The fruits of their hard work finally came to light. What was once an abandoned ale house in disrepair was now transformed into a warm, inviting tea shop. It was refreshing to Levi and Petra to see it now, with tables and chairs out, cloths and toppers set. Even the shelves were stocked, with each cubby containing a canister of tea leaves, ready for serving or distributing.
But it was not just the attention of Levi and Petra that the shop seemed to grab, as each day that brought the opening of the shop closer, more and more townsfolk and merchants began to stop by, peeking into the windows, and talking amongst each other about it. Even a trip to the market was not had without hearing some sort of buzz about 'HumaniTea,' the first shop of its kind to appear in Trost. Surely, there were other tea shops, a handful to be found in different parts of the district; but they were simply merchants, sellers of the leaves, not preparers. Should one desire a cup of tea, the only place that would serve it was the pub, and even then the quality of their black tea was quite lacking (in Levi's opinion.)
"Captain, all the ceramics have been washed and stacked away," Petra spoke, stepping through the doorway that connected the shop's kitchen to the back of the counter.
Levi spared a side glance to her, silent as he finished writing in a leather bound notebook.
"Good," he said after a moment, making a quick notation before continuing, "and the silverware?"
"Spick and span."
"Serving trays?"
"You can see them shining a mile away!"
"And the Ass For?"
"The- hmm?" the young woman blinked, caught off guard by his questioning. Her brows furrowed in confusion, Petra scratching her neck, eyes searching the storefront as though it would help her recall him mentioning it before.
"Er…what's an 'Ass For'?"
Levi set down the pencil, closing the book before turning to her. His face was stoic, as usual, lips pressed together in a fine line as though all interest in the conversation had been lost. He kept his gaze locked with hers, and after a few, painfully long moments, his lips parted.
"For taking a shit, of course."
Her eyes widened slightly, his response taking just as long to process in her mind as it did for him to say it.
And suddenly, it clicked.
A chortle erupted from her, perhaps less so due to the joke itself and more so from the deadpan expression on his face upon delivery, a staple in the man's sense of dry humor.
She could not fight the urge to smile, and as she finally settled from her giggles, he had turned away to take care of something else, as though the exchange had never happened.
"I think we're just about ready to get this shit show on the road," he said, reaching out to a tea canister in one of the cubbies, giving it a slight turn so that its label was in line with the others.
Petra nodded, though remained silent as she watched him, his hand resting on his chin as his gaze flickered over the other canisters.
"We'll take the day tomorrow to rest, and open the following day," he deemed the other tea canisters in good order, turning to Petra again and continuing, "besides, a storm's supposed to pass through. I can't imagine anyone would want to go out in that shit."
The two retired to their flat above the shop for the rest of the evening. Despite the lengthening days as warmer weather approached, the sky grew dark as grey clouds covered the sun.
They kept supper simple, lightly conversing over their meal though unbothered by the bouts of silence that seemed to fall over them. It was not that they had nothing to talk about, but rather the weariness of a tiring day of work hanging over them. Sleep was something Petra looked forward to, and though he did not get much of it, something Levi would welcome kindly.
It was not long after supper, clean up, and a bit of reading did Petra bid her captain a good night, careful to close any windows that were open to prevent rain from coming in once the storm started.
She stifled a yawn as she changed into her night clothes, gazing out to the dimly lit streets as the oil lamps flickered in the wind. She could only hope it would not rain all of tomorrow, eager to have one more afternoon on the town before opening up shop. Petra yawned again, crawling into bed and falling fast asleep.
Lightning flashed, and with it came an ear piercing scream.
Levi jolted from the chair he slept in, eyes wide and alert now as he quickly followed the 'no's' and pleading coming from the main bedroom.
"Petra-" he called out to the young woman as he entered, gaze landing on the sight of her standing in the corner, grasping what looked to be a broom handle, holding it to defend herself.
"Captain-We-we're under attack!" she said, her voice shaky, on edge, as though terrified for her very life.
Levi took a step forward, the young woman gripping the handle of the broom tighter.
"Petra- it's a storm-"
Another bolt of lightning burst across the sky, a loud roll of thunder sounding, their flat seeming as though it was shaking from the reverberation.
