Work Text:
Levi hated the rain for a number of reasons.
The first one was quite simply, the wetness. Every time it rained, even just a little, water somehow made its way in under your collar, into your boots and sleeves and left your hair slicked to the top of your head like a goddamn helmet. It wasn’t even warmish water, like a gentle but involuntary shower, but rather like having multiple icicles sliding down your back. There was simply no escaping it.
The second reason was the dirt. Customers would drag in mud, pebbles, soil, you name it, and spread it all over the floor like a grimy carpet of unwanted messiness to make sure that even when finally inside, there would still be no chance of escaping the powers of the terrible weather.
And the customers, let’s not even get started on those, he thought to himself as the cashier came to life under his fingers with a familiar beep and whirr of electronics. On rainy days like these, it seemed like every single office worker, shop assistant and pretentious bohemian teenager would crawl out of whatever hole they’d been hiding in for a fix of caffeine. Wading through the practically horizontal rain apparently was worth it.
Erwin always told him to suck it up, you’ll get tipped extra too, you know, but he wasn’t here yet and Levi made sure to put on his best surly scowl along with his apron.
Sure enough, as soon as he turned the sign on the door to declare to the street that the shop was officially open for business, the customers came barging in. Levi had to keep himself from cringing as the floor he’d swiped and swabbed that very same morning slowly but surely transformed into a smallish lake.
As if his morning wasn’t shitty enough, he’d be by himself until eleven and the customers seemed determined to make their orders as complicated as possible just to mess with him. The morning rush died down quite quickly and with only one (accidental, of course) scalding to account for, rewarded himself with changing the radio channel from one of Erwin’s ridiculous 24-hour glam rock fests to one if his own tastes.
Incidentally, this was the first thing Erwin commented on when he stumbled through the door at exactly 10.55, placing his dark green umbrella in the stand by the door.
“I’m not changing it back. You can only take to much Queen a day before you go insane.”
“Maybe you just have a terrible music taste,” Erwin shot back, smoothing his slicked back hair down and pulling the standard black apron over his head.
“Speak for yourself. Admit it, if you could wear sequined platforms to work, you totally would.”
“I will neither confirm nor deny this statement.”
“That’s what I thought.”
If there was one thing Levi had learned in his work as a barista, it was that people in general were creatures of habit. There were always the regulars. The guy with the washy kind of half-moustache who always ordered a large Mocha and then spent more time sniffing it than actually drinking. The art major girl with the large nose and her two boyfriends who sometimes stumbled in, begging for the biggest Espressos he could make while digging for spare coins in the bottom pits of their pockets. Customers always ordered more or less the same thing, day in, day out. Milk and two sugars on the side, please and thank you.
It was mind numbing, in a way. Levi could only imagine what life was like for their customers if their orders were that bland.
Not that he had much to brag about, himself.
A flash of lightening lit up the street outside and soon enough, a ear numbing bang followed. Someone in the shop shrieked. Levi glared in their general direction.
“What a beautiful day, don’t you think?”
If anyone asked, Levi would deny to his last breath that he jumped at least a feet in the air.
Standing in front of him was a creature he wasn’t sure was a soaked cat or an actual human being, but he wasn’t about to ask. Erwin was still in earshot, after all.
“Hi there,” she smiled and Levi put his best frown back in place. “God, I love lightening. Shame there is so little of it this time of year. Did you know that the Earth is struck by at least a hundred lightening bolts per second? Yet it never seems to happen when I’m around. It’s a shame,” she rattled off.
Levi idly wondered how many words she could manage to get out in a single breath. He suspected that didn’t really want to test it and instead decided to at least try to act like the host he was paid to be.
“Are you going to order anything or what?”
“What? Oh, yeah. Wow, you sure are in a bad mood today. Don’t like the rain?”
“Don’t like the mess it brings,” he told her for no reason other than being somewhat polite. The girl (early twenties, he would guess, reddish brown hair that looked like the very definition of chaos, large, dorky glasses) however, just grinned like he had uttered the solution to end cancer and cure world hunger once and for all.
“I see! Well then, I’m not going to stand here and mess up your shop any longer. Any recommendations for hot drinks on a day like this, sir?”
