Chapter Text
Levi had an incredibly early start to his day which was filled with nothing but work. He’d been traveling to an office the next sate over to check in on the projects that needed to be completed. It was a very annoying task since a bunch of their employees were fairly young and naive- which their impotence got on his nerves a ton. But his supervisor was up his ass about making sure things got done.
What was even more aggravating was that he needed to catch a flight and pick up a rental to get to the office. It would be a lengthy drive and he was currently kicking himself for even agreeing to go instead of doing a virtual check in.
As if things couldn’t get worse, after hours of driving past nothing but trees, fields and fucking cows- his car started emitting a concerning amount of smoke.
“No, no, no-“ Levi hissed under his breath at the sight.
Then it made a weird choking sound as it started to slow. He had no choice but to pull over by some fencing before it came to a complete halt.
“Fuck!” He all but shouted, banging his fist against the steering wheel. The horn beeped, startling a nearby cow.
He glared out the windshield, shoulders slumping, then pressed his forehead over the top of the steering wheel. It would be fine, he’d just call roadside assistance and they’d be out here in less than half an our to help him.
With that though in mind, he climbed out of his vehicle and pulled his phone out to call. Or he would have called if it wasn’t for the fact that there was not a single bar of service.
With a strained sigh, Levi pocketed his phone and dragged a hand through his hair. He knew nothing about car mechanics, so essentially he was screwed. That didn’t stop him from walking around the front of his car to get a look. When he popped open the hood, smoke billowed out and into his face. He coughed and waved it away, turning his face aside. He scowled when he noticed a cow watching him from afar.
Oh how he hated today.
•
•
•
Early mornings on the farm meant up and out before the sun had even risen, at least for Zoe and her father. They had ten things done by the time the roosters would start to crow at the sunlight. That was when the kids would start to get up and moving. On a weekend like this, chores would come after breakfast, and then the day was pretty much theirs.
For their eldest sister though, there was still a list of things to be done. And today, she needed to do a perimeter of their fences that stretched around acres of land, all to check for gaps or holes. She’d been out there on horseback for some time, and was nearly back home when she saw the smoke distantly rising out of a vehicle.
Oh thank god, something interesting.
Abandoning her examination of the fence, she steered her horse towards it, walking along the line in the center of the road.
When Hange came up on the car, she finally spotted the driver.
“Car troubles?” She called out from atop her horse.
Levi had heard the horses hooves from behind him and glanced over his shoulder, squinting as the stranger approached.
A nuisance or some help.
“Yes.” He simply responded as he looked up at her and her…steed.
Hange took a look at him first, he wasn’t from here, clearly. Or at least he didn’t live here anymore.
Crisp clean business attire, nice car, even if it was likely a rental, impatient expression on his face. Even the way he’d said ‘yes’, not a lick of country in his voice.
She’d admit though, he wasn’t half bad to look at either.
Dismounting her horse and holding the reigns, she walked over, removing her hat as she did.
“What seems to be the problem?” She was no mechanic either, but she’d tinkered with a tractor or two.
“If I knew that, then I wouldn’t be here.” He replied none too kindly as a he got a good look at her.
Unlike him, she had a rustic look to herself. He got an eyeful of flannel and leather. She had a southern lilt to her voice and-
And that horse.
“Do you have a phone that works out here?” He asked as the stranger peeked under the hood, then stepped back to put her hat back on.
“Spotty cell service out here for a few miles, but we have a landline back at my house.” She looked to him, then gestured to her horse.
“Hop on. I know a guy in town that can come tow this for you. You can wait in our air conditionin’. It’s only going to get hotter come noon.”
Levi sighed and glanced back at the car, watching as more smoke continued to float out. There really wasn’t another option for him, other than to accept this stranger’s help.
“…on that?” He asked, gesturing towards her horse with a jerk of his thumb.
“Unless you’d rather walk another five miles.” Hange grinned and walked around the side of said horse.
“Her name’s Ginger.”
Levi eyed Ginger, he’d never even met an actual horse in person, much less rode one. But he wouldn’t be walking, that’s for sure. He was already sweating buckets through his suit.
