The Elite: Wings of Freedom (Levi x OC)

Chapter 14: A Night of Drinking

Present - Elena 

"Dinner is going to be served soon, I'm going to clean up before heading down to the mess hall," Levi's voice had resumed its normal distant monotone as he looked at me after Hange left.

"Alright, I'll see you then," I responded, starting to stand. "Don't be late."

He rolled his eyes at me and started to clean up his desk. I smiled lightly at him and walked out, heading towards the mess hall.

I'm not sure what the atmosphere is going to be like tonight, so many people died, and the expedition failed. It has been a while since we suffered such a heavy loss like this, Erwin is probably going to have alcohol available for those who want it, and are old enough. He had already announced that those who went on the expedition get to take tomorrow off, so there will most likely be heavy drinking tonight. We might not see him though, depending on how well he is taking this failure. My squad will be some of the only ones that don't get tomorrow off, but I am not upset about that. We've only been back for a couple of days, so we still need to get back into the rhythm of things before taking a day off. Plus, I have so much paperwork to catch up on, it wouldn't matter if I were given the day off or not.

The possibilities of what Erwin had in mind for his plan to keep Eren swirled around my head as I walked. It was going to be a rough couple of days, trying to get this all sorted out before we had to take the trip to the capitol. From here, the scouts old base to the capitol is a longer trip than if we were still at HQ.

When I stepped through the doors, the mess hall had been mostly silent, only a few murmurs here and there between friends. Everyone still seemed to be in shock, and ate quietly for the most part. That was, until Commander Erwin came plowing through the doors with a cart full of liquor. Once people started drinking, the room began to fill with normal conversation again.

"Would you like a refill, cap?" Veit leaned on the table next to me, holding a bottle of liquor in his hand.

I thought for a moment, "Why not. This is my last one though." I glared at him playfully as he wiggled his eyebrows and poured the dark liquid into my glass.

"Hey, give me that," Levi slurred next to me, reaching over me, and snatching the bottle from his hands.

I could tell that he was getting to the point where we would need to cut him off. He rarely gets to that point, but when he does, we have to watch him closely. He has a good reason to tonight.

I laughed lightly at Hange ranting about her experiments a few seats away from us and rested my glass in the crook of my neck. I heard Levi sigh in annoyance next to me, and looked over to him as he raised his glass and took another sip.

I knew that he had been having a hard time, but I wasn't going to push him to talk about it, fearing that he would blow up at me.

I took a gulp from my glass, feeling the thick liquid slide down my throat, leaving a mild burning in its place. I stifled a sigh, watching the people who had become family laughing and chattering away. I was sitting next to Levi at the head of the table. The recruits had seated themselves next to him, and next to me on the other side had been my squad. Only Severin and Veit were still here. Carine and Irina had been talking with us, but they had just left to turn in for the night. They don't hold their liquor as well as we do since they are younger. Further down was Hange and her squad. Erwin had been on the other side of the table, but he had left as well to finish paperwork. I could feel myself starting to get lightheaded and knew that I was next.

"Why do you all have to be so damn loud all the time," I heard Levi snap, pulling me out of my thoughts. I chuckled quietly, seeing the table lower their volume. I could hear in his voice that it was almost time.