This is the first chapter of what's going to ultimately be a hundred chapter not-drabble series. Each chapter will be based off one of the one hundred most beautiful words in the English language. They'll all be Levi and Hanji based, but not necessarily LeviHan.
Written for the 100 Words Challenge from the FanFiction ImagiNation forum.
Incipient
adjective
beginning to happen or develop; in an early stage
The first time Levi encounters Hanji Zoe is after she has quite literally run him down and left him for dead in the middle of the hallway.
He'd heard things about her before this, of course, she was rather notorious among the new recruits. That she was sixteen years old, had graduated third in her class with an even 35/40 (a score almost unheard of apparently, with the only reason her not being ranked higher was her lack of prowess on the field), highly intelligent, and-according to some sources-completely fucking insane.
This information, while moderately useful, isn't actually what interested him about her in the first place. It was the way she'd looked at him the day Erwin had brought him to base the week before and made him show the team leaders his ability with the 3D gear. Most of the other rookies had stared at him in awe, wonder, and confusion, while Hanji simply watched with a peculiar look on her face. Curious, but in a hungry sort of way. Vaguely impressed and mildly perplexed, but not in the usual sense - more like she couldn't care less about his abilities themselves, just how she could make them work for her. She'd looked at that same way the day later, when he'd been officially introduced to his new comrades. It had been unnerving.
These are the thoughts that run through his head as he tries to get his bearings, and by the time he does, she's at the end of the hall and turning the corner. He gets up and, against his better judgement, follows her.
"Hey!" he calls when he turns the corner and sees her about to slip around yet another. "Shit Glasses! Stop!"
Hanji pauses, and turns around, clearly puzzled when she sees him. "What?" she asks after a moment, quirking her eyebrows. She crosses her arms and leans against the wall, impatient but waiting.
He continues walking till he's right in front of her so he doesn't have to yell, but now that he is, he's a bit surprised. She's tall for a girl, and thin with wider shoulders, but not exactly in a feminine way (but not quite in a masculine way either). She is nice-looking enough-although more handsome than cute-but there's something about her that makes him wary. He'd like to say it's the obvious answer, the cold and calculating look in her eyes as she peers at him, but there's something else there too, something that tells him she's a lot more dangerous than she might appear. He can see the exact moment that she recognizes him, but still, her expression doesn't much change. If anything, she looks even more annoyed. "What?" she repeats, and this brings him out of his thoughts. He clenches his teeth.
"You just ran me over, dumbass," he almost spits out. "Are you dumb, blind, or both?" She raises an eyebrow.
"None of the above," she replies flatly. "Are you short, rude, or both?"
He scowls, and the urge to hit her is strong. "Instead of acting like you're above the rest of us, why don't you just apologize so I can be on my way? I don't actually like picking fights, you know." And you're not worth the effort, anyway, he adds silently.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" She tips her head, clearly still irritated. "Shouldn't you be at dinner?"
"Shouldn't you?" What the hell is wrong with this girl?
"Yes." She doesn't sound concerned. "But I'm not."
"I can see that, thank-you."
"I'm breaking into the lab," she continues idly, ignoring him. "There's a lot of fun stuff in there, and supper's the only time I can be sure it's empty. I have a key." She pauses, pursing her lips in thought. "You should come," she decides. "I've been doing this for a while now, but always alone, since no one else wants to risk trouble. It'd be nice to have a partner-in-crime. You look like you'd be up for it."
He stiffens, and wonders what rumors have started. "I'm not anyone's partner-in-crime," he mutters.
"No one said you were." She smiles, almost kindly now, and motions, their whole spat from just a minute ago forgotten. "Come on. I'm Hanji, by the way." She starts off without looking back to make sure he's following, and once again, completely against his better judgement, he follows.
Fair warning, I'll be posting pretty erratically for a bit until I hit a stride, and by then I may be posting as many as two or three a day. I'll try to update at least once a week, but because I want these to be in order, that may not be possible.
