~It Was a Dark and Stormy Night~
Mikasa's body ached all over. Ever since the captain had taken to sparring with her, she always ached after training, but she knew it would fade in a few hours. Outside the building, the wind roared and the rain fell in droves, but she was warm and comfy enough not to care. Not that warm, relatively speaking, or indeed comfy, but she didn't care. As long as Eren was with her, she knew she could sleep anywhere: draped over a knobbly branch above a ravenous horde of titans, wedged between stalagmites in a freezing ice cave... As long as she wasn't in any immediate danger, she could sleep.
Only the hardiest of souls lasted in the Survey Corps, so one little storm could hardly faze any of them. Sasha had learned to wrap her head in a blanket to block out the noise, Bertholdt covered his ears with his feet, Reiner and Eren could sleep through a hurricane, and Connie blocked out the noise by snoring. Ymir and Krista huddled together for safety. Armin just generally sort of coped. As for Mikasa-
FZASSSHHHHHH!
For a brief, terrifying moment, blinding light filled the dormitory. Mikasa's pulse quickened as the slow rumble of thunder filled her ears. Titan-shifters?
Slowly, hardly daring to move for fear of alerting the unseen titan-shifter, Mikasa reached over to the right, eventually finding Eren's shoulder. Nothing happened. She gave him a gentle shake. Nothing happened.
"Eren. Eren, wake up. We're in terrible danger."
Muttering unintelligably, Eren rolled over and burrowed a little deeper into his pillow.
"Eren, there may be a titan-shifter at large," Mikasa whispered through clenched teeth. She gave Eren a more vigorous shake. Not too vigorous, though; they both had the top bunks, so falling off could be disastrous. "At large there may be a titan-shifter, Eren! Wake up!"
Eren snored loudly.
"For fuck's sake, keep it down!" came the tired, angry voice of Jean. He was below Mikasa.
"Jean, someone just titan-shifted. Didn't you see the flash of light?" demanded Mikasa.
Jean groaned. "It was just lightning. Go back to sleep."
Mikasa sighed. It was fairly stormy, she had to admit, so Jean might've had a point. "Alright, but be on your guard."
Jean, however, was already asleep, dreaming of being young again in a field of flowers and beautiful Asian girls with scarves. Beautiful, calm, sensible Asian girls who weren't too obsessed with protecting their idiot brothers. Perfect.
The wind howled outside Hanji's room. On nights like this, she wished she had a Colossal Titan body pillow to snuggle. Not that anyone would really be crazy enough to make a Colossal Titan body pillow. Besides, how would she get the materials?
Still, the actual Colossal Titan didn't have a pillow or anything. Her bed wasn't the best, or especially warm or tidy, but Hanji knew she had it lucky. She wept for the titans out in the cold and the rain, being blown around by the wind and frozen to the bone. If titans even could freeze.
A faint noise brought Hanji's attention to the door, which was softly swinging open.
"Hello?"
"It's me," Levi declared, stepping quietly into the room. "I've come to stand in your doorway."
Levi looked tired and bad-tempered: perfectly normal, so Hanji wasn't worried. "Fair enough. How's it compare to other doorways?"
"Fine."
There was a protracted silence.
"So, uh, how are you?"
"None of your business."
There was another protracted silence.
"What's goin' on here, Levi? You don't usually stand in doorways like this."
"A cat may stand in a king. Or something."
"In a king's doorway?"
"Presumably."
There was a third protracted silence. Hanji couldn't stand it. "Look, I'll need my doorway sooner or later. What are you doing here?"
"What's it to you?"
"Well, these are kind of my quarters..."
"And I'm the captain. Deal with-"
A sudden gust of wind roared overhead, shaking the roof as if it was going to tear it down. Levi flinched, grimmacing.
"You're not scared of storms?!" cried Hanji.
"I... of course not."
"I knew it!" Hanji grinned.
Well, there wasn't much point in denying it now. "Budge over, Four-Eyes."
Still smiling and giggling like an idiot, Hanji shifted over to the side. Levi inserted himself under the covers beside her, maintaining a deathly silence as the bedframe creaked under their weight.
Mikasa dreamed of being young again in a field of flowers. She was the only beautiful Asian girl with a scarf, but Eren was there, snoozing in her lap. He looked so peaceful, almost like an angel. Her guardian angel. True, she mostly guarded him, but the thought was there. A soft, cool breeze wafted through her hair, singing as it rustled the grass, howling like a banshee as it tore at Mikasa's frozen skin...
Mikasa's eyelids creaked slowly apart. She let out a deep, heartfelt sigh, resigning herself to a night of ferocious gusts and raging thunder.
"Mikasa? Was that a deep, heartfelt sigh?" Armin's gentle voice came from under Eren's bunk.
"It seems that way. I can't sleep," Mikasa whispered.
"Me neither. It's so loud out there."
"Mhm."
"Are you afraid?"
"Not especially."
