Petra welcomed the morning as always, feeling rested after a dreamless sleep. Despite a chill in the morning air, her blankets were warm and impossibly comfortable; the snow outside made the house a special kind of serene quiet. But what she didn't expect, after only ever living alone in the house, was the quiet sound of voices in the house.
She slowly got up from the bed, careful not to make it creak, and grabbed a loose linen shirt from the floor and thick wool pants. As she pulled them on, she noticed Poppy was not asleep in the bed as she always was. While Petra liked the morning, the cat always slept in. She eyed a sheathed knife that lay on a dresser at the far end of the room and moved quickly but with quiet feet to snatch it up, creeping over to her partly open door.
Still waking up, she wasn't thinking rationally, running purely on adrenaline. She crept down the hall, seeing the spare room beside hers had the door wide open and blankets spread about, when she always kept it neat.
Pressing herself against the wall at the end of the hallway, she listened to the voices in the kitchen. Her brows furrowed, foggy recognition swirling in her half-asleep and anxiety-wired brain.
"Wiiillll I'm cold! Can't you just, you know, make Finn go mess with the fireplace?"
"Elias, shush! You're gonna wake Petra up. And no, we can wait until she is up. I don't want to get into her things."
"Hi kitty, oh, you are so cute, is your owner up too? Percy, look… aw, she's precious."
"Uh huh…"
Finally, her brain clicked when recognizing Wilhelm as he said her name and Finn as he cooed at the cat. Instant relief flooded through her, and she let out a sigh, not realizing how audible it was until all the voices went quiet. There was a mutter and soft footsteps approaching, and as she stepped out to make herself known, Petra was thrown against the wall, choking out a cough at the arm keeping her neck to the wall. Fierce dark brown eyes stared her down, and his tusked mouth grimaced at her. She struggled against him, reaching up to grab at his arm, her tail lashing wildly as her air supply was being limited. Perseus' other hand quickly grabbed hers that held the dagger and pinned it up by her head. From this close, she could see a scar under his left tusk that sliced into both lips, and a bit of scruff grew on his chin and jaw, the hair being white wherever his splotched skin color was. A low grumble in his chest shot her back to reality, and a scramble of footsteps approached before Wilhelm shot into view.
"Percy! Percy let her go-"
"What's with the dagger?" Perseus interrupted, and Wilhelm's eyes shot to the dagger still in her hand. "Why were you sneaking in here?"
"Hold- hold on, you don't understand, I'm just-" Petra choked as Perseus pressed harder on her neck, her strangled breath growing faster and her eyes darting around to find an escape. She knew she was no match for a man as large as he and would have no chance of winning any fight with him. Between her fight and flight, her flight instincts were screaming at her.
Suddenly, the arm was off of her, and oxygen rushed back into her system. She leaned against the wall to breathe. She looked up to see Wilhelm grabbing Perseus's arm and throwing it down, giving him an unfavorable look. It was then that Petra noticed Wilhelm's outfit. His wavy blonde hair was tied back into a little ponytail, and his free hand held a spatula. With the top of his robes off, he just wore white with gold pants and a casual, short-sleeved black shirt.
"Does she look like she is trying to kill you? Leave it, I'm sure we just startled her. We're in her home, remember?" Wilhelm scolded as Perseus retreated into the kitchen. He approached her with a soft look and a gentle hand on her shoulder as he guided her into the kitchen.
"You mustn't have had guests in some time. I'm sorry Percy isn't making a good impression for you. A bit on edge and protective, that one." Petra laughed a little to accompany Wilhelm's light-hearted chuckle, putting her knife down on the nearest counter. Elias was sitting at the table, turned around in a chair to watch the commotion with curious eyes, and Finn sat across from him, wearing a tight-fitting, sleeveless black shirt, the same as Perseus. When he caught Petra's eye, he gave a friendly smile and a wave to which she returned.
"Good morning, hope you slept well," Finn said, crossing his arms and leaning forward on the table.
"Gooood morning!" Elias drawled out, leaning his cheek on the chair.
