Chapter Text
Distant mumbles rouse Petra from her sleep. Her amber eyes flutter open to flickering flames in the fireplace, but she’s certain she had put it out the night before. Drowsily, she sits up, wrapping her blanket around her. With bleary eyes, she looks to the source of the voices and her gaze rests on two people in the doorway to the kitchen. One figure seems to be the stranger who had saved her, the witch named Levi. The other figure has their back turned to Petra, but she can see that their long brown hair is tied back and that they’re much taller than the raven-haired witch. This new stranger seems to be scolding Levi.
“... poor girl isn’t even sleeping in a proper bed!” the stranger is hissing as Levi stands there looking slightly ashamed.
“If it’s between the bed and the fire, isn’t the fire better?” Levi asks.
“You didn’t even light the fire. I had to!” It’s a bit easier to hear the stranger now that their voice is slowly rising. “I left her to you because you said you would take care of her.”
“Well, she’s not dead, is she?” the witch snaps. His eyes flicker over to where Petra is sitting up and he scowls at the stranger. “Look what you’ve done! She’s awake now.”
“And how is that a bad thing?” the stranger sniffs. They turn and Petra can see that there’s a tiny pair of spectacles perching precariously on the bridge of the stranger’s nose. The stranger’s cloak sweeps across the floor as the stranger crosses the room. They approach Petra with a kind smile on their face. “How are you doing, young miss? I hope you didn’t have too much trouble sleeping last night. It must have been terribly uncomfortable.”
Petra tenses as the stranger approaches, shrinking into the corner of the couch when the stranger sits down beside her uninvited. “N-no,” she stammers, but the stranger doesn’t seem to be listening.
“You must excuse my friend here. He doesn’t know anything about taking care of women. Oh, I should have brought you to my little cottage instead, but it’s a mess. It would have frightened you to see my home in such disarray,” the stranger continues. They reach out to touch Petra’s hair, frowning when they see how stiff it is from lake water and grime. “Ah, Levi. You didn’t even bother to draw a bath for her. She’s still in her old clothes! She smells of the lake.”
“S-sorry,” Petra murmurs, curling into herself, but the stranger pays no attention to her.
“It was late. She’d catch her death of a cold bathing at night,” Levi mumbles. He shifts uncomfortably. The witch stands at the seat he had occupied last night. He doesn’t come any closer.
“Oh, he’s terrible,” the stranger says with a click of their tongue. They take Petra by the hands and pull her up. With their hands on Petra’s shoulders, they begin to lead the ginger towards the hallway. “You’ll feel much better after a bath, dear. Let me draw one up for you since Levi is useless. Levi, do you have any clothes you can spare? Don’t say no. I know you have clothes somewhere.”
“Not anything suitable-” he begins. He watches awkwardly as Petra is quickly taken towards the hallway. He bites his lip and then calls out, “Wait. Can you … put out the fire before you go?”
“Ah, you’re still … but nevermind,” the stranger sighs. They bring one hand towards their mouth and their thumb and forefinger to their mouth and blow. It’s not a whistle that comes from their mouth. The sound is much deeper and seems to come from everywhere. Suddenly, a gentle gust of wind blows in from the chimney and the fire vanishes.
“Thank you,” Levi murmurs, eyes downcast. His gaze flickers upward. “For clothing, I’m not sure if I have anything -”
“I don’t want to hear your excuses, you useless thing. Just go grab one of your shirts and trousers. You should be about the same size anyway,” the stranger says. They turn to Petra again with a bright smile, ushering her down the hall. “Come on, darling. I’ll take care of you. You needn’t worry about a thing.”
“I don’t think …” Petra’s voice fades away as the stranger gently pushes her down the hall. Petra notices that all of the little stones and gems she had seen yesterday still decorate the tables in the hall, but the jars filled with fireflies are empty now. She turns her head backward and catches a glance of Levi disappearing into another room before the stranger pushes her into a small room that quickly fills when they both step inside.
The room is only a little bit larger than a closet. There’s hardly anything in it, just a simple stand with a washbasin sitting on a porcelain dish. Beside the washbasin is a simple white towel, but the stranger pulls a handle on the stand and pulls out a larger towel to set on the other side of the basin.
“Come on, miss. You’ll feel much better after you clean up. I still can’t believe he had you stay in these clothes all night. It must have been quite unpleasant,” the stranger says with a cluck of their tongue. They pay no mind to the way Petra trembles just staring at the washbasin, doesn’t notice the way her amber eyes widen in fear as she watches the stranger pour water from the basin to dampen the towel they had pulled out earlier. “Let me wash your hair first so you can get used to it -”
“Don’t!” Petra says. Her voice is so loud that she startles even herself. She holds a hand up, keeping a distance between herself and the stranger. She can feel her body tense and her legs begin to tremble. Her bottom lip quivers. “D-don’t. Please. I don’t … I don’t like the water.”
