The Dog Walkers

Levi clipped the leash around the neck of his dog—a small black schnauzer—and wrapped his scarf tighter around his neck.

It was late winter in New York city, and although he begrudgingly loved his dog, he couldn't help but be miffed at having to walk him every morning. Especially when it was starting to snow. His friends—if he could call them that—Hanji and Erwin surprised him with the dog as an early Christmas and birthday gift in November. Needless to say, he was pretty pissed when he first saw it. But it was hypoallergenic, they had somehow managed to house break it, and it didn't shed that much… plus hey, maybe it was nice having a little company some days—especially ones that didn't talk as much as Hanji. The two of them had already named the guy before they'd brought it to him, and they named him Teddy. It was kind of cute, he had to admit.

Normally they'd be going on a morning run, but what with the weather, Levi decided hitting the gym after work would be just as good. Which means he would much rather be spending his mornings still lazing around in bed.

They walked down their usual path, down the uptown end of Central Park, Teddy sniffing around at various patches of grass that hadn't yet been covered by snow. Levi gripped his coffee cup tighter, and took a timid sip from the scalding liquid, all the while keeping an eye on his dog. He'd once tried uncapping the lid from his cup while Teddy ran away. It didn't end well.

They reached the midway point of their walk, and Levi stopped to bend down and scratch Teddy, handing him a treat, when he noticed his ears perk slightly. Sure enough, a large golden retriever came and approached his dog, initiating a series of dog-like interactions that he had no idea what meant. Of course some barbarian just decided to let their dog loose, off of a leash, into the park. And whenever a dog came, it always meant an owner came with it…

"Hi!" a perky voice said. Levi stood up reluctantly, wondering how fast he could get out of there if he scooped Teddy up.

He met eyes with a girl who, surprisingly, was about his same height. In fact… was she even shorter?

"Cute dog, what's his name?" she asked glancing down at the two dogs.

"Teddy." he mumbled back.

"Cute, cute. Well I'm Petra." she held out a gloved hand expectantly, and even though he usually would reject it and walk away, he couldn't help but feel like a total douche if he just walked away from someone that sunshiney.

"Levi." he replied, shaking her hand.

"Do you usually come down this path? I just moved here from the West Coast, so I'm honestly a little lost." she said with a light laugh. "Hunter and I are trying to find a new morning routine, y'know? Just to help us start to settle in."

Hunter. Of course there had to be some significant other to a pretty face like that.

Levi silently brushed his thoughts away, ignoring how his cheeks suddenly felt slightly warmer. "Hunter?" he asked, trying to seem nonchalant.

"Oh, aha. My dog." she said.

Good, he found himself thinking, without even realizing.

The next day, Levi walked Teddy back into the park, this time without a cup of coffee to nurse. Needless to say, he felt shittier than usual because of that. And he was pretty sure even his own dog noticed.

But somehow, even though he figured that girl, Petra, would be walking down the same path at the same time, he decided that he would tolerate her bubbliness, even this early in the morning.

"Hey, you okay?" Petra asked, glancing at him as their dogs seemed to talk amongst one another.

"Hm? Yeah." he grunted back, pushing his hair with his fingers. "Tired. Kind of shitty feeling. No caffeine."

"I definitely know the feeling." Petra sighed. "But hey. We may be stuck with our dogs, but that doesn't mean we can't go get coffee. I know this great place up a couple blocks from here."

She stood up, pulling both him and her dog along with her, starting to rave about the coffee shop that she'd discovered recently, and about how they made all these experimental coffees that you couldn't find at some corporate pig's café. The whole way there, he decided not to tell her that he'd already tried that shop, and hated their coffee. Instead, he listened to the sound of her talking, and followed her there.

Two weeks passed, and he'd still been meeting up with that girl by chance. And he'd started to learn way more about her than he would usually like. Her favorite movies, the story of how she got her dog, her family. But he didn't mind when it was coming from Petra Ral.

And this morning he ran into her. Literally, this time.

She rounded the corner, running after her dog, who had started chasing a squirrel, and tripped on some ice, starting to fall forward. Luckily, he broke her fall. She stumbled onto him with an oomph, yet he managed to catch her, and keep her from falling on her face.

His arm was wrapped around her waist, and she was gripping both the sides of his arms, and his shoulders, the leashes around their dogs tangling around their legs until they fell not so gracefully onto the ground. 101 Dalmatians style.

"Shit." Levi muttered. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Petra was laying down on him, with her head on his chest, and she raised it to look down at him. "Yeah." she said with a soft laugh. "Thanks. Sorry about knocking you over."

"It's fine."

