*Levi's POV*

When the Scouts finally came back from the expedition, practically Levi's entire crew took a day to rest and recuperate. Levi was tired, though of course being the insomniac he was, that just meant he spent most of his day stationary doing reports and paperwork or having a relaxing cup of tea, got three hours of sleep on the first night instead of two. There were a lot of quiet hours spent in his office for once. It helped Y/N and Gunther were staying in and sleeping the rough expedition off. Petra, Oluo, and Eld weren't at headquarters, they had gone home to family for a couple personal days, which was usual for them after a long expedition.

It had been a long one. Between the massacre, the close call with Gunther, and a few scrapes on the way back, everyone was tired. They hadn't had another incident like the behind the line massacre, though. Y/N had been sharp as their blades after that massacre, keeping her senses well-tuned to pick up any trouble around or within the formation to avoid another massacre. Of course, she couldn't do anything about the right wing, just the left wing with her current position so the Scouts didn't get out without any incidents.

He got his routine reports out of the way, first, while he had these few hours of quiet peace. An official performance report for the rookie that wasn't entirely a fully-fledged member of his Special Ops Squad was the first of that official paperwork, followed by a report about the massacre, and how Gunther got his injuries. Once the important, official stuff was finished, he wrote the under-the-table report for Erwin about how Y/N's vampire senses had worked mostly unhindered in the field. Pros and cons, which meant he mentioned how she hadn't caught the Titan within the ranks until it had eaten through part of the ranks, but she did adjust with the new information going forward. And he also mentioned the struggle with her bloodlust when she ran into the massacre. But besides those two situational incidents, Erwin's plans could continue to develop as planned--that wasn't in the report, that was just Levi's opinion. She'd already fixed one issue, and she had a tentative plan for fixing the other.

Though Levi wasn't too keen at the risk that posed, how his squad would be around her when she was fighting her thirst like dangling meat in front of a starving wolf.

But he'd seen her control in action, too. If she said she could handle it...he would give her the chance to prove it. She'd at least agreed to give herself a cushion of distance if it got bad enough, which was a bit of reassurance in his mind, at least.

The first day back passed uneventfully, besides the report writing. The next day started mostly normal--he didn't have training with Y/N today, since the squad had a couple days off, so he exercised alone, got cleaned up and had breakfast alone in his office. He had to do a few more stray tasks for the day, and he was going to help in delivering any remaining notices of death a little later in the day. When that was finished, he made himself a cup of tea, white sage and all, and sat down in his chair with a sigh, a gloomy mood hanging over him when he settled down, sipping on his tea in the pressing silence of his office as he stared off at nothing in particular, drifting off into his thoughts...

There was a knock on the door, pulling Levi out of his ruminations as his gaze flickered to the door. "Yes?"

The knob turned, and in walked Y/N, head peeking around the corner as she stepped just inside, mostly closing the door behind you and leaving it open a crack, which told him she wasn't planning on staying.

"Captain," she said respectfully in way of greeting, a hand lingering on the door's edge. "You wanted me to tell you when I went out, from here on out?"

Levi's eyebrows rose slightly in surprise, and he studied her a little closer, gaze roaming across her body and expression for signs of fatigue. Which there were. A day and a half of rest, and she looked tired, a little slow even--maybe irritable, as well. She was a little paler than normal, her eyes a little dull, but besides that...

"You're already going out again?" Levi asked in concern, considering she went out twice before the expedition.

"The expedition took a bit more out of me than I was expecting it to," she admitted, shifting from foot to foot self-consciously under his gaze. "I won't be going until after dark, around midnight, but I'll be gone a couple hours. I was passing by and thought I would give you the heads up about it now," she said patiently, watching his reaction as well.

"Will you be ready for training tomorrow morning?" Levi asked pointedly. If she was going to eat tonight, her strength would be back, and even though the rest were on leave, they could still train and spar together.

She just needed to make it back safely, of course. Which she normally did, just...now he knew about the threats to her out there.