The stranger looks at Petra in surprise, eyebrows raised while their hand still holds the towel in midair. Their expression softens and they put their free hand on Petra’s shoulder. “Ah, right. How thoughtless of me,” the stranger says with a shake of their head. “You’ll have to forgive me. I don’t think sometimes. Let me … ah, let’s do this. We’ll only wash you a bit, just so the smell of the lake doesn’t cling to you anymore. Tell me if you can’t stand it and then we’ll stop. Does that sound good?”
Petra watches as the stranger squeezes more water from the cloth into the basin, flinching at the sound of water filling the basin. When the stranger holds the cloth out to Petra, the ginger doesn’t move away but she bites her lip.
“Don’t worry. It won’t hurt and I’ll stop immediately if you dislike it,” the stranger says kindly. They motion for Petra to extend her arm. When Petra does reluctantly, the stranger rolls up the sleeve of Petra’s dress and very gently scrubs Petra’s arm with the damp cloth. All the while, the stranger watches Petra’s expression closely. “See? It’s not so bad, is it?”
Petra doesn’t like it, the feeling of water against her skin, but it’s not unbearable. It’s a gentle scrub of damp cloth against her skin. It’s nothing like being surrounded by water, having her lungs filled up with it, being drowned in it.
Petra gives the stranger a small nod and the stranger smiles brightly back in response.
“Perfect. Then let’s get the rest of you washed. You can sit here if you’d like,” the stranger says as they pull out a stool from behind the wash table. Once Petra is seated, the stranger gets to washing Petra’s hair with the damp cloth. Their hands are gentle as they wash the locks of ginger hair. They hum a strange melody as they do so. After a moment, they say, “You can call me Hanji, if you’d like. I’m sorry that I didn’t introduce myself earlier. Levi, that gentleman out there, says I lack manners.”
“N-no,” Petra says with a shake of her head. Her hair is wet enough to fall against her cheeks and dampen them with water, but not enough to drip across the floor. “It’s … You’re quite kind for taking care of me. Both of you.”
“Oh, you’re sweet. It’s the least we can do for someone in need. Levi told me what happened to you. People can be quite wretched, can’t they? Why, it’s absolutely horrible … but I’m sure you don’t want to talk about it. It’s best to forget these things,” Hanji says quickly, changing the subject when they see the way Petra begins to close into herself. Hanji clears their throat and says brightly, “Levi mentioned that your name is Petra. Is that right? That’s a pretty name.”
“Th-thank you,” Petra mumbles. She crumples a bit of her skirt in her hand, the fabric stiff from being drenched in water the night before.
Hanji distracts Petra by asking questions about her. They never ask about details regarding her past. They’re always trivial questions, things like her favorite color, the weather she prefers, and what she likes to eat depending on the season. Petra doesn’t mind it. It puts her mind off the water on her skin and the events of the previous day. She’s even thankful for the pointless conversation, but she’s not sure how to say thank you. The best she can do is just mumble a response to whatever Hanji asks her next.
There’s a knock at the door and the two turn around. Hanji sets the damp towel down on the washstand and opens the door. Petra can see Levi on the other side, his body turned slightly so that she can only see the side of his face. He offers something to Hanji, who takes it.
“It took you long enough,” Hanji begins to say, but Levi is already blindly reaching for the door handle.
“Just hurry it up,” he growls before shutting the door behind him.
Hanji sighs and Petra sees a set of clothes in their hands. They set the clothes down on the washstand and take the wash towel once more. “He looks rough, doesn’t he? He’s really just shy, though. He doesn’t know how to talk to people,” Hanji explains, although Petra hadn’t asked. Hanji plucks at the back of Petra’s dress, making the ginger flinch just the tiniest bit. “Ah, sorry. Can you unbutton this for a bit? If you’d like to do this yourself, I’ll step out.”
“N-no, it’s okay,” Petra mumbles before she begins to unbutton her dress. She peels the top half away from her skin, wincing at the way the stiff fabric seems to cling to her.
It’s odd being washed like she’s a child, but Hanji is kind enough to act as though this isn’t anything strange. They wash Petra patiently like a mother washing a child, gentle as she rubs the damp cloth against Petra’s skin.
“Who is he?” Petra asks suddenly, and she feels the damp cloth stop against her back at one point before the gentle rubbing resumes again.
“Levi?” Hanji asks. “He’s a witch. I’m a witch, too. You know that, though, don’t you? And it doesn’t frighten you at all.”
