“Well damn it. I need to call Uncle Kenny to get me a horse.”

The irony. A giant beast that he didn’t even know how to operate yet here he was in need of one lest he stay at home.

Like a loser.

Levi sat still for a moment trying to remember if there was ever a time where his Uncle had given him a number to call. Funny. His only living relative that he knew of yet he didn’t even know how to get into contact with him.

“Of course, the Horse Dealer might have horses for sale. I can purchase one from there,” Levi concluded out loud once he figured there was no way to get hold of the elder Ackerman unless he just popped up out of nowhere.

In a box of newspapers he had saved over the course of several years, Levi began flipping through them to see if there was anything about horses. Sure, some were extremely outdated but some of the stores still had to remain especially if they were seen in every paper he flipped through. That was his only lead, finding all the stores that popped in every one of them and then narrowing it down to the ones that seemed better quality.  

He was almost to the bottom when he found exactly what he wanted. One phone call away and he could get what he wanted and that’s exactly what he did. 

The obnoxious buzz of the dialing phone, the wire cord twirling and loosening around his finger absentmindedly, and finally, the answer where he managed to arrange for someone to bring the newly purchased horse as early as possible along with all the necessities. Money what? He could thank his ancestors for that little gift they left behind. 

“Now all I have to do is learn how to saddle it up and get on it by myself.”

How fun. He struggled with things like lifting heavy things and now lifting himself up on a horse? Ridiculous. It was he who wanted to go through the struggle instead of somehow finding a carriage himself and even thought that brought him to realize even more there was no one he could ask in times like this, it didn’t change the fact that he didn't really want to socialize if not necessary.

That night, Levi tried getting sleep and succeeded which put him over the moon. Who cared if it wasn’t a solid eight hours? It was the fact that he managed to rest his body that made the whole experience even better than waking up with toasty warm blankets that had soaked up his heat and enveloped him like a giant hug. 

Mayhaps that was the reason that when the man brought his horse, he thanked him profusely and excitedly.

Now, the actual hassle was to try and figure out how a saddle worked. He couldn’t ask anyone, the man having left immediately after being paid, leaving Levi alone to try to figure out how the giant beast worked.

“Alright, alright. So first, I need to put on the thing that goes over its face. Then I need to figure out how to put the saddle on and get it strapped down,” Levi explained to himself, haphazardly tying the animal to a post and straightening out his back. “But because Erwin has me eating more, I have to get breakfast.” 

Fruits. Plain, boring, tasteless, whatever you wanted to call it but it was what everyone ate for breakfast. Funnily enough, many people didn’t know that eating fruits opened appetite and allowed them to eat more which was why Levi ate them sparingly but now was an exception. He’d be getting down and possibly dirty with an animal that could step on him and end his life in seconds so something like energy was a must.

Making sure his clothes were perfect for dirtying, he headed outside to try and solve how a horse worked. 

The reins were such a painful thing to look at. Specifically the bit. Why did it have to come down to the point where people wanted so much control over everything that even the small things like a bridle could slice a horse's mouth if pulled too harshly? Why did humans have to go as far as purposely making a tool that would keep a horse in line so easily? Was it fear that they wouldn’t be seen at the top of the food chain? Satisfaction of power over everything including animals? Or just cruelty? A bit seemed too far especially because a mouth is a delicate place and didn’t deserve to go through pain.

He succeeded in getting the bridle on without the bit but now was the saddle. Levi placed the padding on the horse's back for protection from the saddle and gently patted the side. He was now trying to figure out how the saddle would work when the man with groceries arrived. As if some form of miracle.

“Oh, you’re quite early,” Levi commented once he spotted the man.

“Your uncle told me to come early today.”

The man took down the items while Levi tried getting the saddle on. He was unsuccessfully getting the horse saddled up which frustrated him and the man noticed.

“Is this your first time having a horse?” he asked, making Levi look at him with furrowed eyebrows not at him but at his own situation.