“Fine.” He droned and approached them both. Hange didn’t get on yet, figuring she might have to walk him through mounting Ginger.
“You ever ridden a horse before?” She had a feeling she knew the answer.
He shifted his gaze to the stranger, then squinted. The fact that she even had to ask made annoyance twinge inside of him.
“Clearly I’m a huge horse person. I have ten of them back at home.” He replied in a dry, sarcastic tone.
“You’re rude,” She pointed out, then grinned.
In a town full of southern hospitality, this was refreshing. “Come here, I’ll help you up.”
“You’re observant.” Levi retorted, then walked up to her so she could assist him. It took him a few embarrassing tries but he managed to get on, nearly toppling over on the way up.
Hange urged him to scoot back on the saddle, then secured her hat further on her head before swinging her leg over in front of him. Her face flushed slightly when she sat down nearly on top of him. Clearing her throat, she quickly put some distance between them.
“Alright, just, hold on to my waist,” she muttered, “You’ll slide right off in those pants.”
Said pants were very expensive, and currently ruined by his own sweat. Scooting closer, he wound an arm around her, the other settled over his leg. Normally he wouldn’t allow this kind of contact with a stranger, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
She rode them back at a canter, not wanting to go full speed and nearly knock him off, but also wanting to hurry it up a little. When they arrived at her dirt driveway she slowed back down again, walking them right up to where a few trucks were parked. She dismounted first, then helped him down. By that point though, her twelve year old sister Gabi had spotted them from a second floor window, and came rushing out.
“Who’s that? Why is he dressed like that? Are you a stranger? Is he going to kidnap us? What’s his name?” Hange chuckled and pinched her nose.
“His car broke down, where’s papa?”
“On the phone-“ The girl rushed, “what’s his name?”
She then turned his attention towards Levi to ask again.
“What’s your name? I know how to kick in the balls if you’re trying to kidnap us.” The man’s brows shot up, then he flicked his gaze questioningly towards Hange.
“Is he mute or somethin? Did he hit his head?”
Her older sister shrugged and scoffed, looking toward Levi with an amused grin. “Well? What’s your name stranger?”
He glanced between them, noticing the familial similarities between them. The kid must’ve been her daughter or something.
“Levi.” The raven replied, folding his arms over his chest.
“Nice to meet you Levi, I’m Zoe.” She then looked to her little sister expectantly, gesturing for her to introduce herself as well.
“You better watch yourself, Levi,” The child warned him, likely echoing their father. Hange huffed and shooed her off.
“Alright, go make yourself busy.”
Once she’d hesitantly scurried back into the house, Hange waved for Levi to follow. “That’s Gabi. Don’t mind her.”
“That kid yours?” Levi asked as he followed her. Looking around he saw that their home was in the middle of a farm. There was a barn a few yards away, pens and fields, a coop. The smells were reaching him already.
He nearly shivered.
At least their house looked nice, from what he could tell outside. It was painted a light eggshell blue with white trimming. It looked inviting almost.
Before Hange could answer, she opened the front door to absolute pandemonium.
“Eren locked himself in the bathroom again!” A teenage boy with cropped, ash blonde hair shouted as he banged on a door in the hall.
Another younger boy with a buzz cut chased a girl with brown ponytail who was running off with a bag of sliced bread. There was a little blonde toddler banging a pot with a wooden spoon on the kitchen floor, and Gabi was standing on top of the counter searching through the cabinets. The boy in the bathroom, Eren, started arguing loudly with the one on the other side.
Their older sister merely sighed.
Levi could only watch slack jawed as the chaos unfolded. The toddler got a glimpse of Hange and started banging the spoon against the pot louder to get her attention while babbling nonsense.
“Let me in, shithead!” The boy in the hall called out.
The kid with the bag of bread hanging from her mouth skid to a stop in front of the door, her sibling bumping against her. They both stared at Levi with wide, curious eyes.
“There’s no more Pringles? Sasha!” Gabi cried out from the kitchen.
So much for inviting.
Hange scooped the toddler up first, pulling the spoon from her hand and setting it on the counter along with the pot.
