Chapter Text
It was late evening inside Survey Corps Headquarters. All was quiet with majority of the soldiers sleeping. Hanji, however, was having trouble doing just that. She tossed and turned on her bed in vain, frustrated that nothing seemed to be helping. She lied on her back waiting for sleep to take over. But for reasons she couldn't explain, Hanji found herself missing out on a good night's rest. Hanji groaned. Her mind was always racing with ideas and theories that she found it hard to quiet it down.
She stood up from her bed and sighed. She walked over to her bookshelf and started perusing the titles on the spines, eventually pulling out an old volume of children's stories that were supposed to help put little kids to sleep. "It's either this, or I learn from Levi the types of tea I can brew to put me to sleep." As she held the book in her hands, an idea came to her. She shouted, "Levi!" before throwing on her robe and dashing out of the room.
She knocked lightly on the small, brooding soldier's door. There was a possibility that he was awake. Hanji knew that Levi only needed a few hours of sleep and because of that, he probably went to bed later than everyone else. She knocked again and waited for a sign that he was up. She didn't hear Levi give permission to enter so she figured that he was probably asleep. With a sigh, she turned around to leave when the door creaked open. Levi's face peered through the opening. He had dark circles under his eyes as if he hadn't been getting enough sleep. His hair was a disheveled mess going in different directions.
Hanji turned around and beamed, "Lev-"
"What the hell do you want at this hour?" Levi asked, his voice dark and gruffer than usual.
"I was...having trouble getting to sleep," Hanji answered, feeling guilty for possibly waking him. "I was hoping you couldn't either so maybe we-"
"Go away," Levi growled, rubbing his eyes with one hand while the other began closing the door slowly.
Hanji's face fell. She turned around in defeat and began walking away. Levi watched her leave, feeling a twinge of pity for seeing the poor woman dragging her feet. There were a few times that Levi turned to Hanji when he couldn't sleep and she always accommodated him without question. She had a way of relaxing him, as much as he hated to admit. Levi's gaze fell on the book in Hanji's hand.
"Oi," he called out to her. She turned to look over her shoulder at him. Levi motioned towards the book in her hand. "What's that you have there?"
Hanji turned, hopeful. "It's a collection of stories used to help children fall asleep!" She exclaimed to him. "I was hoping to share them with you...maybe it would help us both sleep?" She gave him pleading eyes. Levi felt a tug in his heart, having forgotten how cute she could be. Dammit, he thought. She does this shit on purpose, I know she does!
"Get your ass in here, Four Eyes," he ordered, and opened the door for her. She grinned wide and approached him as Levi held the door open. He gave her a playful smack on the shoulder as she passed him, eliciting a joyful laugh from her. Hanji ran and made a beeline for Levi's bed. She sat down at the foot of it and crossed her legs comfortably.
Levi stared at her, amazed at how nonchalant she was with invading his space. "Make yourself at home," he muttered as he closed the door behind him quietly. He walked over to his desk to sit on his chair when he noticed Hanji patting the spot on his bed next to her. He gave her a skeptic look.
"It has pictures," Hanji enticed, waving the book at him. She held it open to a page that had a large green dragon on it. A huge flame erupted from its mouth onto a small man wearing shiny armor. Levi rolled his eyes and sat down next to Hanji, arms folded impatiently. He looked at the open book on her lap.
"Well," he ordered. "Start reading already!"
Hanji jolted and began flipping to the first story. "Here's one," she announced, placing her finger on the first page. "It's called Rumplestiltskin."
"The fuck kind of name is Rumpleshit skin?" Levi snorted, beginning to regret his decision on letting Hanji drag him through this ordeal.
"Let's find out," Hanji cheered, beginning to read the story aloud.
"Well that was stupid," Levi muttered, leaning on the wall beside his bed. However, he had scooted closer to Hanji to get a better view of the illustrations in the book. She gave him a mischievous smile and batted her eyelashes. "I like it," she badgered, bumping her head against his. "The grumpy short man kinda reminds me of you."
Levi huffed and pushed her head off of him, growling. "Geez you drive me nuts!" He crossed his arms and looked away. "Choose a different story already!"
It had been almost a year since Levi first joined the Survey Corps. And during that time, he had developed a close bond with Hanji. Ever since their first expedition together to observe the different behaviors of Abnormal Titans, Levi had learned not only to rely on Hanji's wit and intelligence, but her battle skill was also very impressive. Her calculative moves made her a formidable asset to the Survey Corps' cause. Hanji on the other hand, had grown to admire Levi not only for his abilities, but his hidden kindness. The two of them knew of each other's quirks, yet found that they could be completely comfortable being themselves around one another.
Even when the two were not beyond the walls, they often found themselves spending time together. Levi didn't like to admit it to Hanji, or to himself aloud, but he actually preferred her company over anyone else's. Despite her making him go through the most random of activities, Levi found that he enjoyed himself and was drawn by her personality more and more.
"How about...Beauty and the Beast?" Hanji mused, turning the next page.
"Doesn't matter to me Four Eyes," Levi returned, giving the book a sideways glance.
