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Levi hissed in annoyance as the straight razor slipped from his fingers and clattered into the sink with a small splash of red across the white porcelain. He stood in front of the mirror, his weight held primarily on his right leg and he sank back down into his wheelchair with a groan, his left leg aching from the effort.
He reached up to the sink and snagged the hand towel down, wiping the shaving cream from his face and tossed it messily back onto the counter in frustration. He'd clean it up, but presently he couldn't bring himself to care.
He dimly heard the sound of the front door opening and he looked down at his right hand, his two fingers missing, which was leading to his present predicament. That and his bum leg, his bad eye, and the constant pain in his back from the explosion. It all added up to one thing. His body was failing him and had been for weeks now.
"Damn Zeke," he grumbled as the door to the bathroom opened. He slumped down in his chair, not looking up at Gabi as she entered.
"You didn't answer me," she said. "I called when I came in, didn't you hear me?"
"Unlike the rest of me, my hearing is perfectly fine," he muttered. It didn't take her long to figure out what the problem was. She moved in front of him and gathered up the hand towel and cleaned up the shaving cream from the counter, spotless as he liked it.
"You don't have to clean up for me, I'm capable of doing it myself," he grumbled.
"I know," she said. "But you don't have to." She picked up the can of shaving cream and squirted some into her hand. She took a step towards him and he pulled his face back from her as she reached forward. "Oh stop being so stubborn, I'm not going to cut you."
"I don't need help," Levi said and she huffed down at him.
"I beg to differ," she said. "With how neat and clean you are, the homeless urchin look doesn't suit you."
"It used to," Levi muttered and she looked down at him curiously. "Nevermind, fine, just get it over with then."
He didn't seem happy with it, but she settled in front of him and wiped the cream over his face, making sure to cover the coarse hairs on his face, even the stray one just before his ear, and the two further down on his neck. Once that was done she picked up the razor, cleaned the blood and cream off of it and her hand, and turned back to him.
"Where did you cut yourself?" She asked, not seeing any blood on his face. He lifted his hand to show the cut on his right ring finger and she sighed quietly. She placed the razor back down and moved to a drawer on the other side of the bathroom, already familiar with the layout of the majority of this house.
She returned with a bandaid and some antiseptic and cleaned the cut, by now not surprised that Levi wasn't reacting to the sting of it. She bandaged it and placed the wrappers in the garbage can where they belonged before she picked up the razor again.
"Falco got into that school he was applying to," she said as she gently ran the razor over his cheek from top to bottom in short little strokes. "He's starting next month."
Levi hummed in acknowledgement as she cleaned the cream off the razor again and continued back. "And what about you?" Levi asked.
Gabi was hesitant to answer and it wasn't until she was near half done his face before she did. "I think I'm going to go to school locally, here."
"The one down the street?" Levi asked and Gabi nodded. "Why? You can go to a much better school than that. You could even go with Falco."
"I know," Gabi said. "But I'd rather stay here." Before the razor could reach his face again, his good hand grabbed her wrist to stop her and his grey eyes met hers.
"Are you staying back because of me?" He asked and Gabi looked shocked at the question.
"I ... No ... I ..." she groaned as she pulled her wrist away from him.
"Don't lie to me, it doesn't suit you," he threw her own words back to her.
"If Falco and I both go off to school, who's going to be here for you?" Gabi asked, going back to the task at hand. "I know you don't talk about it, but I also know there's a reason you didn't go back to Paradis. You don't have anyone there. And who do you have here, except us?"
"Onyankopon still lives here, you know," Levi said. "Besides, I'm used to being alone."
"Just because you're used to something, doesn't mean you have to like it," Gabi said. "We're a family now, whether you like it or not. And family watches each other's backs. You make sacrifices for each other. I'm sure your family in the past has made greater sacrifices than that. Besides if it wasn't for you, I likely wouldn't even be here right now. If things had gone by the original plan I would be dead in thirteen years anyway. But I won't be. I have a long life to live ahead of me, and I want you to be a part of that."
