Safekeeping

Kintsugi

Levi has aged since the expedition where he lost nearly his entire squad. He doesn't look older, but there's a certain solemnity that had previously existed only in certain moments. Now, his slate blue eyes often hold that faraway sorrow.

"He's mourning, love," Erwin tells her when she's left with him for a few hours. "He was like this after his former companions died, as well. Give him time."

She nods, wanting to ask about those companions, but unwilling to violate Levi's privacy. She knows their names through careful observation, and that they were also scouts, but nothing else.

She stays with Erwin a few hours a week, left after meetings with a press of lips to her forehead before Levi bade her goodbye. It's usually on days when he isn't sure when he will return for the night. Sometimes Erwin tucks her into hers and Levi's shared bed and she wakes with the small man's arms wrapped around her.

There's a lot going on, not least of which is that the Female Titan, the supposed abnormal that killed Levi's squad, is Annie Leonhart. She was in the 104th Cadet Corps with Eren and his friends. The blonde girl is encased in an unbreakable crystal cocoon. Not even Eren's Titan strength can shatter it.

Erwin combs his fingers through her hair, left loose around her shoulders in soft curls. "You look quite cute like this," he murmurs, other hand touching the silken fabric over her stomach. Or, rather, the fabric over the corset Levi laced her into this morning.

"Don't tell Levi; he'll use it to justify dressing me up more often," she grumbles. "The corsets and the shoes are both uncomfortable."

"Your waist is practically nonexistent." The large man's fingers drum on her side in emphasis.

"I'm sure he could find one for you if you want to wear one yourself."

Erwin chuckles. "I prefer them on you, but that's a kind offer."

Gilda falls silent, allowing him to return to his work. At three, she slips off his lap and heads down to prepare tea. Levi should return soon, and he's taught her how to prepare a proper tea service. It's one of the few times she is allowed to provide a service other than playing doll, and she's found that she enjoys it nearly as much as he does.

He'd taken her to a tea parlor, something she wasn't aware even existed until they visited together. There, the graceful older woman who owned the place went over the finer details of tea service, which ended up being far more extensive than she'd ever imagined.

"Take care not to hit the silverware against the teacup, dear," the silver-haired woman told her when Gilda stirred a touch of sugar into her cup. That one little detail means she has to pay attention to both the breadth and depth her spoon ventures, a harder feat than it seems.

There is a proper way to pour (also silent) and a proper way to lay out the service itself. And why both the action and the setting for the tea use the same term is beyond her.

Regardless, they spent hours in the little parlor until Gilda could recite all the rules back to Madam Esther to the woman's satisfaction.

Lest it steep too long, Gilda lays the strainer with black tea leaves on a napkin folded atop the tray.

"Perfect timing," Levi remarks when she re-enters Erwin's office. He's seated across from his friend and his blue smoke eyes gleam as they settle on her.

She places the tray on the low table, removes the teapot lid, and settles the strainer inside it. "Welcome back."

The two men then continue their conversation.

After a few moments, Gilda pours tea into the three porcelain cups, adding cream to two and sugar to only one of those, then takes up her own for a sip.