“Everyone shut up for a second!” She shouted, the little girl didn’t even flinch in her arms.
“This is Levi, his car broke down, he’s just hanging out for a bit to wait for a tow. I don’t want to hear boo about anything while I sort this out.”
Gabi huffed and slid to a seated position on the counter, then leaned to the side to squint at Levi from the kitchen.
Sasha pulled the bag from her mouth and a dug a slice out. Her brother, Connie also grabbed one. The pair still watched Levi like hawks.
“Is he rich?” One whispered to the other.
“I don’t know.”
Finally the bathroom door swung open, nearly hitting the boy in front of it in the face. Out came Eren, a teenage boy with olive skin and long, scruffy hair that was pulled into a messy bun. He glared at the other boy as he came out.
“Don’t you two start, I’m not dealing with that shit today,” Hange warned, pointing at them with a threatening squint.
Eren shook his head, passing through the kitchen and heading up the stairs. The other one rolled his eyes and ducked into the bathroom.
“Sasha. Bread, in the cabinet. I’ll get lunch going once I wrap this up.”
Sasha pouted and dropped the bread back into the bag, snatching her brother’s to dump it inside as well before returning to the kitchen. Once Levi recovered from the initial shock, he turned to Hange, ignoring the way the toddler eyed him.
“…Are these all yours?”
Her eyes widened, and she huffed out a shocked laugh at the idea.
“Fuck no. Absolutely not. They’re my siblings. And after living in this house I’ll be damned if I ever have any of my own.”
Levi whistled lowly and examined the state of the house inside. It had some interesting decor but there were things scattered everywhere. It made his eye twitch.
“…so that phone?”
She nodded, adjusting the little girl on her hip as she turned to find her father.
“What is with all the yelling down here? I was trying to take a call,” Came a deeply southern voice from down the hall. A large, stalky man with auburn hair and well formed beard emerged. He paused when he saw the stranger in his kitchen, and furrowed his brows.
“What did I tell you about letting surveyors into the house?”
Hange rolled her eyes and handed him the toddler.
“This is Levi, his car broke down about five miles out. He needs to use the phone, I’m going to the attic to call Hannes for a tow.”
With that his daughter disappeared up the stairs to head to the only room with cell service. Levi gave her father an awkward glance and received a nod in return, then he hurried off after her. The stairs creaked under their weight and he nearly tripped up on a stray toy that sat on one of the steps.
“You guys have a car shop around here? Any rentals?”
“No rentals, we have a body shop though. I’m calling the owner now to go get your car.”
She led him down a hall and headed up a second flight of stairs, then opened a hatch that would take them into an attic. Hange stepped up through the hole and looked down at him.
“Don’t worry, this isn’t the beginning of a horror movie, we just can’t get service anywhere else.
Levi gave her a skeptical look, then slowly stepped through the hole and into the attic where it wasn’t as air conditioned as the rest of the house.
Who’d choose to live in a place where you barely got any service?
“The authorities would probably never find this place anyways.”
“You could scream for days and not a soul would hear you,” she teased, looking up from her phone with a smirk. Chuckling, she selected a contact in her phone, holding it up to her ear as it rang.
“Hey, it’s Zoe. We have a-“ The brunette rolled her eyes as she was interrupted, “Yes, Hange number one, you’re hilarious. Listen, we’ve got an out of towner with a broke down sports car, it’s on the side of the road about seven miles up twenty-six. Needs a tow and someone to look at it…“
As she spoke on the phone, Levi shifted awkwardly with his hands in his pockets. He glanced around the room, and then back at her once she hung up.
“Not many ‘out of towners’ come by here I’m guessing.” He muttered.
She hummed and pocketed the phone, then looked to him.
“Nope, not really. The town’s population is roughly two thousand, it’s the kind of place people are surprised by an unfamiliar face.”
“I see…” He trailed off with a nod and tapped at the screen of his phone from within his pocket.
“So how long until the car gets picked up and fixed?” He asked, checking his wrist watch.
“I need to be back on the road as soon as possible.”