"I did, thank you. I hope you all did too, the snowstorm must have left you all cold last night- OH! It's cold in here! I'm so sorry, let me throw some wood in the fireplace." She started to hurry toward the main living area before Finn shot up, putting his hand out to interject her path.
"Hey, no, no, just tell me where the wood is. I can do it." He offered, putting a hand warmly on her shoulder. She tensed up at the contact, and after a moment, he retracted his hand.
"Oh, um, it's in the mud room, stacked up against the wall." She said, pointing through the living room toward the front door.
"Perfect, let me go get it." Finn smiled and raced off. She assumed he must have been cold with how eagerly he ran off to get the fireplace up and running.
"Thank you, uh- Finn!" She called out after him, not even knowing if he heard her. Shaking away the worry, she turned back to Wilhelm, who was busy cooking.
"And Wilhelm, you didn't have to cook. I can take over for you-"
"Absolutely not!" Wilhelm raised the spatula to emphasize his point. "You let us stay on a whim. It is the least I can do. Using your food, but my point still stands."
He turned back around to flip his omelet, giving Petra a moment to admire his wings. No one in this area had features like that, though with her tail and elf ears, she didn't have much room to talk. The back of his shirt was cut out, tailored for him, to allow room for his wings and exposing all the downy feathers that covered where his wings connected to his back, tapering off down his back.
"Can I at least help?" She pressed, but was promptly ignored. Elias was happy to break the silence.
"Or you could come talk to me, I'm bored as fuck over here!" Wilhelm cleared his throat to correct Elias' swearing, "Come, come, sit. I have questions." He said while patting the table excitedly. Compared to last night, he perked up the most. Petra gave in and sat in Finn's spot across from him, to which he spun around to face her. Still on edge, she looked past Elias when Perseus moved, but he only walked over to Wilhelm, leaning on the counter to talk to him in a quiet tone.
"So what do you think of swords?"
"Swords?" Petra said with a laugh, not expecting the question. "Um… I like them, although they are a little dangerous if you aren't careful."
"Mhm, mhm… you're pretty cool. So far! But, you see, lots of people say I'm annoying. You don't think so, do you?" He questioned, giving her an inquisitive look, staring and waiting for an answer, while Petra was taken aback by how quickly he seemed to bounce around subjects.
"No, no, you're alright. How old are you, pipsqueak?"
"Hell yes- whoa wait, pipsqueak!? Now what the fu-" He was cut off by Finn putting a dirt-covered hand over his mouth, making Elias sputter and feverishly wipe his face off.
"Don't worry, you'll find him annoying soon enough. He's eleven, not too hard to believe, huh?" Finn playfully shoved the boy, looking up to meet Petra's eyes, seemingly getting lost as he stared at her. Whether it was just looking her over or spacing out, she couldn't tell, but he seemed to come to and cleared his throat, quick to look away to Wilhelm.
"Um, so I checked outside to see how things are faring, and it's still a blizzard out there. There's a heavy amount of snow on the ground." Finn looked back at Petra with a sympathetic look. "Petra, I am afraid we are going to have to overstay our welcome until some of this snow melts. We have no hope of traveling like this."
"Absolutely not, we can't afford to stay still." Perseus shot up from resting on the counter, giving Finn a look of disapproval, then turned to Wilhelm, speaking through gritted teeth. "We need to go today. She doesn't want us, and I don't like this place."
"I would rather you stay here than get caught in that snow. It can last for weeks here." Petra butted in, getting up and standing beside Finn, who looked ready to back her up.
"Percy, you don't know how bad it is out there," Finn added.
"And we have been through worse, we can go-" Perseus argued and was interrupted.
"Elias can't, you saw him last night!"
"Stop making excuses!"
Wilhelm was quick to step between Finn and Perseus' line of sight of each other, so both would look at him. He sighed loudly, looking at the two of them, a plated omelet in his hand. He silently handed it to Petra with a quick smile, walking back to the stove.
"Oh, thank you, but I need to go outside," Petra said quietly, trying to hand it back to him but opting for the counter since he turned around.
