Ordinary Hero (Attack on Titan // LeviHan)

Chapter Two

As Hanji talked and talked and talked about her day, I continued to listen as I went about my duties, occasionally helping Petra if she needed it and cleaning out glasses, along with getting more drinks for Hanji. For some reason, talking to Hanji always seemed to comfort me if I was in a bad mood or having a rough day. I was never much of a people person during my life, typically I’d only speak if it was absolutely necessary. But when Hanji spoke to me, even if it was random drabble about the misfortunes of her life, I enjoyed it. I loved the fact that she came to me and only me – as far as I was concerned, anyway – to vent about her issues. It probably felt good for her, getting all of that off of her chest. It definitely wasn’t healthy to let things like that pile up, so she just let them out. But then again, she let them out while she was getting really drunk, which wasn’t exactly the healthiest choice she could choose, either. Even still, I was just happy to have a little company around on Saturday nights.

After her seventh drink and plenty of ranting, it was nearing eleven o’clock, which was beginning to concern me. Typically, this was about the time that Hanji would say her goodbyes and then stagger out of the bar, calling for a cab that would drive her back to her apartment. That was usually the last I’d see of her for that week, then she’d come back in the following Saturday and repeat the cycle all over again. But that didn’t seem to be the case at all tonight. Hanji was still sitting in her, a furious blush over her face as she wobbled in her chair. She requested an eighth drink, and I, as the bartender, handed her what she asked.

Petra elbowed me and shot me a concerned glance, silently asking me what was going on. I shrugged in response, I wasn’t even sure what was going on tonight. Maybe Hanji’s day had been worse than what she described and she felt the need to drink herself into oblivion or something. I looked back over at Hanji, returning to my spot in front of her. She was gulping down the glass that I had just given her, sitting it back down as she giggled. She leaned over the bar counter, poking the tip of my nose before sitting back down. “You’re really cute tonight, mister bar tender,” she slurred.

“Please, Hanji,” I started, scrunching up my nose. I squinted at her, observing her. She was a mess – half of her hair had fallen out of its ponytail, hanging in loose chunks all over her head. She must’ve gotten fed up with her glasses, because they sat on top of her head now. On of the shoulders of her shirt had slipped to the side, and a few of the front buttons were undone. Her makeup was smeared and by the stupid smile and blush on her face, it was more than blatently obvious that she had been hitting the bottle. I shook my head as she finished off yet another drink. “Don’t you think you’ve had enough for tonight? Seriously, You’ve had like, what? Eight beers already? Isn’t that enough? You’re gonna just drink until you hurl and then you’ll wake up tomorrow with the worst kind of hangover. Do you really want that?” I questioned, giving her a strong look.

“Whatever, short stack. Just hand me another beer ‘kay?” she stated, following up with a little hiccup. Sighing, I reluctantly handed her the drink she had requested. I hated seeing her like this. I marked the drink down on her tab, shaking my head as I did so. Seeing that she hadn’t paid up on her tab since the end of December, it had really piled up, especially after going for the long run tonight. No wonder she was having trouble paying rent, she was spending quite a large portion of her cash on alcohol.

The night grew longer and Hanji had grown drunker than ever, fully transforming into her crazy, reckless self, like she usually did when it got this late. Of course, it was never my problem on any other Saturday, and I didn’t particularly want it to be. Besides, all Hanji was spewing anymore was incoherent nonsense or really awful pick-up lines that were cringe worthy. I returned back to working with Petra, refusing to let the ridiculously frisky and slightly depressive brunette be my burden. When she was drunk, it was like she was completely bipolar and nobody had any idea what mood she’d be in. Occasionally, she’d get in this mood where she went on and on about how miserable she was and how the world would be so much better off without her on it, but then she’d got back to flirting with me of the poor guy next to her and she’d return to giggly, tipsy Hanji.

