An attempt at cheering up a friend.
Title: May Care.
Pairing: Levi/Petra, somewhat.
Summary: You're alive now and that's what really matters.
Notes: A somewhat crossover AU with DMC.
May Care
The street stank with blood and gun-powder, eerily silent after the demons' roars had ceased.
The blood always managed to unnerve her, even when she was supposed to be used to it, being a demon-hunter and all. She tried to at least wipe her guns but to no avail, and only sighed in annoyance at the way they got all smeared because of her attempts.
"I can clean them, you know," Levi offered coolly, shooting one last demon just to make sure.
Petra blinked.
It was known that only people who had nothing to lose would enter the demon-hunting business, people who wouldn't bother establishing new bonds and relations.
Though Petra was out of the norm in that area, seeing how she tried to befriend the hunters she stumbled upon while on the job. And she somewhat succeeded at that, too. Maybe they felt alone like her, wanting the familiar feeling of having someone to talk to. They all lost too much, so why deny them that small bit of comfort?
Levi was one of those she stumbled upon the most, and the one she still didn't get to have a decent conversation with.
At least until now. "You can?"
She could clean them herself later, and she knew that he realized that. But he still answered, "Yes."
So she gave him her guns, smiling secretively at the fact that he willingly chose to approach her.
It was a small city they lived in, and so the chances of them meeting again were high.
Levi always offered to clean her guns, and sometimes he told her some few tips — which were quite useful since Levi wasn't revered as being the best demon-hunter around for nothing.
And while it was true that the progress of their conversations with time wasn't that impressive, she was content with their silent bonding.
Silence, however, didn't sit well with demons.
It was a brief moment really, just a blink of an eye and a mere heartbeat. One of the quicker demons - that she thought was dead - sneaked up behind her and, as a result, almost killed her.
She killed it instead, her body acting before her mind could comprehend what was happening.
She killed it, but not before it made her ponder after the street grew quiet again.
What would've happened if it did kill her? What if she died before avenging her family? Before killing the last of those demons? Before peace was restored?
What if she died for nothing?
The thought terrified her to her very core.
"You alright?" she heard Levi asking.
Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to calm down and for her hands to stop shaking. "I'm fine…"
She didn't turn away from that demon's lifeless body, but she knew that Levi was unconvinced. The sound of his footsteps nearing her proved it.
Petra was about to tell him that she was alright again, but Levi embraced her all of a sudden and got her scattered thoughts to stop.
She couldn't help but to look up to him in shock.
"You alright?" he asked again, calm and controlled as ever.
"Yeah," she answered with a growing smile, the meaning of his surprising action finally dawning at her.
She could hear his heartbeat going on in a seemingly infinite loop, feel his body's warmth.
You're alive now and that's what really matters.
She decided to take this little moment for all it worth, to feel a bit alive after being trapped in cycle of loss and death for so long.
"Does this mean that you aren't going to clean my guns?" Her guns were so shiny nowadays that she could shoot laser beams with them if she tried hard enough.
Levi, much to her surprise, chuckled in response.
End.