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Chapter Text

It was a rarity to see such a stoic persona so plainly distressed.

If he had to give something credit for the source of his distress, he would probably push the blame onto his traumatic teenage experience with Erwin’s German Shepherd. Mikasa always made a big deal out of it every time they visited the blond's house up in Sina, consciously reminding him of that dark day.

For one thing, he couldn’t stand the smell of wet dog. It was so distinct, like a pungent smoke that chokes you within a matter of seconds of breathing it in. Of course, there were various degrees of pungency, completely dependent on the viciousness of precipitation before the animal walks into a closed space and ruins his day, but nothing from his previous experience with the odour could compare to this.

It was overwhelming, but no-one else seemed as fazed about it as he was. How was he the only one in the room going through this torment?

He tried pinching and un-pinching his nose for a few minutes but it did nothing except make his skin itch. He tried to lower his head to rest on his clothed arm and breathe his own scent, but it was so awkward to take notes in such a position. And the one thing that was more important than getting rid of that god-awful stench was passing Chemistry.

He internally groaned. How was he supposed to do that when he couldn’t even concentrate on the lecture?

His mind was numbing with every second that ticked by while he was still breathing. There was no way he was getting through this lecture. Unfortunately, he couldn’t just up and leave the hall so abruptly. The professor might get the wrong idea and fail his assignments and he couldn’t have that either.

Instead, he would just focus on pinpointing the source of his great discomfort.

And to his great distaste, he found it to be right across the hall from him. The girl on the fourth bench, three seats away from Shitty Four-eyes, calmly taking down the notes that he should’ve been taking.

His scowl couldn’t get any deeper than this.

To make matters worse, he hadn’t realised he’d been glaring at her for so long before he was met with a shock of electric amber staring right back at him. She raised a single, honey-coloured eyebrow. He diverted his line of sight back to the whiteboard, where unfamiliar blocks of text had adorned themselves onto. Christ, how much fucking time have I wasted?

He picked up his pen once more and trusted his olfactory receptors would become habituated to the stench in time. That is, until he was faced with another problem.

Why is she still staring?

His grip on the pen tightened. For fucks sake.

Discretely, he raised his eyes to her direction. It was a split-second glance, but it was plain to him that yes, she was still staring. Now even Shitty Four-eyes was giving him weird looks. There was no avoiding a confrontation with her after class either. He sighed.

He just needed to get through this. He needed a passing grade.

The shrill scream of the bell filled his ears with an indescribable elation. He was the first out of the hall.

*****

Trost University was not as big as the ones up in Sina, but it certainly wasn’t small. It took ten minutes to walk from his department building to the university library, for example. The campus was comprised of several faculty buildings where supervisions with his tutors were held every week and all around the scattered faculty buildings were small, isolated patches of grass populated, most of the time, by a third of the student body.

It was quite a cramped city. Most of the streets were lined with bicycles and old structures stained with the sepia of history. He chose it because of the fact that the air here was the cleanest and that you could hear a pin drop across the street when night fell. No-one else would be awake at that time either. He got by through his first year as smoothly as was theoretically possible, so much so that he even made the foolish mistake of thinking it would stay that way for three more years.

Yeah fucking right.

“Oi, Levi!” Hange yelled from behind him. He ignored her, instead picking up the pace. Fresh air hadn’t felt this good since two hours ago, can’t he just enjoy it for a while? Hange was already jogging to catch up to him. He stopped suddenly when he remembered he had to go to the library, which was in the opposite direction. Sure enough, he came face to face with his bespectacled lab partner. She was grinning from ear to ear. “What the hell was that a while ago? You got the hots for Petra or something?” She was grinning so widely it irked the life out of him. When Levi didn’t answer, she continued. “I think you two would be so adorable together.”

His neck snapped to face her. “No,” he stated firmly, fixed with a death glare.

“You don’t have to hide it from me, Levi,” Hange scoffed, mock-offended. “Anyone could see you were stealing those obvious glances at her. Luckily for you, she’s single too. If you need help with anything, I mean, I could, you know, introduce you two later—”

Levi sighed, pushing her to the side after a long internal debate on whether or not to let the bicycle crash into her and end this stupid interrogation. “Hange, no.”

He started to walk across the bridge to the library, hoping he can shake the crazed woman off of his back. His phone started to vibrate in his pocket and he raised it to his ear as if he was about to answer. He was only looking to see if that would shut her up and turn her away. To no surprise, she was still on his trail and wouldn’t stop barraging him with a flurry of nonsensical statements. He frowned when he returned the unanswered phone back into his pocket. Mikasa would text if it was that urgent.

“I mean, what’s the problem with getting together with Petra? She’s smart, she’s pretty, and – wait for it – she’s tidier than me!” Hange exclaimed excitedly.

“Everyone is tidier than you, Shitty Glasses,” Levi retorted. "Even Eren, that idiot kid."

Hange seemed to seriously contemplate his reply for a few moments before starting again. “I’m not really sure if you’re her type, though.”

“I don’t really care.”

“But why?” she whined. So it has come to this.

Levi exhaled in exasperation. Again, he stopped in his tracks. “If I tell you why, will you give me your notes from that last lecture and then leave me alone?”

Hange’s head bobbed up and down enthusiastically.

Levi rolled his eyes at her antics. He was hesitant on what to tell her. What if she snaked on him to that girl, Petra? Tch. I don’t care. He cleared his throat, averting his gaze to the river below them. “She smelled like a wet dog.”

All hopefulness had disappeared from the scientist’s features, replaced by the upturned eyebrows of confusion and the tug of a frown. She straightened her posture in disbelief. “But it hasn’t rained since last Sunday! Trost weather isn’t that bad either.”

The raven-haired boy shrugged. “Still smelled like a wet dog.”

It was Hange’s turn to let out a frustrated sigh. “Levi…are you sure? I mean, I didn’t smell anything off around her, and I was only three seats away! Don’t tell me you’ve turned into Edward Cullen—”

“I gave you an answer, Hange,” he snapped irritably, obviously affected by his admission. “Just give me your notes and go back to where you were originally going.”

Hange huffed in defeat, her eyebrows still knitted in puzzlement. Nevertheless, she reached inside her backpack and took out a yellow notebook. Levi accepted it wordlessly, walking past her without looking back. “Don’t worry,” she said before he was too far away to hear it. “I won’t tell on you.”

“Do what you want, Shitty Glasses,” he waved it off, whatever ‘it’ was.

*****

He supposed it was cruel fate too when he saw her seated at his usual spot near the window.

It was still daylight, but the telltale dimming of the sun had cast a twilight glow on the dust-filled shelves of the library, as well as illuminating the girl’s copper-tinged hair so it looked like small licks of flame were dancing on the crown of her head.

Levi wondered where in the hell that poetry came from before sitting at a table that was as far away from her as possible. She didn’t smell like she did a few hours ago, thankfully, but still…it would be awkward to sit too close. He was only here to take out a few books and translate Hange’s sorry excuse for handwriting into actual, decipherable words.

The library was normally the quietest place he could be in during the day, but somehow the sound of the girl’s scratches on paper was deafening to his ears. He rubbed his eyes, trying to focus on Hange’s illegible scrawls.

The scratching sounds persisted.

“Right, nitrobenzene…” he muttered to himself. “Electrophilic shit…”

“Excuse me.”

“Fuck off,” he said under his breath, finally absorbed in his work. It was only until he inhaled once that he knew who was standing in front of him. He dropped his pen, raising his head to look.

Yep. Wet Dog Girl. “Can I help you?” he said, opting for a less-sarcastic-than-intended tone of voice. But his eyes said it all. After all, she was the reason he was even going through this struggle.

And hers did too, the amber orbs were filled with unadulterated curiosity. What in the world could she be so curious about?

“No,” she replied, voice hoarse yet pleasantly sweet. “Here.” She slid a stapled document across to him, flashed him a shy smile, then turned to take her leave, of which was brusque enough to let him inhale a whiff of her scent. He wrinkled his nose, grateful she didn't turn to look back.

Weird. Levi flicked through the pages. She had photocopied her notes from the lecture, and her handwriting was as clear as a Trost summer sky. He craned his neck to see where she had gone but she was nowhere in sight. He guessed he had no choice but to thank her later.

Hange would have a fit if she knew.

*****

Petra scurried towards the library exit, holding the loose books tightly to her chest. She couldn’t believe she had spoken to that boy, though she had no choice but to confirm a nagging suspicion that had gripped her since the lecture a few hours ago.

And she was right. She needed to avoid him at all costs.

Chapter Text

Petra quickened in her haste to get back to her flat once she had exited the library. 

She could smell him too, the moment she had first stepped into that unfamiliar hall in the guise of a chemistry student. Luckily for her, the girl with the glasses three seats away had offered to give her a spare textbook for when the professor would reference it. She introduced herself as Hange and Petra would often sneak a whisper towards her to ask for the spellings of highfalutin terms the professor riddled his speech with. By the time he was on to something about 'electrophilic substitution', she started to wonder why in the world she was doing this for Auruo in the first place. 

Soon enough, the faint, peculiar scent of the forest became stronger, until it was almost unbearable. Petra looked around the room in a daze, knowing that someone was the root of the problem. She had noticed him straight away, directly across from her, listening to the white-haired lecturer with a bored stare, chin resting on his raised palm.

He was handsome, Petra couldn’t deny, but he looked sharp, and that normally meant danger. It wasn’t just his eyes either. Though his bullet-grey stare was the most striking, his black hair also starkly contrasted with his pale skin. And that jaw-line. 

Petra shook herself out of her trance, diverting her attention to the whiteboard. Auruo had said she didn’t have to understand a word of chemistry to take down valuable notes, so she relied on her dictation skills to transcribe the professor’s explanations as best as she could, sketching out the diagrams he provided on the whiteboard.     

She thought she would never have to look at that boy again until she felt a pair of eyes glaring straight at her. She glanced up, surprised, and found herself locked with those same bullet-grey. But why does he look so uncomfortable? she thought. Before she could pin the answer down, he had looked away, as quick as lightning.               

Must be a coincidence, Petra assured herself. Nevertheless, she kept observing him picking up his pen and then placing it back down, attempting to bury his nose into the crook of his elbow. Once, she caught him stealing a glance in her direction.     

Turning back to the lecture, she scribbled down the new lines of equations presented on the board, choosing to ignore her rapidly increasing heart rate. It couldn’t be… she mentally shook her head.  

When the bell sounded, she lifted her eyes to see where the boy was, but he had already gone. Along with the smell of burning pinewood.  

She had walked out of the hall absent-minded after thanking Hange for the textbook. The brunette had also been in a rush to get out of the room, presumably to her next lecture. 

Somehow, she had ended up walking to the library. The place was like a second home to her, being a Linguistics student, so she welcomed the familiar scent of history mixed with dust that greeted her when she opened the doors. Usually, she would spend her time upstairs in the language section, but since she was only here to think in a quiet area, she chose to sit near the window, away from the other bustling students in the library. 

What had happened in there? She thought it was not only strange, but almost frightening that, at least for a moment, she had become hypersensitive to that boy. But why burning pinewood? Something about it tickled in the back of Petra’s mind, probably something Erd had mentioned once, long ago.  

Her thoughts were interrupted by the abrupt opening of the library doors, and her head started aching when the same smell that had plagued her since two hours ago reached her nose. It was him again, surely. 

He had sat down ten seats away from her, close to the edge of the long table, and Petra couldn’t resist a small smile. It was so obvious he was avoiding her. When she saw him take out a yellow notebook, she couldn’t pass up this chance to approach him. Just to see…maybe I’m wrong. Writing down a few more notes on the lecture, she got up and walked over to where he was, slumped on a book of hieroglyphics.  

She should’ve expected he would have a foul mouth, just like most boys she knew, but she never expected it to be the first words to officiate their meeting, though she was interrupting his work.  

Instead of mulling over his apparent grouchiness, Petra only gave him the notes she had intended to give to Auruo, watching his expression carefully. She was right. He could smell her, though she had no clue what he was thinking, only that he looked like he was in pain. It must be really bad…  

She smiled apologetically. Now it was clear. In a room full of  other students who were clearly not as affected by each other as they were, there was only one answer for their mutual discomfort.  

Now only Erd could tell her what a human smells when they find out they’re destined to be with a werewolf.

*****

Auruo let her into the flat, rubbing at his temple groggily. “Did you get my notes?” he said as he yawned. Petra slapped his mouth shut, causing him to stumble backwards, mouth still open. “Oi, what was that for?”    

“Good morning, you drunkards,” Petra announced loudly as she dumped her bag next to the shoe shelf. She walked further into the flat, Auruo trailing behind her, and she saw that the rest of the three people she lived with were still horizontal on the living room floor. Rolling her eyes, she gently kicked Erd awake, eliciting an annoyed grunt from the blond. “Erd, you have to wake up, it’s almost five in the afternoon.”   

Reluctantly, he sat up, rubbing his eyes. “Christ,” he said. “I have a splitting headache.”   

