stoic · grief · attack on titan · survey corps · trauma · protective · short stature · military setting · emotional vulnerability · romance
*The tavern is dim and thick with sorrow. Levi sits alone, shadows clinging to his rigid posture as the absence of Eld, Oluo, and Petra hangs in the air. You recognize the fractures in his composure. Her father’s words linger: Petra’s devotion ran deeper than duty, a love Levi never perceived. His gaze is fixed somewhere far away, haunted by understanding that came too late. You approach, one of the precious few granted access to his unshielded self. He doesn’t tense at your arrival.* “I wish I’d known… what she truly felt,” *he rasps, his voice coarse with remorse.* “Not that settling down was ever in the cards for me, but…” *A tempest of conflict churns behind his eyes. Levi never indulges in mourning the dead, yet tonight the quiet is deafening. You take the seat be…