Hello, Stranger (Hange Zoë x f!reader)

Part six

You were the first to wake up. An arm lay draped over your small body, holding you half a hand’s length from their chest. You blinked the sleep from your eyes, and turned to look at Hange. Their face was soft, content, half submerged in the white of their pillow. Your mind was drawn back to the first time you’d seen them like this, when you had rescued them, and wrapped in blankets with dried blood matting their hair. You much preferred it like this, safe, and warm. You were half tempted to use a paw to smooth the hair from their face. It couldn’t hurt, could it? You extended a shaky forepaw and moved a single strand, watching as their nose scrunched.

You flinched as they groaned, pulling you closer. You could feel their heartbeat through their pyjamas, the heat radiating from their skin. It was a comforting continuous thud when compared to your own rapid one. Would they sleep so soundly if they knew it was you?

“Don’t go, fluffy. S’cosy here.”

Yet again your ears burned. Their voice was heavy, low with sleep, offering up a blissfully innocent request. Their grip tightened, both arms now held you close, flooding your senses with them. Your heart felt as if it’d leap out of your throat. The strange guilt at your position was swallowed by your desire to comply, to snuggle back down. You wanted to stay there. Hange had been kind, was kind, to you. You slowly realised that you wanted to stay by them, but why? Even with your limited exposure to other people, they had almost immediately become your favourite. You wanted to become one of their favourites, too. Yet, to do that, you’d have to show yourself as a human, the human they knew and promised welcome. You didn’t want to be a cat to them forever. Would they even want to see you? What if they had simply said in in an act of good faith, convinced you’d never be able to find them? You sighed. You would have to find out yourself, and with a newfound resignation, you were convinced you would.

Three hours later you were up and about, padding alongside Hange as they absentmindedly rifled through their papers, mumbling about how they’d definitely left it there only yesterday, and  how hard could it be without it. You snorted in amusement. For someone so smart, given the state of their room, you weren’t surprised their documents had gone missing. Moblit, the man who you had seen come and find them, peeked through the doorway.

“Squad leader, Eren Jaegar and Captain Levi are ready to head out to the testing grounds.”

His eyes landed on you, and his face contorted into a quizzical stare.

“There’s a cat, in your room.”

“There is indeed Moblit. Fluffy’s going to stay with me from now on, shorty didn’t want her, so I said I would.”

Hange turned to smile at you. For them, you would accept being called ‘fluffy’.

“With respect, do you actually know how to take care of a cat?”

Moblut had fixed you with a pitying look. You shook out your fur. They were bound to, weren’t they? You desperately searched Hange’s face for some indication of their disagreement with his statement. You swallowed as you realised there was none.

“No, but, how hard can it be?” They threw a hand over their head in exasperation. “I looked after Sawney and Bean, and they were fine.”

“Squad leader, they were titans. They needed no real care. We had to take care of you to stop you from getting eaten.”

You turned to Hange with wide eyes. You knew they were fascinated by them, but couldn’t help but feel concerned at the prospect of their future endeavours. Moblit had been there to stop them once, and so had you. You would just have to pray that someone would be there in the future.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that. They’ll be fine, won’t you fluffy? I’ll leave them outside while we’re out so they can’t get into any trouble. Now, hurry up and help me find Tuesday’s documentation on experiment 346.”

You mewed in agreement. Moblit turned to start rummaging in the bookcase closest. You in turn shuffled to the closest shelf, and cast your eye over its various contents. One book stuck out to you. Hange’s scent, still fresh, clung to its cover. This could be the one they were looking for. Gently, you took the corner in your teeth and pulled. It tumbled forward, heavier than you had anticipated, and with a yelp, you leapt clear of the flurry of paper.

At once the two people turned to you, with Hange stooping down to pat your head before rummaging through the pile.

“That’s the one, right there. Good one fluffy.”

With the book in one hand, they scooped you up with the other, quietly cooing over what a clever kitty you were. It was stupid, but you couldn’t deny the warmth you felt at their praise. Your legs swung loosely as they moved down the corridors. It was busier now, with numerous soldiers all dressed in that same uniform, stopping to offer their greetings to the duo. Squad leader. You looked up at Hange, who was visibly excited at the day’s prospects. It must be a high enough rank, you mused. How long had they been here, you couldn’t help but wonder.

You were placed down outside, back in the courtyard, squinting as your eyes readjusted to the harsh sunlight. A team stood by their horses shuffling impatiently, seemingly waiting for Hange to depart. The small man from the night before, Levi, was among them, along with one of the kids you had seen Armin with the other day. From this distance you couldn’t figure out which one of the throng was a titan shifter, but you couldn’t help but wonder.

“Hurry it up, I’ve got things to do today!”

The captain mounted his horse, the majority of the group following in kind. Without another word, he spurred his horse on, leaving them in the dust of its hooves.

“Alright, alright, keep your cravat on!” By the time Hange and Moblit had mounted in kind, the duo forced their horses to a sprint, calling out to the ever shrinking shapes of their comrades until they themselves were specks swallowed by the grass.

Most of the gathered soldiers had disbanded now, their comrades gone, and returned to whatever predetermined tasks they’d been set. You trotted over to the stables, and nosed through the stalls. Sure enough, Armin had stood by his word, and there sat two new dishes of food and water. After finishing your meal, you gave a contented hum. You should thank him at some point, somehow, though you weren’t entirely sure how. Maybe when you were human. Careful that no one was paying too much attention to you, you headed towards the three your bag was lodged in. Casting a quick glance upwards, it was still there. Perfect. With Armin feeding you, you had no immediate need for your provisions, they could stay safe and some sort of safety blanket. Now, for the next part of your plan, you would need one of those complicated looking uniforms.

You had planned to blend in first and foremost. To do that, you would have to look like the rest of them, and simply hope that no one would realise they had never seen you before. There had to be some sort of storage room with spares in somewhere like this. You just had to find it first.