Work Text:
‘Beep beep beep’
“Oh hi Spencer!”
Levi rolled his eyes, “You know I was joking about the name right?”
Petra patted the robot affectionately, “Well I think it suits him”. A teasing grin spread across her face, “I could get him a little bow tie, him and Nigel could match”.
“Absolutely not. Mind out I gotta empty it”. Levi picked up the roomba and proceeded to empty the dust tray, wrinkling his nose at the small dust cloud floating out of the kitchen bin.
Petra mirrored his expression, “Ugh, emptying out the vacuum is one of my least favourite chores, you always feel like you have to vacuum all over again after”
“Still less shit in it than Nigel’s litter box”
“I love how that implies that you actually take the occasional dump in…actually no never mind, pass the mind bleach” she took another sip of wine and nestled back into the soft grey cushions of the sofa.
Levi held back a smirk as he clipped the tray back on.
“There, happy now?”. The vacuum beeped cheerfully and continued its mission. Levi nodded and grabbed a pair of oven gloves, moving to check on the lasagne’s progress in the oven.
It had been a few weeks since their first, chance encounter and, if Levi was gonna get sappy about it, he was on cloud freaking nine. Not only was Petra drop dead gorgeous, she was kind, smart and just downright adorable. Her cheery disposition and easily given smiles made his heart flutter. Flutter dammit. His heart had never fluttered for anyone.
The pair had met up as often as their schedules would allow and tonight was the first night Levi was cooking dinner for her. He’d gone with a well rehearsed lasagne recipe that him and Farlan had lived off in college. He knew the dish off by heart - no room for fuck ups. Add in a bottle of wine he couldn’t pronounce and a few candles and maybe the evening would turn to more ‘heart fluttering’ activities…
Levi busied himself with setting the table, smoothing out the tablecloth and fumbling with the lighter when suddenly -
CRACK
A loud gasp followed and Levi surged into the living room “-shit what was that?”
Petra stood in the middle of the room, shoulders hunched. Levi strode over, “Pet? You okay? I heard a - oh”.
Petra turned around slowly, cradling the vacuum in her arms revealing a large crack over the top plate. She looked up at him with a watery expression. Shit.
“Levi I’m so sorry, it was an accident”. Tears were forming in the corner of her eyes, threatening to spill over. Shit. “I just got up to get the remote when he moved out from under the coffee table - I didn’t see him!” her voice rising in pitch.
Shit she was gonna start crying over a fucking roomba.
“Hey don’t worry about it, I’m pretty sure it’s still under warranty” he rubbed her shoulders gently, “It’s only a vacuum - here lemme look at it”.
Levi set the roomba on the floor and pressed the power button. Despite the large crack in the plastic, the machine instantly sprung into life and began whirring.
Petra’s glum look didn’t dissipate. “I know it sounds stupid but I do feel really guilty”, she met his eyes, her tone softening, “It’s what really made me laugh when I was feeling really down on the night we met”.
He did think it sounded stupid if he was honest, but one look into those golden eyes and Levi’s resolve faltered. Besides, Petra was clearly mortified.
Levi sighed, “Look I’ll see if I can get a replacement plate ok? I’m sure it’s not that hard to fix”.
Petra gave a small smile and pecked his cheek. “I’ll pay for the replacement parts, I’m so sorry”.
“Tch like fuck you will, like I said it’s only a vacuum”. They watched as it did a lap around the coffee table.
Petra looked relived, “Sorry Spencer!”
Levi let out a breath, the evening was apparently saved, “Looks like he didn’t take it personally”. He kissed her lips delicately, “Now come on, dinner”ll be ready soon”.
__________________
It turned out the piece of shit wasn’t under warranty. Coupled with the fact that a new face plate was over fifty fucking dollars plus shipping had Levi scowling at his empty Amazon basket.
Tch.
He was ready to close his laptop when he caught sight of the ‘suggested products’ at the bottom of the screen.
…
For fuck’s sake.
He clicked add to cart.
_______________________
(One week later)
Petra and Levi pushed through the door of his apartment, the winter chill still lingering on their breaths. Levi set the take out containers on the kitchen countertop then busied himself with getting cutlery.
Petra hung up her coat and scarf and went to switch on the TV.
She called over her shoulder, “Oh hey new episodes of Hustle* should be up, sound good?”
Levi made a noise of agreement as he dished up the chow mein.
Petra flicked through the Netflix listings when a familiar ‘beep’ and whir brought her attention to the other side of the room.
“LEVI!”
Her boyfriend burst through the kitchen door, serving spoon raised and ready for action, “WHAT?!”
“You fixed him!”
Levi rolled his eyes, “Tch, you made me panic brat, I thought you’d hurt yourself”.
Petra paid him no mind as she carefully stepped out the way of the vacuum, which now sported a large pair of googly eyes where once the large crack was visible.
“He looks so cute! And you can barely see the crack!”
“Can we stop talking about my roomba’s crack and start the series?”
He passed her a plate and the pair got comfortable on the sofa, Petra beaming and tucking her feet up as the newly ‘repaired’ Spencer started its cleaning schedule.
The soft light from the TV flickered as the opening music played, interspersed by the clinking of cutlery. Levi looked across at his girlfriend and his gaze softened.
He thinks he might love this crazy brat a little bit.
END