Morning everybody.
So yeah, last week wasn't the first time that the site was glitchy with reviews (they literally didn't load on the site for over 24 hours!) – so thanks for hanging in there and still being diligent in letting me know yall are alive and well and not ready to outright tar and feather me. I'm sincerely glad that the section was resolved in a way that, perhaps you weren't expecting, but can look back and see that it does make sense for squad Levi that's been living their day to day for over five years now.
For all those excited for the new arc, I won't keep you. Enjoy your read!
...
...
"And then this one too. I think that's the last one."
Levi grabbed the last paper out of his To-Do folder, setting it on top of another paper. The surface of his desk had run out of open space some time ago, and he eventually had to resort to stacking the papers in an offset manner instead so they could all be displayed.
He looked at Petra, who was surveying the expanse of overdue papers with wide eyes, but after feeling his stare, she looked up toward him with an unamused expression, "Oh that's the last one? You sure there isn't another folder wedged somewhere up your ass with stacks of papers that were due years ago?" She frowned as she continued, "It's a wonder Erwin puts up with you – did you even turn in a single form during these past three weeks? Captain, this is terrible!"
Levi merely gave a shrug, because he may have turned something in - he specifically remembered sitting down at his desk with all his papers and attempting to fill them out as required – but whether he actually completed any and then made the conscious effort to actually turn them in, that was a bit hazy as his thoughts had been admittedly unsorted as of late. He'd like to think he had at least done one form, surely one.
Petra smacked her lips together and stood up from her chair in determination, leaning over his desk and grabbing various papers in her hands, "Well, no time like the present. Let's organize them by what's past due, what still needs more data, and what can be put off for a bit longer while we try to get you caught back up."
There was a strange expression across the Captain's face and instead of moving to help her, he merely watched her with that odd expression as she grabbed more papers, critically scanning over each one before sorting it into one pile and moving on to the next, seemingly able to recognize almost every form and its necessary components with a single passing glance.
She truly had become so efficient, and that was after the almost month-long hiatus.
Petra blinked as she realized that he had been staring at her for some time, neglecting to actually help her in the slightest. "…What?"
His voice was flat, but there was a hint of amusement that pulled at the corner of his lips, "Petra, are you telling me how to organize my papers?"
She quirked an eyebrow in challenge and crossed her arms as she stared down at him from his seated position, "Is that a problem?"
He smirked at her no-nonsense response and gave a haughty, testing shrug, "Well. I thought I was the Captain."
She snorted and grabbed another page while eyeing him reproachfully, "Yeah? So did I, yet here we are, having to bail you out again. Are you going to help, Captain, or is this just somehow my job now?""
Ignoring her question, Levi leaned back into his chair and cocked his head slightly, "Tell me. This morning, who came up with that?"
Her mouth twitched at his question, a ghost of a smile, and Petra continued sorting through the documents carefully, "The coffee thing?"
"Yeah."
"Mostly Eld. He figured we all just kinda needed a good laugh to break the tension, but I pointed out that you'd never trust someone proactively pouring you a drink just because - even I would find that suspicious - so we waited until we could hear you coming down the hall and you know the rest." Petra shook her head in memory and looked toward him with a gentle smile, pausing from her sorting as she watched him, "You know Levi, I've never heard you laugh like that before. It's a real shame - you have a nice laugh."
She made a face then, her smile turning into a sort of smirk as she looked back to the papers and gave a chuckle, "Nothing like Eld. He laughs like a goat."
Levi snorted at this, though said nothing and Petra gave a long sigh, "I'm glad you were a good sport about it, I wasn't sure if you'd get mad or not."
He shook his head and gave her a dark look, "Oh I don't get mad Petra, I get even. Your day is coming."
She set another paper down and rolled her eyes, "Words, Captain. But I'll be sure to remember that when I'm making the coffee each morning."
She gave another loud sigh and moved around his desk, holding his empty To-Do folder in one hand and a stack of organized papers in the other. "Okay, we'll just need to set these aside for the time being…they are technically due tomorrow, but we should be able to get them filled out this weekend and turned in first thing Monday morning, which isn't that bad. I doubt anyone will be coming after you first thing at the start of the week."