Petra doesn’t respond, instead, biting her lip and looking down at her fingers clutching her skirt.
“I suppose there isn’t anything particularly special about him other than that. But witches are like that. We’re much like anyone else. It’s just that we can do magic,” Hanji continues. They brush Petra’s hair away to make it easier to wash her neck.
“He saved me,” Petra says quietly.
Hanji is quiet for a moment. All that can be heard is the sound of the damp towel across Petra’s skin. “Witches hate to see any living thing die without reason,” Hanji says. “But we know better to get involved in the matters of non-magical humans. It’s just that Levi hates unreasonable deaths more than most. He despises it.”
Why? is the question that Petra wants to ask next, but she finds herself being unable to ask it. She sits there instead, her hands fidgeting with the skirt of her dress.
Petra learns no useful information about Levi, but Hanji offers her an abundance of little tidbits about the witch. He likes to drink tea, but he always waits for someone to come in the morning to make it for him. He does most of his business during the day because he can’t light the fire at night. (Petra has noticed Levi’s strange aversion to fire, but she doesn’t inquire about it.) When night begins to fall, he goes out to collect fireflies, the little luminous bugs in the jars Petra had spied last night and had disappeared this morning. He doesn’t cook at all if he can help it, preferring to eat whatever Hanji or one of his neighbors can offer him.
“He’s quite useless,” Hanji says as they finish up washing Petra’s legs. They help Petra step out of the skirt before handing her the breeches Levi had dropped off earlier. “He seems quite solitary, but I don’t know how he would survive if there weren’t others around to take care of him.”
Petra slips on the breeches and sits back down on the stool to fasten them around her knee as she’s seen them fastened on other men. As she does so, Hanji slips a long woolen stocking onto her foot. It feels odd and clunky wearing men’s clothes, but the clothes fit Petra better than she had expected. They smell of the forest and sunshine. They’re warm.
Hanji clucks their tongue when they see Petra fully dressed. “Ah, it would have been better to have Nanaba lend you something. No matter. I need to visit her and Mike anyway. I’ll ask if she has any clothes to lend you when I’m there.” Hanji pets Petra’s head and gives her a kind smile. “These clothes don’t look too bad on you anyway. They look much better on you than Levi anyhow.”
Flustered, Petra begins to deny it but her words are muffled when Hanji throws a dry towel over her head to dry her hair.
“Such a pretty girl,” Hanji coos once they’re done. They throw open the door and wrap an arm around Petra, leading her out the hall. “Let’s go meet Levi. He will never say it, but he gets terribly lonely. He must have been horribly bored without the two of us to keep him company.”
Levi doesn’t look horribly bored or lonely at all. He’s sitting in the armchair he had occupied last night, flipping through the same book with the same unfathomable expression. He doesn’t even look up when Hanji and Petra step into the room. It’s only when Hanji clears their throat that Levi looks up, his expression slightly irritated until he sees Petra standing in the hallway too.
The raven-haired witch coughs awkwardly, turning his face away. The flickering flames from the fireplace cast shadows across his cheek. “Do the … clothes fit you well?” he asks Petra. He doesn’t look at all.
Hanji, knowing that Petra isn’t one to usually talk, opens their mouth to respond but Petra steps forward and asks, “May I … make you lunch?” She bites her lip, looking down at her stockinged feet as the two witches look at her in surprise. In a quieter voice, Petra mumbles, “It’s to thank you and … I’m quite a good cook. If you two don’t mind … I would like to cook for you.”
The two continue to stare for a moment, surprised to hear Petra say so much at once. After a moment, Hanji wraps their arm around Petra’s shoulders once more and gives her a warm squeeze. “Lunch would be lovely, Petra.”
༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺
Petra watches from the window as Levi kills and skins a rabbit. He kills the rabbit with one quick snap of the neck and gets to skinning it soon after. There’s hardly any blood as he removes its fur and cuts it open to remove the organs.
“You’re not squeamish at all,” Hanji says. They lean with their elbows on the counter, chin resting in their palms as they observe Petra. “Most people dislike the sight of blood. Then again, Levi is very efficient. He doesn’t like any mess.”
“It’s not so bad. I’ve seen worse things,” Petra murmurs. She continues to watch Levi as he removes its organs but quickly looks down when he looks up towards the cabin. She hastily gets back to the potatoes and carrots on her cutting board, chopping them into decent-sized chunks before dropping them into the pot of water boiling on the stove. She finds that cooking isn’t too difficult as long as she doesn’t look too long at the water swirling in the pot.
