Lara (Long-Fic Levihan | Armin Arlert X OC)

Chapter 25 - "Where Does it Hurt?"

She didn't even realize that Levi was there.

A feeling of worry took over Levi's heart in such a way that he almost dropped the tray. Quickly, he placed it on the table.

"Hange!" he exclaimed, concerned, "What happened? Are you okay?"

She finally noticed his presence at her side.

"Levi..." she said, her eyes full of tears and her goggles on her forehead. "I didn't see you were here... I thought you wouldn't even come toda–OUCH!!!"

Hange curled up even more, now her head resting on her bent knees. Levi couldn't understand anything, but he felt his heart tighten in his chest.

"When was the last time you ate anything? Didn't you eat something bad?"

"No..." sighed Hange, "I had a snack just now and it was fresh," she closed her eyes intensely, squirming, "the thing is that I'm dying of cramps and my head is exploding!"

Finally, Levi understood. Hange was on her period.

He recalled when Isabel was also on her period and, honestly, he tried to keep some distance from her. Levi never knew how was her mood, because anything he or Furlan would do was a reason for shouting, crying, or a little bit of violence. Each one of these options could change according to the month, or sometimes, everything would come at once.

Levi thanked God that Lara hadn't reached this stage of life yet and secretly wished she would remain a child forever. Now, about Hange's periods, he had never felt the need to talk about it with her, for he could absolutely not imagine himself asking her: "Would you like some pads, Hange?"

But, in all those years of living together, this was the first time that he saw her in this "condition", if he could call it this way.

Seeing her like this, Levi suddenly had a feeling he wasn't expecting: shame.

Not by the fact that he was a man and Hange was talking about her period. They were both adults and Levi knew very well about the physiological issues of the female sex.

The shame he was feeling was that despite living so closely, he never really cared about this "phase" of Hange. In the few seconds that he was there, crouching beside her, many moments came into Levi's mind of when Hange seemed to be in need of some sort of help or at least a support, and he didn't even care about it.

They both tried so hard to take good care of Lara, but now he realized that he himself wasn't taking care of his daughter's mother. After this reflection, Levi decided to do something about it.

"Have you taken any pills for your cramps and headaches, Hange?" he asked, lifting her gently by her shoulders.

"Oh, Levi..." she sighed, standing up with difficulty, "You know how hard it is for me to leave the lab when I'm in the middle of a research."

"Why didn't you ask Moblit for it?" asked Levi, taking her to a nearby chair.

"He had other tasks to do today, so I spent my day all alone..." replied Hange, with a sad voice, but she soon clutched her belly, again. "Lara would have brought me some pills if she were here..."

Levi tried to put his head to work, then, he had an idea.

"Come, Hange," he said, as he lifted her from the chair and walked her towards the door. "That's enough for today. Not even your body can handle it anymore."

"But, Levi..." replied Hange, with a very whining voice.

"No buts, four-eyes," he said, giving a little smile as he held her around her waist, "I'll take you to your bedroom and give you some pills."