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Levi’s days always ended the same way no matter what events led up to it.
It was a little ridiculous, actually.
His day could start by his alarm interrupting his precious slumber at five-thirty in the morning so he could calmly begin his morning at a leisurely pace. Perhaps Hanji would welcome herself into his apartment with bagels and over-priced coffee at God-knows-what-time. Maybe Levi would accidentally forget to charge his phone because he was too hung-over from the previous night’s drinking, and he would sleep in until noon before waking up with a titan-sized hangover. Maybe Erwin would give him a call or two and remind him to take his vitamins for the day, because Levi always acted like a grumpy old man if he forgot to take them. His anxiety would act up as well, leaving him feeling restless until he got home. Levi could be mugged that day for all he knew. It never mattered what happened during the day because Levi’s days always ended the same way.
Levi always went to sleep, one way or another, alone. When Levi was a baby the women who were in charge of his age group at the orphanage would put him to sleep in his crib, and then they would leave him there until he cried to be fed. It was a small orphanage in France, one that barely had enough money to get by and was overcrowded with children. Levi learned quickly that he would not be cared for by those women the same way a real mother would, simply because there were too many children. Even when Hanji invited herself over with booze in her arms, she always went back home to her husband, Moblit.
As Levi grew older he gave up hope of being adopted, because what family would want to adopt an insomniac boy with OCD and extreme anxiety issues? When Levi was ten years old he ran away, rather than waiting for a happy ending to be handed to him. The orphanage did not go looking for him.
Levi grew up in the streets of Paris, pick-pocketing the tourists and watching painters create masterpieces. He joined a gang when he was a little older, and he earned the most feared reputation in all of Paris. He hated it.
He spent his early teenage years drinking alcohol and lurking in the shadows of various nightclubs. He nearly lost his virginity to a gross older woman with a large mole on her chin, but luckily he was still sober enough to escape. Levi had an issue with touching people, and so he never saw the need to sate any sexual desires that he may have had with anyone else. Levi had taken up smoking before he had ever considered it to be a bad habit, and discovered that his poker face was one of the best in Paris. He had saved up so much money from playing poker that by the time he was sixteen he had enough money to escape the hellhole he resided in, and begin a new life in the United States.
He had high hopes that the States lacked old women with giant moles on their chins.
It was not like he really loved the thought of the living there, but he couldn’t speak any other language besides French. It ended up being the best decision he had ever made.
Levi had been completely lost, barely speaking a single word of English, trying to figure out what he could do in such a large country. Luckily, the same day that he had decided to go Walmart and buy a few things to eat, he ran straight into his future best friend. Hanji had been running towards the checkout carrying twenty-five bags of bagels, claiming that she needed to do an experiment to see which toppings were scientifically the best tasting on them. Of course, at the time Levi could not understand what she was practically yelling at him, so he simply nodded in the hopes that she would go away. Instead of leaving, however, she had dragged Levi out of the store and back to her apartment. He ended up spending his entire evening with her, eating more bagels than he would care to admit. Even though he could not communicate to the eccentric woman with words, it seemed he could communicate through food. She was American after all. It later became tradition for them to eat bagels whenever he visited her apartment, or to bring a bag of bagels when invited over for a party.
Hanji was the reason he was where he was as an adult. Levi is an extremely successful French chef in Hanji and Moblit’s restaurant, La petite géante. Food had always been one of the things that Levi had loved about his home country, and so why not show the Americans just how good it could be? He had been taught how to make crêpes that were to die for by a street chef named Isabel when he was younger, and he had made friends with a baker named Farlan by saving him from a hit-and-run. In the end, Levi’s culinary skills were ones that even professional chefs wished that they had.
That being said, Levi never really went out to eat much of anything other than the occasional Chinese takeout, simply because he loved cooking so much that he almost always had food.
So, he should have probably known that his day was going to be weird when he ended up at a small coffee shop/pizza restaurant called Colossal Coffee on a rainy Sunday evening. Hanji and Moblit never opened on Sunday, so Levi always had that day off.
Levi stepped into the building, closing his wet umbrella and observing his surroundings. The restaurant itself was decent, and fairly cute if Levi was being honest. It was clean, not nearly as clean as he would have preferred, but it was tidy enough to eat in without worry of sudden death. The diversity of customers was interesting, ranging from small children and their families, college students studying for their final exams, all the way to elders catching up on each other’s lives. As much as he hated to admit it, Levi thought the atmosphere was very comforting.
However, he was not remotely prepared for what he was about to witness.