“Well Hannes will have one of his mechanics check it out, I can take you down to the shop when he calls back with some information.” She shrugged and glanced out the attic window, then to him.
“You should probably call whoever you need to call, because you’ll probably be here for a few hours at least.”
Levi sighed and rubbed his forehead, cringing when his hand came away damp with sweat.
“Right, yeah.” He pulled out a handkerchief from his coat pocket and wiped his face and hands. Then held his palm out to her expectantly. She handed the phone to him, then headed back downstairs to work on making lunch for the kids like promised.
Outside a car pulled into the driveway and out came a blonde woman in a ponytail. She carried in a few grocery bags, calling for some assistance with the other bags as she stepped inside.
“Oh Zoe, I was just about to start in that.” The woman chirped as she set the bags on the counter.
“Well the kids were hungry and I was home, it’s fine.” Hange didn’t bother looking over as she continued.
Jean, Connie and Gabi came to help with groceries, while Sasha was barred from the kitchen.
“Okay…alright. That’s fine.” The woman shrugged and started to unpack the groceries.
“It’s just that I found some gorgeous ingredients at the market…”
Upstairs Levi was just getting off of a call with his supervisor Erwin, when he heard a squeak coming from the corner of the attic. He turned around and walked over to take a look, then jumped back as a giant rat looking creature scampered out of the corner.
“Fuck!” He cried out, phone slipping out of his hand as he practically flew towards the hatch to get out of the attic. The shout and the clatter was muffled but heard downstairs, The woman raised a brow and looked up.
“By the way mom, there’s a random guy in our attic,” Jean told her as he passed, Hange was already on her way up the stairs before her stepmother could ask for details.
“What the hell is going on up here?” She asked, sticking her head up through the hatch.
“You have rats.” Levi shot past her, completely forgetting about his phone.
Said rat…or possum, had scurried behind a few boxes when he had screamed. It’s tail stuck out between them.
“I think it hissed at me.” Hange furrowed her brows and crossed the attic. With one look at the tail she hummed.
“It’s a possum.”
She picked up the phone, then grabbed the big scaly tail with the other hand. The animal hissed at her while she held it away at arms length. Levi nearly blanched at the sight of her grabbing the thing as if it were no big deal.
“Oi, what the hell?!” He shouted, “What if it has diseases?!”
“There are six kids running around this house. If it has diseases, it needs to not be in the house.“ Moving around him, she pressed the phone against his chest on her way down the stairs.
“Everyone out of the way, dangling, potentially rabid animal coming through!” She called out as she headed downstairs to bring the animal outside.
“Oh you found Oswald!” Gabi cheered, running out of the kitchen to follow Hange. “He doesn’t have rabies Zoe!”
Levi peered down at his phone, wincing at the spiderwebbing across the glass of his screen. With a sigh, he pocketed it and headed downstairs.
“You don’t know that he doesn’t have rabies. And while I would love to get to know your friend, he needs to go live outside.” Hange walked out the back door and down the steps, carrying the animal towards the bushes. It continued to wiggle its legs and hiss, nearly biting her at some point. But Gabi continued to pout.
“But then how’s he supposed to eat his cheese?”
Levi paused at the bottom of the stairs, peered down the hall and out the back door, then shuddered as he straightened out his clothes.
“Gabi he’s not supposed to eat cheese, if there’s a wild animal in the house you have to tell me. They’re supposed to live out here.”
Her older sister held a hand in front of her, keeping the younger girl back as she lightly tossed the animal in the direction of the bushes. Immediately, it turned to scurry towards them, hissing aggressively. Hange cursed and grabbed Gabi’s hand, dragging her back inside to shut the door. The animal didn’t follow them up the steps, and retreated after a moment back into the bushes.
“Oswald, you will be missed.” The girl sighed, dramatically pressing her hand against the window of the back door as she watched the animal disappear. Their guest watched them with a blank expression while leaning against the stairwell.
“You’re next,” Hange teased, nudging the girl. She then headed back into the kitchen, glancing at Levi on the way.
“Hungry?”