Hanji helps, humming alongside Petra as they cut up vegetables and herbs collected from the back garden. “It smells delicious already,” Hanji says with an appreciative sniff. They plop some green onions into the pot, not minding the splash. They’re a bit more reckless around the kitchen than Petra is. “I’m not much of a cook myself. Levi will tell you. He says my food is barely edible, but it’s not as if that’s much of an improvement over his cooking, if he even cooks at all.”
“Can you stir this for me?” Petra whispers, pinching the ladle in the pot with two fingers. It feels too dangerous to hold it with one hand.
“Mmm,” Hanji hums and gives a little twirl of their finger. The ladle moves from Petra’s finger and begins to stir the contents of the pot slowly without anyone’s help. Hanji looks quite pleased with themself and takes a glance at Petra. “You don’t mind, do you? You didn’t seem to when I put out that fire earlier. Levi said not to use magic around you if I could help it, but if you don’t mind ...”
“It’s fine,” Petra mumbles. She wipes her hands on a towel on the counter, biting her lip. “It’s … quite useful.”
“What a practical perspective of magic you have,” Hanji says with a lopsided grin.
When Levi comes in with the freshly skinned rabbit, Hanji scolds him for taking too long. The two bicker, but Petra can tell they’re quite close. They’re comfortable with each other. Hanji is friendly to her, but it’s out of courtesy. The raven-haired witch hardly makes eye contact with Petra as he hands her the rabbit meat. It’s awkward, but Petra finds that it’s not uncomfortable.
Levi doesn’t help other than washing vegetables and chopping ingredients. He even cleans around the kitchen, but he doesn’t go anywhere near the stove. He offers his help, mumbles it under his breath, but Petra sees the way he keeps nervously glancing at the fire like he’s afraid it might jump out of its iron confines and light the cabin ablaze. She suggests that he get the dining table ready instead and he gratefully obliges.
The food is finished cooking in relative silence aside from the chattering of Hanji who attempts to keep things lively and the crackle of the stove. As soon as the stew is finished cooking, Petra puts the fire out. She announces it when she carries the pot of stew to the table, setting it down on a flowery knitted coaster in the middle of the table meant to protect the table’s wooden surface.
“I put out the stove fire,” Petra says as soon as the pot rests on the table. She doesn’t look at Levi when she says it. Someone might think that she was talking to the air.
Levi looks up, slowly. It’s a look of gratitude with a little bit of confusion. “Thank you,” he says after a while. He’s already seated at the table and clears his throat awkwardly before gesturing at the seat across from him. “Please. Sit down.”
Petra gives him a gracious bow of her head before pulling out the chair and sitting in it. She bites her bottom lip not knowing what to say. She’s about to open her mouth and say something, anything, just to banish this awkward silence, but Hanji plops down beside her and grins from ear to ear.
“Ah, what a lovely meal you’ve prepared for us, Miss Petra,” Hanji says. They have a melodic way of speaking when they’re pleased or happy, their voice following a rhythm to a song Petra doesn’t quite know. “Rabbit stew is so nice in these chilly autumn months. You should swap recipes with Mike. He’s a splendid cook. Levi and I eat Mike’s food quite frequently.”
“Is that so?” Petra asks, and she pretends to listen as Hanji describes the many foods Mike has cooked up for them. Really, she watches Levi as he serves the stew. He’s careful as he divides the contents of the pot into three even portions. He never even spills a drop.
Hanji gives an appreciative sniff of the stew, commenting on the tender rabbit meat and beautifully cooked chunks of potatoes and carrot. Petra murmurs her thanks, but she notices Levi doesn’t say anything. He just eats a spoonful quietly and then another spoonful after that. He’s as careful with eating as he is with everything else. The stew doesn’t splash on his clothes like it does on Hanji’s because they eat far too recklessly, dropping chunks of potatoes into their bowl and then laughing when a new stain finds its way onto their linen shirt.
Levi finishes before Petra is halfway done with her bowl. He doesn’t say much when he’s done. He just dabs delicately at the corners of his mouth with his cloth napkin before wiping his hands. He stands up from his seat, making sure to push in his chair, and collects his bowl and eating utensils. With a slight bow, he mumbles a quick thank you to Petra. “It was delicious,” he adds so quietly that Petra nearly misses it.
“That’s high praise for him,” Hanji comments when Levi disappears into the kitchen to wash his dishes. Hanji eats with much gusto, sometimes burning their tongue because they forget to blow first. Still, they seem to enjoy every bite of it. “If he says ‘thank you,’ then you’ve most likely done a good job. If he adds a compliment, then you’ve done very well. He’s just terrible at conversation. Don’t mind him.”
Petra stirs her spoon in her bowl for a moment before taking a chunk of potato onto her spoon and nibbling on it. “I don’t mind it,” she says quietly.
