Chpt 7: Why Me?!
Petra stepped into the studio with the outfit the designer had put together; fluffy dress with accessories of all types, stylish ballerina flats which made Petra wonder why flats and not heels, and hair nicely done in a way she would never be able to achieve if done on her own. Make-up, thank Sina, was not done heavily since she hardly have any blemishes to hide.
Today was supposed to be a fulfilling day; keyword being supposed.
After Levi finally managed to not recoil every time they brushed against each other, he begrudgingly brought his arm up and placed them around her tiny waist, noting how well she actually fit in his arms.
24 inches; not bad.
Unfortunately or unfortunately, depending on whose point of view, the company representative thought that Levi's expression suited the image they were looking for, thus Ness told Levi he would be the face of the this cover. Since the company was a dancing company, obviously the pose had to have some feel of a dance; Petra's skirt twirling and her chiffon shawl fluttering in smooth waves.
The incessant clicking was giving him a headache, and so were the bright lights shining on them along with the pseudo dance they were doing but he realised it wasn't as bad as the previous time. For some unfathomable reason, the longer he held Petra, the less fucks he gave about this job. He only started working two hours ago.
While Levi was slowly letting go of whatever stick he had up his ass, Petra was trying her best to not bite his ear off. The ass' hands were touching places not meant to be touched by him and his grip was becoming tighter, unbeknown by her co-worker.
Unlike Levi's slightly-more-relaxed-than-normal expression, Petra cringed whenever she thought her face wouldn't be seen by her colleagues.
"Petra, relax your muscles. I can feel how tense you are all the way over here." Ness said from behind his camera, not releasing the shutter release.
"Relax. I won't bite you. Not here, not now anyway." Levi whispered lowly enough for her to hear without letting the others hear.
"How," She started, "am I supposed to be relaxed when your hand is three inches above my ass?" snapping in her smallest voice possible, still trying to get used to the unfamiliar feeling of him being so close without any ulterior motive.
She vaguely heard Ness instructing them to twirl slowly as if they are dancing romantically and she stumbled over Levi's feet when he slowed all of a sudden, dragging her along to whatever music was playing to get them in the mood; too bad she wasn't wearing stilettos.
After twirling for much too long, both models were starting to get dizzy.
"I'm gonna puke soon, I swear."
Levi grumbles his agreement, the vibration from his chest transferred to hers but strangely, it didn't make her feel uncomfortable in any way.
"All right! That's a wrap! Nicely done for your first official shoot, guys." Ness sang his praises to the newbies, Petra thanking him with smiles while Levi just tried not to scowl.
Walking off the set to return to their dressing room was a quiet affair until they reached Levi's room first, which was just next to Petra's. Before Petra could turn the handle to hers, she heard him spoke in a low grumble.
"You're not bad for a partner." He didn't manage to catch Petra's look of surprise, having made a swift escape into his room.
Petra sighed as she prepared the next batch of coffee mixture. Pressing the start button, she started to drift off, thinking about how much moolah will be transferred to her bank account within the month, and also the experience of working with Levi.
To be completely honest, it wasn't that bad even though she felt insulted when he recoiled at her touch as if she's riddled with germs and diseases. His height was not a problem; at least she didn't have to bend her back for that dummy dance. He did look rather suave in that outfit, not that she scanned him from head to toe.
"The coffee's done." was what woke her up from her musings.
Grabbing a couple of cups from the cabinets, Petra said her thanks to Annie and proceeded to pour out freshly brewed caffeine for her awaiting customers.
"So, how's the job?"
Petra was startled; Annie wasn't one for small talk, especially not when she just finished serving ten tables during lunch hour, but she wasn't about to not indulge in such rarity.
"It was... eye-opening, to put it shortly. Everything's so unreal yet real at the same time. It's a whole different world the moment I stepped into their building. I still don't know what that scout saw in me, to be honest." She shook her head and gave the counter a quick wipe down.
"Maybe your personality was what attracted him."
"If personality is the deal-clincher, I'm sure the whole lot of us will qualify for big paychecks."
