Chapter Text
It was Wednesday afternoon. A cool breeze entered the cafe with each student walking in for a taste of caffeine. Or those walking out after having their fair share of the drug. Green leaves slowly shifted into browns and yellows and oranges, the first signs of autumn, serving a constant reminder for Hange suggesting it was about time she found someone to assist her in her final experiment before graduation.
Except, it wasn’t the easiest task to do. No one wanted to be a part of the eccentric Hange Zoe’s science fair project--as it was dubbed by several students she approached--in fear they’d end up traumatized in some way, shape, or form.
Sure, she had the shortcut of simply asking one of her friends for the favor, yet Hange wanted to reach the extra mile and go beyond by ensuring the experiment would have no flaws whatsoever if she instead worked with a complete stranger they had no previous familiarity with.
“Shit!”
Several eyes zeroed in on the outburst coming from one of the barstools of the cafe, most of them inwardly criticizing the woman for crying her misery out loud and interrupting their own peace of coffee drinking and tea sipping. She paid them no mind and instead threw her head back to stare up at the aging ceiling that was once white but now appeared musty brown due to the daily water vapor from all the hot coffee, finding solace in the process, for she too was fast aging with her very own existential breakdown.
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t scare away some of these customers, Hange,” the barista, and Hange’s long-time best friend, Nanaba teased, sliding a mug with freshly brewed hot coffee towards her. She took it into the palms of her hands, the movement completely memorized after months of sitting her butt down at the very same barstool every morning.
“I just can’t find anyone willing to do this experiment with me, Nana!” Hange groaned, puckering her bottom lip as her glasses threatened to slip from her nose. Nanaba reached out to adjust them then quickly brushed a strand of hair behind her ear before she smiled and consoled her.
“Why don’t you ask Moblit? I’m sure he’d be more than willing,” she shrugged, turning her attention back towards cleaning the countertop not occupied by her messy best friend.
“That’s why I can’t ask him,” Hange sighed, taking a sip of coffee before continuing, “the only way this will work is if I work with a total stranger.”
“Remind me again why on earth you’re doing this?”
“It’s my final project before I receive my master’s! Nana, you know this, and it’s vital this goes according to plan!”
“Okay, don’t start yelling either,” Nanaba pointed a finger towards her, eyes squinting to show how serious she was over not scaring away her customers. “Just lie to them and say you’ll pay them.”
“Nana! I can’t do that!” Hange placed a hand over her chest, dramatically demonstrating how wrong her idea truly was. It wasn’t like she hadn’t thought of the possibility of lying to the person she’d select for her experiment to work, but it was surprising for Nanaba to be the one voicing it out loud.
“Look,” Nanaba brushed some blonde strands behind her ears and situated herself on the counter before her, blue eyes boring directly into Hange’s brown ones mirroring the liquid she constantly brewed, “I just think that maybe the person should be rewarded for spending weeks with a total stranger who is only seeking their own benefit in order to graduate.”
Hange thought her words over for a few moments, jumping to the conclusion that, yes, the person coerced to spending weeks upon weeks with her should be rewarded. After all, she knew she was a handful at times--having three close friends was all the proof she needed to know as they were the only ones willing to stick with her through thick and thin. Even if it were a lie, promising a reward at the end of her social experiment wouldn’t be so hard in hopes maybe by the end of it they will have long forgotten about it and see that becoming friends with Hange Zoe is the reward.
Several beats passed as Hange processed Nanaba’s words, organizing her thoughts as thoroughly as humanly possible in the middle of a crowded cafe of college students. She watched as the coffee in her mug continuously receded further and further below until it reached the very bottom, feeling as though the dark liquid were taunting her, teasing her inevitable demise if she did not succeed with this final project to move on towards her Ph.D. in Psychology. She supposed the darkness would consume her whole and hold her hostage in the reigns of student debt and failure if no single person agreed with her and became her partner in crime.
Nanaba continued fulfilling orders for other customers, leaving Hange to dwell on the depths of her student crisis. She watched each of them place an order with Nanaba, whether it be coffee and a pastry or tea and a loaf of some kind of bread or mixes of either one, then observed them as they approached the counter upon their names being called by another barista, but none of them seeming as possible test subjects to her eyes.
