The soft soles of his boots barely made a sound against the dark wood floor as he quietly made his way down to the kitchen for a snack in between meetings. It was early morning and despite the fact Mitras was better off food-wise than anywhere else, Historia had her staff prepare the bare essentials for meals. Hopefully there’d be some leftover fruit or something he could have while waiting for lunch. He turned a corner and the petite figure of Historia caught his eye. She leaned against a window sill, blue eyes staring out into space over the castle grounds.

"You all right there?" he asked. Her head jerked towards him and at the sight of him her demeanor relaxed. Levi joined her by the window, his hand giving hers a quick squeeze.

"Yeah, I'm just tired," she replied. "Whenever you and Commander Erwin visit I have twice as many meetings."

"Sorry," he said sarcastically. "Your life is so hard."

"Shut up," she laughed, punching his arm. "You're not funny, old man."

"And yet you're laughing." She rolled her eyes and looked back out over the gardens. "You're probably tired too."

"Not more than usual," he replied. "If anything, I sleep better here than I do on base."

"That's good to hear. Glad to know the mattresses are doing a good job," she added sarcastically. It was his turn to roll his eyes; she knew full well why he didn’t like to sleep. "You know, it would be easy for me to get you something to knock you out so you -"

"No, I'm not taking drugs to help me sleep," he interrupted her. "My body's gotten used to it over the years. Don't worry about it, Historia."

"Like hell I'm not going to worry. You're my lover; I'm going to worry about you no matter what." There was something about that word that made his stomach crawl. It wasn’t that he hated the term; in all honesty, that and “kept man” were probably the closest words to describe him to Historia, but he was so used to people her age using the term “boyfriend” rather than “lover.” Sure, she was twenty-four and not a little girl anymore but the fact still stood that most people her age said “boyfriend.” Maybe she was like him and thought it sounded juvenile. He’d never thought to ask her about it. Perhaps he’d ask her about it once their conversation was over.

"Fair point. But I’m not going to change my mind.”

“All right,” she shrugged. Historia knew when not to push things and he liked that about her. “I don’t have any meetings after this next one. We could eat dinner in the garden. Have some privacy for once.” “Sounds too romantic,” he replied.

“What, you want to eat scraps next to a trash can?” she demanded, making him chuckle.

“I’m all for some privacy for once. That sounds fine to me.”

“I’ll meet you there at seven, then.” She straightened her back and made to retreat into the castle. She paused before leaving the small niche. “I’ll have a new jacket sent to your room. Yours is looking threadbare.”

“Do you think I care about looks?”

“Do you think I’m fine with you running around with thin jackets? You’re going to get sick, Levi.” She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before walking away. “Winter will be here before you know it and I’m not letting you freeze to death.”