Just to check

•

•

"No, no...through here, turn the hook...no...oh boy." Isabel sat back, exhaling through her mouth and slumping a bit as she watched Hanji fail yet again to do her stitch right.

Hanji sheepishly ducked her head and unraveled the thread to try again, "Sorry. It's just that coordinating holding the thread and project with my left hand and moving my right like so...it's difficult." she sighed, examining what she had crocheted so far. The stitches varied in size, a trait Isabel assured her was normal for a beginner. There were about four of them, the delicate 'shells' extending from her initial chain of single stitches.

Isabel cleared her throat, "It's alright, it's only your third day after all. Perhaps we should stick with the chain stitch until you get the hang of it."

Hanji chuckled, "Or maybe just a single, like you showed me before? I've done enough chains to hang a man." she relaxed in her chair with a deep sigh. The art of crochet wasn't all that different from knitting, but she had experience with neither. She did use to watch her nursemaid Maggie knit sometimes, but she had never practiced it herself. She was more of a needle-and-thread type of girl, as she preferred embroidery to her current subject of tutorage.

"Yes, I suppose we could stick with the singles." Isabel nodded, "Alright, here, I'll undo the shells." she offered, taking the experimental project from her and promptly undoing the damage.

Hanji smiled in thanks and glanced up at Levi and Farlan on the opposite side of the living room. As if sensing her gaze, he looked up from his book to meet her eyes with his own. Despite their sudden, mutual declaration of infatuation for one another, they had been very chaste since the incident of a week past. Heck, they had only exchanged one peck on the lips since then:

~ "-I really do try to look at it from Armin's perspective." she was saying, and she noticed how he seemed to deflate with a sigh. He was tidying her room (and had been for the past thirty minutes), having complained that she was awful at keeping it dusted properly. She would inquire as to the cause of his frustration, but she was currently mid-rant, and she didn't feel like pausing to ask for his reasoning. "But even Farlan agrees that Eidenburg's works are far more compelling and-"

"Hanji." Levi interrupted, sitting on her bed and tugging the book she was no longer reading from her limp hands. She glanced up at him, waiting for him to speak, but he went for a whole ten seconds without doing so...

So, she attempted to continue her rant, "And I told Armin-" she was immediately cut off by his lips, and she gave a light squeak of surprise. Barely able to reciprocate before he pulled back.

"Sometimes you just don't know when to shut up." he said, and she smiled, giggling as she attempted to draw him in for another kiss. He stood, however, halting her efforts. But he placed a gentle hand on her cheek and stroked the skin with his thumb to assure her after she frowned, crestfallen, "I'm covered in filth, I'll be in the bath." he said in explanation, leaving her room.

She flipped back onto her mattress with a sigh and a newly contented smile on her lips. ~

There seemed to be a silent, mutual agreement between them that they could move their budding relationship along too fast if they weren't careful. Not that she would ever mind that, but as for him, she could sense that he was highly tentative. He likely preferred graduality in the progression of their relationship. Baby steps rather than the sudden jump they had taken the week before.

He still bathed her regularly, and they still had their intimate moments, but they were surely subdued. For the most part, his hands would occasionally pause in washing to simply caress her skin. Though during her last bath he had hugged her from behind, nary minding how her sopping hair wet his shirt. He said he just felt like it when she asked him why he did it. And that explanation was far more than enough for her.

The memory made her blush, and he seemed to remember it too when he noticed how her cheeks darkened. She offered him a soft smile, turning her attentions back to her crochet when Isabel handed it back to her.

•

•

"So, when did it happen?" Farlan asked, cleaning out his pipe and studying Levi with a calculating eye.

Levi turned to him, expression carefully schooled into tentative curiosity, "When did what happen?"

Farlan smiled, "Don't play dumb with me, you and I both know I'm too sharp for that." he chuckled softly, "I'm asking when you went from aloof observation to eye-fucking when it comes to our guest over there."

