remember the day we dreamt

[wingbound]

WHO: Levi & various!
WHAT: Erwin is gone from Ellipsa. Levi is now a five times widow and being a sad sack about it.
WHEN: July 7/8th and a few days after
WHERE: Levi's house in Coldreach, Dayrise Colosseum, Solarpeak beach, Coldreach observatory, Coldreach pub
WARNINGS: grief, insomnia, implied ocd, referenced drinking. also blanket AoT warnings just in case (child soldiers, trauma no therapy, so much death, etc)

::

When he wakes up that morning with his face pressed into a pillow rather than the now-familiar warmth, part of him just knows. He still looks, of course. Still calls his name, still checks with his coworkers, and finally, the dreaded contact list of his phone. He wishes he could say he's surprised to see Erwin's name gone, but it still hurts. It hurts something fierce, and while he knows he'll be okay -- as okay as he's ever capable of being anymore -- eventually, right now he feels numb and torn into a thousand pieces at once.

He doesn't go to chew out the guild leaders this time (though he will visit Olwen just to unload on him some days later). There's no point. Last time he did, they made it clear enough this was not something in their power, and as much as he wants to break something about it, it's not their fault. No, he's grateful. He got two amazing years, two stolen years with Erwin that he never would have gotten otherwise. He's been through loss before, countless times, and even losses of loved ones he can no longer count on one hand. He always finds a way to move forward. But he's just so tired of losing people. People who deserved this chance.

And so, for a little bit, he just stops.


--1. Home Sweet Home - open to CR!

Maybe you were supposed to meet with him -- for training, for an appointment, for work or just to catch up. He never shows up, though. There's no message about it, and he's not picking up his phone either. It lasts a few days. Maybe, eventually, you decide to check on him in his home.

The house is quiet, and yet not still. As you get closer, it's as if cold air is rolling off of it in chilling waves. Something is wrong.

a)

At first, nothing seems to happen when you knock on the door. If you happen to be one of his squad members, besties or housemates, however, it eventually cracks open a little bit and a familiar face stares at you. He looks like he hasn't slept at all for the last few days, the dark circles under his eyes more prominent than ever, rubber gloves on his hands and an annoyed scowl on his face.

"What?"

b)

If you're someone else, well. You will most likely be treated to suspicious silence, though you may get the distinct feeling of being watched. In fact, you might even catch a glimpse of his face, partially hidden behind a curtain in the window next to the door. He seems to be waiting for you to leave.

c)

If you're one of the aforementioned squad members, besties, or housemates, you might have been given a spare key at some point, in which case you may forgo knocking altogether and simply let yourself in. If you happen to have the skills to break in or have another reason to have access, well, that works too. As far as you can see, there's no immediate signs of anything terrible happening in the house, though it does seem to smell more strongly of bleach than usual.

c1) It does seem strangely empty, though. Perhaps a shadowy or a weirdly translucent cat meows at you while you walk around. Everything is clean, and tidy, and... more freezing the closer you get to the bedroom.

If you dare venture in, you'll find a creature curled up between the pillows in a sad little ball, no signs of life beyond the slight rising and falling of its side.

c2) There's a faint sound of scrubbing, and if you follow it you'll find yourself in the middle of the living room, where Levi appears to be trying to wash out a particularly stubborn spot on the floor, his bad leg outstretched in an awkward half-crouch. Maybe it's hard to see with the way he's scraping the scrub over it insistently, but you don't think there's any spot left there at all. In fact, the whole room looks almost hospital-clean, and his gloves appear to be tearing down by the fingers. He doesn't seem to notice you yet.


--2. Something's Gotta Give - open to anyone!

He can't stay at home forever. He doesn't plan to, but after the few days of self inflicted, wall-climbingly overwhelming solitude he's not sure how exactly he's supposed to do that. He goes out at night -- it's not like he has anything resembling a sleep schedule anymore -- and decides to clear his head.

If you're the type to end up at the Dayrise Colosseum at some ungodly hour like 3AM at night, you might just run into him -- or get to witness him take on that 3DMG obstacle course that he, Jean and Mikasa usually train in.

