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“So I was thinking about red frosting because you don’t see it often, but then I realized that green frosting is also rare and it might look radioactive, which would be cool is shit. So now I’m at a loss. I can’t do both, ‘cause then they’d look like Christmas cupcakes. Any ideas?”
“Have you considered not doing it at all?”
From the other side of the phone came a dramatic, offended gasp. “Hey! How dare you?!”
Levi sighed, rubbing his temples. “Hange, you can’t bake and you know it.”
“Not true!”
“I know this. You know this. Hell, your neighbor’s dog knows this.”
“I’m still not sure why he wouldn’t take the peanut butter cookie.”
“Probably because he’d heard of what happened the last two times you tried to bake. Also, the cookies were practically charcoal.”
“You’re just mad I’m not making lemon cupcakes.”
“Whatever you say, shitty glasses.”
There was a moment of silence between the two of them. Levi fixed his eyes on his pre-calc homework. He touched his pencil to the paper, sighing.
Finally, Hange broke the silence. “Your voice sounds deeper than normal today,” They observed.
“It’s probably just static or something,” Levi responded nonchalantly, hoping they would miss his defensive tone.
“I don’t think it is,” they insisted. “Are you sure you aren’t catching a cold?”
“Yes, mo-parental figure,” He answered sarcastically, quickly catching his mistake. “I promise I’m not sick.”
“If you say so,” Hange said, albeit reluctantly. “You still doing homework?”
“Yeah. I hate this shit.”
“Gimme a second, I’ll send you the answers.”
“Think I can’t do it on my own?”
“No, I just wanna help. It’s almost 1 AM.”
Levi surrendered. “Thanks, shitty glasses.”
“It’s no problem, shorty,” they said. “You sound tired.”
After a moment, Levi responded. “...I am.”
He could hear Hange sigh from the other side of the phone. “Levi, don’t worry about your homework for tonight. I can give you the answers tomorrow. Go to bed.”
Levi was too tired to fight their order. “Fine,” he huffed and shoved his notebooks and pencils off of his bed haphazardly. Under any other circumstance, he’d collect all of his supplies and return them to their proper spots in his bag. Then again, under any other circumstances, he’d have finished the homework before even checking his phone.
“Any better?” Hange asked once he’d settled comfortably into bed.
“Sorta,” He responded, picking up his phone. He opened up a puzzle app, choosing to focus on it and Hange until he could sleep.
“You stress yourself out too much,” Hange chided softly. “You need to rest.”
“Says Mx. future Valedictorian.”
“Hey, Erwin’s been bringing in some heavy competition. It’s almost as if he wants to win!” Hange giggled and Levi couldn’t help a soft smile. Their laugh was intoxicating, he could listen to them ramble all night.
“Hange, there’s something I wanted to tell you.” As much as he loved their babbling, he knew that he’d have to address the elephant in the room eventually. Levi was well aware of what he signed up for when he had (albeit very awkwardly) asked out Hange Zoë, class genius and nonbinary icon. He’d signed up for lots of late nights playing minecraft and having tetris tournaments, lots of teasing from his family, way too much time spent telling people that he didn’t have a girlfriend and then being asked if that meant he was gay (which quite frankly, Levi didn’t think mattered enough to bother slapping a label on himself), and the constant misgendering of his partner (whether on purpose or otherwise).
Hange had clearly picked up on his heavier tone. “What is it?” they asked, and Levi felt a twinge of guilt for bringing their mood down.
“When I was picking up the canned foods today I overheard Mrs. I’m-having-an-affair-with-the-janitor shit-talking you to whoever the hell has a classroom next door to hers. More specifically, they were making fun of your pronouns. Said you’re ‘confused’ and said something about you being SpEd. Just wanted to give you a head’s up to be careful around her.”
Hange sighed. “Thanks for the warning. Though I would like to know how me being in GT has anything to do with my gender,” They added. And I thought I was the sassy one, Levi thought, his lips curved upward ever so slightly.
“I imagine it’s because you’re neurodivergent,” He responded. “You know how us abnormals can’t figure these things out.” His voice dripped with sarcasm, the only language he could really communicate in.
“Ah, of course! Curse my ADHD! How dare it make me a non-cishet!”
Levi couldn’t hold back a laugh. “That damn OCD, making me literally just not give a fuck about labels. Because that’s definitely how it works.”
Hange giggled. “Clearly, we’re just looking for attention. Because y’know, it’s not like gender dysphoria is a thing that happens.”
Levi smiled. He was stressed, no doubt, but despite his struggles, he felt somehow content. No matter what he’d have to deal with, he knew he wasn’t alone, and for the moment, that was all he needed.