On the first day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me —
A Partridge in a Pear Tree
❆ ❆ ❆
F I R S T D A Y
The frost on the windows, the wind howling like a wolf, the sharp patter of hail against the roof—all of it blended together in Petra Ral's ears, all to one soothing symphony of the oncoming winter. The soft murmur of people whispering and gathering together under blankets echoed into her ears, and she smiled softly, grateful for the blissful serenity. All scents and sounds flooded her nostrils and ears—the rich aroma of hot chocolate, the ash of the warm fire, old wool scarves; hums of old winter songs, calm laughter, bad, punny jokes, the rustling of branches scratching against the glass.
She could only stay in this moment of peace for so long, however—before she knew it, someone clicked their tongue in disapproval, and the blanket she was so tightly clutching flew off her body, landing on the floor. Coldness instantly started to seep into her, and she anxiously started to rub her bare arms, but before she could continue, an annoyed voice started barking orders at her.
"Petra, I didn't choose you to be part of my Special Operations Squad to sit in idleness under a goddamn fire, or build snowmen while pretending you're a toddler again. Get up!" The all-too familiar voice of Captain Levi vibrated into her eyes like a snow storm, and she barely opened her eyes before she found herself being dragged out of that oh-so comfortable chair, with the short man practically forcing her out the door. Any sane person would have thrown a fit and asked why the hell he would do such a unforgivable thing—drag someone out of their comfortable, comfortable chair in the beginning of their winter break and start screaming at them like they were a grumpy elder.
But Levi wasn't just another person. If Levi asked anyone else in the Survey Corps, they would dutifully abandon their vacation just to slay titans with him.
However, after being friends with Levi for such a long time, Petra had little to no patience left with his (literally) short-tempered attitude. Rolling her eyes, she forced him to stop walking so viciously towards the door by stopping in her tracks and refusing to move. Once he noticed this, Levi instantly turned around and flashed his eyes menacingly, like he was trying to intimidate Jaeger, or something of similar caliber.
Laughing at the hardly-threatening look, Petra cupped her mouth in her hands and asked,"Did someone forget to give you your coffee this morning, Captain?"
Several chuckles arose from the Survey Corps members—including Mike Zacharius, who was trying way too hard to make sure the Captain didn't notice him laughing his ass off.
Irked as hell, Levi only further dragged Petra out of the building and into the freezing cold of the outside. Snow hit them hard, and the woman more than ever wished she had brought her jacket. Of course, the ever emotionless and stolid Captain didn't react at all to the winter storm around them.
Sighing heavily, Petra moaned,"Levi, is there any reason you even dragged me out here?" She glanced longingly back to the building, where warm fire, laughs, and milk awaited her—the yearning only made her mouth water with all the thoughts of potential treats and gifts she would be missing out on.
"Ral, can you even focus without thinking of the season?" Levi grunted, crossing his arms. Levi was usually a pessimistic, grouchy person, but he wasn't this grouchy with one of his friends.
