𝐈𝐋𝐒𝐄'𝐒 𝐉𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐀𝐋.ʜᴀɴᴊɪ ᴢᴏᴇ̈

『 𝟖 』𝐇𝐘𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐒𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐄𝐒𝐓

𝐖𝐄𝐃𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐃𝐀𝐘, 𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 𝟏𝟕𝐓𝐇, 𝟖𝟓𝟎 𝐀𝐓 𝟐𝟐:𝟐𝟏

⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺⸺

  Knock knock knock.

  You squinted your eyes tightly shut in your seat, the slight disturbance soon being forgotten about after you had heard it as you relaxed your once tensed muscles -starting to drift off once more, the pencil that laid in your lax hand shifting a bit as you faded in and out of reality, 'I probably just knocked something off of my nightstand.' you reasoned in your fatigued state, 'I'll just pick it up in the morning.' You were quite the one to wriggle around at times after all, so it only made sense that during your slumber you had managed to bump into said nightstand while tossing around, consequentially knocking something off.

  Knock knock knock.

  'Wait, why am I sitting up in bed...?' you questioned yourself as you heard the echo bounce off of the walls in your bedroom and into your head once more -where it seemed to amplify and flourish due to your groggy state. Prying your eyelids open, you could see the warm, oranged glow a candle next to your face produced, and it was only then that you became aware of the extra warmth you could feel it give off on your cheek -it was also at that moment you realised how cold the rest of your body was, you fighting off a shiver as you placed your hands on the surface you were on and pushed yourself to sit up straight -soon finding your back pressed against the support of a chair.

  Everywhere else around you was coated in dark, but there was still enough light given from the candle and the moon -the soft moonlight beams coming from your window behind you- for you to make out the room you were in, 'I'm in my office?'

  Knock knock knock.

  You could barely see the cosy, dim light under the wooden door that led to your office and flooded the floor, the two shaded streaks in the light driving you to the conclusion that someone was at the door -the thought only being confirmed by the recurring sound produced in that general direction. Wobbling the tiniest bit -seeing that your legs were asleep from the position you had been sitting in- you stood on your own feet and looked down at the desk that was right in front of you, eyes drifting across your bureau for a brief second until they came in contact with the journal you had been writing in until you fell asleep.

  Then it all came back to you.

  'Sweet Maria! I was supposed to come up with questions for Hanji and I to go over with!' Reading the words that you had written, you could tell that you hadn't gotten too far before you had dozed off, 'What does that say, Do bigger titans move...? The Walls, this isn't enough to take back to Hanji!'

  Knock knock knock.

  Before you could even start to move to the door that someone was hitting their knuckles against, the metallic knob turned and the person entered -Hanji bursting through and into the room, the light from the hallway welcoming itself in behind her and shattering around her sides on the ground, a small frantic look -that had its fair mix of panic sufficiently warped in- etched onto her face. Watching her visibly relax a little when her eyes landed on you through the dark, you felt a small pang of guilt hit you deep, "(Y/N), what in the world were yo-..."

  Silence.

  "Were you sleeping?" You could feel your cheeks redden out of embarrassment, subconsciously trying to rub the sleepiness out of your eyes and patting your unkempt hair afterwards in an attempt to make it look like you hadn't been as she shut the door. Her words at first had been serious, or at least not as jovial and teasing as the rest of her sentence, a smile soon found decorating her face when you looked up at the woman, "I... Maybe." you gave in, "Look Hanji, I'm really sorry about falling asleep on you, I honestly didn't mean to but when I hadstartedwritingdownquestionsforustogoover,thebestoftodaygottomeandI'msososoverysorry!" Your words picked up about halfway through your sentence -a habit you had since you were little, the words always flowing out too fast from your mouth when you felt guilty or nervous- as you looked to the floor, knowing that coming up with queries for future experiments was a job that was designated specifically for you.