He still looks like shit, but he's fast. A little too fast, perhaps. The cables groan from the strain as he seems to be accelerating more than the gear is built for, decimating wooden dummies on the way just a bit too thoroughly (here's hoping he intends to repair them once he's done). At some point, a cable doesn't get to wind back all the way before he launches it again and the uneven length throws him offcourse, crashing into another obstacle. Before you can get properly worried that he's hit his head or broken something, however, you hear the telltale whirr again.


--3. Find Me In The Stars - open to anyone!

The anger doesn't last. The insomnia does, refusing to retreat no matter how long he spends exhausting himself until he finally passes out in the wee hours of the morning, only to be back up a couple hours later.

He goes to visit the observatory -- his and Erwin's favorite spot, and at least part of the reason they had chosen this district to live in. At least, it's not strange to be there in the middle of the night, as that's when the stars are the most visible, and he makes sure both to peruse the telescope and to just hang out under the open dome, staring up quietly as if he's somehow hoping to reach the stars with his hands.

Perhaps unusually, he seems to be leaning on a crutch despite still wearing his usual knee brace. If there's a certain tremble to the arm that holds it, it's impossible to tell whether it's pain or cold. He finally leans against the railings, takes out a thermos and toasts a cup of tea into the sky.


--4. The Ocean - open to anyone!

Just like before when Hange left Ellipsa, Levi finds himself backtracking his steps to the beach. It's not quite an ocean, despite its name, but when simply staring out at it, it's close enough.

He might be there during daytime, contemplating the blue colour that he had connected to Erwin's eyes before they ever got reunited in Ellipsa, or he might show up in the middle of the night, simply listening to the waves and reminiscing.

Perhaps the most shocking thing -- if you know him, that is -- is that he's sitting right there on the sand, apparently without concern of it getting on him or his clothes. There's a small patch with a wing emblem between his fingers that he rubs absently while staring into the horizon.


--5. You're Never Too Old To Try Something New, Though Maybe You Shouldn't - open to anyone!

He had gotten the potion from Riki months ago, but Erwin never seemed particularly keen on Levi trying it out, and so, it gathered dust somewhere in their cupboards. With him gone, though, there's no one stopping him, and he may have just dedicated one day at home to drinking. He remains frankly unimpressed until the next day, when he learns the hard way that experiencing one's first hangover at the ripe age of 37 is absolutely not the greatest.

Eventually, he drags himself out to a pub in Coldreach where they serve a particular, sweet-mixed monstrosity that one can hardly call tea, in all honesty, but he's craving it enough to be willing to leave the safe darkness and silence of his home for a little bit. He can't help but think both Erwin and Hange would have loved it, the goddamn sugar fiends, but he just hopes it doesn't make him throw up. Yes, he's wearing shades indoors, and yes, at some point he's letting his forehead meet the bar counter with something between a groan and a noise of annoyance.

"Is this what it's always like for you?" he grouses at someone who happens to be sitting at the bar next to him, with any luck suffering a similar ailment. "I don't get the appeal."


--6. Wildcard

(( If you'd like to pester him somewhere else or in a different way, hit me up on disco or jigglyballs and we can hash something out! ))

Comments

--2. Something's Gotta Give

[the_one_who_waits]

Narinder is the type to arrive at the Dayrise Colosseum at 3am in the morning. The moon necklace around his neck makes it all too easy to do so. He hopes to find someone here this late without anyone else around. As fortune would have it, there is one such individual. He watches from the stands as Levi whips around on his 3DMG device, destroying the dummies, and inevitably crashing.

Narinder's entertained laughter fills the empty colosseum as the whirling begins again. He stands and walks down to the edge to lean over and watch Levi more closely. This is fascinating to watch.

"Tell me. What is that relic you use?" He will ask loudly, seeing if the man will even acknowledge him or continue the onslaught he is dead set on.

[wingbound]

Levi does, on some level register that he's not alone perhaps a little before he hears the laughter, but it doesn't fully sink in until a few moments later. He'd just flown his way up a wooden statue in the center, so fast it's hard to see him except the spiral of condensed air left behind him, and shredded it into a bazillion pieces before registering that it's not part of the course.