Armin gave a squeak of surprise at the crass phrasing from his place on the floor. He glanced up at Levi in shock, and then glanced towards Hanji. Levi raised a brow at the boy when his gaze returned to him, one that said: 'Speak of this and you'll regret it.' and Armin quickly re-immersed himself in his drawing.

"I wasn't 'eye-fucking' her." Levi murmured, glaring at Farlan to demonstrate that he was on a thin thread as it was and that further insistence might lead to injury.

Farlan only tempered his insinuations just barely, "Perhaps not, but you can't tell me something hasn't happened between you. You've got googly eyes and so does she." he gestured to the girl in question.

Levi turned away from his brother-in-law with a snort of defiance. "However true any of it may be, I don't need to explain how or why anything may have happened between us." he explained vaguely.

"So you are courting, then?" Farlan asked with a triumphant smirk.

Levi properly growled, apparently not vague enough. "I never said that."

"But you plan to."

It wasn't phrased as a question, and Levi found he could not deny it. So he resolved to slouch in his seat and prop his chin upon his hand in defeat. "Perhaps." he said in a mumble.

Farlan chuckled, "Oh come now! No need to be so off-put about your own romance. You behave as if it's a crime for you to admire her in such a way."

Levi peered at him through his peripheral vision.

"All I'm trying to say-" Farlan cut himself off with a snort, snickering behind his hand and tensing as he made to stand, "-is that...I told you so!"

Hanji, Isabel, and Mikasa all jumped in fright when Farlan cried: "I told you so!" and leaped from his place to take off running out the door, Levi following close on his heels.

"What on earth has gotten into them?" Isabel breathed, hand pressed to her chest in an attempt to calm herself.

"I don't know." Hanji and Mikasa replied simultaneously. All three women shook their heads and returning to their crochet.

All the while Armin shivered in apprehension, wondering: 'Will Farlan be coming back alive after Levi gets his hands on him?'

•

•

"Not so difficult anymore, is it?" Mikasa looked over her shoulder at Hanji, who was milking their cow. She had attempted to do so before, but her hand was still a little too handicapped with the splint on, so she postponed learning the skill until now.

Hanji smiled back at the younger girl, "It's much easier now, and fun." she added, patting the bovine on her rounded barrel when she shifted and stomped one hind leg.

"Good." Mikasa smiled, reaching under one of their six chickens to retrieve an egg. "Want to help make the bread again?" she asked.

"Of course." Hanji said, topping off the milk bucket and standing up with a stretch. She wiped her forehead, remarking in her head that it was a hard task - milking that is - if she worked up a sweat over it. Since her arm had healed she progressed from simply measuring ingredients for the daily loaf to actually kneading the bread. It was a big help for Mikasa, who complained about the daily, tedious task nearly every time she performed it.

"I'll be inside after I finish collecting the eggs and feeding the coop, why don't you go take that milk to the kitchen?" Mikasa instructed while she collected another egg.

"Alright." Hanji grasped the handle of the milk bucket with her good hand, not wanting to strain her still-delicate left arm with the weight of it. She passed by the empty stall that housed Eren's horse as she made to leave, and she paused to look back at Mikasa. He had left a few days back, complying with his father's wish that he be back home. In larger time frames as well, since Mikasa and Armin weren't all alone in the cabin anymore.

Mikasa had an air of sorrow about her since his departure. She was more morose than Hanji had initially come to know her when the boy wasn't there. "Hey..." she called to get the raven-haired girl's attention. She smiled assuringly, "He'll be back in a few days." she said when Mikasa turned to her in curiosity.

The girl's features became somber, and she nodded, a subtle flash of guilt was discernible in her obsidian eyes. But Hanji didn't dwell on it, misinterpreting it as something similar to longing.

