Once back to her sloppy little lab, Hanji laid out all of her papers again. She'd forgotten a couple of pages of notes at her apartment, but she decided she'd make do without them. Usually her lab was her "happy place", her place to go when she wanted to escape from thoughts of everything but her chimpanzees and her research. But that afternoon, she couldn't stop her thoughts from drifting back to the barista. She decided to place the blame on the fact that he was an interruption in her usual routine. It definitely wasn't his piercing eyes, his strong jawline, his hair that flipped in just the right way….no. Just a change in routine, nothing more.
It took a couple of hours for her to get back "in the zone" to do any real research. She hardly got anything done, however, as the chimps refused to cooperate. It was near one in the morning (still rather early for her) when she began to finish up her report for the day. The woman headed home after cleaning up, enjoying the peace and quiet of the walk home at 2 AM. As soon as she crashed onto her bed, still fully clothed, she fell straight asleep. Without three shots of espresso to help, the mere four hours of sleep she'd gotten the night before simply couldn't keep her awake any longer.
The next morning, she woke up at 9:57 AM, quite a bit later than usual. She'd gotten a full eight hours, but at the price of missing valuable lab time. If she didn't get anything worthwhile done in two days, she'd consider the week an absolute failure. Jumping out of bed and putting on her shoes, the brunette pulled her hair into its usual ponytail without so much as brushing it. A piece of toast in her mouth and a jacket on her body, and she was out the door.
Hanji would've headed straight to the lab, but she'd promised Levi she'd come back to the café. It was a stupid agreement with a complete stranger, she tried to remind herself, but her footprints, easily visible in the snow, led to the coffee shop once again. Levi was working, wiping down the countertop with a rag and disinfectant spray.
"Hello again…" Hanji said. She walked up to the counter, speaking up as Levi took no notice of her.
"You're late, Four Eyes." Still yet, he didn't look up from his cleaning.
"W-well, yes, I had other things to do…" Hanji lied, pulling at her ponytail. It was even more sloppy than usual, half of it falling down and half of it up.
"No, you just overslept. Your clothes are a mess, same ones from yesterday. And, honestly, would it kill you to wash that greasy hair?" Levi, content with his work, put away the cleaning supplies and came back to the cash register.
"I'm too busy for that now…I just want my coffee and a cupcake." She said meekly, cheeks turning a light crimson color.
"Fine. You look horrid. You've earned a shot of espresso." The barista turned around, making her caramel mocha and adding the liquid energy.
Hanji couldn't help the ridiculous grin that came across her face. It was a definite improvement over yesterday. When he finished the drink, she gave him exact change. He counted it, sorting each coin and dollar bill into the proper section of the cash register.
"And here is your tip." She smiled smugly, handing him four dollars, as he'd taken yesterday. It was merely to show that she'd do as she liked. Even if she wasn't going to argue over her coffee order.
The black-haired man rolled his eyes, handing her the coffee and pulling a cupcake from the case of sweets. "How generous of you." He said, the sarcastic tone hiding his genuine appreciation.
When the goods exchanged hands, Hanji turned to leave. However, she turned back around, a split second decision she immediately regretted. What was she going to say? He saw her turn around, she couldn't just leave. Why did she feel like she was about to pass out? Her cheeks burnt bright red from embarrassment, a goofy half-grin on her face as she rubbed the back of her neck. "Ahhh, I was just wondering….if, maybe you'd like to join me sometime…for, ahh, coffee!" She blurted out, her mind failing her halfway through.
Levi simply shook his head, turning away to hide the touch of a smile on his lips. "Moron, we're in a coffee shop."
A/N: Ahhh, the second chapter! I hope this isn't too OOC, but it's my first LeviHan fic sooooo I hope it's okay. Reviews, favs, and follows are greatly appreciated, and I love constructive criticism!