Levi Comforts You After a Nightmare
Levi always seemed cold and heartless, but there was a side of him no one really got to see. The only time anyone got to see this side of him was when they were balancing on the line of life and death.
Levi never liked it when people saw him so vulnerable and caring because he always thought it would ruin his reputation and people would stop respecting him. But there are very very rare occasions when Levi pulls out his caring and compassionate side to a cadet who was not dying. Tonight just so happened to be one of those nights.
The short corporal noticed her absence almost immediately. It wasn’t because he saw that Y/N’s seat was empty at the table her friends sat at. It wasn’t even because he asked around for her. It was simple, really. On his way to the mess hall he heard Mikasa, Eren, and Armin talking about her condition.
“She hasn’t left her room since chores,” Armin said to his friends. “I’m really worried about her.”
“Do you know what’s wrong Mikasa?” Eren asked the female. It made sense; Mikasa did share a cabin with the girl in question. Mikasa looked between her two friends before answering.
“She’s just overworking herself,” Mikasa answered. “More than she should, if I’m honest. But I haven’t seen her any more today than the both of you have. She won’t let us anywhere near her and when we try to talk to her, she doesn’t answer.” Levi had heard enough. Once he was done eating, he would go make sure Y/N wasn’t dead.
She didn’t come to dinner and the more Levi thought about it, she hadn’t come down for lunch either. He made his way to the female cabin, a small piece of bread tucked away in his hand. He knocked on the door loudly.
“Cadet L/N,” he called through the door. “May I come in?” There was no response. Frustrated, Levi threw open the door. “When I call for you Cadet you better—” Levi started to scold before he cut himself off. He didn’t know why, but he couldn’t finish his sentence. Y/N lay on the bed in the corner of the room, whimpering softly. As he got closer, Levi could see tear stains across her face. “Cadet?” He gently placed the piece of bread on the small rotting bookshelf beside the bed before pulling a chair away from a nearby desk. Levi sat down in the chair beside Y/N’s bed, watching her carefully. He knew that you should never wake someone from a nightmare because that could do more harm than good. So instead of waking the girl up he took her hand and held it gently.
As Levi waited for Y/N’s nightmare to pass, it only grew worse. She started to mumble inaudible words and move around. She started to cry harder and her breathing began to go irregular. Out of nowhere Y/N screamed, high pitched voice piercing the silence of the night. Levi jumped out of his seat at the noise then tried to get the girl to calm down. He pinned down the wrist of the hand he had been holding. She had started to thrash around, posing as a threat to both herself and Levi.
“Cadet!” Levi said sternly. He climbed onto the bed, trying to get over Y/N’s legs. “Wake up!” He managed to straddle her, pinning her wrists down with his hands and keeping her legs still with his knees, digging them into her thighs. “Y/N!”
With a gasp Y/N’s eyes snapped open, fear evident in her eyes. She made eye contact with Levi almost immediately.
“C-C-Captain,” she choked through her tears. Levi’s eyes softened as he moved off of her legs but he kept his grip on her wrists.
“Yes,” he said calmly. “It’s me, I’m here now.” He slowly released Y/N and she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck, sobbing into his chest. It took him by surprise at first, then he also wrapped his arms around her, holding her steady. He rested his chin on her shoulder. “Breathe Cadet.” Levi ran one hand up and down her back as the other combed through her hair. “You are going to hyperventilate if we don’t get your breathing under control.” Nothing you were trying was able to calm you down. If anything, it made matters worse.
“W-Where’s Petra?” she choked again. “A-And the squad?” Levi’s breath hitched as he very quickly realized what was going on. Levi gripped you tight and squeezed his eyes shut.
“Oh Cadet,” he breathed quietly. “Breathe. You need to breathe.” His attempts failed at calming down Y/N, so Levi gently pulled her head to rest right above his heart, taking large and exaggerated deep breaths. “Breathe with me.”
It took a few moments for Levi to give up, smashing his lips against hers. Breathing out, he forced air into Y/N’s lungs. She gasped before coughing and breathing on her own.
“Captain?!” she exclaimed. Levi wiped the tears from her face with his thumbs, sighing.
“There you are,” he smiled softly. “You were stuck in a nightmare for a moment. You’re alright now.”
“W-What?” she muttered, confused, Levi pulled her back into a tight hug. She stayed still for a moment before hugging Levi loosely. Silence sat between the two of them for a moment. “Captain?” she questioned quietly into his shoulder. “Why are you here?”