Levi had to admit that he was slightly taking aback by the pure energy practically radiating from the woman in front of him. And had she honestly just called him sir?
“Most people go with an Americano. It’s a huge rip-off though, all you do is add water and charge the double. A caffeinated disgrace, really.”
She seemed to ponder this for a second. “You’re awfully honest for someone who’s supposed to make business, you know.”
“’S not my shop,” he replied. “And isn’t honesty the first step to good CMR?” He added in his most sarcastic tone.
“Oh, so you want good client-manager relations now? Fancy that,” she smirked.
Levi resisted the urge to slam his head down on the counter.
“Just pick a goddamn drink, will you.”
“Nah,” she said, “Surprise me. I’ll be over here.” With that, she turned on her heel and walked towards one of the free tables by the windows. Levi stared at her retreating back for a second before getting to work.
He put more thought than he would like to admit in choosing a drink to make. Caffeinated or decaf? She surely seemed like she had enough energy as it was. Decaf, then. Something bitter or sweet? The girl did seem like someone with a sweet tooth.
In the end, Levi decided on a simple medium-sized vanilla coffee. It was sweet, but not overly so and easy enough to make.
By the time he had managed to get the metallic disaster of an espresso machine to spit out his drink for him and rounded the counter to hand it to her (and what was he, a damn waitress?) she had already spread an array of books all over her small table.
“Here you go,” he said quietly, hesitating. Setting the cup down on her books seemed rude.
“Oh, thanks. What do I owe you, by the way?”
“On the house,” Levi said with a glance at her books.
“Fantastic!” She exclaimed with a bright smile. “Us students have a shitty enough economy as it is.”
“I’d reckon,” Levi replied and turned to get back behind the counter. The customers were piling up, sending him angry glares and scuffing their feet on the wooden floor. Levi waged his war against the coffee machine with extra care and methodology, especially taking time in slamming the pitcher with skimmed milk down on the counter to get rid of bubbles. No one left coins in the tip jar.
“This was pretty good.”
Levi whirled around from where he had been cleaning one of the shelves behind the counter. The redhead terror was back, holding the now empty mug between her hands. She leaned over the counter slightly, as if though she was letting him in on a big secret. “I don’t really like coffee, though.”
Levi threw his rag into the sink along with every hope of having a few moments of peace to himself.
“You come into a coffee shop, asking me to make you whatever, but you don’t like coffee?” he asked, lifting one thin brow slightly.
“Pretty much! It smells so good though. Coffee shops always smell amazing. That’s why I came here in the first place.”
Levi had to agree on that, but didn’t dignify her with a response.
The girl continued. “I’m Hanji, by the way. I’m a grad student. Are you in university too?”
“On an off,” he replied. “Saving up to one semester at a time.”
“I see,” she replied, nodding thoughtfully, like she was processing and picking apart his words one by one.
Levi nodded towards the books still splayed out on her table. “Anatomy?”
Hanji’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. Levi feared that he had hit some kind of verbal switch as she started bouncing on her heels, her messy ponytail bobbing along with the movement. “Uh-huh,” she grinned. “I want to be a researcher, actually. I’m writing my thesis on the human body and the chemicals found in nerve endings. Pretty interesting stuff.”
Levi pulled at his apron. “You seem pretty into it.”
She laughed again. “It drives my friends insane. Once I get started I never really seem to be able to stop. Anyway,” she added, putting the mug down on the counter. “Thanks for the coffee. Really. I’ll grab my massive book bag and be off.”
Another crash of thunder made the fairy lights by the windows (courtesy of Erwin, of course) flicker. The rain was still pouring outside. Hanji let out a small squeal of excitement.
“Yeah, try not to give yourself a hernia before you’re off our properties. Or do, if it helps you with any scientific breakthroughs. Whatever works.”
-
She came back the next day, a small hurricane all by herself.
The shop had calmed down after the initial rush and Levi spent his down time cleaning the hell spawn of an espresso maker.
Hanji slammed her canvas bag down on the counter with an unceremonious thud, tapping the bell by the cashier rapidly. “I have like ten minutes to get to class and I was up until four, please save me.”
“I might if you stop ringing the goddamn bell,” Levi replied calmly.