She smiled slightly at the veiled question. "Bright and early, Captain."

Levi nodded slightly turning back to his tea, and Y/N turning and leaving before it developed into more of a social visit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She'd been gone too long.

Well, maybe not too long, but longer than normal, especially considering the window she'd given him that she would be gone, and the few nights she'd been out in the past that he knew about.

At the moment, he hadn't done anything yet. It was a worried thought, considering how many cups of tea he'd gone through waiting for her arrival down in the mess hall. He'd gone down there in the last hour she should be gone, making himself some tea while he waited here because she'd mentioned she liked to drink chamomile to calm down afterwards. Maybe she just hadn't come for a cup of tea tonight? But at the same time, with all the rest she'd gotten the past two days, he wouldn't think exhaustion would be a problem, especially after she got the...nutrition she needed to have her strength back.

He waited until he finished his next cup of tea before he went to her room to see if she had simply skipped out on the tea tonight. Knocking on her door, there was no answer.

This didn't mean she was in danger, but it did mean something was off, and because of that...there was no harm in heading underground to make sure she was okay. Maybe she was just having a rough time finding someone to fit her criteria tonight. If nothing was wrong, then there would be no harm in him checking up on her, especially since he was capable of taking care of himself down there. If she was in trouble...

He'd deal with the situation when he knew what it was.

Going back to his quarters, he grabbed a plain cloak for concealment and headed out, mind already calling up the best places for her to look for her target for the night. Places she had to be aware of, since she'd been in the Underground longer than he'd been alive. They were the best places to look. Maybe she rotated through them so she didn't hunt too much in one area, so, if she was playing it smart, which considering how long she'd made it she had to be, she would be doing just that. So he could rule out where he'd first caught her feeding.

One less area to search for her in.

A few streets from the Scout headquarters, Levi pulled up his hood to avoid attention, made his way to the closest entrance to the Underground, and once more delved into the depths of his hometown.

Getting in and traversing the first few filthy streets was easy, most of the normal inhabitants fast asleep at this hour. The closer he got to the worse parts of town, though, the more people he started to see. He passed by a few open bars, keeping himself moving with his eyes open for a familiar robed figure. He'd seen her in action by now and knew one of her methods was to walk around as a tempting target, so that was the assumption he was going off for what she would be doing tonight. She would be somewhere out and about, not on the main roads so she didn't draw too much attention.

Of course, he wasn't being careless while he searched, he was making sure no one mistook him for an easy target and making sure no one was tailing him as well. Once or twice he thought he was being followed, but they ended up being false alarms, and he continued his search without incident.

If he called out her name in a normal speaking voice, would she hear it if he was close enough and come to him? It might make this search a little easier, so there was no harm in trying, at least. Even if he ended up looking like a crazy person talking to himself.

Levi took a breath, slowing to a stop in an empty alley so he at least wouldn't draw stares for talking to himself. Before he could speak, something flickered in his peripherals, and he tensed a second before impact.

Something came from above, knocking him aside and to the ground with a grunt. He got back on his feet as quickly as he'd fallen, old instincts kicking in as someone attacked him in his old stomping grounds. He reached for one of the knives he carried on his person, especially coming down here, but before his hand could wrap around the blade, iron grips held fast to the reaching wrist and his throat as he abruptly found himself face to face with a man that had not been standing in front of him a second ago.

Vampire! his mind screamed at him, and his heartbeat picked up.

Somehow he'd managed to run into a vampire other than the one he was down here looking for.

Shit!

Every scrap of information about defense against vampires flashed through his mind, as well as the painfully high number of times she had beaten him in spars when he'd been trying to beat him.

Levi was shoved against the wall hard enough to knock the wind out of him, though he kept his head from connecting and knocking him out. With his other arm, he slammed his elbow as hard as he could into the man's temple, trying to give himself a window to move, or some damn leverage in the situation to get away. The man flinched, his grip slackening, but true to Y/N's warning about not being able to fight a vampire with brute strength, he didn't let go.

