Just to check

Levihan 6

•

•

  Hanji descended the stairs, carefully, as her left arm being in a sling left no rails for her to grasp onto. Isabel and Farlan were still on the couch, asleep, by the look of it. Mikasa had scooped a couple bowls of stew out, setting them upon the table. "Want some then?" she asked when she saw Hanji, holding up another bowl.

  Hanji nodded, "Yes please." she sat at the table and smiled warmly at the younger girl when the bowl of steaming stew was placed before her. "Thank you." she said.

  Mikasa nodded, "Of course." she turned on her heel to head down the hall. Hanji heard her speak faintly, and then she returned with Armin in tow.

  "Thanks, Mikasa." Armin said as he sat down across from Hanji.

  Mikasa sat down herself, and started eating as well. "So, Hanji..." she began, stirring her food absentmindedly.

  "Hmm?" Hanji hummed through a mouthful of stew.

  "How is it that you came to join them?" she asked, eyes alight with blatant curiosity. Of course she would be curious, as the girl had said herself, her siblings had never brought someone home with them. Not that Hanji minded in the slightest.

  She placed her spoon down and finished her current bite, clearing her throat before speaking. "Well, in honesty the story paints me out to be a klutz." she chuckled. "My horse got spooked, and I hit my head, got knocked off of him and broke my arm-" she lifted her splint to demonstrate her words. "-I probably shouldn't have walked about with head trauma, but I did anyway. And when I finally fell asleep, they found me with fever. Might not have woken if they didn't." she grimaced at that.

  "Really?" Armin had leant closer, chin propped upon his fist.

  "Yeah. But long story short: Isabel is responsible for my staying, she insisted I do until my arm heals." Hanji  chuckled, "And probably a while after that too, I don't really have anywhere to go and it will be snow-season before I can travel." she explained.

  Mikasa nodded, "Well I assumed something along those lines. Isabel has a penchant for saving injured creatures - not that I mean to say you are a creature." she chuckled, and then smiled in fondness, glancing over at her sleeping sister.

  "That sounds like her, from what I've come to know about Isabel so far, that is." Hanji turned in her seat to look at the redhead, likely drooling on Farlan from how her cheek was pressed up against the dozing man's chest.

  "Once-" Mikasa began, "-when we were younger - I was barely even six years of age - she saved a songbird with a broken wing, Farlan helped her with it. I think the bird stayed with us even after we left the orphanage." she pursed her lips thoughtfully, "Or maybe that was the pigeon?"

  "He died a while back." Armin corrected, "It was a pretty bird, that much I can remember." he shrugged. "We did rescue a dog once but the Matron turned him loose cause she didn't want us having him."

  "Yeah, I was very sad about that, but Isabel was even more distraught." she sighed, "Oh! We do have a cat she rescued last year. She stays in the barn most days, keeps the mice and rats out of the grain, and the house." Mikasa said, "I'll show her to you tomorrow, she's not the friendliest but she likes Levi." she sniggered.

  Hanji hummed with a smile, "And, let me guess, he doesn't like her?" she mused.

  Mikasa mulled it over, "I think he does, actually. Caught him petting her a few times." she shrugged.

Hanji nodded, looking over her shoulder once more, "Have they eaten yet?" she asked, gesturing to Farlan and Isabel.

  Mikasa waved a hand dismissively, "Nah. They'll sleep all night and then pester me for an early breakfast in the morning. It's like a homecoming ritual or something, they do it every time they get back." she chuckled.

  Hanji raised a brow, giving her own slight chuckle and shaking her head. "Do you think it's on purpose?"

  Mikasa shrugged, "Who can tell? Personally I don't think so."

  Hanji hummed in amusement, turning back to her food. Despite the mouth-watering stew before her, she was more than eager to join her companions in sleep. And that's what she did, after devouring her food of course, and thanking Mikasa for making it. She headed up to her newly assigned room and tugged the bed covers back. Dropping her pants without much care, and any other piece of clothing she deemed unworthy to join her in sleep.

  She sighed contently after tucking the blanket under her chin, a slight smile painted onto her lips as she drifted off.

•

•

  She was awoken abruptly by a towel to the face, and she snorted in a most un-ladylike fashion as she lifted her head in confusion. She blinked, vision blurry from sleep, and she was momentarily confused until she remembered where she was. Rubbing her bleary eyes, she glanced up at her attacker and her stomach swooped momentarily. He had obviously just finished with a bath, but was it really necessary for him to walk in here all shirtless and hair dripping like that? It was as if he was trying to make her want him.

