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smallblip · 3 years

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Imagine being loved by me

Levihan | rated for mild mentions of sex + spoiler warning for that one forest scene levihans y’all know what’s up | [I hope you find this xoxo 🤍,🐇]

More notes on Ao3! https://archiveofourown.org/works/31001030

“You’re shit at kissing...” Levi coughs. Everything hurts, and him hacking up his lungs is testing the integrity of Hanji’s stitches. The loud humming of the forest fades to a whisper when she breathes life back into his ribs.

The shock and desperation fades from her face and she’s laughing now, “but Levi...” she drawls, “we’ve had so much practice...”

Not enough... He breathes. In a world full of people he chose her, and he has built a home in her. Now he just needs a little more time. And Hanji understands. But this world has been kind. Thirty four revolutions around the sun and she’s here in the forest with him. Everything has gone according to plan. At least in all the ways that matter. There’s still time. The world is suspended in a sunbeam, dancing like dust glinting when it catches the light.

There’s still time... We can pretend we’re the only two people left in the world...

—

To build a home in another person, all you need is a little wonder. But in this time and space, Levi is young and whatever skills he exhibits in the battlefield, he makes up for with lack of imagination.

Because imagine that- Levi having anything to do with Hanji Zoë.

“You’ll love me Levi, just you wait!” Hanji had teased, three days after first introducing herself to him with a smile and enough sunshine to last Levi a lifetime, “we’ll be best friends in no time”. To which Levi responded with a glower and a seething “not even if we’re the last two fucking people on earth.” And Levi hates himself for saying that. How fucking childish. But the need to be eloquent with Hanji is always lost under the temptation to bicker like children. They all tease him about it. Tell him that Hanji is just- well- an inevitability. And she’s never wrong. But Levi doesn’t think much of it. Her prophecy is mostly forgotten beneath the humdrum of routine death and destruction.

Until now.

Except it really isn’t a prophecy, because prophecies are mostly right aren’t they? And Levi is sure whatever they’re doing is testing the boundaries of friendship. Maybe people do kiss their best friends around here. After all what would a street rat from the underground know. But Levi’s pretty sure it’s just Hanji.

“What are you thinking of?” Hanji asks, breaking the silence that comes with being the only two people awake in the dead of night.

Levi pulls himself out of his thoughts, the lines on his forehead relax, Hanji’s words looping monotonously in the back of his mind like a mantra. “Nothing,” he says, because he’s not quite ready to give Hanji the satisfaction of being right. But it’s mostly an inevitability anyway.

“Well... Just imagine I’m a girl you like... Or a boy... Both are fine,” Hanji says, “I don’t really care,” she winks at Levi.

And Levi still thinks this is a ridiculous idea. Then again they’re young and the experiences they have in this life are limited by the affordances of what comes with the job- or the people that come with the job.

Except they’re not young. Hanji has made it twenty two rounds around the sun without dying, without so much as a scar on her arm from that one time she had failed to check her blind spot. And that means something in their line of work.

And Levi has always been susceptible to persuasion. “Join the Survey Corps.” Erwin had said, sure it took near drowning with his head dunked in a drain and a plan he has since abandoned, but he’s here now. He’s here now in Hanji’s room in the dead middle of the night and maybe it means something because he’s here even though his head is still above water and nobody is commanding him to do anything.

But there’s still this feeling in his chest, like everything is wet and he’s drowning.

He clears his throat, “why are we doing this again?” Because he’s lost the plot somewhere between genuine annoyance and realising his annoyance is a farce.

“I don’t know... Pretend we’re the last two people on earth or something?” A shrug, then “got a good image in mind?”

Everything is so simple with her and Levi struggles to come up with an image to make it easier to breathe.

But Hanji is so close to him now that they’re bumping noses. And even in the dark she’s more vivid than any image Levi can think of.

He figures he doesn’t want to imagine.

He tucks a stray strand of hair that had escaped his braiding behind her ear. His fingers skim her cheek. And at this point, Hanji thinks maybe it’s pointless to pretend that she’s imagining that boy who tends to their horses back home, or the girl from the Garrison she couldn’t quite keep her mind off- until now.

But this is just practice, a little experiment, an experience bounded by its own set of rules- this is all just pretend, it doesn’t mean anything.

So Levi thinks fuck it, because Hanji might be right, they might die tomorrow, might as well live a little.

He doesn’t tell her he’s imagining daylight- the sun streaming through the day curtains, warming the sheets. He’s imagining that sliver of light on her face, catching fire in her eyes. The place within this ray of light is one of safety. Nobody can touch them there. And Levi wonders how long it will last them.

Hanji is surprised when he leans in first and kisses her. Tentatively at first, like he’s waiting to see if she will change her mind. But Hanji is resolute in all the ways he is, and she kisses him back with fervour. She imagines they’re younger. Imagines meeting under different circumstances. Imagines they don’t have a war to fight, and they’re sitting on the edge of the wall, shovel by their sides, peering far past the fields and she’s telling Levi all the ways the earth moves to form hills and valleys. And she thinks maybe they’ve always been friends.

But the image fades a little when she brings a hand to his face, cupping his cheek, and he sighs into the kiss. Besides, she’s already told him countless times how the earth breathes.

They pull apart to breathe because breathing is somehow necessary, Levi thinks maybe he’s getting used to drowning. His eyes are glazed over.

But he snaps out of it fast enough when Hanji breaks into laughter that sounds like the morning. He scowls and pulls her close by her ponytail, pressing his forehead against hers.

“You’re shit at kissing...” he murmurs.

“Really?” Hanji drops a peck on the tip of his nose, completely unconvinced, “I guess I just need more practice...”

—

But the clumsiness of youth doesn’t quite abate with practice.

They’re on an expedition and it's storming outside the tents and Levi makes himself at home in her tent. He’s so close to her now that she can hear him breathing. And she feels like a stupid teenager with a stupid crush. But that's exactly what she is.

When she's done pretending she's asleep, she opens her eyes only to find him staring at her in the dark. She holds her breath, but she doesn't look away. Because that's how they get you right? You lose some sort of secret competition and then everything goes down hill from there and you'll have to deal with the humiliation of it all. So she forces herself to look at him, thanking the gods for her bad eyesight.

A shock of lightning illuminates the inside of the tent like a paper lantern and finds the greys of his eyes. Hanji thinks she sees her reflection swimming in his irises. Swimming or drowning- well, there's a fine line isn't there? He shifts closer to her, scowling like he's moving against his will, and Hanji holds her breath. He wraps an arm lazily around her, pressing his face into her shoulder.

"Wha-" Hanji starts, clearing her throat before continuing, "what's this?"

"Whatever you want it to be..." Levi doesn't look up, but even so, Hanji knows he's frowning, "I'm cold..."

"Alright then..." Hanji chuckles, fingers scratching at the short hairs on his neck, "we're the last two people on earth waiting for the storm to pass..."

Levi thinks about thunderstorms, and sure enough, there’s a steady patter of rain he had tuned out earlier in favour of the thrum of Hanji’s heartbeat beneath his finger tips. He hates wet weather. It’s inconvenient to say the least. Earth becomes mud and everyone tracks said mud into the mess hall. He still remembers the way Isabelle looked when she died- the rain washed away the blood, she looked peaceful almost. Maybe it’s apt. The girl who loved storms spent her last moments on earth listening to the sound of thunder.

His breath evens out against her blouse, "and?" Levi wants her to continue, to fill the gaps of thunder with her voice, because that’s all he’s been thinking about lately and he thinks he knows why.

“And we hate each other’s guts...” Hanji grins.

“Why?” Levi asks, thinking Hanji is missing the point here.

“Everyone loves a good enemies to lovers story...” Hanji laughs.

“That’s dumb...” Levi says, but Hanji is so warm that it pulls him in.

“You’re dumb.”

He scoffs. “Fine.” He says, because Hanji is an inevitability, “and then what?”

She hums, thoughtful, “we hate one another until a storm rolls by...”

—

But it's not always storming, and in fair weather, it’s hard to say what you mean. And Hanji finally realises what she feels, it’s somewhat of a breakthrough. Yet, the first thought that flashes across her mind is how inconvenient this whole situation is. She had just been teasing. She just wanted to get a rise out of Levi. And now they’re spilling over the edges of “more than just friends”.

But there’s little time to think of the details. They get into trouble and Hanji blames it on the potent mix of youth and reckless abandon. Levi blames it on Hanji.

They crash a party for the high society snobs within the inner wall only because Erwin told them they couldn't come along. Hanji’s in a borrowed dress and Levi wonders why he lets himself get dragged into these situations. But there’s more alcohol and food than they’re used to, and they learn champagne goes straight to their heads.

“What now?” He asks, when they’ve stuffed themselves full of roast and potatoes and Hanji almost feels sick.

“Wanna dance?” She replies, pupils blown wide so he knows she’s not all there.

They’re too drunk to actually call it dancing, but Hanji remembers the basics. So she leads. And Levi thinks if he looks into Hanji’s eyes now his heart will explode and he’ll be a dead man. So he opts for staring at her clavicle and mumbling the first thought that comes to his mind.

“What?” Hanji grins down at him.

“What’s this?” Levi says again, because his heart is beating out of his chest and he feels like he's going insane.

Hanji looks down at their feet, still keeping rhythm in her head- they're doing a simple box step so they can't fuck up, no matter how drunk.

"A waltz?" She says, confused, because it should be obvious enough.

"Idiot..." Levi mutters, and Hanji thinks it could be the alcohol because his cheeks are red and he's leaning too much into her. So much that she trips.

They fuck up their rhythm.

The streets are cold. That's the only reason they're holding onto each other for dear life.

That and the copious amounts of champagne in their bloodstream. Bold, brash, bubbling. They had bolted the moment Erwin had spotted them, finger raised accusatorily in their direction, mouth agape with shock. And they had done such a good job avoiding him the entire night too, only to have their cover blown when they tumble to the ground in the middle of the ballroom, with Hanji falling atop of Levi, a shared gaze between them like a cliche.

Hanji is laughing so hard she has to crouch down in the middle of the streets, arms wrapped around her belly to stop the shaking. Her dress is stained at the hem and she'll have to wash it out before returning it to Lynne. But Levi has abandoned all notions of hygiene and neatness and he's now sitting on the ground with Hanji, watching her laugh. There's a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. And he thinks to himself yeah, this is inevitable.

"You know what one of the old snobs told me when you were busy chugging champagne?” Levi says, because the moon is out and it's so full that it's almost bursting at the seams. Nothing matters. The streets are cold, but Levi feels a fire coursing through his veins.

Hanji looks up at him, wiping the tears from her eyes, "what?"

“He told me ‘your wife’s a real handful’” Levi doesn’t know why he’s quite so breathless. But it doesn’t spare him the fact that he is.

“And what did you say?” She chuckles.

Levi makes the mistake of looking up into her eyes. Her eyes with their own gravitational pull, and Levi gets dragged into orbit. “yeah she is...”

“Ah...” Hanji replies, thinking maybe she needs more alcohol. Maybe they could stop at the pub on the way back. But the churning in her gut tells her otherwise. Besides, there's enough of this to go around- this thing she calls youth and reckless abandon. In a few years she'll call him an old man, the cadets will call him a relic. But that's the distant, distant future. For now they're young and the only thing that matters is the way she's smiling at him.

The rest of the walk is quiet, and Levi makes a passing comment about being the last two fucking people on earth with how empty the streets are (“did everyone just die?”). She chortles and he doesn't quite let go of her hand. Somewhere between the party and her room, Levi drapes his jacket over her shoulders. Well, technically her jacket that he borrows all the time. It smells like him now and Hanji holds it close to her with her other hand. And when they’re back at the barracks, he walks her to her door like any boy on a date would. So Hanji tells him just that- that he's behaving exactly like a boy with a hopeless crush-

A lover boy.

And she's not at all embarrassed at the words slipping past her lips. Then again, she has never been one to be particularly careful. She’s been told she’s not exactly good at holding her tongue.

They stand there in the silence, the partial darkness of the corridor. Levi only realises he’s staring at Hanji’s lips when he glances up momentarily and catches a glimpse of her eyes widening in realisation. Realisation like she has found something about him that only she knows. Levi feels vulnerable. But all he can think of is how the blush on the bridge of her nose is beautiful. Hanji looks like she’s about to say something, there’s something amusing about this situation and it’s bubbling between them- bold and brash. In another universe, she would have the opportunity to say it. Probably something along the lines of told you Levi! Enemies to lovers! and this is the part of the story where you kiss me...

But Levi decides he doesn’t want to hear anything she has to say, so he grabs the lapels of her jacket and pulls her close. The kiss that follows, a far too gentle succession to the feeling of crumpled fabric in his fists, a press of lips against the bridge of her nose, and another one- a chaser- on the tip of her nose.

She chuckles and he frowns at the offending noise. “What’s so funny?”

“You missed...” Hanji says before pulling him close by his belt loops and kissing him on the lips.

And there's a hunger that's ignited.

His jacket hits the floor first- the one he had draped around her shoulders. Then his shirt- the only fancy thing he owns. Then her dress-

Like a waltz for two- fingers reaching, exploring, lips crashing. But they're too drunk to call it dancing, sober enough not to call it a mistake. So when they're both naked, breathless forms in the dark, Levi reaches out to press their palms together.

“I don’t know how to be anyone’s lover...” he says just before they fall asleep, and Hanji's vision has adjusted to the dark. There are stars in his eyes, brilliant enough to pull Hanji into their orbit. This is the part of the story where she falls in love with her best friend, and he falls for his, and they know one another a little too much to use the word “love”. She can’t help the smile that spreads across her face-

“Neither do I...”

—

In uncharted waters, Levi can only hope for fair weather again. And maybe it comes in the form of Hanji knocking on his door the night he becomes captain.

“I like you Levi... Does that scare you?” She says from his bed. She’s never had the best timing. But this moment is as good as any other. One terrible mission, too many deaths, and the burden of greater responsibility later, and here they are. One too many revolutions around the sun. Enough for him to be seen as some sort of god, and her, an enigma.

“How much?” He answers. The bed dips where he joins her.

“What?”

“How much do you like me?”

There’s silence. Levi can hear his own heartbeat in his ears when he lies beside her.

“Like a sunbeam...”