He lands and walks up to it. "Shit, don't call the manager," he grouses, ignoring the question because really, he's not sure if the observer is referring to him or his gear, and he doesn't particularly care to know. Sure, it might look crude to someone used to electricity, but it had been edge cutting science back home.

He touches a hand to the pedestal, and the statue's slivers seem to jump back in place, as if breaking in reverse. It's probably recognizable as a Winter power.

[the_one_who_waits]

Narinder watches with rapt interest as the human stands. He chuckles at the words. Sure, they don't answer his question, but he can answer the concern.

"I know not what this manager is but I will not cry out for them," He says, his three eyes watching the statue returning to its original form. He has seen similar happenings in his realm and he can deduce this must be one of the Winter season abilities of repair.

"You are skilled with that thing and your Winter curses. What do you call it? That weapon. It is a weapon, is it not?"

[wingbound]

That is... a very particular way of speaking. Levi turns toward the voice, not breaking his concentration as the last parts of the statue return to place, scanning the stands for -- whoever it is, and is met with the glow of three eyes in the dim lighting.

What in the hell? It looks like -- well, some sort of a demon. And maybe a cat, a little bit. (Kind of reminds him of Shadow the voidcat, actually... cute?) Mostly a demon though. Hardly the only one he's met here, but the others tended to look more... human. Is he supposed to entertain it or be alarmed?

"Why do you need to know?"

we all try what we shouldn't, like new dogs sniffing around old tricks

[lyingheart]

Annie plops herself down on the stool, leaning her elbows back on the bar itself, not so much looking directly at Levi as simply suddenly coexisting at his side. This had been less planned and more the niggling sense of something off when catching sight of him a little earlier in passing, and sussed out through other avenues — short of Reiner decided to tell her anything, Annie is not the one people tend to reach out and inform of much of anything. Why would they? She's not that person in anyone's life but Reiner and Bertholdt, and even that's somewhat debatable, in her opinion.

(She doesn't always have the most correct opinions.)

"Not particularly," she says, "But the only time I ended up drunk at one of these places was with Reiner and Eren, so it was a whole different sort of unappealing."

It'd also led to certain tattooing incidents, or at least the one she's walking around with, but that's neither here nor there.

"Never trust anything fruity. It's just hiding the high proof shit." Also tasty because that's what sugar and fruit does to a person, but everyone learns eventually, don't they? Annie turns her head a touch toward Levi, regarding his forehead to the bar look. "Hair of the dog working out for you?"

[wingbound]

"You win," Levi decides, because he can only imagine that being in that sort of situation would leave him hearing a wide selection of details from Eren and Reiner's shared life that he would rather not know about. Though honestly, he would probably call it awkward rather than unappealing; overall they're fine kids, the whole... destroying the world part aside. (What a series of words to say.) "That's why you don't do it here. Home is safer."

Because yeah, he absolutely was not going to lower his inhibitions surrounded by strangers. Being alone, or accompanied by someone he can trust with himself, like Farlan, is much preferable. It also didn't lead to any tattooing incidents, because he'd gotten his perfectly sober -- though it's unlikely anyone is going to see it outside of maybe the rare beach day he actually dresses down for it -- large Wings of Freedom spread out on his upper back. Anyway, he's confident in his ability to defend himself now, it's just that every noise and color seems to hurt his brain and eyes.

A little like walking in sunlight for the first time, he supposes.

He regards his not-quite-tea-tea with a dead-eyed stare. It's not exactly alcoholic, so he's not sure if that metaphor applies here. "Guess we'll see," he just grumbles, not moving because it's still rather hot and he's just languishing in misery until it's cooled off enough to drink.

[lyingheart]

She breathes out in a snort, conceding the point easily. There's no real occasion or reason to drink that much in public, and if what they'd been drinking had been any less fruit-juice than it was, she wouldn't have. Lessons learned, such as these things go.

"Isn't that just the obvious?" Turning her head to study the rest of the pub rather than Levi, she forgoes a shrug to continue her particular backward lean. "Especially if you're a woman. Maybe it's kinder here, but I doubt it."

Because she does, of course, live in the happier details of life. The fact there's a major underground criminal empire in the central region indicates as much will be true, in her opinion.