  But if that was the case, it was working. That she couldn't deny. Despite having seen him shirtless before, her eyes still decided to rake appreciatively over his body yet again. She glanced up at his face and sat up, rubbing the opposite eye as she waited for an explanation for her rude (yet not entirely unpleasant) awakening.

  "I did forewarn you about that bath." he said in response to her expectant face, gesturing to the towel.

  She paused in recollection, and then groaned and flopped back onto the pillow, "Can't it wait an hour? The sun isn't even up." she complained.

  "I'll hoist you over my shoulder again." he threatened.

  She scoffed and chuckled, shamelessly swinging her bare legs out from under the blanket and standing with an exaggerated stretch. Only wearing her night shirt and linens, which were likely soiled. "Alright, alright." she sighed, picking up the towel and holding out her good hand, "I'm too tired for the stairs though, I might trip and break my other arm, so you might as well hoist me up anyway."

  He gave a nod and scooped her up, the next thing she knew he had her draped over his shoulder. She bit her lip and tried to focus on counting the floorboards rather than his arm flexing beneath her abdomen.

  The descent down the stairs was a bit irksome, as her arm was jostled with each step. She grunted and hissed as he put her down, and she cradled her arm with soft coos of pain. "Be gentler next time." she murmured, patting her splinted arm.

  He raised a brow, gesturing for her to follow.

  She glanced at the couch, noting that Isabel and Farlan were still asleep, but beginning to stir. And she tugged her night shirt down when she remembered she hadn't thought to bring clothes. He opened the third door on the left side of the hall, across from Mikasa and Armin's and beside his. Inside there was a well-sized iron tub, definitely big enough for two people. There was a pump on one end, and a ledge on the other to sit on.

  She took her turn to raise a brow at him, obviously they had spent a pretty penny on a tub that big and that well made. It definitely wasn't as luxurious as the tub she had had back home. Not made of marble and shining tile, or anything of the like, but still luxurious nonetheless. He really was just insane about cleanliness wasn't he?

  'We've most certainly already established that...' she thought to herself.

  "Go on then." he gestured to the pre-pumped water in the tub.

  "I'm still on my bleed, you know." she murmured, glancing self-consciously to the side.

  "So?"

  She turned to him with a scowl, begrudgingly reaching under her shirt to unwrap her linen. Granted she was on her last day or so, but still...

  He shifted his weight onto one foot and waited - surprisingly patiently - while she fumbled around and finally dropped the crumpled linen in a heap on the floor. At which point he offered his services in undressing her further and tugged her shirt over her head. She gingerly tucked her splinted arm back under her breast, and used her free hand to self-consciously cover herself despite how unnecessary it may have been.

  She had to brace her arm against the side of the tub to step into the surprisingly warm water. She sank to her knees in it, clutching the rim of the tub to her chest and propping her arm up upon it as she awaited washing. As if on cue, a cup of water was dunked over her head, leaving her sputtering and wiping her eyes. "Bit of warning?" she  glanced over at him with a frown.

  He looked her in the eye as he slowly scooped up another cup of water...and then poured it over her head.

  She coughed and sputtered, groaning as she rested her chin against her good arm, "Should have seen that coming." she mumbled.

  "Turn around so I can wash your hair." he instructed.

  "Right." she exhaled, spinning in place and reaching her bad arm back tentatively to prop it back up on the tub wall.

  God, he was good!

  She leant back into his touch, a light hum rumbling in her throat at the delightful sensation of rough fingers against her itchy scalp.

  "Don't make that noise." he said.

  She opened her eyes and smirked, "What noise?"

  "Hanji."

  She gave a ridiculously obscene, exaggerated moan and leaned back more aggressively into his touch. Sloshing water over the edge and chuckling as he yanked his hands back with a scowl. She turned over in the tub and cackled at his expression. His scowl only deepened, and that in itself cause her to laugh harder, pressing her forehead against the tub so she could calm down and catch a breath.

  "Enjoying yourself?" he sighed.

  "Mhmm-mm." she giggled, sitting up again and turning around expectantly. Silence ensued, and she peered over her shoulder to meet his gaze, "Well?" she prodded.

  His frown deepened.