He scoffs, “you’re not making sense four eyes...”

She chuckles, a kiss to his forehead, where lines have gathered- hold your horses Captain...

“Imagine you’re lying in bed and it’s been raining so it’s a little cold. It’s not uncomfortable, but you notice the chill and it wakes you a little. But then the sun filters through that gap in the curtains, soft and warm and it kisses your face,” she turns to him to press a kiss to his lips for clarity’s sake, “and there’s nothing in particular you have to do, so you go back to sleep, cradled by that sunbeam, like a cat... Nice huh?”

“Yeah...” Levi says, breathless. The atmosphere is thinning and if Hanji doesn’t let up, he’ll be gasping for air soon.

“That’s how much I like you...” she grins, matter of fact, like she’s talking about the weather, about how the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

When he goes to sleep lulled by her soft snoring he’ll dream of Hanji. In his dream he tells her he’ll steal a cat for her. Because that makes sense somehow. He needs her to know how much he loves her too. It ends with her naming the cat Albert. Levi absolutely hates it. Or at least he pretends to.

But it’s the present and they’ve sunk back into comfortable silence.

This is the part of the story where you kiss me you idiot... he hears it in her voice, warm and playful.

So he does just that. And Levi figures maybe some part of him is a sucker for romantics.

—

“Help me capture a titan, Levi!”

Levi would glower at her, tell her no before she’s allowed to finish her sentence. But they head back to camp, titan in tow, captured alive. And perhaps this is as far as romance goes in this world.

And it becomes a ritual of sorts- if we make it back, dinner’s on the sucker with fewer kills.

Except this time the date is them tearing at each other’s clothes.

Hanji never understood why anyone would put this world at the centre of the universe. There’s just too much pride in that assumption. There’s nothing particularly special about this world, yet she will live, love, and die here. A cursed rock, a beautiful rock, orbiting the sun. This is the world in which the death greets them with the hospitality of an old friend. Of an old god that whispers in their ears-

Welcome home, my children.

But at twenty five revolutions around the sun, she can’t imagine being dead. She knows she doesn’t want to die, not really, not when there’s still so much beauty to behold. There’s so much beauty in the way his heartbeat feels against her temple, in the way her toes are peeking out of the duvet, in the way he’s holding her like she is his.

“You won this time Levi... You captured a fucking titan!” She says, meaninglessly. It doesn’t matter in the larger scheme of things. Hanji would get drunk mid-way through dinner and Levi would pay. That’s just how things work around here.

“You nearly died...” Levi says, “you nearly fucking died...” he’s calm now, all the anger, all the frustration he had, has now been wrung dry from his system. Now his face is pressed against her chest, and the marks he left are just starting to surface, more brilliant than her bruises from battle are.

“Yeah... Scary huh...”

So she thinks now is as good a time as ever. This moment is precious enough. She presses a kiss to his forehead.

“What do you want to do when this ends?” She asks, because a little wonder never hurt anyone:

“If you died, all that wouldn’t even matter...” Levi says accusatorially, a petty way to be in their line of work. But it’s only because it scares him that nothing has come close to scaring him this much. If she dies, she takes everything that’s left of him with her. Levi doesn’t make the rules. That’s just how it works.

Hanji chuckles. “I’m sure you can easily find someone else... A nice little wife, an apartment in the city, a brood of kids?” She quirks a brow at him, completely missing the whole irony of lying in bed naked with a man she’s selling her little fantasy to. But she hears the others talk about it all the time- about settling down, having children. Besides this sliver of light will not last them.

“Is that what you want?” He asks.

Hanji ponders this for a moment, she thinks maybe not. It’s best not to drag someone into this life of hers, where nothing is guaranteed, where death lives on her doorstep and she knows it on a first name basis.

“No...” she answers simply. “I just want to sleep. Take a long nap... Wake up and realise it’s mid-day, then fall back asleep again.”

That sounds nice. That has always sounded nice. He thinks of sunbeams, of dust, of a stupid cat named Albert.

To build a house in another person all it takes is wonder and reckless abandon. And being around Hanji has granted Levi both.

“Maybe we could build a cottage in the forest...” he says like he’s dreaming and he has nothing to lose.

Levi doesn’t miss the crack in her voice, “didn’t peg you for a forest kinda guy...”

Levi shrugs, “figured you’d like the forest... Enough dirt for you to play in...”

Hanji chuckles breathlessly, turning to face Levi. She locks eyes with him, and she sees the boy she kissed in the dark “just to see what it feels like”.

“I don’t know how to be anyone’s lover, Levi...” her voice is a whisper, “I don’t clean, I hardly wash... I don’t know how to make bread...” After all, all things weird and abnormal come with their warning labels.

There’s a smile pulling Levi’s face.

“I do,” he says, “I’ll make the bread... Just promise me you’ll take a bath before dinner...”

Levi pictures that- a cottage in the middle of god forsaken nowhere, the last two people on earth- he glowers at her first, then they become friends, an inevitability. And now they will fall in love over a loaf of warm bread. Maybe there’s a storm outside. Maybe not. Doesn’t matter. They’re waiting on that sunbeam that always comes through their curtain in the mornings.

“Yeah...” she answers, it’s hard to breathe in vacuum. It’s hard to breathe when Levi has taken her breath away, “yeah okay...”

—

Welcome home, my children.

But Levi isn’t dead yet- not yet.

“You nearly fucking died...” Hanji had said, accusatorially. And even though she has fought it for years, she thinks maybe she has allowed herself to take him for granted. The invincible Captain Levi, now dredged up to shores like old treasure. And Hanji nurses him back to a soft glow. “What the fuck... You nearly died...” she says again, as if it isn’t already obvious by the state he’s in.

He looks at her, because moments like these are rare as of recent. He feels the ghost of her lips against his lingering under his bandages. From when she had breathed life back into his lungs. There’s still blood on her face- his blood. And even so, god, even so-

There’s sunlight percolating through the clouds, a sunbeam that reaches down to caress her face. She’s here now, this lover of yours, it says. And Levi almost confuses this moment for his dreams. But life on this unspectacular little rock has been kind, and this is reality. Slightly grimmer than he’d hope, but Hanji is still here. And he sees the years that have gone by in the way responsibility has weighed her down.

No matter. She’s here now. Waking up next to him in a beam of sunlight, dust rising and dancing like bubbles underwater. He’ll get up, warm the bread, and she’ll set two cups in front of them. And Levi would stare at his cup.

“It’s tea, idiot...” Hanji would say, but she has no business defending the cup of something that looks far too dark, too murky to be tea. So she laughs and adds a- “you know I’m really shit at making tea...”

He knows. And that’s a problem for later. For now, Levi imagines they’re the only two people left on earth.

“Maybe we could live here together... Right Levi?”

The thing about the sun. It will always be alluring to the little creatures that dwell in the leaf litter. But too much of a good thing would blind them. This little cursed rock will turn on itself, like a little ball of dirt being rolled off to some pre-determined spot. Completely meaningless in the larger scheme of things. But god, does Levi want to fly into the sun.

Instead he replies, best he can, “I don’t know how to thatch a roof...” And that’s unacceptable. It has to be. How are they going to survive in the forest without a roof. What are they going to do when the storm comes. And his reply reads with familiarity- I don’t know how to be a lover... Now a meaningless phrase exchanged between the two of them like a habit. As a warning to themselves to not get too comfortable in this world.

He hears his own heart shatter. This is the moment he realises there might not be a happy ending to their story. This is the moment he realises he had been hoping for one.

Hanji understands. She understands because she’s the same. So she breaks a smile at him.

“Neither do I...” she says. She can’t even make a decent cup of tea to save her life, and now she wants Levi to run away with her. What will they do. But god, she knows she can brave any storm with him.

“But when this is over... We can figure out how...” Levi says, laboriously, and he links his pinky with hers. He’s humanity’s strongest, surely he can learn to thatch a roof.

“Yeah...” Hanji says, breathless. She’s smart. She’ll figure it out. And she thinks she never wants to die. “Yeah okay...”

She takes this as her cue to lie beside him, head leaning against his good shoulder, hand over his heart. Hanji was right all along. Levi kisses her forehead and tells her he wants her.

“What’s this?” She whispers, eyelids getting heavy, like she’s going to drift off to a long sleep. By morning, the sun will caress her cheek, and if this life permits, she will fall back asleep again in Levi’s arms.

“Whatever you want it to be...” he replies.

“Okay...” she says-

We’re the last two people on earth, waiting for the storm to pass.

#hope you like it💖#levihaneggschange2021 #levihan #Levi x hange zoe #Levi Ackerman #hange zoe #mine #my fic #shingeki no kyojin #i hope there are no mistakes I rewrote this a few times!#Levi x hange #Levi x Hanji

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bluesylveon2 · 3 years

Text

How to Confess to a Guy

Summary: Levi and Hange have a crush on one another for years. It is now time for someone to step up and confess!

Disclaimer: Attack on Titan is a manga/anime series written by Hajime Isayama and published by Kondasha

A/N: @levihanweek Thank you for hosting the Levihan Eggschange event! I enjoyed participating in it.

To my giftee, I hope you find your gift and enjoy it. I hope the clues I gave you helped as well. Enjoy! :)

Camp Paradis is a 7-week, 400-acre summer camp for teenagers hidden deep in the woods of Washington state. Founded in the 1950s by the Fritz family, it is run by Dot Pixis, a man famous for his many achievements when he was a camper many years ago. It is known for offering a variety of activities for each camper. Some activities included fishing, sailing, swimming, paddle boarding, and more!

The camp had a small lake with 12 cabins surrounding it. Each cabin had three campers and one counselor. Each camp counselor was typically seniors and college students. Additionally, there was an even bigger lake, Lake Maria, where the camp's rival, Camp Marley, resided across. Camp Marley was also 7 weeks but had 500 acres, and it was by Theo Magath.

No two counselors in Camp Paradis are alike. Each counselor is unique. For example, Erwin Smith, the counselor for Ursus cabin, is greatly admired by his campers because of his dedication and leadership quality. He is the counselor who typically leads his cabin to victory every year at the Paradis games that occur at the last week of camp.

On the other hand, Levi Ackerman, the counselor for Vulpes cabin, was known as very strict with his campers. Other campers from other cabins note how it always smells like detergent, and his campers clean the cabin often.

(They are in the woods, for crying out loud! How did he manage to bring all of the cleaning supplies? This remained a mystery to everyone except in the Vulpes cabin.)

Just like any other teenage-related camp, the campers always spread rumors to relieve their boredom. Some of which have not been debunked.

Rumor 1: Bigfoot is hidden somewhere deep in the woods that has yet to be found. There were occasional sightings near the camp in the previous years. Dot Pixis himself almost caught him one day but failed. Anyone who can find and capture Bigfoot can earn a generous reward from Pixis. Eren and his friends actually tried to look for it but ran into his older half-brother, Zeke, instead (he kind of looked like one in the dark). He and his friends did not realize they walked all the way to Camp Marley.

Rumor 2: Someone went to Camp Marley to serenade Annie Leonhart when she was outside playing the piano. Annie refused to reveal who, yet she blushed every time someone from Camp Marley asked. Someone (*cough Ymir) had an idea who. Some campers claimed to see Ymir often tease Armin after the rumors started. It is possible the Armin did it.

Rumor 3: Levi Ackerman likes Hange Zoe from Strix cabin and vice versa. Actually, it seemed more like a fact than a rumor to everyone except them.

Let's look at the evidence:

Evidence 1: Levi always takes care of Hange when she forgets to take care of herself. It typically ranges from, but not limited to: making sure she eats, jumping into any time she is at risk for injury without a second thought, tending to her wounds when she does get hurt, forcing her to bathe (Connie accidentally walked into it once. He vowed to constantly check on Levi and Hange's whereabouts before he gets killed by Levi's death glare), and "accidentally" eliminating any suitors Hange may have.

(He does not actually kill them or anything. That is against camp rules. There was one time when Zeke Yeager went to Camp Paradis to confess his feelings to Hange. He actually almost made it to her cabin but a random shoe "accidentally" hit him on the head, causing him to stumble and fall into the lake. No one knows how he fell, but Hange walked out to see what was going on. She saw Levi drinking tea nearby, while mysteriously missing a shoe, and went to him. Apparently, she did not see Zeke at all, so Zeke had to get help from Pieck, who was hiding nearby)

Evidence 2: Hange rants to Levi about her latest research back home. Hange can talk anyone into sleeping with the amount of research she does. Yet, Levi stays up to listen. It could be because of his insomnia, but he never gets tired of listening to her rants. Other campers note that he at least looks interested every time Hange rants.

Evidence 3: The one incident last year when Hange was jealous and did not talk to Levi for half of the camp duration. There was a rumor going around that Levi was dating Petra, counselor of Lynx cabin. As a result, Hange hung out with Moblit, counselor of Lupus cabin, more that year instead. Hange claimed it was to give the couple space, but only her closest friends could tell something was up.

For instance, Eren was hiking on another expedition to find Bigfoot when he ran into Hange, kicking down a tree in anger. Eren immediately ran back to camp in hopes that Hange did not notice him and broke his bones. He was actually intimidated by her for a week.

(In reality, Hange was so sure Levi was going to confess to her that year. Additionally, Levi was jealous of how Hange spent time with Moblit more. Not everyone in camp could tell except for his campers Eren, Jean, and Connie. They could feel the chills running down their spines every time Levi was in the cabin with them, and it was summer.)

Evidence 4: Levi was always by Hange's side. Anyone in the camp can tell you that Levi is at least nearby Hange unless it is for very personal reasons (except bathing). He mainly stayed close to her after last year's incident when he literally kicked down her door and cleared the misunderstandings.

(In reality, Levi and Petra were not dating. Petra had confided to Levi about dating advice (for a reason he is unaware of, except everyone in the camp *cough Hange *cough). In the end, Levi remained single and had to fix the Strix cabin's door. On the bright side, Petra started dating Oluo Bozado from Meles cabin.)

Neither party had ever confessed to one another despite all the evidence proving that they have feelings for one another. Now that both Levi and Hange are about to graduate high school, it was the perfect time to confess before they go their separate ways because of their careers.

However, life is very unexpected, and when you add Hange to the mix…

Well, anything goes.