That was okay, he was just trying to give himself an opening.

With the slackened grip on his neck, Levi twisted to get free, bringing his arm around the one grabbing his neck and pushing up so the elbow was straining in a direction it didn't go, forcing him to let go or risk a break. By then, Levi was stepping into his space, getting a firm grip on the that was holding to his other hand's wrist, shifting his weight, and throwing the man over his shoulder further into the alley.

Now what? He couldn't outrun them, the only weapons he had were steel blades, and he was outmatched.

The vampire was already back on his feet, looking angry this wasn't going to be an easy snatch and eat case as Levi fell back into a defensive position, gaze flickering around the alley for anything he could use to his advantage.

Should he just let the vampire bite him and let the white sage do the work so he could run? No. He'd rather not let it get that far.

He would rather avoid having his throat ripped out, since he could still bleed to death that way.

The vampire lunged for him again, and Levi did his best to redirect the vampire's momentum and throw him to the ground behind him. With how fast the son of a bitch was moving, Levi had to wait until he felt him connect and he could tell where he was grabbing and where most of his weight was. He was grappled, fist connecting with his gut as one of his knees came up instinctively to clock the man in the jaw, stepping back with the same foot so he didn't entirely stop the momentum and left open space where his body had been seconds ago. His hands gripped at the fabric of the man's shirt around the shoulders and he pulled him aside, successfully sending him to the ground as Levi stepped back and around, gaze on a door a few feet away. Maybe someone lived there--maybe if he could get passed the threshold at least, he'd be safe. But if nobody lived there, he'd be cornering himself.

Shit!

This time, when the vampire connected, he dropped his shoulder and charged into him, sending Levi flying backwards and through said door, wood splintering and shattering under Levi's weight, his head hitting hard enough on something within that his vision started to go fuzzy before he shook himself, forcing himself to get up with a slight stagger.

Empty, no signs of life. He was cornered, then. And something hot was slipping down his head and threatening to get in his eyes, the offending wooden table that had been partially in front of the door the way it opened, what he'd cut his head open on.

Wood.

The vampire stepped inside after him as Levi snatched a splintered shard of the door off the ground, coming up with his makeshift weapon towards his chest, specifically aiming for the heart as the vampire came at him again. The vampire grabbed his wrist and stopped the movement short, both of them locked for a few seconds as Levi tried to push that last inch, using all his strength. In the end, his arm started to give way to the vampire's strength, the man pulling Levi's hand slowly away from his chest before twisting sharply, causing Levi to cry out in pain before he was thrown back out into the alley and away from the splintered wood that could have been a weapon to him.

This time, as he landed on his back in the ground, a knee was pressed hard against his chest, making it difficult to breathe. Fingers were twined roughly into his hair, pulling his head aside and exposing his neck, blood still slick along the side of his face, sliding down his forehead, into and along his eyebrow, some trickling over his eyelid while the rest slipped down his temple and along his jawline.

The vampire's other hand grabbed his jaw like he was appraising a new horse or cow, holding him so firmly Levi couldn't even move his jaw enough to speak or cry out, not that it would do him any good.

Clearly reveling in his win and in no rush to get it over with--maybe anticipating the meal Levi's blood would be for him--the vampire leaned down and licked at the trail of blood along Levi's face.

Disgusting.

As bile rose in Levi's throat, the vampire let out a low moan, grip tightening and pulling to expose his throat more, vein prominent as Levi's heart started to pound when he didn't seem to react to anything in his blood.

Wait--

He got his first good look at a vampire's true face. Four sets of slender, elongated fangs seemed to grow from nowhere around what had been normal human canines, and crimson, glowing red eyes were fixed on his exposed throat.

Don't--

Levi started to flinch as the man lunged forward, tense and expecting to feel teeth tearing into his throat. At the last bloody second, something ripped the other vampire off him, and Levi sucked in a sharp, deep breath as the pressure left his chest.