That was until her eyes landed on a student who’d arrived long before her as she didn’t recognize seeing him in the span of the bustling movements of students in her previous observations. He sat alone at a table for two by the floor window, the morning light blaring brightly one the side of him not viewable to her while he seemed lost in a daze with furrowed brows typing furiously at the laptop before him.
“How about him over there?” Hange nudged her best friend while eyeing him and pointing him out with the tip of her chin.
“You’re kidding? You mean the green tea grump, the always scowling customer I dread serving every morning?” Nanaba stared at Hange like she’d grown a second head, searching for any sign of reluctance that maybe she was making a joke but found none.
“That’s exactly why it would work! Do you know if he’s single?” Hange ignored the look of fear Nanaba faced her with, focusing on the languid movement of the man’s fingers over the keyboard, occasionally taking a sip of the green tea he ordered a while ago. What a peculiar way to hold a cup.
“Beats me. I’ve never seen anyone willingly go up to him, so maybe?” Nanaba shrugged with her attention mostly on the espresso machine behind her, deciding that once Hange set their mind on something, it was impossible to convince her out of it.
“However,” she added, tossing a cleaning rag over her shoulder and shutting off the machine. “Don’t expect it to actually work. He’s probably always busy and that’s why I’ve never seen him with anyone--hey! Where are you going?”
Nanaba turned around with a hand gripping the ends of her freshly cut hair, expecting Hange to still be situated at the barstool listening to her, but found her retreating form in the direction of the man. “Oh, hell,” she muttered, rubbing the fresh ends of her undercut in order to keep her calm in case Hange started another outburst.
Hange only listened to her best friend up until she said the word maybe . Maybe he was single. Maybe he was willing to take her up on her offer. Maybe, just maybe, he’d be the one to be attentive towards her research and help a woman out.
Hange Zoe, soon to be Hange Zoe aiming for her PhD once she completed the final social experiment she’d chosen and was given the green light by her director, was determined. She needed this to work with just about anyone, it didn’t matter if she knew the person, she simply needed to know this particular information in order to complete her master’s degree. If she truly wanted to be the best in the field of research she’d taken upon herself, she needed to know each and every angle of the subject. And on the off chance this person agreed, it would work so much better if she didn’t already know the person because that was entirely the point of her hypothesis.
Question : How long will it take a couple’s therapist to realize their newest couple in need of counseling truly don’t know each other and were in a pseudo-relationship?
Hypothesis : If a couple of strangers can easily disguise themselves to be ‘in love’ with one another without knowing the first thing about each other, then love is a social construct and doesn’t truly exist.
So maybe Hange just really wanted to disprove something as silly as love because she’d never believed in it, never experienced it herself, and never saw the necessity for it. Even though she grew up surrounded by one older sister, two older twin brothers, one younger sister, and even one younger brother with the most loving and understanding parents as well as grandparents, Hange was the odd, middle child.
They were amazed by animals, but never sympathized well enough with other children; they gained knowledge of everything and anything, but never found the time to date people once everyone else started doing so in high school, including her siblings.
If it weren’t for Nanaba putting up with her since kindergarten, Hange would probably be utterly alone, more so than what she currently was without a significant other as Nanaba mentioned each time they found themselves drinking away their sorrows. It was so easy for her to say, she had Mike since the first year of undergraduate school and they’ve been inseparable since.
Meanwhile, Hange had only met Moblit, whom everyone would assume was their boyfriend upon first glance, but they never felt that special connection with him, and so he was in a cycle of unrequited love.
Which was why Hange would never force Moblit into an experiment involving something so cynical that happened to be so delicate to him.
Damn her and her reckless mind to come up with something so stupid yet so intriguing even her director was curious to know the final conclusion of at the end of her final semester in six months. Before she could hypothesize any longer how the conversation with this stranger would go, she slammed her palms against the table occupied by her intended variable.
“Are you single?” She blurted at the man who was glaring and preparing to shoot her with the most vile words possible as she’d almost spilled his tea all over his laptop.
“What the fuck is your problem?” He spat, shutting his laptop closed and steadying his gaze with hers.