---

"This is it," Hange said to herself as she got everything ready in her canoe. She was prepared to sail across the lake towards Levi's cabin.

Both cabins were situated on different sides of the lake. The camp was designed so one half was for boys and the other half was for girls. It was a very dumb inconvenience for Hange.

Hange scoffed as she sat down on the canoe and began rowing. "Why couldn't our cabins be placed next to each other. It would give me less work to do." The only guy and girl cabins next to each other were Petra's cabin and Mike's cabin.

Hange decided that today was the day she will confess to Levi. They have been in an awkward "does he/she like me? does he/she not?" for years now, and none of them confessed at all. There are even rumors about it, for crying out loud!

The two had met three years ago when Hange and Levi were campers at Camp Paradis. It was really unexpected. Hange was ready to get down in the dirt during the activities and often kept some insects to study. On the other hand, Levi was a clean freak and a prodigy at the camp activities. It became sort of like a friendly competition between the two, and then they suddenly started hanging out more. They have known each other for years. She even calls herself his best friend.

(She never realized how recently Levi would scowl every time she claimed to be his best friend. To him, she was much more than that.)

Overall, Hange would look forward to seeing Levi again every summer.

It has been four years of dancing around whatever they have that Hange now dared herself to confess before the summer ends, and they leave for college. It is better to do something and get rejected (which she hopes does not happen) than do nothing.

Hange stopped rowing when she got close enough that Levi has to hear her. She could make out his figure sitting on the front steps of his cabin with Mike, Erwin, and Furlan.

She sets the oar to the side, takes a deep breath, and presses play on the small radio she took from Rico's cabin. The beginning notes of the song plays in the air.

You can do this

Hange began to sing the first line.

---

Minutes before

Mike, Erwin, and Furlan were talking about who knows what, not Levi was not paying attention anyway. His mind was preoccupied with a certain eccentric girl he knew.

She was very secretive lately. Sometimes she would freak out whenever Levi approached her, and he has not seen her all day. He even planned on confessing to her after dinner. It seemed as if Hange was preoccupied with something.

Levi would not even get to say one word before Hange ran off, claiming she is busy and cannot be disturbed.

Levi scowled at the thought. Hange would usually tell him beforehand if she is busy, but her saying nothing? Something is definitely up, but she wants to not tell him then it was fine by him (or so he says).

Furlan, who noticed Levi's brooding, smirked. "Hey Levi, are you thinking about Hange again?"

Mike and Erwin stopped talking and smirked as well.

Levi rolled his eyes. "I was not thinking about Hange. At all." He said in a serious tone.

"Mhmm," Furlan replied. He shifted in his spot and gave Levi a smug look. He was not convinced.

"Don't hide it, Levi," Mike added. "We all know how you go goo-goo eyes every time Hange enters the room. You are always checking up on her too."

"I don't make goo-goo eyes at Hange," Levi deadpanned with a monotone voice. "I only check up on her because it is a miracle she can see those dirty her glasses she wears."

Erwin's smirk never faded away as he lightly elbows Furlan on the side. "He always calls her by two nicknames, Furlan. He gives anyone more than one nickname too. They might not sound endearing, but he rarely calls Hange by her name."

"Can you imagine what Levi is thinking now?" Furlan laughed. He turned around from his spot, so he back faced Levi, hugged himself, and started making fake kissing noises.

"Oh, Hange! I don't want to be just friends with you. I will marry you, and we're going to have 100 bab-"

Levi slapped Furlan on the head. He stood up the moment Furlan spoke. Mike and Erwin were in the background howling with laughter.

"Cut the crap, Furlan," Levi said and made his way back to his spot on the steps.

"Ok, ok. You win, Levi." Furlan rubbed the back of his head where Levi had slapped him. Luckily for him, Levi did not hit him too hard, and it did not hurt that badly. He goes back to talking to Mike and Erwin about other counselors about other rumors they heard. He will tease Levi again later.

Meanwhile, Levi rolled his eyes at his friend's childishness and began to think about the subject of his earlier torment. It was already almost dinner time, and he has not seen Hange all day. He was hoping she would at least appear for dinner, or else he would have to drag her to the dining hall by force.

Levi was busy with his thoughts and staring at his feet to notice anything around him. He was too busy to focus on the music playing, and the girl he (does not) have a crush on making her way over from across the lake.

"Uhh, Levi?" Furlan spoke while looking at the lake. Levi ignored him; instead, he was too busy thinking about Hange to notice she was heading towards him at that very moment.

Mike and Erwin turned to face what Furlan was staring at. Their jaws dropped.

On Lake Sina was the one and only Hange Zoe making her way towards Levi's cabin on a canoe while singing the song "We Belong" by Pat Benatar so loud that everyone in the camp could hear her. She also wore shorts and a camp T-shirt. She did not wear a life jacket.

Talk about romantic.

"Levi!" Mike said urgently and shook his shoulder.

"What?" Levi turned to Mike. He was irritated by his friends messing with him about his crush (yes, he will admit it but not out loud to his nosy friends).

What else did they need now? They could always bother someone else.

Levi noticed where Mike was pointing to and was about to turn in said direction until he heard a voice coming from somewhere behind him.

"Well, it seems like you won't die a virgin after all, huh, shortass? Who knew?"

Levi knew that voice. His cousin, Mikasa, from Cervidae cabin, Levi had the pleasure (not) of watching over at this camp. It was a good thing he did not have to deal with her and her obvious crush on Eren Jaeger. He did feel bad for Rico because she had to deal with that gloomy brat in her cabin.

Levi turned around to face his cousin. She was standing a few feet away from him with a few of her friends that he recognized. The tall, brunette one with her hair in a ponytail, Sasha, also from Cervidae cabin, was eating a sandwich (she probably got it from the camp across the lake). She must have raided Camp Marley recently.

(They have a chef there who can apparently make really delicious food. Levi only knew because Hange planned on kidnapping him one time just to try some).

Mikasa's other friend, Historia, the short blonde-haired girl from Lynx cabin, smiled pleasantly at Levi.

"What are you talking about, brat?" he glared at Mikasa.

Historia giggled and pointed in the direction of the lake. "Over by the lake. Can't you hear Hange singing? I knew she could sing, but wow! I wonder if she is singing to a lucky guy? That would be so adorable!"

Levi's eyes widen in surprise. He tuned out Historia's gushing when it hit him.

That means…Hange...oh no.

He turned his head to find that Hange was indeed singing and making her way towards his direction.

His direction!

Erwin and Mike noticed the blush on Levi's face and smirked. Furlan clamped his hand on Levi's shoulder like a proud dad. Levi could hear the smirk in Furlan's voice that he would love to punch away if it weren't for Hange.

"I wonder who the guy is too, Historia. He is indeed a lucky guy."

Levi shook Furlan off and started heading towards Hange.

Hange noticed Levi coming closer and stops rowing. She dropped her oar off to the side.

"Hey! Levi!" She yelled out loud while waving her arms around.

She did not have to yell so loudly, though. The sound traveled perfectly from her mouth and into Levi's ear within seconds because of the lake.

He began speed walking towards Hange.

There was a voice in the background yelling something about how Hange was doing great so far. It sounded like Nifa, but Levi was too busy to check. He needed to get to Hange first.

Levi watched as Hange accidentally drops her oar into the lake when she moved back to row some more. Hange, scrambling to retrieve it, said an "I got it!" in her normal voice until she accidentally tripped and fell into the lake.

She was not wearing a life jacket on either.

Levi stopped speed walking and ran towards Hange. Once he was close to the lake, and without thinking, he took off his shirt and dove into the lake to save Hange.

---

Also a few minutes ago

"I know Hange is a smart girl and all, but wouldn't it have been easier to just walk around the lake to confess to Levi?" Nanaba asked aloud as she took a sip from her water bottle. Some sweat dripped down her brow from being out in the sun all day.

Nanaba sat on the steps of her cabin (Alces) while her campers was out and about. Her cabin was next to Hange's, and she even helped Hange prepare before her big love confession.

Rico, who walked by earlier to see why Nanaba was staring at the lake, sighed from Nanaba's right. "Love does weird things to you, Nanaba. Remember when Mike confessed to you last year? I wonder why do people from this camp confess while using the lakes, though?" She questioned while recalling that one rumor and how Mike confessed to Nanaba by bringing her to a picnic near Lake Maria.

Nanaba laughed and turned to Rico while wiggling her eyebrows. She grinned like the Cheshire Cat. "So when are you going to get a canoe across the lake and confess to Ian?" she said while gesturing to Hange, who was still singing to Levi.

Rico blushed and elbowed Nanaba's side. "Shut up! I do not like Ian like that! Mind your own business!" She turned away from Nanaba and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Her face was still red.

Nanaba turned back to watch Hange sing and rests her chin on the palm of her hand. Her elbow was resting on her thigh. "Mhmm. Go tell yourself that."

"I think it's a cute idea. It would be very boring and tiresome to walk around the lake just to confess. Serenading on the lake is much more unique." Nifa, counselor of Tamias cabin, piped up from Nanaba's left. She had heard Hange's singing nearby and was curious about what was going on. She sat next to Nanaba. It seemed like Nanaba knew what was going on.

Ah. It seemed that Nifa also joined in on the watch party, Nanaba thought. Now a good chunk of the camp was curious about Hange's business.

The trio watched as Hange rowed closer to Levi. This time, some of the campers from the other cabins watched Hange from Levi's side. They did not stand close but a far distance instead. They were curious about what was going on and did not want to get too close to suffer from Levi's wrath.

They all watched as Levi stood up from his spot and began speed walking towards the lake. Meanwhile, Hange continued to sing her song.

Nifa brought her hands up to her face and cupped them around her mouth to amplify her voice.

"You're doing great, sweetie!"

Hange was doing great. Indeed, she was almost at her destination. All she had to do was pick up the oar and go back to rowing…

Until she accidentally dropped her oar, causing Levi to start running towards her.

They could not hear what Hange said, but they could assume she was trying to reassure Levi that she was ok and to retrieve the oar...until she misstepped and fell into the lake.

Oops.

Nanaba and Rico turned to Nifa with a shocked look. Nifa held her hands up in innocence.

"I swear. I did not mean or intend for all of that to happen."

"We have to help Hange!" Nanaba yelled. Both she and Rico stood up to try to help Hange but stopped by Nifa, grabbing the back of their shirts.

"What are you doing, Nifa?" Nanaba said with irritation. Nifa did not say anything but nodded her head towards the lake. She lets go of their shirts after they brought their attention to the lake too.

The girls watched as Levi took his shirt off and dove into the lake to save Hange.

Problem solved.

"Doesn't Levi know that Hange is a good swimmer?" Nifa asked from behind Nanaba.

Rico scoffed. "You tell me. I always have to train for the swimming competitions, but I can never beat her." Rico always dreaded when her cabin was put up against Hange’s. She usually placed at either second or third place. No one could outswim Hange, not even Levi.

They watched as Levi grabbed Hange, threw her over his shoulder, and made his way back to his cabin. The onlookers made a path for him because they were too scared to focus on Levi.

The girls sighed with relief. This was practically a typical day at Camp Paradis.

Nanaba turned to Rico and Nifa. "Anyone up for a snack at the dining hall?"

After everything they just saw, Rico and Nifa both nodded in agreement.

---

"Is the cabin empty?" Hange asked from behind the bathroom door. It has been an hour since the incident. Levi had dragged her into his cabin, and he threw her into his bathroom. He also gave her some of his extra set of clothes and demanded that she took a bath before she gets sick.

Each cabin has two bathrooms, so each camper only had to share with one person. Levi shoved Hange into his/Eren's bathroom while he took a shower in Jean/Connie's. Hange freshened up and clean, stood stationary behind the bathroom door. She practically smelled like Levi. From the soap, she used to the clothes she wore. They all smelled like the definition of clean.

"Yes." That was all Levi replied with a slightly irritated tone in his voice.

Hange groaned from behind the door and rested her forehead on the hardwood. That was the voice Levi would use when he was ready to lecture her. She leaned her head back and placed her hand on the doorknob. She took a deep breath as she opened the door and met Levi's expecting face. His eyebrows were furrowed slightly, he had his arms crossed over his chest, and he looked a bit irritated.

(Hange was thankful that he was dressed similarly to her and she did not walk out to see him shirtless)

She walked towards Levi, sitting on his bed. Each cabin is big enough for each camper to have a total of four beds. Each footstep was like a walk of shame for Hange. Yet, Levi did not say a word. He spoke up the moment she sat down next to him on the bed. The bed shifted down slightly from the extra weight.

"Hange, what were you thinking? You did not have a life jacket on, and you fell in the middle of the lake. You scared a lot of the camp and me. Be careful next time you pull something like that," He said while facing her, concern laced in his voice.

Hange rubbed the back of her neck nervously. She looked up to meet Levi's steel-gray eyes.

"I'm sorry I worried everyone, Levi. I will be more considerate next time. Although…"

Hange began to chuckle to herself at the memory of Levi umping in to save her.

"You know I'm a good swimmer, right?" She placed her hand on Levi's shoulder and shook it slightly. "I would have made it back just fine-"

She stopped shaking his shoulder and sets it down on her lap. "I appreciate you umping in to save me, though." She said with a grin.

Suddenly, Hange raised her hands and leaned forward. She wrapped both of her arms around Levi's midsection and pulled him close to her body for a hug. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you, Levi."

Levi prayed that Hange could not feel his heart pounding against his chest or see him blush. His crush was close to him, for crying out loud!

He moved his arms to hug Hange back. He could feel nervousness rising up in his body along with his rapid heartbeat. This is it. He will confess to Hange now, and it does not matter if he gets rejected or not. She had to know, even if the song she sang was for someone else.

Levi leaned back from Hange, but he maintained the hug. Their faces were only a few inches away from each other.

"Hange, I have something to tell you. I need you to hear me out for a few minutes."

Hange nodded in agreement. "Ok…" she said with some uncertainness. She was unsure what he was going to say, and he gave her the most serious look on his face. He stared deeply into her amber-brown eyes.

"I appreciate you."

Huh?

Hange tilted her head in confusion. "Come again, Levi."

Levi looked away and sighs. Ok. That was not a rejection. He just has to change tactics to get it to Hange and hopefully not make it sound awkward. Levi had no experience with him confessing before. Other girls had confessed to him, but it was with material stuff. He wanted to use words for his confession.