He was about to refuse, but his stomach answered for him in the form of a growl, reminding him that all he really had today was tea and a protein bar at the airport lounge. Gabi snorted at him.
“Ew.” Was all she said, before heading off into the kitchen. Levi squinted at her retreating form.
That fucking brat.
Alma urged Hange to wash her hands after the possum incident, which she begrudgingly did. The blonde had finished what Hange had started, and was serving the older kids by then. Hange started water on the stove and brought down a box of black tea from the cabinet.
“Oh hun I made sweet tea, it’s in the fridge.” Hange hummed and continued what she was doing anyways.
Levi didn’t know where to place himself, so he stood awkwardly between the dining room and the kitchen. Connie noticed this and kicked out one of the empty chairs, gesturing fro him to sit.
“You like chili?”
He shrugged at the boy, then slipped his coat off and hung it over the back of the chair before rolling his sleeves up to his elbows.
“Never had it.” The kids in the room all paused, with Sasha actually gasping.
“Someone get this man a bowl of chili,” Connie exclaimed, banging his fist on the table, “This is urgent business.”
Hange grinned and glanced over at the table preparing her cup of tea. Her stepmother served up another bowl, carrying it over and setting it in front of their guest.
“Would you like a glass of sweet tea, hun?” Levi eyed the bowl of brown, then glanced up at Alma, tilting his head slightly.
“Oh…I don’t take sugar in my tea.” He replied dumbly. Someone sitting at the table audibly facepalmed.
Hange chuckled from where she stood in the kitchen, and grabbed another mug.
“He’s not from around here, give him a break. You okay with hot tea? Sans sugar.”
“That’s fine.” He nodded, glancing back down at his bowl. It smelled better than it looked.
The rest were watching him expectantly, waiting for the reaction to his first bite. It made him nearly sweat. He gave them a glance and held up his full spoon, they nodded and waited as he stuck it in his mouth.
Chew, chew-
“You don’t need to chew that much-“ Connie bopped Gabi on the head for that.
“So?” Sasha pressed excitedly, Levi blinked after swallowing.
“It’s good.”
Hange carried the two mugs over and sat down where Alma had set down a bowl of chili for her.
“I can’t tell if I should be proud or not of their turning you into their test subject,” she joked, placing the second mug in front of Levi where he sat across from her.
“Test one complete, the out of towner thinks the chili is quote, good, unquote,” Connie joked, pretending to write it down.
The said out of towner shifted his attention to his tea as soon as Hange had brought it to him. It wasn’t half bad, way better than airport tea that’s for sure.
“Is that a…Rolex?” Jean piped up, leaning closer to examine the watch around Levi’s wrist. The older man merely nodded, ignoring the boy’s almost starry eyes as he continued to eat.
Hange glanced at the watch on his wrist, but was quickly distracted by his now exposed forearms. There was just something about a rolled up sleeve…
Then the back door swung open, her father striding in with Historia sitting in the crook of his arm. He kissed his wife in greeting, then handed the toddler to her when she reached out.
“Tell me we’re not keeping another mouth to feed,” The older man joked, gesturing to Levi.
“You complain as if you aren’t the X factor of all the other mouths,” Hange shot back.
“The man just can’t keep it in his pants,” Connie muttered, Sasha nearly choked on her chili.
Levi also nearly coughed up his chili, but quickly recovered and wiped his mouth with a napkin that Connie had pushed his way.
“Guilty.” Their father grinned sheepishly, then glanced down at their guest.
“Those clothes can’t be comfortable on the poor kid, It’s sweltering outside. Get him something once he’s done.”
“I’ve got a few things, you might have to cuff the pants though,” Hange told him through the chili in her mouth.
Her father took his seat at the head of the table, complimenting his wife on the chili once he’d taken a bite. From there the conversation returned to Levi. They all had a million questions. Where was he from, what was he doing in town, what was the city like… it went on. It was overwhelming, he couldn’t even enjoy his meal in peace. But they were being hospitable, so he tried his best at being polite.
He answered short and simply, not going into much detail. They didn’t need to know much since he’d be leaving pretty soon. Once the sun began to noticeably set, the phone in the kitchen rang. Bob answered, then called for Hange.
