Archive of Our Own

The tray on Hange’s hand shook slightly as she knocked on the door with the other. After waiting for a response and receiving none she chose to speak up.

“Hey, Levi. I know you told the others you didn’t want to have dinner and you probably don’t appreciate me insisting outside your room, but I figured you’d be hungry anyway, so I brought some food I managed to snatch from the kitchen when nobody was looking, which wasn’t an easy feat, let me tell you-”

“Stop rambling and come in at once.”

Levi’s muffled and grumpy voice brought relief to a worried Hange who feared she was going to be sent away the moment she opened her mouth. The door creaked as she let herself in and carefully closed it behind her, careful not to drop the contents on top of the tray. Hange adjusted her eye to the poorly lit room and found Levi lying on the bed in a half-sitting position, his remaining good eye staring at the empty nothingness in front of him.

The room wasn’t very spacious, with a small bed, a nightstand and a tiny desk being the only furniture to be found. However, as depressing as it sounded, that was one of the best and most “luxurious” rooms in Fort Salta, where they were currently residing. Most of the civilians and scouts had to share rooms, but everyone agreed that Levi was to have a room for himself due the extent of his injuries. That and the fact that they respected Levi and knew how much he valued his personal space. It was ‘the least they could do for their captain’ according to them.

Hange approached the bed and placed the small rusty tray on the nightstand, making sure it was within grabbing range for Levi. He stared at it but said nothing.

“It’s not much but given the circumstances we have to ration the food. Sadly, there was no tea. Trust me, I looked everywhere, but with no luck,” Hange explained, purposely omitting the part where she found a rat in the kitchen cabinets. That’s not exactly the type of thing you mention when trying to convince a clean freak not to starve and eat something.

Silence continued to fill the room as her feet shuffled awkwardly next to Levi’s bed. Hange was more than used to Levi not uttering a single word for hours, it was expected even. But this silence felt different, it hung heavy, and it was obvious why.

“Well, I assume you want to be left alone. Can’t blame you. Good night, Levi,” she said in a clearly forced cheerful tone in a poor attempt to mask her disappointment.

Hange turned to leave, without expecting an answer from him, when she felt a rough yet delicate hand clutch onto her wrist, effectively stopping her in her tracks.

“Why do you assume that?” His reprimanding voice demanded behind her.

“Maybe because you’ve told me to get lost more times than I can count throughout the years,” she retorted back as she turned to face him once again. His hand remained holding her arm but with less force.

“I didn’t say it this time.”

Something in the way he said that compelled Hange to look him in the eye, to actually face him. There was an unspoken question there. A question that neither of them was brave enough to voice out loud. Nevertheless, they didn’t need words.

They understood each other well enough.

“No, I guess you didn’t.” Before she realized, a subtle smile had escaped from her lips.

Hange felt Levi’s hand drop from her arm, and when her first instinct was to reach out and grab it once more, she chastised herself mentally.

Levi was now using both his hands to try to move his legs to the side underneath the covers, struggling a little bit in the process.

“No, Levi, you don’t have to do that! I can just sit on the floor. I don’t mind!” Her pleas fell on deaf ears.

“Bullshit. Sit.”

Hange knew better than to argue with him. Besides, she would be lying to herself if she said she wouldn’t rather sit next to Levi than on the floor. She wasn’t dumb.

After making sure she wouldn’t be responsible for crushing any more bones on Levi’s body, Hange sat down on the edge of the bed and waited for him to speak.

Terrible decision.

The man became mute once again, barely reacting to his surroundings. She wondered what was the point of making her stay if he didn’t even want to talk to her. Adding that to the never ending list of mysteries that surrounded Levi, Hange decided to break the silence with the best question she could think of at that moment.

“So… How’s everything?”

She regretted it the moment it came out of her mouth.

Levi hit her with a classic combination of eyebrow raise and deadpan stare that every scout could easily translate to: ‘Are you daft or just love to annoy me?’

“Right. Terrible question. My bad,” Hange admitted and stared down at her hands sitting on her lap, embarrassed at the stupidity she had asked the man who could barely move his legs after the worst battle of his and everyone else’s lives. Very smooth. As she looked around the room, what appeared to be a first aid kit under the nightstand caught her attention. She connected the dots immediately and faced him once again. “Have you been changing your bandages yourself?”

“Ah, you noticed.” If Hange didn’t know him any better she would think he sounded almost bashful. “Must have done a pretty shitty job at it then.”