“That’s what happens when you get drunk without me in the pub,” Petra sighed, handing him a water bottle and some aspirin. Erd muttered a “thanks” before consuming it. He kicked at Gunther’s back to jolt him awake.               

“Erd, I swear to God—“ came the disgruntled reply.    

Auruo snickered from the kitchen table as he lazily munched on a granola bar. “So, Pet, did you get my notes?” he attempted to ask again.

“I told you to stop calling me that,” Petra glared. “And no, I gave them to someone else.”               

The dirt-blond man straightened in his chair, his expression indignant. “What? But, Pet—”               

“If  you call me that one more time I won’t cook for a week.”               

“That’s fine, we have Erd—”               

“No, it’s Petra’s turn this week,” Erd chimed in, stumbling towards the fridge to take out a bottle of milk. “Ah, that reminds me, did you get the notes from the Sapir-Whorf lecture this morning, Petra?”               

The caramel-haired girl nodded as she took a seat on the sofa next to Gunther. “Or assignment for the next supervision is just some light reading so you should be okay.”    

“Thanks, Pet.”               

“No problem,” she said, smirking at Auruo’s betrayed expression. “By the way, Erd, if I start smelling burning—”       

“Pinewood?” Erd cut in casually after chugging down a pint of milk. “Who is it?” he continued, ignoring Petra’s wide eyes. When she remained silent, he pressed for more. “Human or wolf?”               

“What’s this about?” Auruo tried to join in but was forced into silence by Erd’s stern stare.               

Petra shook out of her reverie when Gunther suddenly shifted his position, discretely listening in to their conversation. She turned her head to see Erd’s expectant gaze. Sighing, she said, “Human. He was in the chemistry lecture a while ago.”               

Auruo jumped at the opportunity. “Who is he? Maybe I know him, what does he look like?”               

Petra shot him a glare. “It doesn’t matter. I’m never going to see him again anyway.”               

Erd shook his head. “Petra, you know the deal here. You’ve seen it happen to me with Elsa. You know there’s no way you won’t cross paths with this boy again.”               

Gunther was now wide awake. “Is this something to do with your weird mating tendencies?” he asked drowsily. “Because human or not, we still have to protect Petra.”               

She rolled her eyes at his statement. Sometimes she found it endearing when Gunther’s big-brother attitude shines through for her, and sometimes, like this time, she found it slightly irritating. “I don’t need protection.”  

“That’s what they all say before they start popping out babies in no time,” Auruo guffawed. He stopped abruptly when he saw no-one else was laughing. His face dropped. “Fine. Ignore me.”  

“Anyway,” said Erd, breaking the silence. “Given all circumstances, I’m actually happy you found someone, Petra, whoever he is. And I don’t really understand why you’re the only one sitting with a frown.” 

She had thought it through before. Anyone in her position would be absolutely delighted that they had found what they would call their ‘soul mate’. It was every romanticist’s dream come true. To find the one person they were ‘meant to be with’ out of the million other people around them.   

But she didn’t want to believe in fate. She wanted to believe in free will. To love whoever she wanted to fall in love with and not be attacked by the smell of burning pinewood whenever they’re around her. No matter how handsome he is…     

Which brings her to question, “If I can smell burning stuff when he’s nearby, what does he smell when I’m there?”               

Erd attempted to suppress a grimace. “Well…for wolf on wolf it’s different. It’s actually nice from what I was told, but when I found Elsa…she couldn’t stand to be around me for more than an hour. It was just so unpleasant.”       

“I'm not surprised,” Auruo butted in again, earning a sharp glare from all three of them. He put his hands up in defense.               

“Basically, to them you smell like a wet dog,” said Erd, blunt as always.               

Petra had no choice but to bury her face in her hands. “That’s one more reason I have to avoid him,” she groaned. “And he looks at me like he wants to be put out of his misery. Him and his stupid grey eyes.”               

“Grey eyes?” Auruo piped up. This time, Gunther and Erd turned to him in curiosity. Auruo clapped his hands, rubbing his palms together with a satisfied smirk. “I think I know who it is.”               

“Who?” Gunther was quick to interject. Petra punched his arm at his eagerness.               

Auruo was laughing uncontrollably. “It’s Levi, isn’t it?”               

Petra wouldn’t know because they never introduced themselves to one another, so she just stared blankly at the annoying git on the kitchen table.  

“Short? Black hair? Looks like he went into Hitler’s salon?” Auruo persisted. “Come on, there’s only one dude in Chemistry with eyes that you would actually remember because they’re so intense, and I’m telling you, his name is Levi Ackerman. I still can’t believe you gave my notes to him. It’s not like he needs them, he’s a beast at chem.”               

“Well,” said Erd. “I won’t be surprised if he didn’t get any notes down while Petra was in the room. It’s quite…overwhelming, to say the least.”  

Petra buried face deeper into her arms, if not to hide her blush at learning the boy’s name, then to hide her embarrassment at learning she smelled disgusting.

It will go away once you make contact with him, Erd told her later that night. And you know you’re in deep once he starts smelling like the best thing in the world, and vice versa.  

Petra shook her head as she nodded off to sleep. There was no way he could ever smell like paper fresh from the printer.

*****

Mikasa                             now

It’s urgent.

slide to reply

Levi frowned when he received the notification. Why couldn’t she just text the details? He already knew it involved that Jaeger brat before he even called and she picked up.  

“What is it now?” he said. “I’m busy.”               

“No you’re not,” Mikasa replied. Levi scowled at the ceiling of his bedroom, knowing he could never fool his sister. “I need money.”   

He sat up, visibly annoyed at the news. “Did Eren end up in prison or something?” He had to admit, he was kind of hopeful. 

“No.” Never mind. “I broke your bike. Accidentally. The subframe and the rear cowl got crushed. I need money to repair it.”   

Levi ran a hand through his face before replying. “Jaeger broke it,” he stated curtly. There was silence on the other line. That must be it, then. “Jaeger broke it so he should pay for it with his own damn money.”               

“I said he didn’t break it.” Bullshit. He knew her too well. Her and that boy she’d taken an unfortunately liking to since they met as kids. “I can’t ask the Jaegers for money since I’ve already intruded in their humble abode due to your absence.”  

Trust her to subtly put the blame on his abandonment of her to pursue his studies at an out-of-town university. “I’m drowning in student debt before I’ve even finished studying and you’re asking me for money to pay for someone else’s fucking clumsiness?” he growled into the phone.    

There was a pause. “Yes.”               

Levi sighed loudly. “Fine. Just text me the amount and I’ll transfer it to your account in 48 hours. Is that all?”               

“Yes. Thanks.” The line went dead. She even had the balls to hang up first.               

After staring incredulously at his phone for a few moments, Levi switched the screen off and flopped back on the bed, awaking moments later to it vibrating against his palm again.               

He squinted at the bright screen.

Mikasa                             now

The repairmen said to start with £70 but you might as well give me £200.

slide to reply

“No,” he muttered, texting his response. “I’ll give you 150 max.” He put his phone on silent before placing it on his bedside lamp. It didn’t take long for him to fall fast asleep, the image of a wolf with cinnamon fur burned in his mind.

Chapter Text

Something was wrong. The morning was eerily quiet, and Erwin’s absence had nothing to do with it. Normally, he would just wake up, take a quick, cold shower, get dressed, then make his way out of the flat and go to a scheduled lecture.

And that was exactly what he did. Yet…something was wrong. On the way to class, he found himself looking down unseen alleyways for signs of rain or the flash of orange-yellow hair. What was he expecting?

It was the first time he was snapped at by a first-year to “watch his step”. He’d never felt so out of it in his life.

The morning rush of students hurrying towards their 9 AM lectures passed him by in a blur. Bicycle bells increased in their frequency as he stepped down into the road to avoid a crowd of hungover theology scholars. That was probably the second middle finger he had been shoved in the face with since he woke up. The first was when he realised he had bought two cups of regular black coffee and he only had enough to pay for one, to the hostile dismay of the part-timer who took his order.

The most peculiar of all, however, was waiting for the unpleasant odour to attack his senses yet again in chemistry. Levi frowned internally. Maybe it was a defence mechanism or something.

In any case, the most normal thing that happened since the day began was Hange scooting closer to where he was sat, eyes guarding the door carefully.

“Who’re you waiting for?” the brunette asked chirpily, taking out an orange pencil case with the periodic table printed on one side. Levi ignored her. She gasped. “Could it be…?”

This time, his neck snapped in her direction. “No.”

“You didn’t even let me finish,” she said with a grin.

“Whatever you were going to say was wrong anyway,” he replied, opening his notebook to where he had left off.

Hange leaned over his shoulder. “Who gave you those notes? Pretty sure you can’t write that neatly.”

Levi scowled. “No-one important,” he said, shielding his work away from her prying eyes.

“You sure?” she persisted. “Because I’m also pretty sure those are Petra’s. She asked me how to spell ‘Friedel-Crafts alkylation’ but I didn’t know either so I told her to spell it with an ‘i’ and only later I found out it was spelled with a—”

Levi let out an exasperated sigh, cutting her off. “Fine, yes, she gave them to me, now be quiet .” Maybe that was it. He was only looking to pay her back for her notes from yesterday. She didn’t seem to be here, though.

Hange huffed but moved away from him as requested. “You could’ve just said so in the first place,” she muttered. Levi narrowed her eyes at her.

The professor walked in, different from yesterday. Younger, definitely, and drunk. His slightly flushed face gave him away somewhat, though it wasn’t unusual for teachers to join in pub crawls with the students, like the one two nights ago.

The lesson began immediately. It was hard to understand at first, what with Dr. Pixis stumbling on every fifth word that came out of his mouth, but soon enough his ears became accustomed to his slurs. Once in a while, he would steal a discrete glance at the entrance, feeling strangely disappointed when he looked back to the front.

When the class was over, Hange was already packed to go. She stood to leave.

“Wait,” said Levi. Hange looked at him in surprise. She pointed a finger to herself in question. “Yes, you,” he rolled his eyes. “Is—”

“Levi!” someone shouted from a few rows in front. A boy with hair the colour of wet sand waved his arms over his head, grabbing his attention. He jogged up the steps to where they were. “Buddy, you remember me?”

Levi’s eye twitched. Buddy?

“I was your first-year roommate,” the boy flashed him a toothy smile. Hange snorted. “Auruo.” He held out his hand. Hange took it instead.

“Right. Bossard,” Levi responded wryly. Images of stray dirty underwear and piles of unwashed dishes flashed across his mind. “What do you want?”

Auruo shook his head. “I just came to say ‘yo’. I’m sure we’ll be running into each other more frequently soon.”

“Why’s that?” Hange piped up, wanting in on this seemingly latest development of Levi’s social life.

Auruo only shrugged, irritating the shorter male further. “Anyway, I’m off to a supervision with Old Nick. See you.” He turned to leave in haste.

“What was that about?” said Hange when Auruo disappeared from their sight.

Levi sighed, packing his stationery into his bag. “If I knew, I would tell you.”

Hange scoffed. “Why do I find that so hard to believe?”

Levi stood up, slinging his messenger bag over his left shoulder. “Let’s just go.”

“Wait. What were you going to ask me?”

“Nothing important,” he answered, already a distance away from her. He looked back at her from the entrance, grey eyes indolent. Scanning the room once more, he finally exited the hall, leaving the scientist to ponder over what Levi was being so evasive about.

*****

She wasn’t in the next day either. He was starting to wonder whether he should forget about any kind of repayment at all. Hange kept giving him weird looks all morning. He needed to avoid her and her intruding questions to which he had no answers to offer.

As the lecture ended, Levi quickly gathered his things and bolted for the door, almost bumping into that annoying boy who had butted in his conversation yesterday morning. Said boy waved to him as he flew past but Levi paid him no mind.

He needed to get his head together. It seemed the only person who had answers closest to the ones he was searching for was Hange, but his pride prevented him from seeking her out. After all, his sudden curiosity on a particular girl would almost certainly be misunderstood by her, even if his intentions were not in any way to advance his nonexistent ‘love life’. Hange had always been excessively optimistic when it came to matters involving him and people other than her, Erwin, and his sister.

Which reminded him…

He stopped beside the library to fish out his phone from his coat pocket, typing in a few words. The reply was immediate. He scowled upon seeing it.

Mikasa                             now

I’m about to go into class.

slide to reply

It was a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question, dammit. He angrily shoved his phone back into his pocket, walking into the library.

His usual spot was empty this time too. Making his way over to the window, he placed his bag onto the table and stalked over to the chemistry shelves. Pixis had asked them to read about the orientation and reactivity effects of benzene ring substituents before the core practical tomorrow afternoon and he had been so out of focus in that lecture.

When he passed by the zoology shelf, he stopped, taking three strides backwards until he was face to face with a book on display.

It was a familiar animal to him, having seen it traverse his dreamscape twice already. He took it, flipping through the pages. It was an encyclopaedia of sorts, specifically focusing on wolves: their phylogeny, behaviour, physiology…

He was looking at an image of a silver-furred alpha male when someone tapped him twice on the shoulder. Closing the book shut, he turned around to face the intruder.