She opened the drawer to his left and put the To-Do folder away, standing up more fully as she closed the drawer.
"Captain, you did make sure to track our performance metrics over these past few weeks, right?"
"Yeah."
"Well the chart's not filled out and we need those numbers to get started." She gave a tense sigh of accusation, somewhat irritated that even the most basic of tasks had yet to be done. She walked behind him, moving toward the other end of his desk and pulling a drawer open as she kneeled down to the ground and moved various folders around intentionally, "Let's see…ah, here's that report. Get to it, Levi. At the absolute least you should have already done this, or at least told me if you wanted my help. Weird vibes or not, I don't want to see you falling behind as there's just no reason for it."
"Well I would have done it last night," Levi replied easily as Petra placed the folder in front of him, handing him a pen before bustling back around the room, continuing to categorize his papers to her liking, "But I was held up."
Petra stopped from her task and gave a small smile, nodding her head in memory. He actually hadn't been referring to her, rather referring to the unexpected conversation with Eld, but he supposed there was truth to her assumption, and he didn't correct her.
"Actually Captain," Petra stood up and somewhat sat on the edge of his desk as she leaned backward in sudden pause, "That's something I wanted to talk to you about."
He pulled the cap off the pen and set it aside, inwardly noting that their interactions had been incredibly limited as of late, so logic dictated that it was likely she was wanting to talk -
"About last night, I-" she set the papers in her hand down by her side and looked at him with a regretful stare, "I know you said not to worry about it but still, it's something I want to talk to you about none the less because its important. I really feel that maybe…maybe I came off a little, uh, strong."
He couldn't help when his lip twitched, "A little?"
He smirked and looked up toward her with a quirked eyebrow, "No thanks to that, I'm pretty sure I know your damn bra size now."
Petra rolled her eyes dramatically and gave an embarrassed cough under the weight of his smug stare, trying to laugh it off as she blushed and looked into the papers beside her, "Yeah right - I highly doubt that Levi."
At her sudden laughter, Levi's expression fell into something more meticulous, feeling her words were an outright challenge of sorts, and his eyes narrowed in thought as he looked her over bit by bit.
Petra noticed his suddenly pensive, deductive gaze that slowly moved down her body and she gave a yelp as his eyes lingered on her chest specifically. She crossed her arms over her front dramatically as she turned away from him, all but shrieking in sudden embarrassment, "Captain! What are you - stop!"
Levi clicked his tongue in distaste from her sudden chiding, rolling his eyes as he looked back into the paper, filling in some of the numbers as he mumbled, "Yeah, that's not what you said last night."
She gave an empty laugh and relaxed her hands into her lap, "Ha ha Levi. But in all seriousness, what I wanted to say was that...I'm happy that things are, you know, normal again. For the most part. I know that yesterday I was…well…"
"Hurt." Levi supplemented at her elongated pause as he scribbled a few notes down, and Petra gave an embarrassed nod, grateful that aside from his perhaps warranted clap backs, he wasn't trying to shame her for her lapse of manners.
"It's just…" She looked at him seriously as he continued diligently filling out the form, and she put her hand over the page he was working on so she could grab his full attention. He paused from writing and looked up toward her in question, his eyes catching the light and glowing a pale blue, and her resolve wavered.
For a moment she merely stared at him, wondering if she even wanted to keep talking at all. There was a part of her that wanted to draw a line – that wanted to set the record straight and recreate some of those rules that maybe would have helped them out before. If they had had a conversation like this weeks ago, maybe it would have prevented things from getting so broken and distant in the first place and she wanted to do her part to ensure that their friendship remained intact.
For as much as she enjoyed his touch, the spark and the magnetic pull between them, the way she felt in his arms and the surprising passion behind his kiss that made her mind blank and the air rush out of her lungs…she enjoyed just being with him even more, and she didn't want to lose that again.
