Snippets

He was horrified the first time his gaze settled upon Hange after she had cut her hair herself. Not that it was that great before. He often referred to it as a bird's nest in his mind. (He couldn't help it; how did someone get twigs and leaves stuck up there?) But twigs and leaves aside, now he could truly call it a disaster. No surprise there; he was occasionally terrified at numerous things she did. Or did not. (How could someone remain sane living in such a room?)

So to keep at least a bit of his sanity, he offered her (well, forced her more to be more precise) to let him cut her hair the next time she felt like mowing the lawn. Because that was what her hair reminded him of, a fucking tragedy of an unkempt garden. And that was one of the many things on his list he could not stand. And she even had the nerve to laugh heartily at him when he told her exactly that to her face.

He shuddered. That woman was truly one of a kind.

000

He tore himself away from his roaming thoughts, eyes tracing back to the task before him till they rested on her shoulder. The now warmed up steel of the scissors like a weight in the palm of his hand. He sighed. If only...

If only...

This had been the first time she had asked him to cut her hair. And he had wordlessly accepted. Silence, there was a lot of that these days. It made his skin crawl. And at the same time, he yearned for it; a silent mind, a mind without storming thoughts and screaming voices. But of course, that was the only kind of silence that he would not get.

Hange had said she wanted him to cut her hair, but... He could not see her face. But he didn't need to. The hitch in her shoulders, the quiet sniffles: they said enough.

His hands stopped moving. "Hange..."

But she shook her head, bringing up a hand to wipe her nose.

"No, don't stop. It's okay. I don't care how it looks like, anyway."

000

A clatter followed by curse pulled Hange from her daydreaming, sitting still and unmoving like this was not her most favorite activity, after all. "Something wrong?" She wanted to turn around but then thought not to. Behind her, Levi bent down, another curse leaving his mouth. "No, nothing's wrong, my hand just slipped. I'm still not used to using scissors with just three fingers." A pause. "Sorry." She gave a brief chuckle. "Don't be. I don't care about my hair that much, anyway. As long it's not hanging in my face, it's just fine." Levi let out a sigh. Hange could practically feel his stare boring holes into her back. "Well, yeah, maybe you don't care all that much, but I do since I have to look at it every day."

The soft snipping sound of the scissors continued once more.

"It's not that bad."

His fingers tucked away a strand of her hair.

"No, it is that bad If I'm not there to make it at least a bit presentable. You know, you fucked up big time that one day when you cut it yourself."

"So you remember that."

"Of course. It was a fucking disaster."

Hange smiled. "I thought you were going to faint on me."

And Hange smiled wider. She could not see his expression, but she had no trouble picturing the face he would be making.

Hello :) It's been a while since I last wrote something, but I hope to be able to write more when I'm free from uni. I'm also so hyped for season 4! The trailer was so epic! We're finally going to see all those chapters animated!

All the mistakes are mine.