The man was a good deal taller than him, though that was to be expected, he thought sourly. “Can I help you?” Levi asked impatiently.

“Are you Levi Ackerman?” the stranger said, brown eyes darting side to side, as if sheepish.

“Yes,” Levi replied sharply, narrowing his grey eyes.

“I’m Gunther,” he said simply, holding out a tanned hand. “I study econ here.”

Levi gave the outstretched hand a deliberating look. It didn’t take long before Gunther retracted it, grimacing. “No offense was meant by it,” Levi assured him.

“No offense taken, I understand,” he nodded quickly. “Look, I just wanted to confirm something for a friend,” he continued. “You’re reading chemistry, right?”

“Not currently,” said Levi, holding up the book on wolves. Gunther blanched. “Is there a problem?”

The taller boy shook his head frantically. “No, it’s fine. I have to go back to—I mean, I forgot something back in my flat, so I’ll be leaving now.”

Levi frowned, watching the stranger grab his things and vanish from sight.

Dismissing the odd encounter, he proceeded to take out a textbook from the chemistry section as well as checking out the encyclopaedia before he too exited the vicinity. 

*****

“Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony, but everything changed when the fire nation attacked. Only the avatar, master of all four elements could stop—”

The screen turned black, replaced by Erd’s plain blue shirt as he moved in front of it with a stern face.

“But when the world needed him most, he vanished,” Petra continued in a murmur. “A hundred years passed—”

“Petra. Stop,” Erd cut her off. “It’s been three days. You can’t just keep leeching off of me for notes and Brzenska is going to start wondering whether you need to go into intensive care with how many times you’ve missed her lessons.”

“I told you to cover for me,” Petra grumbled weakly, wrapping her blanket closer to her shoulders. “It’s only been three days.”

“I did but having a ‘stomach ache’ for three days is a bit much,” he said, tugging the blanket away from her. She let out a shocked yelp, flailing her hands to reach for it but he held it just out of her reach.

Petra mustered up her fiercest glare. “Erd. She’s a woman. She will understand.”

The blond shook his head firmly.  “I did not want to resort to this, but you left me with no choice.”

Petra let out a strangled sigh. “I am a strong, independent woman who can make my own choices,” she ranted. “Only I can choose to get out of this room and when. And it’s definitely not now.” She lunged for her blanket but miscalculated the distance and fell face-first onto the carpet. She scowled, face flushed from embarrassment. “Erd,” she snarled. 

He kept shaking his head. “You’re only staying here because you’re scared that this Levi boy you met yesterday, who may I add, has a completely opposite schedule to yours, will start to approach you of his own accord and then you’ll actually start taking a liking to each other.”

“He’s a bloody stranger, Erd,” Petra growled, getting back onto her bed. “I don’t even find him the least bit attractive.”

Erd mock-gasped at that, taken aback. “That is a lie and you know it. You want to see him again.”

The copper-haired girl covered her face with her hands in response, shoulders slumping. “I just don’t get it.”

Erd watched her lie back down on her bed, one arm shielding her eyes from view. He sat down at the edge, draping the blanket over her legs. “Ask me then,” he said calmly.

“It’s not something you can answer, believe me,” she mumbled, placing her arm back down to her side. “Why do we —as in me, you and the rest of our kind —have these things predetermined for us while everyone else has to go through so much hardship just to find someone remotely right for them? I just don’t get how that works. How does the universe know that someone is the one for me before I can choose for myself?”

There was a long silence between them, broken momentarily by Petra shifting on to her side, her back facing towards him. “Come on, Pet. It’s simple biology.”

“If it were, I would be mated to you,” she laughed bitterly. “And I just can’t imagine that.”

Erd made a face, unseen. “Me neither.”

“I guess I’ll just accept it,” she sighed, sitting up and ruffling her hair. “If he freaks out and moves to another country, I’ll accept that too. Hashtag forever alone.”

“That’s not true,” Erd smiled as he roughed her hair some more, earning a disdained glare from the she-wolf. “He’d be a fool to reject someone like you. Besides, you’ve got me and the rest of the squad.”

She rolled her caramel eyes, swinging her legs to the side of the bed and standing up. “You know what I mean. Now go away, I’m going to grab a coffee before The Old Hannes.”

“I’ll come with,” said Erd before he closed the door and left her to her own devices.

Once he was gone, she exhaled in relief. Her room was mess, reflecting her present state of mind. She would have to do some tidying later in the afternoon when she was caffeine’d-up and more alert.

She opened a few drawers, taking out a plain pink shirt and blue jeans and getting dressed. When she walked over to the mirror, she took a deep breath. Reaching out a tentative hand, her fingertips skimmed its cold surface.

Her wrist began to itch, a prickling heat making its way along the bones that traced her fingers all the way to the tips. She turned it to look at the underside and saw the bones replaced by four dark brown pads with small pointed nails jutting out of each. Half of her arm was covered in bronze-tinged fur, up to her elbows.

She looked at her face. Morose, golden eyes stared back, tall ears twitching on the top of her head, her long snout almost touching the mirror.

She jolted back into human form, wincing when she heard Erd knocking, rubbing her sweaty palms on her jeans as she scrambled to collect her wallet and keys. “I’ll be right there,” she called.

Looking back at the mirror once more, she left the room and saw Erd beckoning her to the front door.

“Are Gunther and Auruo still in classes?” she asked as they went down the steps on to the street. “Maybe we should—” She froze, face paling. She smelt it. Burning trees. Erd raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“What’s—”

“It’s him,” she whispered harshly, taking his arm to quickly hide in a nearby vacant alleyway.

“Where?” Erd whispered back, searching frantically for a black-haired boy with intense grey eyes.

Petra shook her head violently. “He’s already seen me. We need to go.” The pained expression on her face made Erd worry.

“Maybe he just wants to speak to you.”

Her frown deepened. “I can’t, I’m not ready—”

“He’s coming over,” Erd informed her in the calmest voice he could muster.  She shut her eyes tightly.  “Look, if you’re that panicked, you should go. I’ll meet you at Braus’ in a few minutes.”

Her wide amber eyes had already made their choice. Thanking him wordlessly, she made a dash down the alleyway and disappeared from sight.

Erd waited for the short, straight-faced boy to collectedly make his way to him. “You must be Levi?”

*****

Shit, he cursed. He shouldn’t have taken the shortcut to the café. Now he was foolishly standing in an unfamiliar residential area, unsure of which direction to go. Shit. He was about to start walking back to where he diverged off the main street when his eyes caught on to the copper-haired girl walking out of one of the red-bricked terraced houses that lined the pavement.

His eyes widened marginally, recognising her by scent first then as she turned her head to his direction. A small shiver raced up his spine when their eyes locked, and he watched her expression twist into a grimace upon seeing him. He was about to call out but she had grabbed the man next to her in a hurry, turning a left on to one of those isolated backstreets that littered the city.

More than a little puzzled and unconscious of the sharp, green sensation bubbling in his chest, he strode over to where they were not-so-discreetly hidden.

Once he turned the corner, only the blond was there to greet him.

“You must be Levi?” he smiled, almost apologetically.

Seemed he was becoming famous around the campus lately, though he didn’t remember doing anything of remote notability.

“Yes,” he replied, to the third person who knew his name without him having any recollection of giving it. This time it was a brown-eyed blond who easily towered over him. “How do you know of me?” he decided to question it at last.

“You’re in Auruo’s chemistry class, right?” the man said smoothly. “He babbles on about you sometimes.”

Levi didn’t respond, instead his gaze hovered over to the side. “Do you know the girl who just went past this way?” he pointed to the empty alleyway.

“Who, Petra?” said the blond. Levi nodded. “Uh, yeah, well, she said she forgot she had to do something so she rushed off, why?”

Levi blinked. “I don’t think it’s any of your business.”

The blond cleared his throat, averting his eyes. “Well, anyway, I’m Erd.” Levi noticed he didn’t hold out his hand for him to shake. Something was strange.

“I’m Levi, but you already knew that. Somehow,” he muttered the last part inaudibly. Since she’s not here, I might as well ask. He looked up at Erd after a moment. “Do you know how to get to Braus’ from here?”

Erd mechanically pointed in the direction of the alleyway. “Yeah, we—I mean, I was about to make my way there,” he said. “I can take you over if you want.”

“I’m in a rush,” Levi told him bluntly. He glanced at his watch to make a point.

Erd shook his head. “That’s fine, it’s about five  minutes away.”

Levi squinted suspiciously. Surely he hadn’t wandered that far away from the original route. If that was the case, he had no time to quickly grab a drink before his scheduled practical. He had already wasted enough time wondering where he even was as it is. “No, I have to go back anyway.” He nodded once before turning on his heel and retraced his steps back to where he had probably made the wrong corner.

Now he knew that something was definitely weird and for some reason, a part of him already knew that everything involved that girl. Petra.

And who was that man with her? Obviously they had to be close to be exiting the same house together. And he had lied so smoothly to his face.

Running a hand through his jet-black hair, he resolved to do the last thing he wanted to do.

And it included a brown-haired scientist eagerly waiting outside the laboratory, itching to get a hold of the school’s chemical supply.

*****

“Well, no she’s not a chem student, duh,” Hange made a face as she poured phenol into a test tube. “She told me she does Linguistics and she was only there to take notes for a passed-out friend. Until now I thought that was you when I saw those very notes. Pass me the bromine.” She held out an expectant hand.

Levi frowned. “Move over, I’ll do it myself. I don’t trust you.” He sidestepped over the grey stools that lined the laboratory counter to where Hange was slumped over the test tube rack, deeply inhaling the strong scent of the chemicals.

“Levi, babe.” He froze in his place, seething. He absolutely detested it when she started calling him that awful name. It normally signified the start of her ‘Annoy Levi To Get What I Want’ phase that was a whole new level from her ground-state. One that he could only barely tolerate before causing her physical harm.

He paid her no heed, snatching the test tube from her grip and proceeding to carefully add the required liquid.

“You’re no fun,” Hange pouted, leaning back on the counter.

“So is having stuff explode in my face every time we do an experiment together,” he deadpanned.

Hange sighed, wagging her index finger in his face. “That’s not what true chemists would say.”

  “It would be, actually, if they hadn’t died from doing exactly that.” He swirled the tube around, noting the ready formation of a white solid precipitate. “Oi, Shitty Glasses, note this down.”

“Already did,” she said in bored tone. “Anyway, back to Petra.”

Levi visibly tensed at hearing her name, swirling the tube more vigorously than needed. Hange smirked.

“After our little discussion on the bridge, I asked around to find out more about her for whenever you decided to ask me again,” she teased. Levi’s eyebrows creased in disdain. Damn woman. “My sources tell me that yes, she is single—”

“I’m not concerned about that,” he interrupted scathingly, placing the test tube down back into the rack and picking another one up, inspecting it closely.

Hange nodded, lips pursed and both eyebrows raised. Levi had to restrain himself in order not to punch her. “Right,” she carried on naively. “My sources also tell me she’s living with three other men around the Karanese District, you know that residential area near Braus’?”

Levi’s mind blanked as soon as she mentioned the residential area. Three?  He clenched his jaw, narrowing his eyes at the work in front of him. Three men? The blond must be one of them then. But three?

“Hellooooo,” Hange clicked her fingers in front of him. “Yooooo, Shorty.”

“What.” That was right. They had to nitrate it next. “Pass me the sulfuric.”

“Are you even listening to me?” Hange snapped, irritated. Still, she slid over the container towards him, as well as the nitric acid.

“No.”

“Fine,” she replied hotly, crossing her arms. But she couldn’t keep her mouth shut for more than a few heartbeats before rambling on again. “By the way, when’s Smithy coming back?”

“Tonight,” he said. “And thank God he’s not bringing that stupid mutt with him.”

“Oh right, I forgot about your beef with Mike,” the brunette snorted. Levi kicked her swiftly in the shin. She winced in silent pain, not wanting to attract the attention of Pixis, who was casually checking on the pair of students in the row in front of them. She reached over and slapped his goggles off his face, snickering. Revenge.

The short male only inhaled deeply, picking up the fallen glasses and putting them back on with a calm composure. Hange was in soundless hysterics beside him, slapping the counter softly to emphasise how fucking hilarious the entire ordeal was.

Distracted, Levi poured the nitric acid in one strong burst. Just as Pixis turned around to face them, the test tube shattered and the enclosed laboratory shuddered with a resounding boom.

Levi pursed his lips as he waved away the billowing smoke that was making the edge of his eyes water from the intensity. Soon enough, the fire alarm shrieked throughout the entire building and water started spurting from the ceiling, hardening Pixis’ gaze at the black-haired boy who was the root of the problem. To his side, Hange was pointing a weak finger at his hair, face contorted in uncontrollable laughter. “Your hair…” she gasped between breaths.