Then again, where would trafficked people... go... ah. There are answers and answers to that, looking out into the Segments. Looking at there being any kind of cult that invites the Darkness.

A new group of three trudges in, talking amongst themselves and greeting a few at another table with loud enthusiasm, settling into chairs around. Annie watches them from the corner of her eye, filing them away as nonthreatening as the gregarious group continues to chat and jab amongst themselves.

"What did you order anyway?" She asks, still casually observing the other table.

[wingbound]

As long as one lives through the lesson learning, it's fine. Pain always has been an excellent teacher, after all.

"No place is that kind," he mutters, in fact well aware of a good number of women-specific dangers and injustices. As kind as this world may seem... every place has its dark underbelly.

...At least the red lights district here was actually protected, and the workers considered full-fledged citizens.

Doesn't help someone just drinking alone ending up in the wrong spot at the wrong time, though.

His eyes follow hers for a moment, and he files the group away into his awareness -- no need to pay active attention to them, but he'll damn well go for the boot knife if they make any movement in his direction -- then settle on his drink again.

"Sweet Harvest Pumpkin Spice Cream Topped Black Tea," he reads listlessly from the menu. It's a mouthful to even get out... but the scent of cinnamon is nice.

4

[abnormalizes]

There Levi is, sitting on the beach. Right on the sand. Something is definitely wrong.

Evangeline considers how to approach for a second, and then just sits down next to him. With a hygienic amount of distance between them, of course.

"...Moon Coin for your thoughts?"

[wingbound]

Considering he's sitting on the sand, he's probably not going to care about the hygienic distance, but the thought is appreciated.

He doesn't seem to notice her until she's sitting down next to him, glancing briefly before staring out again.

Then he holds out one hand, as if expecting her to put a coin in it. (Moon Coins are generally digital, so really, he'll accept something like a smooth pebble. It's just a little extra hurdle to make sure she really does want him to talk -- as if that's needed.)

[abnormalizes]

Just because he's in a depression doesn't give her a free pass to ignore his boundaries without asking!

Evangeline blinks, then pulls a stress ball out of her pocket and deposits it in his open palm.

"I don't actually keep a lot of physical cash on me..."

[wingbound]

Damn her being so considerate! It almost makes him feel bad for not being more straightforward with it, but it is what it is.

He snorts quietly. They'll take his money sock out of his cold dead hands, damn it (whether it contains actual currency or he's bought something like gold ingots for safekeeping under his mattress is anyone's guess).

"This is acceptable, then," he says, squeezing the stress ball a few times before gently tossing it back toward her. Might as well rip off the bandaid.

He breathes in, holds it, closes his eyes, breathes out, then opens them again to stare at the line where the sea meets the sky.

"Erwin's gone."

Home sweet home ... ooooooops, you get a TLDR wall

[scoutingangel]

She's supposed to meet him for whatever reason that time. She tries to meet him as often as possible when they're both here. And when he doesn't show up and doesn't even send a message about it at all-- She gets worried about him. But she tells herself all the maybes like maybe he forgot (as if that would ever happen) or maybe he suddenly had something else to do (but he would have told her / rescheduled either...) and so on. She's almost too afraid to check her contact list but he's still there, she keeps a pretty good eye on it all the time just to check that he's there. Even before this, that is, it's a habit that she doesn't do only in his case.

So when it's been a few days without anything from him despite how she sometimes sends a message to say something, anything, asking how he's doing or telling something about her day and she's just getting more and more worried instead of thinking let him live his life... And then she also notices, that Erwin is gone from the contact list. Oh. Ohhh. Oh no. Oh shit.

Petra arrives to Levi's house and she thinks twice or more before she grabs her spare key from her pocket. And again at least twice, but probably much more, before she opens the door with it.

"... Captain? Hello? Anyone here?"

She calls out, trying to keep her voice as calm as she can despite how worried she is before she walks in and shuts the door behind her. Okay, no going back, she's going to do this. She leaves her shoes and coat where they belong, walking around the apartment in some casual, pretty girly, outfit.

"Where is he...?"

She greets the cats whenever she sees them, she'll even pet them if they let her do that. And she talks this and that while she looks for him all around his home until she eventually notices how it's colder and colder closer to that bedroom.

