"I'm just saying that – achoo! – ugh. I need to get a look at them because I need to know if they get lonely."
Levi frowned at Hanji, who was curled up in her bed. He thought she looked positively atrocious, with her tired eyes and her sick pallor and her running nose. He just wanted to wipe the remnants of snot off her face – after putting on rubber gloves, of course. His unforgiving stare washed over her face. He figured she probably thought it was because he was disgusted by her. In fact, he was simply focusing there to avoid focusing on the rest of her body, which was still in her pajamas. He sighed.
"Hanji, you know I'm not letting you do that," he told her. "You have a head cold. You can't think straight right now, and your reaction time is slowed, which greatly increases the possibility of a titan injuring you. And though you may not feel the same way, I prefer my scouting squad not in a titan's stomach."
"But I haven't seen them in two days, and they've been completely isolated from each other! I want to know if they have any way of socializing with each other, which requires me to-" She paused to wipe her nose with her finger. Levi smacked her wrist down.
"Stop that, it's disgusting. The answer is no. Get some rest." He started to leave.
Hanji sneezed again. She had the unfortunate habit of kicking one leg up when she sneezed, which, in this case, caused the blanket to fly off to the side, uncovering her body. Levi wasn't sure if the kicks were a reflex, as she claimed, or something she did specifically to annoy him. She stumbled out of bed.
"Levi, no! Please, just let me go out there! I need to finish my experiment!"
The petite man turned around, exasperated. He hated upsetting her like this. It broke his heart hearing her so distressed because, though he had trouble admitting it to himself, Hanji was, well, important. He cared about her in a way he didn't really care for anyone else, and that made times like this confusing and painful. He rolled his eyes.
"Fine. But if you go out there, I'm going out with you. And you're going to stay far away from them. You can observe them at a distance, can't you?"
Her face lit up.
"Oh, yes! That's perfectly okay! I really appreciate this. Thank you so much!" She ran toward him, arms extended for a hug.
"Don't touch me, you're sick!"
"C'mon, just one hug!"
"That's unsanitary!"
"But Levi, I-" She cut off as she sneezed. Her right leg flew up, striking him right between the legs.
Levi crumpled to the floor, groaning.
"Oh my gosh!" cried Hanji. "I'm so sorry! Here, let me help you up!"
"Don't touch me," he hissed, hands protecting his groin. "God, would it kill you to be delicate for once?"
"I'm sorry! So sorry!" She seemed genuinely upset, and Levi had to admit it made him sort of happy. "Um – ah – what do I do… I know! I'll go get you some ice!" She staggered past him and down the hall, sniffling into the distance.
Levi sat back against the wall, trying to ignore the splitting pain in his crotch. He closed the door so no one would see him in such a compromising position. God damn… that stupid… ugh.
Someone pounded on the door.
"LEVI!" Hanji yelled unnecessarily loud. "I GOT THE ICE FOR YOUR CROTCH! LET ME IN!"
"It's unlocked you idiot!" Nevertheless, he stood up and opened the door, to find Hanji standing there, grinning with a bag of ice in her hands. He snatched the bag away and sat on the bed, holding it between his thighs. Hanji sat down next to him, too close for comfort. "I swear to god, if you fucking touch me-"
"Relax, I won't touch you." She grabbed a tissue and wiped her nose.
"But you're not going out to see your test subjects today."
"What? Why?"
"Because now I'm pissed off."
"Aw, come on. You gotta admit it was sort of funny."
He turned to look at her. A wide grin was spread across her face, and her soft brown eyes crinkled up at the corners. She's just really cute… and that smile is contagious. This sucks. He pursed his lips.
"Hanji," he said. "I am trying really hard to hate you right now, but you're making it extraordinarily difficult."
She laughed a little.
"I get that feeling every day about you."
Levi raised his eyebrows. Is that her way of saying she has feelings for me?
"Really? Do tell."
"Sometimes I see you frowning at me like you're disappointed and I just want to smack your silly face. But then I remember that you're my boss and that's not allowed."
Levi deflated slightly.
"Oh. Yes. That's true."
There was a short stretch of silence.
"But seriously," Hanji said. "That was actually really funny."
Levi looked over at her goofy face, and smiled.
"The next time you're getting ice for my crotch, could you be more subtle about it?"
"There's going to be a next time?"
They looked each other in the eyes and burst out laughing. Levi couldn't remember laughing this hard in a long time. She just makes me so happy. I can't even explain it, but she does. As he chuckled, he thought about explaining this to her. Maybe someday we can be together. But for now, we'll just laugh together.