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anlian-aishang · 1 year

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hellooo! :) if it's alright I'd like to make a priority req.? I've been sick these past few weeks, sometimes on and off but today really hit the "pls help" button cuz I feel like I'd vomit if I'd eat or move etc etc but since those happen so often (cuz of my weird immune system) I feel like I'm just annoying my family and friends with constant whining. Is it alright if you write levi taking care of a sick reader but the reader keep overthinking that she's just being a bother because it happens relatively often but levi comforts her that he doesn't mind and all that? just lots of fluff and comfort :) sorry if it's too specific or doesn't count much of priority req :V ty for reading :) <3

Thank you for the request, dear! I hope you feel better soon, and I hope this helps a little <3

Tags: levi x reader, fluff, hurt-comfort, caretaking, food mention, allusions to nausea, gn!reader

Word count: 1400

Of course it had to be tonight.

Tonight - that your insomniac fell fast asleep. Tonight - that your illness began to take over, causing you to toss and turn in the bed you shared.

At first, you were surprised he was able to sleep through it given your constant rolls and hardly stifled whines, but it had been a long week, and you knew it too. Levi strove to keep work away from home, and though he had not turned into a complainer, you had been with him long enough to pick up on his changes, however subtle.

Walking through the front door, he would shoulder off his coat with an exasperated sigh. Bangs normally in perfect place had gone astray, giving you insight as to how many times he had run stressed fingers through his hair throughout the day. Wrinkles in his shirt, slumped over. Flicks of his wrists, overworked.

You too had been going through a rather difficult week. It seemed that if you got up too fast or even thought about it, your stomach would turn in rejection. Favorite foods lost their flavor. Comfortable positions were hard to find. At another time, you still would have hesitated to mention it to him, but given Levi’s rough week, you considered your lips sealed - selecting to suffer in silence instead.

In that way, you supposed you had brought it upon yourself. Symptoms had been building and building by the day, yet you chose to ignore them. Maybe if you had been proactive… Maybe if you just took it easy…

Maybe if you didn’t have this stupid condition…

Such regrets pooled in your chest and spilled over through frustrated tears. You gripped your stomach and brought your hand to your mouth, muffling your cries, but then holding you over, just until you could make it to the bathroom.

// // //

Neither of you knew how long it had been. Long enough for goosebumps to cover your skin. Long enough for Levi to shiver himself awake. Without each other’s presence, you both felt cold.

Only half-awake. Eyes closed, Levi flung a lazy arm to his left, searching for warmth in either blankets or you. Instead, he found neither - just an empty half of the mattress with a divot in your place. Room temperature told him: you had been gone for a while. Levi raised one brow and peeked open, confirming your absence. Just one blink before he swung his legs over the side and made haste to find you.

It did not take long. From the outline of the door, the hallway had been faintly illuminated. Pupils retracted sharply. Rubbing his eyes, Levi stumbled forward, feeling his way along the walls until finding the door handle and promptly clamping down.

There you were, nudged in the corner of the counter and the wall. Knees were tucked to your chest and under your shirt, shivering, trying to harbor as much warmth as you could. Too dizzy to get up, far too tired to go and grab a blanket. But he wasn’t.

Handmade quilt soon draped over your shoulders. Pillow nestled behind your head. Despite how delicately Levi had tried to lay them down, his good intentions were cause for your stir.

From a heavy squint, you managed a peek. Blurry but familiar was the figure above you. Bags under his eyes. Lips a slight frown. Despite all your efforts to keep him uninvolved, this was how it ended up.

At each other’s sights, Levi too felt a pang of regret. Embarrassed for each second he had slept since you got out of bed, each second he had left you to fend for yourself. Lament that it was you who had been cursed with this condition. Levi simmered, bargaining: if he could trade places, he would.

You offered a smile, one that tried to convince him you were just fine. “Hey.”

Right, as if. Levi crossed his arms, “Hey.”

Now adjusted to the light, Levi took a few moments to survey the scene. Finally understanding, he released a deep sigh and unfolded his arms, bringing his hands down to your shoulders instead.

