Outside the shanty household of the Ral family, Levi stood glaring at the ground as if it'd committed a crime of some sort.

He wasn't usually invited to dinners. Either people were too frightened of him to make such a request. Or he gave off too unfriendly of an air that naturally caused others to steer clear of him. The case was most probably both, so what striked Levi was when he saw the unlikely figure of Petra's father make his way out of the crowd to greet him upon his return from their latest expedition.

The man sighed heavily, adjusting his silky white cravat with his right hand as his go-to left hand was currently being occupied holding a straw basket of fruit. Levi scowled at the item; Erwin had given it to him when he'd asked him for an early relief off duty. The smirk he had on his face made the shorter man twitch in disgust.

He didn't understand. -

- Why Petra's father had insisted he attended this evening.

Usually, in this day and age, people were invited to dinner when there was some sort of marriage arrangement involved. And the thought in itself was absurd as it echoed and resounded throughout Levi's mind. If this was the aim of tonight... What Petra's father had in mind... It was utterly ridiculous, as he and Petra were not about to get married. Much less, in a relationship. And the word had the effect of efficiently tinging the tips of the Corporal's ears a light pink.

Petra opened the door with a low hum, revealing her guest for the evening. And for Levi, revealing a girl, rather than a soldier. Petra's golden hair was pinned back slightly with shiny hairpins and she was clothed in a floral white dress. It was feminine. Levi had hardly ever seen feminine in his life. And even when he did see it, he'd deem it ugly and stupid. And yet, he finds that for a moment, he can't seem to rip his gaze away from the girl.

Feeling disgusted at his own actions, Levi coughed awkwardly, before nodding to Petra in greeting. The latter, tugging at a tuft of her hair and straightening out the creases in her dress, smiled at him sheepishly. "I'm sorry about this."

"It's fine," the man muttered, accepting her invitation into the house, almost smiling upon catching sight of the interior. It was spotless and immaculate; perfect. Petra had obviously made something of an effort to make him feel welcome, so in favor, Levi had decided to try and peel away from his comfort zone, and attempt to be... Sociable. Just for the night. And he'd thought she ought to be grateful to him.

Levi shifted in his seat, feeling extremely claustrophobic and uncomfortable with the amount of chatter around him. He was very rarely part of lively dinners. He'd been certain that the meals he had with his squad were more than clamorous enough on their own but their families were apparently so much worse in that perspective. The Corporal mechanically stirred the broth that Petra's mother had placed before him, and not for the first time that evening, Levi wondered to himself just what the fuck he was doing there.

Petra's father - yes, Levi would simply acknowledge the man as the one who contributed to his soldier's upbringing - finally cleared his throat. The rosiness of his puffy cheeks fading slightly, his smile averted itself to Levi, who stared back at him, trying his hardest not to let his signature scowl show too much. It was the best he could manage, as smiling was out of the question for him too long ago.

"Levi-heichou-dono, how is my Petra's training coming along then? What do you think of her?"

Levi had to retain himself from crinkling his nose at 'my Petra'. He instead, opted to provide them with the news they'd been hoping to hear from him, wishing Mr. Ral's second question wasn't backed with the meaning Levi was thinking of.

"I chose her for my squad. She follows orders and she's... Acceptable."

Had he not bore the title of the 'Corporal', Levi would have punched himself right there. But he did bear the title of 'Corporal' so beating himself up was out of the question. Especially in front of Petra's parents. Even so, for him to be so blunt with a soldier's parents, who had seemingly expected so much more praise from him, only to be disappointed, was disappointing for Levi himself.

Petra however, could speak Levi's language, and her being 'acceptable' in his opinion had to mean she was pretty damn good. She giggled, blushing slightly. And her father's elated expression quickly dissolved into one of much more seriousness. Levi inwardly grimaced, seeing as his inability to compliment others in an extravagant manner, was clearly leading to his downfall.

Sensing the change in the atmosphere of the room, Mrs. Ral's motherly voice piped up as she smiled. "More broth, Levi-heichou-dono?"

Levi's eye twitched slightly upon once again hearing the excruciatingly long name Petra's parents had given him. Whilst there had simply been a couple of suffixes added to his name, it drove Levi crazy. And he'd thought that 'Levi-heichou" was enough. Besides, it only sounded satisfactory when some people said it. His eyes drifted to meet Petra's momentarily.

"Levi is fine," he began curtly, before quickly adding in 'Mrs. Ral' at the end when he noted that this gesture would allow him the opportunity to redeem himself from earlier. Petra's mother looked pleased enough, anyway.

'No, thanks.'

That's what he wanted to answer to her question. But turning down Mrs. Ral's food could possibly make her feel as if he didn't enjoy it. "Sure, thank you," Levi handed her the empty bowl quickly, not bothering to lift his gaze to meet hers.

Musing to himself as to why he cared so much about Petra's parents' opinions of him, Levi furrowed his brow. He never usually made an effort to live up to the citizens' views and expectations of who 'Humanity's strongest soldier' was. It was part of the reason why his poor social career only consisted of short quips with his squad, Hanji and Erwin, with the occasional conversations with Mike. And yet, here he was fretting over what one of his soldier's parents thought of him.

Which was so unlike him.

"What are your intentions with my daughter?" Petra's father immediately blurted out as soon as his wife was seen nowhere near the vicinity. Then, as if he were speaking to a particularly unintelligent child, he elaborated. "What do you plan to do with her?"

Petra almost spat out her soup as she gaped at her father, astounded and mortified at his lack of tact.

Levi blinked. "She's one of my soldiers. I intend to train her well so she can continue her success rate during expeditions." It seemed as if Humanity's strongest soldier had misunderstood the objective of the question entirely. Or that he'd apparently ignored the second meaning behind the man's words, choosing to wait until the man pucked up the courage to ask him such a daring question directly.

Mr. Ral gave him a weary look. That was clearly not the answer he was expecting.

"Is that all?" Petra's father pressed, "Is my daughter not up to your standards? Do you not wish to marry her?"

"Father!" Petra hissed from her seat across from Levi's. Her cheeks were rapidly warming up.

Levi's facial expression was morphing into one of both mortification and confusion. Had Petra's father no sense of consideration?

He was mentally challenged. He had to be, Levi concluded. And he realised that he couldn't avoid the question any longer as Mr. Ral was seemingly under the impression that Petra and the Corporal were in midst some intimate relationship of a sort. Levi glared at the man, failing to make his scowl discreet.

Before the Corporal could open his mouth to respond, Petra's mother sauntered into the room, slap-happy smile on her face as she handed Levi the refilled bowl of broth. Calming himself down enough to nod a 'thanks' to the woman, Levi bit his tongue, fully aware that letting his mouth loose at his soldier's father was not the best way to go. And he noted that most of his restraint was due to that very soldier's presence.

Mr. Ral, apparently also realising the significant slip up in his usually cheerful demeanour, coughed, averting his eyes sheepishly.

The night was to continue on, with Levi and Mr. Ral rarely exchanging remarks.

Once dinner had ended, and the Corporal was to leave alongside Petra, back to HQ, Levi halted himself before Mr. Ral, sliding his icy gaze up to meet the former's.

'What are your intentions with my daughter?'

"I intend to train her well so she doesn't die."

And that gave all the answers Mr. Ral needed.

A/N- Okay so a fairly long oneshot for a drabble series but I honestly didn't know how to make it suitable enough without this length .

Please review.

I'll continue when I get more inspiration :S
So feel free to give me your thoughts and any prompts that you may have :)

~ InnocentBlossom

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