Chapter Text
Hange let out a small yawn as she sat hunched over her desk, struggling to keep her eyes open as she read over a document that had been written today for her to overview. She could have very well read it tomorrow, but she was determined to find out the results they had gotten from hours of endless research.
She pursed her lips, bringing up a hand to rub at her tired eyes, lifting up her glasses to rest on top of her head. It was nearing eleven at night, and she had been adamant to stay in the lab a bit later than usual, with the promise to lock each door securely. She hoped the task wouldn't slip her sleep-deprived mind, although she was confident it wouldn't. She wasn't that irresponsible.
She had been ignoring the need for sleep for the past three days - which she was fully aware was unhealthy and downright dangerous for the human body. Lately, work had been the one constant on her mind - and also Levi, as well.
The 'Talk' that she had forced them to have had been a bit of a failure in terms of communication. Levi was a difficult person to get to open up - she knew that from four months of prior experiences with the man. This was different than their usual banter and bickering, however. It seemed that Levi genuinely wanted to avoid her presence whenever possible, which felt like a punch in the gut after all the progress they had made.
She had tried a casual approach upon coming home, sinking into the couch beside him, and he had quickly made an excuse and brushed her off. She had tried to conjure up a bit of conversation when she had spotted in awake in the kitchen at four in the morning, to no avail as he merely responded with nonverbal grunts. It was beginning to get a bit frustrating. She just wished that he would tell her what was wrong.
She missed him. She missed their banter. She missed his dry sense of humor. She missed the way he would go out of his way and make sure she was okay when she stayed in her room too long.
If wasn't as if he had become incredibly cold, but there was an obvious distance that hadn't been there a week prior. He still showed that he considered her a friend as he made sure to make a pot of coffee every morning for her knowing that she would be incredibly irritable without her morning intake of caffeine.
She tapped her pencil absentmindedly on the edge of her desk, biting the inside of her cheek in deep thought. He was a tough shell to crack, but he was kind when he wanted to be, and he was considerate towards others. He respected boundaries and was supportive of the people he cared for, and respected the choices they made regarding their lives. He truly was something else; abnormal would be the most appropriate term, perhaps.
She enjoyed being around him; his view of the world was interesting. She enjoyed hearing him talk about his life experiences and his odd skills in life. He made a fantastic pot of coffee, he was previously a bartender, he knit in his free time, and his cleaning skills most likely revealed those of Mr. Clean himself. He was one of the weirdest people she had ever met, and he had quickly become a huge presence in her life.
Oh.
She dropped her pen, her mouth forming a small 'o' shape as she came to a sudden realization.
She was developing feelings for Levi.
"Huh." She slunk back in her seat, feeling a sense of warmth spread across her chest as she thought of her cranky roommate. It seemed obvious now - the way she had let her gaze linger, admiring him while he was occupied, the sense of happiness that washed over her each time she had succeeded in amusing him.
She was torn, however. She felt immensely relieved that she had figured out what was eating at her, but now she had yet another problem to deal with on top of that. Hange was logical when it came to revealing her feelings, and she knew that if she told Levi she liked him it would make things between them even uneasier than they were currently. He hadn't shown a romantic interest in anyone since they had met, and she was not about to endanger their entire relationship for selfish reasons.
It wasn't as if she was a lovesick teenager. She could deal with a few romantic feelings. Eventually, they would fade and she would forget all about it. She had done it before, and she could do it again.
Although, it would prove to be slightly more difficult since she slept within a 60-foot distance from the man.
~
The brunette walked into the apartment silently, her form sluggish as a wave of exhaustion washed over once she stepped into her home. Her bed was mere feet away, she relished inwardly, toeing off her sneakers with some difficulty. "Levi, are you awake?" She called out, looking over her shoulder towards the living room to try and get a peek at the raven-haired man.
"Kitchen." He responded simply. Hange shrugged off her light sweater and tossed it carelessly on the coat rack that sat in the corner near the entrance. She hesitated briefly, before moving towards the sound of his voice.
"Hey." Hange greeted with a lazy waving gesture, leaning her weight against the kitchen island. She watched as Levi turned at her voice, and she held back the soft smile that threatened to spread across her lips. His hair was damp from a shower, a pair of dark sleeping pants and a dark t-shirt dressing his relaxed form. The shadows beneath his eyes hadn't lessened, his light eyes scanning over her.
"You look like a truck ran over you." He stated flatly, his arm draped over the back of the chair he was sat on. A cup of tea was placed in front of him on the table, steam stemming from the liquid. She felt a feeling of fondness upon looking at him, ignoring his rude words which held an underlying tone of concern.
"Yeah. The lab was pretty eventful today." She explained, trying her best to hide her fatigue. It didn't seem to be working as his frown only deepened at her words.
"When was the last time you actually slept, Four Eyes?" Levi asked with a raised brow, placing his fingers around the rim around his cup and bringing it up to his lips.