She gave him an empty, brave smile, "I don't want you to get the wrong idea about me, or maybe get the wrong idea about what I'm expecting from you either. I like this. I like being able to talk to you, getting work done, just being comfortable and not having to push the envelope or try to see what's there or not there, you know? I just…this is comfortable and I don't want that messed up by…getting involved."
She bit the inside of her lip as he merely stared at her, his expression not betraying his thoughts one way or another. She drummed her fingers against the desk nervously, wishing that she knew how to read him just a little bit better. The fact he could so perfectly mask his emotions made it difficult for her to understand him.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is that maybe we should be careful about getting too close or physical because it just invites all sorts of misunderstandings. Maybe if we set some ground rules so the both of us know what to expect, it might make this a little easier? You know, no like…kissing or…just…you know, taking things down a few notches."
She trailed off and gave him a pleading look. It was hard to say what was taboo or not, because of the fact that the lines were so blurred at this point, even when she was trying to draw a line, she had no idea where to put it. She groaned as she somewhat gave up, swallowing thickly and looking toward Levi with concerned, questioning eyes, "Maybe, uh…Well - what are your thoughts on the matter?"
"I agree." He stated simply, looking back down into the paper he had been working on and tapping her hand so she moved her fingers off the page. He said nothing more, merely continued writing just the same and a comfortable silence fell over the room as he focused on the task at hand.
Petra blinked at how easily that had wrapped up and gave a few nods as she tried to bring the matter to a close in her mind as well, "Oh…well, good. Alright. I'm glad we're in agreement then."
Levi gave another nod, and Petra scooched herself off the edge of his desk, moving back around the room and falling back into a groove of focused work. It was once she was clearly focused back onto her task that Levi paused for a single moment and stole a glance toward her, mentally reviewing her words with admitted frustration.
…He did not agree.
It wasn't that he wanted to get 'involved', it wasn't that he was wanting to push things any further just for the mere sake of pushing them, but the last time he had attempted to manipulate and cage the chemistry that was so obviously growing between them (as much as he wanted to deny it, what was the point anymore) it hadn't ended well, and he wasn't all that certain that Petra would have much better luck in her attempts to temper the flames.
None the less, he wouldn't force her hand or make her uncomfortable because it's what she wanted, so there was nothing to do but agree, respect her wishes, and let the chips fall where they may.
...
…
A month passed by, uneventfully.
Petra remained faithfully at Levi's side without incident. Rumors still flew around, but due to Petra's strong showing at the Officer's Banquet and word subsequently trickling down about what had happened, the rumors had since shifted in nature. Some now claimed that the Captain had been madly in love with Petra for years, but it had taken him all this time to actually win her affections (because not even Humanity's Strongest had a shot with a woman as elite as her). Others claimed that Erwin had arranged the marriage intentionally to better control Levi – a political marriage of sorts to keep the Scouts in favor with the government, and Petra was the selfless, sacrificial lamb that chose to bite the bullet for the betterment of the faction.
In most recent versions, Petra was made out to be a sort of hero, and at this the point it was very rare that Petra Ackerman's name was whispered with anything but sheer respect and wonder. To those outside looking in, whatever version of the story they favored, it was obvious that the ginger and Captain were close, yet even still no one could quite figure out what to make of the couple; if they were even a couple at all.
Some days it seemed like they were, that they were both well aware of their chemistry and had no intention of distancing themselves from the other or trying to play it off, but other days it seemed like the Captain was just a well-organized sort of boss with an extremely competent secretary that shadowed behind him dutifully; more of a professionalism displayed in their roles than an actual romance.
Either way, it was rare they weren't found together, often seen walking together or completing their business as a team. Whereas Levi was dominant – an explosive fire that threatened to incinerate those that stood in his way - Petra was adaptive and tenacious, like the pounding waters of a rushing river. She was creative and able to partner with anyone; he was intimidating and strong, protective of what he cherished and fiercely decisive in his course of action. If Levi's forceful nature couldn't crack someone, Petra's natural charm could wear them away, like a rough stone rubbed smooth by the water's persistent waves.
