"Petra, are you even listening to me?"

"Hmm?" Her gaze flickered back to the agitated man standing in front of her. "Oh give it a rest Oluo. I don't need to listen to you because you've already told me this a hundred times."

"You're too obvious Petra. You can't just say and do whatever pops into your little head. Not when it comes to him."

"Isn't it our job to protect people?"

"Civilians, yes. Your captain? No."

"Shove it. Besides, all I did was help him out with a titan. That is what I'm good at after all. "

"You almost never help me when we're in the field…"

"Yeah well, maybe I would if you learned to behave Oluo." Pushing past him she made her way down the hill to the stables. It was her turn to tend to the horses and give their stalls a deep cleaning. A job she actually tended to enjoy, considering the horses weren't insolent jerks who felt compelled to voice their opinions every five seconds. They couldn't talk at all.

"I'm on stable duty tonight. Save me some dinner and maybe I'll forgive you." she tossed over her shoulder.

"Hello everyone." She spoke softly as she entered the stables. There were only six horses currently, so she figured the job would take a couple of hours tops. "Shall we get some fresh air?"

A chorus of neighs came in response and she laughed, leading each one out to the small pasture for them to graze. The rest of the squad always gave her shit for allowing herself to grow attached to the horses. As far as she knew, she was the only one who used her spare time to feed them apples or give them a quick scratch behind the ear. To the men, they were tools; but even if that were true, those 'tools' kept them from becoming titan food. So for now she would continue to care for them and the rest of her squad could suck it.

Suck it? A loud groan escaped her lips. When did she get such a vulgar mouth? Being the only woman was clearly beginning to take its toll. It was a constant hassel to keep her cursing to a minimum these days. Her vocabulary was starting to mainly consist of a lengthy list of many impolite responses. Some of which, caused her cheeks to glow red just thinking about it. Lucky for her, she had been successful at keeping her tasteless new habit hidden from her captain. Even though Eld and Gunther had threatened to tell a couple of times… but so far, so good.

After returning the horses to their clean stalls, she made her way back up the hill towards the main quarters they had recently moved to. It was nice, much nicer than the previous set of apartments they had been forced to share with a few other military branches, but as Levi had warned her "It's only temporary."

Temporary.

A word that once terrified her, now seemed to pull her soul from its constant state of panic. There was comfort in knowing that almost everything in her life was temporary. The pain and fear- the loss- it was all temporary.

And in a world as temporary as theirs, the scariest thing was to think that something would last forever.

Like death.

Yeah, like that. Nothing is more permanent than that.

She shook her head violently as if the thoughts could be thrown from her mind. What was she thinking about before? Oh right, their new living quarters. They weren't located too far from the survey corps current headquarters. Only about a twenty minute ride really, but the distance was more than enough for her. Over the last year, the survey corps had begun to up it's recruitment; making their already small space even smaller. Meaning there was never any peace or privacy. And after walking in on her fourth hookup, she had made sure to confine herself to her room after dark. As interesting as it was to know who was sleeping around with who, she did not want to actually see it. So when the announcement was made that the special team would be moving house, she was more than happy about it. She could do things here that she would never have dreamed of doing before. Like now, after sweating over hay and dirt for more than an hour she could utilize the outdoor shower and wash the traces of her work from her body.

Well, it's not exactly a shower. More like a shower head conveniently placed on the side of the house most likely meant for spraying off tools or whatever. But, no one on the team seemed to have noticed it within the last month and so it was now unofficially hers. Perfect for washing away the dirt, sweat, and horse hair she had managed to collect. Sure, it was bold to strip out in the open but it was dark and she was safe. That was the real reason she chose to skip dinner on her cleaning days. By the time she was done with her chores, it was late and everyone was tucked away in their rooms. She was alone, and she made sure to make use of that precious time. Besides, there was no way in hell she would track hay and manure through the clean house. She could already see the disapproving scowl of her captain now.

Dropping her sweat soaked clothes to the ground, she turned the rusted spout allowing for a steady stream of cool water to flow out. The roughness of it helped massage her aching muscles and she took her time rinsing off.

She couldn't help the satisfied grin that spread across her face as she wrapped herself in a towel and made her way to the door. It was a wonderful feeling to be able to leave the scents of the outdoors where they belonged.

"Out for a midnight stroll, Ral?"

The deadpanned voiced called out to her as she slipped through the open door, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin. "Captain! I was just-"

Levi sat back further in his chair, causing the front legs to lift from the ground. A smug look plastered across his face. "No need for excuses. I suppose we all have our secrets."

Petra dropped her gaze in an attempt to hide her face. She was sure her cheeks were ablaze. "I was just finishing with the stables, Sir."

He lifted an eyebrow, his expression seeming only slightly interested. "I didn't realize you preferred to clean like that." He motioned towards her small towel, causing her entire body to grow red in embarrassment.

"You hate dirt." She blurted out.

"I do."

"I'm clean."

"You are."

She tried to regain her external composure as best she could. Internally- she was kicking herself. "I'm clean" Is that the best you could come up with. Nice job, you're officially an ass.

"I'm sorry, Captain. I didn't expect anyone to be up."

"Drop the formalities, Petra. There's no one here and you're in a towel. 'Captain' just doesn't seem to fit the current situation. Why don't you go change into something that covers a little more."

"Yeah sure." she squeaked while carefully maneuvering around him and out of the room. She returned a few moments later and sat down across the table from him.