  She chuckled, "I promise I won't make noises, I just wanted to see your face."

  "Of course, I'm sure it was hilarious." he conceded, burying his fingers back into her frothy hair. He rolled them in soothing circles against her scalp, short fingernails scraping lightly.

  She bit her appreciative sigh back.

•

•

  While he still had his doubts about this girl, she was starting to get to him. And he didn't like that. He didn't like that at all. And he especially didn't like how his body reacted to her during that bath. It was shocking, honestly, that the soft sigh she emitted could actually be arousing. It was why he asked her to stop, but then she had to go and make it worse...

  He'd had to pull away so he could calm down.

  Watching her now, on a walk down by the lake with his sisters, he gave a sigh and dragged a hand across his face. While she was still familiar, and while she had told a few fibs during their travels, he had resolved to put it on the back burner for now. Farlan was right about her meaning no harm, he knew that, he just wanted to be sure of it before he trusted her.

  Granted, he didn't trust her even now, not completely. Not until she told the truth. But he was finally willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. For reasons he neither wanted to explore or admit.

  "You like her, don't you?"

  Levi turned from the window and raised a brow at Armin, who had taken the seat across from him and begun sketching in his notebook. "What?" he asked, voice laced with incredulity.

  Armin smiled, looking up from his paper, "You have the same look in your eye that Eren does when he looks at Mikasa." he explained.

  Levi scoffed, then blinked, "Are you saying Eren and Mikasa are-"

  "Yeah, no use denying it. But don't go beating him up like I know you want to." Armin chuckled, "Mikasa would kill you, for one, and Eren's already terrified of you. No need to cement it."

  Levi scowled, "Stupid little shit." he murmured.

  "Also, you changed the subject." Armin looked up at him with a knowing smile, "You really do like her, don't you?"

  Levi stared at him for a moment, and then turned his gaze back towards the window, watching the girl in question struggle with a basket of wildflowers. While she was clumsy and often dirty, she had a deep, simple beauty about her, both in personality and appearance. It would - unfortunately for him - be a lie to say he didn't like her.

  "She's pretty." he conceded, "But I've barely known her a month." he glanced back at the blonde for his response.

  Armin shrugged, "That's still a decent amount of time to decide whether or not you're attracted to her." he went back to his drawing, "Besides, I didn't say you love her or anything, I only said you like her. There's a big difference."

  Levi looked back outside, nodding slightly, "Perhaps you're right." he murmured.

  Mikasa was thrusting that damn cat into Hanji's face, and he could practically hear the girl's coo as she scratched under the black cat's chin. He scoffed quietly, glancing at the abandoned book in his hand, only to look back outside. There was no shame in watching her for a while, after all.

  Despite her broken arm (and the exception of early mornings), she moved about with a foreign grace that sometimes bewildered him. Considering how clumsy she could be at times, that is. Her posture was always so prim, her poise elegant, it was fascinating to observe. But it also caused one to wonder, as he and his companions had to learn decorum through trial and error. She behaved as though she were born with it in her blood.

  It really did make him wonder...

•

•

  Hanji had been at the cabin for nearly a week by now. It was such a simple, decent life, at least from what she had experienced so far, to live out in the mountains and by the lakes like this. She found she spent most afternoons sitting out in the surrounding meadows, wildflowers around her and the wind blowing the fresh scent of water up from the lake. It was most refreshing.

  She had also removed her sling, and Isabel had said she would take her into town to see the doctor there about her arm. Mikasa had taken well to her, and followed her around like a puppy, wide-eyed and curious. She had also surprised Isabel by apparently learning to read with Armin whilst they had been away. So Isabel was her only real student in that regard.

  While Hanji was patient over the matter, Isabel was easily irritated and frustrated, and their little sessions only lasted less than an hour. She was learning, granted, but it was a slow process. Not that Hanji would ever mind spending time around Isabel, nor how long she might be staying with them before the redhead finally caught on.

  She didn't spend much time around Levi, at least, that had been the pattern of the past few days she had been there. Except when he bathed her, and as of late, that would always be a strangely silent, somber affair until they started the insults towards the end the event. She'd never admit it, of course, but she often looked forward to the baths. Maybe because of his calloused hands running over her spine and shoulders, caressing her scalp. Maybe it was because she enjoyed toying with him: their tense, aggressive banter that always left her incredibly cross with him. Why she would enjoy it? She had no idea...she didn't like being cross.