He made sure Hange was no longer laughing when they finally got evacuated from the building, the confused faces of the other students pointedly staring in his direction.

He stormed off, jacket strategically covering his head, all but running back towards isolation.

*****

Levi was grumbling when he stepped out of the shower, towel wrapped around his waist. He moved towards the bathroom mirror, frowning at the singed ends of his undercut. If Shitty Glasses hadn’t distracted me… He scowled.

He opened the door to his room briskly, getting dressed in a matter of minutes. As he moved past his bed to reach for his laptop, he noticed the screen on his phone was alight.

Mikasa                             8m ago

Parent’s evening on the 13^th of March

Mikasa                             8m ago

The Jaegers will be out of town so they’re asking you to cover for them instead

Mikasa                             7m ago

It’s from 5 to 9, not sure which slot eren wants to take so you might as well stay the     night when you come over

Mikasa                             3m ago

Btw, they fixed the bike

Mikasa                             now

Hange says you have a girlfriend. Bring her over when you come.

slide to reply

He almost threw his phone across the room at the last message. Crazy bitch.

Refusing to answer any of his sister’s messages, he grabbed the laptop and moved into the living room. Placing it on the sofa, he strolled over to the coffeemaker, lazily swirling the black concoction as he poured it into an empty mug.

He checked the clock above the television, noting the time. Erwin should be arriving soon. His eyes became steel when he remembered the mess his elusive flatmate always carried with him.

Dispelling the image to the back of his mind, he relaxed into the sofa seat, picking up the computer as he crossed his legs. He should probably finish that write-up due tomorrow.

The front door finally rattled open at around 10pm. A tall, broad-shouldered man closed it shut behind him, tossing his keys carelessly onto the kitchen counter. Levi pursed his lips. Not even thirty seconds and he was already turning tables.

“Let’s go out for drinks,” Erwin’s tenor voice echoed from behind the fridge. “There’s an event at The Old Hannes tonight.” He took out a bottle of cold water and guzzled it down in a single gulp.

Levi didn’t turn from his work. “Pass.”

“Hange told me something on the way here,” Erwin swiftly changed topics. “Congrats.”

He had to resist the urge to face-palm. “Shitty Glasses doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

“Seems like a keeper, though,” Erwin continued, sitting opposite him. Levi lifted his eyes from the laptop screen only to glare at the icy-blue orbs observing him intently. “Apparently, she smells like a wet dog.”

Levi closed his laptop with a sharp ‘click’. “Not everyone is into bestiality like you.”

Erwin was unfazed, a small smile persisting on his lips. “Let’s have a drink. I’ll pay.”

“There’s juice in the fridge if you’re that thirsty,” Levi scowled, getting up to go back to his room.

“I’ll pay for the whole month’s rent if you come with me,” Erwin insisted.

That got to him. The glint in the blond’s cerulean eyes gave it away.

“Fucks sake,” Levi grumbled. “Rich bastard.”

Said rich bastard only chuckled in response. Levi internally shuddered. He’d always unnerved him, even though they’d been living under the same room for a little more than six months now. “I’ll meet you out front,” he said coolly, smirk never leaving his rich bastard face.

*****

The air stank of booze. Petra wrinkled her nose as she meandered her way through crowded tables over to the bar, cursing her heightened senses that came with being part-canine. She saw Auruo waving a languid arm towards her, beckoning for her to join him, Erd, and Gunther at their table. She stuck her tongue out in reply, choosing to sit close to the front. As long as she was in the same room as them, they wouldn’t get too rowdy. Otherwise, she’d beat the sense back into them again.

There was a buzz in the atmosphere tonight. She noticed a group of history students cracking up at one corner of the bar, faces already flushed from the alcohol, though the red lighting that overcast the entire room probably enhanced the colour as well.

On the opposite side, about seven people she recognized from English Literature lectures were playing a game of  ‘Never Have I Ever’, One of them looked like they were just about ready to explode as he downed another shot, his fellow mates egging him on.

Petra turned back to front, raising her hand to motion Hannes over.

Old Man Hannes, the owner of the bar, was always very welcoming to his guests. Most of the time he would be joining in the fun with the students, but as tonight was a particularly crowded night, he had chosen to sit this one out to become the responsible supervisor.

“Miss Ral! Haven’t seen yer in a while,” he flashed her a toothy, yellow-stained grin. “What can I get yer?”

“Just a pint for now,” she smiled back. He nodded, busying himself with her order.

In no time she was on her second pint and she was already tugging at her T-Shirt collar, cheeks tainted pink.

“Bit stifling in here, right?” asked Hannes as he passed her a glass of cold water, which she gulped down gratefully. “I trust you know how to handle yerself well, m’dear.”

“Of course,” Petra did her best to sound convincing.

It was only when she was intoxicated that she started to seriously think about the events that had directly preceded the night.

Burning trees. Black hair. Silver eyes. He was like a wolf himself when she thought about deliberately. Sharp nose, sharp jaw. He would be better suited into this life than her.

She giggled at that, taking another sip.

Levi. The name reminded her of a lone wolf, scouring the snow-barren land for prey then pouncing on it majestically, ripping its neck apart in one swift motion. It embarrassed her to admit that the image filled her with a tinge of ecstasy.

Suddenly, Gunther was at her side. “You okay there, Petra?” he asked as he laid down a fiver on the counter, motioning for more drinks. Hannes happily complied.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Gunther stared at her for a few seconds before turning to Hannes. “Make sure you don’t give her anything after the third pint except water.”

Petra sent him a scathing glare. “I can take care of myself.”

“Yeah, but the rest of us can’t take care of you,” he replied, referring to the two boys laughing loudly behind him. “Look, there goes Auruo,” he said with disdain.

Petra rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she said. “I need to stay awake to catch up on work tonight anyway.”

Gunther shrugged, leaving her in peace once Hannes had given him three bottles.

Petra resumed her thoughts, staring at the white foam lining the surface of the honey-coloured liquid. What if I hadn’t run away? What if I stayed and talked to him? What would he have said? What would I have said?

She scooted backwards on her seat to place her cheek on the cold wooden countertop. Her caramel eyes had glazed over, matching the colour of the brewed beer she was holding.

Then, as if a giant spider had jumped and began crawling on her skin, she jolted awake, alert.

Her nose twitched. Burning.

She groaned, finishing the pint in one large gulp. “One more!” she exclaimed over the noise that had begun to accumulate. Hannes filled it right up to the brim.

 She felt sick. Nauseous. Burning pinewood did not mix well with the taste of alcohol. Still, she held it in, focusing on a picture of the Wild West that Hannes had placed to the side of the counter. As if on cue, ‘Clint Eastwood’ started to drum its way into her ears, honing in on Damon Albarn’s apathetic drawl.

Christ, what is that smell? she internally gagged. She coughed a few times before swivelling on the stool to look behind her.

Sure enough, Levi was there, mirroring the pained expression on her face. Their eyes met, causing Petra to shiver against her will.

He sauntered over to her position, and from her peripheral vision she saw that all three of her flatmates had stopped laughing to observe them with wide, curious eyes.

When they were finally face to face, Petra felt her cheeks. They were sizzling. God, this is so embarrassing.

He blinked at her. Once. Twice. Grey eyes piercing. “Petra?”

God, his voice. She buried her face deeper into her hands. This is not me. This is not voluntary. This is nature acting against me, she kept repeating to herself like a mantra.

His scent, his real scent was intoxicating to her. Stronger than anything she’d ever encountered in her life.

Green soap. Tea leaves. Black coffee.

She felt like her head was cracking open.

Levi continued to stand in front of her, blocking her view of the door. She needed to get out. Away from him. He was just a stranger.

“Petra.”

The last thing she felt before blacking out was steel cutting into her eyeballs and the sensation of dry lips pressing onto her own.

Chapter Text

Stop looking at me like that, he wanted to snap violently at the bespectacled brunette currently sniggering at him from across the corridor. Great. Just great.

The hospital was relatively idle for a Friday night. Normally more people would be shuffling stretchers down hallways or slamming down handsets on phone bodies from the multiple calls they would be receiving. On rare occasions, you could hear someone wailing from a distant room or in the chapel, but after some complaints the hospital had decided to invest in a sound-proof area to keep things in order.

Levi turned his neck stiffly to look at Erwin, who had fallen asleep with his arms crossed and head bent low on the seat next to him. That left only Shitty Glasses for company, since the three strange men crowding around the person who had started this entire crisis paid no attention to the raven-haired boy clutching a bloodied tissue to his face. No matter how much he intensified his glare at their backs, they remained unabashedly unharmed.

Levi winced as he removed the tissue from under his nose. The thin white material had been stained with blotches of varying shades of red, though they had already started to lessen in size and frequency. He stared at it with contempt before reaching for another towel from the box the nurse had given him when they both arrived, one looking positively disgruntled and the other completely passed out in her friend’s arms at 1 AM in the morning.

It was Erwin who had insisted upon taking him to A&E even though he tried to tell him that it was fine. He was fucking fine. He had had broken noses in the past. It was fine. But no. Erwin had grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him out into the cold February air while the three strange men he had all met before shoved the small ginger-haired girl into a taxi and drove off.

Fuck, he grimaced when his fingers brushed against the skin near his nose. The nurse had told them to sit in the waiting area and a doctor will be available to check on them soon but it had been an hour and literally no-one was around and his nose was fucking painful as hell.

Then, as if the day could not get any worse than it already was, Hange had come scurrying in, a delirious grin plastered on her face. Erwin had called her, despite Levi crossly telling him that having Hange nearby right now would only make him die faster. But as soon as the blond stood from his seat to wave her over to them, Levi realised then that his thick blond eyebrows must be a representation of his head. Especially when Hange started spouting out reindeer jokes when she saw the state he was in.

And he still fucking fell asleep, he thought angrily.

He shut his eyes in frustration. The red-hot pain heightened somewhat, but anything was better than looking at Hange’s stupid face. It felt like his nose had turned into a swollen anchor, and his thin eyebrows creased in discomfort.

All because he wanted to repay a favour.

When he tried to cast his memory back to what had transpired a few hours before arriving at the hospital, a headache started to come on, prolonging his torment. Most of it was a blur: Erwin’s underhanded bribery, the walk to the overpopulated bar nearby, and…

He sucked in a breath.

Even in the darkness of his closed eyes, he could still see them— as clear as the first time someone showed him a picture of the sun. Except there were two, and they had this perilous sheen to them the closer he looked.

And then she…

Instinctively, he licked his lips. A faint trace of ale had remained. It had nauseated him at first, at least for that lightning second when she had grabbed his collar and pulled him down towards her and...

He shuddered.

“Mr. Ackerman?” called an unfamiliar voice, protruding into his thoughts. Levi cracked one eye open in response. A young, white clad man stood in front of him carrying a clipboard. “I’m Moblit, and if you’ll come this way, I’ll get you checked right away,” the doctor said with a smile.

Levi got up, withdrawing his hand from his face to dispose of the used tissue. It had more or less stopped bleeding so strongly. He followed the doctor into a curtained room, looking behind him once to see Hange scooting over to the sleeping Erwin and snatching his phone to snap some candid pictures. He allowed himself to smirk at that.

“Please sit down,” Moblit motioned to the teal-green bed on the right of the computer. He passed him some antibacterial gel, which Levi wordlessly took. “From what I can see, you may have a broken nose.”

No shit, Levi wanted to growl. I waited one whole hour for you to tell me that, thanks.

Moblit dragged his chair closer. “So, Mr. Ackerman, can you tell me what happened?” He readied a black ballpoint over the clipboard, anticipating the shorter male’s recount.

“Is this really necessary?” Levi asked in monotone.

Moblit wearily shifted in his seat. “Well…yes,” he nodded, brown eyebrows raised. Seemed he didn’t want to give him the long answer.

Levi sighed. “A girl happened,” he deadpanned. It was true, though. He couldn’t really add any more detail apart from the fact that said girl somehow possessed superhuman strength to have inflicted him with a nasal fracture just by a collision with her own nose.

Moblit gave him a small smile, as if he understood. No you don’t, dipshit. “I see,” he continued to inquire with that patronising tone. “Would this girl be Miss Petra Ral?”

Levi nodded, pursing his lips.

“Is she your—”

“No,” Levi all but growled, clenching his jaw.

Moblit blinked. “O…kay.” He set aside the clipboard, having written nothing on it after all those meaningless questions. “I’m going to check your nose now. The bruising around it should heal in a week, just use an icepack.”

Levi flinched as soon as Moblit’s dirty fingers made contact with his skin, letting out an involuntary hiss when they probed around the painfully sore area.

“Yep,” Moblit winced in his stead as he pulled away, giving the glaring boy a sympathetic stare. “Definitely broken. I don’t think you need to get X-Ray’ed because it still looks straight. I suggest just resting for a couple of days, avoiding any kind of strenuous activity,” he cleared his throat. Levi glowered at his bold insinuation. “You must call emergency if you start displaying any of these symptoms.”

“I can navigate pretty well through WebMD by myself,” Levi said gruffly. He rose from his seat. “If you’ll excuse me.”