"Ah, perfect. Percy, go with her." He said, plating more food for the others.
"What, why?" Perseus watched him in bewilderment.
"If you are so certain we can travel like this, go out there. Finn says we can't, but you haven't seen it yet. So, go with her and check it out. Plus, if it is that bad, you can do her a favor and help her do whatever she needs to do."
Perseus opened his mouth to object, but closed it with a grumble. He shot Petra a look before nodding and heading to the spare bedroom.
"I can do it by myself. It really isn't a big deal. This wouldn't be the first time." Petra said, hoping Wilhelm would let her go alone. Not that she didn't like Perseus, but he was the last of the four she wanted to be alone with after the aggression he had already displayed.
Wilhelm turned around, plates in hand to deliver to the table. "Petra, please give him a chance. Besides, think of this protection as a way for me to repay you. Just giving you a helping hand."
That was all he needed to say for her to realize she just needed to get this over with. Not that she had to listen to him, but there wasn't harm in the act. If it is as bad as Finn says, maybe he can help her open the coop door and trudge through the snow.
Petra headed downstairs, the stairway being just off the kitchen, and into the storage room. Two large barrels sat next to the door with a feed bucket hung up above it, which she grabbed and filled when Poppy appeared to remind her she was suddenly hungry. Petra grabbed down her cloak, setting it on a barrel along with the bucket.
Walking to the stairs, she nearly ran into Perseus, who was pulling a thick wool shirt over the undershirt, heading down to her. He pulled it over his face, stopping to look at her. She stepped aside, and he walked past her, looking around the storage room and into the library.
"Is that all you're going to wear?" She asked, and he looked over at her, unimpressed. "I have another cloak if you want it. It's too big for me."
"Where is it?"
"The spare room, the one in the library." Petra pointed, and he looked in the direction, pulling his hair out of the small bun and shaking it out to one side. His hair was messily down; it made him look a little softer, friendlier. She stopped looking before he could catch her and made quick work of getting upstairs to feed Poppy.
By the time she got back down, Perseus had on the black cloak, nearly a perfect fit for him, and his hair tied back up. Petra hurried over to get her cloak, lifting a side of her shirt to let her tail wrap around her midriff again, to keep it warm this time. She glanced over when hearing a soft "huh" from Perseus, noticing him watching her.
"So, what are you?" He asked bluntly and surprised Petra a bit, realizing how contradictory it was for him to be asking.
"What are you? With tusks and ears like that." She retorted, "What is Wilhelm?"
He scoffed a small laugh, pulling the droopy hood up. "Fair enough." The little laugh was the closest thing to friendly she had seen of him.
Petra clasped her cloak, pulling the hood up and grabbing her bucket. With the blowing wind, she was dreading her cloak being blown open, but it was either that or nothing. She opened up the door to be met with a gust of flurries in her face and piled up snow falling inside the doorway.
"Are you sure you want to join? This isn't going to be fun." She tried to be light-hearted, but Perseus grabbed the door from her, pushing past and moving the snow away from the door before heading out into the blurry mess.
Petra quickly followed after, having to put in extra effort to shut the door. The snow was already up to her ankles and coming down nonstop, but with the divot Perseus was making, it made it easier. He stopped suddenly, and she bumped into his back, taking a couple of steps back when he turned to look at her.
"Where am I going?" Perseus called out over the wind. "I'll make a path, just tell me where to go."
"Okay, keep going straight, then follow along the treeline to the left. I have one coop and a small barn." She yelled back to him.
Nearly no words were passed between them after that. With the wind blowing and her following him like a duckling after its mother, it didn't make for good conversation. He helped clear snow when she struggled with the coop door and propped it only halfway to minimize the snow that got inside. When it came to the sheep, all huddled in the barn, Perseus took the bucket and went through the barbed wire to deliver it to them. The chores went by faster than usual, not having time to sit and enjoy her animals.
Once back inside, Perseus put her feed bucket back up and sighed as he undid the cloak, shaking off some leftover snow. He was looking impatient as Petra was taking her cloak off and letting her tail free again, waiting until she finally gave him her attention.