Levi walked up towards the counter and was met with a stunningly bright pare of emerald amber eyes, and dazzling white smile. Levi felt his poker face slip as the young woman with ginger hair spoke to him with such genuine friendliness he nearly kissed the germ-covered floor from collapse.
“Hello sir, what can I get you this evening?” her voice was soft and smooth like the steady flow of a stream.
If Heaven existed, Levi was sure that this woman was an angel.
Levi paused to look at the chalkboard menu hanging over the woman’s head, but he had such a hard time focusing on the words. He ended up looking back at the woman, and stared at her for what was probably a really long period of time. Wow, way to set the bar high for yourself there, you five-star chef you.
“Uh-“ Levi tried to tell her he wanted tea, but he ended up getting lost in the way the woman’s eyelashes fluttered every time she blinked.
The woman giggled a little behind her hand, “I know, there’s so much to choose from. Are you hungry, or are you just coming for something to drink?”
Levi swallowed and unclenched his teeth, “Tea.”
What a womanizer.
The woman leaned forward a little, “What kind of tea?”
“Chai.”
He hated Chai, for the love of-
“Alright, what size?”
“Small.”
Damn right he was getting a small, he was not about to drink a giant sized cup of Christmas sewage.
“That will be two-ninety, please,” the woman spoke as Levi handed her his bank card.
His hand touched her hand.
His hand touched hers.
Usually, when someone else touched his hand he could not wait to pull out his wonderful, pine-scented hand sanitizer from his pocket, but at that moment all he could think about was that he was never going to wash his right hand ever again. His hand would fall off from neglect of proper sanitary precautions, but it would be worth it, he thought.
He put his poker face back on when he noticed the woman watching his internal struggle with small smirk. He felt like she could see into his soul…
“Would you like sugar?” she asked as she handed back his card, his cheeks reddening as her hand brushed his once more.
“No.”
Sugar is the only thing that kept Levi from slowly crumbling from within. Sugar is the essence of small happy children, whose fingernails are too adorable to be able to stand. Sugar was the epitome of joy to Levi.
The woman nodded slowly and immediately went to work to skillfully create the absolute garbage that Levi would have to drink, simply because he was too stupid to actually say what he wanted to say.
“You look so upset, is it because of the weather?” the woman broke Levi out his thoughts, continuing to work on his drink with her small and delicate angel hands.
Levi continued to admire her while her back was towards him, noticing with great delight that she was actually shorter than he was. She was small, and she also appeared as though she would explode into a million ginger feathers if he so much as sneezed. Her hair shined in the dim light of the shop, and it looked so incredibly soft. Levi had never wanted to touch anyone else’s hair before, but at that moment he wanted to caress that woman’s hair so badly he actually had to clench his fists before he did something stupid.
Realizing that she had asked him a question a good while ago, Levi answered looking down at his feet.
“I actually prefer the rain,” Levi said.
The woman smiled, “Me too! I thought I was just weird, but I think that the rain is really soothing to listen to.”
Levi felt his heart jump a little at her enthusiasm, and a small blush began to form on his cheeks much to his dismay. As the woman continued to make his drink, Levi began glancing around at the baked goods on display. His sweet tooth could never truly be satisfied, and he would gladly eat everything in that shop. However, one small, lemony piece of cake caught his fancy, and had he not caught himself the woman would have seen some unsightly drool slowly descend from Levi’s lips.
“Here you are!” the woman said with a smile, pushing forward Levi’s drink.
“Thank you,” Levi said quietly, sipping his drink so he would not hurt her feelings.
Oh sweet mother, it was delicious. It was also not Chai, it was Earl Grey.
“You looked so upset when you ordered, and I know how frustrating getting coffee is at coffee shops when there are so many to choose from. I always end up getting something I don’t want, so I figured you did the same thing,” the woman explained while seeing his confused expression. “If you don’t want it, I can make you what you ordered. All of the teas are the same price though, so you don’t have to worry about paying too much.”
“Why is it sweet?” Levi, shut up and just drink the delicious nectar of the gods.
“I saw you were eying my lemon cakes, so I figured you probably had sweet tooth as well,” the woman frowned in mild panic. “I probably shouldn’t have done that. You don’t have diabetes do you?”
Levi couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth from lifting a little at her genuine distress, “No, this is delicious. Thank you.”
The woman sighed in relief, “Oh good! I’m glad!”
Levi noticed the short line forming behind him, “I’ll just…be going now.”
She’s quivering in her panties from Levi’s charm, for sure.