Levi looked up again and stared into Hange's eyes again. "I want to dedicate my heart to you." Ok, now that sounded a bit too much.

Levi continued speaking anyway before he could change tactics again.

"I just want to say that I like you, Hange." He said sincerely. "I like listening to you talk, your personality, and your humor. I want you to at least be aware before we go to college and if the song from earlier is not for me."

Levi stared at Hange's face and attempted to read her emotions. Her eyes widened with shock, and her mouth was open in a small o. She stayed that way for a few minutes until the shock became full-on laughter.

Hange was laughing at him.

She let go of Levi and threw her head back. Her face was full of delight.

Usually, Levi would not mind listening to her laugh, even if it was at him. It was one of his favorite sounds to her, not that she needed to know that.

However, this is different from before. Levi frowned but did not make a move to stand up. He needed an explanation for this.

Hange turned back to Levi after she calmed down a bit. "Levi." She said. Her voice had some laughter evident in her voice. Here comes the rejection.

"The song was for you."

What?

Levi only blinked in response. Hange began to swing her legs a bit and placed her hands on her lap. "I wanted to confess to you today, and I thought what serenade you from the lake." She explained.

"I guess I was too excited to miss some necessities. Sorry about that, by the way."

She leaned forward to grab Levi's right hand. Levi made no move to remove it, so she interlocks their fingers together.

"But you beat me to it, huh, Levi?" She chuckled while staring down fondly at their hands.

Levi stared at their hands as well. He could not believe this. They were going to confess to each other on the same day.

Suddenly, Levi leaned forward to rest his head on Hange's shoulder. "Will you be my girlfriend, Hange?"

Hange turned to Levi in shock. Levi moves his head to meet her eyes. The eyes he adores.

Hange smiled at him. Her eyes glowed with happiness. "Yes." That was enough for Levi.

He let go of Hange's hand and placed it on the back of her head. He grasped her hair a bit but not rough at all.

Hange watched as Levi leaned closer.

And closer.

Until they were a few centimeters apart. The cabin was quiet except for their breathing. Both of their breaths fanned each other's faces.

"What are you doing, Levi?" Hange asked with a hint of curiosity. She made no move to pull away, so Levi took it as a sign to explain his motives.

"Can I kiss you?"

Hange blinked a few times before nodding her head to give Levi an ok.

Levi closed the gap between the two. It was a short and sweet kiss. There heat or desire to move their relationship up to another base.

They leaned back from the kiss with a happy look on their faces. Hange had a goofy grin while Levi smiled at her. It was rare to see Levi smile, and Hange was delighted to be a source for it.

"That was my first kiss," Hange confessed.

"Mine too." Levi chuckled. His hand was still gripping Hange's hair. He kept his grip as he elated back on the bed, bringing Hange down with him.

"Levi!" Hange exclaimed and sat up on her elbows. Who knew Levi was so bold?

"What if the other campers see us?" She said with some nervousness.

Levi rolled his eyes and lightly flicked Hange's forehead. "We are not having sex. I'm just tired, and I want to take a nap with my girlfriend."

He smirked. "Besides, I sent my campers over to Furlan's cabin. They won't come back until we have to go to bed."

Hange looked at him suspiciously while rubbing her forehead from earlier. "You promise?"

Levi nodded his head. "I promise."

Hange let out a small yawn. It has been a long day. She moved so she can lay her body to the spot next to Levi. Meanwhile, Levi turned over to face his nightstand, so he can set his alarm for them to wake up before dinner. He then picked up the blanket and placed it over both of their bodies. They were both facing the wall.

"Sleep well, Hange." He spooned her from behind and placed a small kiss on the back of her neck.

Hange smiled before getting comfortable in Levi's arms. "Goodnight, Levi."

The two spent a few minutes in silence and tranquility. Levi was happy to spend some quality time with his dream girl.

“Hey, Levi. Use that dedicate your heart line for when you propose.” He can hear the smugness in Hange’s voice.

He lightly kicked her on the shin. “Go to sleep.”

Hange could not see it, but Levi had a small smile on his face as he drifted off to sleep.

---

"I KNEW IT!!!" Nanaba yelled while standing up and pointing at the new couple walking into the dining hall holding hands. Erwin and Mike were startled by the sudden outburst. Furlan was smirking victoriously. His friend, Isabel, rolled her eyes at Furlan's smirk.

(Petra, Nifa, Moblit, and Rico were sitting at another table noticed the couple at the doorway. Nifa and Petra squealed in delight while Rico and Moblit smiled. The other girls from Hange's cabin squealed as well since they secretly shipped her with Levi).

Levi and Hange stopped walking. Hange started laughing behind her free hand, and Levi gave Nanaba an annoyed look.

Everyone stopped eating to turn to the source of the sound. Nanaba, noticing the multiple stares, rubs the back of her head nervously and laughs. "Sorry about that, go back to eating."

Furlan smirked as Levi and Hange passed by the usual table to get some food. He turned to Isabel sitting next to him. He stuck his hand out to her and moved his fingers in pay-up motion. "Pay up, Isabel. I won the bet."

Isabel stuck out her tongue at him. "If only Levi-Bro waited until the end of the summer. I would have won 50 bucks," she said while reluctantly handing Furlan 50 dollars.

Furlan hummed in content and pocketed the money in his shorts pocket. "Appreciate the business, Izzy. Now, are you willing to put down money for when Levi and Hange get married?" He said and held his hand out for a handshake to seal the agreement.

Isabel smirked and shook Furlan's hand in agreement. "You're on, Furlan. We'll discuss this later." She turned away from Furlan and smiles at the couple coming to their table. "The new couple is coming here now."

"Hi everyone!" Hange beamed after sitting down across from Furlan. Levi sat between Hange and Nanaba.

Everyone at the table said hi in reply.

Erwin pushed his finish tray slightly on the table in front of him and turned to Hange. "Congratulations, Hange and Levi. I hope the two of you have a happy relationship."

Nanaba and Mike smiled as well. "Congrats, Levi," said Nanaba.

"Congrats, Hange," said Mike.

"I knew you could do it. Levi-Bro! You have had a crush on Hange since forever!" Isabel exaggerated the word forever.

Levi blushed, and Furlan smirked. He turned to Hange. "Say, Hange. How many kids-"

"Don't even finish that sentence, Furlan." Levi threatened, yet his face was still red from blushing. He did not want Furlan to bring up the conversation about children from earlier today.

Hange laughed from the interaction and leaned down to kiss Levi on the cheek. "Don't worry about him, Furlan." She leaned down towards his ear.

"We can discuss the number of children we would have later." She winked at him and went back to eating as if nothing happened between the two. Meanwhile, Levi opened his mouth slightly in shock. He did not expect that out of Hange! Mike, Erwin, and Furlan chuckled at this.

Nanaba (who luckily did not hear Hange) still noticed Levi's shock. "Levi, close your mouth before some flies get in." she lectured to him in a motherly tone. This broke Levi out of his shock, and he goes back to focus on eating.

Everyone continued talking and sharing any recent stories they had. Suddenly, Hange slammed her hands down on the table, shocking everyone at the table. She turned to face Levi.

"Levi! Where is Mikasa? We need to tell her about us!" She exclaimed and shook Levi's shoulders.

Oh, right. Hange would want to tell Mikasa about her new relationship since she saw Mikasa as family. Plus, they will most likely be an actual family in the future. Levi raised his hands up to grab Hange's and set it down on her lap. "Stop, Hange. She's probably eating with Eren and Armin. We can tell her later."

Erwin raised his eyebrows in confusion. "Actually, Levi. I haven't seen Mikasa ever since she showed up with Sasha and Historia. Isabel put her utensils down and joined in on the conversation.

"I saw her with Eren and Armin an hour before dinner. They were sitting together deep in a conversation…"

Levi looked up to scan his eyes across the dining hall. He noticed Armin's blonde hair sitting at his regular table with his friends. He sat at a table with Jean, Connie, Sasha, Ymir, and Historia. He noted how Armin noticed his stare and looked away as if he was scared of him.

Mikasa and Eren were nowhere in sight.

---

Bonus:

"Be careful, Eren!"

Mikasa said while raising her voice slightly. She did not want to yell, or else she might alert anyone in the forest.

"I'll be fine, Mikasa," he assured her. "I can feel it! Bigfoot is nearby." He said with excitement.

"This is the last time, Eren. We are already missing dinner, and who knows if Armin can stall for us any longer. Levi is going hunt us down. Plus, I don't want to end up in Camp Marley again."

Mikasa and Eren only had a few snacks on them. Mikasa managed to slip into her cabin to grab some from Sasha's secret stash. Sasha and Historia were busy watching the chaos at the lake.

"I promise, Mikasa. Thank you for coming with me. I don't think I can do this alone." He turned back to Mikasa with a big grin. He was also recalling the time he was searching in the forest to find Bigfoot and ran into an angry Hange instead,

Mikasa smiled in return, and the two continued their search to find Bigfoot.

Meanwhile, the two did not realize that they passed a figure watching them from a reasonable distance away behind a tree. Its eyes watched as the two humans continued their search. It slipped away sneakily into the darkness. It went away from Camp Paradis and towards the forest near Camp Marley instead.

---

Some quick notes:

I kinda based this fic off of one scene from Pitch Perfect 2 and other summer camp-related movies I watched (I don't have much knowledge of summer camp 😭)

Cabin names are based on scientific names of different animals

I hc Hange being good at swimming. Let's face it. If she can swim down a river while carrying a 65 kg man, and miraculously not get any gunshot wounds (not counting a spike in adrenaline to live); I'm sure Hange is a good swimmer.

#levihaneggschange2021 #levihan #levihan fanfiction #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #levihan eggschange

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sarahjacquliner · 3 years

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Thank you @levihanweek for letting me participate and for being super accommodating!! And to you my giftee hope my clues get you to find your lovely surprise!

Song: Lovely - Billie Eilish & Khalid

Small Screen + headphones! & CC

#levihan #levihan week #levihaneggschange2021 #levihan eggschange #attack on titan #levi x hange #levi #levi ackerman #hange #hange zoe #shinjeki no kyojin #lovely billie eilish #billie eilish

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mimirexx · 3 years

Text

Dear giftee, i hope you find your easter gift and i hope you’ll like it! ✨

And a big thanks to @levihanweek for hosting this event!

You can read this fic either on AO3 or under the cut!

Sunsets At The Pond

It was only thanks to Isabel and Farlan that Levi decided to let Hanji get closer to them. It was the right decision because she became a very important person to him- even if she keeps getting on his nerves all. the. damned. time.

“I saw it, you know? The decisive moment!”

“The decisive moment?” Levi questioned in his calm tone, drawing his knife behind his back without anyone noticing and preparing himself for a massacre he was about to commit. “What are you talking about?”

“What I’m talking about?” The brunette in front of him repeated, her glasses catching the light for a moment. She was crouching a bit, her hands on her knees to look at Levi who was sitting on the ground.

If she did that while he was standing, he would behead that woman without second thought.

“It’s obvious that I’m talking about the moment when you brought down that titan!” Her shrill voice echoed in Levi’s ears, making him rethink his plans to murder that woman. For now.

Good she didn’t notice the real plan he and his friends had. That saved her life. Again, only for now.

“That was really amazing!” She exclaimed, holding up a fist as her lips curled into a joyful grin. “I was overwhelmed with excitement!”

Levi stared for a couple moments in silence, definitely not having expected that kind of reaction coming from anyone in the Survey Corps. They all despised them since they saw Levi and his friends as thieves and thugs- which itself wasn’t even that wrong.

“...Ah.” He sounded quietly and hid the knife again.

Levi lived in the underground ever since he started thinking, stealing has always been a condition of survival. How else would he get food on the table? It wasn’t like work in the underground really paid off, everyone there was corrupt and dirty.

Isabel and Farlan, his two only friends, were the first and only people he really trusted and cared for. They took care of and looked out for each other. The very reason Levi agreed to joining the Survey Corps was because they got captured and it would have costed his friends’ lives if he didn’t.

They’ve remained for themselves that far, didn’t exactly try to get close to anyone. That weird brunette with the glasses was strange and Levi didn’t like her. She could become a threat since she didn’t seem to be stupid and would get behind his intention to kill Erwin sooner or later. Maybe he needed to murder her before Erwin.

“I’m Hanji Zoe. You’re Levi, right?”

Levi blinked, then sighed with slight irritation. Were they getting friendly now? How annoying.

“Mhm.” He just sounded in response, not very interested to keep the conversation up.

He watched as this Hanji lady plopped down between Farlan and Isabel and began chatting with them. Isabel was a pure-hearted being, she warmed up to Hanji the fastest. Hanji even handed her a little pouch with sweets and that was enough to win over Isabel.

On second glance, even Farlan didn’t seem too repulsed by the person that was Hanji Zoe either. Only Levi had to fight with himself quite a lot.

~~~

It was two days later when Hanji suddenly barged into their room during the early evening with what she deemed an awesome idea: visiting a nearby pond to watch the sunset.

“No.” Levi denied without hesitation, “you’re just trying to get us in trouble.”

“I’m not, I promise!” Hanji defended quickly.

“Aw, c’mon, Big Bro!” Isabel began pleading as well. “I think that sounds really fun! And I’ve never been to a pond before!”

“I’m not in the base past curfew on a regular basis and never got caught this far. Nobody will see us, I promise.” Hanji added.

“No,” Levi repeated simply.

The young redhead didn’t like that answer in any way. She pouted, her eyes growing double their size, and folded her hands in front of herself to plead. “Please? I bet it’d be so fun. We finally got out of that stinky hole, I wanna explore the surface now. See the nature and animals and everything else!”

Levi glared but it was no use. He could never stay stern with Isabel when she looked at him like that. Damn her and her sad puppy eyes. He hated how she was abusing his soft spot for something so ridiculous.

After a long moment, he exhaled deeply. “Fine. But,” he added quickly and narrowed his eyes at Hanji in particular, “if we get in trouble because of you, I will not hesitate to slice your neck.”

“I have no doubt about that.” The brunette in question just smiled at Levi’s threat. That was a first. People usually got intimidated, that weirdo looked joyful as ever. Humans were strange.

And that was how Levi agreed on sneaking out to the pond with Isabel, Farlan and Hanji. They spent the whole night there while Hanji spewed things about nature like a waterfall and Isabel was listening with the most interest ever.

They all watched the sunset in the evening. Isabel was awestruck and so exhilarated. Levi could swear he never saw her happier in his life. Farlan was quite impressed too, his grin gave it away. Even Levi’s expression softened at the sight and he enjoyed their little trip as well.

By the end, it wasn’t even that bad. It was a nice change, Levi had to admit. On the bright side, it brought a smile on Isabel’s face so it definitely was worth it. He’d never forget about that smile.