  Maybe it was just talking to him that she enjoyed? Just being near him?

  She shook her head as she climbed into bed, tugging the blankets over her shoulder and nuzzling her nose against the pillow. Her attempts to bury what she was starting to feel every time she looked at him were proving to be in vain. And she was begrudgingly considering accepting the fact that she was hopelessly attracted to and possibly, maybe...just maybe, growing to like him.

  She fell asleep soon after that thought.

•

•

  Only to be awakened by someone sitting on her. She sat up with a yelp, throwing said person off of her and scaring the living daylights out of the both of them. Whoever it was...she didn't recognize their voice when they too gave a yelp and landed in a heap on the floor. It was a boy, that much she could garner from his voice. "Who are you?" she tugged the blankets up to her chest.

  It was dark, as the candle hadn't been lit, and she could only see his silhouette on the floor, highlighted by the moon streaming in through the curtains. "Huh? I could ask you the same." he replied, "I...uh, usually sleep here."

  Hanji tilted her head, remembering what Mikasa had said about this room, "You're Eren, aren't you?" she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and struck a match to light the lamp.

  The boy and her both cringed at the sudden light, and she took a moment to observe him. He was about Mikasa's age, olive skin, as if he spent a lot of time in the sun. His scraggly brown hair was rather similar to her own in length, just a bit shorter. And bright, blue-green eyes observed her similarly.

  "Yeah, that's me." he got to his feet and scratched his neck...taller than Levi, she observed that fact with a slight smirk.

  She offered up her good hand, "I'm Hanji." she introduced, "Mikasa let me have this room, said she would have you stay with her and Armin when you come visit." she explained.

  Eren shook her hand, nodding as he processed that information, "Right...um, nice to meet you. And sorry for...y'know."

  "Sitting on me?" Hanji chuckled, and the boy blushed in embarrassment, "That's alright, I've experienced far worse things than being sat on in the night." she stood, thankful that she had worn pants to bed this time.

  Mikasa suddenly appeared in the doorway, "Eren!" she exclaimed, rushing him with a hug. Hanji grinned cheekily when she also kissed him, rather passionately.

  She cleared her throat, scuffing her toe against the floorboard.

  Mikasa pushed away from the blushing boy on reflex, turning a nice, bright red shade herself and tucking her hair behind her ear. "I see you two have met..." she murmured in embarrassment.

  "Mhmm." Hanji hummed, a wicked smile on her face. "Should I, perhaps, take the room with Armin downstairs?" she teased.

  "Hanji!" Mikasa's ears and shoulders joined her face in a state of flushed red, and Eren covered his eyes.

  "I'm only teasing, Mikasa." Hanji chuckled, "But really...if you ever need, I can make myself scarce." she winked as she led them by the shoulders out of the room. A clunky, awkward task even with her splinted arm out of the sling.

  "Y-you're assuming things!" Mikasa exclaimed.

  "She's really...not..." Eren said with a shy smile.

  "Eren!" Mikasa cried, aghast.

  "Well it's true!" he defended.

  "Yeah but she doesn't need to know that!"

  Hanji cackled loudly, patting them upon their shoulders, "Come now, I won't tell a soul. Off to bed." she gave them a gentle nudge as she ducked back into her room. Granted she may not need to tell anyone, it was painfully obvious just how deep of a relationship those two likely had. Just from the look in their eyes.

  She glanced at her bed with a contemplative hum. She was wide awake now...so she shrugged and headed downstairs to the kitchen, fetching a bread roll from the counter and sitting at the table to eat it. Looking outside, she could see the sun would be up in perhaps an hour or so. Strange that the boy would travel here this early, but he probably lived close by, so she gave a mental shrug and swiped the crumbs from her snack off the table.

  Footsteps from the hall caught her attention, and she glanced up to see Levi. He looked tired, bedraggled really, his usually perfect hair sticking up her and there and his shirt rumpled.

  'He's adorable.' she thought to herself.

  He blinked at the sight of her, running a hand through his hair and sighing, "I presume you're the one who made all the racket?" he sat across from her at the table and leant heavily on his arms.

  "Sorry." Hanji smiled sheepishly, "Me and Eren that is."

  He nodded, "I assumed as much."

  "Yeah...he sat on me." she supplied.