The woman smiled, “Alright, come again some time! Maybe you can try some cake and tell me what you think.”
Oh Levi was definitely going to try her lemon cake. That was for damn sure.
~*~
Shoulders sagging from a long, and hard day at work, Levi began walking in the direction of his apartment. The rain had stopped a few days before, and Levi did not appreciate the way the sun decided to fry his corneas. As the autumn weather began to grow colder, the sun set sooner in the day than it did before, and Levi ended up walking home with bright light directly in his eyes.
If anything, all it did was make him feel more depressed than he already did. Levi really needed to find something to do that made him feel better, because lately he had been feeling a bit down in the dumps. Even spending his time cooking was not helping his mood. The restaurant had served several critics in the past few weeks, and the way they analyzed his food always made him feel anxious and stressed. Levi needed something to calm down his nerves, something besides the awful habit of smoking he had picked up.
Levi paused mid-step as he picked up the familiar scent of pizza and coffee. He turned towards his right to glance up at the large wooden sign that read Colossal Coffee, and his mind was overcrowded by images of lemon cakes being handed to him by angels with ginger hair and auburn eyes. Levi walked into the shop to find that it was not nearly as crowded as it had been a few days before, but if anything it made everything much more appealing to him.
The woman who had been there the Sunday before was behind the counter once again, humming with the soft music playing in the background as she cleaned a coffee mug. Levi was not sure if going to the coffee shop was helping his nerves or not, because he felt his stomach drop to his feet when the woman noticed him walk in. He should not get so nervous because of a woman looking at him; he was not a teenager for heaven’s sake. She probably did not even remember him.
“Hello! Did you finally come back for some cake?” the woman asked with a wide smile.
Oh, yes he had come back for some cake.
Levi did not trust his voice at that moment, what with his heart hammering in his chest, and so he just nodded.
“How about some tea as well?” the woman asked. “I can make you the same thing as last time, if you want.”
She could remember what he had last time? Wow, she must not work very often then.
Levi nodded his head furiously in agreement, hoping to the message across that he really wanted some more tea. The woman simply giggled with a small blush on her cheeks, and then went to work.
“I hope you don’t mind me asking,” the woman began. “But where are you from?”
“France,” Levi said shyly.
“Ah, I couldn’t tell since you don’t seem to talk much, but you sounded like you had an accent,” the woman said with a smile. “That’s so cool! Where in France?”
“Lorraine, but I grew up in Paris,” Levi answered.
“Do you miss it?” the woman asked curiously.
“Depends,” Levi said thoughtfully. “Some of it I miss, but some of it I don’t.”
The woman laughed and nodded, handing him his tea (her hand touched his again!). She reached into the container of lemon cakes, and then put a piece into a little paper holder. She held it out to him with a smile.
“Tell me how it is, and be honest okay?” the woman said with a smile.
Levi nodded, looking down at the piece of cake in his hand. Had he been at home he would have devoured the entire thing right then and there, but since he had the audience of Miss America he decided to have some manners. He slowly took a small bite of the cake, and then thanked the divine food gods for their gracious gift bestowed upon mankind.
Of course, when the woman began laughing again Levi felt his cheeks redden, because he realized that he had accidentally let slip a low and throaty moan.
“I take it you liked it?” the woman asked, still giggling.
Levi nodded quickly, “I-it’s delicious.”
The woman blushed, “Thank you! I’m glad you like it!”
Levi smiled, “I might have to come back for another some time.”
The woman smiled, and looked down at her feet shyly as Levi turned to walk away. As Levi reached the door he paused and turned around.
“What is your name?”
The woman looked up in surprise, “Oh, it’s Petra.”
Levi nodded, “Levi.”
The woman smiled, “See you soon, Levi.”
~*~
Levi hurriedly opened the door to the coffee shop, and then relished in the warmth that rushed from within. The weather had quickly turned to that of winter, and the snow outside had nearly frozen Levi solid on his walk to the Colossal Coffee. Levi could not deny that spending the last month walking into the shop nearly every day after work had provided him with a huge stress relief. He could not decided, however, if it was the tea and warm atmosphere that was helping his anxiety, or if it was because he spent his entire day thinking of Petra rather than thinking of something stressful.
Definitely Petra.
Levi shivered harshly before looking up to see Petra handing coffee after coffee to a long line of customers. Apparently they all had the same idea he had since it was so cold.
Petra saw him as he began to walk forward, and she gave him a wide smile, “Hello, Levi! If you want to stay and talk for a bit you can sit at one of the stools!”