~~~

After Isabel and Farlan died on a mission not too long after, Levi distanced himself from everyone. They were his family so it was really hard for him to accept their deaths. He needed space.

It turned out Hanji Zoe was a good influence for helping him process it. She stayed by his side even after several times of Levi shouting “leave me alone!” at her and made sure he wasn’t feeling too lonely while still giving him the space he needed. He never would’ve believed it, but she really was a big help.

One week after their deaths, Hanji convinced Levi to go to the pond again.

They snuck out before nighttime and sat in the grass in front of the pond, staring at the water quietly. There was no wind so the water was calm, just like the rest of their surroundings. The soft sounds of crickets and frogs in the distance filled the silence, having a good impact on the awkwardness. It wasn’t dead silent, at least.

“They were good people,” Hanji eventually spoke, doing something in the grass Levi wasn’t interested in to check. “I’ve lost important people too, I know how you feel. I’m really sorry.”

Levi usually would’ve snapped, would’ve told Hanji that she had no idea how he felt or what he was going through. But somehow, her words held so much sincerity that he couldn’t but believe what she said. She got to know Isabel and Farlan for a few days too and Levi was grateful they were remembered by a second person.

He stared up at the sky quietly and wondered where his two best friends were now and how they were doing. If they were watching him from above, he hoped they weren’t teasing him.

‘See? Told you Hanji was a good person!’ Isabel would probably say. ‘I think she could be one of us!’

Farlan would probably say something along the lines of ‘Don’t end up alone, Levi. Make friends and become stronger.’

He would become stronger so he never had to lose anyone again. He would become the strongest to protect these dear to him- which at the moment only was Hanji. He felt like they were starting to form some kind of friendship.

“And done.” Hanji spoke up after a while, pulling Levi out of his thoughts and making him look over. He tilted his head at Hanji in confusion, seeing she was hiding something.

“What’s done?” He asked with furrowed brows.

The brunette smiled and moved over a little to show what she was working on the whole time they’ve been sitting there.

Levi blinked down at what looked like two flower-boats. Hanji took waterlilies and arranged them on a big green leaf each with smaller flowers and decorations she made of their surroundings all around. One of the flowers was a deep red, the other a bright yellow which faded into a soft white. In the middle of each flower, Hanji placed a little candle.

“I thought that since we couldn’t give them an appropriate burial, we can at least say goodbye properly.” She murmured and looked up into Levi’s eyes.

He stared at the flowers in silence, taking a few moments to let it sink in. His heart was beating a little faster and he could feel a lump forming in his throat, could feel the tears pricking in his eyes.

He never would’ve expected anyone to do something for his fallen friends, so it caught him off guard for sure.

“You don’t like it..? I’m sorry, that wasn’t very sensible of me…”

“No,” Levi stopped her from putting away the flowers by taking a gentle hold of her wrist, careful to not mess up anything she built. “I… That’s… I would like to.. I want to... say goodbye.”

He was never very good with words but Hanji didn’t seem to mind. She just gave a small nod and carefully placed one of the flowers into Levi’s open palm. “I thought we could put them into the water and light the candle,” she suggested.

Levi nodded and looked down at the flower, treating it with the utmost care as they approached the pond and knelt down right in front of the water. It was starting to get darker now. With a gentle motion, Levi lowered the flower into the water while he made sure that nothing fell off. The flowers on the leaf swam on top of the water even after he took his hands away. Hanji was quite skilled when it came to building things.

Hanji did the same and then handed Levi a match. “Do you want to say something?”

“Yeah…” He muttered and stared down at the flowers. However, Levi remained silent. His heart was speaking and he did not want to say it out loud.

He was thinking back to the times where Isabel made him agree to dumb things, where she tried to hook him up with some random girl and how she always wanted to share her food with him. How she caused trouble for them so many times.

Back to the time he met Farlan, how he started trusting him as the first person years after his uncle left him, how Farlan always lectured him for being too rough and how Farlan always stood on his side and supported him, no matter what it was about.

Farlan and Isabel were the best friends he ever had, his family, and Levi would never forget about them. Without them, he’d be just another brat in the underground. He’d be a no one.

After a few minutes passed in which Levi remembered his friends, he gave a little nod to let Hanji know he was ready.

They both lit the candles inside the flowers and pulled their hands away to let them float further into the pond. The flower-boats entangled between a few leaves and other flowers on the pond before coming to a stop in the middle, the candles flicking and offering a little light in the growing darkness.

Levi watched their every move and soon felt an arm being wrapped around him. Without giving it too much thought, he let it happen and leaned into the embrace while his eyes stayed on the two flowers in the distance.

“...Thank you.” He mumbled and closed his eyes, a few small tears rolling down his cheek.

Hanji rubbed his arm and rested her head on top of his. “They were my friends too, you don’t need to thank me.”

Silence fell over them after that and neither of them made a move to pull away. Levi didn’t feel too uncomfortable with the touching either since he felt like he needed some comfort at the moment. Hanji didn’t seem to judge him and made none of the snarky comments she usually loved doing.

In her arms, he felt safe and comforted, and that was everything he needed at the moment to let out what was going on inside of him. To process everything. Hanji’s comment made him rethink many things and perhaps… perhaps Hanji wasn’t just anyone anymore.

They ended up sitting in the grass for a while and watched the sky turn orange and pink and purple before slowly fading into a very dark blue. A few smaller clouds could be seen faintly.

It was still weird to him how the sun went down and came up and turned the sky into such colors. It didn’t make sense, especially the pink colors. Yellow, orange, he understood. But pink? It was so weird.

A pink weird sunset. Nothing he expected the sky to look like before leaving the underground.

It was still beautiful in its own way, however. Just something he needed Hanji to explain to him some day.

Before the sun was fully up in the next morning, Levi straightened his back and stifled a small yawn. He looked up to see that Hanji had fallen asleep. Her body was supported by a tree from behind and a few leaves were entangled in her messy hair. Levi reached up to take care of it, pulling out each leaf and dropping it into the grass.

Somehow, he saw Hanji so much different now. She wasn’t just some science freak who didn’t shower often enough and was a constant pain in the ass- she was a very compassionate person with a big, big heart. A friend.

...His friend.

~~~

Going to the pond to watch the sunset became a habit. The two of them went there often, either to think of Isabel and Farlan or just to spend some time away from the base. They already went there so many times Levi lost count.

It was a nice place. Levi liked having it for themselves.

“When do you have the- Holy fuck. Get that thing away from me!” Levi’s eyes shot wide open as he attempted to create distance between him and Hanji, and especially what she was holding.

“C’mon, he just wanna be friends!” She laughed, holding up the frog in her hands and moving it dangerously close to Levi.

Levi “tch”ed angrily and took a step away whenever Hanji came closer. His eyes stayed on the frog, his frown deep. “I swear if that thing’s gonna touch me I will shove my foot up your ass so far you’ll be shitting from your mouth for a month!” He threatened in a very serious, deep voice.

But Hanji only laughed and began chasing Levi around the pond, not intimidated in the slightest. “Don’t be mean, Shorty! It’s rude not to say hello!”

“Fuck you!” He spat.

It only took a few steps for Levi to be unfortunate enough to slip on the moist ground. Since the sun already began to set and Hanji had the audacity to chase him with such a disgusting thing in her hands, he couldn’t pay enough attention to the ground. He shielded his fall with his arms, getting mud all over his sleeves and pants. When he looked down to see the mess that was created because of Hanji, his frown deepened.

“Tch! Look what you did!” He snapped, about to stand up and show Hanji a piece of his mind.

But Levi froze suddenly, his eyes slowly starting to widen.

“Oi…”

Hanji stared. Then began cackling and holding her stomach as her hysterical laughter filled the air. “O-Oh my God!”

“Get it off!” Levi growled. He shivered in discomfort when the frog, who dared to hop onto his head, croaked and moved its hands and feet to have more stability in Levi’s hair.

“Oh, God! I wish there was a way to capture this moment!” Hanji laughed, not making a move to help Levi.

The frog croaked again and Levi was frozen in place, his expression dark. The utter disgust he was feeling from having a slimy, dirty, muddy frog on his head was making him stiff. He couldn’t move in fear the frog might touch other places. The discomfort he was in was unbearable.

He shot Hanji a glare who was still laughing. The whole situation amused her a lot, much to Levi’s dismay.

But wouldn’t it have been for her laugh making his heart skip a beat, he long would’ve tossed her into the pond.

“Oi, Hanji, I’m serious.” He muttered and clenched his fists in the grass. “Get it off.”

Once Hanji calmed down a little, she reached up to wipe away a tear. “Oh, dear,” she still chuckled, a little breathlessly, and carefully scooped the frog back into her hands.

Levi exhaled deeply, feeling better now that the animal was gone but feeling disgusting nevertheless. He didn’t even dare to touch his hair.

“Sorry, but you looked too adorable with a frog on your head.” She hummed in feigned innocence. “I think Mr. Froggy has a crush on you~!” She sang.

“Tch.” The raven finally stood up and frowned deeply. “We’re going back. I need to shower.” He stated simply.

“Aw, man. Already?” She pouted.

“Yes. I’m not staying like this longer than necessary. And you will regret this.” He glared, then turned on his heels and began walking away from the pond.

If there was one thing Levi Ackerman hated, it was dirt. Any kind of dirt. Cleanliness was very important to him ever since he was a child, his mother taught him so. Though, he didn’t fully understand why he was spending time with the dirtiest and most unhygienic person in the whole military. How ironic.

“Wait for me!” Hanji exclaimed and gently set the frog down so she could catch up with Levi and walk by his side. “You gotta admit, the frog was pretty cute.”

That thing? Cute? There had to be something seriously wrong with Hanji. “It’s filthy. I don’t even want to know how many germs are on me now. Tch.”

“You’re gonna wash it off and that’s it, there’s no need to make it such a big deal.” She sighed softly, almost longingly. “I wish I could have a frog for myself. As a pet, I mean. But I don’t have a proper terrarium. Or a lizard! Lizards are cool as heck. You can cut off their tails and it grows back! Just like with the titan’s limbs! Did you know-!”

Levi stopped listening once the word ‘titan’ fell, knowing it resulted in an endless rant that he couldn’t escape. He just gave a little hum or grunt every now and then to give the impression he was listening when he really wasn’t. All that didn’t interest him that much. He already heard it at least ten times.

A short walk later, the two arrived back at the headquarters where Levi headed towards his room.

“Alright, see you tom- Huh?”

Levi grabbed her wrist firmly. “You’re gonna take a shower too.”

“Wha-? But Levi, I can just wash my hands and I’ll be fine!” She protested.

“You’re taking a shower,” he repeated more seriously and dragged her into his room.

“That’s not fair! I’ve got plenty other things to do!” She complained, trying to yank her hand back but Levi’s grip was too tight.

Levi rolled his eyes and entered the bathroom with Hanji in tow. “Just imagine we’re still at the water hole, it’s the same.”

Hanji puffed her cheeks and muttered, “it’s not.”

Seeing that she wasn’t fighting back anymore, Levi saw his victory and began unbuttoning his shirt.

“Wait, we’re taking a shower together..?” She questioned confusedly.

“Yes. I don’t trust you to take a proper shower by yourself.” He tossed his jacket and shirt into the hamper. “You’re not the first woman I see naked so just get over with it.”

“Hah! You’re smart but you’re also a pervert.” Hanji chuckled but did as told and began undressing as well.

“Whatever.”

When Levi was fully undressed, he stepped into the shower and turned on the water.

“At least let the water be hot, I know you prefer cold showers.” She dropped her clothes on the floor and took off her glasses, placing them onto the sink. Afterwards, she carefully got into the shower as well and reached out to test the water temperature.

Satisfied with it, Hanji moved her body under the stream of water and closed her eyes, humming in contentment.

“So you do like taking showers.” Levi observed as he began lathering his hair with a lot of soap.

It made Hanji chuckle. “Well, the water is nice. I just don’t like the process of getting into the shower and scrubbing your body and drying and getting dressed again. That’s the annoying part. I usually don’t have time for that.”

“I see.” Levi scrubbed his head furiously and thoroughly, wanting to get all of the frog germs out of his hair. He rinsed out the soap afterwards and repeated the process before he reached up to start washing Hanji’s hair.

Maybe Hanji just needed someone to take over washing her. If Levi had to do it, he would. After all, he was spending most of his time with her anyway. Might as well make sure she took a shower regularly.

Surprisingly enough, his fingers moved very gently on her head and massaged her scalp. He had to pull Hanji’s head down a bit to reach her better but the brunette complied and didn’t try to move away.

She closed her eyes and held onto Levi’s shoulders for support. “This feels good. You’re really good at this.”

Levi said nothing and soon let her move her head under the stream of water to rinse out the soap. He also took care of working the conditioner into Hanji’s messy, knotted hair and let her wash her body herself afterwards, keeping an eye on her to ensure she really washed herself.

When they were both sparkly clean, Levi stepped out of the shower and grabbed two towels, handing one to Hanji before he began drying himself.

Since Levi didn’t let her wear the clothes she wore earlier because they were full of ‘frog germs‘, he gave her some pants that were a little too big for him and a loose t-shirt. The clothes were a little too small for Hanji but neither minded too much. There was no way he would let her wear dirty clothes after he just cleaned her.

“Hey, do you mind if I sleep over?” Hanji asked while getting dressed and grinned. “We could have a sleepover!”

Levi stared, then sighed and rubbed his hair dry. After a while, he spoke up. “You have your own room for a reason, Four Eyes.”

“You never let me sleep over. I even took a shower just for you and you still won’t let me, that’s not what I’d call fair.” She huffed.

He rolled his eyes. “The world’s unfair, better get used to it.” He stated simply.

“Doesn’t mean we have to surrender to that unfairness. C’mon, I wanna sleep over today.” She asked again, putting on her glasses so she could give Levi a big pout.

In a way, Levi was reminded of the many times Isabel asked him for something and pouted just like that when she didn’t get it. And in a way, Hanji hit that very same soft spot in his heart with her childish little pout.

But he still couldn’t just give in so easily. “Go sleep in your own room.”

“That’s mean. I guess I’ll just go and sleep in the stables then, you don’t seem to care much either way.” She turned and took a few steps away from Levi, starting to head over to the door.

Levi remained silent, folding his arms over his chest and eyeing her. He raised a brow quietly.

Hanji slowed down, glancing back at Levi from the corner of her eye. “I said, I’ll just go and sleep in the stables then!” She repeated, a little louder.

But Levi showed no reaction.

“The stables where it’s cold and I will get sick because my hair is still damp!” She emphasized, taking another slow step.

“And where I will be alone the whole night with not even a blanket!” Half a step.

She gasped dramatically. “Where I will sleep for days because not even my friend cares about me!”

Levi’s eye twitched. What did he deserve this for? He cursed under his breath and sighed loudly and deeply. “For fuck’s sake- Fine. I’ll allow it this once. Stop that miserable acting.” He growled.

“Yay!” Hanji smiled and quickly hurried back to Levi.

Soon, Levi and Hanji were laying down on his bed. Levi didn’t face her because he found it too awkward to sleep face-to-face with someone else in the bed and instead faced his back to Hanji.

Just as he closed his eyes to sleep, he could feel an arm around him and soon felt Hanji’s body pressed against his own from behind. He glanced down at the arm first before turning his head at an angle to be able to face her.

“What’re you doing?” He questioned blankly.

Hanji smiled and gave him a squeeze. “Cuddling you. You’re so warm. And you have the perfect size for cuddles. I like that.” She hummed.

Levi stared for a few moments before just turning his head around again and closing his eyes. He reached down to rest his own hand on top of Hanji’s and had to hold back a little smile.

It was a good feeling to be held like that by someone who was important to him. He felt comfortable and warm, didn’t feel lonely in that bed for the first time. Hanji might be a pain in the ass for the most part but Levi genuinely cherished and appreciated her. So he ignored that comment about his height this time for the sake of keeping the good atmosphere.

“Just sleep, you big weirdo,” he mumbled.

Hanji chuckled and nuzzled the back of Levi’s neck. “Night, Levi.”

Yeah, Levi liked that too.