Hanji just grinned down at him. Her hair was if possible even messier than yesterday and her eyes definitely looked bloodshot behind her glasses. “What’ll it be?” he asked, putting his most disinterested face in place.
“Anything. Everything. Whatever gives you energy and is quick to make. I’ll pay and everything.”
“Without coffee?”
“Preferably.”
Grabbing a large Styrofoam mug, Levi turned to make her drink. Hanji tapped her fingers on the counter while the machine filled up the small shop with enough noise to drown out the music he’d put on in the background.
“Hey, is this Dylan?” Hanji asked as Levi put the plastic lid in place (and God, how he loathed those lids) and handed her the drink.
“Sure, he’s one of my favourite musicians. Don’t talk shit about Dylan.” He accepted the wrinkly bill she slid over the counter. The ancient cash register, which Erwin and a large population of their college-aged patronage described with words like charming and definitely vintage opened with a bang and a ping. Levi liked to describe it with the more fitting obnoxious and unmanageable.
“I won’t, promise. Just wouldn’t have pegged you as the type.”
“My tastes are pretty diverse.” He handed her the change back.
Hanji smiled and circled the mug with her hands the same way she had done yesterday. “You’re the one who played Slade yesterday, then?”
Levi gave her a disgusted look. “Absolutely not. Now get out, or you’ll be late.”
Hanji just grinned and as quickly as she’d come barging into the shop, she was gone.
-
“I figured you wouldn’t want to go out for coffee,” Petra explained as she dumped a hearty amount of chopped mangoes on top of her frozen yoghurt.
“And you are absolutely correct,” Levi replied, measuring up a spoonful of chocolate chips to sprinkle on top of his helping. The frozen yoghurt bar was fairly recently opened and had the interior design of a space ship and ridiculous prices. Petra had practically begged him to go with her and Levi, being the huge pushover he was around her, hadn’t had the heart to say no. Even if autumn had already been on its way for quite a while and it wasn’t really weather for frozen anything.
They found a table for two by the window. A few shops across the street had already started putting up their Halloween decorations. A hideous pumpkin made of electrical lights glared at him from a shop window. He figured the spider webs on it were most likely real.
“It feels like it’s been forever,” Petra said as she scooped up a spoonful of her yoghurt. “But between work, university and Aurou, things have just been so busy. I feel really bad about it too. Back when you were still in university, we’d hang out practically all the time, remember? I haven’t even spoken to Erd or Günther in months.”
“They both graduated this spring, didn’t they?” Levi asked as he popped a few cashews into his mouth.
“Yeah, they did. I heard Erd got a job a few towns over. Günther’s in New York. God, it’s so weird. It feels like it was only yesterday we were a bunch of insecure teens struggling though high school.”
“Tell me about it,” Levi sighed. “High school was fucking brutal. I’m so glad that’s over.”
“Definitely,” Petra nodded. “Speaking of which, when are you coming back to campus? You’ve only got a couple semesters left, after all.”
“Don’t start, Petra,” Levi warned quietly. “I’ll come back when I have the means to.”
Petra, long since used to Levi’s surly attitude, just shrugged. “There are student loans, you know.”
“I’d rather not pay off some goddamn loan until I’m half past dead for an education that won’t even guarantee that’ll I’ll get a better job than I can manage now.”
“Fair enough.” A pause. “Or you could call-“
“No.”
“I’m just saying-“
“Stop.”
She sighed again. “Fine. I’m just worried about you. You’re such a bright kid. It’d be terrible to waste those brains of yours on a job you hate for the rest of your life.”
“I don’t hate it.”
“That’s not what you usually tell me.”
“Well, I do already have my PhD in complaining.”
“You should make it a career.”
“Definitely.”
Conversation drifted towards happier topics, with Petra chatting about her essays and the weirdos that frequented the pizza joint she worked at. Levi countered with some stories of his own about the guy who always seemed to try to drink his coffee through his nose and his new partner. They’d occupy the best seat in the shop for hours, but Levi never had the heart to kick them out.
“A true softie at heart,” Petra grinned while scooping the last of her mostly melted yoghurt from the bottom of the bowl.
