this chapter is up early because next week is busy and i'm hoping to get two up on sunday in prep for a week off! once again its based off of a dynamic from aot tactics that id seen and thought was a cute one to explore..

lemme know if u notice the general link in the mini chapters (i may have made it too subtle...but it may become clear with the next mini chap.)

on a separate note, there are some band names/ near band names hidden in this one if u wish to search for them...

"Gelgar, you really don't need to take so many bags, there are three of us." Nifa raised a brow as the quiffed man stumbled out of the stables store room under the weight of three bulging sacks of oats.

"You're gonna put your back out." Petra chided, picking up a single bag in both arms, "We can do multiple trips - I mean, whats the rush? It's really not that long a walk from here to the horse's field, right?"

"Right." Nifa agreed.

Gelgar snorted, throwing a cursory glance back to the pair, "The quicker we feed them, the quicker I can go down to the tavern. It's been a long week."

"It's Tuesday!" Nifa cried out and Petra giggled in disbelief, "And besides, don't you have more chores to get to after this? I have to take inventory for the lab stock room, and I'm sure Petra has a long list of her own."

"You bet." Petra nodded, "Did you know there's a right way to clean stone walls?"

Nifa guffawed, "I didn't."

The two redheads followed a couple of steps behind the blundering, laden man as they made the short journey up the dirt path to the fields where the spare horses were grazing.

Petra tried to stop herself from smiling too widely as her mind wandered back to the Captain's little frown when he'd last scolded Eld; something about 'circular movements with a soft bristle brush first' and 'the importance of the correct ratio of soap to water' or the stone wouldn't clean properly. She found his particularity when it came to cleaning utterly adorable, something Nifa seemed to have picked up upon…among other things.

In fact, it was almost as if Nifa's enlarged golden eye was blinking through a magnifying glass, scrutinising Petra's every interaction with her Captain. Whenever his name came up, though Nifa would say nothing, she would grin with a mischievous knowingness that was not only unfounded, but completely unearned; and yet she did it with such total charm that Petra was always a bit tempted to tell the woman all her heart's hidden desires.

It was that quality of Nifa's that reminded Petra of Hannah and Jules, which only endeared Nifa to her further.

"Argh - dammit!" Gelgar called out as he fell backwards onto his ass on the grass by the wooden fence, the three sacks of oats thudding to his sides.

"I hate to say I told you so…" Nifa derided, looking over her fallen comrade with raised eyebrows.

"Whatever." Gelgar scowled, dusting himself off and getting back to his feet, "You're loving this."

Nifa grinned, "You're right. I love to say I told you so, because I did tell you so, and you deserve it."

With an arched brow, Gelgar picked up two of the sacks and threw one over each shoulder, grimacing briefly at the weight.

Eyeing the third bag, he grumbled, "I'll come back for that."

"I'd offer to get it myself but a potential pulled muscle is not worth it." Petra remarked brightly, "There's a reason the guys call them 'gut-busters'."

Nifa laughed, placing her bag down with a thud as she unhooked the gate to the field, letting Gelgar amble through first.

"What are their tasks today?"

"Oruo is off to the next town to help with restocking oil." Petra answered, "The other two are window-cleaning. They have to do the entire west-side barracks."

"Geez!" Nifa gawped as they sidled through the grass towards the troughs that ran along the field's edge.

Petra chortled, "All morning they've been referring to themselves as 'The Bleach Boys', despite the fact that the Captain told them time and time again that you never use bleach on windows."

"No bleach on windows. Right. I'll have to remember that one." Nifa said with a twinkle in her eye.

"Right." Petra smiled back.

"Gotta say, I don't get it." Gelgar remarked from up ahead, "He just doesn't frighten me."

"Who?" Petra queried.

"Captain Levi. Everyone always harps on about how terrifying he is and all that but…I've never been scared of him."

Nifa barked a laugh, "Oh really? You've never been scared of Captain Levi?"

"Not even one time."

Having reached the field's first long trough, Gelgar dumped his two bags to the ground and sat down heavily, his legs stretching out across the grass and leaning his upper back against the metal. He lolled his head back, folded his arms and closed his eyes.

"Oh, are you done?" Nifa scowled, peevishly dropping her bag of oats on the ground by him.

"What?" Gelgar responded, "I've already done twice as much work as the pair of you. I'll help when you've pulled your weight."

Before Nifa could open her mouth to scold him, Petra shouted suddenly;

"Wait! Is that - Captain Levi?!"

With a panicked high-pitched yelp, Gelgar leapt up from his lazy position, grabbed one of the sacks and proceeded to enact a series of dramatic poses,

"Wham! Pow! Lift! I'm working Captain I swear - hey - wait a hot minute!"

The two women were doubled over, clutching their stomachs laughing, hands on one another's shoulders to stabilise themselves.

"'I'm working Captain, I swear!'" Nifa mocked, wiping a tear from her eye.

"'I've never been scared of Captain Levi.'" Petra jested, belly-laughing.

Gelgar's face had gone beet red and he grumbled, dropping the bag of last and stalking off back towards the gate.

"A-ha!" Nifa called after him, "I guess that means we have pulled our weight, right?"

"Right!" Petra declared, beaming.

"Will you two quit it!" Gelgar yelled back from the gate.

The two women followed on, still howling as Gelgar marched back towards the store room with balled up fists.