  He chuckled. Actually, truly chuckled, and she stilled, her face and chest suddenly burning with a fierce blush. She didn't think she'd ever heard him laugh, and...well, add in his gravely, sleep-addled voice...

  She gulped when he glanced at her, and the awkward eye contact lasted far longer than she wanted. He was observing her features, at least she thought he was. "What?" he inquired.

  She jumped, tucking her hair behind her ear in embarrassment, "Huh?"

  "You're blushing." he pointed out.

  She felt her face darken farther, "I-I am?"

  His face morphed into a deadpan, "I wouldn't say so if you weren't."

  "Right." she murmured, hugging herself and looking down at her lap.

  "Why are you blushing?" he inquired.

  She hid behind her hair, glancing up at him through her lashes, "No reason."

  He raised a brow, "You were admiring me." it wasn't a question, he knew it to be a fact.

  She recoiled softly, "N-no! Of course not!" she denied him fervently, albeit not even convinced of it herself. He had caught her red-handed...or red-faced rather. "Besides, so what if I was?" she mumbled.

  "You were."

  She gave a start when he stood, chair scraping against the floorboards as he did so. She leaned back in her chair when he approached her, hands planted against the back of her chair and the table. "What are you doing?" she murmured, caught off-guard at his proximity. She could see the deep, steel-blue of his irises, flecked with light grey. And oh-so-intense was his stare.

  "Proving a point." he replied, voice a low rumble in his chest that sent a shiver down her spine. His gaze flickered down at her lips, and that motion alone had her breath hitching. Not to mention how he leaned closer, and her breath was stolen completely when his nose grazed hers. She didn't move, her grip on the arms of her chair left her knuckles white. He was holding her in a trance, everything around them seemed ethereal and dreamlike.

  He stayed where he was, eyes lidded and his breath fanning over her face. She hesitantly exhaled, through her mouth, and her voice shook as she managed to choke out a word: "Levi...?"

  He blinked, as if breaking himself out of a trance of his own, pulling back just enough for her face to be in focus...and then he smirked. "You do admire me." he said smugly as he pulled back entirely, straightening his back and placing a hand on his hip.

  She went red, both in embarrassment and in fury over his actions, "Wha-I...how dare you!" she abruptly stood, nearly smacking foreheads with him and inhaling to give him an earful. But he simply turned on his heel before she could speak and headed back to his room, waving casually over his shoulder.

  She stomped her foot and crossed her arms, hissing lightly at the twinge in her broken arm. What a...what an absolute son of a bitch!

  She was about to go rap on his door just to yell at him, but upon further thought, her fury dissipated nearly as soon as it had emerged. He had been so close...so close to her, she had been able to see ever individual eyelash, every beautiful detail of his eyes, the texture of his most-inviting lips...

  Trembling fingers graced the side of her nose, trying to imitate his touch there. She'd be lying if she said she didn't want him to linger. Didn't want him to lean just a little closer and see what his lips tasted like. Her entire body soon trembled, and she glanced towards his door, the quietest of gasps escaping her as she sat down again. Knees weak.

  "Oh my God..." she whispered. She wasn't going to give the fluttering in her stomach, the rapid beating of her heart, and the hitch in her breath the luxury of a name. At least not yet. Despite her acceptance of her attraction to him, she was starting to realize that this was on another level.

  Hanji didn't go back to bed that night...

•

•

  Even he knew it wasn't necessary for him to have gone so far. While he had only been trying to prove a point, he couldn't deny he was tempted to push his luck. Tempted to simply kiss the living daylights out of that infuriating girl like his instincts were telling him to. Levi stopped his hand on its way to trace her phantom touch on his nose. A sigh escaped him, and he thunked his head back against his door, sliding down to a sit and running his hand over his face.

  He had been so close he could see the intricate details of her irises, the soft cocoa-y and sugary color, highlighted with creamy flecks. The highlights in her auburn-brown hair, how her lips parted expectantly, her breath hitching and her lashes brushing her sun-tanned cheeks as she slowly blinked. It was surreal, an undeniably beautiful sight, and he didn't want to think that.

  But he did, he was. And he knew then and there, there was nothing he could do to stop this. What was developing between them didn't deserve a label from him yet. But it would eventually. That much he could tell. And he suddenly understood what Farlan had been talking about nearly two weeks ago.

  Levi didn't sleep for the remainder of that night.