Regardless their opinions, no one in the Scout Regiment could deny they were quite the power couple, and while there were still a few dirty and jealous looks they received from time to time, on the whole, the Regiment had seemingly come to terms with the fact that Humanity's Strongest was a married man, and that yes, his attractive wife was also his direct subordinate.
Though at the time Levi had somewhat doubted Petra's words in his office to him that night, believing even now that they were only delaying the inevitable and getting by on borrowed time, he wasn't too proud to admit that the past month of intentionally not progressing forward and allowing things to settle between them had been…needed.
He found there was comfort in knowing that they were both aware of that growing sort of something between them, yet were disciplined enough to not charge headfirst into things simply because there was chemistry there. Perhaps there were some days that he longed to pull her close, to whisper some ridiculous shit in her ear for the mere sake of watching her blush; hungry to feel her close against him and feel her pulse quicken in her veins because of his mere presence alone, but he hadn't crossed that line to the smallest of infractions, considering Petra had specifically requested that he not do those things.
Unexpectedly, he found that he had gained a new appreciation for their mundane day to day exchanges that were seemingly small, yet amounted to something bigger and important, foundational in nature and more stable than heated touches or wandering eyes. He found she was good company that could still take him by surprise, even after all this time. She enjoyed conversing with him about anything and everything, and while at first he had been hesitant to speak his mind around her due to the…not exactly common way he viewed the world around him, he was pleasantly surprised when she wasn't off put by his mannerisms and didn't judge him for being fundamentally different than her.
She was detail oriented; more so than he had ever noticed in the years prior, considering a new skillset of hers was growing stronger with each passing day that she spent delving into his role. It was often as they sorted through the various documents together, that he felt he was assisting her, more than the other way around. She knew all the trends, knew from memory who performed the best, what strengths each member of the squad held – as well as the corresponding data that backed it up. She was quick to point out inconsistencies or outliers that needed to be addressed, and Levi found he tailored a majority of the squad's training exercises around the data she had been providing him more and more as of late.
At one point she had expressed sincere frustration about the gas shortage, and as she spoke, Levi realized for the first time that her words were not coming from the position of a Scout, who would traditionally complain about having to cross train or that they'd rather be doing some other task than be assigned an obvious filler workout – no, her words were that of an Officer.
She had looked at the numbers and related that the squad's drop in efficiency was a direct result of the forced cross training – that the data was proving they were less effective due to their inconsistent training regimen and that if she had the time, she would love to sit down and build a case for Erwin to prove that something needed to be done and fast, because the gas shortage would, quite literally, be the death of them. If their squad was suffering, it was highly likely that the other squads were as well and if they didn't find a way to sharpen their skills soon, the next expedition would be a blood bath.
Levi had stared at her for a long moment then, feeling a mix of surprise, pride, and perhaps a bit of nostalgia – as the Petra with knit eyebrows, a scowl on her lips, and a fire in her eyes, was very different from the bright eyed, happy go lucky girl that he had introduced onto his squad five years ago.
It was a sobering contrast, and it was only when she had caught his conflicted stare and gave him a concerned look, that he shook his head and explained that she wasn't the first one to notice the difference in numbers and Four Eyes was already on it. None the less, he had brought the conversation up with Erwin a few days later, who merely smiled and nodded, because apparently he had seen the changes in his subordinate as well, but shrugged it off in the moment because, 'All in good time, Levi.'
At the start of the following week, Erwin had informed him that a meeting had been placed for higher ups through the various military factions to discuss the future of how the gas shortage was to be handled. He stressed that it was important that all their numbers were up to par and that they had a strong case to represent the Scout Regiment, and he was to utilize Petra in preparing a through report for the upcoming meeting.
So, he had done just that.
He hadn't actually ordered her, because he knew he wouldn't need to. He explained the upcoming meeting to her, the fact that he would be gone a few days to travel to the inner walls with Hanji, Mike, and Erwin, and that they would be using every trick up their sleeve to try and get a favorable outcome for the Scout Regiment specifically. He explained that even though it wasn't fair, instead of her using the evening for personal free time like the rest of his squad, he wanted her to clean up after their training and come straight to his office and help prepare a proper deck for the upcoming collaboration. He didn't even have to get through his full explanation before she had agreed full heartedly, anxious to play a part in the meeting even if she herself wasn't invited to attend.