Levi gave her a small smile and a nod before sitting down at one of the stools at the front of the shop. He watched as Petra effortlessly made each customer his or her desired beverage, and how she never seemed to stop smiling. Even after a couple of the customers were less than polite towards her, she always gave them what they asked for with a kind smile and a ‘thank you!’. After a good twenty minutes of waiting, Levi finally saw a small cup of Earl Grey and a piece of lemon cake being placed in front of him.
Levi quickly reached in a pulled out some money, but Petra shook her head with a smile, “It’s on the house today.”
Levi sat there for a moment, his anxiety silently beginning to act up because he did not know how to react. He slowly, and carefully reached out to grab one of Petra’s hands and hand her the money.
“Think of it as a tip then,” he said.
Petra’s face broke out into a furious blush, and she began shifting from one foot to the other, “A-alright then, thank you!”
Levi nodded and began to eat his cake.
Thank you oh divine food gods for your gracious gift. I humbly accept your generosity, for there is none less worthy of this grace than I.
Petra pulled up a stool from behind the counter and sat on it, “So, how was your day?”
Levi’s heart melted because no one had ever asked him something so simple with such genuine interest.
“It was alright,” Levi said before adding. “It’s been better the past few minutes.”
Petra rolled her eyes, “I would tell you that flattery won’t get you anywhere, but I’d be lying.”
Levi grinned, “What about you? How has your day been?”
Petra shrugged with a smile, “The usual, I suppose. It’s been a little bit busier today, but I expected it when I saw the weather forecast. There was an older woman in here earlier, though, who couldn’t read to save her life... It took her twenty minutes to order a mocha.”
Levi laughed, “Let’s hope she says inside today then, for her sake and for ours.”
Petra sputtered before falling into a fit of laughter, “Yes, let’s hope.”
Levi absentmindedly rolled up the piece of paper that once held his piece of cake, and he tossed it into a nearby trashcan with little effort.
“You want another piece?” Petra teased with an impish smile.
“Yes,” Levi sighed.
Petra giggled.
Levi waited with a raised eyebrow.
Petra paused, “Wait, you were serious?”
Levi nodded slowly.
Of course he was serious, why the hell would he joke about something so important?
Petra’s eyes widened, “Are you sure? I don’t want you to die from too much sugar.”
“As touching as your concern is, give me another piece of that cake,” Levi said firmly.
Petra shrugged, “Alright, but no more for free after this one, okay?”
Levi nodded.
As Petra handed him another piece of cake, she spoke softly, “So, where do you work?”
Levi began devouring his cake, and then spoke after politely swallowing so he would not speak with his mouth full, “I work at a restaurant.”
“Oh, you’re in the food business too!” Petra said with a smile, sipping a small cup of coffee.
Levi nodded slowly, simply enjoying his cake and the fact that an angel was sitting in front of him.
“What do you do in the restaurant?” Petra asked curiously.
Levi paused for a moment before glancing up at her, “I’m the chef.”
Petra froze for a moment, her eyes widening slowly and her eyebrows crawling farther and farther up her forehead. Levi would have been extremely amused if she did not seem so distressed.
“You’re a chef? What restaurant?” Petra asked in a quiet and high-pitched voice.
“La petite géante,” Levi answered calmly, finishing his piece of cake with a sad sigh. “Don’t ask why the hell the owners named it that, because one them is completely insane.”
Petra’s reaction was not expected to say the least.
She slammed her hands down on the counter, stood up and hovered over Levi in one quick movement, and out a high pitched squeal.
“You work there? I love that restaurant! I would eat there every day if I could!” Petra exclaimed with wide eyes and a large smile, shaking with excitement. “And you like my cake? Oh my gosh, this is so weird…”
Levi wanted to crawl into a little hole from all of the sudden adoration, and he began to play with his hands anxiously. Petra was just so perfect, and the fact that she actually ate his food and loved it was a little overwhelming. Of course, most people loved his food…but none of them were as amazing as Petra was.
“Sorry, I’m done freaking out now,” Petra said nervously, sitting back down and sipping her coffee.
Levi wanted to say something, but his nerves were still a little frazzled. He forgot to take his damn vitamins.
“Oh no, did I weird you out too much?” Petra asked, frowning with a sad sigh. “I do that a lot, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize,” Levi said quickly, reaching out to touch her arm.
Why did you do that? Who just goes up and touches people? Weirdo, now she’ll hate you forever.
“I am easily overwhelmed,” Levi said in embarrassment.
