Deviate | Levi Ackerman x OC

Ch. 26

I retreated back to my room, certain I could find something to get into there. My space was not nearly as orderly as Levi's, but it could be worse; like Hange's, for example. I hurried to unlock my door and gave it a quick scan when I arrived. My desk was a bit cluttered and some of my dresser drawers were still hanging open, unorganized inside. Levi would probably have a fit had he seen them in their current state. I got to work squaring those away first.
I hadn't used this desk much since arriving here, so going through its contents was new to me. There were a couple copies of reports I assume I helped Hange with as their signature was scrawled at the bottom of them. I picked up some of the smaller pieces of paper that I noticed had odd doodles on them before throwing them out. Once I situated the tabletop, I decided to proceed with the drawers and pulled open the top one first. My eyes immediately fell on two envelopes with "Ace" written across them in two very different scripts.

The closest one I immediately identified as my dad's handwriting and my stomach sank. I picked it up and ran my finger over my name, holding it tightly as if it was going to somehow reunite us again. It was unsealed in the back so I assumed I'd seen the details before, but I opened it up to find what was in it anyway. There were a couple sheets of paper folded inside that I pulled out and busied myself with reading. The words on these pages temporarily brought him back to me; it warmed my heart to see that my dad was the same kind, goofy soul across every plane of existence. It sounded like he knew his time was coming when he wrote these, so he likely was ill here as he'd been at home, too. He told me about how much he admired me and was proud of the life I was making for myself, for being in the Scouts, for wanting to make life better not just for myself, but others, too. Tears pricked in my eyes as I shook my head at some of his poor attempts at jokes even on paper, but they finally fell as I approached the end, where he talked about his hopes for me and my future. He apologized in advance for not being around for it, but reminded me to find whatever my happiness was and never let anyone or anything get in the way of that – and to also always keep Hange close by. There was something so surreal about formally knowing my dad loved this colorful character like I do. He thanked me for all my help especially in the end, and called me his best friend in his final few words.
I didn't realize how much it had affected me until I went to set the letter down and saw my tears had dampened my shirt. This was a very pleasant surprise, like an additional farewell I didn't get back home. This place really was making me address a lot of my grief journey that I'd otherwise brushed under the rug in my daily life, and I was oddly grateful for that. I took a few deep breaths in an effort to calm myself, putting the letter pages back in their envelope and closing it up. I held onto it just a little longer before I gave it a light kiss and returned it to its original spot in my drawer.

After composing myself again, I reached for the second envelope and pulled it out. I'd spent enough time overseeing the documents Levi works on by now to recognize that was his handwriting on the front. This one felt different as soon as I picked it up, not as smooth as my dad's had been and noticeably heavier. It, too, was unsealed in the back so I opened it the rest of the way to investigate what it held. Unlike the first, there was only one piece of paper here and I noticed something else was folded up inside. When I removed it from the envelope, its contents fell out, the sound of metal clinking against the wooden desktop. In front of me laid a small, dark pendant on a black leather cord. I picked it up to inspect it further; the metal appeared to be made of wrought iron formed into a crescent moon shape and had a bit of weight to it, too. I couldn't believe what I was looking at – this really came from Levi?
I opened the accompanying sheet of paper to see what context it might provide. His usual man-of-few-words fashion was persistent here, too, with very little being written across the page. It read:

Ace,
Thank you for everything.

And for being you.

I felt the almost embarrassingly huge smile spread across my face in real time, a nice change from the tears the first read had brought me. That second line definitely looked like it had been a last minute addition but its inclusion brought a blush to my cheeks. This message paired with the necklace was so unexpected for him that if I wasn't holding them in my hand, I'm not sure I'd even believe it. I got to bask in this loving feeling for a few moments before my overthinking rolled in – how could I have treated him poorly? Even unintentionally, I can't believe I could ever be capable of that. I forced myself to banish that negative self talk before it took over completely and situated the necklace at a comfortable length before tying it, tucking it under the collar of my shirt. I couldn't wait to show it to him, whenever that may be.
Despite bringing its own whirlwind of emotions, my work at my desk hadn't taken all that long so I moved onto organizing my dresser next. Once that was complete, I noticed my laundry basket was starting to fill up. I picked it up and headed out into the halls again, determined to find somewhere in this sprawling place I could wash them.
I was balancing my basket on my hip and pulled my door shut when I heard someone call my name from behind me.