The hammering of rain on the window was what first caused Levi to stir. Opening his eyes slowly, the first thing he laid eyes on was his bedside table. The flowers were still there. He hadn't been dreaming? Sitting up, he looked around the room and frowned. Speaking of dreams...

His frown deepened as he tried to remember what he dreamt of last night. Even though he probably shouldn't, he could not help but try to remember the nightmares that had caused him to thrash around in his sleep, which he had done, judging by the state of his bed.

He was shaken from his thoughts by a violent hammering against his door.

It was too early for this.

"Just get in here Hanji, you don't need to break the door down." He said with annoyance.

The door burst open with force only Hanji could be capable of, and even from the mass of sheets that was his once tidy bed, he could feel the room shake.

"Hanji." He addressed the woman responsible for this early morning disruption, now walking over to him carrying a tray of something or other. "Please refrain from knocking the house down. We don't want a repeat of last time, do we?"

"Why are you always so grumpy?" The bespectacled woman complained as she placed the mysterious tray on his lap.

"I was perfectly fine until you and your earthquake showed up." He eyed the tray. "What is this."

"Your breakfast, of course" Hanji looked pleased about something.

"It looks...different"

"It is. I didn't make it"

"That must be why it looks edible" Levi quipped, smirking at the indignation on Hanji's face. Ignoring her muttered retort, he proceeded to examine the breakfast tray.

It looked...good, surprisingly.

"Who made it?" He asked, the frown back on his face. That fruit salad looked good. "You bought it, didn't you?" He said accusingly, poking at a strawberry with his fork.

"Nope, it is homemade! Just not by me."

"Just tell me, I don't have the patience for your guessing games."

"Hmm... I wonder if I should..." She was stalling. Levi was starting to get irritated.

"Hanji. Tell. Me."

Hanji smiled mischievously and wagged a finger at him. "I'm sure she'll come up and see you in a minute anyway"

"She?" Levi wanted to ask, but he wasn't going to play this little game anymore. Hanji should go find her own entertainment instead of teasing a poor little invalid like himself.

"Whatever." He responded, and turned his attention back to the tray of food.

"Boring." Hanji pouted.

It tasted as good as it looked, he mused, taking a bite of pancake.

A glance to his side reminded him of those unexplainable flowers.

"Oh yeah, Hanji there was something I wanted to ask you about." He pulled himself away from the breakfast and looked at her expectantly. "Was it you that left those flowers? The ones on the table, I mean."

"Flowers?" She looked confused.

"You heard me. The ones on the bedside table."

Still looking confused, she turned to see the mysterious bundle of yellow petals. They were wilting, Levi noticed to his dismay.

"Flowers..."

Get those gears turning Hanji, that's it.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, snapping her fingers. He could practically see the light bulb flashing over her head.

Nodding, she turned to him. "Must've been Petra."

"Petra." His voice was icy.

"That's how you say it."

Levi glared at her. "Would you so kindly tell me as to why 'Petra' was placing flowers so lovingly on my bedside table in the early hours of the evening?" His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"Don't be so mean! Petra's lovely." Levi was surprised at the scolding tone in her voice, but of course he did not show it.

"I'm sure she is. You haven't answered my question." Still sarcastic.

"Well..." Hanji paused, frowning. "I guess you could call her a family friend? She lives near me, and when I told her about the 'housework' I was doing for you, she offered to help out. That's about it really."

"Why didn't you tell me there was some stranger in my house?" Hanji really was the most carefree person he had ever met.

"I dunno, it just sort of slipped my mind I guess..." She looked lost in thought.

She seemed to come to her senses, changing her activity to staring intently at him. "You don't mind do you?"

"As long as she stays out the way, not really." He knew he sounded harsh, but how else was he going to reply?

"Thought not."

"Hmph. I assume this Petra is also the 'she' you were referring to earlier? So she made the breakfast?"

"That would be her, yes."

"Hmm..." Petra, huh...The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't place where he had heard it before...

"She's a good cook, right!" Hanji was back to normal.

"She's better than you, in any case." He avoided the question expertly. "Not bad, Petra... Maybe I should hire you as a housekeeper instead of Hanji..." He thought to himself. But really...he was only half joking.

It was only when he was settling back into the pillows as Hanji bustled around the room setting things to order, that he realised he never found out why she had left the flowers. Well, whatever. Any friend of Hanji's was bound to be odd after all. But still...

The tentative knock on the door surprised them both this time.

Levi watched the door as Hanji straightened up, her arms full of laundry.

"Yes?" Hanji called.

There was no reply.

"You can come in!" Hanji called, louder this time.

The door opened, and Levi watched as a small figure appeared around the door.

Hanji was in front of the door, so Levi couldn't see who it was, but he already had a good idea about who it would be.

"Petra! You came up after all!" Hanji said happily, moving out the way, so Levi could see the full view of the person.

She wasn't very tall, shorter than him even, but she somehow still managed to have a big presence in this cold room.

Her big hazel eyes looked apprehensive, and this was shown even more as he watched her fingers play with a strand of short auburn hair. The same colour as the flowers she left him, he noted.

Silence.

"Well... this is awkward"

Ah, Hanji. Always knew just how to start a conversation.

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" It was bugging Levi how about how nervous she looked. Was there something on his face? Glancing in the mirror opposite his bed, he was unpleasantly surprised at the glare on his face. Did he really look this menacing? No wonder she was frightened.

"But surely you know each others names? Is that really necessa-?"

"Hanji." A very irked Levi cut her off.

"Okay, okay, I get it. Levi, Petra. Petra, Levi. Happy?"

"Nice to meet you Petra."

"Nice to meet you too" She sounded embarrassed for some reason, and she kept looking at the floor, or her fingers which were still tangled in her hair. He frowned again.

"Can I ask you something?" Levi asked her. He knew he should probably wait, but Levi hated beating about the bush.

She nodded swiftly and glanced at him, before her eyes went back to being fixated on the floor. She looked like she wanted to leave.

"Why did you leave those flowers?" He saw Hanji turn away, her hand on her head. He could practically feel the waves of exasperation being emitted from her.

Well, it was her fault for not explaining earlier.

Petra, meanwhile, had gone a fascinating shade of red. Now she kept looking at the door. It was annoying him. Nothing was keeping her here; she could leave anytime she wanted

However, when she spoke, she didn't sound nervous or embarrassed. She sounded pleased that he had asked, or rather, that he wanted to know at all.

"Your room looked plain. I thought that all people liked their rooms colourful, especially if you never come out of it. You're ill, right?"

Levi stared at her, and Hanji turned round, looking from Petra to Levi worriedly. That was far too blunt, to put it lightly.

Levi, however didn't mind. Liked it, even.

He was far too used to being treated as a dying child, and hated the way everything was sugar-coated before given to him. Even his painkillers were orange flavoured.

"Orange..." He thought. The medicine, the flowers, and somehow, this girl seemed to emit a vivid golden orange-ness.

A hand was thrust in front of his face. Petra's face still regained that same brilliant red, but the hand she extended to him was small and pale and freckly.

He held her hand with his cold one, unsure of what else she wanted him to do. Her hand was warm. Levi was surprised that she didn't flinch at the contrast in their temperatures.

"You didn't shake my hand before." She explained.

"Ah."

"Yeah."

He released her hand after a long pause, a small part of him missing the warmth of her small hand.

"Nice meeting you, Petra."

"Nice meeting you too, Levi," She smiled, and it seemed to show on her whole face.

He tried to return the smile, and looked at her uncertainly.

She laughed now, crinkles appearing near her eyes.

"You should smile more." She told him, "You have a nice smile."

"You got a nice smile too."