𝔇𝔢𝔣𝔦𝔞𝔫𝔠𝔢 (𝔏𝔢𝔳𝔦 𝔵 ℜ𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔢𝔯)

LXXXIX - Reading Him

That night, my heart was whole.

***

I spent majority of the next morning thinking. Not about anything in particular; well, maybe that was a lie. My mind traveled back to a conversation I had with the Levi squad just a couple months prior. Not the current Levi squad, the original one. Petra, Eld, Gunther, Oluo.

Perhaps a trip back to Sina wouldn't hurt, I had bets to pay now. Because something did happen between the raven and I, and I don't think I could've lost a bet so bad in my life.

Letting out a sigh as I bring a hand to rest across my forehead, I hear humming from outside my door, and then a soft click followed by footsteps as they came closer to my bedroom door. But I didn't bother too much with averting my gaze from the ceiling, which was the most interesting thing in the room right now. The door inched open, a small chuckle sounding from Hange as a mass jumped up on the bed. The sound of panting and the air disturbed as Sarj's tail wagged, his paws padding him across the bed as he came closer to my face.

I look at him, a tired smile gracing my features as I brought both my hands down to meet him. His tongue hung out of his mouth, the pup having grown a fair bit since the last time I saw him. The bedroom door clicked closed as Hange walked in quietly and gently set herself down at the foot of the bed, watching Sarj slowly get more and more worked up with how often I moved my hands away from him. He soon began bouncing around the bed, small growls rumbling in his chest only making both the brunette and I laugh.

"You haven't slept." She words first. I look at her for a short moment, one of my fingers getting caught up between the pups teeth as he growled with as much terror as he could muster up.

"That obvious?" I word, voice hoarse and husky from the lack of use. Her lips twitched a little, eyes following the pup that my hand now held down on him to keep him still.

"Well I do know you better than you think. If you want, I can make up some type of drink to help you sleep better. Only if you want." She offered, and the suggestion was tempting but I doubt it was the mission that had kept my head awake all night. I feel as though he just hung around my mind, and now I wondered if it was the same for him. I shook my head, sighing a little before closing my eyes once more.

"That's kind of you, Han, but I think last night was one of the exception when it comes to my insomnia. I think I genuinely enjoyed not being able to sleep. It gave me time to... think, about some things." Some things being Levi, but she doesn't need to know that. She hummed quietly, moving further onto the bed before falling back on her back with a sigh.

"That's not good for you, Sunshine. We need you in top shape for the next expedition." She says exasperated. I roll my eyes, her weight spread across my legs as I shift myself up in a sitting position. I look at her, her eyebrows furrowed slightly and her eyes closed, lips parted a little as she heaved out another sigh. Sarj took that as an invitation to pad on over to her and have a game of tug of war with a strand of her hair, her hand making a poor effort at swatting the pup away.

"The next expedition, as far as I'm concerned, isn't for another month or so. The retake is kind of going to be a huge deal for everyone, planning will need a lot more time than any of our previous missions." I say, leaning forward and releasing the brunettes hair from the pups mouth. "And don't let him do that, that'll become a nasty habit if it happens too much." I word with furrowed brows.

"Planning begins with hardening experiments on Eren, given he has actually developed the ability to control the hardening ability he saved you all with back at the chapel." She beamed, eyes gleaming as she opened them to gaze at the ceiling in awe. "Do you think he'll be able to create something different? Like, say, a sandcastle or something!" She exclaimed, head rolling to the side as her mouth gaped open in glee. I shook my head, a small smirk gracing my features quickly before I look up to meet her gaze again. Sarj moved to lay down in a huff near my thigh, my back soon meeting my headboard as I leaned back.