Chapter Text
Hange looked up at me, her face clearly showing that she hadn't realized I was there either.
"Oh, I- uh, my apologies." They stumbled over their words, dropping to the ground to begin picking up the papers she had dropped.
You let out a sigh, deciding it'd be worse if you just continued to stand there rather than help the commander. You leaned down, ignoring the slight shock in her expression when you started helping them. You didn't meet their gaze even when handing them the papers, but you couldn't help but feel your heart jump ever so slightly when her fingers brushed over your hand gently as they took the papers from you.
You ignored the feeling though, standing up and offering a hand to the section commander to help them stand.
"Thanks." She said.
"It's whatever." You huffed.
"Sorry again about tha-"
"Quit apologizing." You cut them off. Without giving them time for their shocked expression to leave and without a reply, you turned and walked over to a window. Your kept your eyes focused on the stars in the sky as your heard them sit their papers down on a surface next to them before making their way close to where you were.
She glanced at them, raising an eyebrow in confusion. You didn't question her, though. She was allowed to watch the stars, too, if that's what they were doing. There were other windows, though, so really it didn't make sense that they have to look out the same one as you.
You were glad when you realized you wouldn't just be standing there in complete silence for who knows how long.
"Why are you up so late?" She questioned.
There it was. Honestly even you weren't really sure. No, that was a lie. It was a simple answer as to why you were up. You debated if you should even mention it, though, preferring not to start a conversation with the titan freak.
You let out a sigh, giving in before speaking your answer.
"Couldn't sleep, that's all." You said. It was half of the truth, so it was good enough, right?
Well, apparently Hange doesn't know personal space, and you quickly realized that as she lightly grabbed on of your arms, looking at the bandage.
This act of ever a gentle tug caused pain because of how tight the bandage had been wrapped. You tried to hide the fact that it hurt, maybe looking away would help. But clearly that showed Hange that something was wrong. They reached over with their other hand, lightly holding onto your chin as they turned your face to look at them.
"Are your wounds still hurting? Or is it the bandages?" She asked.
"I- uh, the.. bandages." You stuttered.
The only thing you could think about was how she was still holding your chin with her hand. You felt a little trapped as she also still had a hold on your arm. But that hold was quickly released as she dropped both her hands, using one to intertwine her fingers with yours as she began to walk somewhere.
"Wait- your papers." You reminded them as you tried to wrap your head around what was even happening.
"It's fine, I'll get them later." She reassured you.
As you walked, or, rather as she pulled you along to wherever it was you were going, you couldn't help but remember how your heart had fluttered when she held your chin not too long ago. That feeling was still present, too, as they held you hand to lead you to the unknown destination.
Though that destination soon became more clear as you walked. They were taking you to the room where she did experiments and studies.
'Great.' You thought. 'I have no idea what she's gonna do but whatever it is, it better help and not kill me or something.'
You turned a corner suddenly, and before you knew it you were being pulled into a dark room. It wasn't dark for long though, as you heard the sound of matches before seeing the bright light of a fire. She put the match into a lantern, and then lit one more and did the same.
You watched as they looked around for something. You decided to take this chance to glance around. You never know, you might find something interesting, and your curiosity always got the better of you.
You looked at a notebook that was open on her poorly lit desk. You didn't realize Hange was watching you, though, until they came over a light tapped on your arm.
You realized quickly they were holding new bandages, and so you reluctantly stretched out your arm, which she gently grabbed a hold of. You tried not to pay much attention as she unwrapped the bandages from your arm. However, you did let out a soft sigh of relief when the pain caused by them being to tight was nearly gone.
You felt a weird texture place on your arm suddenly, and instinctively flinched, pulling your arm towards you. You looked up, realizing that Hange had just been trying to put the new bandages on.
"S-sorry." You muttered, looking back at the notebook as you stretched your arm out again.
She gave you a reassuring smile, trying to let you know it was fine, but you weren't exactly looking at her well enough to see it.
They went back to wrapping the bandage around your arm, glancing at you every now and then incase you showed any signs of it being too tight. You didn't, it was actually wrapped pretty perfectly around your arm. It felt nicer now that it wasn't so tight, though the texture was a littler different. You didn't care that much really, though. You still wondered why you even flinched at it earlier, the somewhat embarrassing memory haunting you as you read what was written on the pages in the book.
You weren't sure if you were even supposed to be reading it, but Hange didn't seem to care. They were right beside you after all, and they hadn't said anything.
You read through some pages of notes, details about experiments, and thoughts that crossed Hange's mind everyday. Some of them were honestly fascinating to read about, though you would never admit that out loud.
Suddenly you felt a small tug at your shirt, looking over at Hange who's gaze met your own.
"I need to check the bandages around your stomach, is that okay?" They asked.
You suddenly felt butterflies in said stomach before you managed to muster up a "Sure," turning back to the book as she lifted your shirt slightly. The only problem now is you couldn't really focus on reading. Hange didn't seem to notice your uncomfort. Or was it even that? Maybe you were just flustered. But there was no reason to be, they were just replacing bandages on your wounds. You couldn't help but glance over, though, when their hands lightly brushed over the wound.