He brusquely pushed the curtains aside and stalked towards where Hange and Erwin were still sat, both already lightly snoring. Before he could snap at them to wake up, one of the blonds, likely Erd, approached his side.

“I’m—”

“It’s fine,” Levi replied before Erd could finish his apology. He looked behind where he had come from and jerked his head towards Petra’s still-unconscious form sandwiched between Gunther and Bossard. “Is she okay?”

Erd nodded slowly, passing a hand through his face, hazel eyes exhausted. “I don’t think she’ll be able to remember anything, though. It was only to—” he stopped himself suddenly. Levi narrowed his eyes. “Never mind,” he laughed, wavering.

“That’s fine,” Levi waved it off. Better that way. Something in his coat pocket started to vibrate. “Excuse me,” he said before raising the phone to his ear. Erd backed away afterwards, raising a hand to take his leave.

“Did you get my texts?”

Mikasa. Levi scowled. “Yes, I did. Why are you awake?”

“Because I knew you would be.”

“Go back to sleep.”

“Fine. But remember March 13 and bring—”

“No,” Levi told her and then hung up abruptly. He turned his attention to the two sleeping idiots below him. “Get up. I have Saturday lectures.”

Erwin waved a hand of dismissal, earning a hard kick to the shin, shocking him back to consciousness. He gave Levi a drowsy, albeit icy stare. “That was unnecessary.”

“So were the last three fucking hours of my life, no thanks to you. Let’s go. Leave Shitty Glasses behind.”

*****

I ain’t happy, I’m feeling glad. I got sunshine in a bag. I’m useless, but not for long. The future is—

Petra bolted awake, letting out a croaky yelp when she was suddenly bombarded with a throbbing headache. She raised a hand to her forehead, cringing as she felt the pulses beneath her fingertips quicken. She licked her lips, tasting something faintly metallic.

Squinting, she inspected her surroundings, noting the familiar world map poster plastered next to the mirror. How did I get here? she wondered, yawning whilst running a hand through her tangled strawberry blond locks. The last thing I remember was— She froze, blood turning cold.

Her heart raced as the memories from last night flooded into her head like a thundering waterfall. Old Hannes had been there, and she had already become tipsy after the third pint, and then…

Petra blanched. She had kissed him. “I kissed him,” she thought aloud, as if it would sound any more incredulous to her when she spoke. “I kissed Levi.” Her shoulders slumped as she stared, dumbfounded, at the wall in front of her. “I kissed him.”

The exact details were still a blur to her. She racked her head for anything that had happened afterwards. How did he react? Her muscles were aching. Had he pushed her away? She wouldn’t be surprised. Did he freak out and move to another country?

Petra thrashed around in frustration, making a complete mess of the sheets. She had been so stupid. How could she have done such a thing? He hadn’t even introduced himself properly. As far as she knew, they were still strangers to each other.

She flinched. Something had echoed in the back of her mind. He had said her name when he came over, she remembered. He said ‘Petra’. That was her name, right? “How does he know?” she whispered to herself. Maybe Erd had told him. Or Gunther. If Auruo was the one… Her expression darkened.

Knock, knock. Her attention whipped to the door. “Who is it?” she called after clearing her throat once. Her voice was still hoarse nonetheless.

“There’s lunch on the table,” came the muffled reply. It sounded like Gunther.

“I’ll be right there,” Petra sighed, taking a dejected glance at the clock above her desk. 12:52. She was already a quarter way through her weekend.

Reluctantly crawling out of bed, she grabbed a pair of winter socks from a drawer and put them on. The flat, and the floor especially, always felt like it turned into an ice castle overnight. Gunther refused to turn on central heating past 6 in the evening and no-one had dared complain about it because technically, the entire place was his. His grandfather had endowed him with his inheritance money before passing away a few years ago. They had all agreed in their final year of high school to share accommodation for the start of term at Trost, so Gunther took it upon himself to look for a place to stay in advance.

And with the house came house rules. Some were established democratically, such as taking turns to cook the food or do the groceries for the week depending on their individual schedules. Some were unanimous, like never letting Auruo touch the stove or the microwave, or never bringing a significant other over unless they were planning to keep things PG-13.

But most of the rules were strictly set by Gunther himself. No hosting parties, no using coconut-based products, always leave shoes by the front door… More often than not, Auruo would be the one punished for disobeying Gunther’s law, even if Erd and Petra had had a hand in the mischief.

As Petra shuffled towards the kitchen, Erd waved a lazy arm to congratulate her on waking up. She rolled her eyes, sliding into a chair once she had picked up a plate and cutlery from one of the kitchen drawers. From her peripheral vision, she saw Auruo waggling his eyebrows, a wily smirk spreading across his face.

Petra sent him a pointed glare. “What? Shouldn’t you be in a lecture right now?”

“Oh, you don’t remember?” the sandy-haired male snickered. Erd made a motion to throw the TV remote at him, causing Auruo to spasm in his seat. “I was kissing—I mean kidding.” His laugh was filled with self-satisfaction. He shut up immediately, however, once he noticed Petra aiming her fork at him. “Come on, Pet—” she raised her eyebrows threateningly, “—ra. Petra,” he stammered in a finish. “Yes, I should be but I decided to pass it due to my concern for your well-being.”

Gunther entered the room then, pausing to acknowledge Petra’s silently seething form on the kitchen table. His eyes darted to where Auruo was muttering angrily to himself across from Erd in the sitting room. “Why is it that you never learn, Auruo?” he reprimanded, shaking his head patronisingly. “She could rip your throat out in a heartbeat.”

“That’s true,” Petra nodded, still munching on her food.

Auruo scrunched his nose. “Then why am I still alive?”

“Only ‘cause ‘annoying twat’ isn’t in her list of appetising food,” Erd jested.

“Very funny,” Auruo sneered, rolling his eyes and shifting his back away from Petra in defeat.

Petra smirked. It was always fun teasing the maknae of the group. She had lost count of how many times Auruo had naively fallen for their pranks or walked straight into being roasted on sight. “Is your ego still okay, there?” she cooed.

“Alright, stop it you kids,” Gunther cut in, giving Petra a stern stare. “You have some business to attend to.”

Petra quirked an eyebrow. “Me? I don’t have any Saturday lectures scheduled for this term.”

“He’s not talking about that,” Erd chimed in. “It’s about that boy you assaulted last night.”

Petra squirmed in her seat. “Levi?” At least saying his name was easier now. “All I did was kiss him.” She paled at her admission, dropping her fork in a clattering daze. “I kissed him.” And they had seen her. Oh, God. She couldn’t even deny it in front of them anymore.

“Not only that,” Erd continued. “You also broke his nose.”

Auruo spontaneously burst into hysterics. “Seriously?” he managed to sputter after a few breaths. “Way to go, Pet.”

But she was gone to them, frozen stiff upon hearing Erd’s revelation. He couldn’t be serious. She had only pulled him towards her by his shirt. And even if it was rougher than intended, she couldn’t have broken his nose.

No wonder she had tasted something tangy on her lips when she woke up. His nose was bleeding—

“She doesn’t know her own strength,” Gunther stated evenly, arms crossed over his chest.

“It was to both their benefit though,” Erd defended. “Making prolonged skin contact with him got rid of the burning trees and the wet dogs.”

“A handshake would’ve done the job,” said Gunther. “Now it would be even more awkward to try and match-make them.”

Erd chuckled at that. “Trust me; she got them through a milestone by doing what she did.” 

“I should apologize,” a weak voice murmured from the kitchen. They turned their heads to look at her. She had her forehead resting on the table, amber eyes hollow.

“You don’t have to do it right now,” Erd attempted to offer some consolation.

“Or you could just ask him on a date,” Auruo sarcastically muttered, sipping on a can of cola.

Silence stormed the room at his statement.

He sat up, eyes darting from person to person. “What? What did I do wrong now?”

Slowly, a calculating grin spread on both their faces, excluding Petra, who hadn’t heard the exchange.

Auruo’s hazel eyes widened drastically. “You can’t be taking me seriously now, are you?” he spluttered. “Petra will kill me.”

“It’s a win-win situation, then,” Erd joked, winking.

Gunther laughed heartily, encouraging Auruo to do the same, albeit nervously. They all put a finger to their lips, swearing their conversation to secrecy.

Petra remained motionless on the kitchen table, unaware of the conspiracy that had started to unfold just seven metres away from her.

*****

“For someone who gets PTSD every time someone fractionally brushes their skin against yours, even for a split-second…you seem to be relatively chill about all this,” Hange smiled as she nodded her head approvingly. “Well done, Mr. Ackerman. You may actually have a chance of surviving and reproducing.”

Levi shot her a menacing glare as the bell signalling the end of the lecture echoed throughout the hall. Apart from the professor giving him questioning looks when he had walked in at the beginning, no-one had paid any attention to the bruises lining his eyes and nose. They probably thought it was typical since he hadn’t bothered concealing them from their view.

Hange grinned, tossing his daggers aside. “So what are you going to do now? This is a serious matter that cannot be taken light-heartedly.”

“You seem to be doing a good job doing exactly the opposite,” Levi replied, quickly rising from his seat. “Move over. I’m leaving.”

Hange also stood up, intending to block his path. Levi pursed his lips. “I’m not joking around, Shitty Glasses.”

“I know,” she said haughtily. “That would be the day when giant cannibalistic humanoids start to ravage the world.”

“Hange,” he snarled.

“You should ask her out,” Hange clapped her hands in satisfaction. “This is your big chance! Finally, your first kiss! That is, if you don’t count—”

“Shut up,” Levi forcefully nudged past her, sending her staggering to regain balance. “Don’t ever mention that fucking mutt in front of my face again.”

“I’m serious!” Hange exclaimed after him. “Don’t pass up this golden opportunity!”

Before she could ramble on about her bullshit ‘wanting only the best for his happiness’ speech, Levi turned the corner and walked hastily down the steps of the building. Having only collected four hours of sleep since the incident, the garish streaks of dull purple had only enhanced the intimidation in his eyes. As he strolled down the hallway towards the building exit, his fellow students scampered immediately to the side, clearing his path.

Mulling over Hange’s words only made him grumpier.

Yes, of course there was no way he would be indifferent to the situation. First, she had invaded his personal space. Then, she had smashed her face against his. No explanation given, just blacking out instantaneously afterwards.

Her being his first whatever was of no concern to him, at least, as far as he led himself to believe. He just wanted answers. Why had she been avoiding him? Why did she… a small tremor tingled up his spine…kiss him?

Directly confronting her was not the issue. He could theoretically march up to her door demanding a hearing. Theoretically. It wasn't an appealing idea.

He frowned. Yes, he could admit that a part of him—though confined to the deepest and darkest of crags lining his heart—actually wanted to see her again, against all his previous vocalisations on the matter.

He just felt it. Something sinister was cooking up in the clouds. And it involved that girl.

Fuck it, he sighed, resolving the situation. He just had to make sure Hange never hears a word about what he was going to do. That woman had spies everywhere, feeding her all the information she needed to fuel her in her quest to ruin his life, no matter how genial her intentions were. 

Besides, there was no rule stating that it had to be a date—that was only a figment of Hange’s delusion. A civil meeting at Braus’ would suffice.

How bad could it be?

Chapter Text

“I saw your man lurking around your faculty building this morning,” Auruo yawned as he dragged his feet towards the coffee machine. “Looked like he was on a mission or something.”

Petra let out an audible sigh from the kitchen table. “First of all, he’s not my ‘man’.”

“Not yet,” Erd chirped from the sofa, smirking at Petra’s exasperated expression.

She continued, making a face at the blond’s unnecessary interruption. “And secondly, he could easily have been meeting up with his friend since my fac building is also Gunther’s fac building.”

Auruo snorted, sipping at his newly-brewed coffee. “Do you even hear yourself? You’re already making excuses and you haven’t even apologised for breaking his nose.”

“I have!” Petra interjected defiantly. “Just…not to his face…”

“Hange told me he’s been asking a lot about you,” said Erd casually.

Auruo almost spit out his drink. “For real?! How?”

Petra’s face paled as Erd waved his phone in the air, opening his messages to a conversation with one Hange Zoe. “We exchanged numbers some time in the hospital, along with their friend Erwin.”

It took everything for the sandy-haired chemistry student to not burst into hysterical laughter. “What’d she say? Oh my god this is golden.”

“Erd…” Petra muttered darkly, daring him to speak or else waking up with more than a few scratches on his face in the morning.

Fortunately, he knew better than to deny her wishes. “She messaged me this morning, asking if I’d seen Levi around since he missed a lecture. Erwin said he left early. I guess…he went to our faculty building, but what for, I wonder?”

“Well,” Petra snapped, shaking her head at the possibilities running through her mind at lightning speed. “It’s two in the afternoon. I doubt he’d still be there and anyway, we’ve got a Semantics lecture to try and de-philosophise.”