Halfway down the alley, the other vampire got to his feet with an angry snarl, which was met with a hiss that sounded closer to the protective snarl of a big cat. The hiss was coming from the familiar figure standing directly above him, feet planted in a way that kept him from getting up, forcing him to stay down as she seemed to claim him in a way to the other vampire. It also meant he couldn't see her face at the moment.

"Forget it, little girl. I'm not giving up a rare treat like that," the man said in answer, taking a threatening step closer. Y/N shifted above him, stepping in front of Levi fully and getting into a position where her feet were clear of Levi, and any movement she was about to make was unhindered. She was getting ready for an attack. And Levi was starting to get into a sitting position so he could more easily get up when he needed to move.

A growl ripped through the alley as Levi's knees bent to get him to his feet, but he didn't know if it was from her or the other vampire. He didn't blink, but they moved so fast that when they collided at the midway point in the alley, he thought he might have and missed the initial movement. It was messy--definitely a street fight, not the military, highly trained spars she'd been doing the past few years. He caught flashes of hands clawing at open patches of skin, the flash of teeth as she ripped through the other vampires shoulder, blood spattering against the ground and a furious growl coming from the other vampire who then slammed her up against the wall by her throat, like he'd done to Levi. The wall cracked from the force of the blow, and she let out a gasp from the impact. The spot she'd bitten was already healing on the other vampire.

Levi was on his feet now, trying to decide if he needed to leave the alley to get out of her way and away from the vampire wanting to make a snack out of him, or if he should stay to do what he could when he could. Y/N, in the meantime, cracked down at the same elbow Levi had attacked earlier, but the opposite way, causing the arm to collapse as she went in for another attack with her teeth, more blood spilling to the ground as she ripped at his face. However, it allowed the other vampire to get a good bite in at her throat, and they both backed off each other for a moment, Y/N grasping her throat to stem the flow of blood.

She wasn't healing as fast as the other vampire.

The other vampire ignored her for a moment, attempting to rush passed her and towards Levi, which she thankfully intercepted, full-body slamming the other vampire into the wall a foot from Levi, who backed up on instinct. She was struggling to keep him pinned, gaze darting around the alley, looking for something--not Levi, clearly. Looking for what, though?

The other vampire successfully shoved her off, turning to lunge at Levi, who backed up out of reach and swung a kick at his head the same time Y/N threw herself forward from where she'd landed on the ground to grab the vampire's leg, grabbing him by the ankle and yanking him back, both of them successfully disorienting the vampire and sending him to one knee. He tried to kick her off, but she quickly climbed over him, both of them struggling to gain dominance in the back and forth as they rolled along the ground, teeth and fists flying, more blood painting the floor of the alley from both of them, a bruise starting to gain prominence on her jaw.

Their rolling landed them close to the doorway he'd gone through earlier, the other vampire reaching for something inside. Y/N reached up to wrap her arm around his head, intending to put him in a lock, but before she could, he pulled his arm back from inside, jabbed, and her scream of pain rent the air, grip on him loosening on instinct as he pulled back enough for Levi to see the jagged shard of wood embedded in her side, deep enough it might have gone through. Levi intervened again, making sure he didn't stay within range but lashing out with enough kick to the vampire's stomach to get him off her, reaching out to help her to her feet, intending to get her out of here now that she was wounded.

More than just a little wounded. Blood was blossoming across her shirt, and the wood had gone all the way through. The vampire had also moved the wood around in the wound, making it larger and the cuts and wounds jagged and gaping. She was losing blood fast from that wound alone, and she still had a few tears in her flesh from where the vampire had bitten her, throat included--at least it had been in the throat closer to the shoulder, not right over the vein itself, or she'd be down by now.

That didn't stop her from shoving him back into the room with the splintered wood, the other vampire on her once again, though she was holding him back in the doorway, refusing him entry through to where he was.