Flexed fingers and sturdy rotations, hoping to massage an answer out of you. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“I…” you rolled your neck back, stiff from the awkward position you had settled on earlier, “I was… doing fine.”

Levi tilted his head, gaze nearly offended, And why shouldn’t I believe that? He chose to spare you the lecture. With the back of his hand, Levi brushed the hair from your eyes, touch and tone softened, “Can I get you something? Tea? Medicine?”

You shook your head, but at that mere motion, your abdomen grew upset again. “N-No,” you whimpered, weak fist clutched his sweatpants, “don’t leave me.”

He set his hand atop your head, petting you through your aches and pains. Enamored at your composure. Whiny, but not a whiner. Clingy, but not needy.

“Don’t worry. Don’t worry.” Levi insisted, “I won’t leave you.” Your heart fluttered at his tender demeanor. Kneeling to your level, he wiped the tear streaks from your cheeks, “I just want you to feel better.”

You tilted your gaze to him and exhaled, “Then don’t leave.”

“Does the sink count?” Levi rose slightly and slowly, just enough to reach the faucet. A tiny paper cup off the top of the stack. Then, the wooden drag of the drawer as he searched for a washcloth. He had to admit, he felt a tinge of pride at the sight, satisfied with the perfectly folded towels, readily available for a time like this.

Levi brought the paper cup to your lips and tilted slowly, “Can you sip this for me?” Steel gaze intent on your swallow, “Not too fast.”

“And here,” Levi offered. One hand pressed sound against your forehead, assessing your temperature. Shortly after, he set the damp washcloth in his hand’s place. “That feel better?”

Your long, relieved sigh was sufficient for words. Every time you tried to meet his eye contact, a bolt of headache. A hiss and a writhe that panicked even your Ackerman.

“Hey, come on.” Levi warned, “Just keep your eyes closed. I’ll be here.”

“Don’t leave me.” You mewled, “Don’t leave me, okay?”

Wouldn't think of it.

Levi tucked his arm tight between your nape and the pillow. He used his other arm to take hold of your hand. In addition to the blanket he had provided, a new bind, a wordless promise: he was incapable of leaving you.

// // //

In this small, windowless room, he had no idea the time. His back began to hurt, propped against the wall this long. His joints began to ache, frozen in this position - no end in sight.

Since joining you here, he had accumulated maybe a half hour of sleep, but he did not mind. While you considered his insomnia a reason not to disturb his sleep, he thought the opposite: if anyone had to stay up with you, he would have the easiest time of all.

Would have, if not for the tickle at the back of his throat.

Levi tried to remember the last time he had dusted here, but it must have been too long, because before the memory could come to him, the irritation did. He pinched his nose, ducked his head down, and sneezed, but the near-silent squeak and near-still shake was enough. When you yawned and rubbed your eyes, he cursed himself and dreaded the worst, but you had no complaints.

“Thank you, Levi…” You nudged your head between his neck and shoulder.

Still rubbing his nose, he sniffled, “For what?”

“Thank you for helping me.”

Levi’s brows lowered, his arm around your shoulders twitched with tightness, tightness that matched his tone. “You talk as though you can help it,” he mused, “like you’d choose to be on the bathroom floor at 3 AM.”

In nameless-hour haze, your response was delayed and not exactly coherent, “I tried, I tried as hard as I could not to…” a light sigh, a heavy yawn, “...get you involved or anything.”

Under his breath, he could not help but scoff. A low chuckle, one that made you shudder in his arms, “Right, cause it’s not like we live together or anything.”

Curling your grip around his forearm, you began to doze off again. “You know what I mean.”

But no, it was you who did not know what he meant. When he told you that he loved you, it was no set phrase, but held meaning within every word. He loved you on your best days and worst days. Just as much on the cold, hard bathroom floor as in a soft, warm bed.

Levi did not say it, for he knew how relentlessly you would have teased him, but he could not help but acknowledge it within himself:

A night like this was better than any one without you.

// masterlist //

#levi x reader #levi ackerman x reader #levi #levi ackerman #levi x you #levi ackerman x you #priority #request #fluff #oneshot #2023 #anlian writes #my writing #alias's

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