That same day, she came to his office with still wet hair, and they began sorting through the numbers and tossing ideas back and forth in terms of what might either impress or scare the government enough to make a judgement call in their favor. Erwin's end goal was to prove that the Scout's should be excluded completely from the gas rationing decree altogether, and he believed the proof was in the data. Each day Petra and Levi would organize months of statistics, supply receipts - anything Petra deemed worthy enough to review - and work to create reports that diagramed the full effect the gas shortage would have over a length of time. Come dinner, it was actually Levi who would run out and get dinner for both of them, considering that at this point Petra was vastly more efficient than he could ever hope to be. They'd eat dinner between discussions of reports, what Erwin thought of their completed work thus far, what angles they still needed to cover, until they bottomed out late into the night.
More than once Petra had collapsed at his desk from sheer exhaustion, and though she would always wake up when he lifted her up into his arms, she would merely wrap her arms around his neck and rest her head against his shoulder, allowing him to carry her back to her room and often falling back asleep in the mere minute it took to get there. He never lingered as she shuffled into her bed and fell asleep for the night; he couldn't. They both had active duty to report to in the morning and needed to recuperate so they could get through another long and arduous day.
It had been almost a solid week of the grueling sunup to sundown demands, and as much as Levi felt that he should enjoy spending so much time with her, the meeting was fast approaching and neither had the time to dwell on such trivial matters.
Tonight was it – this was their last chance to finalize the numbers – and while Petra seemed calm, Levi was admittedly flustered, because he was the one getting grilled by Erwin each day. He knew full well how important this was to the Commander, and how important it was that their meeting go well.
As Petra had pointed out, there was a direct correlation between their ability to freely use gas without restrictions, and the performance of each Scout on an individual basis. While in a training setting, it was just an unfortunate dip in data, come the next expedition, it would be an 'unfortunate' dip in lives, and that was not a laughing matter in the slightest. They were determined to save the lives of their men, before the next expedition took place and ended in an unprecedented number of casualties.
"Got you the bread and soup." Levi walked into his office, carrying a tray with their meals on it and setting it on a chair and grabbing her plate, "Looked better than the damned meatloaf."
"It is always dry." Petra remarked off handedly from the side of his desk as she chewed on the end of her pen in reflection, her response more for politeness sake than an actual attempt at conversation.
Levi set her food beside her, then looked around, then back to the tray, then back to her food before scowling, "Aw, fuck. Damn it all…"
Petra blinked as she looked up toward him curiously, "What?"
Levi groaned and exhaled irritably, "Nothing, just forgot to grab a spoon. I'll grab one from the common room."
She waved a hand as he turned to leave, shaking her head and motioning him over toward her, "It's fine, I can drink it from the bowl just fine. Can you actually come look at this? I think it's ready."
"Sure." He walked over toward her and set one arm down over the surface of his desk, leaning down over her directly and reviewing the numbers she had written over the page. He scanned the page and spoke as he looked the data over critically, somewhat confused, "Now is this…current data?"
He couldn't be too sure, but something seemed a little…off.
"Oh, no – it's actually last year's data. Took a bit of digging, but I went through your filing cabinet and grabbed last year's reports."
Levi looked down at her, a sort of surprise in his eyes, and Petra gave a proud smile, always enjoying his reaction to when she thought of something outside the box. She gave a light shrug, "All that to say that after reviewing those numbers, I thought it was interesting that this same time last year, our performance was consistently ranked higher across the board in almost every area. It's even more interesting when you consider that last month, directly before the forced rationing mind you-" she flipped the page and pointed to the chart, "Our numbers were almost identical. So ignoring the irritating fact that we didn't seem to improve much between this year and last, all it took was one month and even our Squad, debatably the best team in the entire military, took an undeniable hit." She gave a soft smile and shrugged, "If our squad was impacted in a mere thirty days, and with our skill level, it isn't that far of a jump to assume that other squads are taking a hit as well. Numbers don't lie, Captain."