“Just answer the question. I’ll get out of your hair if I don’t like your answer,” she shrugged, standing up straight once more as she pushed her spectacles up her nose.
He desperately wished he was able to tell her off, but he’d be lying if she didn’t intrigue him in the slightest with her unconventional demeanor and confidence. He finally got a better look at her; she seemed a few inches taller than he with messy russet hair pulled into the worst ponytail he’d ever laid eyes on whereas her own pair of copper-colored irises remained curious and bright while she waited for his answer.
“Depends who’s asking,” he settled with, unsure why he was even playing along with the crazy woman’s antics.
“I am!” She stood up straighter, if that was even possible, with a hand determinedly placed over her chest. “Don’t you think if I came up to you and willingly asked if you’re single it means I want to know?”
Stunned, agitated, and surprisingly complacent, he told her truthfully, “I am,” repeating her overexcited words monotonously. Strange how the same phrase can sound so differently between two people.
“Oh, good! Let me just sit with you then.” She clasped her hands together, taking the seat across from him and settling down as if she were in her natural habitat.
“What are you doing?” He raised an eyebrow, growing stiff at the sudden uninvited guest as he should really be catching up on all the emails he was now abandoning for this woman.
“Right, I should introduce myself. I’m Hange Zoe, my friends call me Hange but my family calls me Zoe after I thought for the first four years of my life it was my first name! I am 25 years old, my pronouns are she/they at the moment, and I have no preferences for either sex. If a person is kind enough, I do my best to befriend them!” She extended an arm, silently asking to shake his hand after force feeding so much information he didn’t quite expect to know immediately.
“Levi,” he curtly replied and reluctantly placed his hand into hers. Soft . That was the first description he could think of as his fingers brushed her skin. Tense. Was second thought that described her underlying touch as she shook his hand once and lingered for a few seconds too long.
She shook her head, more strands of hair falling out of the band wrapped around her ponytail but she paid them no mind as she placed both her hands on the table like they were in a formal meeting for business.
“So, Levi,” she paused to register the sound of his name on her lips and decided she may grow to like it, “I have a proposition for you.”
“What makes you think I’ll accept?” He rolled his eyes, the scowl slowly returning to his face, erasing any signs of softness he’d just shown at the touch of their hands.
“I’ll pay you,” she tensed at the lie, “six months from now, actually.” She hated how smoothly the lie slipped from her tongue.
“Do you usually go around asking strangers if they’re single?” Levi decided to ignore the prospect of money. Sure, receiving money for whatever reason this woman was offering it for would be nice, but it made him feel uneasy. Dirty, even. Like she was going to pay him to spend time with her. He wasn’t a damn prostitute or anything of the sort.
“As of late, I’m afraid so,” she chuckled nervously, finally brushing a strand of hair out of her face but it quickly made its way back. “Don’t get me wrong though! It’s for research.” She grinned.
Levi raised a brow, but he’d never admit he was quite curious over her antics. “Research?”
“I’m a Psychology major. I guess I should explain why I need you for my research,” Hange leaned in closer, and surprising even himself, he listened to each word as she rambled on and on about her case study.
Levi would be lying once more if he didn’t think Hange Zoe was endearing in the way she spoke about her work; it was clear how much thought she’d driven into getting approval even if the topic of research sounded idiotic to him. He respected it, to an extent as the whole idea of “pretending to be a loving couple going through a rough patch needing couple’s counseling” sounded completely insane to him.
“So you and I, two strangers who just met,” he gestured between each of them and waited for her agreement before continuing, “will act like a couple, go to counseling for roughly six months, then never see each other again once you pay me?” Levi quickly summarized her five-minute speech into a five-second question to make sure he’d gotten everything clear.
“Way to undermine my research,” she mumbled, then nodded her head eagerly. “That’s the plan. If everything works out, you and I will only date for six months.” She pushed her glasses up her nose again, and Levi resisted the urge to clean all the musty spots he could clearly see on the surface as well as brushing away all strands of hair behind her ears.
Instead, he focused his attention on the possibility of taking up her offer. She promised quite a big amount of payment, so he surmised the experiment meant a lot to her, and he surprised himself once more when he reached out his hand and took hers in his for a second time.