Wood--that's what she'd been looking for a few moments ago. Technically she had the piece sticking out of her, but it seemed she didn't want to pull it out right now. She needed another piece.

His hand sought out a good sharp, strong piece as Y/N was overwhelmed again, an arm wrapping around her throat to choke her out while the other grabbed at the wood to push it in deeper, dragging her back out of the doorway and into the alleyway.

"Seems I'm older, and I'm stronger sweetheart. You lost this fight before it started," Levi heard the other vampire say as his hand finally wrapped around a piece that would do the trick. His heart was in his throat with worry for her by now, her face twisted in pain, skin pale and clammy enough he could tell even from a distance. She locked eyes with him as he got up, wood splinter in hand, and a dangerous fire appeared in her eyes, the crimson returning to eyes that had gone dull with weakness and exhaustion.

"Yeah...well I'm angrier," she growled. She shifted, Levi recognizing one of the moves he'd taught her himself. Her foot shifted into place, her weight moved, she grabbed the vampire's arm and swept his leg out from under them, throwing him over her shoulder and to the side. Levi threw her the splinter of wood he'd found, which she snatched from the air, dropping forward and jabbing just out of sight at the ground. Levi hurried out the door to see what was happening, turning just in time to see she'd embedded the sharp end of the splinter into his chest, right where the heart was.

"And not alone," she muttered, shoving a little deeper. The vampire grunted, and as Levi watched, the veins in his skin, even his eyes, blackened, skin starting to shrink and shrivel like advanced dehydration before he dropped back against the ground. Dead, Levi would assume, based on that reaction, and the fact Y/N had just impaled him the way she'd told Levi and Erwin to kill a vampire.

Y/N moaned weakly, body sagging now that the threat was disposed of, pushing slowly and painfully to her feet, quickly stumbling over to the nearest wall to lean against, breathing shallow. Now that there wasn't a vampire trying to fucking eat him, there was nothing stopping him from going to her side, which it looked like she needed desperately right now.

Levi moved over to her side, hand gently touching her shoulder to warn her he was approaching before he started taking stock of her injuries.

"I'm fine..." she mumbled, words almost slurred.

"Bullshit," Levi said simply, counting how many tearing bite marks she had, claw marks, her clothes bloodied and sticking to skin. What he was worried about the most was the wood sticking out of her. The wound was messy, ugly--large and still bleeding with the jagged edges, blood staining the wood sticking out of her.

"I'll heal."

Levi looked up to catch her eye. The last time he'd seen her injured, she'd healed in seconds. Now...well, these wounds were still here, and they were openly bleeding still. He wasn't really confident in her healing at the moment. She'd lost a lot of blood and done a hell of a lot of fighting, and he didn't know if she'd even been able to eat before getting into that fight. She hadn't been looking good before she went out to eat, so if she hadn't, she was in even worse shape now.

She pulled out the red handkerchief Levi had seen her use before, folding it with shaky hands and surprising him by reaching up and pressing it against the wound he'd forgotten he had on his head. Shit, that must had been torture for her if she hadn't eaten yet.

"You should keep that there....before you call every vampire in a, a hundred meter radius on us," she said lowly, hands going back to searching for something else.

"Thanks," he answered just as quietly, letting one of his hands keep the handkerchief pressed to his forehead. Normally he would have ignored it, but since he was in front of a very hungry and injured vampire, and he'd already attracted one vampire before he was bleeding, so he would comply this time.

"I just need...a few moments to rest," she was mumbling, hands moving what looked idly to Levi, head turning as if she was searching for something again. "Then I need to get back to..."

He was right. She hadn't eaten yet. Which was clearly making it harder for her to heal and function.

"Headquarters. Give yourself time to recover," Levi finished for her, even though he knew that's not what she'd meant. It was what she was going to do, even if he had to knock her out to make sure she did.

"I don't feel the others would be safe if I wait another day," she murmured, head appearing to bob like she was about to nod off as she reached into another pocket.

