Of Chills and Tea
Levi doesn't want to admit it. Not even to himself; he feels ill. He's really trying his best to ignore it, but his head is hurting, and his nose is stuffy—fucking disgusting. And one moment the chills run down his back, the following, he's sweating his ass off—and that's disgusting too. And then there's that annoying cough he can't seem to get rid off.
He has a cold. Fucking fantastic. It certainly doesn't improve his mood. He had been even more blunt than usual this morning. The few anxious glances he had gotten had said enough.
At the moment he's attempting to work his way through a way too large stack of paperwork, but he can't focus, his head keeps pounding and his eyes hurt, and after the 10th dirty tissue, he's ready to put his desk through the window, paperwork or not.
He just wants to begin a new round of colorful curses when a soft knock on his door stops him.
Levi lets out a breath. He really hopes it's not Erwin bringing him more annoying papers to sign, he has more than enough of that already.
He sniffles. "Yeah?" It comes out congested, and he winces.
The door opens, and a young face, surrounded by reddish hair comes into view: Petra.
"Captain?" She sounds a little hesitant. It's only been 3 weeks since Eld, Oluo, Gunther and she had become his hand-picked team. And he knows; he's not the most approachable person that's walking around on this earth.
"What is it." He tries his best not to sound as tired as he feels.
"I, uhm, I made you some tea, sir. If you–if you don't mind."
She steps further into to room and reveals the tray she's holding in her hands.
"I've noticed you've been coughing lately, so I thought that maybe hot tea would help. My mother used to make me tea with honey when I was feeling ill." She suddenly stops, eyes widening a little, clearly horrified, and she looks away, cheeks flushing, the color matching with her hair.
"I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to—" she stumbles, but Levi waves her apology away. "It's okay, I've been feeling like shit anyways." He doesn't know why he says that to her of all people. Maybe it's her bringing him tea, or maybe his head isn't working correctly at the moment, and he's just tired. No, he's not just tired; he's really fucking tired. Tired of paperwork, and tired of feeling like shit.
He gestures her to come inside.
She nods, a little dumbfounded by his honest replay, and steps forward into the room and sets the tray down on the desk.
"I wasn't really sure which flavor you would like, but I've made black tea."
He lifts an eyebrow. "Good choice."
At that, she gives him a nervous smile. "Thank you, sir."
Petra hesitates for a moment and then motions to the large stack of papers on the desk, "that's a lot of paperwork."
Levi drags a hand through his hair, lets out a sigh and shrugs. "Yeah, it's boring as hell, but it needs to be done."
He can't stop a sudden cough and winces a little at the raw feeling in his throat.
"Captain, do you need—" She sounds concerned, but Levi interrupts her. "It's okay, Petra. You can go. I'm sure you have other duties to attend."
"Yes, sir." Petra bows her head and retreats for the door.
"Petra?" The young girl stops and turns her head, looking over her shoulder at him questioningly.
"Thank you for the tea."
She smiles, eyes twinkling.
And he notes; her glowing cheeks match the color of her hair once more.
First off, happy new year everyone!
Hope you enjoyed this little fluffy fic. Because I need all the fluff and happiness before we jump right back into the hell that is aot at the moment (or again, or forever).
Hope you enjoyed!
All the mistakes are mine.