"I would be, even if you did follow Falco. You two have been inseparable since I met you, I couldn't come between that. I don't want you to go to a lesser school, just because you think I'm miserable. I can tell you, no matter what happens I will be, I think I was born that way." he said in an almost humourous tone and she smiled softly as she cleaned off the razor. She ran it over the last of the cream on his face, cutting away the last few hairs before she got the two stray ones and handed him a fresh hand towel to towel off his face of any remaining shaving cream.
"You know, it's disappointing you didn't have any kids," Gabi said putting the shaving things away where they belonged. "You'd be a great dad."
"Please, I already have enough brats running around here, I don't need to add any more," Levi said as he manoeuvred his wheelchair away from the sink and she fell in behind him to push him out into the living room.
"Does that mean I get to start calling you dad?" She asked teasingly.
"Tsh," he looked away from her. "Don't know why you would want a broken, half-blind man for a dad," he said. “Besides, you still have one.”
"That wasn't a no," Gabi observed.
"Maybe ask Onyankopon if you’re so desperate for a dad, he can do all that stuff."
"What stuff?" Gabi asked as she sat down on the couch across from him.
"Whatever it is that dads do, play catch or whatever," he said and she laughed. She picked up a pen off the table and threw it at him. Instinctively he caught it with his left hand and she tilted her head, an amused smile on her face.
"Seems you can play catch just fine," she laughed at his grumble as he tossed the pen back at her, the pen missing her and bouncing off the couch cushion. "Stop being so hard on yourself. Find some enjoyment in life. Get a hobby."
"Like what?" Levi asked.
"I don't know," Gabi said. "You know how to read, so presumably you know how to write?" She ignored his comment of 'Brat' and continued. "Write a book."
"Tsh, about what?" Levi asked.
"Maybe about what happened on Paradis. Everyone just knows the things that have been reported in the papers, or by the government. Tell your story."
"No one wants to hear my story," Levi said.
"I do!" Gabi said. "I mean, it didn't take me long to figure out I was wrong about all of you. But still, no one really knows much about any of you. Plenty of people would be interested. And even if you don't publish it, maybe it'll help to get your thoughts down."
"I doubt it," he said.
"Besides, I was talking with Deidrich the other day. They're talking about compiling a list of people lost on both sides, both on Paradis and here, the innocents who have lost their lives to this war, and they want to put them on a monument. I think it would be good to have people's stories associated with the names. Even if it's just the ones you know."
Levi sighed quietly as he thought about it. It would be something to do. But reliving those memories ... It wouldn't be easy.
But was anything ever easy? Did any of his friends, his comrades, did they deserve to be forgotten just because he refused to write anything down? Did they not deserve to live on, especially now that they've achieved Erwin's dream.
They died for a purpose, didn't they? People needed to know that.
"Fine," Levi said and Gabi jumped happily, not realising the extent of what she was suggesting. No matter what she'd seen, or gone through, she couldn't understand the extent of it all.
"Now go get signed up for that school of Falco's, I don't want any uneducated street rats living in my house." He waved her off and Gabi huffed again.
"You're not nice sometimes," Gabi said.
"Good, more reason to get away from me," he said.
Gabi stood from the couch. "I'll be back later, but I won't guarantee you I'm leaving for good."
"No one ever said anything about leaving for good, the schools just on the other side of town, you'd still come back I'm sure. You always manage to find a way to pester me." He stated and Gabi laughed brightly.
"I sure do. I'll be back in a couple of days to shave that rat's nest on your face again! Bye, dad!" He snapped at her angrily but Gabi was already out the door and couldn't hear what he'd said.
"Damn brat," he mumbled before he glanced over to the office that Onyonkopon used for his work. Write a book huh?
He wheeled his chair into the office and looked around, collecting paper and pen, and wondered exactly where to start.