“You are such a drama queen. Let me see,” Hange complained playfully, inching closer to him on the bed before grabbing Levi’s face to inspect his work. He said nothing, but she could feel his eye follow her every movement, which made her feel somewhat self-conscious. “Good technique, just not tight enough.” Her exasperated sigh all but echoed across the room as she let him go and leaned back. “Why didn’t you have me change them?”

“Well, given that I am basically stuck to this bed, and you haven’t visited me since the first night we got here two days ago I can hardly see how this is on me, Commander.” The evident resentment in Levi’s voice made Hange flinch. His words were hurtful, but he was undoubtedly right. She had been inadvertently avoiding him. Her mistake was clear to her now.

“You are right. I’m sorry. I just- I guess I just assumed you didn’t want to be bothered.” She avoided his gaze. That wasn’t the entire truth, but Levi didn’t need to know that.

“Hange, if it weren’t for you there would be nothing left of me to annoy.” His hand found its place atop hers on the bed. “I know I can be a dick sometimes, but you saved my life back home, and it’s not something I take lightly, so give yourself some damn credit and stop spewing nonsense.”

Levi’s weird version of encouragement warmed her heart in unexpected ways, bringing an honest smile to her face. Hange already knew he was grateful for all that she did to save his life. She knew it. However, hearing him actually acknowledge it provoked something deep inside of her she was unable to control. Something dangerous.

Levi’s fingers twitched slightly on top of hers, bringing Hange back to reality and inadvertently reminding her that she hadn’t answered Levi and was just staring at him in silence instead.

“Right. You are right. Then, I’ll wrap your bandages correctly if you don’t mind.”

Hange took his silence as confirmation and once again sat closer to him in order to reach him better. She ignored the pang of sadness that ran through her body when Levi removed his hand so she could move freely and focused on the task at hand.

Her hands hovered in front of his face but stopped before making any contact. “May I?”

That earned her a very annoyed eye roll.

“Hange, I am not a fucking hospital patient. Just do it. You know I trust you, so stop making stupid questions.”

She should have expected an answer like that from him, and yet this was as gentle as he could be.

“You would be a terrible hospital patient,” Hange retorted with clear amusement showing in her voice as she started to carefully unwrap the bandages around his head.

Levi scoffed, but he knew she was right. Those poor nurses wouldn’t stand a chance.

Once the bandages were off, Hange began her examination of Levi’s scars, making sure they were progressing along nicely, or at least as nicely as they could given the circumstances. She was genuinely proud of herself for how neat the stitches had turned out despite the lack of proper tools in the middle of the forest while on the run. Even so, Hange lamented that she hadn’t been able to do a better job with the face of someone as precious to her as Levi.

Her hand moved of her own accord to trace over the stitches that crossed his mouth and lips. Those had been particularly tricky, so they weren’t as smooth as she would have liked them to be, but they were good enough.

Yes, her handiwork was admittedly not the best, but no amount of sloppily made stitches could ruin that annoyingly gorgeous face of his. It was both unnerving and fascinating really.

Her fingers started to wander off without permission, softly tracing parts of his face that didn’t even have a single scratch. She had absolutely no excuse.

“Admiring your work?” Levi asked with a mix of annoyance and curiosity.

“No. The canvas.” Her eyes stayed locked on his face as she shamelessly answered his question without even a hint of sarcasm in her voice. It was the truth after all.

The lack of response or reaction on his part made it seem like he hadn’t heard her or simply didn’t care, but the subtle redness on the tip of his ears suggested otherwise.

Hange chose not to comment on it, but she considered it a win in her book.

Eventually, she broke out of the trance she was in and leaned back to prepare the bandages. Hange had done this multiple times over the past week, so she knew exactly what she had to do. Levi stayed silent as she placed a hand below his chin and tilted his face back to get a better angle. Once again, she could feel his gaze on her. She pretended not to notice but she was internally dying to ask him why. Why was this man who was usually so unfazed by everything suddenly fixated on her whenever she got close? It made no sense to her. It didn’t fit his image. The “weird” side of her had always wanted to pry his brain open to try and understand what went through his head during certain situations. This time was no different.

“Tell me if it’s too tight.”

“I’m not a baby, Hange. I’m not going to fucking break.”

His words were aggressive, but his tone lacked his usual sharpness. There was no actual malice behind them. Not to her.