There was a pleased "Hm." That sounded from the Captain, and he looked toward her and gave a slight grin.
There was a light tapping on the already open office door, and both Levi and Petra looked toward the sound, seeing a nervous Oluo watching them with wide eyes. Looking at the pair, seeing how Levi was leaning down over Petra and she didn't seem to mind or even notice that he was inches from her face, he cleared his throat nervously.
"Uh Captain, Petra - I'm not…interrupting anything, am I?"
Levi looked toward Oluo and stood up fully, rolling his eyes in irritation as he stood up from his desk, "Not in the way you mean, but yes, you are." He lightly grabbed the pages out of Petra's hand and reviewed them further, nodding his head toward her, "Using last year's data to prove the resulting deficiencies aren't just a fluke…Erwin will like this a lot. Good work." He motioned toward Oluo with a nod of his head, but kept looking into the data Petra had organized, flipping between the two pages as he spoke, "What do you need?"
"Sorry, I know you guys are busy doing that meeting thing for Erwin, I wouldn't have bothered you, except…" he leaned over and pulled the riding boot off his right leg, giving a miserable sigh, "I need a new pair of boots."
He lifted the shoe up and Petra blinked at the odd sight that greeted her. It was his riding boot, technically, though the entire sole was just gone. Instead of the bottom, there was just a giant gaping hole that left the leather loose and out of shape, limply resting in his hand with nothing to keep it supported or shaped.
"What the…how did that happen?" Petra asked with wide eyes, and Levi merely watched him with an irritated scowl.
"Well it's a funny story Petra," Oluo chuckled in preparation, and Levi shook his head, handing the papers back to Petra and fixing Oluo with an unamused stare.
"No. No funny stories, no shoes. There is no way that is not a direct result of your sheer dumbassery, and maybe walking around with one foot on the ground and one foot in your boot for a few days might teach you a lesson about taking care of your shit. Piss off, Oluo. I'll take care of it when I get back, and not a moment sooner."
Petra groaned and set the papers down, looking at Oluo then back to Levi in concern, "Captain, that's not funny. You may be traveling tomorrow but we are using the 3DM gear and Oluo will need a proper pair of shoes!"
Levi snorted and moved around his desk, plopping down in his chair and shaking his head stubbornly, "Don't care."
She pressed her lips together, feeling that she needed to intervene on behalf of her teammate because the reality was, Levi was simply stressed out and in a bit of a bad mood. She didn't want Oluo to have to walk lop sided for almost two weeks when they could get the form filled out now before he left and he'd be fitted with a new pair of boots in a mere four or five days.
She gave a subtle nod toward Oluo as Levi began reviewing various papers, silently communicating that she would handle it, "Look, I'm sure it wasn't his fault, Captain. These sorts of things…" she looked at the shell of the boot and made a face, her voice strained, "Just…happen from time to time. You know it was just an accident, isn't that right Oluo?"
Her teammate responded with gusto, "Well now I wouldn't say that, Petra. You see Eld made this bet that I couldn't-"
Levi's eyes narrowed and Petra gave a loud cough, cutting off her teammate sharply, "The how doesn't matter! How about I-" she paused mid-sentence as Levi adjusted himself in his chair, her voice quieter as she addressed him directly, because she didn't want him getting started on some other project just yet and she nodded toward him, "Oh hey, actually can you fill this out? It's a form that shows how much gas our team goes through each day of training, each month, each expedition, etc. I got it started but it would help if you can finish it up so I can keep comparing these more obscure numbers; I think I've got a lead and I don't want to lose my momentum."
"Yeah, that's fine." Levi responded simply, and Oluo cleared his throat considering it was obvious that Petra had forgotten about him.
She gave an apologetic nod, "Oh yeah! Now Oluo's boot is also important Captain, I can get you the-"
"Shit. Where the fuck-" Levi mumbled as he began lifting papers off his desk, then opening his drawers in obvious attempts at finding some object, grumbling to himself as he kept looking around the area for whatever.