“Don’t tell a soul,” Levi drawled in a bored voice. “I’ve got a rep to uphold.”
By the time they started exchanging their goodbyes outside the shop, the rain had picked up again. Petra, ever the planner, had brought an umbrella with her. The polka dot fabric opened up towards the sky like a blooming flower while Levi felt icy drops of rain running down his back.
“I would have walked you back, you know, but I have like half an hour to get to class. I’m really sorry,” Petra told him, and if he knew her right, she was genuinely wracked by guilt about not being able to walk five blocks with him.
“It’s fine,” Levi assured her. “Little rain never killed anyone.”
By the time he was back at the coffee shop, however, he had thoroughly cursed his way through Petra and at least five generations of her ancestors, along with himself for not bringing an umbrella. His boots were soaked through and he had to keep himself from shivering as he pushed the door to the shop open with his shoulder, hands shoved deeply into the pockets of his hoodie.
The smell off warm coffee, spices and freshly baked pastries hit him like a brick wall the moment he stepped inside. Somewhere during his lunch break, Erwin had lit the fireplace and the crackling of the wood mixed pleasantly with Aerosmith in the already toasty air.
Hanji was sitting cross-legged in one of the leather armchairs by the window, sneakers abandoned on the floor. Her socks had more colours on them than he had thought possible to mix. Levi shoved his hands deeper into his pockets and trudged up to her table.
She was deeply immersed in one of her gigantic textbooks, glasses starting to slide down her nose. If she registered his existence, she didn’t show it.
“Are you a witch?”
Hanji started a little and dragged her eyes from the text in front of her. “That’s not a very nice thing to say, Levi,” she said in a mock hurt tone.
“I never told you my name.”
“You wore a nametag yesterday, stupid. I may wear glasses, but that doesn’t mean I’m blind.”
Levi ignored her insult and focused on not feeling like an idiot for forgetting the fact that he literally wore his name on his apron every single day.
“So, why do you think I possess magical powers? Is it the nose? I know it’s crooked, but traditionally, there should be a couple warts on it too. Oh no, do I have warts on my face? That would suck.”
“You don’t.”
“That’s a relief then. So why?”
Levi sighed. “Every time you come around, the sky opens up like it’s the goddamn Great Flood. It’s annoying as hell.”
“Oh right, you don’t like the rain. No magical powers that I know of,” Hanji told him, snapping her fingers twice. “I’m very meticulous about my ritualistic rain dance every morning though, might be it.” Levi was only half sure she was joking.
He was soon called back behind the counter by a starving Erwin, eager to go on his own lunch break. Besides Hanji, there were only two customers left in in the far corner of the shop, huddled together over their empty cups, endorsed in hushed conversation. They couldn’t be older than fifteen, one green eyed brunette and a wide-eyed blond in a ridiculous bowl cut, whispering and giggling, fingers discreetly sneaking touches of each others hands.
Levi decided he didn’t need to disturb them by taking their empty cups away quite yet. He gave the empty tables a quick wipe, putting the sugar containers back in place and straightening up the napkin holders. Finished with his tasks, he turned to get back behind the counter, but quickly froze on the spot.
“What the hell. Are you doing.”
“It keeps making this noise, it’s driving me insane!”
“It always makes that noise. You can’t be there, get out.”
“Says who? I can’t focus on my studying with this ruckus in the background.”
Levi sighed. “Says the department of Food Safety, mostly. What do you want me to do about it?”
“The machine?” Hanji asked, poking the stainless steel with her index finger. Levi nodded in confirmation. He didn’t like the grin he got back.
“You have a screw driver anywhere?”
-
“It’s a Christmas miracle,” Erwin declared seriously.
Hanji shuffled her feet a bit awkwardly, offering him a goofy smile. “Just a bit of amateur engineering, Mr. Smith. Nothing to get excited about, really.”
“Nothing to get-“ Erwin took a deep breath. “If it wouldn’t put me in definite bankruptcy, I would have smashed that goddamn machine to pieces with a sledgehammer years ago. We should make you the patron saint of this place.”
“I shouldn’t claim all the glory for myself,” Hanji said. “Levi helped.”
He scoffed. “I handed you a screw driver.”