“I overheard your friends talking about how they were worried about you before dinner,” Levi answered. “And then I noticed that you weren’t at dinner or lunch.” He suddenly remembered the piece of bread sitting next to the bed. He slowly leaned forward as not to startle Y/N, gently picking up the piece of bread. “Here.”
She lifted her head to see what was in his hand as he gave the bread to her. “What’s this for?”
“To eat, brat,” he said quietly. He didn’t mean it as an insult and she knew that. “Did you not hear what I just said?” She took the bread and took small bites of it.
“Thank you,” she whispered once she was finished. Levi noticed the confused look on her face and he furrowed his brows.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Why am I so shaky?” she questioned, lifting a hand to show Levi how bad it was shakin. He took her hand in his.
“You had a nightmare,” he said softly. “Do you remember what it was about?” She shook her head slowly, looking into Levi’s eyes. He sighed, tightening his grip on her hand. “It was of the night our squad died.” Y/N’s eyes filled with tears almost immediately. “No, no, don’t cry,” Levi rushed. “There’s no need to cry.”
“How did you know?” she whispered. “About my dream?”
“For a moment after I woke you up you were still out of it. You were asking where Petra and the squad was.” Y/N lowered her head.
“Causing you all of this trouble,” she whispered again. Levi placed a hand under her chin, lifting her face. He could see tears making their way down her face again.
“Don’t ever apologize for something you didn’t have a say in,” he said sternly. “That’s an order, understand?”
“Yes sir.” Levi nodded in approval.
“Good, now come here.” Levi pulled Y/N yet again into another hug. He lifted her up as he adjusted himself, leaning against the wall at the head of the bed. Levi gently placed Y/N on his lap and held her.
“Captain?” she called quietly.
“Call me Levi,” the man corrected.
“Levi,” the word felt foriegn coming from her mouth, “why are you doing this for me? If it were anyone else you would leave them be.”
Levi sighed. “When you are a part of a squadron, you become family. We’ve spent so much time with each other and the rest of the squad that we’ve become a family. Now, it’s just us and family has to stick together.”
Y/N had never heard her corporal be so open with his emotions and thoughts before. It was almost as if she didn’t hear him speak in the first place she was so shocked.
“Get some rest. I’ll leave you be.” Y/N quickly latched on to Levi’s arm as he tried to lace her on the bed. Levi looked at her, confused. “What is it Y/N?”
She looked away. “Please don’t leave.” Her words were nearly inaudible. “I don’t want to sleep alone.” The man’s eyes softened. He knew it would be wrong sleeping with one of his cadets, even if nothing was going on. But the way Y/N looked so distressed, he couldn’t say no.
Levi sighed, “Can you walk?” Y/N stood up slowly, nodding. “Come with me then.” The girl grabbed her green cloak, wrapping it around her body as she followed Levi into the hallway.
“Where are we going?” she asked quietly, jogging to catch up with her captain, now walking beside him.
“To my quarters,” he answered. The two walked in silence until they reached the man’s office. Levi led Y/N through his office into his bedroom. She looked around, taking in her surroundings. The room smelled of lemons and was unbelievably clean. As she looked around the room Levi pulled off his jacket and straps. He then walked over to his dresser and pulled out a pair of grey sweatpants and a tank top. Levi quickly changed as Y/N looked at the books on Levi’s bookshelf.
“Do you like to read, Captain?” Y/N asked quietly, turning to the man.
“I try to read when I have time,” he answered. “Now, lay down.” Levi pulled back the blankets on his bed as she slowly walked over to the bed. Levi got in and pulled her down beside him. “Now go back to bed. You’re going to need your rest for tomorrow’s training.” Y/N pulled the covers up to her chin, looking into Levi’s eyes.
“Thank you,” she whispered, eyes starting to slip shut. Levi smiled softly, pulling the hood off of her head. He also removed the cloak from her and hung it on the bedpost. Sitting up, Levi leaned against the headboard and picked up a book from his nightstand.
After reading for almost an hour Levi decided to try to get some sleep. He preferred to sleep in a chair but for the sake of Y/N he stayed in the bed. He laid flat on his back, closing his eyes. He stayed like that for a few minutes before he felt a weight on his chest. Eyes shooting open, Levi looked down to see a H/C head resting on his chest. He huffed, wrapping his arms around the figure.