"Tea?"

She nodded silently still keeping her gaze turned down.

"Not talkative tonight, are we?"

"You're not exactly the talking type, Sir." Her eyes grew wide before apologizing quickly at her boldness.

He simply ignored her. "And I didn't see you as being the type to sneak around at odd hours of the night. I guess we were both wrong."

Taking a gulp of her tea she attempted to steer the conversation away from her. "What are you doing up so late anyway?"

"I don't sleep much."

She knew that. Everyone knew that.

"And you just happened to be in the mood for tea?"

"Pretty much. It seems I have good timing, too." He shot back at her.

"I was with the horses." She mumbled into her cup.

"Hn. I'm sure you were."

Was he…. "Are you teasing me, Sir?" she asked carefully.

"It's Levi, Petra. And yes I am."

She watched as he swirled the spoon in his cup idily. "You're full of surprises tonight… Levi" She tested out using his name casually. It was strange to say the least. She caught his gaze and the blush returned to her face.

"And you're awfully…red tonight, Ral."

She laughed then, moving her hands to rub her burning cheeks. "You know you're not supposed to point it out."

"Sorry. I'm not as good at teasing as Oluo is."

Oluo isn't good at anything.

"What was that face for?"

"It was nothing. Oluo isn't good at teasing is all."

"So he's not your type then."

She could feel her face drop and she began to stammer once again. "M-My what?"

An amused look spread over his usually stern features. Was he enjoying her visible fall from grace? She had worked so hard on the cool and collected persona she used around him, only to have it completely unraveled in a matter of minutes.

"Your type, Ral. You do have one don't you?"

"I don't know." Of course she knew. "Maybe I do." She definitely did.

"Well, what is it then? Not a horse I hope."

"What! No- I mean I do have one but I'm not telling you what it is! Unless… you tell me yours first." She moved to grab her cup again, needing something in her hands to keep them steady.

"You want to know my type?"

"Yes. I'm…curious is all."

He leaned forward, sitting the chairs front legs back on the ground. "Alright. I'd say… Tall."

Not me.

"What was that look for?"

She cursed herself for wearing her emotions so visibly and cleared her throat before sitting the now empty cup down. "I'm not tall."

"And I'm not a horse." He stood then and grabbed the cup gently from her hands, moving to put them in the sink. "Looks like we'll both have to settle."

Levi watched as a range of various emotions flashed across her face.

Confusion, shock, embarrassment.

And one more he couldn't quite figure out. Either way her reaction to his words pleased him for some reason. It was easy to say the things he regularly thought in his mind out loud to her when they were alone; but it was unnerving to him as well. Control was something he never struggled with, especially not in a romantic way. He never fought with himself over feelings of intimacy or lust towards other women. When he was younger he had eventually given in and slept with one just to have the burden of his virginity dealt with; but once the deed was done he was content with it not happening again. Physical attraction alone was not enough to make him throw caution to the wind, it would take more. Even though he admittedly didn't know what that was. All he knew was that she had it; and he had known since the day he met her. It wasn't love at first sight, because that doesn't exist anyway. It was more like a sort of familiarity between them. When he met her it was as if he had already known her for years, but he would never admit that.

He finished drying the cups and sat them by the edge of the sink to be put away later. Petra was still staring at him with the mix of emotions lining her soft features. Her large doe eyes silently begging him for an explanation and he wondered if he could even give her one.

"If there's something you want to ask me, ask it."

Her lashes fluttered and her usually pouty lips tightened into a thin line. "Are you teasing me again Levi?"

"I wouldn't tease about this Petra. You know that." Crossing his arms, he pressed his back into the counter behind him. "You seem confused."

"That's because I am." she hesitated for a moment, biting her lip. "I don't know what to think. Why are you saying this now?"

He shrugged. "Did you have a better time in mind?"

"No-"

"I'm only saying that the feelings are mutual, Ral. Don't overthink it." He moved over to wear she was still sitting and offered her a hand, which she took after a moment of contemplation. "None of us have enough time to worry about things that don't really matter."

"Are you saying that this doesn't matter?"

"What happens between us does. But all of those other things you're worrying about don't."

He knew what she was focusing on even without her having tell him. Petra was one to give an immense amount of thought to the most minuscule of things. She was dissecting problems of the future before they even existed.

What would happen next? What would their squad think? What would the commander do if he found out?

It was written all over her lovely face.

Almost as if she could read his thoughts she ran her tongue over her lips and lifted her chin so that she was level with his eyes. "So what happens now?"

What was going to happen now?

He didn't know. He had just confessed his feelings of attraction towards her and he knew she returned them. But there was something keeping him from moving closer to her. Fear? There was nothing that scared him more than having her. Having someone meant there would be something to miss when they left; and you can't miss what you never had. But he knew it was only a matter of time before they found themselves alone together- tangled in a messy embrace. What you love is your fate. His mother had told him that once and he had never believed it until now.

So he decided to be honest with her since there was no point in dancing around what was bound to happen eventually. "I don't know what happens next, Petra. I'm not sure if that's something I even want to think about right now."

She hummed softly as she nodded her head in understanding. "Then we'll worry about it later. Goodnight, Captain." Her eyes sparkled and she spun to leave, a small gust of air blowing her scent back towards him. Lavender and honey. He had often wondered if it was the shampoo she used that made her smell that way or perhaps it was just her.

What you love is your fate.

And Petra Ral was his.