“Which without, I wouldn’t have been able to do a damn thing.”
Erwin watched the exchange quietly, thick eyebrow raised. “You know each other?” he asked then.
Levi shrugged. “Only just met, actually.”
“Friends in progress,” Hanji offered.
“I wouldn’t be too optimistic,” Levi replied, but made sure to scratch the usual cold tone Petra always railed at him about. According to her, it put people off and made him sound ‘like a meanie’. He wasn’t too concerned, himself.
“Let me at least get you a coffee on the house. Pastry too, if you like.” Erwin continued. Hanji’s face lit up. “I’ll take you up on that, if you make it a hot chocolate,” she said.
“Our pleasure. Levi, will you?”
Levi stalked over to the now practically noiseless espresso machine to prepare the milk. Erwin disappeared into the back room and Hanji put her elbows up on the counter to rest her head on her chin.
“Your boss is nice,” she said simply and Levi nodded.
“Whenever he doesn’t play obnoxious music and try to ‘holiday it up’ as he put it, and make antlers a part of the Christmas uniform.”
“I would have loved to see that,” Hanji giggled.
“Stick around ‘til Christmas and you might. Marshmallows?” He asked, holding up a bag.
“Please.” Levi quickly topped the drink with chocolate shavings and put it down on the counter.
“Enjoy.”
“Ta.”
She turned back to her table. Levi couldn’t shake the feeling that he had missed something important.
-
In movies, when someone suddenly whirled into your life and made their best efforts to turn it up side down, they brought new experiences and dreams and hopes with them. Hanji brought weeks and weeks of real shitty weather.
It rained almost every day for two months. Levi was pretty sure his biceps had doubled in size from all the swabbing he’d done on the shop floor.
Hanji had more or less become a constant, sitting with her books or occasionally laptop in her usual seat by the window. She’s order tea or chocolate and sit hour upon hour immersed in her books, writing notes and highlighting and reading, always reading. Levi had to admit that he was fairly impressed by her ability to sink so completely into her studies and entirely tune out the world around her. On more than one occasion, she’d startled so much when he tried to ask her a question she’d knocked her cup of tea down on the floor.
He asked her why she spent so much time in the coffee shop one day. She just shrugged with her usual smile in place. “Noisy roommates, mostly. Besides, I like it here. It’s not commercial like the big chains. It’s cozy.”
Levi had always been good at reading people. He could observe them, maybe talk to them a few times, and then he could pick them apart down to their very atoms. Through high school, teachers consistently told him how he needed to work on his social skills and try harder to get along with classmates in group projects, but he never really saw the point. He already knew them, could read their every intention like an open book. In hindsight, he realized that he might have been freaking them out. He never was one for large groups of friends, anyway.
Hanji, however, was different. She never ceased to surprise him, though not always in a good way. One incident had played out a rainy Wednesday afternoon when he’d come back from his break to find her behind the counter, frantically pumping flavoured syrup into a Styrofoam mug.
“Hanji, what the hell did I tell you about the counter-“ he started, but stopped as she whirled around to face him. A trail of red syrup, (raspberry, he guessed), was slowly making its way from her mouth down her chin. A few drops had already stained her shirt a gross colour that reminded him of cough syrup. “What the fuck.”
Hanji returned to pumping hazelnut syrup into her cup. “Exam tomorrow. I’ve never been much for alcohol, so I’m just planning to drink myself into a diabetic coma instead. If that doesn’t pan out, at least I’ll have enough energy to pull an all-nighter studying. Possibly fuel a small town with electricity. The possibilities are limitless.”
“You’re a freak of nature, Hanji Zoe.”
-
“You should put something more in it. Spice it up a little. Some cayenne, maybe?”
“I expect you to buy all the ones we don’t sell,” Levi said smoothly, stirring the batter with a steady hand. How Hanji had roped herself into making brownies for the shop with him, he would never know.
“Experimental brownies, for the inquisitive soul. It has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”
“I think there’s a reason you’re meant to be a scientist and not a baker,” Levi told her while measuring out the correct amount of vanilla powder and dumping it into the bowl. “And if you say anything about baking and chemistry, I’ll empty this bowl on your head.”