They stayed like that for a couple seconds, until Petra finally cleared her throat and stood up, helping Levi back up afterwards. They parted a bit more quickly than usual that day, Levi deciding to turn back home instead of continuing on his way. It wasn't until later that he realized he'd kept his arm around her waist the entire time.

"So who's this girl?" Hanji asked from his couch, swiping through his contacts.

"Who?" Levi grunted back, switching through the different Netflix categories.

"Petra Ral?"

"Nobody." he answered back. A little quickly. Noticing the growing grin on Hanji's face, he continued to brush her off. "It's just some girl I run into when I walk my dog."

"Teddy?" Hanji asked, perking up. "I knew he'd grow on you! Here let's ask him about your new crush."

"Jesus Hanji." he grumbled, standing up to go buzz Erwin in. "She's just someone who I met when I walk my dog."

"Please. You don't like to meet anyone. She must be pretty special if you even got her number."

"We traded it so we could help dogsit for one another!"

"Says the liar." Hanji said grinning. "Hey Erwin!" she yelled at the entering blond. "Levi's got a new crush!"

"Oh, really?"

Petra was surprised, and admittedly a little disappointed, when she didn't run into Levi on her morning walk. It wasn't often that you met a cute guy on your dog walking path. And maybe you happened to like said guy a little.

Sighing to herself, she decided that even though she wouldn't be getting it with him, she'd still need to get her daily dose of caffeine. Though she had to admit, she's pretty sure her addiction got worse when she met Levi.

Instead she decided to text Nanaba and see if she could meet up for coffee, and a rant session.

Levi was really fucking sick, in his own words, and so he called up Hanji to come run all his errands for him. Namely the taking care of Teddy duties.

So she was the one stuck doing the early morning walks with his dog in early February. "I can't believe I got you for him, and that you'd be such a pain!" Hanji said, glancing down at the mini black schnauzer. "Though you are pretty cute, so you make up for it." She bent down to give him a treat and a pet, then sighed, walking along the path.

She unhooked his leash, and let him wander a bit within her sight. It's a dog Levi. It deserves to roam when it wants to.

It wasn't long until they ran into another walker, but when Hanji turned to smile at the approaching person, she was surprised when they exclaimed in surprise, and bent down to greet the dog. Intrigued, Hanji walked over to the other person, grinning as she started to realize who this was.

"Hello!" she exclaimed, startling the young woman. "You seem to know this dog?"

Petra, smiling, scratched behind Teddy's ears, accepting his frantic barks and paws. "Yes!" Petra stood up to her full height-which was not very tall, Hanji noticed-and held her hand out. "I'm Petra. I see Teddy on my walk every morning." Pausing briefly, she looked around, and as if some heavy truth dawned on her, she smiled again, slightly more forced than the first. "Though his usual owner isn't here…"

"Levi?"

"Yeah," Petra scratched behind her own dog's ears when he came back over to her, a large golden retriever just as excitable as its owner. "Are you… his girlfriend?"

Hanji grinned madly, scooping up Teddy. Petra's eyes were still trained on her, and she was surprised when Hanji started to laugh. "No, I'm not." Hanji winked at Petra, "I'm just his friend stuck walking his dog while he's sick, don't worry."

Petra's cheeks started turning a soft pink when Hanji added the words don't worry at the end, and Hanji knew that whatever feelings her short friend was harboring, were mutual. Hanji held Teddy tighter, despite his soft whines and yelps, then she smiled, nodding goodbye to Petra, leaving the redhead in the park with her dog.

Petra came back through the park a week later. She hadn't run into Teddy or Levi's eccentric friend since the first time they'd met, and Petra began to wonder if they'd started taking a new walking path. Her morning was slightly less exciting now that that happened, but she wouldn't waste her time walking through New York City trying to find a random dog owner and dog.

She walked down the usual tree lined path, noticing how the snow was beginning to melt away. Hunter, her retriever, skipped happily along, sniffing at whatever she pleased. Petra watched her dog, following a few feet behind, but stopped short when she noticed a certain dog and dog owner sitting at one of the benches along the path. She walked over, leaving Hunter to frolick in the grass around the area.

"Hey," she said, her breath visible in the cold air.

Levi looked up at her, gracing her with a slight smile in the corner of his mouth. "Morning, Petra."

Trying to seem casual, she shoved her hands in her pockets and looked slightly over his shoulder. "I haven't seen you here lately. Have you been out?"

"Sick," he said, explaining. "I haven't been able to walk Teddy because it's been so damn cold outside."

A smile had begun forming on Petra's lips, almost involuntarily, and she sat down next to Levi. He glanced over at her, then after a moment's pause, thought back to what Hanji had told him after she'd first started walking Teddy. "Are you… busy tonight?"