“Zoe it’s Hannes about the car!”
Hange got up, gesturing for Levi to follow as she headed into the kitchen. She put the phone on speaker and set it on the counter, figuring he’d want to hear since it was his car.
“What’s the diagnosis doc,” She asked, leaning on the counter on her elbows.
“So, long story short, the engine is trash. I can’t even believe anyone let him drive this thing. It is not going anywhere without a complete replacement. Since it says here on the registration that it’s a rental though, we can’t do that. Those companies have their own people.”
Levi pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a long sigh through his teeth.
“Then what are you saying? You cant fix it? Or you won’t?” This day was continuing to pile on him like the headache that was growing in his head.
“We legally can’t fix it. We called the place to check, no go. We asked them to send another car but it’s a small place, they don’t have any available just yet. But they’re coming to tow this one back, so the return is squared away, they’ve got his information.”
Hange bit her lip, glancing at the man with a sorry expression. “Alright, thanks Hannes.”
After they hung up, she straightened up, looking to Levi and pondering what to do now. He palmed at his forehead and ran his fingers through his hair as he paced around the kitchen.
“The meeting’s been fucked already. I just need to get home.” He huffed, then paused to lean against the counter. Alma stepped into the kitchen with dirty bowls as he said it, and chimed in.
“It’s getting late, why don’t we just put you up for the night? You can shower, borrow some clothes from Zoe, we have an extra room…” Levi shook his head and pushed away from the counter to face Alma.
“I..I cant let you do that, I’m already overstepping.” He protested.
“It’s no trouble,” she insisted, turning away from the sink to look at him, “Right Robert?”
The man hummed as he crossed the kitchen to get to the fridge. “If anything, we’ll put you to work in the morning before you head out.”
“What are your other options anyway?” His eldest daughter added, “We have one motel, and it’s hardly up to par with any sort of safety codes. Nobody comes here.”
Which was why he wanted to get as far way from this place as possible, yet he had no way out for the time being.
“…Fine. Only one night.” He relented. At least he got a meal and a shower out of it.
The front door opened, and heavy footsteps made their way into the kitchen.
“Why don’t you go grab him up some clothes and show him to Mikes room,” Hange’s father instructed her as he popped the top of a beer off with the edge of the counter.
“What about my room?” Came a deep voice from above all of them as a large man dropped a set of keys on the counter. The guy was huge, surpassed Bob even, and very meaty. His hair was a light brown, almost blonde, and he had a mustache.
“This nice man is going to occupy it for the night since it’s been collecting dust.” Alma answered, then held out a fresh helping of chili.
Dust, how pleasant.
The man mumbled a thanks, then sat himself at the counter across from where they stood.
“So who brought home the stray in the suit? He a surveyor?”
“Mike, this is Levi, found him broken down a few miles up the road,” Hange explained, “Hannes can’t fix his rental.”
“You’ve got shit luck to end up stuck here.” Mike teased, then scooped up a heap of chili and shoved it into his mouth.
“Well he’s lucky Zoe was out there when she was, or he wouldn’t have had much luck at all. Not with the coyotes and rattlesnakes.” Robert added just as teasingly, Hange grinned and looked to Levi.
“I could send you back out to meet them,” she teased.
“He wouldn’t last ten minutes,” Mike added, then asked Bob to pass him a beer. Levi met her gaze with an unamused squint.
“The coyotes don’t come out this far…not all the time.” Alma waved them off, then patted Levi on his back.
“Zoe, show him the room so he can shower.”
“I guess they won’t be eating city boy tonight,” She joked, then headed towards the stairs.
“Mike lives out in the hayloft now. So his room is kind of just… here. Never thought it would end up as a guest room,” She explained once they reached said room.
“I’ll get you a towel and something to sleep in.” Stepping inside, it was very noticeable that someone in their late teens had previously took residence. There were a few sports and band posters, some trophies and things of the like.
“Guessing that was another one of your siblings?”
