Enchanting
By Holly-Batali

AN: Well, here's the fruits of my labor: I give you my 2013 NaNoWriMo project! *snazzy jazz hands and confetti* Rivetra is my SNK OTP, I adore them and I wanted to add to the fanfic base! Please let me know what you think, I love hearing from readers! For those of you who read my other fics, you'll be happy to know that My Roommate is a Wraith has a chapter IN PROGRESS! (It's like a freaking miracle) Only 200 words so far, but it's happening! After, what 4 years? (Good GOD).

Disclaimer: I own nothing at all; SNK belongs to Hajime Isayama and Enchanted belongs to Owl City.

Introduction

"All I can say is it was enchanting to meet you."

"This paper is going to murder me. It's going to eat me alive."

"It's not that bad."

"We have one week to write a 12-page commentary essay on the development of the current criminal justice system... in addition to everything else from other professors. I think it's safe to say that this paper is gonna hurt like a—"

"Well maybe if you'd stop whining and start writing—"

Petra sighed and tuned out Auruo and Gunter's bickering. Professor Smith's class was turning out to be much more challenging than any of them had anticipated, but they were all determined to do well; and she knew that for all their complaints, they were going to be spending long sleepless nights researching and writing to make this paper the best they could. She would as well—Petra had worked hard to get where she was, and she was going to make the very most of her opportunities.

"The way they bicker, you'd think they're married." Petra chuckled at Erd's exasperated tone.

"You'd think so," she agreed, turning her attention back to her sandwich. It was a beautiful day on campus, and she was savoring the warm breeze and cool sunshine of the oncoming fall season. The semester had only started a few weeks ago, but summer was already nearly gone. The leaves were starting to darken and the mornings were getting steadily colder. For Petra, this meant making the very most of the time she had left to spend outdoors. She and the others had agreed to eat outside every day that they could.

"Alright, that's enough!" Erd set down his lunch, moving to get between Auruo and Gunter. "Break it up, you two."

Petra laughed at their half-hearted protests, then as they turned and ganged up on Erd, trying to pin him to the ground. She polished off the rest of her lunch and then pulled out her notes to study for the rest of the break before her next class. As she reviewed the ins and outs of criminal law, she tuned out the background noises of her friends' squabbling.

Eventually, her attention wandered, and she glanced about the open campus, taking note of the students and professors wandering the grounds. One or two she recognized, but the majority she had never seen before. They made for decent people-watching, though—it was easy to pick out the freshmen, running around and juggling coffee and notebooks, eager to make good impressions and do well. They upperclassmen were more relaxed, taking their day at a slower pace, confident and self-assured in their knowledge of the campus layout and the tricks they would employ to pass their classes. The professors hurried through the masses, on their way to classes or meetings, off to write up tests and syllabi and share their 'new student horror stories' with each other.

There was one student in particular that stood out—she wasn't sure if it was his height (or rather the lack thereof) or the lack of a backpack or anything to mark him as a student, but she found her gaze drawn to him nonetheless. He was rather small, perhaps just taller than her own 5'2. That didn't seem to bother him, though. He stood against the brick wall of one of the campus buildings with an air of... not quite superiority; confidence, perhaps? Petra couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she knew that any arrogance this man had was surely well-deserved. He seemed almost dangerous.

He had deep-set eyes with nearly-black bags beneath them, and neatly-cut black hair. She couldn't see his eye color from where she was, but they seemed to almost shine. He wore simple black slacks, a dark gray t-shirt, biker boots, and a dark red jacket that fit in well with the rest of the students, but somehow she doubted that he was one; he blended in well enough for a cursory glance, but there was something… off.

She heard a voice call from across campus, but she couldn't make out any words; the man's head snapped to the source and Petra found herself doing the same, blinking in surprise. Professor Erwin Smith, her criminal justice teacher, was jogging over to the not-student, laughing sheepishly. The man scowled and pushed off the wall, saying something that Petra couldn't quite make out. Professor Smith laughed and patted the man's shoulder, making him scowl deeper and shrug off the older man's hand. Petra was struck by the painfully obvious height difference. They started walking off together, the shorter man saying something to Professor Smith, brow furrowed. The professor nodded and replied; Petra wished she could hear what they were saying. There was something about this man that drew her in, like a magnet.

Almost as if she had yelled it for the world to hear, the man's eyes found hers, locking on. She wanted to look away, mortified at being caught so openly staring, but found that she couldn't. He held her gaze for a few more beats and then looked away. Petra continued to stare after him, disappointed in herself for not finding out something about this man, some small tidbit to take away from this odd encounter.

"…ght, Petra? Petra?"

"Hm?" Petra turned to Erd, who had Auruo and Gunter both pinned to the ground; while she had been staring at the stranger across campus, they had continued their impromptu wrestling match, and (unsurprisingly) Erd had won. All three of them looked up at her expectantly; she must have missed whatever conversation they had just had. "What was that?"

"I said 'we should get together this week and brainstorm for that paper'," Erd repeated.

She nodded vigorously. "That sounds like a great idea! Does Thursday work for everyone?" After hammering out the details for their study session, the group went their separate ways, and as Petra walked away, adjusting the bag over her shoulders, all thoughts of the man from earlier were pushed to the back of her mind.

"I was never in love with someone else,
I never had somebody waiting on me,
'cause you were all of my dreams come true.
All I can say is it was enchanting to meet you.
Oh I was so enchanted to meet you…"