Burden

Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin

Summary: Levi has a migraine and Petra takes care of him.

Petra finished the letter to her father and stretched. Before she could drop it off to be delivered in the morning, she needed a stamp. To her disappointment, she realized she had none. She was tempted to go ask her teammates, but it was late in the night and she did not want to disturb their sleep. She should have gone to bed already but sleep seemed to be eluding her tonight.

Grabbing a small candle, she went to her captain's office. It wouldn't surprise her if he was still up. He suffered from insomnia, she knew. Their entire squad knew.

Just in case he had fallen asleep, her knuckles gently knocked on the door before she entered. "Captain?"

He was lying on the sofa, an arm covering his face. She could peek enough of a grimace on his face to know he was still awake.

"Are you okay?"

"I think...migraine," he replied, voice tight.

Petra quickly covered the flame with her hand, knowing the light from the candle would bother his eyes. Enough moonlight was coming through the window to highlight the furniture in the room so she could navigate without the candle too much. "Can I get you anything?" Petra asked softly.

He made an incoherent noise.

She thought for a moment before heading for the door. "I'll be right back."

While she'd never experienced one herself, she knew how migraines worked due to one of her neighbors who would get them every now and then. Sometimes her husband would give Petra some money to go fetch the supplies from the market while he took care of her.

Levi was still in the same position when she returned. She blew out the candle and set the items down. Considering it for a moment, she removed his boots. The fact he hadn't bothered to take off the dirty boots before lying on the couch spoke volumes of much pain he was in. "I brought you a blanket," she said quietly, draping it over him.

He barely made another sound.

She sat by his side, reaching for the small bottle on the table. Gently, she tugged his arm. "Move your arm. This might help you find some relief." Eyes still closed, he winced. It was not an expression she was accustomed to on him, pain and discomfort. She poured the peppermint oil on her hand, rubbing it between her fingers before applying it to his forehead. "This will help you recover quicker."

Petra massaged his forehead, noting his facial muscles loosen the slightest bit. He'd said he thought he was having a migraine. Meaning it must be his first time. That was surprising to her, considering how little he slept. Levi carried a great burden on his shoulders. So much stress and responsibility came with his position. Pair that with his insomnia, it wasn't a good combination. Really it was a wonder he didn't get migraines more often.

For a good ten minutes, she continued to massage his forehead. Soreness was beginning to set in, but she kept at it until her muscles couldn't take it anymore.

A muscle twitched in his face when she stopped, though she left one hand covering his eyes. After taking a breather, she switched tactics. She took one of his hands between hers. Right thumb on the fleshy part between his thumb and index finger, she made circular motions with her thumb. From the look on his face, it seemed to be helping. About five minutes later she did the same for his other hand.

As she did that, she wracked her mind for anything else she could do to bring him a little relief and help quicken the duration of the migraine. It could last several hours, she thought sympathetically. If he was truly unfortunate, it could last days.

Something else came to her. Weighing the inappropriateness of the action vs. the pain Levi was feeling and the relief it would bring him, she decided to go for it. Hopefully, he wouldn't be angry or awkward about it later.

With careful hands, she lifted his head and sat down, feeling her face turn hot as she cradled his head in her lap. Then she began to massage his head again and kept at it.

Short of an orgasm, she didn't really have any other method to help relieve his pain. Again her face burned, imagining that. Sex, as far as she knew from stories and once from personal experience, worked well to cure headaches. There was no reason to think it wouldn't work for migraines, too. But that was completely out of the question. It was one line she couldn't cross with her captain.

Tirelessly she worked to ease his pain by pressing his forehead, taking a break when her arms began to tire before starting again. All the while she wondered and prayed he wouldn't be upset with her later for being so intimate with him. What if he asked why she hadn't gone and fetched a medic instead? Not one to bother others when she could do something herself, though, and feeling pressured to help him as fast as possible, she had opted to take care of him herself. He'll understand. He knew she couldn't bear to see people in pain. Especially those close to her.

Sometimes when her arms were sore and she was giving them a rest, she would gently rub his chest in case he was feeling nauseous. Not sure if it would help, she thought at least it couldn't hurt.

Her head jerked forward and she woke.

Immediately, she checked on Levi, scared of waking him. Sometime during the night, he had passed out. If she moved and he woke, his migraine might return. He needed uninterrupted sleep, which meant she was stuck in that position until morning.

