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If there’s anything Erwin knows about Captain Levi and Section Commander Hange it's that neither can sleep consistently.
Now in their defense, it's hard to sleep when you’re at risk of being devoured- that said, the two have issues with sleeping regularly.
Hange’s issues all stem from their overactive mind that just can’t seem to turn off for more than twenty minutes at a time. What they do instead of taking short naps every now and again, is every two-hundred and twenty hours they sleep for a consecutive ten.
Cycles of two-hundred and thirty. Two hundred and twenty are consecutively spent awake, the remaining ten are spent asleep. Wash, rinse, repeat.
It's a nine-day cycle. And by the end of this cycle, they’re stumbling into walls and hallucinating.
It makes Erwin worry.
Levi is, unfortunately. Similar.
His issues stem from a lifetime in darkness with no light or sky.
He sleeps in five-day shifts, but only sleeps for two hours at a time every five.
After ten days Levi sleeps a total of four hours, yet somehow he functions.
The real issues start when he disrupts his cycles. When he goes from five-day cycles to seven, or god forbid nine.
Those are the worst months when Levi and Hange are both on nine-hour cycles.
Both are high-strung and sleep-deprived, their bodies shake and they hallucinate. The two have conversations using half-formed words and a few hand gestures to get their points across. They zone out for hours upon hours.
Sometimes they have moments of brilliance but those are few and far between as the two are so high on caffeine and hallucinations that neither can really form coherent thoughts.
They hide it remarkably well. If Erwin hadn’t known them- or cared for them- or seen this happen for years and years he wouldn’t notice. But the way they’re standing is what tips him off.
It's hint number one that Levi and Hange are syncing their sleeping habits.
Levi is slouching, more than usual but the scowl has been replaced with a look of distaste and boredom- until you reach his eyes. They're glossy and unfocused as if he isn’t here right now.
Hange is sitting up so straight their back is pressed against the chair to the point where it looks painful, but their hair is immaculate. Not a strand out of place. They spent entirely too long on their hair to make it seem normal.
The second clue is the fact that they’re sitting across from each other rather than on either side of Erwin. They two have moved to the heads of the table while Erwin sits in the center lengthwise.
When Erwin looks at them out of the corners of his eyes he sees the gestures they’re making, vague shapes with strange faces. Levi notices Erwin's gaze and raises a brow as if to challenge him.
Levi gestures to Hange and they mimic the expression.
If he had the time, Erwin would respond with a twitch of his hands or a microexpression that only they would be able to read as a witty challenge. But soon the meeting calls him back. He sighs and rubs his eyes– they're red and bloodshot at the edges but it’s nothing in the grand scheme.
So he pushes the fatigue down and throws himself back into the meeting.
__________________________________
It’s now the eleventh day since Levi or Hange has slept and he can see it. The relaxing winds of fall should be setting Levi up for a reset and it should diffuse Hange a bit.
During fall they always have gotten better, Hange goes from nine to six days, and Levi resets to his usual five. But this is worse. They’re not getting better, they've only gotten worse.
They’re both at eleven which is almost as bad as last June when they didn’t sleep for sixteen days, slept for part of one, then didn't sleep the remainder. (Hange had a grand total of 18 hours that month while Levi was at 17, it's a point of pride to Levi that he ‘won’)
This is bad. This is bad because the last time this happened he had to cuff them both to a bunk and sit in the room until they fell asleep and he’s too busy right now to be able to spend twenty hours watching them sleep.
He’d do it if it got too bad. But he’d rather not. He hasn’t been sleeping a lot anyways– what with the meetings and the paperwork and Eren and the interior police–
He might be just as bad as the other two.
________________________________________
It all comes to a head two days later, on the 13th of October.
Erwin is rubbing his eyes which have gone unfocused and fuzzy from how long he’s been reading in the candlelight. It’s easily three in the morning at this point.
He reaches for his coffee only to find his cup is empty; he sighs and stands up, he might as well give his eyes a break so he can refill it.
That's where he finds the two, sitting against the counters of the kitchen trembling with their eyes plastered open as they stare at something in the corner of the room. Erwin checks and…nothing is there.
“What are you doing out here?” He asks softly. There’s no response for a few moments and Erwin is about to repeat himself when Hange speaks.
“Not– not tired.”
Levi grunts his agreement. “Handled…worse”
Erwin sighs. “Of course.”
His head swims as he steps toward the two. Levi needs to go first, he can only sleep in a few positions– otherwise, he wakes up too early. In one smooth movement, he pulls Levi up bridal style and walks him to Erwin's room.
He lays Levi down and smiles at Levi. Levi works so damn hard, he deserves nothing but the best.
He only stays to watch Levi shuffle for a few seconds before he stands back up to grab Hange.
“C’mannd’r y’do so m’ch f’r us– th’nk y’” They slur as they curl against him. It sends the same thrill of sparks through him– even after all these years.
He lays Hange down next to Levi but–
Levi reaches out, and Hange hasn’t let go.
So he ignores the paperwork and lets himself be dragged down to bed, and he lets himself sleep with the two he cares for above all else.
_______________________________________________
When he wakes up– more rested than he's felt in the past two weeks, it’s to the sweet smell of coffee and…. whipped creme?
“Rise and shine Commander.” Levi says flatly, “I never thought you’d wake up, thought I’d have to kiss you like Sleeping Beauty.”
Levi is wearing an apron. Not– not a cleaning apron. A cooking apron.
Hange grins “Good morning Erwin! You really needed some good sleep!”
“I– what is this? You seem…”
“Awake? Yeah, it was an act.” Levi says with a tilt to his voice.
They– what– an act? What does that–
The realization hits. “You were pretending to be on the eleventh day, but– but why?”
Hange hands him a warm cup of coffee– his favorite cup.
“Because we knew you were out of it and needed some sleep”
Hange grins and waves Levi over “Come on! come on! We should give it to him now!” Levi sighs but unties the apron and sets about putting a few plates on a tray before turning around–
And it’s. It’s Mont Blanc. Three small pastries with chesnut-flavored whipped creme. “You– what is this for?”
Levi sighs “You owe me twenty bucks Zoe.” he turns to Erwin, “Happy Birthday you moron”
Hange grumbles something back to Levi but its all white noise to Erwin because- because they–
They remembered. They made his favorite food–
He feels the tears rolling down his cheeks, “Thank you. Both of you.” He said hoarsely.
The two smile. Levi takes his hand and presses a kiss to his knuckles, meanwhile, Hange presses a kiss to his cheek. “We love you too you nerd,” Hange says fondly.
And suddenly all of his problems seem to vanish. They love him. He can do this. All he needs is a break.
So he takes one.