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Hange ran down the hall, too excited to notice that the candles had all been blown out, and the only lights now marking her path were the pale moonbeams filtering in through the windows. She was wide awake, and could only imagine that everyone else must be too.
She needed to talk to Levi about her latest discovery. It was one he might actually be interested in, he might even comment on it! She burst through the door to his chambers only to be met with the sight of him bent over his desk, fast asleep. It was then that Hange finally noticed the darkness around herself. She stared briefly at Levi. His hair was hanging in his eyes a bit, his brow still as wrinkled as ever. His neck seemed to be bent at an uncomfortable angle that would have him sour, tired and snappish all day tomorrow. She blew out his candle, which was nearly drowned in the wax anyways, and picked Levi’s face up from the desk. As gently as she could, Hange lifted Levi up and carried him over to the bed, praying he wouldn't wake up and start shouting at her.
He did.
“H-gghf what the fuck!” He twisted out of her arms to land on the bed.
“Sorry, but you were sleeping on your desk and I-”
“Hange? What the fuck are you doing in here?”
“I came to tell you something but you were asleep so I was trying to get you into bed instead of you being bent over at your desk all night.” Hange crossed her arms and frowned at him. “You know, that’s really not good for your back.”
Levi glared at her. “Oh, piss off. It's not like I was going to get any good sleep anyways.” He rubbed his eyes. He looked exhausted. Hange sighed.
“Nightmares, eh?”
Levi grunted in response.
“Yeah, I feel that.” Hange said with a rueful smile. “It’s weird though, I almost never used to have them when I slept in the barracks.” And with that, an idea flashed into Hange’s head.
“Hey, move over.” she said.
“...Excuse me?”
“Well, the only really different thing about living in the barracks and having my own chambers as a commanding officer is being alone.”
“Not the… Less experience?” Levi suggested.
Hange shook her head. “Not really, no. Basically the only way to move up through the barracks is to survive long enough to get promoted. I had plenty of experience.”
Levi nodded. “Right. Well I guess you should try testing that hypothesis out with Nanaba or Moblit or someone.” He grabbed the covers and burrowed under them.
“But they're already asleep.” Hange said, flopping down on top of Levi. “Besides, you get nightmares too.”
Levi glared at her from under the covers. She beamed at him.
“You're a relentless nightmare yourself, shitty-glasses.”
Hange laughed. “Got that right, little man.” and with that, she started climbing into the bed.
Levi groaned. “Take your gear off first, dumbass.”
“Oh, and hang it all up too, of course.” Hange rolled her eyes. Levi stared at her.
“Obviously? How else are you supposed to get it on tomorrow if it’s all tangled?”
“Um…”
Levi rolled his eyes. “Guess that explains why you're always fucking late for things.”
he rolled over to face away from her. Hange unclipped and unbuckled her gear and shrugged it and her jacket off in her usual haphazard manner. However she did hang them more or less neatly on Levi’s chair and set her boots by the door. She debated internally for a minute before taking off her pants and draping them over the armchair as well.
“Coming in.” she warned Levi teasingly.
“Oh the horror.” he deadpanned. Hange wriggled under the covers and immediately went to go spoon him.
“Hange?” he asked.
“Yeah?”
“I was just wondering why you persist in always invading my personal space.”
Hange laughed. “You're just so huggable, I guess.” Hange could pretty well hear him glaring. “Comfy?”
Levi didn't answer, but Hange knew he would have complained if he wasn't. She closed her eyes.
“Y’know, if I am going to make this into a genuine experiment, I'll have to gather a lot more data.”
“If you keep sleeping around people might talk.”
”Hm… but that would be the best way to avoid biased results.” Hange was entirely joking in any case. She really didn't have any interest in experimenting with anyone else. “Well, I've never cared much about what other people say about me. No point in starting now.” Levi stiffened slightly. Hange smiled.
“I suppose.” he said.
“But then, if I do undertake this experiment I can't stay up as late as I like to to study.”
“That’s not exactly a bad thing.” Levi griped.
“Maybe I'll just have to stick to experimenting on night owls like you, Levi.” he relaxed in her arms. She pulled him a little closer and sighed happily. “Goodnight, Captain Grump.”
“Goodnight, Zoë.” he yawned.
In the morning Hange noted that the evidence she had collected so far was concurrent with her hypothesis. No nightmares on either side. And she couldn't wait for the next set of testing.