“Alright, four-eyes, you found yourself a deal. I’ll be your damn boyfriend for six months,” he exuded, internally punching himself for how annoyingly stupid those words sounded from his mouth. The smile spread over her face, however, immediately dissipated any sense of annoyance he previously felt as his own lips slightly tweaked upwards at the sight.
***
The pair exchanged numbers, shared any social media accounts they might’ve had, and set up a date for their first counseling session the following Tuesday as it was the only day they equally had off time. Never once did each of them mention how their way of getting to know a little about each other before then would play out, so Levi found himself in the cafe once again the following morning.
One green tea order, his favorite spot by the window chosen, and headphones plugged in to fill his ear drums and neurons with classical music later, he patiently waited for Hange Zoe to appear within his line of sight for the day.
Levi Ackerman, though initially reluctant on an agreement so trivial as a social experiment for someone he barely knew, figured giving it a shot wouldn’t hurt.
Instead, what truly hurt--and currently left an impending headache--were the repeated smacks on his head from Isabel the night before after he told her and Furlan about the recent project he’d picked up in exchange for a much needed payment in due time. Isabel may be like an adopted little sister to Levi, but she was far more protective of both him and Furlan. They were the closest to a family each of them had, so it was no surprise she was looking out for him.
Levi was an individual who never shared anything personal such as his feelings with none other than Isabel. Being the only girl he ever trusted since their childhood, she knew him like an open book and feared he was getting himself into some “deep catastrophic shit”--her words exactly--and he didn’t know it.
Isabel might be correct in that sense. However, Levi was determined to prove her wrong. He wouldn’t let himself fall for someone as abnormal and annoying as Hange Zoe, no matter if they were in a fake relationship for the sake of their graduation.
He planned to limit their contact to only a professional stance, and unless necessary, never see each other outside of those weekly counseling meetings she would set up.
Yet, there he was, distractedly writing up an essay for one of his English courses, most likely conjuring up the worst possible sentences, and peeking up every time the bell over the door chimes louder than the volume of his headphones at the entrance of every customer. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel a tinge of disappointment each time it wasn’t Hange.
Where the hell is she?
“If you’re wondering where our Hange is, she usually runs late on Thursdays due to their lab,” someone approached his table and sighed next to him as if sensing his sorrow. Levi rolled his eyes at the woman he never bothered to learn the name of even if she always served up his tea.
“I wasn’t wondering anything,” he defended, suddenly on edge over being so blatantly obvious in his wandering eyes. Maybe Isabel was right.
“Sure you weren’t,” she shrugged, then added, “you’re welcome to stay and join the bar. Hange should be arriving in about fifteen minutes.” And then the thin, blonde pixie cut woman was gone, retreating back behind the counter to wait for Hange just like he was.
Sure enough, fifteen minutes later Hange Zoe made her grand appearance in the buzzing cafe with her overbearing footsteps and dragging along a new face behind her whom Levi didn’t know but nonetheless glared into the back of his skull. The two ignored him.
But of course they did. Hange never made it evident that he would be the subject of her everyday life, simply a variable within the premises of a social experiment. Levi shook his head, rolled his eyes at his own ignorance while fiercely slamming his laptop shut. Whatever was going through his head, his stomach, hell, even his heart, he didn’t want to find out in the middle of a stupidly obnoxius cafe older than his severely irritating uncle at Thanksgiving dinner every year.
Shoving his belongings into his messenger bag, he made way towards the door to distance himself as far away from the person causing his misery at the moment as possible. Preferably somewhere as far away as Japan! Or the moon!
“Levi!”
He wouldn’t be packing up a suitcase to catch the first flight to Japan. Nor would he be traveling to Houston to throw himself into the next rocket launch to the moon. Instead, he would be turning around towards the voice he found infuriating and comforting all at once simply because she called out his name and caught the attention of a few nosey students.
With one final breath to sooth his nerves, Levi faced the person he waited for all morning, the subject of his internal conflicting thoughts. Setting them aside for a much needed analysis with Isabel at a later time, he feigned annoyance towards Hange who now stood before him with bright eyes and the widest of smiles.
“What?” Levi could just punch himself in the gut right then and there for the high pitch tone that escaped his throat.