“Hmm,” Hanji hums and eats another spoonful. They look at Petra curiously in between spoonfuls. After a few more spoonfuls, they ask, “Levi and I are looking into other people who might have the space to house you. It’s not that Levi doesn’t have the room, but it might be a little uncomfortable.”
It’s not uncomfortable , Petra thinks, but all she says is “Oh.” She finds her appetite is lost and all she can do is push her spoon from side to side around her bowl and watch the chunks of rabbit meat and potato and carrot float around.
“I think Nanaba and Mike won’t be opposed. They’re both nice people and have a spare room. Nanaba is wonderful. I imagine you two would get along quite well,” Hanji says. “And Mike is wonderful as well. He’s a little quieter …” Hanji continues speaking about their friends and lists other people too: Anka, Eld and Rosalind, Nifa, Rico and Ian.
Petra’s eyes wander as Hanji continues to speak. Her gaze eventually rests on Levi who’s still in the kitchen. He’s still scrubbing at his bowl in the sink, his brows knit together in concentration even though the bowl is spotless. His gaze flickers upward and he catches Petra staring at him. She feels embarrassed for being caught, but strangely enough Levi is the one to look away first, his head hanging down.
Petra looks back at the contents of her bowl. It’s still only half-finished. She shouldn’t feel the way she does — hurt and confused and somehow betrayed — but she does anyway.
༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺
It will take a few days to find a new place for Petra to settle into, Hanji says with an apologetic smile. She’ll have to stay with Levi for a few days more while Hanji discusses with other nearby witches on whether they can take her in. Levi is never present when Hanji speaks to Petra about where she’ll stay. If they’re out gardening, then Levi is somewhere inside tidying the house. If they’re inside the parlor, Levi is outside hunting for their next meal. He knows just when to disappear, it seems.
Maybe it’s because he feels bad for abandoning her so quickly after saving her, although he shouldn’t be. He saved her, but it doesn’t mean he should be responsible for her. She hopes at the very least he doesn’t feel burdened by her.
Petra does her best to be useful during her stay. She doesn’t think the witch dislikes her, but she is never certain about what he’s thinking. He makes little effort to speak with her, and she does the same with him. They’re two strangers cohabitating under the same roof, but they seem to complete each other somehow.
Petra finds that she can do many things even without magic. There are things she can do that Levi cannot. She lights the fire every morning and puts it out every night, making sure to tend to it every once in a while so that Levi does not feel the need to hover nervously at the doorway staring at the fireplace as he watches the flames flicker and burn. She cooks most of their meals, although Hanji still delivers food from neighbors and joins them at the table when they aren’t busy. She tends to the garden, helps tidy the house, and even learns how to catch fireflies to light the house at night because candles make Levi anxious.
There are also things she cannot do, but Levi doesn’t mind at all. He fetches water from the well when they need it. He kills the game he catches in the forest because he knows how to do it without causing the animals pain, and Petra is too frightened to try. He watches the clouds in the sky and talks about the nuance in their shape, explaining why it won’t rain, when Petra looks worriedly at them with a furrow in her brow. Petra hardly knows him, and yet he complements her in so many ways. She finds him comforting.
Levi doesn’t sit at the dinner table one night. He’s out chopping wood even though they have plenty. He told Petra and Hanji that he would eat later and that they should eat without them. There isn’t any need to warm his food when he gets back. He’s used to eating his food cold.
“Mike and Nanaba have agreed to take you in,” Hanji tells Petra with a mouth full of mashed potatoes. “I’ve spoken about them a few times. Ah, you have Nanaba’s dress on. It’s the one I brought over the day after I met you.”
“Oh,” Petra says, looking down at herself. The dress she wears is a simple one that hangs on her awkwardly because Nanaba is much taller than her. She had to pin the skirts of Nanaba’s dresses up while wearing them because the skirts would brush against the ground whenever she walked. “That’s … wonderful. I look forward to meeting them so that I might thank them for their kindness.”
Hanji smiles. “You’re charming, Miss Petra. They’ll absolutely love having you,” Hanji says as they shovel another spoon of roasted carrots and green beans into their mouth. They use their spoon to point at Petra. “They finished clearing a room out for you, so you should pack tonight and I can take you tomorrow morning.”
Petra’s mouth is drawn in a polite smile. “Thank you. I’ll do that.” She picks at the vegetables on her plate, pushing them back and forth with her spoon but never eating them. Her eyes stray to the window. She can see Levi out in the front yard, axe swinging downward as he splits another log. There’s probably enough wood to last him the season, but she knows they’ll never burn when she’s gone. Without thinking, she asks, “What about Levi?”
