#hanji was supposed to be out Saturday and now he’s extended

[mapowrites]

Misericórdiae (Erwin Smith/OC)

Chapter 8: Seed

[ I ] [ II ] [ III ] [ IV ] [ V ] [ VI ] [ VII ] 

The sharp sound of a small explosion cracked through the air, interrupting the concentrated silence of the work space. Hanji, Moblit, Nifa, Rashad and Lyor practically jumped out of their stools at the sudden blast, and they peered across the squad’s laboratory, in the direction of the sound. Rick emerged from underneath an engine, his face covered in black soot, to stare back at his coworkers.

“… and that’s lunch.” Rick declared, wiping his face with his work apron. Nifa laughed at him, closing up her books to bring him a clean rag. Hanji looked at her watch.

“It’s already 1:30?” She commented. Hanji stretched out her limbs, groaning, as the rest of her squad began to pack up their workstations. “Time to eat.”

“Oh, thank god. I’m starving.” Rashad rolled out his shoulders and winced at the foul sounds of his joints popping.

The squad cleaned up their work space before gathering outside in the hallway, Hanji locking the door behind them. As a group, the six of them made their way to the mess hall, pleasantly engaged in casual conversation. They each retrieved a tray and were served their meals: mashed potatoes, carrots, and fish.

Lyor took a seat beside Nifa, who sat beside Rashad, at one of the mess hall tables, while the other three sat across from them. They ate and conversed, laughing at another one of Hanji’s anecdotes.

“Where are Keiji and Abel? I haven’t seen them since last week.” Rick finally asked, downing his glass of water.

“Abel’s stuck training the new recruits this week and next. Keiji got caught past curfew so he’s been pulling stable duty.” Moblit explained as he pulled apart his bread.

“Idiot.” Rashad grunted.

“It’s not like we’ve seen much of your tribe either. Wilhelm and Heinrich haven’t been around much.” Nifa added, raising an eyebrow at Rick.

“Oh, come on, we’re all a tribe now, Nifa.” Hanji interjected. The smaller girl grinned in response.

“My father can only work on his days off, which have been getting rarer and rarer, and I heard Heinrich’s granddaughter is in town. Isn’t that right, Rick?” Dipping her bread into her gravy, Lyor answered Hanji. Rick nodded.

“Well, it’s nice of you to finally join us full time now that you’re out of school,” The brunette smirked at Lyor. Hanji whispered, covering her mouth from the man sitting beside her. “Rick was starting to miss you.”

The dark haired man scoffed, and before he could comment, Lyor spoke, laughing.

“Actually, that reminds me. My graduation ceremony is this weekend,” She rummaged through her bag that she had placed on the empty chair beside her, and pulled out a piece of paper. She slid it across the table to her friends. Upon showing them the flyer for the ceremony, Lyor suddenly felt a bit embarrassed; though she had grown quite close to her teammates these past few months, she wasn’t sure if they were close enough to invite them to a celebration quite yet. “You’re, uhm, all welcome to come. If you have the day off, that is.”

Their reactions brought her instant relief. “Yes! I have Saturday off!” Hanji chimed.

Moblit offered her an apologetic smile. “I’m afraid I have to miss it — I’ve got horse training all day.” Lyor dismissed his apology, letting him know it wasn’t a big deal.

“Me, too, Lyor,” Nifa expressed with remorse, but she seemed to perk up as a thought entered her head. “But why don’t we go out that evening to celebrate? We’ve all got extended curfew that night. We could also celebrate Hanji’s promotion to squad leader while we’re at it!”

“Hey, that’s right! How come none of you have taken me out yet? Ungrateful subordinates!” Hanji huffed, pounding her fist on the table.

“Because you refuse to be taken out anywhere but to Bricks.” Moblit muttered, disgruntled. This placed a look of resolution on Hanji’s face.

“Brix’s Bricks!” Hanji proudly shot her glass of water in the air, spilling some on Moblit, who repressed a grumble.

“Why’re you saying it twice?” Nifa scoffed.

“That’s the full name of the bar!” Replied Hanji.

“Brix’s Bricks? I never knew that.”

“It’s repetitive.” Lyor added, taking the last bite of her meal.

Rashad replied. “And redundant.”

“It’s repetitive.”

“And redundant.”

“We certainly are entertaining, sir.” Lyor spoke in a haughty accent.

“Indubitably, madam.” Rashad punctuated, mirroring her accent.

“Come on, you guys! It’ll be fun!” Hanji whined, a pleading look in her eyes.