"Finn was right. I'm sorry, but we'll have to stay until it clears. Maybe until the ground dries up too, depending on how muddy it gets here." He told her, reluctantly.
"It can get bad. You all are welcome to stay, as long as you can try to trust me a bit." She said as a warning, referencing the incident earlier. He stared her down. He looked to be fighting not being the one in charge. Eventually, he gave in, and he nodded to her.
"Deal. Thank you." He said before retreating quickly upstairs.
She took her time going to her room to grab clothes and wash up in the bath at the end of the hall. Once she was clean and dry, she quietly made her way into the kitchen and grabbed up the food Wilhelm had made for her. Not hot, but still warm, and she ate while making a small cup of coffee. That was her most expensive luxury item, gotten only every once in a while from her Oma.
The group was gathered around the table, Wilhelm and Finn chatting while Elias was still eating, and Perseus stood next to the table, leaning against a wall while eating. The three of them were talking quietly, and occasionally one of them would wrangle Perseus into the conversation. They all looked at peace, like it was the first time they got to enjoy a morning like this together in a long time.
Petra slipped away with her hot cup of coffee, giving herself time to decompress from them and allowing them their time together. She headed into the spare room next to hers that Wilhelm and Perseus were using, aiming to tidy up and lay out an old futon she hadn't thought about last night. When she first found the house, it seemed like it wasn't left abandoned for long; it had plenty of leftover clothes and bedding from a big family. She didn't question what happened and just took it as a blessing, though this was the first time it ever got put to use.
Petra mindlessly spent the majority of the day in both spare rooms, setting up a futon in both, along with pillows and blankets. She gave the boys in the basement heavier blankets, as she knew it got cold down there. If they were going to stay here, she saw no reason not to make their stay as comfortable as she could. Surprisingly, she didn't run into anyone as she went from both rooms, but eventually the rumble in her stomach urged her to call it quits.
The feeling of hunger and overworking herself was finally kicking in now. Entering the kitchen, she was surprised to see only Wilhelm, sitting at the dining room table and peacefully reading an old book she had discarded on the table weeks ago. Taking a look around, she realized she didn't hear any other voices in the home.
"Hey Wilhelm, where are… the boys?" Petra hesitated, hoping he wouldn't mind her referring to the three that way. He smiled down at the book, still scanning the words, but glancing up at her with a twinkle in his eye, which gave her more reassurance than words could have.
"My sons are outside, Perseus followed suit to make sure they stayed safe. Eli noticed the snow had died down, and wanted to go out there. It's been a while since they've gotten a chance to have fun. What about you, mate?" Wilhelm set the book down, pages side down to mark his spot. "You seem tired."
"Ah, a tad. I came in to make supper. Are you all okay with goulash?"
"Pardon?"
"It's a type of soup, one my Oma taught me. I'll make it for you all tonight. It makes a lot, so it's perfect." Petra said, her tone light, and Wilhelm nodded. It had been a long time since she had cooked a big meal. The last time was when Oma and Opa made a secret visit to her home over a year ago. Having dinner with company was another luxury she rarely got to enjoy.
Petra went to work, gathering ingredients and her recipe page, and beginning to prep when Wilhelm joined her near the counter.
"I can help if you'd like." He offered, and she stopped, contemplating it for just a moment before giving a quick reply.
"No, I've got this. You could keep me company, though, if you'd like. You seemed a little lonely."
Wilhelm smiled and leaned back against the counter out of the way as he watched her work. Cooking was a joy for her, but soups were a personal favorite and perfect for a cold day like this. Wilhelm spoke, stirring her from her thoughts.
"Well, I was thinking actually…" When he stopped talking, she looked over at him to see him looking intently at her. "How can I repay you?"
"Repay me?"
"I owe you my life, we all do. If you didn't let us in, we would have frozen to death out there, and you know that. You're letting us stay longer than we promised, and now you're cooking for us. How can we repay you?" Wilhelm said insistently, looking serious as he stared at her. It was clear how much thought he put into this.