Hanji’s eyebrows are raised in surprise. “What about Levi?” they repeat, and their gaze follows Petra’s to the window. Their head tilts to the side as they observe the witch split wood, his back to them. “Well, I suppose he’ll just be here living as he did before you came to stay here. It won’t be that different. Are you perhaps worried about him?”
It’s a strange thing, Petra realizes, to be so concerned about a witch. Even after living with a witch, Petra doesn’t know very much about them, but there are some things she’s learned. They can start and put out fires with a flick of their wrists. They can understand the language of the flora and fauna around them. They can understand things in dreams that normal human beings cannot. Witches possess abilities that non-magical humans do not. They’re even more self-sufficient than non-magical humans believe themselves to be. It’s foolish to be worried for a witch.
“No, not at all,” Petra says, and returns her gaze to her plate where her dinner sits half-uneaten. She begins to push her carrots and beans around her plate once more.
Hanji hums and spoons another bite of mashed potatoes into their mouth. “Don’t mind it if he seems like he doesn’t care whether you leave or not,” Hanji tells Petra. “He does care. He just has difficulty expressing his feelings sometimes. I’m sure he’ll miss you.”
Petra finds that thought comforting.
༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺
All of Petra’s belongings fit in a simple drawstring bag that Hanji had found to pack her things. Most of the things in the bag do not even belong to Petra. Most of the clothes belong to Nanaba or another witch named Rico, whose size seems to be closer to Petra judging by how well the clothes fit, except for the shirt and the trousers that Levi had lent to her. She had thought about returning Levi’s clothes to him before she left, but she found herself stuffing the clothes into the bottom of the bag before she could think rationally. Petra pretended to forget about them there, and Levi never asked for them back.
When Petra had finished packing, she went downstairs to find Hanji waiting for her. Levi is nowhere to be found.
“He’s probably out doing chores or something,” Hanji says, their hands on Petra’s shoulders. If they can tell that Petra’s shoulders are drooping in disappointment, they are polite enough to pretend they don’t. Instead, they guide Petra towards the door, walking them outside where a horse awaits them. “Don’t think too unkindly of him. It’s not that he’s cold or uncaring. He just keeps to himself a lot, so it’s difficult for him to interact with people.”
“I know,” Petra murmurs, although the words come out bitterly.
Hanji helps Petra mount the horse first and follows after, gently guiding Petra’s arms around their waist while they take the reins. They’re only a few minutes down the path when Petra spots a cloaked figure in the middle of the field. The figure is surrounded by little lights, the fireflies bright in the dim morning light.
“Is that …?” Petra begins to ask, but Hanji is already lifting a hand to wave.
“Levi!” Hanji calls, their voice traveling across the grassy fields. The wind carries the name right to its owner and Levi turns around, his hands pulling down the hood of his cloak to reveal his face. “Levi, we’re leaving now! I’m taking Petra to Mike and Nanaba’s!”
Levi doesn’t respond. He simply gives a nod in acknowledgment.
They should probably say goodbye, Petra thinks. It’s strange to be saved by someone and not even say goodbye to them. She’s certain the opposite must be true as well, and yet neither of them raise their hand to wave and neither of them say goodbye. They just gaze at each other for what seems like an hour or an eternity before Hanji snaps at the reins and the horse begins to trot away.
The little cottage that Mike and Nanaba reside in isn’t that far from Levi’s own abode. It’s a half-hour by horse, faster if they had gone at more than just a relaxed gallop.
The first thing Petra notices about the house is that it’s flooded with light. Perhaps it’s the positioning of it, or maybe the amount of shrubbery and plants in the garden. Levi’s garden seems almost overgrown with plantlife. Ivy covers the walls of his house, climbing up the chimney and almost obscuring the windows. Trees provide shade but block out the light. It’s not the same for Mike and Nanaba’s house. Their garden is beautifully lush with flowers blooming, their petals open as if to greet the sun. When Petra steps into the house, she notices that the light is golden and warm, a stark contrast to the harsh white light that always seemed to illuminate Levi’s during the day.
Mike greets Petra with a smile. “Welcome, Miss Petra.” He’s tall, so tall that he has to stoop to go in and out of the door. He takes Petra’s bag from her even though she told him it wouldn’t be necessary. It hardly holds anything anyway. “It’s so wonderful to meet you. We’re delighted to have you after hearing so much about you from Hanji.”
Nanaba pops up from behind Mike’s large frame. Her hair is cut short. She looks like a pixie with her short hair and heart-shaped face. “Hello, Miss Petra. I’m Nanaba, and this is Mike.” Nanaba smiles warmly as she looks the new guest up and down. “That dress is a bit too big for you, isn’t it? I guess Hanji was right when they said Rico’s clothes suited you much better. Rico is much closer to your size.”