"You're taking the day off. Stay in your room, rest, try again after you've recovered," Levi said firmly, shifting from evaluating her injuries to trying to support her, pulling her away from the wall and into him for support instead. His arm wrapped around her shoulders, gaze flickering down to that piece of wood he really wanted to pull out but was leaving in so she wouldn't bleed out even more--she was in bad enough shape as things stood. "Come on."

"Wait, wait, I need to...take care of this," she said, pulling out a matchbook. Levi raised his eyebrows.

"What are you..."

"Vampire or human, we usually...burn the bodies to hide evidence a vampire was involved," she muttered.

"Leave it for now. We need to get you out of here. I'll--"

"No, if another one shows up--"

"Fine, now it is," Levi said with a slightly irritated sigh. He wanted to get her out of here, first, but if she said they needed to cover their tracks, first, then that's what he would do. Burning a body was easy enough, hopefully he could get this over with quickly.

Reluctantly, he let her lean against the wall again, taking the matchbook from her and going over to the body. His wrist was starting to look swollen, telling him it might have been sprained. So, after taking off the handkerchief she'd pressed to his forehead and deciding the staunching of the blood flow would have to do for now since he was going to need both hands to carry her, he held the matchbook in that hand while he used the uninjured one to grab the dead vampire's arm and drag it into the house, dumping it on the pile of splintered wood. He grabbed some of the ratty curtains over the windows and added it to his little pile, adding the table he'd cut his head open on, breaking it up and throwing the pieces on top. After a few tries to light the match when one of his hands was shaking and too much pressure sent pain racing up his arm from his wrist, he managed to drop the lit match into the pile, waiting and making sure the fire caught and was going to do it's work before he left the room and returned to Y/N, who had slid down the wall by now and looked like she was barely holding onto consciousness.

"Are you still with me?" Levi asked as he crouched down, matchbook tucked into one of his pockets.

She mumbled something in reply, which told him even if she wasn't speaking and she was clearly out of it, she was still responsive and heard him. He started to crouch down to pick her up, hesitated because of his wrist, then did it anyway. However, he was careful not to let the weight of her legs fall on his wrist--he made sure they were shifted so the weight landed on his arms, his other arm holding her up and against his chest with his arm wrapped around her back. She instinctively turned into him as he picked her up, then moaned and turned her head away.

Right. He was walking temptation for her, especially right now. Holding her up against his heart and throat wasn't going to help her resist at all.

They walked like this almost to the closest stairway before she suddenly lurched in Levi's arms, almost making him drop her on the ground with the sudden lurch.

"What the fuck?" he started to complain, but her hand clenched tightly in his sleeve and stopped him--well, as tightly as she could in her current state.

"Here...take it out here. Better than...bleeding...all over my sheets, if it comes out then. Gives it time to heal more...on the way," she mumbled, words slurred even worse than they'd been before.

She wanted him to take out the wood now? She was barely holding on to consciousness, if he took it out now and she bled even more...well, normally that would mean death. He assumed since she was telling him to pull it out she couldn't bleed to death, though he doubted it would help her thirst problem.

Reluctantly, Levi stepped into a quiet corner--which wasn't hard to find at this hour of the night. Setting her down with care, Levi propped her up against the wall, hands pressing lightly around the wooden protrusion as he looked for the best way to take it out with minimum damage. The wound wasn't as jagged, and there were less tears, but it was still a gaping wound that needed to heal.

He just had to trust her on this one, then.

Letting out a soft sigh, he grasped the piece of wood protruding out of her middle and simply pulled. A hoarse cry of pain escaped her, and enough blood pooled out of the wound that Levi winced. He pulled out the handkerchief she'd given him, knowing it wouldn't do much but it would help at least a little in slowing it down. He hoped it would do something, at least.

After that, she seemed to have fallen unconscious entirely, limp as he picked her up, and he tried very hard not to pay attention to the fact that he couldn't see her breathing.