"I got a full two hours of sleep last night." Hange cracked a wry smile. "You're one to bring up my sleeping habits, though. You look like a corpse."
Levi scoffed and glared at her, avoiding her gaze entirely. Hange glanced away as a spontaneous idea came to her mind. Maybe it would help normalize their situation once more. "Hey, do you know what I think we could both use?"
"A million dollars and twelve hours of sleep?" Levi responded dryly in return. Hange shook her head at him.
"No, but that wouldn't be horrible." She paused before further elaborating. "What we both need is to destress and forget about our own worries and concerns for a bit. I have a couple of board games somewhere in my closet, do you want to play with me?" She inquired in a hopeful tone.
"It's past midnight. If anything, this will only make our problems worse." Levi pointed out, wanting to refuse her offer for more reasons than one. Still, he knew the brunette was heavily determined, and when she set her mind to something she usually accomplished it. He was likely trapped.
"We'll eventually tire ourselves out." She reasoned already moving towards her bedroom to grab the board games. "Go sit in the living room, make yourself comfortable!" She told him before disappearing down the hall. Levi sighed and grabbed his teacup, moving towards the living room.
He watched as Hange poured all of her concentration on setting up the game he had little to no interest in, yet remained in the living room willingly playing because he had felt odd going a day without talking to her. He knew that the best way to push away his feelings was to distance himself, but he was finding that incredibly hard to do. She brought a comfort in his life that he hadn't known he had lacked until she was no longer there to give it. She was bright and lively, and unlike any other person in his life, and he didn't want her to disappear.
She gestured for him to sit down on the floor across the table from her, and he lazily did as he was told without a word. "So, pick your piece." She pointed to a pile of small metal figures in the box.
"What the fuck is this, Hange?" Levi warily eyed his limited options. "Of all of the board games, you choose Monopoly. You're right, this will fix our problems, Four Eyes, we'll end up falling asleep in the middle of playing it."
"You're just grumpy that I'll end up beating your ass." She shrugged her shoulders, plucking the tiny silver boot from the pile, leaving Levi with one less option. He scowled and reached for the cat, placing it at the beginning of the board.
"We'll see about that." He said simply. "Also, this is a terrible fucking idea, who plays Monopoly with only two people?"
"We do. Obviously." She quipped, throwing the pair of dice into Levi's lap. They bounced off his thighs and promptly rolled beneath the sofa.
"You're the worst." He told her flatly, before crouching forward on his knees and running his hand aimlessly under the furniture. Hange bit the inside of her cheek hard as Levi raised his bottom in order to peek under the couch. She quickly averted her eyes, her cheeks growing slightly warm.
Levi threw the dice upon the board once he had finally located them, his expression painted in annoyance as the dice showcased 'three' combined. Hange smirked widely at him, already tasting victory. "How unfortunate for you." She teased him, taking her turn and rolling a ten. "Looks like I'll be going first, then!" She grinned widely at him.
"This is the worst decision I've ever made." Levi voiced dryly, sipping his tea which had now chilled considerably, much to his displeasure. He watched as Hange laughed, his chest inflating at her happy expression. Ridiculous, he thought to himself, unable to tear his gaze away.
Hange rolled the dice in her palms before throwing them down on the board. "We'll play with our own rules, how does that sound? We can even make up different names for every property." She suggested lightly.
"You're going to regret suggesting this by the end of the night," Levi warned her as she moved her figure up a few spaces.
"Trust me when I say I know I will." She handed him the dice, and he lazily let them roll out of his palms and onto the board. He moved his figure up accordingly, inwardly counting each step.
"How's The Underground been doing? It's been a few days since I last visited." Hange asked conversationally, her eyes trained on the game board as they played.
"Fine, nothing eventful has happened since the night of the party," Levi revealed nonchalantly, his steely eyes sneaking a glance up at her. "I did get a stupid ass customer a few days ago, though." He added on as an afterthought.
"What kind? Angry, or just strange?" Hange inquired knowingly, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Oh, was it one of those overly-complicated orders asking if you could replicate that weird colorful drinks at Starbucks? I know how much you appreciate those." She smiled in amusement.
Levi rolled his eyes at the mention of those types of customers. "No, it was an older guy - tall ass tree looking motherfucker. He walks up to the counter and immediately starts flirting and saying gross things to Mikasa. She tried ignoring him for the most part until he reached over and tugged on her arm to get her attention. Eren went to attack him, and Jean held him back while I threw him the hell out on his ass. Mikasa punched him directly in the eye before I did, however."
Hange's eyes widened slightly as she listened to his story. "What a gross excuse for a human being. Was he a regular customer, or someone you've never seen before?"
"I've never seen him personally, but Jean told me that he comes in quite often." Levi dragged his gaze from the woman in front of him to game, forcing most of his attention to it, instead.