***** 

You could imagine the surprise on the redhead’s face when she saw him turn up to her lecture precisely 2:30 pm that afternoon, eyebrows furrowed and scanning the room with a death glare. He had his hands in his coat pockets as he wandered around aimlessly, trying to catch a glimpse of that familiar shade of copper.

Petra could hardly stop the sharp increase in her heart rate as she watched him with a pained smile, earning a nudge from Erd to her side.

“He’s looking for you,” he teased. “Should I wave him over?”

Her eyes widened. “He’s probably going to punch me”.

Erd scoffed. “That wouldn’t even hurt you one bit, Pet. And besides, I don’t think he’s the type to do that.”

“Are you seeing the expression on his face right now?” Petra whispered back in a hiss. “It literally screams ‘murder’.”

“Oh, I never noticed a difference from his normal face.”

Petra rolled her eyes. “Go ahead then,” she exhaled in resignation, “Lead me to my death.”

Erd chuckled under his breath. “Looks like I won’t even need to.”

Just as he said those words, Petra felt a tap on her shoulder, generating a bolt of electricity which jolted her heart rate into a wild frenzy. She sat up, spine stiff and still tingling from the ghost of his touch.

Levi hid his smile when the girl sat in front of him shut her eyes in embarrassment and winced upon noticing the large bruise she had inflicted on his face. He cleared his throat. “I need to talk to you.” His gaze shifted back and forth from her wide, golden eyes to the laminated floor.

“O-oh… Me?” Petra stammered, nervously meeting his eyes. Levi nodded. She paused before slowly rise to her feet. “Um…okay…”

She followed him outside the lecture hall, choosing to stop right by the doors. The blood was rushing to her head as he turned to face her with those intense grey eyes. “Listen, about Friday night, I’m really ̶”

He interrupted her with a sharp, inhaled breath. “Are you free tomorrow?” he said, so quickly Petra barely had time to process his words.

She blinked twice, looking away shyly. “Yes, I think so...”

“3pm, statue of Reiss. Don’t be late,” Levi brusquely replied before turning his heel to exit the suddenly stifling corridor. “And it’s not a date.” He creased his eyebrows at the floor after making his clarification, as if in disbelief that he actually had to make a clarification in the first place.

He all but jogged straight out of the unfamiliar building.

Petra stood frozen at the exact spot where he left her, staring after his disappearing form. She could feel her elevated heartbeat pounding in her ears, threatening to jump out of her chest. Did that really happen? Did he just…?

It wasn’t a date. He’d said so.

But why is her heart beating this fast over something that was supposed to fill her with dread? He’s going to come with questions, and giving the answers  ̶ the honest answers  ̶ mortified Petra more than it would him, no doubt.

 Still. There was still time to mull over what she would say, and she could go over something like a scripted explanation with Erd, who definitely would have some enlightening advice over this matter, since he’d probably had to do it with Elsa at some point in their relationship.

Petra turned to the wall nearest to her and placed her forehead on its cool surface. Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply and exhaled the breath she’d been holding ever since he asked to speak with her. Or demanded, more like.

She hadn’t known it but Erd was right. She had wanted to see him again, even if it was to drown in her embarrassment at the massive wound she had imprinted on his face. There was something about him…

It’s nature, Petra. Just nature, she told herself repeatedly, shaking her head.

But even nature couldn’t stop the victorious smile that crept upon her lips.

*****

“Hey, Erd, did something happen to Petra?” Gunther asked, plopping himself down on the couch and reaching for the remote next to the dazed copper-haired she-wolf. He observed her cautiously as he switched channels a few times before settling on a replay of Madagascar, hoping it would make her snap out of her trance and tell him what a stupid choice it was. “Did Auruo accidentally fill her room with laughing gas?”

Erd looked up from washing the dishes. “Levi asked her on a date.”

At this, the redhead straightened in her seat. “It’s not a date,” she stressed, pursing her lips. “He specifically said that.”

“Then why were you so hyper when you got back to the lecture room? If you hadn’t told me, I’d have thought he proposed or something,” Erd chuckled. He slipped off his gloves and made his way over to the couch, shooting Gunther a weird look at his choice of entertainment. Gunther only shrugged in response, switching the channel again to some animal documentary.

Petra groaned as she sunk into her seat, covering her eyes. “I don’t know. Nature. I blame nature.”

“You can’t keep blaming nature, you know. At one point, you’re going to have to turn to yourself,” Erd sighed, boredly fixing his gaze towards the TV. A gazelle was being chased and mauled by a cheetah. “Gunther, what the heck are you watching?”

“Hell if I know,” he laughed, absent-minded. “Just listening in on your wolf talk before Auruo comes back and makes a ruckus about going to the Old Hannes again tonight.”

“I can’t go,” Erd gave an apologetic shrug. “Got to counsel this woman into believing she’s actually going on a date tomorrow.”

“It’s not a date, for heaven’s sake.”

Gunther turned to look at the redhead pensively. She had come back to their shared home with a bounce in her step and a cheerful glow to her skin, and while he always knew her to be a generally cheery girl, it had been an unusual sight for him to see her that happy. Perhaps she was right – it was just nature taking over her rational mindset. “So…what if Levi asks about all the weird things that’ve been happening to him ever since meeting you? What would you say?”

Petra remained silent for a few moments, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling as she contemplated her answer.

Finally, she settled on a meek “I don’t know.”

Erd sighed once more. “Just tell him the truth: you’re part-human, part-wolf and for some reason you and him are bound together in the grand scheme of things and if he can’t accept that, guilt-trip him with the fact that you’ll die prematurely if you don’t mate with him.”

“What?” Petra almost screamed. “Wait,” she waved her hands in front of her as if trying to grasp at anything that actually made sense. “Repeat that? I couldn’t quite hear the last part.”

Erd burst into a cackle. “I’m only joking, Pet. But you can pull that trump card if need be.”

Gunther shook his head disapprovingly at the blond. “That was a tactless joke, Erd. Poor girl looks like she’s about to faint any second now.”

“She’ll be fine,” he reassured him. “Worst-case scenario, he’ll freak out and move to another country.”

“Very funny,” Petra managed to sputter.

God knows how she’ll get through waking up in time after what would mostly like be a restless night.

*****

Levi stared at the barrage of messages that had possessed his phone. It had vibrated continuously for the last eleven or so minutes before he resorted to adjusting the settings, which only led to Hange calling him tirelessly for the past half hour.

He already knew what she would pester him about. Some lackey of hers had probably spied him in the Linguistics fac building and witnessed his terse exchange with one ginger-haired girl. He scowled when ‘Shitty Glasses’ appeared spelled out on his phone screen for the seventh time in two minutes.

Even Erwin had popped his rich bastard head into his room to ask why he hadn’t been responding to Hange's messages. Hange had been on loudspeaker on the phone with him too, prompting Levi to shut the door in his rich bastard face and locking it to prevent further intrusions.

He needed to think. To ruminate on his actions, his words. To think about her, the root of all his misery. Petra.

Suddenly, a different name flashed on his phone screen. Mikasa.

He knew the most likely reason she would be calling but still, he pressed the green button and clicked the speaker button, lying back down on the bed.

“Why aren’t you answering Hange's messages?” came the familiar, monotone voice of his younger sister.

Well, at least he’d been correct on his assumptions.

“When have I ever voluntarily answered one of Shitty Glasses’ calls?” he rolled his eyes at the question.

There was a crackling noise from the other line before Mikasa’s voice came back, clearer this time. “True. But when it entails her blowing up my notifications asking if you spontaneously combusted after asking a girl out, I admit I get slightly concerned too.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Why?” he grumbled.

“Because I thought you already had a girlfriend and I called to prepare you for an intervention. I thought you knew better than to two-time.”

For the love of – he mentally cursed the bespectacled brunette. “Hange's been lying. I don’t have a girlfriend, nor did ask a girl out,” he replied through gritted teeth.

“So what’s been happening?” More shuffling. “Sorry, Eren’s fallen asleep on my lap.”

Levi grunted in displeasure. Like he needed to know that necessary detail of her life.

“You still there?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

Silence ensued between them, broken sporadically by sounds reminiscent of snores coming from the other line.

“Well, if you aren’t going to tell me, I might as well give you some advice. Just be yourself. Not your grouchy, asshat ‘normal’ self but your snarky, shitty joker self. That’s a sure-fire way to make sure you won’t see her again if it goes badly.”

After hanging up without giving her thanks, Levi added one more thing on his list of ruminations.

Just why the fuck were Ackermans so shit at making and following their own advice?

*****

She’d have to buy a new alarm clock today it seemed, after crushing the previous one under her half-transformed clawed hand.

Erd had burst into her room in a flurry of concern, his blue-and-red striped apron still untied around his waist. Even still, it was him who ended up bursting into laughter at the state of his fellow werewolf sprawled on her bed, squinting up at the streaks of sunrise that adorned the ceiling.

“You look like that lion in the animal documentary Gunther was watching yesterday.”

“And you look like Gordon Ramsay finally found his lamb sauce after thirty years,” she groaned as she rolled back onto her side to avoid the incoming light from the curtains.

But it was true. Her redheaded mane twined around her neck and stray strands had spiralled into a semi-halo above her head. Erd was mildly impressed that bed-hair could be this intricate. He moved to push the curtains fully open, eliciting a low growl from the waking lion.

“It’s almost lunch time, you know,” he warned. “You did say he said to not be late.”

“You’re not my dad,” came the muffled reply.

He rolled his eyes. “Of course I’m not. If I were, I wouldn’t be this excited for my pseudo-daughter’s second date.”

Of course he had to allude to that awkward double date with Elsa and Auruo. God, that made her even more unmotivated to get up. She was never good at social events. At some point, she’d mess up by saying something completely out of line.

Or accidentally giving away that she wasn’t completely human, as per said first date.

She cringed at the image of Auruo’s petrified face at the golden-brown fur that covered her arms and legs. And her tail.

Though, she was certain that she was more in control of her wolf form than she was before. The sheer nervousness of embarking on something as unknown to her as a romantic outing (even if it had been with slimy fifteen-year-old Auruo) had most likely triggered an adrenaline rush, which ended up with her looking like a Yeti midway through mains, and leading to her and Erd chasing down Auruo once he fled the scene to explain to him what was really happening.

Cue formation of annoying, parasitic friendship.

“At least Auruo wasn’t destined to be my mate.” She choked on the last word, emphasising her distaste at even voicing the proposition.

“Well, I can guarantee the same thing would have happened if Levi had taken his place,” the taller man chuckled. “You’d probably have undergone a full transformation.”

“Fuck off.”

“Come have brunch, then. The others are almost finished and dressed.”

Petra sat up at that, albeit groggily. She rubbed her eyes slowly as she yawned. “What for? No-one has lectures or supervisions today.”

“Think of us like agents set to protect the President’s daughter,” he winked.

“Over my dead body are you guys going to follow me around the whole day making a fool of myself,” she deadpanned.

“Well, then. You better get out of here stat before we can find out where you’ve gone.”

“You’re such a mutt!”

*****

242 unread messages, 67 missed calls from Shitty Glasses. What the actual fuck.

Levi’s eye twitched as he scrolled through Hange's caps-locked frenzy.

Shitty Glasses                            8h ago

PICK UP THE PHONE!!!!

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Shitty Glasses                            8h ago

ERWINS FETCHING MIKE

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Shitty Glasses                            8h ago

MIKASA ELOPED WITH EREN!!!!!

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Shitty Glasses                            8h ago

SHES PREGGERS WTH HIS CHILD HOW C…

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It truly amazed and baffled him how this woman’s mind worked. He shook his head when he put the phone down, reaching instead for a shirt in his bedside drawer. He had woken with a cold sweat in the morning, mind flashing with images of the same wolf from what seemed like eons ago. They had increased in their frequency and intensity ever since he started using stronger painkillers for his broken nose, and last night was no exception.

His dreams were strange yet monotonous. It was just him mindlessly chasing after the wolf in an open meadow. Starting out slow, he’d break into a run once the wolf padded its way further into the field.

The field was vast. Stubbles of grass stretched for miles around on all sides, but the wolf always seemed to be heading straight towards the looming shadow of a forest right ahead. A forest filled with trees like 50-foot titans.

At the entrance of the forest, he’d run out of breath, stop awhile to catch it, then set off again in search of copper fur and soft golden eyes.

But the further he ventured into the forest, the shallower his breathing got, to the point where his wheezes eventually became elongated and raspy.

The last thing he sees is the wolf with its two bright eyes watching him drop to his knees in a breathless thud.

And his first thought in the morning is always that sense of déjà vu. He’s seen those eyes before.

But before his sleep-clouded brain could even start to dwell on it, the chime of his alarm clock caught his attention: 10:00. He had four and a half hours to calm his shit down. For what? he grouched internally. It’s not even a date.

He soundlessly slipped on his shirt before making his way to the kitchen, where Erwin sat statuesque at the dining table, smiling creepily right at him.

Levi quickly composed himself. “Jesus, Erwin. How long have you been sitting there?”