“Hey, I’d never pass up an opportunity to drink.” Rick spoke, and Rashad nodded in agreement. Lyor, being finished with her meal, packed up her belongings as Rashad and Nifa bickered, the younger girl having accused him of being an alcoholic.

Lyor stood and tucked her chair into the table. “Great. I’ll see you all on Saturday, then. I have to run — I have to finish moving my stuff back to my father’s house today.”

“Oh, since his office is on your way out, can you drop this off to Erwin for me?” Hanji asked her, pulling out a multi-paged report from the inside of her uniform coat. She flashed the engineer a guilty smile. “I have to go straight to Schoenberg’s project inspection after lunch, and I promised I’d have it to him by three o’clock.”

Lyor took the report from her and smirked. “I can’t exactly say no, now that you’re my boss, can I?”

Hanji blinked at her before her face broke out into a huge grin, and Lyor heard her exclaim as she walked out of the mess hall. “And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how to be a proper underling!”

As she made her way down the hallways, Lyor found herself happy to have an excuse to see Erwin. The pair’s friendship had blossomed over the several months she had worked there; they often spent time catching up when they saw each other, and now that Hanji held the same rank as he, it wasn’t completely abnormal for him to sit with them in the mess hall now and again during meals. In fact, Lyor didn’t even mind the strange looks they got when she had lunch with him alone — although those instances were rare. However, with some sort of recruiting ordeal unfolding, she hadn’t seen Erwin in several days. She had meant to return his first edition Voltaire to him, which she pulled out of her bag during her walk. She was still oblivious to the fact that Erwin had bought it for her.

This visit also gave her the perfect excuse to invite him to her graduation, and her heart fluttered excitedly as she pictured his handsome smile. She made her way up the last flight of stairs that led to the hallway of Erwin’s office, and her heart’s fluttering was quickly silenced when she spotted Markus’ well-built silhouette, and his aid, exiting said office.

She thought about turning around before he saw her to avoid any interaction with him, as she usually tried to do. For the past several weeks, the brigadier general had insistently asked her to accompany him on outings — dinners, strolls, theatre performances, you name it — to which she had always politely declined. For the life of her, Lyor couldn’t figure out why the officer refused to give up. Not only was she not interested in him, being twenty-five and he in his late thirties or early forties, she also wasn’t ready to be the object of a scandal.

Before she could make a decision, his eyes fell on her, and Lyor steeled herself for the walk down the hallway to face him, clutching Erwin’s book to her chest. She threw on her best fabricated smile and strolled towards him as he carefully watched her, a bewitching grin scrawled on his face while he advanced.

“Ms. Reichart! A pleasure to see you, as always,” Markus greeted brightly, his aid offering a small nod behind him as a greeting. “Here to see Smith?”

Lyor looked up at him with a diplomatic smile, meeting his piercing green eyes. “Yes, sir.”

“Perfect timing — I was just with him to discuss your research’s progress. He’s quite proud of you folks, you know,” Markus commented before his eyes fell on the book she held, the title of the book turned outwards for him to see. “Well, well, aren’t we a fan of the phonics?”

Lyor had trouble swallowing the nervous lump in her throat, and she gripped the book tighter and avoided his gaze. “Yes, sir.”

“Also a fan of the monosyllable, I see,” His grin never faltered. “No matter. You’ll have to let me borrow it one day; I’d love to get my nose into a book I know you’ve read.”

Her eyes snapped to meet his, sending a shiver of pleasure down Markus’ spine. The flame of her effrontery thrilled him. “I’m sorry, brigadier general. This book doesn’t belong to me.”

Markus repressed a chuckle as he saw the perfect opening to toy with her. She must’ve been returning Erwin’s book; he had seen them together quite a bit these past few months. Markus had suspected Lyor was enamoured with the blond; from the way she carried herself around him, to the way her eyes drank in every detail of his person when they interacted. Markus knew he had no chance, unless he planted his seed.

“I see. It’s Erwin’s, isn’t it? I should’ve guessed; it looks just like the books Marie used to give him.”

Lyor felt her stomach lurch. “Marie?”

“His old sweetheart,” Markus stroked his short beard with his gloved hand, recalling his memories. “Ah, the poor fellow, I believe she went on to marry his best friend at the time. Nile Dawk — he works with me now. Dawk told me all about how it ruptured their friendship. Love can be such a horrible thing, can’t it?”

The tall man watched her face fall for a split second before she iced over her features.

“I suppose.” She replied, her voice not betraying her cool and calm facade. However, Markus knew the damage was done. He smirked to himself.

“Speaking of, when are you going to let me treat you to dinner?” He flashed her a toothy smile.