“Mmmm grumpy, are we?” Hange tried to lighten the mood while working on the final touches.

Surprisingly, that comment got to Levi and she saw the moment his shoulders dropped in defeat as he let out a tired sigh.

“I’m sorry.”

It wasn’t often that Levi said those words to her, or to anyone for that matter, so she chose to sit back and give him her full attention.

“You are only trying to help and I am acting like a jerk,” he continued without looking in her direction. “It’s just… I’m not…”

It was evident he was struggling to express what he was feeling, and after everything he had gone through, she didn’t blame him one bit. If anything, she admired his limitless resilience and determination even after all the crap he had had to face throughout his life.

“You don’t have to explain, Levi. I get it.”

His expression visibly softened at her words. Hange expected the conversation to end there but Levi surprised her with one last retort. This time, he was looking directly at her.

“Sometimes it feels like you are the only one who does.”

Hange wasn’t prepared for the impact those simple words had on her. Levi kept staring at her, as if waiting for her to understand a secret code, a secret message that couldn’t be said out loud but still hoped would reach her.

It did not.

Before she could keep dwelling on whatever his comment meant, she noticed that several strands of his hair were sticking out in strange ways due to the bandages. She knew how much Levi cared about his image and tidiness, so that just wouldn’t do.

As she leaned forward to try and fix it, she ended up almost nose to nose with Levi, who had apparently also leaned towards her. It was unclear to her what his motivation for said action was, so she just stayed frozen in place.

“Hi,” she said like nothing was wrong.

“What are you doing?”

It felt like he was testing her, but Hange was too tired to think if there was a better answer, so she just told the truth.

“I’m trying to fix your hair.”

Based off the disappointment in his eyes, Hange could tell that it wasn’t what he wanted to hear.

“You are quite dense for someone so smart.”

Yeah, definitely failed the test.

“Go on. Fix it,” Levi ordered dejectedly, leaning back against the headrest once again.

Hange didn’t know if she should feel offended that he called her dense or grateful because he considered her smart, but she undoubtedly preferred the latter, so she stuck with that one. Purposely avoiding looking at Levi’s face, she ran her fingers through his hair until she felt satisfied with her work. Naturally, she should have removed her hands and stepped away, but something prevented her from doing so.

No. Not something.

It was just her.

She didn’t want to let go of him. She wanted to stay there with him all night, to play with his hair, to caress his scars, or simply to look at him. To look at the man who had been through hell and back with her, just to make sure he was still alive and not just a figment of her imagination. Alas, that could not happen.

She had no right to do any of those things.

She had no ties to him that allowed her to do those things.

She had nothing.

Hange removed her hands and stepped back. It was time to let go of these unnecessary feelings that plagued her.

“All done. Handsome as ever,” she put on a smile and stood up to put the first aid kit back on the table. “I’ll let you sleep now. Call for me in the morning if you need me to reapply the-”

She was not given the chance to finish her sentence before she felt a hand grab her arm in a soft yet determined hold, effectively keeping her in place. Hange turned around to face the owner of said hand. He was the only other person in the room, but confirming it was him shocked her all the same. It was the second time he did this in one night and she feared he had gone crazy.

Levi was staring at her intensely and the feeling that he was trying to communicate something else reached her again, but she still couldn't figure out what it was. Or perhaps she didn’t dare to find out.

“I don’t want to call for you in the morning.”

“I’ll just come by in the afternoon, then. No problem.”

“No. I don’t want to have to call for you,” he insisted, slowly growing more frustrated.

“Oh…” Hange tried to disguise her disappointment but failed in the process. “Then I will send someone else to fix your bandages. I am sorry if-”

“For fuck’s sake, Hange. I want you to stay, dammit!”

Silence hung heavily in the room. The feeling of Levi’s hand on her arm was the only thing that kept her grounded as she absorbed the meaning of his words.

“To stay? As in… the whole night?” Hange felt like an idiot for asking that, but when it came to him she needed to make sure.

“Don’t make me repeat myself. You know what I meant,” Levi tried to sound tough, but it was obvious it resulted from embarrassment. She found it utterly endearing.

“We thought you wanted to be alone. That’s why we gave you this room.”

“Wrong. You assumed I wanted to be alone. You never asked me. Now, are you staying or not?”

The grip on her arm suddenly became tighter, revealing his silent plea. Hange would be lying if she said she wasn’t slightly overwhelmed by the whole situation. This was not at all the type of visit she had in mind when she chose to bring him dinner to his room.