She continued her trek to the house and began making preparations for a loaf of bread. She had learnt firsthand that it was a long, arduous task. And she had a new appreciation for her kitchen staff after cooking with Mikasa. All the kneading and proving that the loaf would need was always daunting when she rolled up her sleeves to help. It being a daily occurrence seemed to be beneficial to the recovery of her arm, though, so she never complained. Quite unlike Mikasa, who claimed she had made enough bread in her few years to feed an army.

"Baking again?" Isabel came to a halt against the island in the kitchen. She leaned against it and observed while Hanji measured out flour and milk.

"Yes." Hanji said, distracted by her task at hand.

"Are you going to be up for crochet later?" the redhead asked, drawing a pattern in a patch of spilled flour.

"I don't think so." Hanji accepted the eggs that Mikasa handed to her upon entering the kitchen. "Thanks, Mika." she said as the girl left the room as soon as she'd entered.

"I'll be right there to help in a moment." Mikasa called over her shoulder, "Getting my apron."

Hanji nodded, and Isabel hummed in acknowledgment. "Well, it's just as well. Farlan, Levi and I are going to go hunting. Hopefully we'll have venison for dinner tomorrow, if not that then maybe a pheasant."

"That sounds good." Hanji looked up with a smile and tossed her head to get her bangs out of her eyes, following up with her fingers.

"Add on the fact that we might not be back till the witching hour, if I know Farlan." Isabel held back a snicker and bounced over to said man's side as he walked by, "See you tonight, or tomorrow, whichever." she called.

"Yeah." Hanji wiped at an itch on her cheek, carefully measuring yeast into the warmed water. She blew a frustrated breath at her unruly bangs, ineffective in the long run, as the strand just flopped right back onto her nose.

"Hanji."

She glanced up in surprise at his voice, "Levi..." she smiled, nearly spilling the yeast.

"Watch yourself." he grasped her wrist to correct her, righting the little container with a barely concealed grin. "You have flour on your cheek." he pointed out before he wiped it off with his thumb.

"Thanks." she mumbled, embarrassed. He nodded and tilted his head thoughtfully. His thumb didn't leave her cheek, but rather kept stroking it softly. She leaned into the touch, watching him for any indication that he was going to kiss her. And she couldn't help the slight smile that pulled at her lips when he did just that. Tugging her closer by her nape and making her lean over the island counter to do it.

It wasn't a passionate kiss, nor was it chaste, somewhere in the middle. She hummed in approval when his tongue beggared entrance past the seam of her lips. And she lifted her hands to grasp his nape, but he pulled back, "Flour." he explained.

She grinned deviously and wiped her hands on her apron in response. "Better?" she asked as she scooted around the island to tug him back into the kiss. His protest over her still-floury hands was muffled, and he might have rolled his eyes if her fingers hadn't been raking pleasantly through his hair. The hands that rested at her hips slyly slid around and were making to cup her ass at the point where they were interrupted.

"Ahem..." Farlan cleared his throat in the doorway, raising a brow as the two sprang apart. "Isabel's waiting." he explained, face alight with mischievous glee. A rare sight, as he was usually such a calm, stoic man.

Hanji tucked her hair behind her ear and blushed from that very appendage down to her sternum, smiling sheepishly in embarrassment.

"Don't look so smug or I'll kick your ass again." Levi scoffed as he brushed past the taller man.

Farlan chuckled, winking at Hanji as he closed the door, "I'll see you later, Hanji."

"Right." the girl muttered in reply, hiding her blush behind her hair even as he left.

•

•

"I hope you don't mind if I go lay down." Mikasa said as Hanji kneaded the dough for the second time in the baking process.

Hanji paused, swiping her hair back behind her ear, "Oh? You feeling alright?" she asked. Her younger counterpart had done more than her fair share in making the bread, and she looked fairly worn out. Hanji certainly didn't hold that against her, it was hard work. But she looked more than just fatigued, she looked a tad drained -emotionally that is - it was somewhat worrisome to see.