With as much calmness and poise as she could muster, Lyor retorted with a half-hearted smile. “If only I hadn’t just joined a convent, sir…”

Markus let out a deep laugh. “Wicked girl…” He answered with a smirk, walking past her as his aid and long coat trailed behind him. “Give my best to your father.”

Lyor stood in the hallway, her shoulders heavy with disappointment as the officer walked away. The blow Markus had indirectly dealt her was one of the worst she had received in years. Forget hearing about Erwin pining for another woman, how could he give her one of his ex’s gifts? Lyor wasn’t foolish enough to hope Erwin had any feelings for her, but she found it completely unacceptable for him to present her with such an item — even as a simple platonic gift. You don’t do that to a friend.

Dejection now turned into irritation, Lyor knocked on Erwin’s door. Lyor opened the door to find him sitting at his desk, after he allowed her to enter. His striking eyes rose to meet hers, and she buried the impulse to simply toss the book and report on his desk and leave without a word. Instead, she disguised any emotion in her face with diplomacy, and calmly walked over to his desk.

She watched him part his full lips to speak, but she interrupted him. “Hanji sent me to give you this.” She reached across his desk and handed him the report, her voice and face stoic. He took the report from her and placed it on his desk, thanking her. She then presented the red and gold book she held in her arms. “I also want to return your book.”

Erwin watched her motionlessly, trying to dissect her demeanour. He knew something was bothering her. Finally, he leaned back in his chair, folded his arms across his powerful chest, and spoke. “No, keep it. I told you; I want you to have it.”

Lyor fought the urge to knit her brows. “It’s a first edition book, and it belongs to you. I can’t accept it.”

“I won’t take it back.” The blond retorted, his eyes — his most defining feature — holding no sign of emotion. He noticed the irritated twitch that pulled at the corner of her mouth.

“Why not?”

Not wanting to admit to her that he had bought that book for her, it was a difficult question to answer. He decided to offer a simple answer. “I don’t want it.”

This only fuelled Lyor’s resentment — he didn’t want to take back something that reminded him of the woman he loved, she interpreted. With a prideful glare and all previous thoughts of inviting him to her graduation gone, the brunette exhaled. “Fine. If you’ll excuse me, sir.”

Lyor bowed her head, squared her shoulders, tucked the book under her arm, and turned on her heels. She left the room without another word, briskly walking through the hallway, feeling misled and fooled. She brushed her hair out of her face and made her way down the stairs with dignity — she wasn’t the type to fall apart because a man didn’t want her. Finally, she crossed the courtyard outside, on her way to the headquarters’ exit, and spotted her favourite brigadier general speaking with a scout — the man’s posture impeccable and his hands folded behind his back. Her interaction with Erwin hadn’t been very long, and it had permitted her to involuntarily catch up to Markus.

With an air of resolution, she marched over to the seductive man, who turned at the sound of her steps. He smiled and began to articulate whatever asinine comment came to him before she shoved the book he had seen her with into his chest.

“Here.” She spat, and he scrambled to keep the book from dropping to the ground. She was already several feet away from him by the time he could answer. Markus looked at the book in his hands, then watched her walk away for a few moments. He felt a sneer pull at his lips.

--

That evening, Erwin walked into his commander’s meeting room. He was early for his meeting, so he was a bit surprised to find the room occupied when he opened the door. Markus sat at the table, his feet lazily kicked up, his coat draped on the back of his chair, and a book balanced in his hands. Lyor’s book. Erwin nearly choked, but the soldier never let his mask fall, and when Markus’ emerald eyes lifted to meet his, Erwin was making his way to his seat. He pulled out a chair and set his reports and documents in a neat pile in front of him. He sat across from the higher ranking officer, and the two men seemed to glare at each other for a split second, their heights identical and their eyesight level.

“Hello, Smith! Bring any coffee?” He exclaimed, breaking the tension and placing the book down on the table as he draped his arm over the back of the chair beside him.

Erwin watched him placidly. Tactful and poised, and his presence imposing, he replied.  “There’s coffee in the kitchen across the hall. Please, help yourself.”

“Don’t mind if I do.” Markus swung his feet off the table and stood, groaning loudly as he stretched. “Man, I didn’t see the time fly! I guess that’s what happens when you get sucked into an excellent book,” The man walked himself to the door after patting said volume on the table. He opened the door, and before exiting, he sneered at Erwin over his shoulder. “I’ll let you borrow it sometime.”

--

Notes: Comments, questions, concerns?

[feelbokkie]

JAIL RIGHT FUCKING NOW I AM SO SERIOUS