That didn’t mean she regretted it in the slightest.

“I’m staying.”

He let go of her arm.

The tension seemed to have left his body as a wave of relief washed over his features. A hint of a smile graced his face for a split second before it was replaced by his usual stoic expression.

“Good. Take off those disgusting boots and get in,” he ordered matter-of-factly like this was part of a routine they followed every day. Levi then proceeded to try and move his body on the bed as close to the wall as possible, clearly struggling in the process due to his injuries.

“Wait! Levi, you can’t possibly expect the two of us to fit on that bed. I can just stay on the floor. I don’t mind,” Hange offered, starting to panic.

Levi seemed to not hear her as he continued to prepare himself for bed.

“What about your injuries? This could make them worse,” she tried again.

No response.

“I am quite big. You won’t be comfortable.”

“Hange.”

One word. Her name. That was all it took to shut her up and realize that there was no room for argument in his mind. She accepted her fate and began to take off her boots, leaving her in only her shirt and pants. They hadn’t exactly packed sleepwear to stop the rumbling, so they had to make do with what they had. She let her hair loose and took off her glasses. She debated whether to take the eye patch off or not. She kept it on.

“Should I blow out the candle?”

“As you wish.”

Hange turned around to look at Levi. He was already lying on his back, staring at the ceiling, and patiently waiting for her to join him. He had even lifted the covers on her side so she could get in easily.

She most definitely needed as much darkness as possible or she would not survive the night.

Hange blew out the candle.

Between her missing eye, her bad eyesight, and the only source of light being the moonlight that seeped in through the window, Hange could barely see two steps ahead of her. Luckily, the bed was close to where she was standing, so she quickly found the edge of the mattress. Levi made no sound as she climbed into the bed next to him.

Just as she had feared, the bed was too small for the two of them.

One side of her body was basically hanging over the edge, while the other was pressed against Levi’s body. She decided then and there she would rather risk falling off the bed than get closer to him.

“Well, good night, Levi!”

Her attempt at sounding like a normal human being was pitiful to say the least. Levi did not reply in any way, so she chose to sleep on her side, facing away from him in order to maintain her sanity. Her head was mostly resting on the mattress rather than the pillow, but it was the least of her worries.

She tried to sleep, she really did, but it just wasn’t in the cards for her that night. The minutes passed as the racing thoughts in her head slowly drove her crazy.

How did she end up in this situation?

Levi asking her to spend the night in his bed was not something that just happened. It was never even a possibility in her mind. And yet, here she was.

Hange could barely see anything, but that only made her even more aware of her surroundings. She could just feel Levi’s presence behind her, even if they weren’t touching, which made her all the more tense.

Under normal circumstances, she was pretty good at telling the time without any help, but these were not normal circumstances. It could have been half an hour, or it could have been less than ten minutes since they went to bed. She seriously would not have been able to tell.

“Hange.”

Every cell of her body was immediately on edge. She thought he had long since fallen asleep. It turned out she was wrong.

“Hange, turn around,” Levi requested.

She was not expecting to have to converse with Levi in this state. Trying not to react, she stayed silent, hoping he would believe she was asleep.

“I know you are awake, idiot. I can’t feel half my body, so don’t make me turn you around myself,” he threatened.

Yeah, she couldn’t fight against that.

Hange slowly turned around until they were both facing each other. At some point, he had also moved his body slightly to the side so he wasn’t lying on his back anymore. Bodies impossibly close but never quite touching stood quiet under the covers. Hange couldn’t fully make out his features even with their proximity, which scared her even more. Yes, they both had a missing eye, but at least the one he had left actually worked, unlike hers.

To her surprise, Levi said absolutely nothing. Since she was forced to turn around, she expected it was because he wanted to tell her something. However, it seemed he was in no hurry to speak up. Instead, he just stared at her in complete silence.

After a while, he decided to cut the tension.

“You can’t see jack shit, can you?”

That’s not the question she had been expecting, but it didn’t surprise her that he had noticed. She probably looked like an imbecile trying to focus her one eye in the darkness.

“Not really, no,” she admitted. “It’s not exactly comfortable sleeping with glasses.”

“What about the eye patch? Do you usually take it off?”

“Yeah, I do.”

Levi raised his hand, and Hange didn’t understand what he was doing until she felt him touch the strap of her eye patch on the back of her head.

“Wha- Wait! What are you doing?”