~~~

“Oh, Levi. Good I’m catching you,” Erwin spoke in the hallway, looking over a few papers he was holding. “I need you to-“

“Not now.” Levi cut him off quickly. He had one hand inside his jacket, the other one was pulling it closed and hiding what Levi had.

The blond looked up at that and raised a thick eyebrow in suspicion. “‘Not now’?” He repeated, “Do you have any plans?”

“No.” Levi replied flatly and narrowed his eyes.

Erwin’s gaze fell on Levi’s jacket and the hands trying to hide something. “What do you have there, Levi?” He asked, partly curious and partly confused.

The raven frowned. “None of your business,” he spat, “now move.”

Erwin chuckled heartily. “You’re always so full of surprises.”

“Whatev- tch!” Levi flinched a little and glared down at his jacket. His brows furrowed deeply.

“...Are you sure you’re not trying to hide something?” The blond grinned amusedly.

Levi shot him a glare and stomped past him. “Shut it. Go take care of your own things, Eyebrows.” He muttered as he began walking down the hall.

He let out a small hiss or curses every now and then, making some cadets turn and give him weird looks, but Levi ignored them and kept walking. What he was about to do was important, no matter how weirded out he was by himself.

Only when he reached Hanji’s lab, he stopped and exhaled deeply. He took a short look under his jacket to make sure everything was still fine before opening the door and walking inside. “Oi, Shit Glasses.” He called out.

The woman in question peeked up from under her desk and shot the other a bright grin. “Oh! Hi, Shorty!” She chirped happily.

Levi tilted his head a little. “The hell are you doing under your desk?”

“Hm? Oh! Funny story!” She chuckled and stood up. “I accidentally dropped my box with spiders while rearranging a few things in their terrarium. I already caught Daisy but Nine, Noodles and Sun are still somewhere around here.”

Levi blinked and looked around himself. “Who the fuck drops their spiders? I told you not to collect any shitty insects, tch…”

“You were the one who bought me the terrarium. So actually, this is your fault. Also,” Hanji adjusted her glasses, “spiders aren’t insects. They are Arachnids! Calling them insects is like saying birds are fish or-“

“Enough. Just catch them and be more careful, I don’t need one of your creepy spiders to crawl into my room.”

The brunette hummed and scratched the back of her neck. “I’m gonna catch them again but they’re really naughty today, they don’t wanna be caught. Especially Noodles.”

“Whatever.” Levi glanced down at the hand that was still hidden behind his jacket. It was now or never- and Levi honestly wanted to get over with it quick. “Talking about disgusting insects,” he trailed off.

Hanji faced him and looked confused. Until she saw that Levi was hiding something from her and curiosity took over her whole features. “Hey, whatcha got there?” She exclaimed, taking a few quick steps closer in hopes to see.

Levi stared up at the taller woman, into these big brown eyes which made him weak on the spot. Over the years, Hanji got a special spot in his heart and he couldn’t deny it anymore. He would kill for that woman, quite literally.

“Is it something for me?” She beamed.

“No, for your spiders.” Levi commented, rolling his eyes.

That made Hanji laugh. “Then show me already! I wanna see!” She bounced on the spot like a child, impatient and curious.

The raven sighed before pulling his hand out of his jacket and showing what he was holding for Hanji to see. He never expected that day to come but life was full of surprises.

In his hand, Levi held a small animal. It was a little bigger than the size of his palm with four legs and two round, black eyes. Apart from the stomach, its body was a yellow color with several brown dots all over the head, back, arms and tail.

The animal blinked up at Hanji who let out a big gasp and squealed. “Oh my God!” She exclaimed, “Is it really for me?!”

“No, I caught it for Erwin.” Levi commented and stared somewhere into the room. “Yes, dumbass, it’s for you. That fucker bit me ten times already so just take it…”

Hanji’s grin was huge as she carefully took the animal from Levi’s hands and petted its head. “Look how beautiful! You’re my new favorite pet!” She giggled.

Levi folded his arms over his chest now that his hands were empty and eyed Hanji and her new friend.

“How come you’d catch a living and crawling animal for me? No way you’d do it voluntarily.” She chuckled and let the animal crawl up her arm and to her shoulder.

Levi shrugged. “You once said you wanted a lizard.” He stated nonchalantly.

“Hm? Did I? I don’t remember.” Hanji tapped her chin in thought.

Actually, that was already more than two years ago. But Levi found it would be kind of embarrassing to admit he had been thinking of catching a lizard for Hanji for years. So he brushed it off with a simpler explanation.

“You did the other day so I looked for one, no big deal.”

Hanji’s grin turned into a soft smile. She stepped closer to Levi and pulled him into a hug. “Thank you. That’s the best gift someone ever made me.”

Levi exhaled, partly in relief, and reached up to place a hand against Hanji’s back in return. “Happy birthday, you big weirdo.” He muttered, giving her a pat.

Hanji tightened her grip for a moment before pulling away to face Levi. The animal got comfortable on Hanji’s shoulder and made no move to get away from there.

“You’re the best, so you deserve something too.” She placed her hands on Levi’s shoulders. “Close your eyes, I’ll get it for you.”

Levi narrowed his eyes in distrust before sighing. “Any tricks and you’ll regret it.” He warned, then gave in and closed his eyes as he stood still.

Nothing happened for a few long moments and Levi furrowed his brows. Her hands were still on his shoulders. What if Hanji did something stupid again? He couldn’t risk it.

“Oi, if you-“

He couldn’t even finish his sentence and already felt a pair of soft lips being pressed against his own. It took him a moment to process what was happening but once he did, he pressed against Hanji to return the kiss, feeling his heart flutter in his chest.

The kiss lasted for a good minute until Hanji had to pull away because the animal on her shoulder almost dropped to the floor. She managed to keep it where it was and gave Levi a silly grin.

The raven rolled his eyes but it was in a rather playful way, judging by the faint smile on his lips. Hanji was someone special, she meant the world to him.

“Oh, by the way!” She exclaimed suddenly and took the little animal into her hands to get a better look. “You didn’t catch a lizard, it’s a gecko! A leopard gecko, and quite a beauty on top of that! Different from lizards, geckos have-“

Levi faded out Hanji’s babbling and instead admired her face beam in joy and excitement. He brought a smile to Hanji’s lips and that was all he aimed for.

He felt happy.

“Noodles!” Hanji suddenly exclaimed, pulling Levi out of his thoughts. Once he remembered that was one of the names Hanji gave to her spiders and he saw that her gaze was on his shoulder, he widened his eyes and glanced down.

“Oi, fucking take it away right now!” He snapped.

#levihaneggschange2021 #levihan #levi ackerman #hanji zoe #shingeki no kyojin #snk #attack on titan #aot #erwin smith #isabel magnolia #farlan church #fanfic #ao3 #my writing

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tundrainafrica · 3 years

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Title: Play It By Ear

Summary:

"Maybe it had been the questions peppered with hints of homeschooling and sheet music. Maybe it had been the longing in his eyes then, the constant staring at the lock on the door.

And the loneliness. She had felt it. And they’ve been playing together long enough, they’ve been staring at each other long enough through the glass door for her to be sure, he was lonely too."

Hange's a violinist. Levi's a pianist. And they're separated by a glass door.

Written for the @levihanweek’s Levihan Eggschange 2021

Link to cross-postings: AO3

Note:

Special thanks to @innocent-ghost-demon on tumblr for sharing this one video with me through pm which got me out of that writing rut.

#levihan #levihan fanfiction #levihan eggschange #levihaneggschange2021

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diomustaine2 · 3 years

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When you're not looking

Yoooo, muffin! This is your bunny 🐰 delivering your eggschange present! Haaa, bet you didn't think I was gonna be the one gifting you!

Well, I hope you've had fun searching for it. Sorry for taking so long. Enjoy Levihan on a quiet day at the park

Edit: click for better quality

#levihaneggschange2021 #levihan #leviackerman #hange zoe #snk fanart #artofdio

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fruitpunchninja101 · 3 years

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Flowers For You

After a small spat at the merchants assembly, Levi was determined to avoid Hange and her flower shop at all costs. Unfortunately, The funny thing about trying to avoid someone is that you have to have a rough approximation of their daily routine. And so, his quest began.

Written for LeviHan Eggschange 2021 @levihanweek

Link to cross-postings: AO3

Hello my dear giftee! I’m sorry if your gift took a while! I hope you'd enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed making it. Keep safe!♥

“Every plant can do this fundamental process, and we call this Photosynthesis.”

Cheery voices of kids boomed in celebration as soon as they finished singing.

Ever since summer break started, the flower shop in front of his store started a “Horticulture Camp” for little kids. At first, He didn’t really pay much attention to the cacophony of loud cheers and noises but as days passed, customers would leave little comments like “Sure does sound like a daycare in there.” or “Your neighbor sounds like they're having a lot of fun in there huh?”

The thought about confronting the owner of the flower shop did cross his mind, but there's a little problem, they had a little bit of a spat at the shop keeps assembly last month.

Okay, he'll admit it, maybe It's not just a spat, It's more like a full blown passive aggressive squabble. His memory of the event was a little hazy but he recalled raising his concern about the dried leaves that keeps blowing over his store. Something about her nonchalance about his concern and something about his word choice led to a disastrous mistranslation of what he really wanted to say which somehow escalated to a kerfuffle. "You and Hange will be the hot topic of the whole merchants block for a good while." Erwin warned him after the assembly. Tch! He certainly didn't need that kind of attention.

Since then, Levi kept his distance from that damn flower shop and focused on minding his own business. He is determined to avoid this Hange at all costs! Unfortunately, The funny thing about trying to avoid someone is that you have to have a rough approximation of their daily routine. And so, his quest began.

Hange's schedule was never consistent.

Sometimes she'd open her shop so late that her students would start rough housing by the sidewalk waiting for her arrival. Their parents would wait by her store too and they were seemingly too charmed by her to get annoyed about her tardiness. By the time she gets there the kids would immediately run towards her climbing on her limbs but she never seemed to mind. Those kids eyes would shine so bright at her , he’s pretty sure he’d go blind if he kept on staring at them.

She never seemed to eat lunch for some reason. Sometimes, the son of the deli owner at the corner of their street, Moblit , would come by to bring her food. There was a time when he thought the guy was courting her but he can tell by that sad longing stare he gives at her when he leaves her shop that Hange had no fucking clue about his intentions.

She never brings an umbrella even when it rains. She just runs across the street donning a hoodie. Which she would continue to wear all throughout the day. She’d definitely get sick if she doesn't dry herself up properly. If the rain is still pouring by the time she closes up her store, Hange would spend a good minute to stare at the night sky marveling at the little droplets like its the first time she ever saw one in her life. Nights like that , he would close up a little late to make sure she's gone before he leaves.

Observing her became a routine at this point.

During warm sunny days, she would wear a brightly colored shirt underneath her overalls. Unfortunately, the shirt seemed to be the only thing she changes regularly. He can tell it's the same overalls because it still has all the stains in the same place as the day before. Her best record was 5 days without washing the damned thing and he can't tell if that's impressive or disgusting.

When the kids aren't around, Hange would dote on her plants until late hours of the day. He'd watch her methodically arrange flowers and pour all her love and care to every bouquet she makes. All the while ignoring the fact that she haven't had food at all. ( He knows because Moblit recently got a girlfriend and since then , he only drops by the flower shop to pick up orders for his new love interest.) All he ever see her consume are cups of coffee and not even the good stuff. Just the regular instant kind from the grocery. Days like that , he hopes that she would at least stop by a convenience store to pick up something to eat.

It didn't take too long for him to consider that maybe Hange isn't an asshole at all.She's just one of those people who gets easily preoccupied with things that pique her interest is all. To hell with her health, appearance or even basic cleanliness. Its frustrating but at the same time its a relief to know that underneath all that nuttiness is a seemingly good person.