Fear completely overcame her features, tears streaming down her cheeks as she tried, and failed, to back even further into the corner to brace herself for the oncoming 'attack.'
"Captain- what are your orders?!"
"Petra-" he said to her again, crossing the room towards her, her voice sounding again in panic before he could continue to speak.
"Captain, your orders?!"
"Petra, you're safe; there's no danger."
"Captain, please- they're coming- they-"
Both hands clamped down onto her shoulders, Levi forcing her to look away from the stormy window and at him.
"Petra Ral- stand down!"
Her eyes were confused, pleading, glossy as tears continued to fill them.
"C-captain-" her voice was breaking, the young woman continuously trying to look past him to the outside world. But he kept her still, his voice firm as he spoke to her.
"I need you to calm down. And stop looking out the damn window.
He kept his eyes focused on hers, to give her some reality to grasp onto and come to surface from this fit she was drowning in.
Her breath was shaky, heart erratic, eyes closing shut tightly as another flash of lightning brightened the room.
"Petra…" he spoke again, the commanding tone now replaced with one more gentler, one only reserved for the woman before him. "The threat of titans is gone…you were with me when Erwin declared our freedom, when the last of them were taken down…"
She took in a long, deep breath, holding it a moment before exhaling. Slowly she nodded her head, trying to pull herself together.
Levi loosened his grip of her shoulders in favor of bringing a hand to her back, leading her towards the bed. He sat her down before moving towards the window to pull it shut and draw the curtains, his best attempt at shutting out the storm outside.
"Stay…"
A brow quirking, he turned towards her, Petra now in thee bed, clutching one of the pillows to her chest, "…please, don't leave."
He looked her over, expression hard to read though mostly shadowed by the darkness of the room. He stood there a few moments, the floor creaking when he finally moved. Without a word, he sat on the bed, back against the headboard.
"Try to get some sleep…I promise I won't leave…"
Petra nodded, returning the pillow behind her. Shifting on the bed and without any thought, she grabbed onto him, burying her face into his side to shut the rest of the world out.
A sigh escaped his nose, attempting to relax though unable to shake thee feeling her felt in the pit of his gut. He scratched the back of his neck, glancing down to the woman before putting his arm around her.
Petra's eyes peeled open in the early hours of the morning, heavy with fatigue, a dull ache in her head making itself known. She blinked her eyes a few times with the hope of shaking off her grogginess, as well as to help her eyes adjust to the darkness as dawn had yet to break. But it was a glance to the side that seemed to aid the most in her effort to wake.
Her breath hitched at the sight of the man beside her, and it was then she had realized the weight of his hand resting atop her.
She didn't say anything, she didn't move him, she didn't bother trying to wake him up; after all, why would she?
The memories of the night before, though clouded, began to become visible through the shroud of her dissociation. She could not help the embarrassment that started to well in her chest, the ridiculousness of her actions, screams, beliefs that in their free world, in the world they fought so hard to have, that their enemy had returned.
"How do you feel?"
Petra gasped, eyes darting to Levi who stared right back at her as though he had not been asleep just moments ago.
She swallowed, averting her gaze to the blanket on the bed, covering her but tucked underneath him.
"I-…I'm so ashamed from how I behaved, and to make you have stayed in here-"
"You didn't make me do anything, Petra."
He shifted on the bed, sitting up and bringing his legs over the edge, his back facing her.
Petra opened her mouth to speak again, but he continued before she could say anything, on purpose she might have thought if he had been facing her…or perhaps he just knew her well enough.
"And there's no reason to feel ashamed, we all have our shitty demons."
He stood, drawing the window's curtain aside, the beginning glow of dawn entering the room.
"Thank you…" she whispered, tears stinging the corners of her eyes, though she did not allow them to fall.
Standing there silently, he looked out the window, as though contemplating her gratitude. Levi turned from the window, making his way towards the door.
"Get dressed; the bakery will be opening soon."
She hummed in response, pulling the covers off to get ready for the day. In all honesty, she had no desire to even get out of the bed, still drained from the night before. But despite it being their day off before the opening of the shop, there were a handful of household errands needed to be done, and she knew he had no plans of leaving her by herself.
And besides, she supposed she could use the fresh air, in hopes to help her relax before the big day.