Hanji laughed. “Marshmallows, then? Those are usually in brownies, right?”
“We’re gonna melt those soon. It’ll be like s’mores on top of the whole shebang.”
“Oh, yum. I didn’t know you usually did the baking here, though. It suits you, somehow.”
“Erwin usually does it, he’s really protective about the whole thing too. Like he’s sure I’ll mess everything up if I take over his duties for just one day. Which I’ve never done, by the way. Not that bad at least.”
“Oh, I’m curious now.”
“I’m telling you nothing.”
“That’s just cruel. Let me guess; fires, children crying, cake batter from ceiling to floor?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
They sunk into a comfortable silence after that, Hanji sitting down backwards on a chair to watch Levi work. In the background Radiohead singing about fake plastic trees mingled with the noise of slow traffic outside.
“Hey, Levi?”
“Mhm?”
“Are you busy tonight? I mean it’s okay if you are, it’s just that a few of my friends and I are going to order pizza and watch the worst horror movies we can find and you just seem like the kind of guy who’d enjoy pizza and shitty movies.”
“I am the kind of guy who’d enjoy pizza and shitty movies,” Levi said, pouring the ready batter into an oven pan. “When and where do you want me?”
“You don’t have to make it sound like an innuendo,” Hanji said, but she was smiling. She suddenly rose from her chair so quickly it almost toppled over and strode over to where Levi had placed the used bowl of batter. Grabbing a spoon, she started scooping up the remains of the batter up and putting it in her mouth.
“Wow, this is really good,” she said around a mouthful of brown goo. Levi shot her a disgusted look.
“Stop licking that spoon right now. That’s unhygienic as hell.”
“They tell me that in chem lab too,” Hanji shot back. Levi fought the smile pulling at his lips.
“You’re impossible.”
“Thank you, darling.”
-
Hanji’s home turned to be a spacy two bedroom apartment in the northern parts of town. It was within walking distance from Levi’s own, and so he showed up at eight o’clock sharp, shuffling his boots on the hallway floor. The door swung open before he had even raised his hand to knock and Levi found himself face to face with a short platinum blonde that looked oddly familiar.
“I’m-“
“Levi!” Hanji’s voice called out from somewhere inside the apartment. “Nanaba, let him in, will you?”
“Oh, he’s the one you told us about?” Nanaba asked, turning towards Hanji’s voice. The redhead suddenly appeared in the doorway, grin plastered over her face.
“Yeah, this is Levi. Come in, come in,” she said, moving out of the way to let him inside. Levi kicked off his boots unceremoniously by the door. “We were just about to order the pizza, any preferences?”
“Anything is fine,” Levi assured her, looking around the room he’d just entered. There was a couch that looked at least ten years old, mostly covered by mismatched blankets and odd pillows. A fluffy carpet covered a large portion of the wooden floor and Levi unconsciously dug his socked toes down into it. What stood out the most in the rather Spartan room, however, were the books. There were shelves and shelves of them, and what didn’t fit inside the bookcases had been piled up into makeshift coffee tables and pedestals.
Besides Hanji and Nanaba, there were two more people in the room, both of them sitting on the carpet between the old sofa and the (surprisingly nice) television. Hanji made quick work of grabbing Levi’s arm and dragging him over for introductions.
There was Rene, the business major who volunteered at a military hospital and planned for her graduation in the upcoming spring. There was Dieter, who’d shaved most of his hair off in a fit of creativity and studied to become a Veterinarian. Nanaba, who was Hanji’s roommate, studied fashion and had already landed themselves a job as a stylist for a small, independent company. Hanji, if possible, seemed even more relaxed than usual around these people and when Levi asked he was told that they’d all known each other since middle school.
Pizza arrived in record time and Hanji cheered together with Nanaba as they went to open the door while Rene turned to grab plates from the kitchen.
“We never asked what you did, Levi,” Dieter said, pulling at threads in the carpet. “You worked in a coffee shop, right?”
“Yeah. Full-time, right now. I’m in college on again, off again, pretty much.”
“Oh, right. What’s your major?”
“Still haven’t decided. I changed it twice but I was never happy with it,” Levi replied curtly. Small talk had never been his forte. He was soon saved by the hasty arrival of pizza (pepperoni and cheese) and the chatter quickly picked up with the return of the others and died down again as Hanji pressed the remote to start the movie.