I continued to mumble short replies to her ramblings as I transitioned back into my shift, only halfway paying attention to her ramblings. I hadn’t even noticed that it had fallen silent until Petra had pointed it out. It was pushing one in the morning when she elbowed me, gesturing over to Hanji with a concerned expression. “Uh, Levi? Not to be a bother, but this has never happened with her before, w-what do we do?” she asked timidly.

Furrowing my brows together, I looked over to where Petra was staring at, and the sight before me was a shock. Hanji was laying face down against the bar, completely unconscious. One hand was laying near her empty bottle, which had fallen on its side and cracked, while the other hand laid straight out in front of her, dangling off of the opposite side of the counter, invading the bar workspace. Her face was sitting in a pool of spilled beer. A few strands of her hair had fallen in it, and a few more were stuck to her face. The beer was starting to dry up and become sticky, and I wished that I could move her so that I could clean it up as soon as possible, but I didn’t want to risk waking her up. I’d just have to leave it be until she woke up. I picked up the broken bottle and disposed of it, turning back to Petra. “We’ll do what we do with other customers who drink themselves into oblivion, we leave them there until they wake up and shoo them out when they do.”

This strategy didn’t seem to work with Hanji, however. It was nearing out closing time, three in the morning, and Petra, Oluo, and Gunther were hard at work trying to eject everyone out of the bar while Eld counted up the money, collecting it to take it to the bank in the morning. Meanwhile, I was trying my best to wake Hanji up. No matter what I tried, nothing seemed to work along the lines of bringing her back to consciousness. Soon, the whole place was empty, with the except of me, Hanji, and my other co-workers. The four of them stare at me, concerned as I resorted to dragging Hanji out of her chair. “Levi, do you need some help there? I mean, we can help you get her out of here and get her a cab home,” Gunther said, stepping forward towards me, Eld following not far behind.

I shook my head, signaling them no as they stepped back. I grunted, heaving as I yanked Hanji out of her chair. She slumped in my arms, a dumb smile on her face. “Nah, I’m okay,” I explained, hoisting her up so that I could carry her over my shoulder, putting all of the weight on one side of my body, causing me to cringe a bit. She might have been a skinny woman, but the fact that she was unconscious made her a lot heavier. “I’m not entirely sure where she lives, so, I, uh, I’m just going to take her in for the night and get her sent off in the morning. Yeah,” I stated with a  nod, starting to walk up the stairs, trying to balance out my weight.

The four of them stared at me in surprise as I trudged up the stairs, raised eyebrows and eyes so wide I could see the whites. “Are you sure that you don’t need any help getting her upstairs or anything? We’d be more than glad to,” Gunther explained, furrowing his brows together. 

“I’m fine,” I grunted, readjusting Hanji. “You four just go on home, I’ll handle her,” with that, I finished walking up the stairs and into my apartment above the bar, closing the door behind me. I carried her over to the couch, sighing as I laid her down on it. I walked over to the closet, bringing her some blankets and pillows. I made her a little makeshift bed, adjusting everything until it at least looked comfortable. I squinted my eyes, something seemed off. I reached up and gently pulled the ponytail out of her hair, letting her brown hair fall loose upon the pillows and her shoulders. I slipped her glasses off, folding them up and setting them down on the coffee table in front of the couch. I admired my work, nodding as I stared down at her with my hands on my hips. “I’ll see you in the morning, Hanji.”

~

A/N: Yo. Apparently, Wattpad's being stupid today and not letting allowing the last chapter to show up on mobile devices. So, I'm reposting it. Hope this one will actually show up, and if it doesn't... Well, I don't know what to do, then. *loud sobbing in the distance* On a happier note, I think some of my pairs of colored contacts may be coming in the mail later today, so I'm super excited about that. I've been waiting since September! Anyway, I hope you all were actually able to read this chapter and that Wattpad stopped being stupid. Until the next update, keep reading and keep writing! I love you all so much!

-Oli