He was just closing up shop one night when he noticed her still sitting in her store as she practiced playing the Photosynthesis song on her guitar.She was surrounded by an array of beautiful flowers and in that dim light, he could've sworn she looked like a scruffy forest diety.

And it was at that point when he realized that a smile is creeping up his lip. What the fuck was that about?

As if hearing his thoughts, Hange's head perked up from her guitar and turned towards him. He froze as soon as their eyes met. She gave him a tight lipped smile and at that, Panic shot through him. He immediately turned away from her and rushed to turn off the lights and closed his store.

Days after that encounter, Levi had to resist the urge to spare even a peek over her shop. he didn't like that sometimes his mind would wander to images of her that night. He probably overdid his little investigation is all! He had to stop watching her schedule anyway , he had all the information he needs at this point.

However, her presence never seemed to leave him. He'd still overhear the rhythm of her guitar and the rambunctious laughter from her little campers. Even Eld and Gunther are starting to warm up to it. "There's something about the sound of children having fun that puts me at ease." He heard Eld reason out to Gunther the other day. Even Oluo who once mentioned his irritation with the constant singing is starting to absentmindedly hum the damn song.

He's ready to let the whole thing go but when a loud crashing sound (which is probably another pot broken by a child.) caused Petra to make a small uneven line on her work , he knew he had to do something. Even if these type of mistakes are easily fixed, precision is utterly important in his business and he can't have random nuisances ruining his reputation. He'll do it tomorrow. NO! He'll do it tonight! There's no use to delay the inevitable.

Odd enough, he did wonder if she even knew his name.

Tch.

Levi was just closing up his shop that night when he heard someone open the door. Accepting late night jobs Isnt new to him but he did commit to speaking with Hange about his concerns so he let out an absent minded “We're closed” warning before realizing who entered his shop.

It’s her.

She wore an oversized green overalls paired with battered up chucks that he bet was once white. Her brown mop of hair was tied messily up on her head. He didn’t miss the huge ass bouquet tucked in her arm as she struggled to get through his door.

“A little help?” She said, as if they didn’t had a spat that literally had them screaming at each other infront of other people. Levi paused cleaning his tattoo gun and hurried to help her. ”What are you doing here at this hour?” He asked genuinely out of curiosity than irritation.

”I just wanna give you these.” She beamed as she let go of the huge bunch for him to carry inside. “The kids got a little carried away with their flower arrangements today and I’d feel awful if I have to throw it out.” She continued.

“You think dumping this monstrosity to me is the solution?” He asked, immediately regretting his word choice.

“Monstrosity?!”Hange placed her hand on her chest playfully feigning mortification and shock.

He rolled his eyes at her and was a bit surprised that Hange chuckled at him and leisurely walked past him to take a seat at one of the stools by his register and started innocently looking around his shop seemingly waiting on him for a conversation. "Neat place you got here." She said.

"Thanks?" He said genuinely confused what she's doing here. Although, He did wonder if it has something to do with that awkward encounter they had the other night. He really hoped she already forgot about that. “What are these for?” He asked as he opened the cupboards hopelessly trying to look for a vase somewhere in his shop.

“I was gonna ask you for a favor.” She replied.

He scoffed. “what makes you think I’d help you.”

“It’s for a good cause! Plus,I was thinking it’s your opportunity to make up with that whole assembly incident we had.”

He paused and glared daggers at her. She still have that goofy smile on her face. “That dumb assembly incident was not something I want to make up with.” He said stubbornly.

Hange rolled her eyes at him. “Oh please you were angry over a few dried pieces of leaves in front of my store it’s hardly even your business.”

“Your leaves are blowing over my store front so yes it was my business.”

“You know I run a flower shop right? These things happen. I cant just wait outside my store and catch all the falling leaves for your convenience.” Her voice slightly raised as if she’s explaining something so obvious to him. Of course he knows these things happen, he’s not an idiot. All he wants is for her to take responsibility and not be so nonchalant over it.

“You don’t even...” He closed his mouth. She's starting to get a rise from him and it made him queasy. It's not even worth it. He closed his eyes to calm himself.

“Look, the favor isn’t even for me.” She started. Her tone of aggressiveness gone. ”Just hear me out please?” Her voice sounded gentle and warm this time. She’s so hot and cold it’s starting to drive him insane.

He opened his eyes and was met with her brown orbs that shone bright behind her dirty glasses. “Go ahead.” He said defeatedly avoiding her pleading eyes and proceeded to turn back to his cupboard. He should just let her say her piece and move on.

“It’s for one of my campers actually.”

“Hn.Which one? the brunette kid that shouts a lot?”

“Oh you know Eren?”

“He always sticks his snotty face up on my window how can I forget.”

“Yeah, That kid adores you you know , he asked about you and what you guys do here a couple of times before. He even threw fits because he wanted to get a tattoo from you.”

He scoffed. ”How is that my problem?”

”You see, his little friend Armin loved the camp but is a little too shy for his own good. He won’t attend sessions without Eren who sort of refused to attend til you tattoo something on him.”

“So you want me to tattoo a child? ”He turned from his fruitless quest for a vase on his cupboard to raise a brow at her.

“Not a real one, just one of those temporary tattoo stickers.”

He scratched the back of his head and let out a sigh. It would be easier to complain to her about the noise of she owed him some sort of favor. Right? "Alright." He said.

She surged out of her seat and gave out a small yelp startling him. "You'd do it? Really?" Her eyes seemed brighter now.

“Yeah sure." He said as he marveled at how expressive her eyes were. He willed himself to tear his eyes from her damn face. "Is there anything else?” He asked.

“Yes.” She replied enthusiastically.

“You are really pushing your luck here four eyes.”

She chuckled at that and pushed her glasses a bit higher up her nose. ”Don't worry, this one isn't a favor. More like a friendly advice."

He raised a brow at her. "What?"

"Put those in cold water. They'd last longer that way.” She said pointing at the bright colored bouquet at the table which certainly looked out of place against the black and gray interior of his shop.

After exchanging details about their little activity tomorrow, Hange gave him a final enthusiastic wave before taking off his shop leaving him in awe.

Ah. He forgot to mention his noise complaint.

The next day, nine little children were lined up orderly marching up infront of his store led by Hange. She carried a red flag to remind everyone where she is at all times. They all wore a silk screen printed shirt that says plants rule in front and some sort of a plant pun at the back.

Hange's shirt says. 'Someone has been adding soil to my garden. The plot thickens.'

Ah. That was pretty good...and also pretty dumb.

“Are you sure about this boss?” Oluo asked as he worked on a cover up on a customers shoulder.

"No." He answered earing a chuckle from Eld, Gunther and Petra at the back.

"Good Morning Underground Ink!" Hange enthusiastically cheered as she opened the door.

"Keep your voice down four eyes!"

“Oh! Sorry!" She mouthed at him before turning back to her campers. "Kids say good morning to Mr.Ackerman!” She beamed.

“Goodmorning Mister Ackerman!” The kids said in unison in a sing song tune. He gave them a small nod of acknowledgement then proceeded to cut out the temporary tattoo sheet into small pieces. The kids immediately scattered around the store to take a look at the reference books laid on his lounge. He glowered at Hange. "You said they'd behave."

"They would I promise! They're just a bit excited with our little expedition."

"If they break anything, I swear you're gonna pay ten times the price."

"Oh don't be such a grump!" She said slapping his arm. "Ouch! You didn't tell me you work out."

"Tch." He clenched his jaw and focused his eyes on the tattoo sheets he's cutting up. Damn four eyes and her mouth.

"Hey Kids! Gather over here Mr.Ackerman will show you how to put on a tattoo."

“Is this gonna hurt?” Eren innocently asked.

“Not if you’re brave.” He answered. The kid involuntarily recoiled at that. He can tell that Eren's starting to have second thoughts and struggled to put on a brave face. Eren immediately sought out Hange seemingly asking for help and at that, she immediately stepped up and ruffled the kids hair. ”I’ll get my tattoo done first.” Hange hopped on a chair and presented her wrist to Levi.

Levi held her hand to keep her arm steady. His eyes darted at her as if asking her if the touch was permitted and he was met with a sweet smile. He immediately avoided her eyes pushing down the thought of her playing her guitar surrounded by flowers...a scruffy forest diety. he recalled the exact words that formed on his mind that night.

He bit the inside of his cheek to ground himself to reality. Levi held the damp towel against her wrist and she let out a little yelp. He immediately pulled away hoping he didn't press too hard while his mind wandered to silly memories of her the other night. "Gotcha!" Hange teased chuckling at him. "Ass!" he said playfully throwing his towel at her face gaining another laugh from the brunette. The kids huddled around them giggled at them.

"Ms.Hange, What's an ass?" A little girl munching potato chips asked.

"It's another term for a donkey." A small timid blonde kid answered.

"Thats right Armin!Very good!" Hange said. The blonde kid blushed at her praise and glued his eyes on the floor.

"What's a donkey?" Potato chip girl asked again.

"It's like a little horse" Armin answered.

"Why are you calling Ms.Hange a donkey Mr.Ackerman? She doesn't even look like a horse" A kid with shaved head asked.

"...unlike Jean over here." Eren added and a kid with elvish features (which he assumed is Jean) stepped up and hit Eren by the arm. Eren was ready to retaliate when Hange spoke.

"Kids, we promised Mr.Ackerman no rough housing inside the store." Hange reminded them calmly and the kids immediately pulled away from one another.

There was a brief moment of silence and wondering gasps from children around them as he worked on Hange's tattoo.“So does anyone have a question to Mister Ackerman.” He immediately frowned. He said yes to tattooing kids not chatting them up. Nothing would have prepared him for the set of questions that came rushing in after Hange's open invite.

Eren is the last one to get his tattoo. He disinfected his arm with alcohol and his eyes drifted to Hange who was blushing at the sight of a kid adorably putting on a brave face.

Levi had to look away.

At the end of the session,all kids merrily walked back to her shop comparing all their little tattoos. Hange then thanked him for playing along with her little activity.

His whole afternoon was a blur. Between those kids who won't stop asking him and Hange's constant teasing smirks he was out of it. He scrubbed the side of his tattoo gun a little harder.

“I see you put my flowers in a bucket.”

Levi almost dropped his tattoo gun as Hange's merry voice boomed around the shop.

“Its the closest thing I have to a vase.” He said wondering if she’s offended that he chucked her precious flowers on a bucket, but that endearing smile she had on her face says otherwise.

“I had just the thing!” She rushed out of his shop and came back with a huge crystal vase.

“What's that?”

“Its a vase I inherited from my gram-gram.”

“I can see its a vase.”

“Well with the horticulture camp and all I'm scared this would get knocked over and you seem like an organized responsible sort of guy. Maybe you can take care of this for me for a while.”

She’s certainly getting a little too comfortable with favors now. ”What makes you think I wouldn’t knock it over to get back on you for that assembly mess.”

“Because you’re nicer than your letting on.” she says as she procured a small rose from her back pocket and gently tucked its stem behind his ear. He compelled his hand to swat her arm way but his body didn't cooperate. He stood there frozen wondering if she truly was some sort of a scruffy forest deity and she's punishing him from his insolence at that assembly.

Okay, that sounded dumb...What the hell is wrong with him?

"Did the kids asked you to give me this?" He forced himself to reply.

"Nah, That one is from me." She said. Her eyes were bright and her face were slightly flushed. He wondered if he'd never seen anyone look this gallant and handsome before.

"You don't like it?" She asked cocking her head to the side.

"No! I-ah...I'm just..." He stuttered trying to find the right words without sounding pathetic. His hand raised to touch the flower on his ear. He never got flowers before. He felt a smile coming up so he forced a frown.

“Why are you frowning? Don't tell me you're still upset about that assembly thing? I thought were past that?”

“Tch! No were not!” Levi recoiled at how loud his reply was.

”You see, I would be threatened but I just watched you spend your afternoon tattooing a bunch of kids even though you are not paid for it so...Yeah...I guess water under the bridge right?”

“Who says I'm not charging you? I thought you came here to pay up.” He smirked finding calm at her retort.

At that, Hanji laughed. She fucking laughed! The woman even clutched her arms around her stomach and doubled over. She practically radiated with warmth and a familiar sense of home. “Alright you got me, I don’t want to owe you anything so how about a cup of coffee sometime? Although, you seemed to prefer tea”

He scrunched his face. "How do you know I prefer tea?"

"You see, the funny thing about a huge glass storefront window is that, if you can see me, that means I can see you too."

”Wh-What are you on about? I don't...” Fuck! She knows. He internally panicked and wondered what would the appropriate response be.

"Oh calm down! Don't worry, I don't mind you ogling at me." She smirked evidently teasing him.

"Tch. Fuck you four eyes!"

"I wouldn't mind that too." He froze and It didn't take her too long to realize what she said. Her face immediately flushed in a very flattering shade of red. "I'm sorry I got carried away." Hange slightly turned away and tucked a little piece of her hair behind her ear.

He wanted to say something...flirty maybe? But chances are he's gonna run his mouth and say something about him thinking that she was a scruffy forest deity or how he hates that she never opens her store on time or how he knows her best record for not changing jumpsuits is 5 days. So he kept his mouth shut and let silence engulf them.

“Well, I’m next door just in case you wanna take me up for tea. I’ll see you around I guess.”

"Wait!" He called out.

Hange whipped her head to turn to him and he rushed behind the register to grab one of his spare umbrellas he keeps for emergencies. "Take this."

"What for?" She asked scratching the back of her head.

"You'd get sick running around in rain." he said plainly, hoping she didn't find him too creepy.

Levi didn't know it was possible but he swore her eyes shone a little brighter, a small smile is now etched on her face. "See you later Levi." She took one last glance at him lifting an arm to wave as she ran back to her store.

“Later, four eyes.” He whispered beneath his breath and although he felt pleasantly sunny inside, he sensed that he forgot about something...

Ah, he forgot to talk to her about his noise complaint.

#levihan #levihaneggschange2021 #levi ackerman #hange zoe #snk

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djmarinizelablog · 3 years

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Summary:

Levi and Hange finally get to live their dream of staying in the woods, but are they really content with it?