The plot was by far the worst Levi had ever seen, and the special effects and acting most likely wasn’t even intended to be taken serious in the first place. Sarcastic commentary from the people around him made it all worth it. As the movie reached its climax, Hanji and Rene played it up as much as possible, screaming and clinging to each other as they flopped around on the floor, Hanji managing to kick Dieter in the ribs in the process. Nanaba laughed until a small tendril of soda came out of their nose. Levi let himself be pulled into the madness but kept his distance at the same time, content with observing from an arm’s reach away.
Soon enough, the movie was over and the debate over whether or not to start another one ensued. Nanaba and Dieter both had morning classes and Rene had an essay to write and so the idea was quickly dismissed. Levi gathered the plates and empty cartons together and turned to the kitchen. He could hear Rene and Dieter said their goodbyes by the door and almost jumped when a female voice called out softly behind him. “Bye, Levi. It was nice meeting you.”
“Yeah, you too.”
The door shut behind the two of them, leaving only Levi, Hanji and Nanaba (who was busy gathering up soda cans) in the suddenly quiet apartment. “I should be off too,” Levi said quickly, shoving his hands into his jean pockets. “Thanks for having me.”
Hanji fired one of her trademark sparkling smiles. “Our pleasure, really. Oh, where do you live? Is it far? Public transport is pretty much dead at this hour, I’m so sorry!”
Levi shook his head with a small smile of how own. “No worries, I live just a couple streets over. Walking distance.”
“I’ll walk you there, then.”
“You don’t have to. I’m a big boy, I can take care of myself.”
“Says the one who still has burns on his hands from battling a coffeemaker.”
“It’s a fucking espresso robot from hell, don’t downplay it.”
“Whatever you say.”
The air outside was surprisingly chilly and Levi wrapped his green scarf an extra time around his neck. The leather of his jacket had yet to warm up from his body heat and he shrunk into himself, watching his breath turn into swirling white fog.
Hanji elbowed him gently in the side. “Look up.”
It was like someone had emptied a jar of glitter on black paper. The stars were everywhere, shining down on them as the two of them made their way down the street, wrapped up in their own bundles of temporary warmth.
“The only thing that’s keeping us from floating away into all that is our body weights and gravity,” Hanji murmured, voice muffled by her own knitted monstrosity of a scarf. “Sometimes I wouldn’t mind terribly. It’s just so pretty, especially on nights like these,” she continued. “My dad used to tell me that if I tried hard enough, I could build a ladder to the moon. I guess he didn’t mean it in the literal sense, but it’s still a nice thought, being able to sit there and look down on the Earth and forget all your problems for a while.”
Levi stayed silent, still looking at the explosion of light above.
“What about your parents?” Hanji asked, and he felt his spine tense up immediately.
“Next question.”
“Oh, I see.”
They were both quiet for a moment. “I’ll tell you sometime,” Levi said in a way of apology. “Just not now.”
“It’s alright. I won’t ask again.”
Another beat of silence.
“You know, Levi, you should really go back to school if you can. You’re one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, and I’m not exaggerating here. You could do so much better, anything you wanted to do, and not a lot of people can say that. Build your own ladder, or whatever.”
“I might, someday.”
“I’m serious, Levi. Take the chance while you still have it.”
He shot her an angry glare at that. “Don’t push it. If I’ll go back to school, it’ll be when I want to and not because someone tells me to.”
“Fine.” Hanji shrugged. “Push any help you’re offered away instead of accepting it and making something of it. That works too, I guess.”
“We’re almost here,” Levi said surly. “I’ll go by myself from here. Thanks for the movie.” He trudged on. Hanji stopped.
“Right. Bye, then.”
When he glanced over his shoulder a few moments later, she’d already disappeared around the street corner.
-
“You are such an idiot,” Petra exclaimed, slamming her glass of water down on the table. The couple one table over turned to glare at them.
“We weren’t even friends. She’s a customer.”
“A not-friend who’ve you’ve spent practically every day with for months? A not-friend who’s the first one you mention whenever you talk about work?”