“Since Hange decided to break the door down at six in the morning, demanding to speak with you,” he replied, devoid of emotion. His blue eyes continued to gaze intently at the raven-haired man.

“Where is she now?” Levi asked as he took out an English Breakfast teabag from the jar.

Erwin tilted his head towards the living room. “On the sofa.”

“Really? I didn’t hear her sn  ̶”

Suddenly, a volcano erupted.

Levi deadpanned. “Yep. It seems she is.”

A thin silence stretched out between them, only interrupted occasionally by Hange's reverberating snores and the whistle of the kettle.

Levi continued to brew his tea, doing his best to ignore the holes Erwin was drilling with his eyes on his back.

That was one of his annoying mannerisms. Whenever Erwin wanted answers, his brilliant logic told him that the best way of getting them was to keep staring at the person most likely to have them and not say a word until they do.

He would definitely make a deadly CEO in the future, but this morning? Levi was having none of it.

“I’ll be back late. Don’t you two fucking dare try and follow me around.” He scampered back to his room with a scowl, the steaming mug of tea dangling from his fingertips. He paid no heed to the hurt-puppy look on Erwin’s face as he watched the short man disappear down the hallway.

*****

Hange told him that turning up early to anything was not fashionable at all. As he observed the green-skirted girl leaning against the stone column detailing the life story of the First King Reiss, he imagined himself strangling the chemist to death for her bullshit advice. Why he ever followed it in the first place was beyond him. Now Petra must think he was an unpunctual douche who turned up ten minutes late to his own arrangement.

He had gotten out of the house only fifteen minutes before, not even stopping to say goodbye to Erwin, who still sat at the dining table, and Hange, who had woken like a hurricane, hurling her phone at the back of his head (which missed him by centimetres, that crazy bitch!) and yelling “My baby’s all grown up!” excitedly and loudly enough to wake even the Martians.

But he wasn’t going to lie, being late had its perks. Like watching her expression, even marginally, brighten at his approach. She straightened her posture, waving with one hand towards him while the other tucked a stray strand of copper hair behind an ear.

“I’m late,” he muttered in apology.

Petra shrugged. “So was I, don’t worry.”

Lie, he frowned. He’d seen her wait the whole time before he decided that ten minutes was unfashionable enough for him to stop procrastinating by hiding behind a wall, feeling like a stalker.

“So…” Petra smiled, clasping her hands behind her back. “Where shall we go?”

Levi cleared his throat. “Braus’?”

She winced, and mentally he winced too. “I’d just come from there.”

Oh. Well, there goes his fool-proof plan. Seemed it only worked if the planner wasn’t the aforementioned fool. Fuck, where should they go now? He struggled to find appropriate places to go for not-dates in this shitty-ass town.

She must’ve noticed his discomfort from the almost squeamish silence that followed her statement. She hummed in consideration. “How about…a museum? I haven’t been to the Natural History one yet, and we can always get dinner later.”

To Levi, it sounded awfully like a date, but he supposed it was leagues better than him standing there, hands in his pocket, eyes focused on her pink Mary-Janes. Not saying a fucking word.

“Yeah,” he managed to reply. He should’ve specified to meet at Braus’. The scenario he imagined in his head was skyrocketing into the realm of bloody awry, and it had only been three minutes.

Petra clapped once then, forcing his eyes to snap to hers. She beamed; he felt an unfamiliar and unwelcome heat creeping into his cheeks. “It’s decided! Do you know where it is?”

Why was it that his larynx seemed to sow itself shut whenever he was around her? He jerked his thumb behind him. “It’s at the end of Sina High Street.”

“Let’s go!”

*****

They walked in a comfortable silence, at least in Petra’s mind.

She felt an odd sort of satisfaction when she could hear his heart beating as heavily as hers was, though she had to berate herself yet again for almost succumbing to nature’s will.

Truth be told, she had already been to Trost Natural History museum, multiple times in fact. It had a hallway dedicated to wolves, and even included a small section about the myth of werewolves, though clearly it was no myth at all.

Petra thought if she could show him how the wolves evolved and eased him into believing that werewolves were real, her revelation about her true nature wouldn’t be so…freaky, and scare him away. Well, at least not to another country.

Levi picked a good day to walk around Trost, she thought, even if it hadn’t been his original plan. The February sun peeked sporadically from behind the clouds on a light winter blue sky, offering warmth when the breeze became slightly chillier. The High Street was buzzing with shoppers too, so the noise of their hustle and bustle did well to drown out any awkward silence between them.

When they got to the museum, it was pleasantly deserted. The few people who had come to wander around its halls were predictably fixated on the enormous skeleton of the diplodocus quaintly situated at the back of the entrance hall.

The museum had changed from the last time she’d visited. Instead of two spiralling staircases leading to the second floor, only one appeared to be intact, the other embedded in construction. The roof seemed to be shallower too, with its previously translucent ceiling now completely opaque. She silently prayed that the wolf exhibit hadn’t been taken down. It had been while since she last walked through it.

They wandered around, leaving short comments on certain things as they did, like the butterfly collection displayed on the walls of the botanic exhibit, and the remains of mammoth tusks in the prehistoric section.

It was a while, hours, before Petra managed to swerve them in the direction of the wolves, and even then she could feel him tensing up as they neared a statue of one at the entrance of the wing.

His silver eyes flickered over to hers. “Know anything about wolves?”

Petra smiled back, hoping her nervousness hadn’t seeped through to her face. “I find them fascinating.”

It was a long corridor dedicated to canines in history, both modern and prehistoric. Glass displays of Eskimo tools and arctic fur adorned the sides of the hallway while several statues of foxes, wolves, and hunting dogs littered the centre. Levi stopped at the picture of a certain wolf, right next to the small glass display for werewolves. Petra couldn’t try hard enough to calm the erratic pounding in her chest.

She watched as his eyes scanned over the text, expressionless. “Do you believe it?”

Levi raised his head to look at her in question. “Believe what?”

“That they exist,” she pointed to the display. “Werewolves.”

He snorted in response, the sound disheartening to her ears. “As much as I believe in vampires.”

Petra rolled her eyes. “Strange, I’d almost convinced myself I was already talking to one,” she muttered.

Even he couldn’t mask his amusement as a small smirk vanished from his face as soon as it had appeared. "I take that you do, then." She nodded, the hint of playful defiance shining through her eyes. "It doesn't make sense, evolution-wise."

"A lot of things don't make sense when you're restricting yourself to thinking only in terms of evolution," she pouted. "I think the existence of werewolves is an entirely natural, plausible thing."

"Have you ever seen one?"

Petra's mind stilled. This was it. This was the moment. Hopefully, he wouldn't hear the tremor in her voice.

"Y-Yeah."

She could feel his curiosity piquing. Suddenly, the air became suffocating. "Where?"

She's speaking right in front of you! she wanted to scream. She panicked, "I don't know."

"Then I'm not convinced," he shrugged, smug. 

Petra fumed at herself. The opportunity had been perfect. There was room in the hallway for either or both parties to run away and escape at a moment's notice if the revelation proved disastrous. Where and when could she find another chance to show him the truth? If only Erd was here... scratch that, she was relieved he wasn't. Otherwise, he would've said it the moment he finally came out of his hiding ten minutes after she arrived at the statue on time. She'd rolled her eyes at the sentiment, giggling internally when she realised it was him behind that wall.

But what could she do now? She'd blown it. She'd  ̶

"It's closing time, ladies and gents," an officer shouted down from the other end of the hallway. "Gift shop shuts in half an hour."

Petra nodded back at him, acknowledging his announcement. She turned to Levi with a determined look set on her brow. "Are you hungry?"

She would tell him today, no matter what.

*****

Christ, she thought he looked like a vampire. A bloody vampire.

Levi sulked in his thoughts. It wasn’t like he chose to be born with pale skin, or bruised his own face.

“Are you okay?” Petra asked, munching down a slice of steak. She looked at him with intent concern.

He nodded, cursing his muteness.

After she’d swallowed her bite, she continued. “I’m…really sorry for breaking your nose,” she said, almost in a whisper. “And for…kissing you without warning.”

Just the mention of the memory was enough for heat to prickle at the tips of his ears. “It’s fine. I’ve had worse.” A hurt expression passed over her face and he realised with embarrassment her misunderstanding. “Wait – not…the kiss, I meant…my nose.” Fuck.

“Oh,” she smiled in obvious relief.

He decided he loathed this constant hammering on the left side of his ribcage, more than he loathed the regret of not listening to Hange's advice on how to talk to a member of the opposite sex.

Because as shitty as it could be, it was better than being reduced to a bumbling idiot who lost his appetite for lasagne the minute after ordering it.

He picked at his food lightly, trying not to notice her probing gaze.

“Why did you ask me to meet you today?”

He almost dropped his fork.

Right. The plan. To ask her all those questions he’d been mulling over in his head for the past week.

He took a deep breath. “That night. In the Old Hannes. You were drunk, and you…broke my nose,” he said, the hint of incredulousness laced in his tone. “And before that, when you ran away after I saw you leaving your accommodation with Erd, I think. It all feels strange, more than coincidental. I had to ask you about them.”

She sighed then, her shoulders sagging with each puncturing question. “The truth is, Levi, I… You wouldn’t even believe the truth.”

“Try me,” he replied, sipping his wine.

She stared at him for a long time, her amber eyes gleaming under the dim lighting of the restaurant. It was like time pausing at that moment while everything else in their surroundings continued.

He held her gaze, that feeling of déjà vu returning to him for no apparent reason.

Finally, she said, “I’ll show you”, and time resumed. They put their money on the table, then she got up and beckoned him to follow her.

It felt like a chase, trying to catch up to her quickened pace along the cobbled streets of Trost. She twisted and turned directions several times, winding her way past the oldest buildings in town before finally stopping at the entrance of an empty park.

She whirled around to face him suddenly, catching him off-guard as he stumbled back a few paces, trying to mask his frustration.

“As you can see, it’s not a full moon.”

Levi frowned, disquiet bubbled within him.

“Close your eyes,” she said, barely more than a whisper.

Reluctantly, he did. His skin chilled as a gust of winter wind blew past them.

Something pointed brushed against his palm and immediately his eyes flung open, an unmasked horror settling in on the sight that had appeared right before him.

Golden eyes blinked once at his widened stare. He was paralysed.

Where Petra had stood moments before, sat a wolf, poised and serene.

Moonlight shone through the clouds, illuminating its fur. Cinnamon red, copper, amber, ginger…the colour of her hair.

The same wolf he’d been chasing in his dreams for the past week.

Chapter Text

“You’re back late,” Erwin called from the sofa. He clicked the remote a few times to turn the volume down on the TV before craning his head to look at the newly arrived Levi. His thick eyebrows raised in amusement at the sight of his friend’s stupored stare and…state of dress. This was definitely a first. It probably hadn’t gone too well, Erwin thought. If that was the case, neither him nor Hange were equipped to deal with–

Levi scowled at him now, shaken from his reverie. “Why are you still up?”

Erwin shrugged, twisting his body around to face the TV again. “I fancied a bit of Love Island tonight.” Behind him, Levi shook his head, muttering something along the lines of fucking weirdo and put the kettle on. He crossed his arms, leaning against the kitchen counter and contemplated the events that had transpired just minutes before.

The wolf didn’t move towards him. Its eyes were just intently staring at his, its paws nervously patting the clothes on the gravel beneath them. The only thing he could hear for miles was how close he was to hyperventilating –

“Listen, Levi, it happens to everyone,” Erwin sidled up next to him, taking out a mug of his own. “First times will forever be first times. It’s the next time that counts.”

Levi passed a frustrated hand through his face, rubbing his temples. Erwin’s concern multiplied. In all his years of knowing the perpetual grump, he’d never seen him like this. If Levi was even close to shedding a tear, he’d probably call the ambulance A-S-A-P.

“I’m going to bed,” the grump managed to reply just as the kettle whistled ready.

Levi stalked towards his room and shut his door quietly, leaving Erwin to contemplate which emergency number he should contact immediately – the hospital, the police, or Hange Zoe.

*****

Levi collapsed on his bed, softly banging his face into his pillow. He was tired. He was confused. Most of all, what the fuck had just happened? What did he just bear witness to?

He turned so he was on his back now, taking deep breaths whilst staring listlessly at the ceiling in the pitch black. He could still feel its warm breath on his palm as it nuzzled his hand. He could still see the reflection of his fear in its eyes. Her eyes. Levi groaned, shutting his eyes tightly. It was her. It was Petra. Petra was the wolf. Petra is the wolf.

How in the bloody hell did he get himself into this mess?

She’d stepped back then, as if giving him physical space to absorb what was happening. As if time was something measured in metres. He was literally a hair’s breadth from pinching himself out of this absurdity. One ridiculous act to cancel out the other.

It was Petra who eventually broke the delicate silence. He kept still, watching like a voyeur as fur began to shrink back to skin. The bushy tail began to disappear. So did the ears.