“Oh, I see,” Petra asked.
Levi nodded, “It’s annoying.”
Petra clasped Levi’s hand (HOLY MOTHER OF-), “It’s alright, I understand. I’m sorry for freaking you out. I just got a little excited, heck I’m still excited.”
Levi’s cheeks turned crimson, and he looked away with his lips pursed. Petra did not let go of his hand though, and Levi did not pull away.
The two of them sat in silence for a while, listening contentedly to the soft music in the background. Petra got up to serve some customers as they walked in, but after she finished she would return and grasp Levi’s hand once more. Levi glanced at Petra through the corner of his eye a few times, and relished in the way her smile never left her face. Her cheeks and nose were rosy in the dim light of the shop, and she softly hummed to herself. She caught his eye and he quickly looked away again, to which she responded by erupting in quiet giggles.
“Hey, um…” Levi began slowly, trying to decide how he was going to say what he wanted to say.
“Yes?” Petra asked.
“When you get off work?” Levi asked.
“About two hours, why?” Petra asked.
Levi looked at their intertwined hands, “Do you want to come to my place? I can make some food, since you seem to like it so much…if you want.”
Petra bit her lip with a smile, and shook from excitement, “Really?”
Levi nodded, and Petra squeezed his hand.
“I would love to,” Petra smiled.
Levi smiled back, and began to mentally prepare himself for his date.
~*~
“That was amazing, Levi,” Petra sighed happily as she finished her bowl of soup.
Levi had made the two of them Soupe aux Haricots Verts, which was something that he ate a bit of when he was younger. He did not actually know what Petra liked to eat, so he decided against making something too fancy. Besides, it was really cold outside and so he figured soup would be a good option.
“Thank you,” Levi responded shyly. “It wasn’t as good as your lemon cake, though.”
“Oh please, those cakes are made with like, three ingredients. They are so boring, you can find them anywhere,” Petra said with a laugh.
“It doesn’t matter how many ingredients it takes to make something,” Levi said with a frown. “What matters is how you make it.”
“What do you mean?” Petra asked.
“There are plenty of people who can make the same foods with the exact same recipes, but they will all turn out differently depending on how the person makes it,” Levi said. “Your cakes are simple, yes, but you make them…with love.”
“So you are telling me,” Petra began, leaning forward with a smirk. “That you can taste love in my lemon cakes?”
Levi crossed his arms, “Tch. Yes.”
Petra laughed, “You’re so sweet, you know that? Well, if it makes you feel any better, I think that this soup was better than anything else I’ve ever had at that restaurant.”
Levi blushed and looked down nervously.
“You didn’t put drugs in it or something, did you?”
Levi sputtered and gave Petra such an appalled look that she began laughing so hard she nearly fell out of her chair, “O-of course not!”
“I was joking, calm down,” Petra laughed before her eyes widened. “Oh! I almost forgot! I brought dessert, if you want some! And no, it’s not the cake…you can have that any time you want.”
Levi tried not to look disappointed at that last bit, but he failed miserably. How dare she deny him the nectar of the food gods.
Petra left to grab a container that she had left on Levi’s counter, and pulled out two pieces of chocolate cake.
“I hope you like chocolate, I honestly didn’t know what to bring,” Petra said setting the cake down in front of Levi. “If you like it, you can have the rest. I won’t eat it all, and it will go bad.”
Levi nodded, trying to contain his excitement a little at what looked to be the greatest masterpiece ever witnessed by mere mortals. He took a bit of the cake, and gave Petra a look that had her giggling behind her hand again. Levi nearly inhaled the rest of the cake, and informed her the he would be eating the rest at some point.
Petra glanced out the window as she began finishing up her cake, “It’s snowing pretty hard outside.”
Levi turned around and looked, “Yeah, it is. Are you sure you want to drive in that?”
Petra frowned, “I don’t know.”
“You can stay here, if you want,” Levi said slowly.
“Are you sure?” Petra asked. “I don’t want to bother you.”
“You won’t,” Levi assured her.
“Well, alright,” Petra said with a smile.
Levi pulled out a lot of blankets, and a pillow from one of his closets. He put them on the couch since Petra insisted on sleeping there, and he found her a pair of sweatpants that she could sleep in. They had decided to watch some TV, since it was still a little early in the night. At some point, they had shifted their seated positions to where Petra was lying beside Levi. The two of them continued to watch the food channel until they accidentally fell asleep in each other’s arms.
For the first time in his life, Levi did not go to sleep alone.