Hanji began to read the story out loud, spinning a mental picture to Levi about a selfish prince who lived in an enormous castle. Levi listened as he learned that the prince and his staff were punished by a beautiful sorceress in disguise and were turned into objects. The prince, however, was turned into a horrible beast. Belle, a beautiful girl who was into books and didn't fit in with the rest of her village, sought an adventure of her own and eventually crossed paths with this beast.
Levi followed along with Hanji, looking at the book and the accompanying pictures. He noticed the illustration of Belle with her brown hair and eyes, holding out a book while reading it with an expression of wonder and joy on her face. Levi looked up at Hanji and couldn't help but notice the resemblance as she read the story with the same enthusiasm. He gave her a soft smile and continued to listen to her words, before closing his eyes and leaning back comfortably.
He listened as Hanji continued to spin the story of how Belle was prisoner to the beast in her father's place. However, the beast was eventually able to win her trust and she was able to tame his heart. Levi entertained the idea of those two characters being similar to himself and Hanji. He saw himself as the unapproachable, grouchy beast and Belle as Hanji, the bookwork of a woman filled with kindness who found a way past his wall to befriend him. Levi briefly had a thought cross his mind about the two of them in love and immediately blushed in embarrassment, shaking his head of the idea. Nope nope, absolutely not!
"Did you like that one, Levi?" Hanji asked. Levi startled at her voice, opening his eyes to look at her.
"That one made me relax," Levi admitted. "Maybe these shitty stories work after all."
Hanji held the book out to him eagerly. "Do you want to pick the next one?" she asked.
"Not really," Levi denied, keeping his arms crossed. Hanji's face contorted in rejection. Levi felt a twitch in his eye upon observing her expression. "Tch," Levi hissed and snatched the book away. He opened it and began flipping through the pages quickly. There was an image that caught his eye and he paused. The page had a picture of an enormous, thick vine that extended from the ground all the way to the clouds. Atop the clouds stood a very large man with a golden musical instrument. A Titan? Levi thought curiously. He read the title out loud, "Jack and the Beanstalk."
"Do you want to read this one yourself?" Hanji asked, noticing his curiosity.
Levi passed the book back to her. "No," he declined. "You read it. Hearing your voice relaxes me."
His eyes immediately flicked towards Hanji as he guaged her for a reaction, internally horrified by what he just blurted out. Hanji caught his eye and smiled teasingly at him. "My voice relaxes you Levi?"
"Either you read it, or you leave," Levi huffed, animate about her not digging too much into what he just said. Hanji giggled and began reading the tale of poor Jack and how he came upon some magic beans.
Levi began to stir. The soft sound of someone's snoring roused him from his slumber. He smelled a familiar scent that he secretly found enjoyable and inhaled softly. Instantly, his eyes shot open, recalling who the smell belonged to. Hanji?!
He panicked when he noticed that they were both leaning on each other for support. He began to recall last night's events and how Hanji had read him some stories to help them sleep. Levi leaned away from her and immediately regretted his decision when Hanji came falling onto him.
"Oi!" he cried out in alarm. Hanji awoke with a start, realizing she had toppled over on Levi. She fixed her glasses on her nose as they had gone crooked during her sleep. "Levi?" she asked groggily. A very flustered Levi pulled himself as much as he could away from her, tensing himself into a defensive pose when he could go no further. Embarrassed, Hanji pushed herself to a seated position before yawning.
"Looks like the stories worked, neh?" Hanji asked, breaking the awkward silence between them.
"A-ah," Levi admitted quietly, standing up and straightening out his clothes. His heart hammered in his chest as he struggled to calm his nerves. Physical intimacy was something he was not comfortable with, having an absence of such during his youth. He never knew how to respond when someone tried to touch him aside from avoiding it altogether and lashing out when someone got too close for his comfort.
Hanji had taken to her feet as well and picked up the book that had fallen to the floor. Confused also by the fluttering feeling she was experiencing in her stomach, she cleared her throat to break the tension in the room. "Thanks again for...indulging my shenanigans, like always," Hanji said.
"You always put me through the strangest shit," Levi muttered mid stretch before casting a side glance to Hanji. "You fucking abnormal," he taunted.
"Well," Hanji said, making her way to the door. "See you later, ok?"
She opened the door and closed it before Levi could say anything. Levi continued to look at his closed door for a moment before shaking his head of the strange feelings that were bombarding and filling his head with odd thoughts. "What the hell was that about?" Levi wondered aloud. Although he initially panicked at the intrusion of Hanji's body on his, once she was gone he felt...conflicted. Hanji always felt invitingly warm. Once she was away, he was reminded once more about how colder it was without her nearby.
Hanji walked quickly to her room, book clutched tight to her chest. "Well that was a first," she breathed out nervously. We've fallen asleep in the same room many times...but never on the bed together! "Dammit," Hanji cursed. "I hope Levi didn't notice my odd reaction!" Knowing Levi was not one for having an expansive personal space boundary, Hanji made sure to respect his limits as often as possible. However, it was very difficult. Levi was her friend and she found him ultimately adorable, despite his brashness. She constantly had to refrain from her urges to embrace him, or shower him with friendly gestures. As she walked along, she wondered if her feelings for him had more...complicated meaning.