"I just need a nap, haven't slept well." Mikasa excused, and while Hanji easily saw it as a fib, she was quite guilty of a few herself. And she understood very well that sometimes one wants things to stay private, so she didn't question it out of courtesy.

"No, of course I don't mind. You go get some rest, I can handle this." she looked back at the dough as if it were a sparring partner, drawing her sleeves up further to prove her point.

Mikasa smiled half-heartedly and headed down the hall. Leaving Hanji to ponder exactly what was troubling the girl. When she had first arrived at the quaint cabin she seemed happy enough, even without Eren present. So why did she seem so upset now?

•

•

"So...are you going to tell anyone?" Armin was laying on his stomach, reading a book, and observing how Mikasa lay on the bed across the room with her back to him. She had told him the night before about her predicament. She and Eren had not been subtle to him over the past few months about the fact that they were quite sexually active, so the news was obviously no surprise to him. But his near-adoptive sister was quite distressed over the issue.

He paused and lowered the book when she didn't provide him with an answer. "Not even Eren?" he added.

Mikasa rolled over onto her back and sniffled, "I wasn't even sure until yesterday, Armin." she wiped at her eyes, and the blonde moved to offer her a handkerchief.

"Right. But why are you so upset over it?" Armin asked, bending to thread his fingers soothingly through her disheveled hair.

"Because." she hiccuped, blowing her nose with the kerchief, "Neither Eren nor I are prepared, and we aren't married either. It's a fantastic situation! Levi is going to kill us, and Grisha too." she chuckled, devoid of mirth and bordering on hysteria in her mannerism.

"Calm down." Armin consoled, kneeling beside her bed and patting her arm, "There won't be any killing so don't get that in your head. And besides, what's done is done and they'll both understand that." he assured.

Mikasa nodded and sighed, "I know...I know it's just...you'll never be in this position, Armin. You can't understand what it feels like." she rolled to face his direction and wiped her eyes with her sleeves.

"No, I can't." he conceded with a nod, "Won't stop me keeping you from such notions, though." he tapped her nose with a forefinger and coaxed her into a sitting position, sitting beside her and letting her lean against him. Her arms latched onto him by his thin waist, and she pressed her forehead into his shirt to hide her tear-streaked face, "Don't worry about Levi and Grisha...just focus on taking care of yourself and telling Eren when he gets back. I'll help you break it to your brother if need be. And Eren will break it to his dad." he assured with a smile.

She nodded, tightening her firm hold of his waist and burying her nose into his shirt. "I'll try." she murmured.

"Good." Armin pressed a kiss to her hair. The girl was like the sister he never had, and he was honored to be her crutch during her vulnerability.

"Thank you." she whispered.

"Anytime, Mikasa." he responded with a smile, prompting a tighter hug from her. "Oh, want to tell Hanji too? She could break it to Levi better than I could, you know."

Mikasa sat up straighter and pulled out of their tight embrace, "What do you mean?"

"You don't know? They're in a relationship." he said it as if it were common knowledge, and she raised an incredulous brow at him.

"You're kidding me, right?" she asked.

"Nnnoope. Not kidding." he shook his head slowly.

"Wow." she blinked, "Uh, I-I guess we could...maybe...tell her." she murmured, pondering the matter with one slender forefinger pressed against her lip.

Armin sighed in relief, he had no doubt she would bottle this in as long as she possibly could before she told anybody. Likely until she began to show. But she trusted Hanji, hopefully, trusted her enough to tell her.

"Are you sure about that? About my brother and Hanji?"

Armin chuckled, "Very much so." he said, grimacing as he remembered Farlan's crass remark about Levi 'eye-fucking' Hanji.

•

•

"Are they back yet?"

"Hmm?" Hanji spun around in place, having just set the loaf in the oven. Mikasa stood in the hallway, fiddling with her long braid that draped elegantly over her shoulder. "Oh, no they aren't." she said with a smile, "Something wrong, Mikasa?"