“Yeah, my not so little brother,” Hange replied with a chuckle, she leaned in the doorway, watching the stranger. He hummed taking a good look at the bed that hardly looked like it could fit her giant brother anymore. Then he turned to face her again, dragging his gaze over her form, then raising a brow expectantly.
“Do I have to get on my knees for those clothes or…?” She scoffed in amusement, then shrugged.
“No. But it might mean the difference between receiving a pair of sweats and receiving the nightgown that’s been in the back of my closet since I was thirteen,” A coy smirk spread onto her face, then she crossed the hall to her own room.
He followed her out with his eyes, then sat at the edge of the bed with a small, almost inaudible huff. Pulling his phone out, Levi ran a finger over the cracked screen and attempted to turn it on.
Nothing.
“You’re fucking joking…”
In her room, Hange grabbed a pair of her own joggers and a band t shirt she’d likely stolen from her brother years beforehand. She then grabbed him a towel from the hall closet, and returned to Mike’s room. When she returned, he stood, leaving his dead phone on the nightstand beside the bed.
“Thanks.” Levi muttered as he took the clothes and towel. “The bathroom?”
“There’s one at the end of the hall. You can use whatever soap or shampoo is in there.”
With that, she headed to her own room again to get changed and ready for bed since she was always up at the asscrack of dawn.
Following her instructions, Levi managed to get in a quick hot shower and changed into Hange’s clothes. The joggers were a bit long so he did have to roll them up a bit. The shirt however, was a little tight around the shoulders and arms sleeves. It wasn’t too much of a nuisance.
Hange had changed into a pair of boxers and a baggier shirt than what he had. While he was showering, she spent a few minutes downstairs with Mike and her father in the kitchen before they both headed off for bed. The teens had put themselves to bed, while Hange had to nag Gabi to do so. She was leaving the girls room as Levi was coming out of the bathroom.
She paused, eyeing him a moment from a few doors down the hall. The damp, dripping hair, the way her shirt fit on him… was she being tested by the universe with this whole situation?
Levi slowed as they passed each other, at first it was because of the way she was eyeing him. But then he made the mistake of glancing down. Long, toned legs that went on for days were now out in the open. He clutched at his folded clothes and wrenched his gaze away, then ducked back into the room with flushed cheeks and ears.
Hange swallowed hard, heading into the bathroom after him to relieve herself before bed. Afterwards, she lightly knocked on the door of Mikes room before opening it. Part of her was unable to help herself, she wanted to take another peek at the out of towner.
Coincidentally, he had decided to rid himself of the shirt for the night since that’s how he was used to sleeping. Hange had hadn’t given him much time to react before opening the door so he froze.
Oh...Oh lord.
That was certainly not what she was expecting to see on the other side of the door as she leaned in the doorway.
“Shit,” She muttered, face reddening instantly, “Sorry- I uh…”
Looking down for a second, she bit her lip as her gaze came back up. Hopefully it hadn’t lingered for too long on his shockingly toned and muscular build.
“I just wanted to make sure you didn’t need anything else, you don’t seem like one to ask.” The lingering look definitely didn’t go unnoticed, neither did the lip bite. What helped stamp down his embarrassment was the bright red color that overtook her face.
“I think I’m fine.” He replied, sticking his hands into his pockets.
“Got a good look? You look like you’re about to shit yourself.” Hange raised a brow at that, and huffed a laugh. A bold one. Blunt too.
“No clue what you’re talking about. And I actually just took a shit, so no worries there,” Clearing her throat, she pointedly gave him another look over before reaching for the door handle with a smirk.
“I’m right across the hall if you need anything, short stuff.”
With that, she closed the door, heart pounding at her own boldness, even if it was mostly for her own amusement. Levi’s eyes narrowed as she closed the door, and he huffed both in amusement and disbelief.
“Short stuff…original.” He murmured, then climbed onto the bed, though he spent way too much time kicking the sheets around in an attempt to get comfortable, and had even worse luck with actually sleeping.
Hange, pleased with herself, hopped right into bed. She knew it would be at least a little interesting to help out a stranger, but that was more fun than she’d expected to get out it. What a disappointment he was leaving so soon.
The unexpected was so exciting.