Writers WorkShop

Levi comes back, now with a basket of water and grunting something about the horrific state of her office, clad in his signature cleaning outfit that usually makes Hange chuckle, but this time gets out of her only quiet sigh. She lets Levi be, though, and doesn't protest as he starts his cleaning spree - lifts the papers while he wipes the dust off her desk and raises her legs to allow him to mop the floor.

Maybe, he simply can't sleep, Hange thinks, trying to explain Levi's sudden urge to clean her office. It's not the first time he seeks out her company in the dead of night, but usually, he's not so... energetic. Most of the times, Levi comes to her with a book and a cup of tea of his own, more than content to just have her as a silent company. Tonight, however, he seems strangely determined, and the glances that Hange keeps catching are unreasonably disgrunted, even for Levi.

She sighs, knowing far too well what this unusual behavior of his might lead to, and grips the quill in her hand firmly, hoping that, this time, she'd be proven wrong.

But, unfortunately for her, she's rarely ever wrong, especially in matters that involve Levi. Not even five minutes pass, before he takes off his gear for cleaning, wipes his hands and comes to stand next to her desk.

He's silent at first, no word makes it past his lips as he shifts through the papers on her desk. He pretends to study each and every one with extreme diligence, but Hange knows, she feels that his eyes are actually focused on her.

Her skin prickles under the heat of that gaze, but she does her best to ignore it and concentrate on her work. She almost succeeds, almost forgets that Levi's standing right in front of her, and so- he decides to make his next move.

Hange's just starting to write another letter to Pixis, when the world around her suddenly turns hazy. She blinks a couple of times, adjusting to the sudden loss of vision, and when shapes get a little clearer, she sees Levi, standing in the same place he was before, but now with her glasses in his hands.

"Levi," she bristles. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Those are dirty," he explains as if that justifies his actions in any way. It appears that to Levi it really does, because he remains unperturbed as he cleans her glasses, slowly and methodically, seemingly not noticing Hange's apparent and quickly growing annoyance.

"I'm working, you know," she remarks, just in case Levi had missed that little detail.

"Doubt you can work efficiently when your glasses are so dirty."

But she won't give up so easily.

Hange grits her teeth, the bastard is as nonchalant as ever. It starts to drive her mad, because- she knows exactly what Levi is doing.

Drumming her fingers against the desk impatiently, she waits for him to finish. And as soon as he does, she snatches glasses out of his hands and gets back to work immediately.

Levi lets her, for the next few minutes. Then, when her irritation is nearly subdued, he strikes again.

He is bolder this time, and instead of cleaning and stealing glasses, he stands behind her chair- and puts hands on her shoulders.

He grips them firmly, kneading, and Hange very nearly moans. As always, Levi's hands feel divine, touching just where she needs, just how she needs it after a long day spent bent over her desk.

"Levi," she says again, "I'm working."

"I can clearly see that. And I wish to help in the only way I can."

That statement would have been sweet, touching, if Hange didn't know that the direct opposite was true. She knows that Levi knows just how much she enjoys when he rubs her shoulders like that. And she knows that he knows that when he does that, all coherent thoughts vanish from her mind.

He kneads the muscles of her back, thumbs pressing in all the spots that make stars dance before her eyes. And all the fight goes out of Hange.

She sighs, closes her eyes and lets the quill fall. She sits back in her chair, giving up to the pleasure. And Levi carries on, despite achieving exactly what he was planning to.

She cracks her eye open after a moment, looks up at him, sees the apparent complacency in his gaze and lets out a quiet chuckle.

"Time to go to bed, yeah?"

And only now, she realizes that she spent almost an entire week, sleeping on a couch in her office. The work has been overwhelming for this past few months, more and more responsibilities falling on her shoulders, and, as much, as Hange wants to deal with it as swiftly and efficiently as possible, if she's being honest with herself, there's nothing more she longs for now than the comfort of their bed and the warmth of Levi's embrace.

She puts a palm on top of his, takes a hold of it and presses a kiss to the back of it. "Alright," she murmurs, gazing into his eyes. "Let's go to bed."

Levi nods, helps her get to her feet and then immediately wraps himself around her. Hange laughs and leans down to press a quick kiss on his nose. "You know, if you wanted for me to cuddle with you, you could have just said so."