"Well, I am a little," Armin admitted. "Uh, did you mention a titan-shifter?"
"Of course not. That'd be ridiculous."
Silence descended once more over the barracks, apart from Ymir and Krista, who both had pretty good hearing.
"Will you please keep it down?!" the freckly girl hissed.
"Pretty please with sugar on?" the unfreckled girl offered.
"Okay, sorry," said Armin. "You might want to ask the wind, though..."
"Throw you both to the wind if I had the chance..." Jean grumbled.
Silence descended once more, this time for definite. Mikasa slid her head under the pillow, smoothing it as best she could over her ears. It didn't work, so she rolled over, pressing her cheek against the rough canvas mattress. After a couple of minutes, she rolled over onto the other cheek, then tried to lie flat on her front. After a few more minutes squashing her chin, Mikasa gave up. The wind wasn't that loud, at the end of the day. She'd probably pass out from exhaustion sooner or-
KRACKOOOM!
""KRACKOOOM?" It was "FZASSSHHHHHH!" last time, wasn't it?" Armin observed.
A chill went down Mikasa's spine. It's nothing, she reassured herself. No titan-shifters here. We don't know whether titan-shifters can even function at night. It's fairly dark, so the Moon can't be showing. Yes, we're completely safe.
FZZACKOOOOM!
"Make your mind up, please!" groaned Armin.
Keep it together, Mikasa. Keep it together. Eren needs you to be strong, Mikasa reminded herself. I suppose lightning can strike twice. Yes, it's definitely been known to happen, in spite of common wisdom. We're perfectly safe-
KRACKASSSHHHH!
OhshitohshitohshitTHERE'STHREEOFTHEMPANICPANICPANIC! No, actually, don't panic, but get your arse in gear! Come on!
Grabbing her scarf, Mikasa leapt to her feet. "Everyone, wake up! There's a pack of titan-shif-" Her head connected with the ceiling. The support beam cracked. The roof shuddered and groaned. Stars whirled across Mikasa's vision, slowly giving way to blackness.
Levi blinked groggily awake. Were those the dulcet tones of a miserable pack of stupid, ungrateful guttersnipes shaking the place to the ground? Typical. It was too late to be too late for this shit, but he was the captain, so he'd have to go and beat their heads in.
Yawning magnificently, Levi slid out of bed, wrapping the blanket around his shoulders. It was only when he felt a stubborn pull on the makeshift shawl that he remembered he was in Hanji's room.
"Let go, will you? I heard a sound."
"I heard it too. Sounds like a cheerful pack of loveable, high-spirited kids shaking the place to the ground," Hanji commented. "As to the quilt, I've got a robe under the bed."
"Fine."
"Go ahead and borrow it," Hanji invited Levi after he'd slipped on the robe.
"Don't suppose you've got a broom or a paper fan handy?" asked Levi, ignoring her magnificently.
"Sorry. Look, don't be too hard on the soldiers. You haven't exactly been the height of professionalism tonight, y'know? What'd the commander say if he heard of us sleeping together?"
"I don't know. What would I say?"
There was a long silence. Commander Erwin stood in the doorway, his look of surprise mixing with amusement.
"Commander, I can explain everything," Levi eventually said. "I'm ever so slightly afraid of storms. Hanji's kind of comforting to sleep with, so, well..."
"Levi," said Erwin sternly, "I, too, am not brilliant with storms. However, I've never been tempted to share a bed with one of my subordinates. Do you know why?"
"No. Why?"
"It never occurred to me." Erwin breathed a sigh of resignation. "Make some room, will you?"
Snuggled in Eren's arms, Mikasa felt at peace despite the throbbing pain in her cranium. All the wind and lightning and mysterious titan-shifters from beyond the walls could get stuffed. She was safe now.
I bet she'd love it if she broke her skull, Eren reflected fondly. I'd end up nursing her back to health, tenderly bandaging her head with her scarf, fawning over her all day and all night... I'd do it, too. She certainly would.
The next morning, just before breakfast, Levi thrust a cold metal cylinder into Mikasa's hands.
"Captain, what is-?"
"Vacuum flask," Levi explained. "You're to fill it with coffee tonight before bed. You'll need it for your watch."
Mikasa blinked. "What watch?"
"For titan-shifters. You're on guard duty all night long." An evil almost-smirk played across Levi's features. "I overheard Jean and Ymir drivelling on about last night."
Mikasa's face reddened.
"Erwin decrees that you can sleep all day afterwards, the softy," Levi continued. "Not that you'll want to. Titan-shifters can strike any time, and it's not as if our own shifter can look after himself."
I'll kill him. Levi is a marked man, I tell you. I'll tear out his ribs one at a time, then beat what's left of him to death with one of his excessively short legs. Then I shall break Ymir clean in half, no matter how much Krista begs for leniency, and I shall tear a certain horse-faced bastard limb from limb. Mikasa sighed. "As you wish, Captain."