Does she dare to go there? ...Yes. Sure, she takes a deep breath and prepares herself for who knows what, she has no idea what she'll see there but she... Must. Know. She even knocks to the door whether or not it's open before she opens it (even more in case it's even slightly open).

"...Captain Levi?"

Her voice is worried but also shy, kind of careful, like is she really allowed to do this? She peeks into the room and sees that sad ball on the bed. Huh? A wild animal seems unlikely, so maybe one his winter animal transformation? Good job to herself for knowing basic math from how freezing it is here plus seeing him like that on his bed.

At least Levi is breathing. Petra holds back her relieved sigh because not really the time for it even when she is so, so relieved to find him. But seeing him like that? Yup, sure makes her sad too now when she's not focusing on finding him. She walks into the room, doesn't sit on the bed yet even though there's a very short moment when she considers that too if that would make things even easier for him. She'll do that if he wants her to sit there.

For now, she reaches out her right hand to possibly gently pet Levi's head or back if he lets her do that.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

At least she already knows if the whole not saying Erwin's name at all while walking here didn't make that clear.

oh dear... but what a lovely wall it is!

[wingbound]

He'll feel bad about it later. Really, it's not like it's some terrible effort to just pick up the damn phone and send some reassuring messages, or ask for rescheduling, or, well, anything. But time's getting away from him. He loses his sense of how long it's been, figures he's been unnecessary for a while now so surely nobody will miss him in just a few days, and from there it's all too easy to slip into those darker thoughts without a steady presence reminding him that people want him around because they love him, and not for whatever perceived benefits his strength used to bring before his body had gotten all fucked up.

Even in this world, his powers had always been tied to his emotions, his instincts, just like his strength was, and him being in pain means they're getting hectic, too, seeping out as an overflowing teacup. He maintains enough control to make sure nobody ends up hurt -- but other than that, there's no sense to keep it bottled in. He's alone in the house at the moment, and letting the pain come out in frozen bursts like this feels just as relieving as screaming or crying might be. Perhaps more, with how intrinsically the powers are woven into his being at this point.

And, of course, just like the last time he'd lost someone all too close to his heart here... the simple form offers simpler emotions. A grief a little easier to bear. It's almost like his soul protecting itself, in a way, and on his lonesome, he can't help but indulge, even if he knows running away doesn't change anything.

Just a few days. Just let himself feel it all for a few days, and then he can pick himself back up piece by piece and soldier on, like he always does.

He doesn't expect the visitor, nor the gentle hand on his fur. Part of him considers turning back, but he's both still too upset and now too ashamed of her seeing him in this state, that he considers staying put will probably make the situation easier to handle. At least for a little bit.

The creature raises its head a little to stare at Petra, then lays it back down flat on the blanket, ears turning a little backwards sadly. He's not protesting the pets, though. It's... a little weird, maybe, all things considered, but it always brought him comfort in this form.

the ocean bc we love a theme in this house

[dreamsofwings]

In the ongoing theme of repeating patterns, Eren finds Levi not at home, but at the beach. It's somewhat on accident. He has checked in once or twice, but not enough. He's too Eren to have guessed at it directly until Levi stops answering his texts. That starts to freak him out until he remembers that unanswered texts aren't the same as the message that a user can't be found.

He texts Erwin instead, and that answers that.

He avoids Levi for a little while for the same reason he did last time. Levi has lost people over and over. Many of them were Eren's fault, he knows. Erwin wasn't exactly. At least, he hadn't done anything to cause the situation other than just be Eren. He had begged for Armin's life over Erwin's, which was selfish, but he had not caused the commander's death.

But Eren is forever a reminder of loss. He often forgets to count himself in that death toll, deluding himself about the level of emotional importance he has in other people's lives.

He finds Levi in the late afternoon, sitting in…the sand?

He comes and stands there next to him. He's barefoot but otherwise dressed. He wouldn't dare track sand into Levi's house and he's careful not to kick any, but the captain sitting there in the actual sand like he doesn't care about it getting everywhere…is heavy in a way he can't articulate.

"Captain," he says.

He internally chokes on the idea of apologising. It would probably seem trite, but more than that, he has no right to apologise to Levi. He could never earn that right, not after everything. So he doesn't say anything else just yet.

all the emocean...

