[DISCONTINUED] Entangled in the Strings of Fate ~ Attack on Titan (Levi x OC)

15. Promise

Petra walked along the empty hallway, tray of food in hands. She stopped her pace once she had reached her destination: the room of her auburn-haired friend, Aile.

Petra stood in front of the door and lifted up her hand. She let out a disguised sigh before knocking it.

"...Come in," Aile's voice echoed from across the door.

Petra twisted the doorknob open and stepped in. Inside was a room with plain stoned walls with no linings. A window with chartreuse curtain was open in the middle of the room, next to its left were a wooden chair and desk, with a candlestick on top of it. Next to its right was a small drawer, surprisingly with a mountain of paper--presumably paperwork stacked up on it.

Next to that drawer was a bed which wasn't empty. On the bed sat Aile, clad in white pajamas, crossing her legs with her messy auburn hair tied into a high side ponytail and her sleeves rolled up. Her brown orbs were steadily moving as she devotedly studied a document in her hand. Her other hand played with a granite stick, occasionally twirling it. In front of her another mountain of paper was placed, waiting for their turn to be checked by her.

Petra closed the door behind her and sighed at the view. "Good morning, Aile," she greeted the woman with awkward smile. "I bring your breakfast."

"Oh, hi, Petra. Thank you, please leave it on that desk over there," Aile pointed at the desk across her bed with the granite stick, "I will eat it after I've done with this one. You don't need to wait for me to finish, I will bring the tray to the pantry by myself once I'm done."

"Sure..." Petra sweat dropped. She did as what told and when she had done she glanced at Aile, who still had her eyes glued onto the paper. "So... how are you doing?" Petra awkwardly rubbed her upper arm as she tried to strike a conversation.

"Mmn, not bad, I suppose," Aile replied. "But I nearly got a heart attack when Levi suddenly brought these piles of paper here yesterday," she huffed. "Seriously, I'm not even a squad leader. What did I do to deserve this?" she chuckled jokingly.

"Captain actually doesn't want to make you do those paperwork..." Petra slowly muttered. "...but because of new cadets assigning in, he's got his hands full. Squad Leader Hanji too..." "Not like I'm complaining, Petra," Aile finally shifted her eyes from the paper she was focused on to Petra. She gave the other woman a warm smile, "If I can do something to help, I'll do it willingly."

Petra looked a bit surprised after hearing her words. "...but Aile, you're wounded," she said with tone of disagreement. "You can't even go with us on the next expedition because of that." "Yep, that's why I do this." Aile replied still with a smile.

The two went into silent, with Aile looking at her paperwork again while Petra cast down her eyes. "...how did it feel, Aile?" Petra broke the silent. She folded her hands behind her uncomfortably.

"About what?" Aile answered nonchalantly as she scribbled something on a paper.

"When Eren's titan hand grasped you," Petra reluctantly asked. "...at that time we thought Eren was really terrifying. But... Captain was even more than him." she held her arms tightly as she recalled the memory.

"That's what you'd expect from the Humanity's Strongest Soldier," Aile replied casually. "He's terrifying no matter how you look at him." "But Aile!" Petra suddenly shouted, causing Aile to flinch. "Eren is half-titan! Titan is the most terrifying creature in this world! Yet the Captain is...!"

Petra didn't continue her words. She just let the words sunk into the silence between them as she hung her head again. "...the expression Captain was making at that time... it was something I've never seen before. It's different from that stern expression he usually shows or the expression he made when fighting titans. It was like... he's full of bloodlust. He was clearly angry, Aile." Petra whispered.