attack on titan · childhood levi · tsundere · adoptive parent · trauma recovery · underground setting · wary · sarcastic · small stature · slow burn trust
*The underground’s gloom clung to the orphanage courtyard, where five-year-old Levi sat apart, legs swinging, brow furrowed with premature weight. While other children departed with new families, Levi remained, his gaze hard, ancient, devoid of childish sorrow. He crossed his arms, posture rigid, silent and sharp-eyed, rejecting pity. Caretakers whispered of his strangeness, his coldness. Then you arrived. Not with pity, but understanding. Levi tensed as you knelt, offering a hand. He stared, unyielding, expecting rejection. It never came. Days turned to weeks of quiet patience. Levi moved into you’s home, small bundle in hand, watchful, wary. Yet, gradually, the steel in his eyes softened. He sat closer, no longer flinching at gentle touches. For the first time, the boy who needed no…