LeviHan Week Prompt #1
October 27 - Vision
Leading the Blind
Well… It could be worse. Hange sat on the ground, hugging her knees. The soldier was in an enclosed tent near the barracks. She had been conducting an experiment with one of the Survey Corps' recently captured titans regarding sunlight deprivation. Note, 'had been' were the keywords here.
After approaching the restrained titan a little too closely, the female squad leader nearly got her face bitten off. Luckily, the brunette's quick reflexes saved her face from becoming titan chow by stepping back. But, as she stepped backwards, the woman accidentally slipped and landed on the floor, the impact sending her glasses flying and somehow extinguished the candle she was holding onto. With the her glasses gone and the only source of light extinguished, the woman could see as well as a blind man.
"Gwooogghhh…"
"Don't worry, Jeff," the woman assured the titan, cheerfully. "Accidents like these happen all the time!"
"Gwooogghhh!"
Hange heard the sound of glass being cracked and winced, the most logical conclusion coming to her mind. Her glasses must have landed near the titan's head and Jeff must have crushed them somehow.
"Y-yeah, accidents happen all the time…" The now glasses-less woman said aloud, more to herself rather than to the restrained titan. She knew she should have worn her goggles instead of her glasses, but she was so excited when the scouts brought back the two titans, one a 4 meter class (she named him Jeffrey), the other a 7 meter class (whom she named Andrei). Hange couldn't wait to start experimenting on them!
The soldier sighed and rested her chin on her knees. She had no choice but to wait for Moblit, Keiji, or someone from her squad to come find her. In her temporary state of blindness, crawling around and looking for the exit wasn't really an option. As much as she liked to study them, Hange did not find the idea of accidentally crawling into the mouth of a hungry titan very appealing. Besides, there were also glass shards on the floor from her broken glasses.
Hange just sat there in the dark with Jeff the titan. After what seemed like an hour (or maybe two?), her companion stopped its grunting noises. The woman could only assume the titan had retired for the day.
"Good night, Jeff…" the woman said softly.
There was no reply, but Hange didn't expect one, really. The soldier felt her stomach growl. Funny, now that she was finally alone, the brunette realized how hungry she was. She hadn't eaten since this morning and she estimated it was dinner time by now. How she would give anything for the mess hall stew and bread… Even the vegetable soup she hated was starting to look appetizing now…
"Oi, Hange! Are you in there?"
A voice broke the woman from her thoughts. Hange raised her head from her knees and called out, "Levi? Is that you?"
The woman heard the sound of the tent flap opening and, sure enough, the brunette could make out the hazy silhouette of her 5'3 comrade.
"What happened to you, Shitty Glasses? Are you hurt somewhere?"
Hange couldn't make it out for certain, but she was sure she heard a touch of concern in the raven-haired captain's voice. "No, I'm fine, Levi. But my glasses… They might have gotten smashed by Jeff over there…" Though the woman doubted the man could see her face in the darkness of the tent, she flashed him a sheepish grin nonetheless.
The woman heard a sigh and then the sound of footsteps approaching her. A few seconds later, she could see a blurry image of Levi holding a lamp in front of her.
"Can you get up?" the captain asked, as he looked down at the woman sitting on the ground.
"Wait, are there glass shards around where I'm sitting?" Hange groped the area around the space she was sitting.
"None, as far as I can see, Shitty Glasses." The man watched Hange get out of her sitting position and stand up with that trademark grin of hers plastered on her face. Levi's perpetual scowl angled lower as the man wrinkled his nose in disgust. The stupid woman didn't even bother dusting the dirt off her pants. "Tch." He started to head toward the exit.
"W-wait! Levi! Don't walk too fast! I can't see anything, remember?!" The woman cried when the man walked away briskly. Hange heard the man let out a sigh and turn heel, walking back to her.
"Don't you have your goggles or some spare glasses?" There was a drop of irritation in the man's voice.
"They're in the desk drawer of my study."
A moment of silence passed between the duo. The man sighed once more and broke the silence by asking, in a soft voice, "…So you really can't see anything?"
"I'm as blind as a bat right now." The woman answered honestly. She really wanted to see and observe the man's face right now. Hange really had no clue where this conversation was going.
"Hange… Do you trust me?" Though she could not see at all, the brunette felt the man's steely gray eyes gaze at her intently. He was being serious.
The woman blinked her chocolate brown eyes twice in surprise. She had not been expecting that question of all things. "Of course, I trust you! We've known and worked with each oth-"
"Then," the man cut her off. "Give me your hand."
Hange held her hand out to the man, to which Levi grabbed with his free hand and gave a small tug. It was a small signal indicating she should follow him.
Years of fighting titans had given them both calloused hands with some scars here and there, but that's where the similarities of their hands ended. Levi had what Hange could only describe as a man's hand. Wide palms and a strong grip, it was large enough to enclose her own. Obviously, it was to be expected since Levi was a male, but it still surprised the woman all the same. The brunette could only hope the man would not notice heat emanating from hers. Her face was already so hot and red from his touch.
When Hange finally became aware of her surroundings, the first thing she noticed was the cool evening wind blowing by, prickling the back of her neck. From her hazy vision, she could tell they were outside the tent already, but the raven-haired man still held her hand in his.
Hange tugged on his hand and stopped walking. The captain turned to face the woman and asked, "What?"
"Where are we going, Levi?"
"Isn't it obvious, Shitty Glasses? We're going to your study." The man said nonchalantly. He carried on walking, still not letting go of her hand. Hange could only follow as she was dragged behind him.
"But, Levi, my office is on the third floor!"
The man stopped abruptly, causing the temporarily blind woman to almost bump into him. Turning to face her, Hange did not need her vision to feel his gray eyes on her face once more. Again, he asked in soft, low voice, "Do you trust me, Hange?"
The brunette could feel the blood rush to her face. She was probably redder than a tomato by now. "I do! We've had each other's backs for so long now! I remember our first mission together we-"
"Then just keep walking, Shitty Glasses." He stopped her before she started babbling again.
"Yeah…" The woman nodded, a bit light-headed, as they walked on, now entering the base. "Hey, Levi?"
"Hn?" The man didn't bother to look back at her so the playful glint in her brown eyes went unnoticed.
"Technically, you can't call me 'Shitty Glasses' since I'm not wearing any right now."
"Hange."
"Hmm?"
"You'll always be Shitty Glasses even without your bloody specs."
AN: YES! IT'S FINALLY LEVIHAN WEEK! I'M SO HAPPY! TTwTT
Sorry if this is rushed and possibly OOC... I was really cramming it to meet with the Oct. 27 deadline... ^^;
Thank you for reading and I hope you'll drop a review~!
- solitarycloud :3