The girl went to shake her head, but Hanji could see that she stopped herself with great difficulty, and then tentatively nodded, "Yes...actually." she whispered.

Hanji took note of how she hugged herself and hung her head, looking as small as she had ever seen her. "Come here, Mika." she beckoned, accepting her into her arms when she came running full force. "Easy there, sweetie." she gave a half-hearted chuckle at the girl's urgency.

Mikasa shook, sniffled, and Hanji quickly realized she was shaking because she was suddenly crying. "Hey..." she walked the girl over to the nearest seat, of which was the couch, and gently sat her down. "What's wrong, Mikasa?" she asked, smoothing a loose hair back from her face and wiping her tears away from under one eye.

Mikasa used the handkerchief she already had in her hand to wipe at her other eye, sniffling again to clear her sinuses. "I...it's difficult to say." she began, taking in a shuddering breath.

"I'm a patient person." Hanji smiled assuringly, not always true, but in delicate matters, she could be.

"I'm not usually this emotional." Mikasa's voice broke in a light son as she tried to regain her composure.

"Don't worry about it, it's natural to cry." Hanji wiped at the fresh tears in the girl's eyes again, smiling as much as she could with how worried she was becoming.

Mikasa nodded, regulating her breathing until she was calm enough to speak, "Well-" she began, "-you know that Eren and I..." she trailed off, fighting her will to cry more, "We-we are intimate...a-and..." she inhaled sharply, willing the tears to go away by blinking rapidly, "I've skipped two of my bleeds." she said in a hoarse whisper.

Hanji mulled that around in her head for a moment or so before she realized what Mikasa was trying to say, "You're expecting?" she asked in confirmation.

"Yes. I'm...pregnant." Mikasa murmured, looking down at her hands shamefully.

"Well, that's great!" Hanji exclaimed, "Right?"

"Hanji..." Mikasa sighed, shaking her head, "Think of it. It's an illegitimate baby, and Levi really doesn't like Eren..and...the people in town think of this as shameful." she covered her face with both hands, muffling her whimper, " And to top it off, I haven't even told Eren yet." her voice sounded so small, small and terrified.

Hanji gave her a coo of sympathy and moved to sit beside her, "Come come now, it's not that bad. You mustn't let yourself care what people think. It's not their life anyway, best try not to worry whether they'll try to make it their business." she said with a huff, that was one thing she knew well enough. Even the most blue-blooded knew the destructive and mentally debilitating results of gossip. But the best she could do was assure Mikasa that the opinions of others could hold no merit against her unless she allowed it. "Besides, Eren's opinion is the only one that truly matters, isn't it?"

"And Levi may be intimidating when he wants, but I doubt he'll be mad at you." she added.

"It's not me I'm worried about when it comes to Levi." Mikasa sighed, leaning heavily against her shoulder.

Hanji chuckled, "Oh Mikasa...well, how about I tell Levi for you?" she suggested.

Mikasa barked a shallow laugh, wiping at her face and nodding, "Armin said I should ask you to." she agreed.

"Insightful of him." Hanji hummed, rubbing Mikasa's arm soothingly.

"So is it true that you and my brother are...involved?" the raven-haired girl asked, sitting up to look at Hanji for a response.

Hanji blinked, "Erm..." she bit her lip and blushed.

"So you are!" Mikasa pointed at her flushed cheeks as a light smile graced her features, "Granted I wouldn't have known for sure if Armin didn't say so, but I still suspected."

"Right, right..." Hanji huffed, crossing her arms and blowing a strand of her unruly locks out of her face, "We only kissed." she mumbled.

"More than once I could wager." Mikasa peered closer, smile widening when Hanji shrank back in her seat in response.

"Three or four times." she sighed in resignation, briefly holding up the appropriate equivalent of fingers.