“These are … quite nice already,” Petra mumbles even as she rolls up the sleeves to keep them from sliding down her arms. She looks at Hanji, desperate for help on how to converse with these new strangers but Hanji only pats her on the back.
“I’ll leave you two with her then. Take good care of her,” Hanji says cheerfully even as Petra silently begs them to stay. They continue to wave until they walk out the door, letting the door swing shut behind them.
Petra listens as the horse begins to gallop away, the sound of hooves against the dirt road eventually fading into nothing. It’s impossible for her to hide her worried frown. She’s too caught up in her own anxious thoughts that she doesn’t realize how terribly she’s hiding her feelings until Mike rests a hand on her head and ruffles her hair with something akin to affection.
“Don’t worry. We won’t hurt you,” Mike says with a smile. He lets his hand rest on her head for a second longer before letting it fall back to his side. The tall man gives Petra a reassuring nod before walking away and disappearing into another room down the hall.
“He’s just setting your things in your room,” Nanaba tells Petra. With a hand on the ginger woman’s shoulders, Nanaba gently guides Petra to a small room with a dining table set. Dishes of piping hot venison, soup, and mashed potatoes and gravy sit at the center while gleaming silver plates and cutlery are set out at each seat. “Please have a seat. You must be hungry after your journey. Did you have a chance to eat before you set out today?”
Petra replies that she hadn’t eaten, but that she’s not hungry. Still, Nanaba insists on serving her a serving of everything and while Petra isn’t hungry, she eats every bite. It’s only polite.
Conversation with Nanaba is not uncomfortable, but it would be a lie to say it wasn’t awkward. It’s not that Petra is intentionally trying to be unpleasant, but she finds she can hardly utter two words before stumbling over everything she says. After a while, she finds it better to just nod or shake her head in response to the questions Nanaba asks. Nanaba doesn’t seem to mind, or perhaps she’s kind enough not to say anything about it. Mike doesn’t say anything about it either when he joins them, eating and chatting easily when he sits down at the table and not seeming to mind at all when Petra hardly says a word to him.
Nanaba doesn’t let Petra tidy up the dining table or wash the dishes. The pixie-haired witch waves her guest away when Petra attempts to collect the dishes. “You don’t have to do any of that, dear. Just rest,” Nanaba says before whisking the plates and dishes away to be washed in the sink.
Mike and Nanaba are incredibly hospitable. They’re every bit as kind and attentive as Hanji said they would be, but it makes Petra feel almost useless with the way they flit and hover about her. She never needs to lift a finger for anything, and Mike and Nanaba won’t hear of her doing chores for them. They say it’s because she needs her rest. Nanaba advises her to go for a walk or perhaps enjoy the garden. Mike suggests she sets her things up in her room or recline in the parlor. In the end, Petra takes Mike’s suggestion and unpacks her things.
There isn’t a lot to unpack. The few sets of clothing she has, she folds neatly and tucks away in the nightstand by the bed. Everything fits neatly in one drawer with plenty of space for more. She keeps Levi’s clothes in a separate drawer. Not because it’s special, but because she needs to return it sometime and doesn’t want to forget.
Petra doesn’t linger in the room for very long. It’s nice and cozy with warm linen sheets and the curtains are drawn to let in the light. There are flowers on the dresser that are freshly picked from the garden — fragrant lavender and lily-of-the-valley. A candle that has never been lit sits beside them.
Petra picks up the candle and inspects it in her hand. It’s a mossy green color with little speckles sprinkled across it. When she raises it to her nose, it smells of chamomile and jasmine.
She sets the candle down and leaves the room, finding that there is nothing there for her. It’s the same for the rest of the rooms she visits as well.
Mike had advised her to sit and rest, but her mind is restless. For some reason, her thoughts keep turning to Levi and what he is doing. She gazes at the shadows of the flowers of the garden and the position of the sun in the sky to guess the time. From there she guesses what Levi might be doing: fetching water from the well, hunting for game so that Hanji might cook it for dinner, cleaning up the house so that there isn’t even one speck of dust. She wonders if he thinks about her sometimes.
At dinner time, Nanaba still refuses to accept any help from Petra. She scolds the ginger woman for even setting a foot inside the kitchen. “You should really be resting, my love,” Nanaba chides. “If I were you, I’d still be sleeping, but let’s have dinner together instead.”
“It’s really alright,” Petra tries to say, but Nanaba and Mike won’t hear of it. They usher her to the table and only allow her to set the table. Petra notices that Mike has already fetched water from the well. In all her time here, she hasn’t been closer to more water than could fill a cup.
