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“Achoo!”
Levi froze, his entire body going rigid, movement paused altogether, window completely forgotten in that one moment. The only two people in this room were him and Petra, and he was sure as hell that disgusting sound did not just come from him. What. In the literal. Fuck –
“What the hell was that?” He slowly turned around to look at her as he lowered the white cloth from his mouth, watching as she made a high pitched noise and shrunk back. Good. She should know how repulsive she just made herself.
“I-I just sneezed, Captain,” she stammered, clearly at unease and wondering what he was going to do. Which was a good-ass question.
Silently, he put down the rag on the shelf he just cleaned and stalked over to her. She didn’t cower back from him any further, but her amber eyes looked like they were ready to fall out of their sockets. Petra was smart. She wasn’t stupid enough to do this on purpose.
The original source had to be eliminated. Quickly and brutally, and scrubbed into oblivion. He hated sickness. Detested it. And for good reason. Cleaning duty will have to be taken up a notch…and he didn’t give a damn if his squad liked it or not.
His icy, perceptive eyes were sharp on her face, attempting to pick up any early signs of sickness. That may be just a sneeze, but sneezing leads to coughing and coughing leads to the runny nose and the runny nose leads to get the fuck out of my house.
Well, this wasn’t exactly a house, but they were living in it and it’s their responsibility to keep it fucking clean. Obviously someone wasn’t doing their job.
“You’re relieved from your duties for the night. I want you to go straight to bed and talk to no one. Don’t look at them. Don’t even give the bastards the satisfaction by breathing in their direction. Got it?”
Petra lowered her gaze and nodded, setting the broom against the wall with a soft thump. “Yes, sir.”
There was hesitation in her footing as she departed from the room, but he wasn’t looking at her anymore. He busied himself with the window once more, feeling her soft gaze boring into the back of his head before she finally left; footsteps making a light echo as she walked further and further away from him.
With a sigh, Levi grabbed the broom and scrubbed it until he couldn’t smell the faint scent of strawberries anymore.
.
.
.
He came to her room the next morning and, just like he predicted, she was coughing and sneezing and blowing her nose before he even opened the door. He was prepared, gloves on and all, and winced at the sound of mucus leaving her nose. All nasal thick and shit.
“Did you do what I told you to do?” Levi kicked the door open with his foot, catching a glimpse of her nearly jumping out of bed in surprise as he stride over to her window. At least she had the decency to keep her room clean.
“Yes,” she answered him, throwing her arms up weakly in the air. “Captain, I feel terrible!”
“Yeah, well you’re not gonna get better by whining about it.” He pushed the curtains aside, letting the sun shine through, and Petra squinted. “Don’t worry about going out anywhere, especially outside. I don’t want that shit spreading.”
“What am I supposed to do all day?” she demanded, arms folded across her chest and lip jutted out slightly.
“I’ll have Shitty Glasses lecture you all day, or bring you a damn book to read. Pick your poison.”
“That’s not fair! I’ve gotten sick before, and it’s not the end of the world. I can take care of myself no problem. Why do you feel the need to put me on quarantine? It’s just a small cold. I’ll get over it in a week.”
She just didn’t understand, did she?
He looked over at her to give her retort, but paused as soon as he opened his mouth. Despite the pink nose and shitty snot rags scattered around her bed, she actually looked kind of…sort of –
“Captain?”
He blinked. “What?”
“Please don’t make me stay in here. I’ll do anything you want, just…please don’t treat me like I’m a liability to the squad.”
Unbelievable. Truly unbelievable. And stubborn as hell. And cute as hell. Fuck.
“…How do you like your tea?”
Petra perked up, smiling and biting her lip. “Sweetened.”
Levi nodded and turned to make his leave before she could fluster him further.
“Captain!”
“What?” Levi paused in the doorway.
“Thank you.”
“Sure.”
Again, he turned to leave.
“Captain!”
Only to pause in his footing.
“What now, Petra?”
“Can I have a kiss?”
You’ve got to be fucking – great. His cheeks were warmer than what he liked, and now he was losing the strength to just leave and neglect her an answer. And what’s worse was that it wouldn’t be the first time he felt the warm sensation of her lips on his, her gentle fingers threading through his hair, tentative touches in forbidden territory on both sides.
“No, you’re filthy.” It took him a while to speak, longer than he’d hope, and that damn smile of hers only increased tenfold.
“Can…” Petra swung her legs over until her bare feet hit the floorboards, and she took the smallest of steps towards him. “Can I have a hug then?”
No, no, absolutely not.
“Levi?”
…Fucking shit balls.
He closed the door shut behind him so her germs wouldn’t spread any further, walking over to her at a leisure pace. She was making this harder for him. Moments like these made him wish his hostility outweighed his affection for her. Raising a gloved hand to her face as he drew closer, bodies almost touching, he leaned in and angled his lips up to kiss her forehead gently. Petra closed her eyes at his touch, pads of her fingers cupping him around his elbows.
“I’ll get better, I promise,” Petra reassured him.
Levi grunted in reply, and when she slipped her arms around his torso he didn’t fight her. He gradually draped an arm loosely around the small of her back, staring at the wall as a bittersweet thought crossed his mind.
Yeah. My mother told me that too.
.
.
.
“Captain!”
Petra recovered quickly. The elation in her angelic voice was enough to distract him from his paperwork exactly a week later and he made a one-eighty degree spin just as her arms were thrown around him, and her hands cupped his face, and she drew him in for a long, lingering kiss.
Now normally he’d be against the unnecessary P.D.A., but they weren’t exactly in public, and he honestly didn’t give a fuck right now. He snaked a hand through her strawberry blonde tresses and cupped the back of her head, returning her kisses in full. She tilted her head and deepened the kiss, sighing against his lips as her hands fluttered down to his chest.
“Well hello to you too,” he said huskily, and she giggled breathlessly.
“Hi.” Nimble fingers played with his collar. “I missed you.”
“You saw me yesterday.” He raised an eyebrow, hands cupping around the small of her back. “And the day before that.”
“I know, but not like this.” She smiled, her touch dropping down at a resting place on his taut abdomen. “Don’t you regret not believing me?” she teased him lightly.
He didn’t smile. “No. Don’t make me regret not giving you more work to do.”
Her face fell and he sighed through his nose, leaning in to brush his lips against her jaw; the curve of her cheekbone. Her fingers curled into his shirt, and he lifted his head to reach her ear.
“The next time you get sick, tell me the second you start feeling shitty. Don’t wait until you’re sneezing all over the goddamned place after I just cleaned.”
She laughed softly. “Okay.”
Petra didn’t pry, and he was grateful. He wasn’t ready to tell her just yet, but he will. Maybe, just maybe, after all this shit was over.