Like taking a nap for her, she'd said. It was just theories until she confirmed things herself, but he was assuming as long as she didn't look like the vampire back in that alley, she was going to be okay. Even if she was temporarily...

All because he got jumpy and had to come down here to check on her. Which it looked like hadn't been necessary, before her fight with the other vampire fucked her up.

Now he had to get her back to headquarters and into her room without anyone noticing she was blood-soaked, heavily injured, and currently not living.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Using the remaining few hours of nighttime to smuggle her back into the Scout Headquarters, Levi managed to successfully get her back into her room. Once there, he stripped off the bloody clothes, leaving her in her underwear and allowing him to go sneak into the medical ward to get supplies to bandage her up, hoping that would help her heal better and faster--plus it would keep her from bleeding all over the sheets, which she'd already mentioned displeasure with the thought of.

He was in and out of the medical ward without anyone noticing, making sure the room for her quarters was locked so they wouldn't be interrupted while Levi got started cleaning and bandaging her wounds in the silence of her room. The slow healing of her wounds, little progress he could see since he was looking for it, was his reassurance she was going to be okay even though at present she didn't have a pulse and she wasn't breathing. He worked as carefully and meticulously as if he was treating himself, making sure nothing was overlooked and she bled as little as possible on the sheets. Once she was cleaned up and bandaged, he covered her up with the sheets and cleaned up after himself. He took the time to wash the handkerchief that now had both their blood on it in her personal washbasin. He also took the time to clean up the cut on his head--and the side of his face. He was still grossed out by the fact the other vampire had licked the blood off the side of his face.

Suppressing a shudder, Levi looked around the room as he dabbed at the cut on his head. Even with her own private space where no one could spy on her, it was still sparsely decorated. Not much in the way of personal effects. Her sketchbook was sitting on the dresser, though. And there was a picture up on the wall--one she'd drawn, from the looks of it.

Finished cleaning up, Levi walked over towards the picture, eyes roaming over the image of a lone flower with ice slowly trapping it, so many other flowers around, but none of them nearby to help. It was a depressing piece. Surely she could have put something a bit...happier, up.

Though it was also thought provoking that she'd drawn it in the first place.

Glancing back at Y/N on the bed, he wandered over to the sketchbook, flipping it over and seeing if there were any new additions to her collection.

More horses, a few plant sketches, and there was a picture of the squad having tea at one of the outside tables, the sketch zoomed out enough that everyone was in the picture, including Levi standing a little ways away, looking off at something in the distance while he drank his tea.

He closed the book again after that, turning back to face the bed, trying to decide if he should stay or go.

As much as he wanted to stay, he had to go. He couldn't draw attention by disappearing for however long she was recovering as well. He needed to be going about his day to day business to deflect attention and spin a story of her being sick or something if anyone asked where she was. It would also probably be easier for her if someone whose blood was tempting to her wasn't lingering around her when she was in dire need of blood.

He could have offered her his, he supposed. Well, maybe not, it was not a thought he was comfortable with at all...especially with that close call underground. Though given the situation...if he hadn't had white sage running through his system, he might have offered when she was bleeding out, at least so she could heal properly. But now she was left to slow healing on her own time, and going back out when she had enough strength to do so.

He had plenty of questions after this whole confrontation--namely about the white sage and his blood. By his understanding, that vampire shouldn't have been able to touch it, let alone ingest some of his blood.

Well...by that logic, she shouldn't have been able to staunch the bleeding and get his blood all over her hands when she'd accidentally almost killed him that one day, so maybe that wasn't how it worked. Either way, he'd have to ask the clarifying question when she got better.

Levi started to leave, lingering by the door and looking back at the...well, he would just say unconscious woman, feeling another twinge of guilt that she was in this position because he got impatient. But he was deeply grateful that she'd gone to the lengths she had for him. How much that meant...did not escape his notice.

"Thank you," he said quietly, even though she was far from responsive and wouldn't hear him. After that, he left the room without another word.