Elbow on the couch's arm, she returned her face to her palm. Closing her eyes, she told herself she would only rest her eyes for a minute. Another part of her warned her she would doze off again. So, as much as her body protested against it, she straightened her spine, pinching her face to stay awake and alert.

The lighter it became outside, the harder it became to stay awake. You're almost there, she encouraged herself, yawning for the nth time.

Barely half an hour later, she was sleeping in the same position again, having lost the fight against her body.

When she finally awoke, it was due to the shifting in her lap. If she wasn't so exhausted, her heart might have skipped a beat at meeting the gray eyes staring intently at her, a mixture of gratitude, discomfort, and possibly embarrassment on her captain's face.

"Were you up most of the night?" Levi asked as he sat up.

She yawned in response, covering her mouth with a hand.

"That answers that." He stood and stretched.

Her tired brain told to claim his vacated spot and she did just that, quickly tucking herself under the blanket. The cushions were wonderfully soft and warm from his body. From there she lost herself to blissful sleep. The last image her brain registered was her captain's lips twitching slightly in affection.

When she woke up for the third time, the sun was shining brightly through the window. She was in her bed. The blanket she had covered Levi with was tucked around her. Her heart did a little flip, imagining him carrying her blanket-wrapped form to her room. It was a sweet moment she locked away in her mind to cherish forever. She thought about the weight and feel of his head in her lap and it made her strangely giddy.

Petra told herself to go see if she was in any trouble. It was afternoon when she joined her squad, now ready for the day. Thankfully she was a little relieved Levi wasn't there.

"Petra, you're finally up," Erd said, smiling when he saw her.

"How're you feeling?" Gunther asked, pushing his tray toward her.

She was too hungry to reject his kind offer. "Thanks."

"Captain Levi said not to disturb you," Oluo told her.

She nodded as she ate, realizing he hadn't given them anything else and they had automatically assumed she was sick. "I wasn't feeling well," she answered after swallowing, mostly truthful. After spending the majority of the night taking care of Levi, staying awake and massaging his head, she hadn't been feeling well from being tired.

"Do you think you're up to join us after lunch to train?" Erd asked.

Petra considered that. Her arms were still sore but it wasn't that bad. "Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better now."

"No need to push yourself. It's important to rest when you're not feeling good," Gunther said sternly.

Oluo nodded. "He's right. Take it easy."

"I'm fine. Really."

Training made her forget about the situation temporarily. The questions came not long after she was done and had nothing distract her from them: Should she go talk to her captain? Or pretend it never happened? Petra's dilemma was solved when she ran into the man in question on her way back to her room. "Captain!" She executed a salute.

"That's unnecessary, Petra, you know that."

She did. She was just buying time to think. "How're you feeling, sir?"

"Good. That was a hellish experience I never want to repeat. Glad you found me. Else it would have been complete torture."

It looked like he was choosing to ignore it. He was probably willing to write it off once as a medical excuse or something. That was fine with her. She could live with it. "Happy to help," she said brightly.

"How did you know how to do that?"

Petra told him about her neighbors. She relaxed, feeling at ease at their normal chat. Then she had to blurt something dumb at his next comment.

"I wonder if there's a cure to migraines," he said, thinking out loud.

"Sex," she answered without thinking. As soon as the word came out of her mouth she wished she could kick herself.

Levi stared. "What?"

Might as well explain and get it over with quickly. Silence was not an option as it would only lead to awkwardness, which she wanted to avoid at all costs. "Well, when you have an orgasm it can help with a headache," she said as matter-of-factly as possible.

Thankfully, he only quirked his eyebrows, not appearing to believe her. "Are you making a joke, Petra?"

"No, I'm serious. It doesn't work for everyone. But it can be very effective. It has something to do with the feel-good chemicals being released in the brain."

"Right," he drawled, again looking like he didn't believe her.

"It's worked for me before," she continued, not wanting him to think her weird because he thought she was saying something he found strange. "So we can try that next time you have a headache."

"Are you saying we should have sex?"

Now he was pulling her leg but she was too riled up to laugh it off. "No! That's not what I meant! I'd never have sex with you!"

"No need to be so revolted."

"I didn't mean it like that. You're my type so I normally would...you know." Gods, did she really just say that?

"Oh, is that so? I'm your type?"

Finally, she realized this was hopeless. "Captain, please stop messing with me."

Amusement sparkled in his eyes and he smiled faintly. "But it's so entertaining."

"Next time I find you writhing in agony, I'm leaving you to suffer alone," she grumbled as she left, the sound of his soft chuckle following after her.

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