“Don’t sound too excited to see me,” she mocked, rolling her eyes with a mischievous grin.
“I’m not excited, like, at all ,” Levi emphasized, ignoring how right she truly was.
“ No según Nana ,” she muttered to herself. “Anyways, I want to introduce you to Nana and Moblit!”
“Huh?” Levi could’ve sworn she’d just spoken in a language he didn’t understand, and she did. At least the first few words were, but the rest was clearly English, the language he was taking his final advanced classes for in order to graduate with his English master's, yet he couldn’t register anything.
“C’mon,” she reached for his hand, warm slender fingers enveloping his cold palm like she was protecting him as he willingly followed closely behind her, watching her messy ponytail of russet curls bounce giddily with each step.
Levi could faintly feel the stench of chemicals filling up his sinuses and singing his nose hairs as he stood next to her at the cafe bar, but he paid no mind as soon as he heard the name of the woman who always made his morning tea.
“Did you just say banana?” Levi stared incredulously between Hange and the one he now presumed was named banana.
“Levi, no. I said Nanaba,” Hange quickly corrected under her breath with a nervous chuckle and stole a glance towards Bana-- no, Nanaba.
Oh, that makes sense.
Nanaba pursed her lips, placed a hand on her hip and the other over the counter to lean in towards Levi. He half expected her to be offended by his mistake. He was never the greatest at learning names straight off the bat which was why he usually nicknamed everyone with something he could easily remember instead. If the squint of her pale blue eyes, the flare of her nostrils, and the twitch of her brow were anything to go by, Levi was preparing for the worst.
Then the strangest thing happened and he couldn’t hide the look of exasperation painted on his face. Instead of telling him off like he expected, Nanaba’s entire body shook with a low laugh that quickly reddened her cheeks.
“Oh, I haven’t heard that one in years!” She exclaimed and planted a hand on Levi’s shoulder to shake him. He did not anticipate the strength of the woman, so he had to grip onto the closest thing for leverage before toppling over the counter and it just so happened to be Hange’s hand once more.
“Didn’t you punch the last person who called you a banana?” Hange breathed in between fits of giggles. “And wasn’t it Mike?”
“Yeah, it was,” Nanaba mused, “and he never called me that again.” She winked proudly at Levi’s state of confusion over their nostalgic memories he clearly had no place in, and the desire to leave to the moon returned.
“Don’t worry, Levi,” Hange pulled the hand he was holding away and ran it up his arm, stopping at his shoulder to give a reassuring squeeze. “Nana won’t punch you unless you give her a reason to.”
Levi glanced up to memorize the crooked grin she gave him as her eyes appeared golden with the morning sun peeking in through the windows. He would’ve ignited and combusted on the spot right then and there from how strikingly captivating Hange was, a fiery glow next to his dull gloom if he truly could.
As if they never spared a glimpse in his direction, Hange turned her attention to the man she’d entered with whose name Levi didn’t bother paying any mind to. Was it Kermit? Levi didn’t care so much to eavesdrop on whatever chemical experiment they were discussing, taking it as his queue to leave.
“Oh, Levi?” Hange called out as he made it halfway to the door, and all too quickly he turned his interest towards her once more, secretly hoping she’d ask him to stay.
“Yeah?” He chastised himself for how hopelessly desperate he must appear.
“I’ll text you the details, for, uh, Tuesday!”
Without a second glance after nodding in approval, Levi trudged out to the autumn breeze, tucking his scarf neatly below his chin and made way to the Liberal Arts building to submit his half-assed essay.
***
A notification for his student email took Levi’s attention away from the heated argument between Isabel and Furlan about whether or not carelessly using rent money on a “much needed” Tinder premium account was necessary for Furlan to get laid.
Levi obviously knew Furlan didn’t need the help of a premium account, but Isabel, even if she is the youngest of the three, was scolding him like a mother would reprimand their teenage son for not doing his laundry.
Ignoring them for the time being, he followed the link from his email to the university’s website to login and come face-to-face with the disappointment he currently does not have the time for but will certainly encounter upon seeing the grade for his essay from Thursday morning.
Better to expect disappointment than to face the upsetting consequences afterward.