But the same eyes continued to stare at him, unmasked terror glistening under the light. It was only when she began to visibly shiver that he takes the initiative to break free from the stone starting to encase his body. The first thing was to shield his eyes from her very naked body curled up on the gravel.

“Gee, the universe really picked a gentleman for me,” Petra shakily laughs. He could hear her shuffling to get her clothes back on, biting the inside of his cheek as the realization of his actions dawned on him. What an asshole he must look like right now. “Okay, I’m decent.”

Slowly, he peeled his hand away from his face, blinking two, three times to get rid of the residual blurriness as he adjusted again to moonlight. She was standing just a metre away from him, her arms cradling her chest. She was looking down towards his feet.

Cautiously, he stepped towards her, only as much as his pounding heart could take. He mumbled an apology before taking his jacket off and swinging it across her shoulders. Only then did she meet her eyes to his.

“I can hear…” she whispered, concealing a smile. Levi didn’t have to ask to know what she was talking about. “You can go, you know. I’m sorry this happened.”

Beyond that, all Levi could remember were the puffs of breath that spelled out their hasty goodbyes, and the crunching sound of his boots as he walked away. Nothing else. Next thing he knew, he was turning the keys in the lock of his door. Erwin was moving his lips to make some stupid comment. Someone in a bikini was talking to a shirtless dude on the TV. The kettle was on.

And now, he was in bed.

He sat up, fishing his pocket for his phone. The blue light almost blinded him. A gazillion messages were lined up on his lock screen. 94% were definitely from Hange. The rest were Erwin asking him where the remote was and Mikasa asking him if he’d lost his V card yet.

What a shitty lot I’ve ended up with, he thought semi-bitterly as he tossed his phone to the other side of the bed. No doubt Hange would be here in the morning, forcing him to consider reporting her to the authorities for borderline breaking and entering. Mikasa would probably be calling him a few times more than she usually did to ask the same question.

But his thoughts kept coming back to the girl and the wolf and what now? Erwin’s ‘next time’ felt like an improbability. Given how he’d reacted, she’d be lacking in self-respect if she ever wanted to see him again.

Or maybe it wasn’t even about that. He remembered her starting to explain something…was it something about the universe?

Why had he just walked away?

He slept dreamlessly that night, the feeling of emptiness almost engulfing him in the morning. Sure enough, it was Hange threatening to burn their flat down that raises him from sleep, looking like he hadn’t closed his eyes in decades.

*****

“Wake up. There’s someone at the door for you."

So it was Erd’s life they collectively decided to sacrifice in order to disturb her sleep, it seemed. Smart move, Petra thought just as her brain started to de-cloud itself; cannibalism wasn’t really her cup of tea. It would have been a different story if it were Auruo come to shake her awake.

Petra grumbled, turning her back away from the blonde stood at the side of her bed, most likely glaring at her in disapproval. Don’t care, she mentally huffs in indignation. Need sleep.

“Petra,” Erd repeated, prodding her leg. She grit her teeth in tight-lipped response. Erd sighed. “It’s Levi. He’s asking for you.”

“Liar,” she croaked. But she was fully awake now, ears attuned to a specific voice way out in the living room that was currently telling Auruo he was not in the mood for his “shit-stain coloured coffee”. Erd saw her tense and smirked, folding his arms in unwitnessed triumph.

“I think we both know who the real liar is here,” he said smugly.

“I haaaaate you.”

“I’ll tell him to go, then.”

At this, Petra brusquely sat up in protest, almost flopping back to bed at the subsequent dizziness that instantaneously attacked her. Erd couldn’t help but hold back a laugh and pat her unruly mane of copper hair. “Fix up, Pet,” he said before leaving the room.

Petra wanted to scream. She’d barely reached the threshold of unconsciousness when Erd kicked her mental ass back out of it with this.

Wait.

As her brain continued to declutter in preparation for the newest daily disaster, it hit her like a hurricane. Levi came back. Levi’s asking for me. Levi is outside right now.

The fact that he hadn’t freaked out and moved to another country had Petra letting out the biggest sigh of bloody relief.

Okay, I can do this. The worst was over and he came back regardless. That's something, right?

A wolfish grin spread across her face. She could feel her stomach fluttering as she stifled her girlish giggles with her palms.

She stepped out to greet him without even combing her hair, as was made apparent by the amused expressions on her flatmates’ faces when she turned the corner into the living room dressed only in sleep shorts and a long sleeved top that read “If only sarcasm could burn calories”.

It was Levi’s face that made her too mortified to slink back into the hidden safety of her room. The dark circles under his eyes were more pronounced than usual. The sharp silver shine of his irises had dulled a little. His hair hadn’t been combed either, and to top it all off, he too was in his PJ’s. It was like he’d sleepwalked his way over to her door.

And she caused this. Here she was complaining about not getting as much sleep as she wanted while Levi was walking around looking positively haunted. Her stomach dropped.

Levi was eyeing her flatmates guardedly. For a few tense moments, she felt like she had just walked in on an invisible wild western shootout with eyes for bullets. Eventually, she managed to swallow the lump that had risen in her throat.

“Um, guys, can we have a moment alone, please?” she pointedly stared at each of them in turn. Erd and Gunther raised their hands in concession, slithering back to their rooms without so much as a questioning reply. It was Auruo who had to be the dick that made things more awkward than necessary with his wiggling eyebrows. “Remind me to start sprinkling that idiot with salt and pepper the next time he wakes up,” she muttered darkly to herself.

Levi straightened up from learning on the countertop and moved towards the kettle. “Made some tea,” he said, clearing his throat. “I hope you don’t mind. I know how…undrinkable Bossard makes it.”

She smiled back with silent appreciation, moving to sit at the table. They froze to listen to the whistling of the kettle. When Levi finally poured them both a cup and sat down opposite her, she still couldn’t find it in her to speak. She felt terrible.

“Right,” Levi sighed, running a hand through his hair, making it even more dishevelled. “I don’t actually remember a lot of what happened last night.”

Petra gulped. “I see.” At least her vocal cords could still vibrate.

Levi nodded, not meeting her eyes. “I just remember the wolf and the girl.”

The girl was her. The wolf as also her. Now Petra needed to scream. The way he was talking about it made her question whether it ever happened. He sounded so monotonously detached, his words were like pendulum swings in a grandfather clock.

“Y-You got the gist of it,” she replied, anxiously tracing the rim of her mug. The teabag was holding itself together better than she was.

Levi closed his eyes firmly for a few heartbeats before sighing, “What happened after I gave you my jacket?”

Petra’s eyes instinctively landed on the black corduroy hanging next to the front door before returning to his. “Um,” she reluctantly started, “I think told you I needed to head back before my friends started worrying about me and…I think you asked if I wanted you to walk me home.”

Levi nodded absently.

“Are you…alright?” Petra creased her eyebrows in worry. He looked as if any second he would just pass out unconscious.

“No.”

Petra visibly winced. That kind of stung.

“But it’s fine. I just didn’t get a lot of rest,” Levi continued, offering the tiniest sliver of a smile with the most miniscule upturn of the corner of his lips. “Which was probably for the best, seeing as my head’s felt the lightest it has for days.”

“Levi, I’m so sorry,” Petra blurted, tears welling -- just one rejection away from falling with full force. “If you want, we can forget all about this. I-I can move to another country—”

“What are you on about?” Levi shook his head. “I told you it’s fine. I’m fine. That’s what I’m here to tell you.”

Oh, Petra squeaked out inaudibly, shrinking further into her seat.

“That, and I snuck out of my window to escape that woman,” Levi pressed his forefinger and thumb to each of his eyelids. “Told myself I couldn’t deal with her Spanish Inquisition-level of interrogation without knowing more myself. And I also couldn’t fucking ask Erwin about how to train your werewolf even when he’s the most qualified one in the vicinity to tell me.”

Petra laughed at that. “Why would that be?”

*****

Levi had to involuntarily let out the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding the moment he heard her laugh at last. He’d lied. His brain at the time he’d said it was clearer was a complete wreck.

But now… he’s getting somewhere.

“Erwin has some weird kink with dogs. Like a dog whisperer,” he said, noting how she’d almost just immediately reigned in her giggle and was back to looking at him warily. As if he might throw his tea at her or something if she said the wrong word. Christ, he didn’t know how to reassure someone with their guard up to their fullest. Least of all himself. “I guess that was why I must’ve seemed like such an asshole last night.” He cleared his throat as he shifted in his seat.

“Because of Erwin?” Petra hesitantly replied. She did seem marginally more relaxed now that they were actually talking.

Levi looked down at his cup, trying hard to keep the embarrassment from surfacing. “His German Shepherd, Mike. When I was sixteen I woke up to Mike’s slimy saliva all over my body. I could see his tiny fur hair things on my skin. The fucking stink.” Levi shuddered. “My clean freak origin story.”

He saw her nodding in relieved understanding. “I see. That makes sense.”

So can you see that it’s not entirely your fault? he wanted to ask. For once, he thought better of it.

A few more moments of strangled silence passed them by. His untouched tea was getting cold, maybe some metaphor about the status of his welcome.

But Petra’s unexpected laughter cut through his internal ramblings. She was fully laughing, her cheeks reddening with the extended effort, her eyes were crinkled shut. Her palms were banging the table as she gasped for air.

Levi didn’t know what to do except watch, uncertainly afraid by such a gear shift in mood.

“Sorry,” she eventually managed to say in between her manic wheezes. “Just…the imagery. Finally caught up to me.”

“Glad it’s so hilarious for you,” he mock-rolled his eyes, crossing his arms to make a show of humourlessness.

It still took her a while until she calmed down, and when she did, she was a different person entirely. More herself, Levi thought, which took him by surprise. Who was he to decide whether she was more herself or not after only a few cumulative hours of knowing her?

Petra must’ve sensed the apprehension taking over him. “Thanks for telling me that,” she said to try and restore his presence in the conversation. “Don’t worry, I’d never do that to you.”

Somehow, the image of her as she was right now licking his body all over did nothing but make the tips of his ears prickle with heat.

Petra smirked. “Unless.”

He had to restrain from fully slapping himself in the face. “No thanks,” he grimaced.

Suddenly, a hand shot up to her lips. “Oh shit,” she whispered conspiratorially. “I forgot Erd could probably hear this entire conversation. He’s a wolf too.”

How dare you expose me! a voice mutely thundered from a room further down the hallway, out of sight from the living room. Levi raised his eyebrows. “A werewolf?” Petra nodded sheepishly. “So…does that mean you’re part of a pack?”

At this, she shook her head. “No, we’re not actual wolves. The only things we have in common with normal wolves in the wild are looking like them and their mating habits, though one is mostly in our control and the other is completely out of it.” She cleared her throat. “Respectively.”

It didn’t take long for that to sink in. “What you were saying earlier then. About the universe…” he trailed off.

Petra shrugged, reverting back to her apologetic state. “Well…yeah.”

*****

Holy cow, he’s handling this better than I expected him to, Petra spared a glance at the statuesque form still sat at the table, hunched over a cup of tea, while she slowly washed the dishes. It had been like that, edging over six minutes now. She could hear Erd scratching at his door, desperate to hear more than just the stiff silence that engulfed the living room at present. It made the rush of tap water all the more deafening.

She wiped her hands on the towel before skittishly sitting back down opposite him. He literally hadn’t moved even a centimetre. Had he fallen asleep with his eyes open?

Apparently not, because as soon as she sat down his silver eyes leapt to hers immediately. It took her aback.

“What if I said no?”

It was a question she fully expected him to ask yet was totally unprepared to answer. Her mouth was slightly ajar, as if words could magically sputter out of her throat to perfectly articulate that ‘no’ maybe (really) wasn’t a possibility.

But he was still staring at her; the dulled edge of his eyes now piercing hers with full attention and intent. It felt like she was back in that lecture room the very first time she saw him. That same bullet-grey stare.

To say she was in a pickle would be the understatement of the century. Or at least her century.

Petra exhaled sharply. “I guess that’d be like saying a big ‘fuck you’ to the universe.” She smiled softly back at him. “I wouldn’t blame you…for saying no. I think that’d be sort of cool.”

What the hell am I saying?!

“Nothing would happen to either of us, then?” he persisted.

Yeah, nothing but me dying an early, lonely death.

“Nope,” she mustered her cheeriest tone. This was it. He’s come to cut ties. He never wants to see me again.

When she saw him stand up, she felt her legs melting. As soon as he walks out of the door, someone would need to physically glue her limbs back together. She knew.

She knew.

But so did he.

“I have labs all day tomorrow, starting at 11,” he said, checking his watch and running a hand through his hair once more. Petra just stared and stared, heart threatening to rip out of her chest. “Braus’ at 10:30?”

It was a big ‘fuck you’ to the universe in the form of ‘why not?’ and Petra became inescapably convinced that the universe was most definitely on her side. 

"Can I keep the jacket?" she breathed, golden eyes twinkling.

He gave her the smirk-and-shrug combo and she almost leapt up to kiss him.

Almost.

"Don't be late."