Levi stopped but didn’t remove his hand.

“Obviously taking it off. You said it’s uncomfortable.”

“Well, yeah, but it’s not exactly pretty,” Hange surprised even herself with that comment. Since when did she concern herself with ‘pretty’? A damaged eye wasn’t exactly fun, but it wasn’t something that usually bothered her. She had just accepted it as a consequence of her line of work.

Hange didn’t need to see him to know that he was most definitely rolling his eyes.

“Are you shitting me? Nothing about us is pretty, Hange. Besides, it’s fucking dark in here and I can’t see much more than you. So?”

She recognized that as his way of asking for permission. She nodded and slightly lifted her head so he could take it off smoothly. After making sure it wasn’t tangled in her hair, he threw the eye patch, which landed somewhere in the room.

What she was not expecting was for Levi’s hand to go back to her head and start running his fingers through her hair. Since it was the hand that was missing two of his fingers, his movements were a bit awkward, but he didn’t let that deter him.

“I- It’s not exactly clean.”

“Is it ever?”

“Hey!” Hange knew he was right, but she still found it offensive. She tried to pull away from him but forgot that there was nowhere to go. Levi quickly grabbed her by the back of her head and pulled her back in. Their faces were even closer than before.

She had done this to herself.

“Stay still, dumbass. You are gonna fall off the bed,” he reprimanded her.

Hange stayed silent as Levi casually resumed his newfound appreciation of her hair. It felt absolutely heavenly. She could not deny it. But at the same time, it was one of the most bizarre things that had ever happened to her, which already said a lot.

As she looked at the man in front of her, she realized she had absolutely no idea what he was thinking. After so many years working together, Hange considered that she had become pretty good at reading him. This night proved her wrong.

Captain Levi remained a mystery in her mind.

“I would have loved to,” he suddenly whispered as he brushed a strand of hair away from her face.

Hange looked at him in confusion, not really understanding what he was getting at.

“Loved to what?”

Levi hesitated for a brief second before speaking up again.

“I would have loved to stay in that forest and live together with you.” His tone was serious, not a hint of his usual sarcasm present in his declaration.

It took her a couple of seconds to register what he was referring to, and then it hit her: the conversation they had had back home after escaping from Floch and the Yeagerists.

“Ah… I told you. I was just talking to myself. It didn’t mean anything,” Hange tried to dismiss it with a smile.

He did not find it funny.

“It meant something to me.”

His hand stopped playing with her hair and instead chose to softly cup her cheek, thumb brushing against her skin in soothing motions. Without realizing, she had closed her eyes, savoring the feeling that his touch brought to her body.

“Levi… I would have never assumed that was something you could possibly want,” she replied honestly, opening her eyes once more. Apparently, that seemed to have struck a nerve in him.

“I’m getting tired of your shitty assumptions. You have no idea what I want.”

“Well, if you actually told us what you want, we wouldn’t have to make assumptions,” Hange fought back, starting to get riled up.

“If you actually asked me what I want, I would tell you.” Levi was growing impatient, but his touch remained gentle.

“Oh, really, now? Then what do you want, Levi? What does your heart desire, huh?” she asked mockingly.

“You! Hange, I want you! I want you to stop being so fucking dense and actually pay attention to what I say,” Levi pleaded.

Hange wasn’t sure if this was a dream, a nightmare, or a weird mixture of both. She wasn’t good with this type of things, with… human relations and romance and whatnot. Instead, she chose to focus on something she was much better at: arguing.

“Me? You want me but you insult me every chance you get?”

“Huh? That doesn’t mean shit. I insult everyone.”

“Exactly. So how could I possibly guess that you want me if you treat me just like everyone else?” Hange refused to back down, if only to avoid facing her true feelings.

“You’ve gotta be shitting me. You really don’t know when to shut your mouth, do you?”

“See? This is exactly why-”

Levi didn’t let her finish before he grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her towards him, crashing their lips together in one swift motion.

He definitely knew how to shut her up.

Hange stayed motionless as she recovered from the initial shock of having Captain Levi kiss her as they lay in bed together. Levi’s lips pressed softly against hers, not daring to go any further. She could feel the stitches that ran across his mouth, bringing her back to reality out of fear he could get hurt even more. However, the kiss was over as quickly as it began.

Levi pulled back to look at her but refused to let go of her completely as his hand remained tangled in her hair.

“Do you believe I want you now?” Levi asked expectantly.