Due to several anxiety ridden students most likely on the server to check their own grade as well, he watched as the loading wheel spun about thirty times until finally the grades page appeared before, illuminating his face like a last hope in the dark of their apartment living room. Almost instantly, Levi prepared all too easily for a C, accustomed to his professor being unfulfilled in all his previous classes over his work, but croaked at the single bolded A to the far right of the LED screen staring back at him.
“Levi, are you okay?” Isabel’s voice was distant, like the background noise of a static TV channel as he clicked on the feedback bubble to read what his hardass of a professor could provide as reasoning for the sudden change of grading for his work.
Ackerman, I know I was always hard on you in our previous discussions. I see now that my stern consistency allowed you to evolve your style of writing. Come by my office Monday during my office hours. You know the time.
“Levi! Hello?” Isabel’s deafening pitch announced her presence beside him, resetting his static-filled brain and bringing him out of his stupor.
“What?” Levi snapped, harsher than he anticipated it to be.
“You croaked like a frog giving labor!”
“Frogs don't give labor, they lay eggs,” Furlan remarked, earning him a glare from Isabel which appeared more like a feral tangerine.
“Don’t start again,” Levi warned them before they could begin the second heated argument of the night. “And don’t call me a frog giving labor ever again.” He closed the Safari app from his phone, checking the time as 7:26 PM and locked it.
As if to mock him, it dinged with an incoming message a few seconds later, followed by a second, then a third and a fourth ding soon after, signaling a total of four messages. Who the hell quadruple texts?
“Someone’s popular tonight,” Isabel teased, shoving his shoulder as she leaned further into the couch and threw her legs over the coffee table. Levi would’ve immediately shoved her if it weren’t the four messages displayed on his phone and a fifth bubble indicating the other person was still typing up a fifth message.
>Levi? It’s Hange.
>You know, four-eyes??
>Anyways, if this is you, I’ll pat myself on the back for correctly typing in your phone number!! If this is a total stranger and NOT Levi, please let me know and I will stop!!
>But on the off chance this is Levi, does 2 PM on Tuesday work for you??
He was about to reply when the fifth message, the longest one yet, kicked in.
>AGAIN, if you aren’t Levi, do not try to find me Tuesday afternoon at 2 PM! I have a friend who will not hesitate to drop kick you!! But if you are Levi, don’t worry, Banana won’t do that to you :)
Levi could almost feel the slight upturn of his lips at the last bit.
<Yes, four-eyes, this is Levi. Don’t double text me again. See you Tuesday.
He hates how much he enjoys the fact that there is an immediate response.
>Perfect!! :)
>Also, I can’t help it. It is psychologically proven that if you tell someone not to do something, they will surely do it.
Right, she’s a psychology major.
>But you never said I can't triple text you!!! :))))
“Tch,” Levi shuts his phone off again, deciding he shouldn’t keep playing into her antics if he wants to survive six months of this mess. But of course, she has different plans and the ding sounds once more in the silence of the room as he feels the curious gazes of Isabel and Furlan on his eager behavior of immediately reading the new message.
>Are you free tomorrow??
He raises a brow at the sudden question and quickly realizes she can’t see him.
<Yes.
>Great! Drop by the cafe, I may or may not have a few things to discuss before we attend the first session.
<Four-eyes, you’re thinking too much about it. We’re already texting. We can talk here.
>But it’s better if we are face to face. You know, human communication builds character and connections. We could pull it off better if we know a teensy bit about each other!!
Even through a text message, Levi can hear the tone of her voice as she explains this and that about whatever knowledge she carries, and he’s all too keen over getting to know her the best he can through mere texting.
Before he could reply, he’s intruded upon by Isabel. Damn her.
“Who are we texting?” She attempts to peer towards his phone screen, but Levi is quicker at locking it beforehand.
“Nobody, get off me,” he shoves a hand into her face and pushes her away. “What have I said about personal space?”
“Not to peer over your shoulder,” she mutters and smacks his arm off her face. “Was it Han-”
“No!” Levi declares before she can finish her question. The tips of his ears burn--from embarrassment or annoyance, he’s unsure--and fails miserably at covering the blush on his cheeks.
“Levi! What did I tell you?”
“Shut up,” he crosses his arms, the reply he planned for Hange long forgotten for the moment.
