Shards Bring Luck, You Know
The cup slipped out of his hand. He made a clumsy attempt at catching it, but it was too late; it fell to the floor and shattered against the wood, shards flying in every direction.
Fuck. Damn it.
He stared down at the mess at his feet. The fucking mess he made. Suddenly, he got the urge to punch something. Hard.
A crack of the floorboard made him look up. He was met with Hange who was standing in the doorway, looking at the scene before her.
He turned away from her, staring once more at the shards on the floor. Unconsciously, his fingers curled into a fist, nails digging into flesh, knuckles whitening.
Her gaze made him feel like she was studying him—like she was looking for something—for some solution. Fuck.
"Seeing anything interesting?" It came out sharper than he intended. But shit, he was tired.
"Not in particular," came her calm answer.
For some reason, her response made him even angrier. Because of course, the floor was not the only mess today.
Heh, what a fucking joke.
He still didn't look at her, but he heard the creaking footsteps on the floorboards coming his way until they came to a standstill before him.
"You okay?"
He didn't give her an answer.
000
He really hated this.
"Are you nearly done yet?"
Hange nodded, and her hands stilled for a moment. "Yeah, stay still for a bit longer, okay?"
He let out a breath.
She once again began her careful inspection of the injuries that were just starting to heal. The process of cleaning the wounds and rewrapping the bandages had to be really uncomfortable.
But, the only response she ever got was him sighing in annoyance. Only sometimes she would feel him tense up beneath her careful touch, muscle going rigid as stone. It had to be hurting like hell.
Of course. Of course it fucking hurt.
Seeing the angry, red cuts that carved his pale skin still made her uneasy, even though, she had seen them quite a few times by now. Even though, she should be used to the sight of them by now, right. Right?
'But...' a soft voice in the back of her head whispered, 'you don't want to. You just don't want to accept—'
No! Stop it! She scolded herself.
She closed her good eye for a moment before opening it again. She was met with Levi's gaze who was studying her. "You alright?"
"Yeah," she breathed. "Yeah, I'm alright."
"Then hurry up, my ass is getting numb from sitting on this damn chair all day long."
If he had been able to, he would have arched an eyebrow.
She couldn't help the small smile that threatened to turn the corner of her mouth upward.
After completing the disinfection, Hange just was about to reach out to the new bandages when Levi's hand caught her wrist.
"Wait."
She looked up at him, questioningly. He stared her in the eye.
Levi took in a breath. "Can I see it?"
She stared at him, caught off guard for a moment. "You sure you want—"
He interrupted her and simply answered her. "Yes."
After one moment of hesitation, she nodded. "I'll bring you a mirror, wait here."
When she came back, he was staring down at his bandaged right hand. He had been doing that increasingly more often, she had noticed.
She handed him the mirror. And he took it from her.
She watched him. However, he didn't show any outward sign of distress. Levi just stared at his battered reflection. No comment, no tremble. Nothing.
Just— just resignation?
A deep sadness abruptly welled up and threatened to close up her throat. Hange had to swallow a few times before she could breathe again.
"I'm sorry." She croaked out.
The words wouldn't help a single bit, she knew. But they just slipped out of her mouth without thinking.
He turned slightly into her direction, but his gaze wouldn't meet hers.
"Don't." His voice was devoid of anything.
And Hange nodded.
The silence once more stretched out between the two of them.
It carried an unspoken sorrow.
000
"Here."
Levi looked up at Hange who put something on the table beside him. It was a cup of steaming hot tea.
He nodded gratefully. "Thanks."
She shrugged. "I've also cleaned up the mess in the kitchen." At his tense reaction, she gave him a small smile. "Shards bring luck, you know."
Levi stared at her, face unreadable.
But the smile, it didn't quite reach her eye.
Today, the raws of chapter 117 came out! Finally!
From what I've seen it's a full action-packed chapter. I can't wait to read it once it gets fully translated! The only thing I'm sad about is that once again no info on Hange and Levi. Ugh. This not knowing is painful...
So I once more wrote a tag to chapter 115.
All the mistakes are mine.