"Ahh, well that's not that much, enough to count on one hand. Still more than once, though." Mikasa sat back and smirked.

Hanji nodded begrudgingly, "Whatever." she turned to her companion and observed her, "You're more chipper now, aren't you?"

"I suppose so. I'm still terrified, but...I just feel better now that I've told you." Mikasa shrugged. "Do you...could you wait until I've told Eren? Before you tell Levi for me?"

Hanji turned her head and studied the girl's features more carefully, determining whether or not the girl intended to follow through with her plan of telling her unofficial spouse. "I don't suppose you plan on waiting long, do you?" she inquired pointedly.

Mikasa took her turn to flush red and shrink back into the couch. "Of course not." she muttered.

"Mikasa." Hanji said in warning, "If you don't tell him sooner, he'll still learn about it later when you start to show. And I may be no man, but I doubt he would appreciate you waiting so long to tell him. Men, as far as I know, seem to prefer us to be blunt." she advised, although not entirely sure of it herself, it was what she had read and experienced. "After all, they aren't psychic." she added in a chuckle.

"I know." Mikasa sighed, "And I will tell him."

"Good." Hanji leaned back and sighed. "So...do you know what you'd prefer?" she asked after a long silence had passed.

"Prefer?" Mikasa echoed in confusion.

"Boy or girl?" Hanji clarified.

"Oh!" Mikasa hummed, considering, "Well, I hadn't thought about it."

"Not at all? Even in passing as a child?" Hanji prodded.

Mikasa tilted her head, "Well, I suppose once or twice. Until you arrived here the only other woman has been Isabel...so perhaps a girl." she answered tentatively.

Hanji smiled, "That's nice, and logical too." she made to stand, straightening out her apron.

"But I wouldn't mind if it were a boy." Mikasa took the offered hand and stood.

"Indeed." Hanji nodded, "You might want to freshen up, I'm sure our housemates will be home within the next hour or so." she gestured sheepishly to the girl's tear-streaked face and disheveled braid. Granted she was taking a shot in the dark about that time-frame. She honestly had no idea when their companions would be back, but best be prepared in any case, she wagered.

Mikasa nodded and self-consciously brushed down her skirt, "Right. Thank you, Hanji." she hugged the older woman briefly and made her way to her room.

Hanji placed her hands on her hips as she watched her leave, shaking her head as she considered what exactly she had just gotten herself into. She could be sure she had never imagined being in that same predicament, nor did she ever think it would happen even now. Still, it wasn't as if Mikasa hadn't felt the same...

She wiped her sweat-dampened bangs aside and huffed loudly. "What a day..." she sighed.

•

•

She woke during the night, incredibly early and not at all pleasantly. When she came to with a gasp, her hair and sleep-shirt were plastered uncomfortably to her skin in a cold sweat. The dream, or nightmare rather, wasn't easy to remember, but it entailed sickly, clawing hands and bloodshed. That much she was certain of.

The fear of laying back and closing her eyes in the dark made her heart race even worse than the nightmare had. The room felt small and the shadows intimidating. She wasn't going to fall back asleep without company.

Hanji sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Exiting the room, she considered the room directly adjacent to hers first. While she hadn't been awake to receive them that night, she did know that Isabel and Farlan were home. But considering carefully, invading their room for comfort against night terrors just didn't sit quite right with her. They were a couple, after all. What was she going to do? Sleep between them?

She sighed and hugged herself, quietly descending the stairs and entering the hall below. She considered Mikasa and Armin's room, and then glanced at Levi's. A soft scoff escaped her lips, but she couldn't shake the feeling that his room was her best option. "Can't hurt to try, can it?" she murmured as she turned the doorknob.

"Levi?" she whispered, spotting her chosen 'victim' sound asleep in his bed. "Levi..." she called again, only just louder than her previous whisper. She went and knelt beside his bed, intent on waking him, but pausing to study him. After all, she had never seen him in the midst of sleep.

