Of course, you could trust Hanji to spill the bill. It was strange how such a smart woman could easily lack so much of subtilty. Or maybe she was doing it deliberately, just for fun. She must have seen this as a strange form of experience on the living. At least that was the only vaguely acceptable explanation Petra had managed to find some comfort in the deepest of her intense mortification.

She was already embarrassed enough by her own feelings, she didn't need to have her superior, or any others of her team, to be informed of her attraction for Rivaille. But obviously, as soon as Hanji understood that Petra's interest for him was not solely professional, she had to talk about it.

And of course, she hadn't the slightest bit of delicacy or discretion. She had to babble about it in the middle of the dinning hall, with Rivaille a few meters away, just to be sure Petra would be all the more embarrassed. Luckily for the small blond, the captain merely raised an eyebrow at her, a bit surprised, but his gaze remained unchanged, cold and empty, as if it didn't matter to him. Petra should have felt relieved, but somehow she felt more betrayed by his blatant disregard, as if all of this, all of her wasn't important. So without a word, she left the room and went tending the horses under Hanji noisy comments. She certainly hadn't finished her study on human behavior but Petra couldn't care less. All she wanted was to flee unnoticed but she failed miserabilly. Worse, Rivaille totally ignored her and yet Petra could have sworn she felt his eyes on her back as she came through the door in silence.

- oOo -

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw a shadow in the hallway. It was late and no one should have wandered on this floor. That was why she stayed in the barn so late, after all.

"Are you aware of how much a shitty idea it is?"

Rivaille stood in front of her without her seeing him move. He was just between her and the door so Petra had no way to escape. Her throat tightened and she thanked the darkness that hid her blush when she looked up at her superior and asked in a shaky voice, "What are you talking about, sir?"

He snorted and got even closer, to stand just in front of her. He then put a finger under her chin to force her to look at him in the eye.

"You and me, Petra. This is a very bad idea. Besides our age difference, I'm your superior so it would be very unwise to be more than we are and will virtually prevent any progress you may have in your career."

"I don't want to..."

"And there will be the inevitable comments from the rest of the squad, the teasing, the hints, the jokes."

He paused when he saw seeing she still didn't react then he added, "And of course, questions."

Petra hesitated, somewhat uncertain about the proper response he wanted. This whole conversation was absurd because she had never done anything to show him her interest and yet, he still had the trouble to come to warn her as if he feared she tried to seduce him. And he was close, way too close.

Squaring her shoulders, Petra faced her superior with an assurance that she usually reserved for battle. But it was a kind of battle here too.

"With all my respect, Captain, from my point of view, the comments are already there, whether you like it or not. This is how the team works. Erd is always criticizing my height, Gunter mocks my lack of patience, which is not very feminine and so unladylike and do I have to remind you of Auruo blonds'jokes?"

She caught his eye and he had nothing to say.

"I'm used to be joked around and I can pretty stand for myself, so now, Captain, the real question is : what do you want to do?"

Crossing her arms, she waited and with each breath she took, she realized what she had said and all that that entailed. Her heart lurched when she caught Rivaille's passive glare and she began to lost her composure when he persisted in his silence. But still, she refused to give up. After all, she had very little to lose by now. Everybody knew what she felt and she would be laughed after for quite some time.

Sighing, she looked away and said, "Listen, whatever you say, it won't change how I feel, so just deal with it. It's not that bad, you know. I won't disturb you, won't harass you, or ask for anything." In a smaller voice, she added, "I should have strangled Hanji as soon as she started looking at me with her beady eyes and cut out her tongue to make sure she kee..."

Petra never had the chance to finish her tirade. Rivaille pressed his whole body against hers and propped her chin in his hand to kiss her. It wasn't a passionate kiss, barely a touch of the lips, the shadow of a promise of what could be and Petra shuddered. He backed away, smirking, and it was the only evidence of what he had done. Then he told her flatly,"Don't be violent with your comrades, Petra. As painful as they are, they're also the best hope for humanity."

He simply walked past her and down the stairs as if he just had to reprimand for a trifle, and Petra felt embarrassment and anger prevail over her reason when he added mocking tone, "Even as a shorty like you should understand that it's so unladylike."

"Hey! Fuck you Captain!"

One foot on the first step, he gave him a neutral look and replied,"Whenever you want to Petra. I'll let you lead the way between us, I don't want any trouble."

And he disappeared without a sound, leaving the young woman as ecstatic as she was frustrated.


So, well, it's so not my fault! It was all because they're just so cute and there was this prompt on SnK kink meme about them and I just had to write something so well, here it is.

Sorry if my English sucks, it's been way too long since I tried to write and well... I was nearly late to school to get back my girls just because I wanted to proof-read this and... ok, my life is just so facinating, I'll stop rambling. There may be a sequel, or a second chapter, just to join the PoT club. Enphasis on may because of said life.