“Isabel is just looking out for you, man,” Furlan attempts, approaching the seat on the other side of him so he is sandwiched between the two infuriating idiots.
“Same way she’s looking for you and your unhealthy money spending on stupid things?” Levi interjects, throwing a jab right back at him.
“That’s different!”
“How is it different?”
“Money is a material concept, whereas feelings, yours especially,” he puffs his cheeks and lets out an exaggerated breath, “are fragile.”
Levi wants to punch the knowing look off his best friend’s face, but he remains stunned, unsure what he should say to defend himself and his mind is blank. Nothing surfaces to retaliate. No sarcasm. No comments. Nothing. Nada.
“Don’t you guys have anything better to do?” That’s the best thing that can come out of his mouth as he shifts off the couch, deciding to reside in his room for the rest of the night to contemplate the mess he is.
At least I got an A.
***
Two hours.
It’s been two hours since Levi read her last message and didn’t reply.
Maybe she was overwhelming him.
Maybe he didn’t want to see her unless it’s during the sessions. She did tell him the experiment would work better if they were strangers after all.
“Damn it,” Hange tossed her phone on the bed, peering over at the computer displaying the empty word document she would’ve prepared with questions and concerns had Levi agreed to meet the following day.
But it’s been two hours, and there were no signs he was remotely interested in seeing her on a Sunday afternoon.
Hange made her way across the room, shut off the computer, and threw herself under the bed covers instead. A thud on the carpeted floor alarmed her, and she realized she’d caused her phone to fly over the bed and crash land onto the ground but made no movement to retrieve it.
Fifteen minutes. That’s all the body needs. A comfortable sleeping position with no movement other than the steady breathing of oxygen intake and outtake of carbon dioxide is all the body requires before entering sleep.
Fifteen minutes is also all her phone needs before it’s dinging with notifications from the voidless floor below her as her body jolts fully awake before she plummets into the ground.
“I’m going!” Hange screams at none other than the LED screen displaying several notifications one after another. Why do I have such an annoying ringer?!
One misstep and she did, in fact, plummet to the ground with a tangled blanket between her legs and a shoulder burn from the carpet.
“Shit!” Before she could find the time to endure the pain, the phone began ringing with an incoming call. Without checking the screen, she answered.
“Nana, I swear this better be good. I got carpet burn for you!”
Silence. Then, “Last I checked, my name is Levi. Are you alright?”
Hange is left with an eye twitch, panicking and scrambling to find her glasses before she says anything stupid again.
“Me? Alright? Of course!”
“You just said you have carpet burn. Go treat it,” his tone is low, yet almost demanding on the other line.
“I’m fine, Levi. Why are you calling?” Hange changes the subject before they encounter any more of the soft and tender voice he’s capable of mustering.
“I texted you, but you didn’t reply,” he states bluntly, as if he were annoyed by the fact.
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
Silence shouldn’t be comfortable with a stranger like Levi. But that’s where Hange was wrong. Levi was no longer a total stranger. He likes tea, and specifically enjoys Nana’s green tea every morning on the weekdays to get his days started otherwise he wouldn’t make it a part of his routine.
He constantly carries his laptop, typing up emails or essays or whatever else he could be typing for hours upon hours, and after a few days of observation, Levi doesn’t get much sleep if the lilac underneath his silver eyes that appear blue from a certain angle up close is anything to go by.
Levi Ackerman wasn’t a total stranger. Not anymore and Hange was going to make sure they made the most out of her social experiment; she would befriend him and possibly even bring out the best of him. For research purposes, obviously.
“I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t be late,” Levi’s voice cut in through the silence like a swift blade, interrupting her thoughts and just as suddenly, the line went dead.
“Huh,” Hange shrugged, tossing the phone onto the nightstand but remained situated on the carpet beside her bed, basking in the full moon’s light illuminating her from the right.
Like the common knowledge of the moon, Levi was an enigma. Both are mysterious, puzzling in the ways they behave and difficult to fully understand at first encounters. But with time, data can be gathered to formulate theories and eventually, fascinating details proven to be true after trial and error.
Hange Zoe would guarantee Levi’s dark side of the moon is discovered by none other than them before their six month deadline approached.