His usually hardened features were relaxed and soft, and she found herself wanting to stroke his face. So she did just that. Her fingers lightly traced his jawline, and then she brushed her knuckles over his cheek. The gesture provided her a sniffle and a light snort, and she had to stifle her ensuing giggle. The man shifted at the sound, face contorting and eyes slowly peeling open to stare at her.

He blinked rapidly, and she shifted in place as he did a double take. "Hanji?" he asked in confusion, obviously caught quite off-guard by her presence in his room.

She pulled her hand back and blushed, "Hi." she whispered.

He propped himself up on his elbow and raised a brow, "What are you doing in here?"

She cleared her throat, "I...uh, had a nightmare." she mumbled, looking up at him through her lashes with the unspoken question clearly displayed in her eyes. He sighed loudly, whether it was in defeat or out of amusement, she didn't know. He shaking his head knowingly and bit his lip as she took a breath to ask him aloud.

"Could I?" she made her initial move to climb into the bed with him. "Please?"

He took a deep breath and nodded, begrudgingly shuffling aside and patting the newly-emptied space. "Don't get used to this." he said as she made herself comfortable.

"Of course not." she agreed with a slight smile, scooting her body up against his and relaxing. He responded in kind by moving his hips away from hers and hesitantly laying a hand on her waist when her shirt rode up.

Hanji shivered when his thumb stroked her skin, and she looked over her shoulder to attempt to see him. To see his face and determine exactly what he might be thinking at that moment. "Is this okay?" he asked when she caught his gaze.

She nodded, laying a hand over his on her hip, "Yes, it's fine." she turned back onto her side. Closing her eyes, she started to become comfortable again. His clean, woodsy scent, combined with his warm hand on her skin started to lull her back to sleep.

"What was it about?"

She blinked her eyes open upon hearing his question, "Hmm?"

"The nightmare." he clarified, "What was it about?"

She pondered for a moment, "I don't remember much in clarity...it just...scared me is all, and I didn't want to go back to bed all alone in a dark room after I woke up." she explained.

He hummed in acknowledgment and she gave a quiet gasp when he tugged her torso closer to his, "Well now you have company in a dark room. Go to sleep, Hanji." he instructed. For some reason, she found his words to be very endearing, and a smile tugged at her lips when he added her name to his sentence.

She nodded, closing her eyes and focusing on his warm, steady breath against the nape of her neck. Eventually, she drifted off quietly. Most comfortable and quite content.

•

•

When she awoke a few hours later, the sun was nearly crowning the horizon. And she was somewhat surprised to feel that Levi was still in bed with her. He was usually up earlier than this...

Hanji yawned and stretched, carefully avoiding smacking her sleeping partner in the face as she did so. She shuffled closer to his body and hugged the arm that draped around her waist to her chest. Her fingers traced his knuckles, and she smiled as she pressed a kiss to them. It was more than nice of him to actually allow her to sleep there. She had assumed he would turn her away over the fact that her bath was due that morning.

Whatever his reasoning, she wagered it could only be good for their budding relationship.

She paused mid-thought and pursed her lips when she noticed a foreign pressure on her upper thigh. Whatever was poking her was stiff, elongated, and she shuffled around in an attempt to determine what it was. Yielding no immediate results, she determined her best course of action. An action she would often look back on in the future and groan over in embarrassment. She would someday wonder why she hadn't simply rolled over to see what it was.

But in the moment itself, her sleep-addled mind proved the logic perfectly sound. So Hanji reached back, between Levi's legs, and firmly grasped it.

Levi awoke abruptly at that, and his startled, high-pitched yelp helped her along the mental route to realize exactly what she had just grabbed. Granted, the general shape aided her fairly innocent mind quite well enough without her sleeping partner's vocal confirmation.

With a squeak of utter mortification, she tried to sit up...and then, without an ounce of grace: she promptly fell off the bed.