Cravat – Levi x Petra Clothing Prompt
Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin.
~oOo~
"Ackerman, lend Petra a hand with the laundry instead of sitting there being useless."
The young Asian girl quietly sets her cup of tea aside. When the captain turns his back to her she seizes the opportunity to imagine what it would feel like to drop kick his ass across the dining room the same way he does Eren nearly every morning, but she holds in this flare of anger and stands dutifully with her fist on her heart, "Yes, Heichou."
Without any amount of enthusiasm, Mikasa steps outside and heads in the direction of the clothes line. Petra is already there, humming brightly to herself. She pauses a few feet away, unsure of how to approach the older woman since their past interactions were practically nonexistent. Mikasa does not really talk to anyone except the other recruits, so in the end she merely reaches for the other basket and wordlessly begins plucking articles of clothing off the line. Petra's humming does not falter, only gives her a nod, expertly smoothing, folding, and stacking.
They work side by side, neither offering to start a conversation. Normally that would be just fine by Mikasa, she's not really a talker anyway, but for some reason the redhead's disinterest is… irritating. There's no exact reason for it. Petra has never done anything to her. The only time she even sees her is when she is tending to Eren, either by nursing the injuries he receives from the captain, or showing him an easier method to scrubbing grime off the windowpanes, and sometimes she brushes her fingers under his chin playfully when he asks an innocent question about her past… as if she were interesting to him or something…
"Oi, don't let it wrinkle!" Petra snaps, snatching the cravat from Mikasa's clenched fists. "I'll take care of Heichou's clothes. You just… finish the sheets." Her tone is chiding, like a mother's almost. The jealousy that has been festering inside Mikasa suddenly wanes. Her hazel eyes are narrowed in concentration, handling the piece of silk as if it were a precious treasure. She quickly turns away and pretends to be focusing on her job whenever she catches her staring.
Later that evening, Mikasa runs into the redheaded woman again while she is working as a messenger for the higher ups. The final letter in her bag is addressed to Levi. She finds his office and gets to the point of knocking when the door opens without her fist ever making contact.
It is not Levi-heichou either. Mikasa's eyes widen fractionally, not so much startled to see Petra in front of her as she is by the conspicuously frazzled appearance of her superior officer: the disheveled hair, swollen red lips, and the top three buttons of her shirt were missing. "Excuse me," she says, trying to rush by, but it is not fast enough for Mikasa to miss the tears that still have not dried on her cheeks. Or that painfully familiar expression that Mikasa knows only too well because she sees it every damn time she glances into the mirror and thinks of Eren; that hopeless feeling when she realizes the heart of the man she longs for is just within reach but at the same time so impossibly far away.
Petra is gone and now she can see Levi-heichou is staring after her with a dead look in his eyes. A part of her awakens, the part that wants to kick the captain in the face and scream that it's not nice to fuck with a woman's emotions just because he doesn't possess any himself; to prove to him that he can break every bone in his body and the agony will never compare to what he is putting Petra through with his selfish desires.
Mikasa mutely hands Levi his letter and leaves.
~oOo~