"What do you need?"
"My pen." Levi growled, and Petra sighed.
"Second drawer to your left."
"Oh. Thanks."
He opened the drawer and moved folders around, seeing the pen in question and closing the drawer with a snap as he looked back toward Petra, "Fuck, not this one. The one with the ink!"
"Oh that one?" Petra repeated, and Oluo merely blinked because 'the one with the ink' was perhaps the most unspecific way one could possibly describe a pen, and yet Petra seemed to know exactly what he was talking about somehow.
"You set it behind your ear last night, so if it's not on the desk, it probably got carried back to your room when you went to bed."
Levi groaned and pushed his chair back as he rose to his feet, "Fuck. Right. Fucking fuck."
Levi stormed out of the room, muttering a string of colorful words the whole way, and once a safe sort of silence came over the room, Oluo looked toward Petra for an explanation, admittedly feeling out of place amongst the chaos.
She gave a long sigh and sat back into her chair, shrugging as she gave him a half smile, knowing that it was a rather hectic environment to walk into at the moment. "Sorry Oluo. Erwin's been riding his ass hard these past few days in particular and he's pretty on edge. Not only is Erwin putting him under a lot of pressure to make sure that he can represent this team well, but Levi himself feels pressured because the data proves that we need to use gas freely in order to be most successful, so even though it may seem like just a basic meeting to discuss supplies, to Erwin and Hanji and everyone, they know full well it's a matter of life and death, so they are all pretty anxious to have a good showing and get favorable results. But considering it's all a numbers game and Levi's more of a punch something until it breaks kinda guy, I think he feels a little…useless…and it's making him more unpleasant than usual."
Petra stood up and moved behind Levi's desk, disappearing as she crouched to the ground and began digging through various drawers, "Either way, I can fill out the form for you. Not trying to be mean, but you really are in the way here and you're just going to piss him off the longer you stand in the doorway like that. We'll just need his signature and then I can get this into the right hands tomorrow morning. As for the next few days, see if Gunther or Eld can lend you an old pair or something, but come the start of next week you should be all set."
Petra stood back up, sitting down in Levi's chair and grabbing her pen, quietly filling out the form while Oluo leaned against the doorframe and blinked in surprise, "Wait, you know how to fill those out?"
Petra looked up from the paper with a proud smile, "This form? Yeah. Honestly you could probably figure it out yourself if it came down to it, most of its self-explanatory. You know, what are you requesting, reason for the request, when the item is needed – perhaps the only thing you wouldn't know is the Squad's ID number, request code, more of the backend stuff – but at this point I have those things memorized, so it's fine."
She wrote down a few things, speaking as she wrote, "What shoe size are you?"
"Twelves please."
She nodded and wrote it down, clearing her throat as she reviewed the paper, "Alright, requesting one pair of new size twelve riding boots for Oluo Bozado. That sound right?" She looked up from the page and smiled, "Simple as that. I'll have Captain sign it and consider it done."
At her confirmation, Oluo made an irritated face of realization, "Wait, that easy? Levi always makes it seem like it's such a big hassle; are you meaning to tell me it really has been this simple the whole time? That half-pint fuck!"
At his words, there was a firm slap to the back of his head that made Oluo stumble forward with a pained yelp, and from behind him, Levi made his way back into the room with a dark expression, "Half-pint fuck with two functional boots. See who's laughing come tomorrow, Stumpy."
Petra bit back a smile and moved out of his chair so the Captain could sit down, "You find it?"
"Yeah."
"I'm glad. I need your signature here, sir" Petra stated simply, and as Levi sat down and looked at what it was Petra was requesting he sign, he merely pressed his lips together and gave her a stubborn shake of his head.
"I said no. I'll sign it when I get back but until then he'll just have to suffer the consequences of his choices."
Petra gave a shrug of her own, "Oh? Well, suit yourself then, Captain. I'll have you know that Oluo here just told me that he won't leave until the request has been put in, so I guess it'll be all three of us working together for the rest of the night."