Hange realized she was being witness to a whole new side of Levi that she didn’t even know existed. She found it both terrifying and adorable.

It would be a lie to say she had never thought of Levi in a romantic light. She had. And multiple times at that. Be that as it may, she had never let herself entertain the idea for long due to several reasons. The main one? He was not interested in her in the slightest.

Hange had never been so happy to be proven wrong.

A choice stood in front of her. She could answer his question honestly, or she could tease him a little bit more. The answer was obvious.

“I’m not really sure,” Hange feigned innocence.

“Not sure?!” Levi pulled his hand back, and she was shocked to find that she instantly missed it. Her plan had backfired. “Are you fuc-”

It was her turn to shut him up.

Hange used both her hands to gently grab his face and bring him forward, lips meeting with determination, but always making sure not to hurt him. This time, she wasn’t hesitating.

It didn’t take long for Levi to react, swiftly taking charge of the situation. One hand snuck its way up her nape while the other traveled down under the covers, settling on her hip and pushing her towards him. They were a mess of limbs and uncomfortable positions, but neither of them were willing to give a damn. They were exactly where they wanted to be.

Levi deepened the kiss, tongues clashing and exploring in a languid yet passionate exchange. Hange could not remember the last time she had been kissed, but she was certain kissing had never felt this good before. Her body was suddenly hyper-aware of every part of her that was in contact with him. His fingers accidentally brushing against the bare skin on her hip. His injured hand lazily scratching her scalp with no regards as to how tangled her hair would get. His breath against her cheek as he reached for air before diving in for more.

Everything was intoxicating, in the best way possible.

Hange was transported to the day she met Levi and watched him use his ODM gear for the first time. She could never forget the thrills that ran through her body at the sight of such graceful yet sharp movements. With the exception of titans, she thought she would never experience something so riveting as that moment ever again.

Until tonight.

The excitement with which she accepted Levi’s every move scared her. She was a grown and very deadly woman who commanded the scout regiment, but in his embrace she felt like an inexperienced school girl with a silly crush.

She really had it bad for him, and she had never even realized.

Levi gave her one last sweet peck before pulling away. Their foreheads remained pressed together while they tried to catch their breaths. Neither one of them said anything for a while, preferring to bask in each other’s presence. Levi drew circles with his thumb on the skin right above her waistline, and she played with the tip of his right ear, which she had always found to be very cute since it was somewhat pointier than his left one.

“Don’t leave.”

His whispered plea echoed in the darkness, his gaze avoiding hers. At first, Hange thought he was talking about not leaving the room, and then it dawned on her. She cupped his cheek and lifted his face to make sure he was looking at her before speaking.

“I’m not going anywhere, Levi,” she reassured him.

“You know how many times I’ve heard that shitty phrase before? Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” he scoffed at her.

Hange didn’t know all the details, but she knew he had been hurt before. He had been betrayed. He had been abandoned.

The last thing she wanted to do was to add to the list of injustices he had suffered throughout his life, but at the same time, they had to be realistic. Tomorrow was never promised. Not to them.

Hange grabbed his hand and positioned it right above her heart. She then proceeded to place hers on the same spot on his chest.

“Listen, Levi. Life as we know it… it’s gone. Nothing will ever be the same again. There’s much to do, much to fix and…” Hange paused as her eyes briefly darted to Levi’s legs. “…Much to heal. Our future is uncertain, but we are here. Right now, we are here. A bit broken and bruised perhaps, yet our hearts keep beating. I can’t promise nothing will happen to me, to us, but I can promise you we are going to face this future together. You don’t have to do this alone. If you want me to, I’ll be there.”

Her cheeks were burning up from the embarrassing words she had just spat out, but Levi’s heartbeat under her palm comforted her.

“I’ve never heard such corny words come out of a commander’s mouth.”

Hange thought of all the different ways she could kill him right then and there with her bare hands.

This was war.

“Alright, that’s it.”

She sat up on the bed and was about to get up when she felt a pair of arms hug her torso from behind. Levi pressed his forehead against her back and left a kiss there before speaking.

“I’m sorry. I know I’m an arse, but don’t go, please.”

Gotcha.

Hange never thought she would see the day Captain Levi begged her not to go like a little kid, but she was oh so glad she did. That didn’t mean she would let him get away with his comment so easily. She stayed silent, waiting to see how he would react.