“She’s a regular.”
Petra sighed so deeply Levi worried she would empty out her lungs completely. “Levi, you’re one of my best friends and I love you to death, but sometimes you’ve got to let go of your precious pride and see things for what they are. Sometimes you blow the smallest things out of proportion for the most stupid of reasons.”
“I’m not sure if I should be offended.”
“No, what you should be is thinking this through. I don’t think you’ve processed this at all. You don’t even think she’s your friend but you still-“ She paused. “Forget it. You want dessert?”
“I still what?”
“It’s nothing.”
“I still what, Petra?”
She sighed again. “You don’t talk that much about her, but when you do, it sounds like you’d walk across burning coals for her. I think you know, already. Just give it some thought instead of bottling everything up like you always do, preferably before you mess things up even more.”
Levi said nothing.
Petra’s face contorted into a frowning grimace and she turned her attention back to the menu in front of her. Men were, and would always be, incredibly stupid.
-
The rain that had seemed ever-present since Hanji arrived in his life was suddenly cut short. It wasn’t replaced with sunshine, however, but instead looming, dark clouds that made the concrete of the city look even greyer than usual. Compared to that, Levi wouldn’t mind having his feet soaked every time he stepped outside.
She didn’t show up for a week. He did however find out why Nanaba looked familiar when he saw them together with the coffee-sniffer on Tuesday. They gave him a nod and a quick smile in recognition as the two of them left. The door swung shut behind them before he had time to return it.
It drizzled on Thursday. It was strange, hearing the rain outside while someone else (a middle-aged, balding man with a soggy newspaper) sat in her seat. He willed himself to not care.
Every once in a while, when she got to a certain boiling level of frustration with Levi’s antics, Petra would yell and call him emotionally stunted. He wasn’t, of course. Just careful. Distanced. He observed.
Hanji was his polar opposite in that aspect. She was a hands-on kind of person, practically oozing energy from her every pore. She was the kind of person anyone would be drawn to. People walked in circles around Levi.
He did love her.
Once he allowed himself to think it over, it was the only conclusion he could reach. He turned it over in his head, poking and prodding, picking apart and analyzing. Too bad he had to screw it up so badly. Too late now. Nothing to do about it. Or so he told himself as the stranger shifted in her seat, turning a page in his newspaper.
It was Monday, and Levi was on his break. He’d already organized the extra supplies of teas (because stopping to think for to long was dangerous, he’d discovered on his weekend off) and was about to start on the roasts when Erwin stuck his head into the back room.
“Levi? There’s someone here for you.”
Hanji was standing on the wrong side of the counter. Levi sighed and gave her a pointed look.
“I invented a new drink,” she said, putting her hands up in some semblance of defense. “Strawberry syrup, liquid chocolate and a shot of espresso. Maybe some cinnamon on top.”
“Kaldi would roll in his grave,” Levi replied, pulling a face. Hanji smiled quickly, but there was none of her usual boisterous energy behind it. It made his heart hurt, in a way.
“I’m putting this apron on,” she said, picking one up from the counter where she had supposedly put it earlier, slinging it backwards over her shoulders, “like a cape. Because I’m really going to need some superpowers right now. Here we go.”
She took a deep breath. Levi waited.
“I’m sorry for inviting you over that night. No, wait, I’m not. Sorry for being the fucking mess-up I always am and poking my nose in your business. It was stupid and uncalled for. Will you forgive me, please?”
Levi didn’t even have time to open his mouth before she started talking again.
“Oh, and another thing. I figured it was pretty stupid asking you to go get some coffee with me sometime, but I couldn’t come up with anything better. So will you?”
“Forgive you and go get some coffee sometime?”
“Oh, that sounds so stupid. I’m sorry, I’m just-“
“Sure.”
“What?”
“Yes to both. On the condition that you do me the same favour, of course.”
“Really?” The smile, a real one, this time, spread over her face slowly, like she wasn’t sure she’d heard it correctly. “Well then,” she said, quickly composing herself. “I’ll have that hot chocolate of yours, a large, to go. And your number on the mug, if you wouldn’t mind.”
Levi smiled.
“Coming right up.”
The rain picked up outside. He didn’t mind all that much.