invidia 『Hange Zoë』

9: "i think the towel suited you better"

The funeral is okay. The Jones's thank you once again for looking after Emmeline up until her death, and you thank them for her service and for raising such a wonderful woman and soldier.

After her family had left, Alice and Pyotr left flowers at her grave, and you'd stood back with Theo and Finnegan and said a few goodbyes to her. The finality of the whole event left you exhausted, but it was worth it for the closure. Once the funeral was over, the five of you spent the rest of the day celebrating her life in your own ways; Theo brought up memories most of you had forgotten, Finnegan told stories of her heroic actions, and Alice and Pyotr drank in her honour. You just joined in with all of them, making a kind of slurred speech in your tipsiness, about how as a team, you'll never forget her, that she'll always be a part of it. The others clink their glasses together in agreement, and by the time you fall asleep, you begin to feel like you can cope with the pain of losing her.

The hangover isn't worth it though, not when you have paperwork to do that you're already behind on. You've been procrastinating writing up the report of the expedition, unwilling to relive the events that occurred.

You spend all of Sunday writing up your notes for Erwin, and don't even notice the sun setting before you finish, stretching your arms up above your head and sighing as you drop them back down.

The now empty box Hange had given you from the bakery sits in pride of place on your desk, almost like a trophy, and you gently run your index finger along the (F/C) ribbon, feeling the soft satin. The tart had been delicious and rich, just as you'd expected it to be and more, and just thinking of it puts a smile on your otherwise exhausted face. It must've cost a lot, you think to yourself with no small amount of appreciation for your best friend, standing from the desk and collecting the paper up into a neat pile.

You should be in your uniform, but you kind of can't be bothered to change your clothes from your civvies, so you just prepare yourself to be judged by the Commander as you head out of your room.

"Oi, brat!" A deep voice calls out to you from behind as you walk, and you turn with an exaggerated huff. "Are you going to Erwin looking like that?"

"Yes I am, I'm past the point of caring about my appearance."

Levi rolls his eyes, catching up to you and heading in the same direction. "What's your name, Hange Zoë?"

"Yeah, though I don't have the glasses so I guess I need to steal them."

"They were looking for you earlier," he mentions casually, ignoring your plan to take your friend's spectacles. "Did they come and see you?"

You shake your head, fiddling with the sleeve of your thick jumper idly. "I guess it wasn't important. I was writing this all day so..."

"Ah, I see," the Captain eyes the paperwork, much longer than your usual expedition reports. He still hasn't asked for the whole story, but he probably doesn't want to bring up something traumatic like that with you, and you don't particularly want him to. Just going over it all again mentally as you wrote your report was enough to make you feel sick. "I'm glad you didn't ask me to go to Ehrmich with you, I hate telling the family."

"Wow, what a good friend you are, Levi. Good thing I had Moblit," you jokingly scold him, stopping outside the Commander's office. "You first."

"Hm." He hums in agreement, pushing the door open and sitting in the chair against the wall to the right of Erwin's desk, letting you pass your paperwork over so you'll leave before he needs to do whatever he's here for.

"My report from the last expedition, sir," you explain as you place the report down in front of the Commander at his instruction. "Sorry it took a while."