina laughed, putting pressure on her cheek that was sure to be turning purple that very second. "I'm glad to see your leg is feeling better."
He and Katerina had tired of keeping themselves locked in the oddly decorated room they had been staying in so they had decided to find a space for them to spar. Each was secretly craving to get some pent up aggression out; Katerina was still slightly peeved by Levi's attitude the previous day and Levi was just frustrated that his injury hadn't fully healed yet.
"Better?" he snorted, sneaking a punch to her stomach when she wasn't expecting it. "I could have kicked you three times harder before I injured my leg. I'm still upset with the scary brat for messing it up."
"The scary brat?" Katerina asked, slightly out of breath, grabbing Levi's arm and twisting it around his back.
"Yeah," he grunted, using his elbow to double her over. "The scary brat, the smart brat, and the annoying brat." He spoke these last words as he took advantage of her position and used his back to throw her over him, landing her on her back with a hard thud.
"Walls," she groaned, annoyed, and physically hurt as she rubbed her back. "Who the fuck taught you to fight dirty like that?"
"You learn a couple of things in the Underground," he whispered, helping her off her feet and brushing his fingers against her lower back.
Levi's usually blank face seemed to be laced with quiet anxiety, a fear coming in trembles behind his grey eyes. He seemed too vulnerable like he was experiencing some kind of post-traumatic stress, a tick.
"Yeah," she whispered, trailing her finger down his sweat-coated chest. "I had heard of that."
Although she was desperate to hear more about his past, a past that had been dangled in front of her like a shiny toy, she didn't want to make him any more uncomfortable because they had an understanding. They had managed to grow a certain awareness of each other, she knew when to press and when to not.