“Yeah.”

“I’ll quickly show you how you do it.”

An actual miracle. One that saved lives such as Levi’s. He saddled the horse, explaining along the process what he needed to do which didn’t sound too hard because soon enough he was done. Experience. Of course it’d be easy with experience and Levi had none of that so that meant he’d actually have to practice saddling a horse which was a bit, embarrassing he’d say.

“Thank you. I’d’ve never been able to do that.”

“No problem. Just make sure to brush its coat every day and exercise it regularly.”

Basic instructions even a fool would know but sometimes, there were people worse than fools and wouldn’t know common sense so Levi appreciated the tip greatly. Who knows what could happen if he didn’t exercise it and it got frisky on him? Spine shivering.

“Alright.”

“Oh, by the way, the dress you ordered is in a box.”

Levi nodded in thanks, staying by the horses side until he was done dealing with it before dashing over to check his newly delivered stock.

Sure enough, the dress he had asked for had arrived and he was pleased. It had been exactly what he wanted, which was what he decided to wear to town the next day along with the new shoes he had gotten the week before. Putting his clothes away, he went to check on his horse in the stable one last time before going inside to pick at something small.

“If I keep eating like this, I’m going to gain a lot of weight,” Levi muttered to himself although he knew it’d take a long time to eat to the point where he saw a major difference. “Maybe I should start exercising or something so that I stay fit. I’ll do that another day.”

When a mind is occupied, time flies but when it's idle, the day lags like never before so when night fully set, the crickets chirped, and the stars twinkled above, Levi knew Wednesday morning was on its way which meant he began doing anything to distract himself. Play piano, stretch, star gaze, sleep, snoop around his well known castle. Anything to make it arrive faster. 

A restless routine. Everything he normally did but with much more intensity.  A pattern. Sleep, piano, ballet, bake, stretch, stargaze until finally, after waiting for so long, Wednesday began showing its colours through the edge of the horizon. 

Unfortunately, that meant it was still early to be announcing his presence in town so he went over his wardrobe to see if he could expand or improve it.

“Five suits and eight dresses? That’s way less than I thought. Two skirts, three shirts, and a pair of pajamas I don’t think I've ever worn,” Levi muttered, amused that he didn’t know he had those clothes. “Maybe I can ask Erwin to show me where the shops are. Or I can get Uncle Kenny to show me so I won’t be a bother.”

He sat on his bed for a while, forcing his mind to make up a story so he could waste a few more minutes before he got ready to leave. He was never one for wild imagination. Just on the occasional day did his mind run rampage but never as a forced way of wasting time. Who knows how long he had actually been sitting there but he felt as if he had wasted a great deal. 

First on the list to begin the journey. Clothes to change into after he took a shower. The castle didn’t have the luxury of warm water so it was cold water for him. Soap suds, goosebumps, gentle scratching, and freshening, it was until he was out that he noticed his ribs weren’t protruding as much as before but they were still visible. That alone made giddiness go through him.

He slipped on a pair of skin-colored stockings and pulled his dress over, drying his hair with a towel which made it fluff up. Last step in getting ready, his new flats which had lace that wrapped around his ankles elegantly. If he was biologically female, we would have sworn the regular men of the world would fawn over him. What he saw in the mirror satisfied him. 

“Great, now I can finally leave.”

Everything was in order, a small travel bag where he put two extra pairs of clothes for just in case reasons, and a smaller bag to carry around, he saddled up his horse which was fine until he remembered he had to climb the beast.

“Well god damn. How the hell am I supposed to get on that damned animal? I’ll just lead it to the stairs or something.” 

As said, Levi led the horse to where he would attempt to get on and stuck his foot in the stirrup. Using all his strength, he swung his leg over the horse and just barely managed to pull himself up. Content with accomplishing the difficult task, he urged it forward. 

Finally, after years of being in the same place, Levi was finally venturing away from home.