"I'm assuming he's banned from ever entering the shop again?" Hange questioned knowingly, the dim light reflecting off of the lens of her glasses.
"You bet your ass he is," Levi said with a low growl before he quickly changed the subject. "This place is going to be named Shitvile, and I want to buy it." He pointed towards the pink space, his expression completely serious.
Hange let out a snort of laughter, nodding her head as she browsed through the collection of properties. Levi gave her the amount of money due and she handed him the card in return. "I've been scheming lately." She told him with a prideful smirk.
"Who's life are you interfering in now?" Levi raised a thin brow, the sound of dice hitting the surface accompanying his words.
"You remember how I told you about my two colleagues being absolutely in love with one another? Moblit and Nifa?" Levi nodded, recalling the story she had told him in the park a few weeks ago. He knew by the gleam in her expressive eyes that she had plotted something devious.
"Well, I may or may not have hinted to Moblit that Nifa finds him attractive, and then I sent the two of them to go get me lunch."
"You're such a lazy sack of shit." Levi droned out, calling out the woman for making her co-workers get her lunch in the midst of her plan.
"Hey! I killed two birds with one stone, I'm brilliant, you can't deny that." She defended herself with a pleased grin.
He didn't. "I'll call this one Levi." She pointed towards a brown space, looking through the cards once again to find the property she was buying. She glanced up, catching the glare he sent her way. She hid the smile of amusement that threatened to spread across her lips. "Do you want to know why?"
"No."
"Because It's the cheapest space on the board, and it's brown which reminds me of you considering how often you talk about shit."
"What exactly on you implying with your first point?"
"I don't know Levi, what do you think I'm implying?"
"Fuck you, Four Eyes."
Throughout the course of two hours, Hange had managed to drain Levi of most of his money as she had collected almost every property on the board, including the ones he had gathered because the brunette had proven to be insanely persuasive and good at negotiating. The raven-haired man slouched back against the sofa, a yawn he was unable to contain escaping his lips. "I surrender. You win." He stated blankly, blinking his eyes as he forced himself to stay awake.
She loudly laughed in victory, throwing a fist into the air in a celebratory pose. "Ha! I knew I'd crush you. You are the absolute worse at any sort of game. We need to work on your skills." She smiled at him, before plopping down next to him on the couch.
"Hm." He responded simply, turning his head to face her instead. The boardgame now laid abandoned on the coffee table, forgotten about in mere minutes. Hange sat mere centimeters from him, and he could smell the scent that radiated off of her strongly; she smelled like citrus and chemicals. He then found himself admiring her side-profile as his eyes trailed over her jawline, which was sharp and defined - he quickly shoved away the thought of how much he wanted to trail his lips over her skin. Her nose stood out among her features, long and hooked, and undeniably unique, much like her eccentric personality. It was probably the feature he appreciated the most.
He glanced away lazily, inwardly repulsed by his thoughts and actions. He couldn't remember the last time he had let himself stare and deem a person attractive such as right now. Perhaps high school? Either way, this feeling was very foreign to him, and he wasn't sure how to react to it. "Levi, have you ever been in a serious relationship?" Hange found herself asking out of curiosity, wanting to test out the waters a bit.
"What are your standards for a serious relationship?" Levi asked, hiding his bafflement at her bizarre question. She simply shrugged her shoulders in response.
"Have you ever been in love?" She reiterated slowly, turning her tired gaze to the man beside her.
Levi paused at her question; had he ever been in love? No, certainly not. He had never been in such a serious relationship before, hell, he had never even been in an actual relationship before. It was difficult enough for him to find someone he could tolerate and grow to see as a friend, nonetheless a significant other.
"No." He answered her question truthfully, not bothering to garner her reaction as he stared straight ahead towards the TV stand.
"Ah." She let out understandingly. "I have - a few times actually." She revealed softly, her fingers tapping against her thighs absentmindedly. "It was a different experience each time, and it's a good feeling - a happy feeling that you carry around with you whenever you're reminded of them, or whenever you're near them." She trailed off in thought before she stood up to her feet, holding out a hand for him to take.
"Of course, obviously, love isn't only limited to romantic connections. I'm sure the first time you met your sister you felt a feeling similar to love at first sight."
Levi snorted dryly, and grabbed her hand, pulling himself up off of the couch with her help. "The first time I was introduced to Mikasa she puked all over me."
"Did you drop her?"
"No, of course not."
"Well, then that's more than enough evidence to me that you loved her," Hange said cheekily, laying her hand lightly on his shoulder. "It was good to spend some time with you, Shorty. I missed you."
"You're insanely sleep-deprived, Shithead."
"Just admit that you missed talking to me too."
"In your dreams."
Levi watched with a softened gaze as she laughed once and made her way to her own bedroom with a soft-spoken 'goodnight'.
No, he had never been in love before, but he had a good feeling he was getting dangerously close to diving head first over a cliff.