The moment they arrived at the former Recon Corps HQ, Petra was already feeling off. It didn't help that Captain Levi's first instruction was to "sort the place out." For the uninitiated, it translated to cleaning the whole place twice – or thrice, in some cases. Great, she huffed, just the six of us in one disused castle. The earlier they finish, the better was the only consolation she held onto.
"Erd, Gunther, survey the area. I want every parameter to be taken accounted for. Auruo, you're assigned to make the soldiers' room spotless. And I mean spotless. Petra, the bathrooms. And you, brat," he shifts his steely gaze to Eren, "The dungeon." Petra could've sworn she saw Eren twitch at the mention of the dungeon. Better him than me, she let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. "Everything you need can be found in the back room," Levi continued, Petra whisked out of her thoughts. "Sir!" They chorused.
They wasted no time carrying out the captain's orders. Petra started with the top floor bathrooms, thinking she'd rather start there while there is still sunlight. She took comfort in the thought that the paranormal, as silly as it sounded, hardly made their presence felt during daytime. But she just couldn't wave off the feeling of being uneasy. Perhaps it was the idea of the building being abandoned for a long time or, on a macabre note, the weight of so many casualties that bury deep into their subconsciousness. She shuddered and busied herself scrubbing off the years of grime on the tiles instead. While his squad was busy, Levi took it upon himself to partake in making their temporary abode livable enough to his standards. Being particular with their food and eating utensils, he did and redid the cupboards, the stock room, the mess hall, down to each tea cup they would be later drinking tea from. He could not afford drinking premium tea with soot tainting its carefully brewed flavour.
Petra heard her own stomach rumble, signalling it's time to prepare a meal for the squad. Scrambling to her feet, she scooted down the hall and – What was that? A vague figure swiftly made past one of the doors of their quarters. Petra steeled herself, reminding herself that there are far important, scarier things at hand than a possible sighting of, well, a made-up illusion and nothing more. She ignored what she could've possibly seen and marched straight to the kitchen.
(It must've slipped her fear-frozen mind that Auruo liked to imitate the captain, donning almost all-white articles of clothing, down to the cravat. And it was Auruo who she saw, far from being just an apparition.)
It took her almost the whole day to be able to finish the bathrooms in each floor. The paranormal thoughts hadn't bothered her since her sighting earlier until she made her way to the captain's quarter. Not that Levi Heichou scared her, that's not the case at all. It was rather at an isolated location, his quarter. Should something out of the ordinary appear, her shrieks would least likely be heard, let alone be saved. She exhaled, rotated her shoulders and went in anyway. Orders are orders after all. She knew how particular Levi Heichou can get when it comes to filth and didn't want to go on another round of cleaning tiles until she could see something else's reflection in it just because of her neglect, especially not now when they're already at the tail end of the sunlight. She opened the windows to let the room breathe, catching soot and web in her hair as she reached for the knobs.
Right, so I'm done with the windows, I've practically sterilised the tub and the toilet for that matter… The only task at hand remaining was the tiles.
And then, she heard a thud. Crap. Her heart started pounding. Crap, crap. Not now, let me finish! I don't want to redo the whole thing again especially going through the dark halls alone. She was fidgeting with the brush on her hand, contemplating to see for herself where the noise came from or let it pass. Third option, she hoped she had, was to not freeze in fear and just dash out of that room as fast as possible. All her options flustered when the door to the bathroom creaked open –
"What the hell!" Levi barged in the room as soon as he heard a woman shriek. "Petra?!"
Oh, holy crap! Her face pale as if she'd just seen… Captain Levi. Crimson crept up on her ivory face as she realised it was her captain, in cravat and headscarf pulled up to his nose. "H-Heichou!" Heart obviously pounding, as he could practically see her heart bobbing up and down in her throat. "I heard a scream and didn't realise it was you," he started. It took her a while to compose herself again. "I, uh… I thought there was something else in the room…" she trailed off, clearly mortified at how she reacted. "What, does the sight of someone in proper cleaning attire scare you?" She stifled a laugh when she took a closer look at her captain; she could never get used to him in his proper cleaning attire complete with a cravat. How…fancy. She shook her head, "N-no sir. I'm sorry, Heichou. I've been… particularly jumpy today. I let my imagination get the best of me." Levi's stoic face turned gentle as he pulled down the kerchief on his face. "Petra," he exhaled as he pinched the bridge on his nose. "You've one of the best records in slaying titans. You stare at death every time we go on a mission. And you're here, shaken up apparently, telling me you're afraid. Of ghosts. Perhaps even more than Titans." Her cheeks flushed. "I know it's silly, captain…" she paused to think if he'd still find her reasoning valid. "But?" Levi offered a tone suggesting he's still interested. "But," she drawled. "That's exactly the point. With every mission, there will always be loss. Untimely demise. I know it's part of what we signed up for. I just can't shake off the thought of… death. And those restless souls thatmaypossiblyhaunthesewalls" she blurted the last thought out. Mentally, she's kicking herself for blurting that. Luckily her façade made up for how silly she felt inside. "Tch, Petra," he took a step closer to her, in which she slightly tensed. She found herself focusing on how pristine he still looked even after doing chores. Crap, Petra, hold yourself together. He might be able to read your mind. Levi reached out for her hand and faced her palm upward. Petra was obviously confused at her captain's sudden…closeness. "H-Heichou?" She needed to do something about her blushing furiously whenever he was around and in close proximity lest she be assigned to another squad leader.
There was a faint curve on Levi's lips as he held her hand closer to his chest. "Petra," She blinked in anticipation. She felt his other hand place something in hers. And when he slid his hand away, she saw the least thing she's expected: a special concoction of cleaning detergent especially for his bathroom.
"Supper's in an hour."