[wingbound]

As much as Eren might have things to apologize for that he has no right to -- things that have little if anything to do with Levi, as far as he's concerned, because the world takes precedence for him -- this isn't even one of them. Even back on that day, his tears had merely served to help Levi make a decision that he was always supposed to make. He would never hold it against it, against any of them, for trying to argue for their friend -- even for their little mutiny attempt, if he's being honest, even though they had to do something about it then for appearances. No, the one who had let Erwin die had always been Levi -- and the one who killed him, along with nearly all of their comrades, had always been the Beast. He does not think to blame Eren for it for an instant.

Besides, he's another one of those they lost, in the end. Perhaps even earlier than that.

"Eren," he answers back, not really glancing at him as his voice in comfirmation enough for who has come to join him. Part of him feels a little bad about probably making everyone worry, but he's honestly not sure whether it's been two days or five. "It's a sight, huh?"

Even if he should be used to it by now, something about the ocean still remains magnificent in a way that he can't really put into words.

EMOCEAN I'm dying

[dreamsofwings]

Eren will eternally say he's the same as the day he was born. He considers himself a lost cause from the start; he's told Reiner that he was dead the day they met. He may have told Levi or Hange the same. It's not true, strictly speaking, but for all that Eren can see at once, his view has always been contradictorily narrow.

He also doesn't know if it's been two days, or five, or a week. He has no sense of the flow of time, even now. He's cooled down from his consuming rage (usually), and warmed up from his practised apathy, but nothing can set time right again. He's used to it, even if it's inconvenient for other people.

"Yeah. It is," he says. He has complicated feelings about the ocean. He had longed to see it because Armin had, but all he ever found there was another cage, another barrier. He has seen it in his messed up memory boiling and bloody.

But not this one.

This ocean has never been a cage. He can appreciate that much.

"I thought you hated it here," he says, "because of the sand and the weird creatures or whatever."

: D

[wingbound]

It's not really inconvenient for other people, at least not directly, unless he decides to share a brain with someone again in one of those mechas or something similar. Levi still isn't sure if he didn't receive some sort of lingering brain damage from that. Would probably explain his surprising tolerance to mayonnaise in certain scenarios.

As long as he can see the open sky in every direction, no place truly feels like a cage to him. And yet, he's so used to the city that he can't really imagine living somewhere far out where he could actually see the horizon any time he wanted. Maybe this is fine. Getting the best of both worlds, in a way.

He'd always lamented that Erwin never got to see the ocean, back home. Whenever he'd dreamed of the sea, he'd think of that man's eyes again, even as the rest of his features had started blurring around the edges. At least here they got that chance -- whether or not it was actually an ocean, it looked the same, and it caused the same sort of wonder on their faces. He's probably got several memory camera snaps of it tucked away in his bedroom, just to make sure that look doesn't fade from his memory.

"I don't hate it here, he explains, in his usual mild tone. "I hate the sand and the water. I don't hate the view."

He is still sitting on the sand, though. At least he's not waded up to his knees into the water. If that happened, it would probably be a good idea to call someone. Like the hospital.

stars

[calmandsteady]

Farlan had kept an eye on Levi after he found out Erwin left. He had gone to the house, but noticed no one was home so he had decided to check some other places. His eyes traveled to the stars above, remembering the way they always looked at the skies once they got out of the underground.

It was that instinct that took him to the Observatory. There he locates the spot that would be the best place to watch the sky and finds Levi there, as he hoped.

"Here you were", he says quietly as he approaches.

[wingbound]

It had been... a rough few days, that's for sure. At least Levi is once again feeling put together enough to spend time in his human form again. The pain will probably never fully go away, as it never does, but he can live with it, always has, carrying all of them with him.

He feels equal parts relieved and guilty when his (remaining) best friend finds him, and briefly wonders if he's been ignoring his texts again. (He probably has, but how much Farlan uses them is another question. He's always welcome to just come over, after all.)

He doesn't find it in himself to even attempt anything resembling a smile, but there's a little hint of softness in his eyes when he glances at Farlan anyway.