"Well… you'll be staying here for a while, so how about I get back to you on that, okay?"
He huffed, looking entirely dissatisfied with her answer. Even his wings drooped with his disappointment. Petra couldn't help but let out a breathy laugh, turning back to her cooking.
"I just need to think about it, you've sprung this on me out of nowhere!"
"Alright, but I won't let us leave until we've done something for you."
Petra flashed him a smile so he knew she heard him. They both drifted off into a comfortable silence. He stayed nearby, watching her cook but they didn't speak which she appreciated. Petra hadn't thought about them wanting to repay her. She assumed they would just move on once the weather was clear. They seemed to come from someplace wealthy. Not just anyone would own such expensive clothes and elaborate armor like that. Maybe they did have something she could use; they might know some powerful people or know things about magic she could use to help her crystal eye situation.
After setting the soup to simmer for a bit, Petra rested against the counter just as she heard the loud opening and closing of the front door, followed by Elias' voice.
"Holy fuck, I'm starving and that smells so good!" He ran over to see what Petra was cooking. The childlike excitement and happiness were sparkling in his eyes. Wilhelm cleared his throat, giving Elias a disapproving look, but shaking his head with a small smile.
"It's goulash." She said, grabbing a small spoon to dip into the soup and offering it to him. He looked at the spoon, then to her, seeming unsure of whether he was really allowed.
"It's good," Petra reassured, further offering him to try. He took the spoon, quick to pop it in his mouth. He took a second to process the new taste, but perked up suddenly.
"That's really good. Is it done?" He asked eagerly and looked at her. Petra couldn't help but giggle a bit, getting the urge to ruffle his hair, but instead walked around him to grab five bowls and spoons so they could eat.
"Yeah, almost, it needs just about 5 minutes. Could you put the spoons on the table? And where are Finn and Perseus?" Elias just rolled his eyes with a little scoff, reaching over to take the silverware from her and heading over to the table.
"Still outside, I guess. They got all pissed off at each other or something and are throwing snowballs now. I got tired of getting hit and tried to get them to come inside, but nooo." He mumbled more, something about Finn, and her name was mentioned. She didn't hear what he said, but Wilhelm certainly did as he went over to the table, giving Elias a light smack on the arm.
"Elias!" He hissed with a displeased expression.
"Ow! What the hell!" Elias glared back at Wilhelm, but after a second of silent communication between the two, he just sighed in defeat, "I'm sorry, too much. I don't want Finn to beat my arse." He snickered, and Wilhelm couldn't help but join in a little. He squeezed Elias' shoulder, taking a seat at the table.
"Petra, I don't mean to put pressure on you to do this, but maybe you could yell at those two to come in? I feel like they might listen to you."
"Oh, of course. You can go ahead and serve this if you want. I'll be right back." She set down the bowls, stirring the pot quickly before going to the front door, not sure what to expect. Petra swung the door open, instantly getting hit with a hard snowball to the chest, making her stagger back. She was baffled, brushing off the snow and looking up to see Finn, his hands over his mouth and face quickly flushing. Perseus was seemingly ducking out of the way with handfuls of snowballs and looked back to see what happened. He bursted out with laughter once he pieced it together, covering his mouth quickly to silence himself.
"OH MY GOD! Oh god- I'm SO sorry!!" Finn looked like he wanted to say more, but was too embarrassed to think. Petra couldn't help but laugh, wiping most of the snow off, but a large wet mark stayed on the chest of her light brown shirt. She desperately wanted to hurl a snowball back, but decided to take pity on the fact that they were already wet and cold.
"Yep, that's- that's alright. I just wanted to tell you that supper is ready, so get inside." Her tone was light-hearted, having a hard time keeping a straight face with Perseus still fighting to contain his amusement.
"Right- right! I'm sorry again, we'll be right in!"
Petra closed the door and quickly heard them start bantering back and forth, though too muffled to make out the words. She made her way back into the kitchen, excited to finally relieve her hunger, when she was quickly questioned.