Levi quickly puts his clothes on, tries to smoothen the strands sticking out of his bedridden hair and tells himself, well, shit, so much for peace and quiet.

When he steps out, the grass crunches underneath the soles of his feet, loud and crisp. The humming stops for a bit, and so does his world—

“Hange.”

“Took you long enough, Levi.”

This fic is for my Levihan Easter Eggschange 2021; I hope you find (and like) it! Many thanks to @immagoudaboi for beta-reading and to @levihanweek for hosting this event!

If you like this fic, please consider supporting me on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/djmarinizela

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unknownworldmap · 3 years

Text

No longer a burden

Levi Ackerman is a child prince who is destined to be a king in the future and took his duties seriously because of it. However, he pressured himself too much and has forgotten that he is just a child who needed his break sometimes. One day, he met the daughter of the current royal advisor after a tiring day, and ever since then, the girl started following him around and resulted in an uncanny friendship between the future royal advisor and the future king.

@levihanweek

This is my entry for the Levihan eggschange. If my giftee is able to find their gift then I hope you like it!!! (even though it ended up wayyyyyyyy longer than I intended it to be....)

Continue reading here

Being a royal isn't all fun and games. It's not just waving and attending parties while being polite to other members of the monarchy. While it might seem such a luxury to live like a royal, the child prince of the Ackerman family seems to think the contrary of what people portrayed royals as.

Despite being a 12-year-old kid, Levi is aware of the burden he's dealing with and abandoned his childhood to do his duties. Excelling in every class he's in, studying extracurricular and sometimes even attending royal meetings to observe the way of the royals. Even at that young age, he already thought that far ahead of the future and was prepared to accept an arranged marriage if necessary.

He really takes his duties seriously. Too seriously, that he even forgets he's a child.

The people of Eldia are in peace of mind knowing that their future king is serious about his duties. But, sometimes, or most of the time, they forget under all that seriousness, Levi is still just a child.

He removed his fingers from the keys of the piano and moved his head to face the window. He stared at it for a minute, just observing the orange afternoon sky before standing up from his seat and leaving the room.

Once he pushed the door open to exit the room, a shuffling noise from behind him was instantly heard. Although, he's not a little bit surprised anymore as it was following him all day round since the start of his day. Be it archery, tea ceremony, and piano lessons - The shuffling noise is always present.

If he is correct, the right word to describe that shuffling noise is a stalker. They are always everywhere around him asking for autographs and for his plans in the future that he got used to people following him and being stalkers. Still, this fellow is certainly a strange one compared to the usual bunch.

Normally, they don't even get past the castle gates because of the guards blocking their way. But this one was even able to follow him since the start of archery which was the first extracurricular class he attended very early in the morning.

"Tch, no use thinking about it. They'll get caught soon enough" Levi thought as he turned right in the hallway, taking the path that leads to the garden.

Today is one of the rare days where he achieves free time from his suffocating royal tasks and classes. Whenever free time is available, he takes a stroll around the castle to admire the scenery and the atmosphere.

One of the things he loves to do when given that free time was to read a book under the shade of the tree located near the lake. Sometimes, pebbles are thrown into the surface of the lake just for him to observe the water ripples created. He finds that action satisfying enough for him to relax after a day of tedious royal tasks.

But in order for him to reach his destination, he must exit the garden maze standing in his path first.

It isn't really that much of a hassle for Levi to exit the garden maze. In all that 12 years of his life living in the castle, he was able to memorize all the exits to the garden maze and doesn't get lost anymore like he used to.

And he was planning to take this route in the first place. The garden maze allows him to just be lost in his random thoughts while surrounded by the blooming flowers and the breathtaking scenery. Actually, he wouldn't mind if he gets lost in the garden maze at all.

Someone, however, would be really troubled if they get lost inside the garden maze and allows themselves to be caught by the castle guards. Someone like the stalker that is still following him even now.

Hoping that whoever that person is taking the bait, Levi left the gate slightly opened for them to enter the garden maze and get lost. It's almost impossible for intruders to exit the maze easily so he is pretty certain that this plan of his would work.

It did work after a few minutes when there was no noise following him anymore. It meant that the stalker - whoever that person may be - is already lost and wandering for the exit.

He moved forward the path of Lilacs and Evening Primrose then took a turn to reach the flowery path of Violets that led him to two split flowery paths. He chose the path where Irises are present, that path being the correct one that connects to the exit and the scenery of the clear blue lake.

He looked back at the maze and thought of the person who was patient enough to follow him the entire day.

"Whether that person exits that maze or not isn't my problem anymore" was the thought circling his mind and was entirely forgotten when he crouched down to pick up a pebble, preparing to throw it in the lake.

Moving his elbow backward, he aimed and threw the pebble into the lake, leaping three times and creating water ripples before it sinks into the lake along with the other pebbles he had thrown before.

Satisfied with his pebble throwing, he resumed with the walk to the tree but stopped his tracks at the sight of another person already taking his usual spot.

From what Levi can see, the person appeared to be a female with messy brown hair. She was wearing a yellow blouse accompanied by baggy brownish pants and on her lap was a huge book that lays open as her eyes scan the page.

The stare lasted longer than Levi expected. It even reached the point where the girl already finished reading one page and took her eyes away from the book to appreciate a different view. Or rather, she lifted her hands and started waving them up in the air as a way to get Levi's attention.

There was an unchanging blank expression visible on Levi's face even though he obviously noticed the exaggerated action of the waving hands. It was an invitation for him to come over to the spot where the girl is sitting which resulted in his blank expression that's actually just him contemplating choices whether to ignore the girl and walk the opposite way or to accept her invitation that will lead to socializing - something Levi doesn't want to do at the moment.

The urge to do the former choice was really strong but nevertheless, what he did was the latter choice and began approaching the girl. It wasn't his desire to let himself be known and would rather pretend that he didn't see anything so that he can continue on with his life. Sadly, that isn't what a future king would do, or else it'll be deemed a shameless action.

And so, with his heavy role in mind, he plans to at least be a little bit respectful and introduce himself to the girl who turns out to be familiar with him already - no introductions required as the girl sends him a smile.

"Sit down, your highness" The girl bowed to show some respect and greeted Levi while scooting over to the right, creating some space for Levi to sit on.

He can't help but inwardly cringe at the greeting. It's true that he's a prince and he's going to be the heir of the throne but being called "your highness" is something he'll probably never get used to. It just doesn't fit him.

There was no greeting from him. Instead, he replied with a question. "You know me?"

"I was unsure at first" She paused and grabbed Levi by the hands, pulling him down and caused him to fall face flat on the grass before continuing "I saw you playing the piano earlier and then I thought that that ah, there's no doubt this is the so perfect prince everyone is talking about"

Levi raised his head from the ground and glared at the girl in front of him. "You're the stalker."

"Hey! I'm not a stalker, I was just following you" She clarified, extending her hands to offer help then introduced herself.

"My name is Hange, nice to meet you" She beamed and pulled him up from the ground.

Levi would have scoffed at the introduction if it wasn't for the voice nagging in his mind. A constant reminder that he is a noble prince and that he must be respectful in every encounter with a person. Honestly, it's troublesome for Levi to stay polite and respectful. It doesn't help that he is a socially awkward person and his words tend to be rough which appears rude most of the time.

And so, to avoid misunderstandings with the girl, he just left without saying unnecessary words and only told her to have a nice day as he did a bow, ignoring the offer to sit beside her.

After the greeting, he started walking away from the tree to hopefully get some space away from anyone that might initiate a conversation with him. But, that did not become the case since the moment he started walking away, someone followed behind him. This time, that someone didn't have any intention to hide anymore and is now in Levi's line of sight.

"Why are you following me?" Levi asked, his voice trying to be polite yet ended up sounding irritated.

Hange didn't mind the way he sounded and gave her an answer to Levi's question. "I'm doing my future job"

While it's true that he was irritated at the girl following him, he must not show it as it may ruin his reputation that he actually doesn't care about but the whole kingdom does.

A further discussion about details regarding her future job would have been explained if she wasn't careless and tripped on a rock, almost losing her balance. Luckily, she regained her balance soon enough and didn't get the chance to fall on the ground. She was also able to get Levi's attention and Hange took it as a sign to continue the one-sided conversation.

"Why do you think I know the exit to the maze when you wanted me to get lost earlier" Hange questioned, aware that there will be no response but still added another question anyway. "Who else do you think follows the royal family members around?"

A reply was not she was expecting to receive. Nevertheless, she received one brutally honest reply.

"Blood-thirsty serial killers who are plotting to kill the next heir of the throne and the rest of the royal family" Levi answered flatly, no signs of joking found in his statement.

Hange chuckled, amused at the reply he gave her. "Do I look like a murderer to you? and well...you do have a point but that's the wrong answer"

As expected, she didn't receive a reply anymore and decided to resume with the explanation by adding another question.

"Did you know there was a hidden exit inside the maze? it's a route closer to the lake and is mostly used by staff and royal council members during emergencies" She discussed as she took out something from the pockets of her yellow blouse. Before Hange can continue with her reasoning, Levi interrupted her.

"You're not part of the staff" He confirmed, straight to the point.

There is always a possibility that Hange is lying. She was a stalker after all. Too bad, because Levi won't be fooled that easily especially when it comes to the royal staff and council members. Having all the names of the people inside the castle memorized is also one of his duties as the future ruler of the kingdom. That's why even though he barely speaks to them, he knows everyone's occupations and names in the castle.

The name "Hange", doesn't ring a bell.

Hange raised her hands up in the air, a devilish smile formed on her face. "Alright, you got me"

As soon as she said that, no time was wasted and she instantly defended herself or else Levi might run and really think of her as a blood-thirsty murderer.

"I am not part of the royal council or staff yet" She admitted, putting emphasis on the last word.

It was clear by Levi's crossed arms that he did not believe a single word she said. With that, she had no choice but to take out an object that allows her to write on the surface of the paper.

For some reason, Levi still didn't leave his tracks even though he is free to do so and waited for Hange to finish whatever she's writing.

Once Hange finished writing, she gave the paper to Levi which he reluctantly accepted.

"I know the pattern because my mother told me to be informed about it. She said that I will need it in the future. Though that one I wrote is the path you took and not the secret pattern." Hange focused on Levi's facial expressions, observing any reaction from the information she had just given him.

For a second, Levi's eyes widened at what was written on the paper. It said:

Lilacs

Evening Primrose

Violets and

Irises

His line of thought was broken when a voice reached his ears. "Did you notice the pattern, prince Levi?"

He flinched and returned the paper to Hange and carried on with his walk.

"How do you even know this? You're not part of the royal council in this castle, I've never seen you before and you're too young for that" he muttered under his breath.

"I am not part of the royal council but I will be. I guess you can consider it as a royal advisor in training?" She stated unsurely, trying to understand her own words but also ended up being confused like the prince in front of her.

By clearing her throat, she added more details to her initial statement. "Well, to be precise, I am a child of the current royal advisor and in the future, I will be taking over my mother's footsteps"

"If you're destined to be a king then my fate is to be a royal advisor" She informed and then added a soft whisper yet audible enough for Levi to hear "despite not wanting to be one"

"We're quite similar actually," Hange said, still following Levi

"You have bad eyesight if you see the similarities" Levi retorted.

"It's true. I do have bad eyesight but I don't need glasses to see the responsibilities forced upon us whether we like it or not" Hange stated, a hint of bitterness present in her voice.

"You're a kid, shouldn't you be playing outside or something" Levi suggested but who was he to talk. When he, himself, can't do that.

"The same goes for you" Hange patted his shoulders and sent him a heavy smile. It almost looks forced but at the same time, it was genuine.

Because of the heavy atmosphere surrounding them, Levi was forced to change the topic and that was through the means of asking a question. "Why are you still following me?"

"Oh!" she brightened up as she recalls her purpose of following Levi. "I came to inform the prince that I will be his royal advisor by the time he becomes a king. That explains why starting today, I'll always be by your side"

A complaint was about to escape Levi's mouth but for some reason, he can't say it out loud and the only action he can do was watch Hange who was mesmerized by the orange afternoon sky that can be seen through the glass windows. Her hair was illuminated by the light of the sunset and as the sun steadily sinks into the horizon, it brings along the light until it fully disappeared. No longer illuminating Hange's hair with the additional brownish golden color from earlier that was caused by the sunset.

While there might not be any trace of the sunlight, Hange's smile was radiant enough to brighten up the place. For sure, Levi saw the brightness of her smile though he blamed it on the torches that lit up one by one - he thought to himself that it's the only reason why the place looked a little bit brighter than usual.

Finally, he found the resolve to vocalize his earlier complaint that he wasn't able to do. "You don't look like someone who's prepared to be my royal advisor"

Hange's smile faltered for a second before agreeing to Levi's complaint. "I know that. I'm not fit to be a royal advisor at all with the way I am"

With what she said, Levi felt guilty and tried to at least comfort her or anything. The problem is, he was never good at words and will only make the situation worse. As he was attempting to open his mouth and speak, Hange grabbed a hold of his hands and faced him while looking straight at his eyes.

"That's why, for now, don't think of me as your future royal advisor" Hange now has his hands captured and held it tighter.

She removed her hands from Levi's and took one step away, lifting up her pinky finger. "Think of me as a friend who promises to always stay by your side"

After she said those words, she locked both of their pinky fingers together to secure a promise. It happened so suddenly that Levi didn't even have time to react except for averting his eyes away from Hange.

"There's going to be a time when we have to play our respectful roles - you as a king and me as a royal advisor. But, that time is still out of our reach so why not have a little fun before that" She suggested.

There was sincerity in her eyes when she was speaking earlier but now, the sincerity in her eyes was replaced with mischief. "Well, considering your height, I don't think you'll reach it anytime soon"

"OK!!! As a royal advisor in training!! I hereby announce that my first duty is to try and make you grow tall" Hange exclaimed, puffing her chest out.

"Once again, nice to meet you. I know we can get along" She said, turning her back against him and then waving goodbye as she runs in the opposite direction.

Levi was at a loss for words and didn't know how to react to what just happened. People usually are way too intimidated to even start a conversation with him. But, this girl just did it as if he's not someone from a noble family background - If he was honest, he might say he's a little bit intrigued about the girl. Continuation here

#levihan #levihaneggschange2021

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