“What you said… I want that. I want you to be there. It’s just…” Levi trailed off and Hange thought he would stop there, but he suddenly hugged her tighter and continued. “Look at me, Hange. I can’t even fucking walk. I can’t do shit for anyone in this pathetic state. I can’t do anything for you. So, it’s selfish of me to ask you to stay with me. Hell, it’s selfish to even want you to stay. But I can’t help it, I’ve become weak. I have nothing else.”

If Hange felt a couple of tears on the back of her shirt, she decided not to comment on them. His pride had taken enough hits already.

She determined it was time to end his punishment. In one quick motion, she had spun around and hugged him tightly. Her chin rested atop his head while his face found its place in the crook of her neck.

“You are not weak, Levi. You’ve never been weak a day in your life. No one has earned the right to be selfish more than you. You deserve to have wants, to have needs. If I stay it’s because I choose to stay. Besides, when have you ever succeeded in forcing me to do anything?”

That got a chuckle out of him. It warmed her heart in a way she hadn’t foreseen.

“You are right. You should really shower more often, though.”

At the end of the day, Levi was still Levi.

“Let’s not go there right now, shall we?” Hange dismissed his comment quickly, which he found oddly endearing.

Levi let her go and pulled back from the hug, both facing each other as they sat on the bed.

“Thank you, Hange. Truly. I am only alive because you fought to keep my sorry ass alive. I already said it, but I don’t take it lightly. You are… very important to me, even if I do a shoddy job at showing it.”

She could feel his sincerity in every word. It wasn’t easy for him, and she knew that.

“You don’t need to thank me. I would gladly do it all over again if it meant you lived, Levi,” she hoped he could feel the truth in her words. Then, she grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him towards her until their noses touched. “But if you ever call me corny again I will cut off two more of your fingers myself. Is it clear?”

Levi looked up and down at the only woman who could have him by the neck and threaten him so casually. Her hair was a complete mess, her lips were swollen, her clothes were filthy and in disarray, and to top it all, she most definitely did not smell good.

He had never been more attracted to anyone in his entire life.

“Yes, Commander,” Levi answered with a shit-eating grin.

“Good boy.”

Hange closed the distance between them and made sure to remind him she was still his superior. This time, the kiss was more aggressive, not so sweet in nature. He grunted as she went in deeper, not expecting her to go that far so fast. Hearing Levi make that sound only provoked her to keep going. She was dying to find out what other sounds he could make.

Hange suddenly stopped and let go of his shirt, making Levi think that she was finally satisfied. He realized he was wrong the moment he felt her lips on his neck. She began to leave a trail of sloppy kisses on his skin like it was the most normal thing for her to do.

Levi learned that night that Hange could kill him just as easily as she could revive him.

“Hange?”

Hearing her name fall from his lips so miserably filled her with delight.

“Hmm?” she feigned innocence and continued with her duty.

“You are playing with fire there, darling.”

Darling.

Hange knew a couple hundred girls back in Paradis who would kill to be called that by Captain Levi.

Too bad for them.

She kept going until she reached the spot behind his ear, giving him one last kiss to finish her trail.

“Fire is my specialty… darling,” she whispered in his ear before stepping away from him altogether.

Hange pretended not to notice the tip of his ears turning red and the dumbfounded look on his face as she casually attempted to brush her hair with her fingers. She had him right where she wanted him.

“Go on. Lie down. I haven’t slept a wink because of you and now I am tired,” she ordered him like they hadn’t made out just two minutes prior.

Levi smiled.

It was his most sincere smile in literal years.

Their lives were an absolute shitshow right now, but Hange gave him hope that at least one good thing could come out of this whole tragedy and bloodshed.

“Aye, aye,” he replied cheekily.

Levi did as he was told and resumed his position under the covers, expecting Hange to do the same. She did not. Instead, she silently opened his arms and snuggled up to him like it was second nature. He made no comment about it and just held her in the most comfortable way they could manage in that miniscule bed. She was not going to fall off the edge on his watch, that was for sure.

“Hey, you didn’t even touch the food I brought you,” Hange pointed out after remembering what her original mission was in coming here.

Levi chuckled and kissed the crown of her head.

“Trust me. I am plenty satisfied.”

Hange rolled her eyes but smiled all the same. She would force him to eat in the morning one way or another.

“Good night, Levi.”

“Good night, Hange.”

Hange never returned to her shared room with the other girls after that night. Annie and Pieck never asked what happened, but they did not complain either.