"The fuck happened?" Elias turned himself halfway around the chair, the same one he sat in this morning, to see what the commotion was.
"Well, I opened up the door and got caught in the crossfire of their little battle out there." She said while filling the one empty bowl left for her with goulash and hearing Elias wheeze out a laugh, "Needless to say, they're coming in."
As if summoning them, the front door opened up. Petra hopped up on the kitchen counter with her food, watching as the two walked in. They were both snow-covered and soaking wet. Perseus walked in first, his hair taken down and was raking through it with his hand, with Finn behind him, his wet curly hair pushed back out of his face.
"Before you come any closer, there are spare clothes in both rooms. I beg you both to change." Petra said, and Finn seemed happy to head downstairs, and Perseus left down the hall right after.
They were back quickly to eat, Finn in a brown sweater and Perseus in a dark linen shirt, both thanking her as they passed by her. The family began chatting about little, unimportant things. The peaceful chatter was pure music to Petra's ears. As much as she hated to admit it, she deeply craved the company of others, and this group scratched that itch of wanting a taste of domestic life.
Happily, she ate in silence while the family was enveloped in their bubble of conversation. Even when she was done eating, she stayed on the counter and listened to them, talking about the house and the food until Poppy trotted into the kitchen with a big meow to announce she was hungry for her dinner. The meow was loud enough to make Finn stop talking to "aww" at the cat. Petra hopped off the counter and washed her bowl before turning back to the Poppy.
"Alright, baby, are you hungry?" Poppy meowed again and impatiently walked around so Petra would follow her to her bowl as she filled it. "Okay, you all can wash the bowls when you're done. I'll be in the library if you need me." With that, she waved the family off.
Half an hour passed, and she had settled into one of the two plush blue chairs kept in the corner of the library, opposite the bedroom. Bookcases lined the walls, almost entirely filled with books left from the previous owners. She hummed a quiet song while flipping through a recipe book, trying to find something she had thought of earlier in the day. Poppy joined her after eating and was fast asleep in her lap, her own tail curled around the cat.
"Hey, Petra?" Came the soft calling of Finn as he took a few steps down the stairs and met her eyes. Elias rushed past him to the room, clearly going to sleep as he closed the door behind him.
"Hi, do you need something?"
"Well, no, the others are going to bed, and I wanted to know if…" He trailed off, walking down the stairs, stopping at the doorway that led into the library. "If I could come read with you, actually."
"Oh, yeah. The books aren't in any order, but I'm sure you'll be able to find something here you like." She watched him walk to the farthest shelf from her and skim over it, trying to find something of interest.
"I was never given the chance to sit down and read like this." He commented while skimming over the books. Finding one that caught his attention, he plucked it out. "You know, I've always wanted to learn music."
"Really?"
"Really. It has always been a topic that has enticed me. I used to write little songs in the small bits of free time I was so graciously granted." He exaggerated as he plopped down in the chair beside her, not so slyly looking her over and smiling before getting comfy and opening the cover.
"I guess you're in luck then, I have numerous books on music, and I think two folders that are filled with some stray sheet music." She said before turning her attention back to her book.
Comfortable silence fell over them as they read, although Petra would occasionally see him glance at her out of the corner of her eye. After a few minutes, he leaned back with a sigh, adjusting his glasses and looking around until something caught his eye.
"Do you play?"
"Hm?"
"That guitar over there."
"Oh, well, I used to. It's been at least a year or two since I've even tried to play anything." She laughed a little, glancing at Finn, who turned his attention back to her.
"Have you been interested in learning anything else?"
"Oh, absolutely, though I don't think I have the money to buy a new instrument from anywhere. At least not here."
Finn hummed softly in reply, obviously thinking over her response, though the conversation died out after that as he seemed to become engrossed in the pages, while Petra found the recipe she had been searching for.
It came to her mind how nice this was. Despite no one talking, she was able to spend time with someone in her most comfortable environment. Who would have known a snowstorm would gift her people who weren't here to hurt her? People who wanted to get to know her.
She could get used to this.