You sucked in a sharp breath, the wound still hurting a bit since it was still new.
"Sorry." She said, drawing her hands back to her side before grabbing new bandages. "It just worries me how bad those wounds must have been when you got them."
'Worries? Why would they be worried about me?' You wondered.
You went back to reading more as she wrapped new bandages around you. You went to turn another page, but felt her hand suddenly slam the book closed. You looked at her, confused.
"Oh, uh, I'm not really supposed to let you read all of that. Some of the experiments are pretty dangerous and we don't want anyone trying to do them on their own or anything." They explained, but the fact that they stuttered and looked like they had to think of something to say on the spot made you wonder.
You had already read many 'dangerous' experiments they had done. So what was the point of stopping you there? Maybe a experiment they weren't allowed to share? Who knew.
"No worries." You said, your gaze locking with theirs. They quickly looked away, though, avoiding eye contact with you.
You didn't pay much attention to that fact, though. You breathed out, turning to walk towards the door before your wrist was suddenly grabbed. You looked back, confused to meet an equally confused expression on the section commander's face.
"I.. uh." They stumbled over their words, clearly not aware yet of why they even did that.
"Is there something else, section commander?" You, asked, trying to help speed things along so that you could leave.
"Uh, no, nothing important really." They finally answered after a brief moment of silence.
You looked down at your hand, which was still being held by Hange. "Then what is it?" You questioned, growing impatient.
When they didn't answer for a moment or two, you started to pull away. That was the sign they needed you guessed, because suddenly they were very interested in answering your question so that you stayed longer.
"It almost morning, so why don't you just stay in here while I work? That way you don't accidentally wake up your fellow comrades." She suggested.
'Morning? It's still not even the middle of the night.' A quick glance out the nearest window confirmed that. You were a bit confused but shrugged it off.
"Fine, I supposed, but I'd like to sit by the window so I can watch the stars some more. But later I will be going back to the others. Trust me, none of them are light sleepers so I'll be fine." You explained.
The section commander's mouth turned up into a soft smile, letting go of your hand. "Sure, sit wherever, I'll be over there at the desk." They informed you before making their way over to you.
You quickly walked over to the window, sitting on the window ceil and looking out into the night. Yeah, it definitely wasn't even remotely close to morning. You were still wondering why they lied to keep you here, but you could care less. You were just glad for the silence finally, other than the noise of a pen writing on paper every now and then.
You let your mind roam, it going back to the things you had read in Hange's journal. For such an annoying and loud person, you would expect their journal to be a mess and all over the place, but everything had been so neatly put together and well organized. And the tone they had used while writing was so calm, with only a hint of excitement, despite her nature being completely different in person. You found that rather annoying. You'd much prefer a calmer section commander, but instead you had to deal with a loud, titan obsessed freak.
Suddenly something came to mind. Not something you had read, not something you had done, but an idea. You let out a disappointed groan at the fact it included titans. Though you decided it wouldn't hurt to mention it to the titan lover, who was currently writing something down at their desk. Everything you learned about titans, the better advantage you guys had at taking them down.
"Section commander?" You spoke loudly enough for her to hear.
They glanced over to you. "Yes?" They asked, cocking their head to the side, curiosity sparking in their eyes.
"I have an idea for a possible experiement you could run on the titans." You explained.
Her eyes lit up. "Do you? Well let me hear it then!"
You rolled your eyes. 'Great, you brought out their titan obsessed side.'
But there was no point in stopping now, that would be worse than not bringing it up at all.
"What do you think about the possibility that titans aren't active during the night because without the sun, they don't have enough energy? Kinda like how we sleep during the night to have energy when the sun rises again." You spoke.
You saw Hange think about it for a moment. "Well, it's possible. We have never seen a titan active at night before, but we could also just be missing them."
For a second you thought they were turning down your idea, but then they poke again a few seconds later, a smile returning to their face as they met your gaze.
"Why don't you help out with that experiment? If you'd like to, of course, I won't force you to. But just think about it, it'd be fun. Plus, you'd be able to say you thought of the experiment. It'd be even cooler, too, if you turned out to be right. You could brag to your friends." She let out a chuckle. The sound made your heart skip a beat.
"I- I guess. Though I wouldn't do it just to brag." You let out a nervous laugh. "But, sure I guess." You eventually told them.
"Great! I'll write it down and we can do it tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" You asked, turning towards her.
"Yeah, I'll just have to ask Levi if I would be able to borrow you for awhile." They explained.
You started to regret your decision, realizing you'd have to spend probably an entire day now with them, and so soon, too.
You just hoped this experiment wouldn't end up getting you killed. Or any other experiments Hange might start dragging you in to do with her. It was too later to change your mind, though. And at this point it would just be rude to do so.
You went back to looking at the stars for awhile before eventually going back to the others a little while later. Nobody was up, as predicted. So you just climbed back into your bed and fell asleep after awhile. Tomorrow was definitely going to be a long day, so you needed as much sleep as you could get by then, even if it wasn't much.
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