The R.O.S.E. | Levi fic

Ch.4 ~ Public Affairs

Stars twinkled overhead, their silvery glow illuminating the vast expanse of sky that could be seen over the lip of Wall Ross. Behind the cover of clouds the moon chose to hide away, it left the usually outshone stars unobstructed in their shine.

Aveline drew in a deep breath around the ever thinning smoke stick perched between her lips, exhaling only a minuet later to let the tendrils of smoke curl out into the air from her lungs in thin wisps.

The courtyard was silent, save for the chirping of lone crickets and the occasional flicker of green light popping in and out of focus among the blades of grass in the median.

Glancing back up towards the dotted sky, Aveline traced the patterns of invisible pictures hidden amongst the stars with her eyes, mulling over the conversation she had just left with Commander Pyxis.

Along the trek back to her own dorm for the night, she grumbled under her breath and removed the now spent smoke from between her lips and snuffed out the stub into a trash bin nearby.
The journey should have taken much longer than it had, Aveline thought, as she soon found herself stationed within the barracks hall facing the worn wood of her private chambers door.

Unlocking the door, she removed her boots with trembling fingers and set them near the door. Locking it behind her, she glanced about the empty room.

Not a single thing to preoccupy myself with...

After a quick wash and change, she laid back onto her cot and re-wrapped her scathed arm with a deep sigh. She'd have been able to sleep by now, despite her nap earlier in the day, had it not been for Pyxis's words bouncing around in her skull on monotonous repeat.

Knowing sleep would continue to evade her the longer she laid there listlessly, she reluctantly pulled herself off the bed with a groan, and plopped down at the seat of her desk across the room. Pulling open a drawer, she removed a thin leather bound book and splayed it open on the desk's surface.
Reading through her last entry, she sighed.

So much to update...Fuck it, cant sleep either way...

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"The very same..." Pyxis drawled out, eyes lost on the horizon outside his office window.

Pinching at the bridge of her nose, Aveline affirmed his statement with a stiff nod.
"Aye, the same. Baxten took one of them out, but the other titan remains."

Pyxis grunted in reply, understanding the implications. He then reached into his coat pocket for his flask and hurriedly undid the top for a deep gulp. With a furrowed brow, he extended his arm to Aveline, who needed no convincing in accepting the offering. As she greedily downed several sips, Pyxis groaned and took a seat in his chair.

"This is becoming more than what your squad is acclimated to. The job is becoming more than you can handle...I fear what this means for our operations."

Shaking away the burn of the liquor, Aveline leaned against his desk and returned the silver flask to her Commander's greedily outstretched hand.
"My thoughts exactly...I could have lost them last night, Pyxis. We came so close...so close to losing them like I lost Nadia and Nasir...To the same damned titans, even."
She spoke in earnest, eyes wide as they peered up through her tangled auburn hair to meet Pyxis's stern gaze. 

"Erwin confirmed no further expeditions are to be run in the near future; this gives us time to find an understanding through this mess..."
The older man grumbled out around the neck of his flask, glaring down at his aging hand resting on the desk top.