Carrying a full tray of precious coffee, Petra stepped out from the counter and smiled when she saw a hint of a smile on Annie's face.
On the other side of Wall Town, Levi's stuck with paperwork, no thanks to some idiots who fucked up this month's weapon shippings. How the fuck is one unable to differentiate a M16 from an AK-47?!
Diverting all his frustrations into scrawling his much-needed signature, Levi growled at whoever entered his office without knocking first.
"You sound crabby."
Looking up at the unwelcomed visitor, Levi spat, "I'm always crabby."
Erwin raised a brow at the small spit that landed an inch too close to him but continued unperturbed, "So, tell me how the job went."
At that, Levi pretended the pen he held was a throwing knife and flung the damned thing to Erwin's handsome face. Catching the projectile with ease as if it was a rubber ball, Erwin twirled the ill-willed gift with his nifty fingers and commented, "I take it you didn't like it?"
"Fuck you."
"Not into anal. I've told you that before." Shaking his head as Erwin tutted in rhythms of three.
Levi's growls got more rabid as the seconds ticked away.
"All right, all right. I give." Raising his hand into a mock surrender, Erwin began to disclose his plans to one of his most-trusted member. "You've heard what's going on beneath right?"
A grunt of acknowledgement.
"I've decided to team up with Vogel until everything's settled."
And Levi exploded, slamming his power-packed fist into the cherrywood desk he's behind. "Since when was this decided?!"
"Since half an hour ago. You know who Hanji is, right?"
"If I ever forget the one who called me Shorty in front of thirty people, I'll fuck Jaeger's brain out."
Erwin wasn't expecting such a... wonderful statement and a cringe managed to break out. Clearing his throat, he continued as if he didn't get mind-fucked by that. "Anyway, she told me four of her members got assaulted by them. If we include our side, the latest score is ten. Therefore, we should eliminate the pests before they get the chance to wipe us out."
"And what does that got to do with the job you landed me in?" Levi did not forget the main topic.
"Just a bonding session. You know–"
"I don't."
"To get to know one another in a friendly environment." He continued as if Levi didn't interrupt the noble speech he's about to give. "We need to work together to bring those rats down if things don't turn well. And I certainly do not want them to stab us when we turn our backs to them."
"I still do not see the point of me being a model."
"The money will surely help us."
"Why me?! Why not you?! Or Mike, Erd, Moblit?! Hell, even Kirschtein and Jaeger is better at pulling this shit off."
Feeling his ass getting a bit numb, Erwin got up and poured himself a cup of vodka, bottoms up.
"That's mine, old man."
"Sharing is caring, haven't you heard?"
"Not with old man like you."
"Would you rather Petra?
Levi did not know why but he felt his face grew horribly hot. He spluttered curses and swear words, insulting Erwin's lineage from his ancestors to the very being standing in front of him but for some infuriating reason, the blond male only smirked at his friend's super red ears.
"Language, Levi. I doubt Petra would like to hear those kind of words being whispered in her ears when you finally get into her pants."
Erwin avoided a concussion as Levi's brass knuckle hit the door instead of his head as he made a quick exit.
Stupid old man!
Levi sat back and glared at the remaining paperwork as if they offended him on a personal level.
Fuck this shit.
Grabbing his jacket and storming out of his office, he called for his goons to follow him. "Kirschtein, Jaeger, Hoover! Stop playing monopoly and follow me. We're checking up on Red 1 to Red 5 today."
As Levi hears Eren's and Jean's joyful shouts of Boobies! Woman!, he shakes his head and rolled his eyes mentally. Horny teenagers.
"Springer! Since you fucked up the shipping, I want all the toilets sparkling clean by the time I get back!" and slammed the door shut with a really loud bang, once again rattling the lever handle and if noticed upon closer inspection, the cracks in the wall grew half a millimeter.
Reiner patted his friend on the shoulder, pitying his poor friend who started whimper; nobody had ever achieved Levi's standard of cleanliness before and it always end badly.
A/N 1: I apologise for the really slow update *bows*
A/N 2: I think Connie prayed to all the toilet gods available.