She walked around the desk and grabbed the extra chair in front of the Captain's desk, dragging it around until it sat beside her own chair. She patted the chair with a warm smile and looked toward her confused teammate, "Alright Oluo, you heard the Captain. He doesn't want to sign it, so I guess you're stuck here with us. Now about your boot, you said it was a funny story right? I'm sure Levi would love to hear it; I know I would. Captain's got a stick up his ass or something, so perhaps a bit of laughter would do him good. What I want to know is if Eld-"
From her side, there was a light tap on her arm from where Levi had nudged her, and she looked toward him, smiling as he handed her the now signed piece of paper.
Levi rolled his eyes as she triumphantly grabbed the paper from him and shot Oluo a wink, "Troublesome woman."
He glared toward Oluo and motioned with his head, "You get out of my office – just consider yourself lucky that Petra was here to take pity on you. Take better care of your shit because the next time I'm taking it out of your ass." He redirected his attention back to Petra, giving her a firm stare as she looked over the completed maintenance form with a smile, "And you. Get back to work. I leave in the morning so we've got to get all this shit done now and I don't want your brain to be wasted on simple ass forms like that. Have you started on your dinner? You need to eat."
She set the form down and shook her head, grabbing the bread and taking a small nibble obediently. She nodded toward the tray of food, "So do you, Captain. Quick question though, my soup is one thing, but how are you going to eat your salad without a fork?"
Levi looked at the tray and groaned in frustration, "Wha - fuck! Damn fucking…" he gave a low grumble as he stood up from his chair yet again, "…I'll be right back."
He left the room again and as Petra silently ate her food, absentmindedly turning a few pages and jotting down who knows what on the paper in front of her, Oluo looked down the hall where Levi was still muttering curses to himself, then back at her with a pained smile. He would have never believed it, would have thought that of all people she would be miserable and practically walked over under the weight of Humanity's Strongest…and yet.
He swallowed thickly and spoke casually, although his throat felt suddenly tight.
"So…you and the Captain, huh?"
"Hm? Oh sorry Oluo, I was busy reading this. What's up?"
"Never mind. Thanks for your help Petra, I really owe ya one. I guess I'll…I'll see you in the morning."
...
End of Chapter
...
Okay, so I've got to admit this chapter isn't one I'm very happy with.
Not the chapter itself in terms of what happens with it because as someone stated, pretty much everything I write is intentional and not written for just the sake of more words on the page (thanks for your kind words, your review made my day!) but more of the actual formatting of what happens in one single chapter, because it's a bit…much.
You've got the actual end of the fallout arc here, where Petra has indeed forgiven Levi, but there are consequences to every action and after being coldly cast aside by Levi on two different occasions now, she is afraid of being burned and losing her friend now that she just got him back, so proactively decides to draw some boundaries even though she herself has no idea what she wants it to look like. I enjoy Levi's diplomatic response, his agreeing instantly even though he actually doesn't, simply because if she doesn't want him to pursue after her like that, then it doesn't matter what he thinks, because consent is a thing haha.
From there, the dialogue and exposition, which I love, confirming that a month of…well, nothing, went by, and Levi and Petra are better off for it, but of course, not completely nothing, because Petra is growing in her skillset and has even caught the interest of Erwin.
Then Oluo. Okay, that section alone is a big deal. It melts my heart every time. I know Oluo is often the butt of every joke in the fan fiction world, and he definitely is used for comic relief even in my own story, but I try to write him in a way that makes him more than just the joke. He (in the series) is extremely proud of his accomplishments, very adept in his kills and we often see him hackling Eren for being a rookie – which is a fair callout because deadweight has no place on a squad like Levi's.
All these different sections are important aspects of the story, worthy of their own intentional moment in the spotlight – but I couldn't have three itty bitty chapters back to back, so instead they are all mashed up here in one adhoc sort of chapter here, which again, I'm not exactly a fan of and would almost rather /force/ the pacing – but honestly yall have been awesome, you keep up, you are pretty good about spotting foreshadowing and all that, so I think I can trust yall to be thrown so much at one time.
I'll stop ranting now. Happy Sunday, and thanks for being awesome!