"Getting predictable in my old age, am I?" he mutters, likewise quiet, and looks up again, wordlessly inviting the other to join him.

[calmandsteady]

"Maybe. Not that it's a bad thing", Farlan says as he sits down near him. At least Levi being predictable meant he was easy to find in times when Farlan needed to.

He's willing to just sit in the silence if Levi needs that, but he can also listen. Whichever it is, he's leaving the choice to the one mourning.

Perhaps he didn't exactly like Erwin, but he knows that he was important to Levi and that was enough for him.

[wingbound]

He's not entirely sure what he needs. Just Farlan's presence is helping immensely, but sometimes talking is nice, too. At the same time, he feels bad about potentially unloading a bunch of old man yaoi personal details on Farlan. He's... maybe not quite certain, but not entirely unaware of his feelings, either. (Why else would he refuse to live in the same house, when it's big enough not to hear anything one doesn't want to?) It would be unfair, he thinks.

But he's also the closest person he has here now. Who else was he going to cry about this to, whether figuratively or literally?

He inches closer, until he can rest his head on Farlan's shoulder, and then simply stares up at the sky. The silence stretches for a good while, until he finally caves and mutters, quietly enough to ignore if preferred; "We had our first date here."

If nothing else, at least Farlan can have the reassurance that Levi didn't just jump the guy he was supposed to kill a few weeks later. Apparently all of that only happened here in this world.

1

[mayoninofukucho]

[Levi didn't show up for his physiotherapy appointment, which normally would have passed Hijikata by completely, had the man's concerned physiotherapist not called the NCPD to request a wellness check after being unable to reach him. Since Hijikata happened to be in Coldreach when he heard the request be forwarded via police channel, he volunteered to take care of it. (Definitely not out of convern for the mean little bastard. Oh no.)

It's the first time he actually visits Levi and Erwin's home, so he curiously takes it in as he approaches the front door and - depending on what they have - either rings or knocks. After waiting for an appropriate amount of time, he tries again... and again... and again. As the silence starts to drag out, his frown steepens.

Don't assume the worst now, Toshirou. Maybe they're just on a quest or at an event or at someone else's house. But then, aren't they both super organised? They wouldn't have stood up the leg doctor. He tries yet again, and this time he calls out in addition.]

Levi! Erwin! Open up!

[If there's still no response, he'll try calling them on the phone!]

[wingbound]

[ He may catch a quiet sound coming from the inside. Something... scraping, maybe, or getting dragged, though it's so faint it's almost impossible to make out. It just keeps going while Hijikata rings or knocks (they probably have both), not reacting to his voice either. ]

[ The call, however, does something. ]

[ The first thing is, that he'll hear the default ringtone inside the house, in fact fairly closeby -- the living room's windows are definitely facing that way. And the second, well. ]

[ The scraping noise finally stops, and instead there's a loud CRASH as one of the windows suddenly shatters, a small ringing projectile flying out right through the glass with incredible force, along with what appears to be a house-wide burst of arctic wind pulsing out of the center, ice crystals spreading over the glass shards before they even hit the ground. Is that... Levi's phone? ]

[ It must be. It has a little cactus houseleek charm on it. ]

[ A moment later, the glass flips up up as if in a rewinded video, accompanied by an odd crackling sound as it seems to fold back into bigger pieces and get sucked right back into the jagged hole left in the window, leaving no trace of it ever being damaged in the first place. That has to be the repair buildings ability, right? ]

[ The scraping noise resumes. ]

[mayoninofukucho]

[O...kay. Alright. Hijikata needs a moment to process what just happened (because his first impulse absolutely is to assume that the place is haunted and make a run for it, which he has to actively suppress by reminding himself that he's a death mage, and that there's a natural explanation for what he just observed, besides).

This definitely isn't regular behaviour for Levi (and if this is the doing of one of the home's inhabitants, it has to be him, seeing how he's the winter power holder). Hijikata picks the phone up and... sorry, Levi, but if it's unlocked, he'll check on your latest activity! If there's a row of unanswered calls and/or messages to Erwin, he'll start to understand.

If someone did show Levi how to protect his phone... well, then Hijikata will try to find a point of entrance - as a black adder, if need be (he'll turn back into a human once inside).]