"Careful!"

Nanaba's words rung in her ears, registering just as the crash of ceramic hit the floor, hot tea spraying at her feet, speckling her work pants in the coloured liquid. She raised her copper gaze to her blonde, wavy-locked friend, who walked forward, helping her gather the pieces of mug from the dirtied tile.

"I'm sorry, Nanaba."

"No, no. Are you okay?"

She sighed. No, she wasn't okay. She had recently performed so many actions that she both regretted and yet... she didn't? She felt emotionally torn, which in turn, cognitively tore her. She had been messing up orders all afternoon, having come in for her second shift after class. But could she say she wasn't okay? No, that would require explanation.

"Are you still feeling ill? Erd told me about last night. I think you should go home. I can handle it here. I insist."

She looked up to her level-headed coworker and gave a soft smile.

"Okay, Nanaba. I appreciate it."

Her friend nodded to her and saw her out, before re-prepping the order Petra had just ruined.

The days passed, and she caught up in class without issue, though it had given her quite a scare. She was actually ahead now, which she could only see positivity in. She was emotionally torn and always got nervous to see Erd and Oluo, but it had all turned out okay, like Erd had said it would. Her nervousness had passed by Thursday evening, which turned out splendidly. The three of them went for Korean BBQ, table-top style, laughing and talking the entirety of the time. It was a quaint, little home-owned place, always buzzing with people and pagers. The food was quite popular with the local crowd and one often had to wait a spell before being seated at one of the small, but brightly lit booths; hanging vents placed above each table. The wait for a table was the most unbearable part, as the restaurant was filled with the most tantalizing of aromas; sweet beef and spicy pork, tangy toppoki, chigae, salty jap chae and more. Sitting here now, she came to realise there was no point in her hesitance to share their company; they were basically her family and neither of them was pressing her any longer on the issue.

Looking up from the sizzling meat on the table grate in front of her, she smiled at Erd from across the counter top. He reached his chopsticks forward to grab the meat she had just flipped and she snatched down with her own, beating him to it and sticking her tongue out teasingly to him as she dropped the seasoned beef in her mouth. He smiled quite genuinely.

"Y'know, I'm glad we're going to that concert tomorrow. It's opened you up a lot."

She blushed and choked a bit in shock on the tender, pear-seasoned morsel in her mouth, looking up at him with wide, slightly watery eyes. Auruo panicked a bit, patting her back from next to her.

"Woooah Petra. I might have to perform mouth-to-mouth."

There he was, flirting again, long, drawn out syllables. Honey eyes turned to fiery daggers as she shot him a cold glance and he flinched, as if knowing she might collide her elbow with his gut any second now should he not cease –whether or not she was choking. She glanced back to Erd. He laughed a bit as she gulped down some corn tea to clear her throat, copper eyes still brimming with tears from her near-death, yet incredibly heavenly experience (due to the decadent food she was consuming).

"What, don't tell me you forgot? The tickets you 'won'! Thanks to me!"

He chuckled a bit. He was right. It was technically due to him holding her on his shoulders during the concert, which was one of her favorite parts of the show. Without that, it was way less likely that Erwin would have noticed her. She glanced down into her corn tea, watching the ripples grow and fade in her reflection. But... was... this a good thing? It may have been better to have not felt such a rush if it meant that Erwin wouldn't have called her honey while she was dressed scantily clad on stage, which likely would have meant that Levi wouldn't have pursued her at the bar. Though she had enjoyed her evening with him, she couldn't be certain as to why he chose to pursue her; she didn't know if he had singled her out due to the stage escapade or not. Though, she did felt a strange connection to him. Was is just because she fucked him? No. She did enjo- Stop right there, Petra Ral.

"O... no. I... didn't forget."

She had only partially hoped that they would.

"You can wear that new shirt the commander gave you."

She blushed a bit again, looking down into her corn tea, her pensiveness only broken by the smell of burning, spicy pork and her friend's petition.

"Petra!"

Erd reached forth and snatched the tongs from alongside Petra to flip the meat, turning down the heat on the grill. Then, he met her gaze, staring her down a bit harshly with his normally so friendly of blonde brows. He could read her. Something was seriously wrong. She never wasted anything this expensive. Erd snatched up the burnt pieces and shoved them into his mouth wrapped in a rice wrapper alongside several slices of pickled radish and bellflower root to cover the taste. It obviously wasn't that great and she could read that in his eyes as he chewed, but he had done it to move forward with the night. He didn't want her nor Auruo to dwell on it. He just wanted them… well, to be happy. He smiled with his mouth half-full and then swallowed, acting triumphant.

"Beat you to it that time."

She sighed and smiled softly to him.

"Erd...-"

"Actually, let's celebrate your newfound Wings of Freedom with some soju in preparation for an awesome night tomorrow!"

Auruo nodded along happily, cheering as they buzzed a waitress to bring them a green coloured ceramic jar of the stuff. Her raisin-faced friend acted all nonchalant with the waitress, as he often did in public, and the petite brunette just sort of giggled, leaving their drink and heading off. Petra looked over to Erd with a smile and they all toasted to a happy evening, wings of freedom and good exam scores. The night ended… well.

Upon stepping from the steamy restaurant into the night air, they all felt the cool breeze of evening setting in, which helped to shake them from the sluggishness of over-eating, as they walked back to Petra's apartment… lightly buzzed and joyous with food and friendship.

A/N: Thank you to all that have reviewed/left feedback thus far. Your words are invaluable and very appreciated. Thank you also to those that continue/begin to review, your support means a lot. I hope you will continue to enjoy.