“You needn’t worry about anything while you’re here,” Mike tells Petra at some point during the dinner. “We’ll take good care of you, Petra.”
She thinks about those words for the rest of the night.
༻✦༺ ༻✧༺ ༻✦༺
Petra doesn’t sleep that night. She can’t. She just keeps thinking about how she’s being taken care of and worrying about Levi.
Who’s taking care of him?
In the darkness of the bedroom, the only source of light is the candle that flickers beside her bed. Nanaba lit it right before wishing Petra a good night.
“It should help you to sleep,” Nanaba says after lighting the candle with a simple wave of her hand. As soon as the candle is lit, the aroma of chamomile and jasmine fills the room. “Don’t worry about putting it out. The candle should put itself out as soon as you drift off to sleep.”
All night, Petra lies on her side and watches the candle burn away, the wick growing shorter and the wax dripping down the side. She doesn’t get any drowsier than she was when she first lied down. She’s not anywhere close to sleep. The scent of flowers is pleasant, but it does nothing to help her fall asleep. She’s too busy staring at the flickering flame burning away at the candle and thinking about how cold it must be in Levi’s house without a fire to warm it at night.
Who is taking care of you?
Petra sits up in bed and pulls out the bottom drawer of the nightstand. She pulls out the drawstring bag and Levi’s clothing, stuffing them into the bag. Hastily, she fixes the bed sheets so that the bed looks somewhat made. She’s about to leave, hesitates, and then blows out the candle that Nanaba had lit for her.
I’ll take care of you .
She wonders if she should tell Nanaba and Mike that she’s leaving. It would be polite to let them know she was leaving, but she doesn’t want to wake them so late in the night. She glances at the room Mike and Nanaba share at the end of the hall. Biting her lip, she eventually decides against it and heads down the stairs. It doesn’t surprise her at all when she sees Mike in the parlor as if he’s been expecting her the whole time.
“Are you leaving so soon?” Mike asks. He raises his hand and lets out a low chuckle when Petra begins to bow her head to apologize. “Don’t feel the need to apologize. There’s no need to. But you … have somewhere you need to be, is that right?”
“Y-yes,” Petra stammers, clutching onto the cloak she had thrown over herself haphazardly.
Mike smiles and gestures for her to follow him outside. He leads her to a stable in the backyard with a beautiful chestnut mare. The tall witch helps her to mount the mare and gives the horse a few gentle strokes. “This horse will take you to where you’re going. Don’t worry about returning her. She knows her way home,” Mike tells Petra. He smiles when the horse nuzzles her nose against his neck. “And, Miss Petra … please send Levi our regards.”
Petra purses her lips together and nods. “Thank you …” she says, and she really means it. “Please also tell Nanaba … thank you for everything.”
Mike nods. “Of course. Come visit whenever you’d like, Petra. You’re always welcome here.”
Petra promises she will before she sets off into the night. Mike had given her a lantern to light the way, but she finds it unnecessary. The white light of the moon guides her to Levi’s house, lighting a moonlight path for her to follow while fireflies glow alongside it. The trip takes a few minutes or perhaps ten or even more. It’s difficult to tell the time, but Petra finds herself breathing more easily when she sees Levi’s house in the distance. Shaded by the trees and foliage, the house is completely dark. It’s the only place the moonlight doesn’t touch. No light can be seen from the inside, not even the flicker of a firefly’s flame.
Petra leaves the horse at the gate, thanking it quietly for the ride before it leaves for home. It’s so quiet that she can hear every step she takes towards the house, the heels of her boots loud against the stone steps to Levi’s doorstep. When she gets to the door, she holds out a hand to knock but, taking a moment to think, blows out the light in her lantern first. She stares at the door and wonders if she had been right to return here in the middle of the night when Levi is probably sleeping. It hadn’t even occurred to her that it would have been better to return during the day. She had just felt the urge to return so badly that she could think of little else. Biting her lip, she raises her closed fist to knock against the hardwood but the door opens before her knuckles can even make contact with the wooden surface.
Levi stands in the doorway, eyes wide in surprise even though he had been the one to open the door before she could even knock. He doesn’t ask why she’s there. Perhaps he already knows why.
Petra hadn’t realized she had been tense, but it feels like every muscle in her body relaxes upon seeing Levi in front of her. She had been restless this whole day, but now she feels … calm. “You waited for me,” she says, and she can’t help the upward turn of her lips.
She can see the way Levi’s body relaxes too, his shoulders untensing as he looks her up and down. He doesn’t smile at her, not quite, but his lips aren’t drawn in their usual thin line. He looks relieved. Without warning, he wraps Petra in his arms and she finds his embrace warm and comforting as he breathes with relief, “You came back.”