reposting for archive purposes || do not interact with this post || thread with lausticzt (original post)
┊ ┊⋆ ┊ . 𝓬𝓸𝓵𝓭-𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓹𝓸𝓮𝓽𝓲𝓬 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓬𝓮 ◞ 𝖒𝖊𝖒𝖊 . ˚ ༘♡ ⋆。˚ @naitfall ⤸ “ tell me what you want. “ ( I can't resist sending you a meme . . . only if / when laura feels like it! )
How can he say that so calmly, while she struggles to hold his gaze ... a stillness in their serene that captures Laura's breath, any response she could have given hitching in her throat. Suffocating all of it / he's close enough she can feel his warmth, the feeling that she's being towered over by someone shorter then her by proximity alone, his scent completely overpowering her senses ... his eyes.
She's seen them soften, apparent even in his sharp expression, because she watches (...) more then she should. Her gaze always finding their way over to him in most scenarios. In those rare, often gruelling times of the life they lead, the brief glimpses before they revert again because it's easier to pretend ... everyone is out for themselves / all con men, with no true remorse. A witness to it, time and time again, and yet, she never believed it with them. Not him.
Levi is more human then most in every way maybe in the only way she knows. It's why she'd grown to trust him, completely. She strays from time to time, because trust was all so vulnerable. But, she never second guesses his words, doesn't have to watch out for masked lies and deceit, the way her world often disgusted her / the inner walls was a hell, where most idolised the stage play of wealth and professed perfection.
In a way, he embodied what she'd loved about the world beyond that. Raw in it's form, nothing to hide from ... in flaws, and the hardship of it's harrowing truth, was undoubtedly real. Normal in it's abnormality, to find true understanding and kinship within their world. Nothing to hold back on, nothing left to conceal. That was freeing.
Suffocating and not once did she feel she was drowning. Awkward as eyes shift, attempting to keep a steady gaze while her body runs hot. There's no silencing the pounding in her heart, she feels the growing warmth in her cheeks, burning at her ears, the lightest twitch in her eye.
It's humiliating how flustered she could still get when she's been in more intimate positions before. Laura is overbearingly commanding. It should be the other way around, she wishes to tell herself. But she can't think of anything else right now, aside from him.
And, god, does she need a moment. A hand covers half her face, finally shifting away from him, can't even mutter a curse under her breath at her own ridiculousness it's his fault, she decided. He gave her control. What she wanted.
❝ ... don't say anything. ❞ Until she gathered what dignity she had left to look at him again, to reveal the insanity of indescribable fluster that currently embodied her. A weak threat. She doesn't want him to go anywhere / don't move.
In the midst of battle, he had found himself. His instincts on alert, senses heightened, muscles tensed. He could hear the irregular beat of her heart, could see the tiniest changes in the way her eyes flickered, could sense her breath tremble. With his body on top of hers— this was no different than battle, than fighting for one’s life. They both fought for each other’s heart, body, and soul. Laura fought for control, while Levi fought for an opening, to go further within, to reveal the parts of her buried and forgotten.
The tactics of battle, to blend with one’s surroundings, to observe, and adapt. He’d watch for her reactions, learn through the little information he had, try not to lose his sanity when slowly but steadily he was getting absorbed by the heat of their bodies, getting lost in the intensity of her eyes. He hadn’t been in more intimate positions before.
A foreign experience to him, never before having shortened the distance between, never before having let anyone (not even himself) see him as whole, his body and heart in sync, for who he was and how he carried himself to align— when had it become a habit, to act the opposite of how he felt? Affection of this kind was foreign to Levi, and for once, maybe for the first time, he was at a loss what to do.
She understood, didn’t see? Even when she pretended to refuse to look at him, when she pretended to look down on him, when she tried to escape his sight, when she believed it was easier to hate him, than to accept him. She always understood, more than anyone else could. Even if they always stood on opposite sides, even if their natures were meant to collide, they had always fought for survival— of humanity, and the remnants of hope and kindness deep within them, the parts they’d deny.
Naked they’d be, both body and soul, the entirety of their existence exposed, to explore, to worship, to consume. Like a wolf, on top of its prey. Yet never he had seen her as one, never could have, for she was a hunter herself, ready to devour him with the same burning passion.
Control, she sought. Levi never would have denied her — never truly had, even when it seemed like he’d challenge her, even when he’d doubt her. Was it an opponent she needed, someone to blame, or someone to bring her back to her senses, he’d take up the role, even if it’d cost him, even if the distance between them would grow wider. Anything, as long as she could make terms with her pride, for Levi knew what it was like to have such a tight noose around one’s neck. Anything, as long as she wouldn’t suffocate, same way he had a few years ago when he lost everything.
Frozen, he’d stare with prying eyes, trying to make sense of her reaction, surprise even if subtle written on his face. He hadn’t known what to expect. If he didn't know her like the palm of his hand, he would have moved away already, retreated, given her space. Instead, Levi remained silent as ordered, still, surrendered, patiently waiting for her to show him what she wanted, what she desired, what she needed of him.